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Speaker 1: Countdown with Keith Olderman is a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Do you have a dog? It seems like a simple question,

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Speaker 1: and then you are reminded that Donald Trump has never

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Speaker 1: had a dog in his life and only refers to

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Speaker 1: dogs when he is making an insult, while Joe Biden

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Speaker 1: in the White House got a shelter shepherd who apparently

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Speaker 1: bit somebody from the Secret Service, long before any of

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Speaker 1: us humans fully understood just how corrupted the Secret Service

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Speaker 1: had become. I mentioned a dog in need in every

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Speaker 1: episode of this podcast, and twice I have gone on

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Speaker 1: at length about two of my own dogs. You will

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Speaker 1: have to indulge my unapologetic love for them. I got

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Speaker 1: my first dog at the age of fifty three, which means,

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Speaker 1: among other things, that the first nineteen thousand and sixty

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Speaker 1: five days of my life were a complete waste of time.

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Speaker 1: I literally called all the dog people I knew and said,

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Speaker 1: why didn't you tell me? Since then, I've had five

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Speaker 1: dogs in my family, three others who were supposed to

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Speaker 1: be but while they were great dogs, they clearly did

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Speaker 1: not fit in with my incumbents, and clearly they wanted

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Speaker 1: to be elsewhere, and so they went elsewhere. And two

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Speaker 1: more I got for an old girlfriend's parents. That's ten dogs.

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Speaker 1: I am clearly trying to make up for lost time.

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Speaker 1: And I like to paraphrase al Smith about democracy. The

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Speaker 1: cure for the ills of dogs is more dogs. As

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Speaker 1: they say, there is no zealot like a convert. In

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Speaker 1: this episode, I'd like to tell you about two of

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Speaker 1: those ten dogs. One was a puppy with a fatally

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Speaker 1: bad heart who was here just under three months, but

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Speaker 1: who loved every minute of it, as I loved every

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Speaker 1: minute of being with him, missh you. But first, the other,

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Speaker 1: my first, my number one girl. This is the story

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Speaker 1: of Stevie. Olivia looked at me and said, I need

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Speaker 1: a puppy fix. Ten years ago today, my girlfriend's family

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Speaker 1: dog was dying. My girlfriend would not say it, her

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Speaker 1: folks would not say it. The dog, a Jack Russell

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Speaker 1: Terrier named Casey, did her best to be the only

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Speaker 1: truthful one in the bunch, moving purposefully and unsteadily with

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Speaker 1: every step and looking out at her world with a

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Speaker 1: seeming mixture of acceptance and sadness and especially regret that

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Speaker 1: the one time she really needed her bipeds to speak

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Speaker 1: for her, they would not. I just need for dogs,

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Speaker 1: not to mean sadness. Olivia said, just for a while,

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Speaker 1: can we go to that pet shop on lex I

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Speaker 1: mumbled that we could go, but that I had resisted

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Speaker 1: the dog entreaties of eleven girlfriends before her, and I

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Speaker 1: would successfully resist hers. I had always loved dogs, but

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Speaker 1: I was really allergic to them, and my doctors had

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Speaker 1: all said that even hypoallergenic dogs were a crap shoot.

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Speaker 1: She said, I do not want a dog. I am

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Speaker 1: not trying to convince you to get us a dog.

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Speaker 1: I just want to hold a puppy for a little while.

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Speaker 1: She paused, as she always did when she felt both

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Speaker 1: hopeless and angry at being at the mercy of feelings,

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Speaker 1: and she lapsed into the shrug emoji. As sappy as

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Speaker 1: that sounds, Olivia the girlfriend, the former girlfriend, let me

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Speaker 1: make this easier on both of us. Will call her

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Speaker 1: t f g F. The former girlfriend. T f GF

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Speaker 1: and I left for the pet shop in mid afternoon,

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Speaker 1: and I told her my true fear here that my

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Speaker 1: native but dormant shared affinity with dogs would all of

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Speaker 1: a moment spring fully grown from my soul, and I

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Speaker 1: would blurt, just give me all of them. I mean,

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Speaker 1: what kind of life could I offer a dog. I

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Speaker 1: was on television, and thus always in a television studio,

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Speaker 1: and thus never home for play or walks, or just

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Speaker 1: the prevention of canine loneliness. I had a girlfriend who

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Speaker 1: lived out of town. Half the time, I was clueless

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Speaker 1: as to every practical aspect of the dog thing. I

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Speaker 1: had littered the continent with dead house plants, and I

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Speaker 1: no longer thought myself capable of pulling my ego out

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Speaker 1: of my backside sufficiently to take care of fish. I

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Speaker 1: had literally not had a pet of any kind since

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Speaker 1: I had come to terms with living in a wistful,

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Speaker 1: hazy world in which I might inadvertently have a dog

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Speaker 1: pal for a few moments, but almost never indoors, and

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Speaker 1: never without the pang of knowing that the hello itself

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Speaker 1: contained the start of the goodbye. And I was allergic.

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Speaker 1: I was allergic to the obvious big, furry, friendly dogs,

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Speaker 1: and I might be allergic to the ones that were

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Speaker 1: billed as non allergic. And if I disobeyed this immutable cannon,

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Speaker 1: the buried tears of permanent exclusion might be replaced by

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Speaker 1: far worse ones of separation and loss. Me I would

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Speaker 1: get over it, probably, but without overvaluing myself too much

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Speaker 1: to betray the love of a dog to send a

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Speaker 1: dog back because of allergies. As t F, GF and

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Speaker 1: I approached the shop, there was, as they're almost always is,

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Speaker 1: there a small crowd undulating around it. Lexington avenues narrow

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Speaker 1: sidewalks make these human clots easier to form, even late

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Speaker 1: on the first Sunday of autumn. There's also an obstacle

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Speaker 1: course of greats and cellar doors and bikes, chained poles

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Speaker 1: and parking meters and canopies for diners and restaurants and

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Speaker 1: mattress show rooms and other places. They're not quite seedy,

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Speaker 1: but also aren't quite your first choice. The uptown edges

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Speaker 1: of the grime and noise that constitute the maze of

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Speaker 1: fifty nine Street Bridge approaches lend the place a congested

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Speaker 1: feel even when it's otherwise quiet. We are three blocks

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Speaker 1: up from the trying just a little too hard merchandizing

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Speaker 1: of Bloomingdale's. There are unwashed delivery trucks, double parked five

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Speaker 1: days a year and then totally out of place. Amid

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Speaker 1: the prosaic trappings of a big city at its most

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Speaker 1: men there they are bouncing off each other, tearing impotitely

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Speaker 1: at other, tiny heads and tails and paws doing a

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Speaker 1: seeming pantomime of dismemberment. Their yips and the crunch of

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Speaker 1: the shredded cavorting paper are just audible through the glass

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Speaker 1: and over the din of the street. They create an

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Speaker 1: oasis of cute. And just in case you can't tell

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Speaker 1: what they are, there's this big neon sign above their

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Speaker 1: street front window that reads poppies. Don't make me go in,

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Speaker 1: I pleaded. She reassured me. We'd go in. She'd hold

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Speaker 1: the dog. All I had to do was take a picture.

