Ode to Casper...
About a week ago I was in the middle of rapidly doing something that I pretended was important when my wife mentioned something to me about a dog and a snake. I try to be a good husband on most days, but the truth is that often when my wife talks I am daydreaming of hamburgers and Ferraris and what is said often goes in one ear and out the other. I don’t remember exactly what she said or how she said it, but I remember that it got my immediate attention and stopped me in my tracks.
I understood enough to hear her say that a friend and her baby had been playing outside on a blanket when all of a sudden a canebrake rattle snake charged the baby without warning! In an instant the family dog, Casper, jumped in to protect the infant from the poisonous snake. In doing so, he intentionally put himself directly into harm’s way, coming between the child and the venomous animal. As a result the dog was bitten twice by the snake. When we first heard about what had happened, Casper was at the veterinarian’s office struggling to survive. My wife and I waited for an update hoping to hear good news about the health and recovery of the brave canine, but in the end, the snake’s bite got the best of the poor dog and Casper passed away.
Wow.
I wasn’t there, I am not sure where, when or why it happened, but I know it affected me enough even a few days later, to force me to sit down with a lump in my throat and tears rolling down my cheek.
Family’s best friend?
…When I was a boy about 12 years old, I remember working in a pasture with a ranch hand to capture and medicate a sick calf. While we held the anxious and obnoxious, bellowing youngster down, I failed to see his mother (enter: Angry Mama Cow!) who thought I was harming her little baby and thought perhaps that it was time to give me the angry, mama cow, hoof-stomp. Before I knew what was happening, my black, runt, Australian Sheppard mix named Tippy had leapt through the air and attached herself to the nose of the cow causing the bovine to twist and change direction rather quickly. I am not certain I would have died that day, but I am fairly sure that my fearless little pup had saved me from the pain of being trampled and quite possibly a broken rib or two. My little dog had done what she thought she had to do to protect me in that instant and had done it without pondering her own safety or the outcome of the situation. I miss you Tippy.
When our youngest daughter was born screaming, our yellow Labrador, Max, wasn’t sure if he wanted to stay with us or move back to the pound. Although it may not have been his first choice, he stuck it out with us and often showed genuine concern when the baby cried and fussed. At a very early age Alexandria would flail about and throw her little frame around as if she thought she was flying somewhere. One time as a young toddler, almost in slow motion, I remember watching her flex her back and contort her body in a way that launched her off of the couch and straight towards the floor. Although it could have been another forehead plant directly into the tile, she instead landed on a 106 pound yellow cushion of fur and skin. Max seemed to be startled and let out a hot air, “OOF?!” when it happened, but he didn’t budge and almost seemed to be smiling while wagging his tail looking up at me. Nice job Max.
Casper made the ultimate sacrifice. Since domesticated almost 15,000 years ago, dogs have moved into our homes and been our best friends. They have formed bonds with us and our children. They live and breathe for the safety of their family and their ‘pack.’ Casper may not have known what the overall consequences would be, but did what he was programmed to do. True that the incident was a very sad ordeal, but the alternative to what could have happened is unthinkable. You rule Casper!
So thank you Casper. Thank You Tippy and Max, and Rock and Weiner, and Winnie and Angel and Maddie and Easter and Pepper and Boots and Nicky and Sadie and Roxie and Buddy…thank you for letting us tame you and bring you into our families and love you the way we love you. Thank you for loving us back so much that if it had to happen you would give up everything to protect us. Thank you so much for letting us believe that we are the empowered ones who have chosen you to join our family and live your life with our “pack”…maybe someday we will understand that the reason you are here now is that you were not chosen by us, but from a power greater than we could ever understand, you were chosen for us.
