Pearl: Love and Combat

“Dogs are blameless, devoid of calculation, neither blessed nor cursed with human motives. They can't really be held responsible for what they do. But we can." -- Jon Katz

Early Thursday morning, my old pal Rick was awakened by his terrified wife who had found their eight year old dog whimpering, and pooping all over the floor. LuLu hadn't been sick at all, so the couple were shocked as they watched the light fade from LuLu, an eighty pound Lab mix.

The pair loaded LuLu into the car for the short journey to doggie emergency but there was nothing they could do for her. LuLu took her last breath in the arms of Jarmila and Rick, leaving them devastated.

On Friday, Rick put out a plea on Facebook. 

"Does anyone know where we can find a puppy?"

Immediately, I thought of Pearl, my beloved Mini Aussie Shepherd who is just two years old. She is one of three in our pack, and she has spent nearly a year partly sequestered after she and Sophie the Pug began to fight. At first, we thought it was all Pearl, that she had a screw loose but we came to know that Sophie was an eager participant in Gladiator-like fights that left Scott and me bloodied and bruised.

Fact is, Aussies are better fighters than a pug who fights like an animated loaf of bread. 

We were sure that one of these epic battles would result in serious harm to Sophie and that would be the end of Pearl.

So we've spent these past months with the two dogs on leashes. During the day, they would take turns coming out of their respective bedrooms for a few hours at a time. It wasn't great; but it wasn't bad.

We were able to control the situation.

While we were extremely vigilant, we knew there could come a day when the two would meet again and somebody would get hurt. So it was always in my mind that we might have to re-home Pearl.

And when I read Rick's plaintiff cry on Facebook, I knew what had to be done.

On Saturday, we drove our lovely little miss a few kilometres down the road to the Logans.

We were met by Jarmila and her daughter at the door. They were excited to see Pearl's lovely face and wagging, feathery tail. She is the perfect charmer who loves everybody, and is loved by everybody except for Sophie.

I knew we did the right thing.

Anyone who loves dogs knows that we have to make difficult decisions. Sometimes it means making the ultimate sacrifice and having the dog put down because of illness or accident. Sometimes it means making the terrible decision to let them find a better home, one that suits them.

There are no other dogs at the Logans. Rick and Jarmila spend hours walking every day, which is perfect for Pearl who is highly active and needs a lot of exercise. All good news for her.

The last 24 hours have been hard on this family, especially on Viggo who will miss Pearl like crazy.

They spent hours in the yard running and jumping and twirling. It was like watching a pair of figure skaters putting each other through their paces, eyes locked in love and combat. 

We'll have to give Viggo a new exercise plan, maybe the dog park where we couldn't go when Pearl was around because we didn't know how she would handle it. 

To my mind, there are two clear winners: Sophie who can reclaim her house, and Pearl who will have so much love and attention, she'll think she's Cinderella who just arrived at the ball. 

Viggo will cope, and so will we. 

Pearl will live on in my heart, in my memory, and on my Facebook which is filled with her photos and videos. I can visit her there.

Luna (Pearl's new name) will live on at the Logans and heal the hearts of these very special friends.

I'm comforted to think that each dog has its purpose. 

Pearl has simply moved on to her next assignment.