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Speaker 1: You don't understand. I reached for her hand. What I'm

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Speaker 1: trying to say is I always wanted a dog, but

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Speaker 1: I could never have a dog. Just as the door

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Speaker 1: to the shop opened, she grabbed my arm. She yanked hard,

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Speaker 1: She swore, and she muttered, you'll survive. Man up. Don't

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Speaker 1: make eye contact. Don't make eye contact. Don't make eye contact.

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Speaker 1: Don't make eye contact. We were going towards puppies and

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Speaker 1: past puppies, and the appearance of a small staircase to

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Speaker 1: a training laft confirmed We're now going under puppies and

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Speaker 1: in the deepest recesses of the shop. There was a

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Speaker 1: wall of puppies two our right, three cages high, six across,

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Speaker 1: all a yellowish beige behind a reddish brown for mica countertop,

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Speaker 1: then a structural beam, and then three cages high two across,

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Speaker 1: then a corner with a small visiting pen built into

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Speaker 1: the countertop. Then right in front of me, the Hollywood

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Speaker 1: Square is of puppies three high, three across, and all

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Speaker 1: of their inmates, all nine of them, staring at me

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Speaker 1: and screaming at me and making eye contact and saying,

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Speaker 1: by eesp, take me home. A salesman now introduced himself

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Speaker 1: as Jeffrey, and Jeffrey asked if t F GF had

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Speaker 1: any particular dog she wanted him to bring to her.

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Speaker 1: Let me see the Maltese the girl. In that moment,

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Speaker 1: two things struck me. Firstly, this was my cue to

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Speaker 1: get the phone out and prepared to take the photo

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Speaker 1: of her with the puppy. Secondly, the dog, whom the

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Speaker 1: salesman was now temporarily liberating from the surprisingly spare cage,

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Speaker 1: was the only living soul inside that pet shop besides me,

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Speaker 1: who was not making any damn noise. Every other puppy

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Speaker 1: was perfecting its adolescent bark. The cats were making a

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Speaker 1: bewildering variety of noises, And and was that a Norwegian

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Speaker 1: blue parrots squawk? Remarkable bird, the Norwegian blue? Isn't it beautiful? Plumage?

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Speaker 1: This multi he said nothing. She looked like her torso

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Speaker 1: would easily fit in one of my hands if she

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Speaker 1: was three pounds. A quarter of it was hair, and

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Speaker 1: half of that was curled. And presumably somebody came by

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Speaker 1: every day to turn what sat atop her head into

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Speaker 1: a mohawk up top and a mullet in the back.

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Speaker 1: Her cage mate brothers seemed a little bigger, but his

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Speaker 1: eyes were clearly smaller, and their ocular contrast was immediately visible,

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Speaker 1: even if you still had forlorn hopes of avoiding eye contact.

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Speaker 1: His shown hers. We're illuminated. He tried to get past

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Speaker 1: her into the salesman's arms. She simply lifted up her

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Speaker 1: head towards him. And it actually crossed my mind that

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Speaker 1: she looked like she was about to say, Hi, Jeffrey,

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Speaker 1: how are you today? He put her gently down in

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Speaker 1: the playpen at the right corner of the counter. T

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Speaker 1: F GF asked if she could pick the puppy up

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Speaker 1: and nodded to me to get the camera ready. Honestly,

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Speaker 1: Jeffrey said, this is the sweetest dog we've had in

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Speaker 1: here for months. I say that every day to almost everybody,

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Speaker 1: but this time I'm actually not lying. T F GF

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Speaker 1: cradled the Maltese in her arms, with the dog's head

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Speaker 1: facing to my right. I tapped the camera on the phone.

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Speaker 1: My hand was already shaking as I centered up t

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Speaker 1: F g F and the puppy in the frame. The

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Speaker 1: Maltese suddenly wiggled upright, placed her front paws on my

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Speaker 1: girlfriend's chest, and just as I snapped the image, the

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Speaker 1: dog reached up and kissed my girlfriend on the lips.

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Speaker 1: I am, on occasion, completely incapable of remembering anything that

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Speaker 1: happened in my entire life before that moment. T F

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Speaker 1: GF made the appropriate sounds of approval. Jeffrey began discussing

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Speaker 1: how little grooming the Maltese breed needs and the great

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Speaker 1: price he could give us, And even as my head spun,

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Speaker 1: it seemed silly to me that he was calculating the

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Speaker 1: tax on something that was obviously timelessly and eternally priceless.

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Speaker 1: T F g F said something about how we needed

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Speaker 1: a minute outside to discuss it, and she handed the

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Speaker 1: puppy back to Jeffrey, and the dog looked at each

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Speaker 1: of each of us and as if she was about

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Speaker 1: to say, nice to meet you. As the pup went

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Speaker 1: back up into the cage with her brother, something extraordinary happened.

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Speaker 1: The little girl was reaching her head up towards the

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Speaker 1: spout of the cage's water bottle with the same graceful

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Speaker 1: movement she had made to bestow that kiss on t

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Speaker 1: F GF when her brother puppy abruptly body slammed her

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Speaker 1: out of the way, and her tiny frame bounced off

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Speaker 1: the side of the cage. And then, to my shock

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Speaker 1: and confusion, a deep and threatening growl, a vengeful reverberated

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Speaker 1: throughout the pet shop. The growl was coming from me.

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Speaker 1: The next sounds were from t F GF. My God,

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Speaker 1: what's wrong with you? I didn't know it at the time,

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Speaker 1: but as we turned to fight our way back out

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Speaker 1: through the shop to the street, evidently half skidded into

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Speaker 1: a displayful of chew toys. They nearly toppled to the floor.

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Speaker 1: I nearly toppled to the floor. I couldn't see, but

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Speaker 1: I didn't recognize my own tears until they hit the

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Speaker 1: edges of my lips. Somehow I managed to say it again,

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Speaker 1: this time in despair. I always wanted a dog, but

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Speaker 1: I could never have one. She suddenly realized what had happened.

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Speaker 1: I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm an asshole. T F GF

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Speaker 1: was now holding me upright and steering me towards the

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Speaker 1: door to the street. I didn't listen to I'm an asshole.

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Speaker 1: I'm an asshole. You told me. I didn't believe you.

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Speaker 1: I'm so sorry. Well now the stories came pouring out,

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Speaker 1: all jumbled, one on top of the other. Tiny the

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Speaker 1: st Bernard at the Katzenstein's, he only wanted to embrace me.

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Speaker 1: He wasn't trying to eat me. And the mcconnons mutt

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Speaker 1: next door. Boots used to come sit on my lap,

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Speaker 1: and Tiny didn't make me sneezing only scared me. And

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Speaker 1: the mcconnons had three boys and a mother who baked

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Speaker 1: cookies by the car load. Lot and Boots never left

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Speaker 1: their side, and I was always at their house. And

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Speaker 1: if I was allergic, how was it that I never

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Speaker 1: once had a problem with Boots. How in the hell

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Speaker 1: did that work? Huh? And what about Vladimir or the

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Speaker 1: straight cat my sister found he used to live in

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Speaker 1: the garage and behaved like a dog and like to

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Speaker 1: be carried around like a baby. And how allergic was

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Speaker 1: I had beautiful, beautiful little Maltese reached up and kissed

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Speaker 1: you on the mouth. And the one time I took

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Speaker 1: my dad's movie camera to the mcconnor's house, half of

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Speaker 1: the film was of Boots. And what if I went

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Speaker 1: back and got the allergy shots again? And it was

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Speaker 1: my mother who said she was really allergic, so I

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Speaker 1: must be too, And what's the use? The little Maltese

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Speaker 1: was perfect? And the next person, who was Caesar, will

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Speaker 1: snap her up in an instant. And I asked them

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00:13:33,795 --> 00:13:35,955
Speaker 1: just to let me try a little dog who wouldn't shed.

