Growing up I was never really a dog lover; only because my dad had expensive hunting dogs (coon & bird) and we weren’t allowed to play with them or really be around them; we weren’t even allowed to feed them.. It was a long time before I learned there were other kinds of dogs. LOL
Fast forward to many years later (2015). I was going to the store with my daughter and when we pulled out of the driveway, we saw a little dachshund in the ditch. We stopped and tried to get him but he ran away. Very late that night, my son was in the garage with some friends playing music. He came in the house and said there was a little dog that wandered up (I guess he liked the guitar and banjo music, I couldn’t blame him). I ran outside and it was the same dog we saw earlier. I managed to catch him. He was cold, scared and, I’m sure, hungry.
He was so sweet; he loved me from the moment I picked him up and I loved him right back! I kept him in the garage that night. The next day, a friend bought him food, collar, leash, toys and wormer; she insisted that I was going to keep him. I did not want a housedog or any dog for that matter; I was too busy. I tried desperately to find his family, putting ads all over Facebook, etc. I had a dozen friends wanting him. After spending the weekend with him, I knew he wasn’t going anywhere. I named him Mr. Bojangles. I decided if his family came forward, they better have a good reason why this little guy was found wandering, cold, hungry, scared and throwing up plastic from being a scavenger for God only knows how long. You could see every vertebrae down his back. It was so sad. Thankfully I never found his owners so he was all mine.
This little guy became my 3rd leg. He even went to work with me. At that time, I was taking care of a very special 99 year old lady that I’ve known all my life. She was a cat lover but she also loved Bojangles. She always told me that if anything ever happened to me, she would take care of Bojangles. Here she is on one of our walks (no, it’s not Sophia from the Golden Girls). Today this beautiful soul is still among us and will be 105 in November!
Bojangles liked to go anywhere and everywhere. He especially liked camping and festivals; where he got lots of attention. I’m quite sure he loved strutting his stuff in his hippie outfits, sunglasses and tie dyed hat but he never did master the peace sign with his paws. He was always the life of the party because he loved people. At one of the festivals, a band member took Bojangles up on stage. The first year I went to the festivals without Bojangles, several people asked where he was. 🙁
Sadly, about 2 years after I got Bojangles, he was attacked by a neighbors husky. He had two puncture wounds that were successfully treated at the emergency hospital. He recovered (or so we thought) but a few months later, he became paralyzed.
Another trip to the vet………he was put on bed rest and I was told to watch him to make sure he was going to the bathroom completely. I had to put his leash around his back side to hold his legs off the ground so he could walk with his front legs. Everything was going ok but then he became very sick. Our last trip to the vet, we found out he wasn’t able to completely empty waste (due to the paralysis in his back) and he was basically poisoned from toxins. He was so sick. I had to make that horrible decision and let him cross Rainbow Bridge. I’m sure everyone that’s ever had an animal knows that pain 🙁