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Speaker 1: The only thing my mother would let me have were lizards,

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Speaker 1: and I could take a zyr tech every day. I'm

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Speaker 1: so sorry, Tiny, I didn't realize I never said goodbye

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Speaker 1: to Boots. Maltese is gone. She's gone, she's gone, and

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Speaker 1: she's my dog. I know what I could feel it.

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Speaker 1: She's my dog and she's gone. What happened next Beggar's fiction.

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Speaker 1: It involves Rudy Giuliani and his part of this story

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Speaker 1: of ten years ago today and what happened to the

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Speaker 1: dog and to me continues after this, back to the

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Speaker 1: number one story on the countdown and the day I

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00:14:20,195 --> 00:14:22,315
Speaker 1: fell in love with a dog for the first time

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Speaker 1: and my girlfriend, the former girlfriend t f GF, and

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Speaker 1: I left the puppy in the pet shop. T F

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Speaker 1: g F and I were walking me mid meltdown, somehow,

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Speaker 1: now nearing the Park Avenue Armory, one block west and

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Speaker 1: four blocks north of the pet shop that I thought

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Speaker 1: we were still in. To her credit, t F GF

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00:14:44,595 --> 00:14:47,475
Speaker 1: had kept me from throwing myself into traffic or dissolving

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Speaker 1: into a puddle on sixty Street. The overwhelming sensation I

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00:14:52,635 --> 00:14:55,075
Speaker 1: had was not one of having left the tiny puppy

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Speaker 1: in the shop, but of having left a part of

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Speaker 1: myself there that was my dog. And what was worse

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Speaker 1: was she was obviously going to be taken by somebody else,

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Speaker 1: even before I got back there, even if we turned

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Speaker 1: around right away. Who could resist her? I certainly hadn't.

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Speaker 1: My chaotic stream of consciousness monologue paused only when I

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00:15:14,835 --> 00:15:17,915
Speaker 1: had no choice but to shut up and gasp for breath,

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Speaker 1: and the comments with which t F GF tried to

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Speaker 1: soothe me in these moments were self abnegating and solemn.

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Speaker 1: She had talked me off the limb of my certainty

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Speaker 1: that the dog had already been sold, and was now

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00:15:29,835 --> 00:15:33,915
Speaker 1: steering me back towards sanity. I had to, she would say, later,

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Speaker 1: you were having a breakdown. She said, we should go home,

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Speaker 1: and if I wanted to talk seriously about the practicalities

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Speaker 1: of owning the dog, we could do that and still

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Speaker 1: get the puppy the next morning, even if it meant

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Speaker 1: delaying her departure for d C. Don't worry. I'm sure

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Speaker 1: she's still there. They were getting ready to close. She'll

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Speaker 1: be there in the morning. I exhaled, and then I repanicked.

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Speaker 1: She's she's I sniffed anew and the tears resumed. She's

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Speaker 1: in that cage with that brother of hers in the basement.

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Speaker 1: So where Before t F g F could answer, and

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Speaker 1: I swear this is true, Rudy Giuliani spilled down the

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Speaker 1: stairs from the armory we were passing. A cop suddenly

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Speaker 1: appeared from a different nowhere and put out an arm

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Speaker 1: and firmly asked us to stop walking, and Giuliana scuttled

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Speaker 1: rodent like into a waiting car. A wife was with him.

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Speaker 1: I did not and do not know which number. The

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00:16:32,115 --> 00:16:34,715
Speaker 1: driver was already closing the door behind them when I

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00:16:34,715 --> 00:16:37,395
Speaker 1: shouted it, how come my dog has to spend the

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Speaker 1: night in a cage while that ass hat is allowed

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Speaker 1: to roam around this city without a leash on him.

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Speaker 1: Later that evening, t f GF said that was the

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Speaker 1: first moment she thought we might just get home safe

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Speaker 1: and sound. After all, it was not ten more minutes

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Speaker 1: back to my apartment, and we walked it in silence.

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00:16:56,875 --> 00:16:59,835
Speaker 1: Now I had long since saturated my handkerchief and some

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00:16:59,915 --> 00:17:03,115
Speaker 1: tissues t f GF had in her pockets. I was

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00:17:03,195 --> 00:17:07,515
Speaker 1: breathing deeply and restoreatively. Now the sniffle frequency reduced to

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00:17:07,595 --> 00:17:11,475
Speaker 1: once or twice per block, and my mind was crowded

290
00:17:11,475 --> 00:17:16,355
Speaker 1: with the dogs I had known, Boots, Tiny, Vladimir, the cat,

291
00:17:16,435 --> 00:17:19,755
Speaker 1: even t fgf's little Casey dying out in Jersey. And

292
00:17:19,875 --> 00:17:23,075
Speaker 1: unaware of the seismic events which she had sent in motion,

293
00:17:24,395 --> 00:17:26,715
Speaker 1: I was thinking of other dogs, to all of the dogs,

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Speaker 1: and all of the stories of James Thurber that I

295
00:17:29,035 --> 00:17:32,115
Speaker 1: read on TV every Friday night. I had smiled along

296
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Speaker 1: with his poetic descriptions of them, but never confessed I

297
00:17:36,235 --> 00:17:41,035
Speaker 1: loved them as he must have. There was Samantha, who

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Speaker 1: my late friend Bruce Hagen used to bring everywhere, including

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Speaker 1: our college radio station newsroom. The first really big dog

300
00:17:46,515 --> 00:17:50,635
Speaker 1: who did not frighten me. My great aunts Yorkie, whose

301
00:17:50,675 --> 00:17:54,115
Speaker 1: gas was so potent that the Christmas just before I

302
00:17:54,155 --> 00:17:56,715
Speaker 1: turned nine, my great uncle said he was convinced she

303
00:17:56,835 --> 00:17:59,515
Speaker 1: had been a German terror weapon at Chateau Terry in

304
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Speaker 1: the First World War, and he and I had bonded

305
00:18:01,875 --> 00:18:06,155
Speaker 1: because I knew what Chateau Terry was. There was Nellie McNally,

306
00:18:06,355 --> 00:18:08,635
Speaker 1: the only dog that any of my sometimes out of

307
00:18:08,675 --> 00:18:11,635
Speaker 1: town girlfriends ever had actually put on the phone with me.

308
00:18:12,435 --> 00:18:15,235
Speaker 1: In my mind, they all stood before me, all lined up,

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Speaker 1: all quiet, smiling, all with the kindest type of I

310
00:18:20,435 --> 00:18:25,915
Speaker 1: told you so, dummy on their wonderful faces, and dozens

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00:18:25,915 --> 00:18:29,995
Speaker 1: more behind them, vague shapes and sizes, who belonged to

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00:18:30,035 --> 00:18:32,675
Speaker 1: neighbors or co workers, passed, or who are just chance

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00:18:32,755 --> 00:18:34,915
Speaker 1: encounters on the streets of any of a dozen cities

314
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Speaker 1: decades before. No, I'm sorry, she said, I shouldn't have

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Speaker 1: been that selfish. But now I disagreed with her, and

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Speaker 1: as I unlocked the apartment door, I began to tell

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Speaker 1: her of the dogs I had just been communing within

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Speaker 1: my mind and what had suddenly become necessary, urgent, inevitable,

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Speaker 1: and perfect, but about which I needed as much detail

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Speaker 1: as I could in as short a period as possible.

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Speaker 1: T F g F tried, well, you just take the

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Speaker 1: dog wherever you can. My parents have been saying this

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Speaker 1: a lot lately. Now they regret not doing more things

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Speaker 1: with Casey, not adventures, not kayaking, just taking her with them,

325
00:19:11,675 --> 00:19:13,715
Speaker 1: or going out in the yard, or just holding her

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Speaker 1: while they watched TV. You just let the dog in.

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00:19:18,795 --> 00:19:24,515
Speaker 1: We went through topic after topic, cleaning, training, handling, poop walks, food,

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Speaker 1: puppy sitters, moving books off ground level shelves, discipline, and

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00:19:28,235 --> 00:19:31,355
Speaker 1: most importantly of all, a backup plan in case this

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00:19:31,435 --> 00:19:36,635
Speaker 1: epiphany was false and or I was still allergic or terrified,

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00:19:36,755 --> 00:19:41,355
Speaker 1: or incompetent or all three. I don't think it will

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00:19:41,435 --> 00:19:43,795
Speaker 1: take much to convince my parents to take her. I mean,

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00:19:43,835 --> 00:19:48,635
Speaker 1: even after Casey recovers and I can take her with

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00:19:48,635 --> 00:19:51,315
Speaker 1: me to d C tomorrow, I'll bring her back next weekend,

335
00:19:51,355 --> 00:19:53,195
Speaker 1: so you can get the apartment ready, and you can

336
00:19:53,195 --> 00:19:55,395
Speaker 1: get you ready, and you don't have to go in

337
00:19:55,475 --> 00:19:59,195
Speaker 1: at the deep end right away. I interrupted her with

338
00:19:59,235 --> 00:20:03,115
Speaker 1: a kiss. Let's go back there before they close. I

339
00:20:03,275 --> 00:20:07,195
Speaker 1: don't want to wait until morning. I'm still terrified somebody

340
00:20:07,195 --> 00:20:11,915
Speaker 1: else will realize how extraordinary she is. Unexpectedly. I had

341
00:20:11,955 --> 00:20:14,195
Speaker 1: a moment of doubt at this point. This isn't just

342
00:20:14,275 --> 00:20:17,515
Speaker 1: me having a breakdown, right, I mean, she is extraordinary.

343
00:20:17,715 --> 00:20:20,355
Speaker 1: I'm having a breakdown, and she is extraordinary, isn't she.

344
00:20:21,355 --> 00:20:23,675
Speaker 1: T FGF stopped being nice, and now for the first time,

345
00:20:23,755 --> 00:20:25,475
Speaker 1: looked at me like I had just gone crazy, even

346
00:20:25,475 --> 00:20:28,235
Speaker 1: though I just tad gone crazy. Obviously. She said that

347
00:20:28,275 --> 00:20:32,275
Speaker 1: was a real kiss. The pet shop had stayed open,

348
00:20:32,675 --> 00:20:36,235
Speaker 1: partly because t F GF phoned them as we hit

349
00:20:36,275 --> 00:20:39,755
Speaker 1: the street outside the apartment building, and partly because they

350
00:20:39,835 --> 00:20:43,635
Speaker 1: knew you were coming back. Jeffrey said, you just see

351
00:20:43,675 --> 00:20:49,115
Speaker 1: it sometimes. Also, you seemed kind of emotional. T F

352
00:20:49,275 --> 00:20:53,075
Speaker 1: GF helpfully mentioned that I'd had a breakdown. They had

353
00:20:53,115 --> 00:20:56,715
Speaker 1: all the paraphernal. You're ready. A little aquabed a series

354
00:20:56,715 --> 00:20:58,995
Speaker 1: of attached gates that could be used as a pen

355
00:20:59,115 --> 00:21:01,635
Speaker 1: or a barrier, a small pink blanket, a bag of

356
00:21:01,675 --> 00:21:04,915
Speaker 1: training pads and the plastic pad holder, enough dry food

357
00:21:04,955 --> 00:21:08,795
Speaker 1: to last twelve fourteen months, some horrific wet food that

358
00:21:08,835 --> 00:21:12,115
Speaker 1: looked like a discarded early design for liverwurst, a few

359
00:21:12,195 --> 00:21:14,835
Speaker 1: chew toys, bright pink harness and a leash as light

360
00:21:14,915 --> 00:21:17,755
Speaker 1: as a ribbon, a black carrying bag, and paperwork with

361
00:21:17,795 --> 00:21:21,115
Speaker 1: the Pempy Puppies family tree, which, to my astonishment, stretched

362
00:21:21,155 --> 00:21:23,995
Speaker 1: back beyond her birth one week shy and three months before,

363
00:21:24,275 --> 00:21:27,435
Speaker 1: through the six preceding generations, all the way back to

364
00:21:28,195 --> 00:21:33,075
Speaker 1: six entire years earlier. In addition to all this, they

365
00:21:33,075 --> 00:21:36,115
Speaker 1: could have included a moped, a stock portfolio to guarantee

366
00:21:36,115 --> 00:21:39,195
Speaker 1: your college education, and I'm all t size typewriter with

367
00:21:39,195 --> 00:21:41,555
Speaker 1: a twenty years supply of replacement ribbons, and I would

368
00:21:41,555 --> 00:21:46,395
Speaker 1: have also bought them. Very nice lady named Ellie tried

369
00:21:46,435 --> 00:21:48,195
Speaker 1: to train me to be a dog owner in about

370
00:21:48,315 --> 00:21:51,035
Speaker 1: ninety four seconds and handed me a voucher for a

371
00:21:51,115 --> 00:21:54,195
Speaker 1: vet at a checklist of stuff to do, I signed

372
00:21:54,195 --> 00:21:56,715
Speaker 1: a credit card bill. I think I used my own name.

373
00:21:57,235 --> 00:21:59,675
Speaker 1: I absolved myself of the guilt of not getting a

374
00:21:59,715 --> 00:22:02,955
Speaker 1: shelter dog, because I was allergic and kind of had

375
00:22:02,995 --> 00:22:05,475
Speaker 1: to go the shop route. Plus I was not looking

376
00:22:05,555 --> 00:22:07,435
Speaker 1: for a dog. I had actually fallen in love at

377
00:22:07,475 --> 00:22:10,635
Speaker 1: first sight with this dog. And lastly, because, no matter

378
00:22:10,675 --> 00:22:13,395
Speaker 1: how the obvious and often tragic flaws in this system,

379
00:22:13,395 --> 00:22:16,115
Speaker 1: there was no arguing with the fact that those dogs

380
00:22:16,435 --> 00:22:19,035
Speaker 1: who came from a pet shop had as much of

381
00:22:19,075 --> 00:22:21,115
Speaker 1: a right to a happy life as any other dog.

382
00:22:22,835 --> 00:22:24,995
Speaker 1: At that moment, they produced her from the back room

383
00:22:24,995 --> 00:22:27,515
Speaker 1: behind the block of cages where we had first seen her.

384
00:22:28,075 --> 00:22:31,835
Speaker 1: Her curls had been fluffed up and her hair freshly brushed.

385
00:22:32,555 --> 00:22:34,755
Speaker 1: It would be lovely to say she made eye contact

386
00:22:34,835 --> 00:22:37,915
Speaker 1: him across the shop floor, or was aware of our presence,

387
00:22:37,995 --> 00:22:40,115
Speaker 1: or yipped happily at the sight of me, and it

388
00:22:40,155 --> 00:22:45,115
Speaker 1: would be completely untrue. The little Maltese calmly scanned the room,

389
00:22:45,195 --> 00:22:47,915
Speaker 1: only occasionally glancing up at the manager who carried her,

390
00:22:47,915 --> 00:22:51,115
Speaker 1: and not once at us, until she was, without ceremony

391
00:22:51,235 --> 00:22:57,035
Speaker 1: or comment, handed to me, whereupon she immediately twisted out

392
00:22:57,035 --> 00:23:00,715
Speaker 1: of my trembling hands, stuck her front paws on my chest,

393
00:23:01,155 --> 00:23:03,595
Speaker 1: and reached up to give me a kiss on the lips,

394
00:23:04,675 --> 00:23:08,555
Speaker 1: and then another, and a third, and my sunglasses hid

395
00:23:08,555 --> 00:23:11,395
Speaker 1: the tears that welled up again. I managed to ask

396
00:23:11,475 --> 00:23:14,755
Speaker 1: if they all did that? No, came the answer from

397
00:23:14,755 --> 00:23:18,395
Speaker 1: that salesman, Jeffrey. Honestly, like I told you, sweetest pup

398
00:23:18,475 --> 00:23:22,115
Speaker 1: we've had here in months, loves people, loves people. I'm

399
00:23:22,155 --> 00:23:27,155
Speaker 1: sad to see her go. I marveled and how light

400
00:23:27,315 --> 00:23:30,635
Speaker 1: she was, and yet how articulated and strong her body was.

401
00:23:30,995 --> 00:23:33,555
Speaker 1: Her eyes were far more beautiful than I had realized,

402
00:23:33,635 --> 00:23:37,075
Speaker 1: oversized even for a puppy, almost no white visible. The

403
00:23:37,155 --> 00:23:41,235
Speaker 1: reflection off the deep brown iris is almost iridescent. And

404
00:23:41,355 --> 00:23:44,515
Speaker 1: more astonishingly, this little soul who was about one two

405
00:23:44,915 --> 00:23:49,035
Speaker 1: and twelve my age and about one seven my weight,

406
00:23:49,475 --> 00:23:52,755
Speaker 1: and who had a great great great great grandmother born

407
00:23:52,795 --> 00:23:56,995
Speaker 1: in two thousand six, when my great great great great

408
00:23:57,035 --> 00:24:01,555
Speaker 1: grandmother was born in like eight hundred, she was meeting

409
00:24:01,595 --> 00:24:05,035
Speaker 1: and holding my gaze with her own. Whatever I was

410
00:24:05,075 --> 00:24:07,755
Speaker 1: seeing in her eyes, whatever the inner being I was

411
00:24:07,795 --> 00:24:11,355
Speaker 1: actually processing, she seemed to be doing her equivalent vetting.

412
00:24:12,995 --> 00:24:14,675
Speaker 1: I gave her a little kiss, and was by now

413
00:24:14,795 --> 00:24:18,235
Speaker 1: not surprised when she kissed me again. The little tongue

414
00:24:18,235 --> 00:24:20,115
Speaker 1: poked out a fraction of an inch, just enough so

415
00:24:20,195 --> 00:24:22,635
Speaker 1: any one of us dumb, unsettled bipeds could tell she

416
00:24:22,675 --> 00:24:25,915
Speaker 1: meant it. And then she relaxed from her upright pose

417
00:24:25,955 --> 00:24:28,635
Speaker 1: and settled back into my arms, her head and the

418
00:24:28,675 --> 00:24:31,475
Speaker 1: crook of my right elbow, in an attitude I would

419
00:24:31,515 --> 00:24:35,555
Speaker 1: soon discover she would repeat every time I ever picked

420
00:24:35,595 --> 00:24:41,755
Speaker 1: her up. A couple hours later, the name came to

421
00:24:41,835 --> 00:24:47,915
Speaker 1: me her hair cut. It was Stevie Nicks's haircut. I

422
00:24:47,995 --> 00:24:52,795
Speaker 1: named her Stevie. We went and got Rose a year later.

423
00:24:53,235 --> 00:24:55,315
Speaker 1: T F g F and I split a year after that,

424
00:24:55,435 --> 00:24:58,915
Speaker 1: so it was a win win win. Ted My rescue

425
00:24:58,915 --> 00:25:01,475
Speaker 1: with the bad heart arrived in two thousand eighteen and

426
00:25:01,515 --> 00:25:03,795
Speaker 1: had surgery, and he doesn't have a bad heart anymore.

427
00:25:03,795 --> 00:25:07,635
Speaker 1: He's fine. Mishu, my other rescue with a bad heart,

428
00:25:07,675 --> 00:25:09,635
Speaker 1: was here last year and had a very happy life,

429
00:25:09,675 --> 00:25:13,075
Speaker 1: just not a very long one. Mena, who is fifteen,

430
00:25:13,195 --> 00:25:16,395
Speaker 1: who we thought had dementia, but it was like just

431
00:25:16,515 --> 00:25:19,955
Speaker 1: rotten teeth. Get your dogs teeth checked. He showed up

432
00:25:19,995 --> 00:25:24,275
Speaker 1: this June. It is a crowd. There are four Maltese

433
00:25:24,355 --> 00:25:27,875
Speaker 1: is here. But then again, I wasted the first fifty

434
00:25:27,955 --> 00:25:30,075
Speaker 1: three years of my life living without a dog, so

435
00:25:30,115 --> 00:25:34,835
Speaker 1: I have to make up for lost time ten years

436
00:25:34,875 --> 00:25:40,995
Speaker 1: ago today when it became official when I was adopted.

437
00:25:46,635 --> 00:25:51,315
Speaker 1: Stevie is also known in the family as Keith's Gateway drug.

438
00:25:52,555 --> 00:25:56,595
Speaker 1: My gratitude to Stevie and my gratitude for her led

439
00:25:56,635 --> 00:25:59,595
Speaker 1: me into the world of rescue dogs, and that led

440
00:25:59,635 --> 00:26:04,355
Speaker 1: me to Mishu. His story may seem less heartwarming and

441
00:26:04,395 --> 00:26:17,595
Speaker 1: more heartbreaking, I would disagree. I hope you'll listen. I

442
00:26:17,675 --> 00:26:20,075
Speaker 1: had often looked into getting a third dog, and I

443
00:26:20,115 --> 00:26:23,155
Speaker 1: had gotten heavily involved in rescue work, and then in

444
00:26:23,195 --> 00:26:27,035
Speaker 1: two thousand eighteen, the paths crossed. I got a call

445
00:26:27,995 --> 00:26:30,915
Speaker 1: from a woman I met at a pet food store

446
00:26:31,795 --> 00:26:34,355
Speaker 1: and she became my friend, Sue Levitt, who runs the

447
00:26:34,395 --> 00:26:37,235
Speaker 1: rescue part of the American Maltese Association for much of

448
00:26:37,275 --> 00:26:41,315
Speaker 1: the Northeast. And Sue said, we have something special and challenging,

449
00:26:41,595 --> 00:26:44,595
Speaker 1: and if you don't want to do it, understood. He's

450
00:26:44,635 --> 00:26:48,235
Speaker 1: a three month old Maltese pup with a terrible, terrible

451
00:26:48,275 --> 00:26:50,715
Speaker 1: heart condition and they are not sure that he will

452
00:26:50,755 --> 00:26:55,435
Speaker 1: make it past ten months. And I thought about it

453
00:26:56,595 --> 00:26:59,315
Speaker 1: for about five seconds and I said yes, And soon

454
00:26:59,875 --> 00:27:03,995
Speaker 1: Spaghetti was in my apartment trying to boss Stevie and

455
00:27:04,115 --> 00:27:06,715
Speaker 1: rose a round, and I knew he needed to stay.

456
00:27:07,035 --> 00:27:11,035
Speaker 1: And I knew one other thing. He needed a new name. Spaghetti,

457
00:27:12,195 --> 00:27:19,835
Speaker 1: Spaghetti Getty, Teddy, Ted my dad's name perfect. I was

458
00:27:19,875 --> 00:27:22,235
Speaker 1: so prepared for the worst though, with Ted that it

459
00:27:22,275 --> 00:27:25,435
Speaker 1: was July and I did not buy him any stuff

460
00:27:25,475 --> 00:27:28,515
Speaker 1: for winter until I took him to the Animal Medical

461
00:27:28,555 --> 00:27:31,115
Speaker 1: Center here in New York and the cardiologist Dennis Traffe.

462
00:27:31,115 --> 00:27:33,995
Speaker 1: He said, he's got a heavy valve in his heart.

463
00:27:34,275 --> 00:27:38,315
Speaker 1: If we don't do anything, he's got five to seven years.

464
00:27:40,155 --> 00:27:44,675
Speaker 1: My ears perked up. Then he said, with medication, seven

465
00:27:44,715 --> 00:27:48,755
Speaker 1: to ten years. But I can operate, he added, I

466
00:27:48,795 --> 00:27:51,315
Speaker 1: and probably give him a normal lifespan, at least close

467
00:27:51,315 --> 00:27:53,755
Speaker 1: to it. I thread this filament that I'm holding in

468
00:27:53,795 --> 00:27:55,795
Speaker 1: through his jugular vein and into his heart, and then

469
00:27:55,795 --> 00:27:58,635
Speaker 1: I stopped his heart electrically for three seconds. See this

470
00:27:58,675 --> 00:28:00,955
Speaker 1: push button here. I pushed this button on the filament,

471
00:28:01,155 --> 00:28:03,195
Speaker 1: and the other end of the filament is a tiny balloon,

472
00:28:03,195 --> 00:28:05,355
Speaker 1: and it pushes the valve open in the heart. And

473
00:28:05,395 --> 00:28:07,355
Speaker 1: you keep doing this as long as he can stand it.

474
00:28:07,555 --> 00:28:09,595
Speaker 1: And it's like knocking the rust off a hinge on

475
00:28:09,635 --> 00:28:12,715
Speaker 1: a door by just opening the door again and again,

476
00:28:12,755 --> 00:28:16,995
Speaker 1: and I said, I don't see any filament, and he

477
00:28:17,075 --> 00:28:19,515
Speaker 1: said sorry, and he moved it in front of a

478
00:28:19,555 --> 00:28:22,315
Speaker 1: black background, and there it was about half the width

479
00:28:22,315 --> 00:28:26,155
Speaker 1: of a hair. And I said great. And then I said,

480
00:28:26,195 --> 00:28:28,635
Speaker 1: but but why did they think he wouldn't make it

481
00:28:28,675 --> 00:28:32,075
Speaker 1: past ten months? And he said, well, if you're a vet,

482
00:28:33,435 --> 00:28:36,115
Speaker 1: you might see this condition once in your entire career.

483
00:28:36,835 --> 00:28:42,315
Speaker 1: I operate on it three times a month. Ted is

484
00:28:42,355 --> 00:28:45,395
Speaker 1: now four and a half years old. He is a

485
00:28:45,435 --> 00:28:48,395
Speaker 1: four and a half year old boy in a dog's body.

486
00:28:49,155 --> 00:28:53,235
Speaker 1: On our walks, Ted flirts with all the human girls.

487
00:28:53,675 --> 00:28:56,435
Speaker 1: He barks at all the other dogs and then goes

488
00:28:56,515 --> 00:28:58,915
Speaker 1: up and says hi to most of them. He has

489
00:28:58,955 --> 00:29:04,355
Speaker 1: a series of enemies, the printer, the plunger, the thunder,

490
00:29:04,475 --> 00:29:09,235
Speaker 1: and at least a dozen television commercials. The operation went

491
00:29:09,355 --> 00:29:11,995
Speaker 1: so well that they were an hour late giving him

492
00:29:11,995 --> 00:29:15,595
Speaker 1: back to me because, as the surgical resident said, he

493
00:29:15,675 --> 00:29:18,475
Speaker 1: had to do all the tests a second time because

494
00:29:18,475 --> 00:29:20,475
Speaker 1: he was worried he had screwed up the first set

495
00:29:20,475 --> 00:29:25,555
Speaker 1: of tests because the results were too good. If I

496
00:29:25,595 --> 00:29:29,995
Speaker 1: could have gotten luckier given the prognosis with which Ted arrived,

497
00:29:30,995 --> 00:29:33,035
Speaker 1: I don't know how I could have gotten luck here.

498
00:29:35,755 --> 00:29:39,035
Speaker 1: So when my friends Sue from Maltese Rescue called last

499
00:29:39,075 --> 00:29:43,995
Speaker 1: summer August of two one and said, I have a really,

500
00:29:44,155 --> 00:29:46,635
Speaker 1: really tough case now, and I don't think there's a

501
00:29:46,755 --> 00:29:50,115
Speaker 1: chance that there's some sort of unexpectedly positive outcome like

502
00:29:50,195 --> 00:29:54,755
Speaker 1: there was with Ted. This was another puppy, barely three months.

503
00:29:55,395 --> 00:29:58,595
Speaker 1: The family loved him, but there were two young kids,

504
00:29:59,035 --> 00:30:03,035
Speaker 1: and frankly the mother thought the kids were too young

505
00:30:03,115 --> 00:30:06,835
Speaker 1: to watch this little dog die. His name was Mishu

506
00:30:07,755 --> 00:30:13,355
Speaker 1: m i s h you Polish for little bear, and

507
00:30:13,355 --> 00:30:18,395
Speaker 1: the condition he had was well known and feared. Tetrology

508
00:30:18,435 --> 00:30:23,835
Speaker 1: of fallow. If that sounds familiar, it happens to human children.

509
00:30:24,395 --> 00:30:26,995
Speaker 1: And to correct it in a human child, now take

510
00:30:27,115 --> 00:30:32,155
Speaker 1: surgery that can last twelve hours. Jimmy Kimmel's son had

511
00:30:32,235 --> 00:30:37,315
Speaker 1: tetrology of Fallow. It's four major problems all in one heart.

512
00:30:38,555 --> 00:30:42,835
Speaker 1: In dogs, there have been early experiments in surgery, but

513
00:30:42,915 --> 00:30:47,315
Speaker 1: almost exclusively for bigger dogs and to try to explain

514
00:30:47,395 --> 00:30:51,235
Speaker 1: what's wrong. If you've ever seen the drawings of mc Escher,

515
00:30:51,315 --> 00:30:54,595
Speaker 1: where the same staircase can go up and down at

516
00:30:54,595 --> 00:30:57,675
Speaker 1: the same time as you look at it, that's more

517
00:30:57,795 --> 00:31:00,715
Speaker 1: or less what a heart afflicted with. Tetrology of fallow

518
00:31:01,115 --> 00:31:04,795
Speaker 1: looks like there are arteries going over the heart, and

519
00:31:04,795 --> 00:31:08,755
Speaker 1: there are others that take the oxygenated blood and pump

520
00:31:08,795 --> 00:31:13,995
Speaker 1: it backwards in the wrong direction. In the middle of

521
00:31:14,035 --> 00:31:17,835
Speaker 1: last August, Mishu arrived here. It is so easy to

522
00:31:17,995 --> 00:31:20,955
Speaker 1: romanticize things like this, but there was from the first

523
00:31:20,995 --> 00:31:24,835
Speaker 1: something magical about this little puppy. He was very, very sick.

524
00:31:25,595 --> 00:31:28,955
Speaker 1: His tongue and his gums, we're not that healthy pink

525
00:31:29,035 --> 00:31:30,995
Speaker 1: that you are familiar with if you've ever seen a

526
00:31:31,075 --> 00:31:34,355
Speaker 1: dog once in your life. His tongue and gums were purple.

527
00:31:35,355 --> 00:31:39,035
Speaker 1: He was tiny, he was dwarfed by my other three dogs,

528
00:31:40,515 --> 00:31:44,195
Speaker 1: but he was surprisingly healthy. And he would start trouble

529
00:31:44,275 --> 00:31:47,155
Speaker 1: with the other dogs. He would silently charge into Ted,

530
00:31:47,555 --> 00:31:49,635
Speaker 1: or he'd go up and yap at Stevie, and soon

531
00:31:49,835 --> 00:31:52,075
Speaker 1: he get all three of the other dogs of them

532
00:31:52,115 --> 00:31:55,875
Speaker 1: playing and fighting, and then all the strength that he

533
00:31:55,955 --> 00:31:59,035
Speaker 1: had would drain away a minute tops and he would

534
00:31:59,075 --> 00:32:01,875
Speaker 1: have to sit down and watch the chaos he created.

535
00:32:02,395 --> 00:32:05,875
Speaker 1: And he clearly loved watching the chaos he created. And

536
00:32:05,915 --> 00:32:09,555
Speaker 1: he also clearly loved the dogs. If two of them

537
00:32:09,635 --> 00:32:12,835
Speaker 1: were lying near each other, but not right next together.

538
00:32:13,315 --> 00:32:17,595
Speaker 1: Mishu would lie in the empty space so that his

539
00:32:17,675 --> 00:32:20,115
Speaker 1: head would rest on one and his back paws would

540
00:32:20,155 --> 00:32:23,595
Speaker 1: rest on the other. Soon they would respond to his

541
00:32:23,715 --> 00:32:30,115
Speaker 1: presence by arranging themselves cuddling together with a space for him.

542
00:32:30,275 --> 00:32:34,355
Speaker 1: Once I was stretched out legs up on my couch,

543
00:32:34,515 --> 00:32:37,675
Speaker 1: and the four of them climbed in too, by my

544
00:32:37,795 --> 00:32:41,555
Speaker 1: feet and two by my knees. I called Mishu's name,

545
00:32:41,595 --> 00:32:45,275
Speaker 1: and he turned and looked up at me, and then

546
00:32:45,315 --> 00:32:50,955
Speaker 1: the four of them almost simultaneously fell asleep. Such a

547
00:32:51,035 --> 00:32:56,275
Speaker 1: simple thing that easily one of the most extraordinary and

548
00:32:56,395 --> 00:33:01,755
Speaker 1: wonderful moments of my entire life. And I prayed that

549
00:33:01,915 --> 00:33:03,755
Speaker 1: night and not for the last time, that if there

550
00:33:03,835 --> 00:33:06,275
Speaker 1: was no miracle meant for Mishu, that at least when

551
00:33:06,275 --> 00:33:15,155
Speaker 1: he left us, could he be in my arms. This

552
00:33:15,275 --> 00:33:18,675
Speaker 1: dog was an athlete, bad heart or not, he just

553
00:33:18,795 --> 00:33:21,355
Speaker 1: was one with no stamina. In the pen that I

554
00:33:21,355 --> 00:33:23,675
Speaker 1: would keep him in for his own safety, especially when

555
00:33:23,715 --> 00:33:26,035
Speaker 1: I had to go out. Misha would get up on

556
00:33:26,075 --> 00:33:28,635
Speaker 1: his hind legs and stand or try to get out,

557
00:33:28,675 --> 00:33:32,235
Speaker 1: and once he did get out, he moved the walls

558
00:33:32,315 --> 00:33:34,875
Speaker 1: of the pen he got out of the cage, he

559
00:33:34,995 --> 00:33:38,675
Speaker 1: broke free, and he trotted confidently around the place, and

560
00:33:38,715 --> 00:33:41,355
Speaker 1: he loved to move and to run into play, and

561
00:33:42,715 --> 00:33:47,595
Speaker 1: he just had to stop early. Mishu also enjoyed food

562
00:33:48,155 --> 00:33:52,155
Speaker 1: as much as any dog I had ever seen. He

563
00:33:52,355 --> 00:33:55,595
Speaker 1: gained nearly a pound a month while he was with me.

564
00:33:55,635 --> 00:33:58,755
Speaker 1: If you approached him with a treat, he would see

565
00:33:58,755 --> 00:34:01,515
Speaker 1: it from across the room, and he would literally punch

566
00:34:01,675 --> 00:34:05,315
Speaker 1: the air with one of his front paws and legs

567
00:34:05,355 --> 00:34:09,795
Speaker 1: like an athlete celebrating a success, and often with one paw,

568
00:34:10,635 --> 00:34:14,075
Speaker 1: and then punch with the other paw, and the sheer

569
00:34:14,235 --> 00:34:17,315
Speaker 1: joy of that never failed to make me smile and laugh.

570
00:34:17,475 --> 00:34:21,955
Speaker 1: A one to punch, put him on his back next

571
00:34:21,995 --> 00:34:24,675
Speaker 1: to you, and jab a finger at his paws, and

572
00:34:24,715 --> 00:34:26,715
Speaker 1: you'd be in a boxing match with a four pound

573
00:34:26,795 --> 00:34:29,675
Speaker 1: puppy who exulted in duking it out with you. You

574
00:34:29,715 --> 00:34:32,195
Speaker 1: always knew, though, when the fight was over, miche would

575
00:34:32,235 --> 00:34:36,595
Speaker 1: simply stop throwing hands, pause, and he would simply take

576
00:34:36,635 --> 00:34:41,035
Speaker 1: his front paws and grab your finger and hold onto it.

577
00:34:41,955 --> 00:34:45,355
Speaker 1: He once did this for a solid minute. I have

578
00:34:45,635 --> 00:34:49,435
Speaker 1: never felt more as if I were truly communicating with

579
00:34:49,475 --> 00:34:54,195
Speaker 1: a dog. Than when he would hold my finger. He

580
00:34:54,315 --> 00:34:59,115
Speaker 1: was an extraordinarily happy puppy, even when he felt bad physically.

581
00:35:01,155 --> 00:35:05,155
Speaker 1: When he felt bad physically, those were the harrowing times.

582
00:35:05,955 --> 00:35:08,315
Speaker 1: Mishiu would be sitting on my lap, or walking on

583
00:35:08,355 --> 00:35:11,355
Speaker 1: the floor, or just chilling with the other dogs when

584
00:35:11,355 --> 00:35:14,555
Speaker 1: he would suddenly tense up and often let out a cry.

585
00:35:14,595 --> 00:35:17,395
Speaker 1: And twice that cry was like that of a young

586
00:35:17,595 --> 00:35:21,275
Speaker 1: human child, and it was so startling that the other

587
00:35:21,355 --> 00:35:26,315
Speaker 1: dogs stopped and stared with what could genuinely be described

588
00:35:26,355 --> 00:35:30,755
Speaker 1: as looks of alarm. Most times, the tensing was my

589
00:35:30,875 --> 00:35:33,995
Speaker 1: cue to grab him and hold him tight as he writhed,

590
00:35:35,115 --> 00:35:37,755
Speaker 1: because that inability to get oxygen to all the parts

591
00:35:37,755 --> 00:35:41,635
Speaker 1: of his body would cause his body to contract, and

592
00:35:41,675 --> 00:35:43,715
Speaker 1: if he was on any surface other than the ground,

593
00:35:43,835 --> 00:35:47,235
Speaker 1: it could literally propel him to the floor. The first

594
00:35:47,275 --> 00:35:49,995
Speaker 1: time he did that, my veterinarian was here and she said,

595
00:35:50,035 --> 00:35:51,835
Speaker 1: you may have to take him to the emergency room

596
00:35:51,915 --> 00:35:54,595
Speaker 1: right now. She said. It was essentially what a dog

597
00:35:54,715 --> 00:35:59,835
Speaker 1: does just before he faints. But then within seconds, as

598
00:35:59,875 --> 00:36:01,875
Speaker 1: it did that first time with the vet here, it

599
00:36:01,915 --> 00:36:06,435
Speaker 1: would stop and his body would relax, and he would

600
00:36:06,435 --> 00:36:10,995
Speaker 1: be close to find it had taken something out of him,

601
00:36:11,035 --> 00:36:13,435
Speaker 1: and then more or less by accident, I discovered that

602
00:36:13,515 --> 00:36:17,075
Speaker 1: after one of these seizures, he seemed to be soothed

603
00:36:17,795 --> 00:36:22,035
Speaker 1: if I would carry him and walk him around, gently

604
00:36:22,355 --> 00:36:27,195
Speaker 1: rocking him in my arms and talking to him as

605
00:36:27,235 --> 00:36:31,515
Speaker 1: I did so, Mishu and I solved a lot of

606
00:36:31,555 --> 00:36:33,875
Speaker 1: the world's problems in those little walks out in the

607
00:36:33,915 --> 00:36:36,595
Speaker 1: fresh air, on the balcony or just around the house.

608
00:36:37,235 --> 00:36:39,795
Speaker 1: He would often doze off, but just as often would

609
00:36:39,795 --> 00:36:43,875
Speaker 1: within minutes be ready to start playing again. And so

610
00:36:43,955 --> 00:36:48,635
Speaker 1: I had in my little flock of lovely dogs, a sweet, wise, serene,

611
00:36:48,875 --> 00:36:52,995
Speaker 1: playful puppy who liked to grasp my finger with his paws,

612
00:36:53,035 --> 00:36:59,915
Speaker 1: and loved everything about life. And he was dying well,

613
00:37:00,795 --> 00:37:04,395
Speaker 1: and I could not not try to find out if

614
00:37:04,435 --> 00:37:07,395
Speaker 1: there was something to be done to make his life

615
00:37:07,435 --> 00:37:12,435
Speaker 1: longer or happier. What we tried to do when I

616
00:37:12,475 --> 00:37:18,115
Speaker 1: resumed the story of Mishu. Next resuming now the story

617
00:37:18,155 --> 00:37:21,675
Speaker 1: of my Maltese puppy, Mishu. His heart so bad that

618
00:37:21,755 --> 00:37:25,795
Speaker 1: it pumped oxygenated blood the wrong way and limited him

619
00:37:25,835 --> 00:37:29,475
Speaker 1: to brief bursts of energy, And how he never really

620
00:37:29,515 --> 00:37:31,435
Speaker 1: knew how sick he was or that he had been

621
00:37:31,435 --> 00:37:34,715
Speaker 1: dealt such a bad, tragic hand, and how he just

622
00:37:34,795 --> 00:37:39,595
Speaker 1: took the life he was given and loved and was loved.

623
00:37:41,715 --> 00:37:45,235
Speaker 1: Of course, I knew what sadness this was, this special

624
00:37:45,315 --> 00:37:47,835
Speaker 1: soul trapped in a body that would betray him at

625
00:37:47,875 --> 00:37:51,035
Speaker 1: any time and fatally so I had to at least

626
00:37:51,035 --> 00:37:54,355
Speaker 1: try to see if something could keep him here longer,

627
00:37:55,155 --> 00:37:59,075
Speaker 1: or at least make him feel better. We went to

628
00:37:59,115 --> 00:38:03,515
Speaker 1: see the city's top cardiologist for dogs, and there wasn't

629
00:38:03,555 --> 00:38:07,995
Speaker 1: anything to do. Although he thought keeping the cans of

630
00:38:07,995 --> 00:38:11,195
Speaker 1: a minute's worth of oxygen that you sometimes see football

631
00:38:11,235 --> 00:38:14,115
Speaker 1: players breathing from on the sidelines, He thought those might

632
00:38:14,195 --> 00:38:17,315
Speaker 1: help a little when he would have these little pre feints.

633
00:38:18,475 --> 00:38:21,235
Speaker 1: Soon I had dozens of those cans in the hall closet,

634
00:38:21,435 --> 00:38:25,355
Speaker 1: and I was discussing building him an oxygen tent. But

635
00:38:25,475 --> 00:38:28,995
Speaker 1: ultimately the problem wasn't his breathing. He was breathing fine,

636
00:38:29,075 --> 00:38:32,195
Speaker 1: He got all the oxygen he would normally need. It

637
00:38:32,275 --> 00:38:35,675
Speaker 1: was finding some way to get the oxygen pumped by

638
00:38:35,755 --> 00:38:41,155
Speaker 1: his fatally flawed heart to carry the oxygen in the

639
00:38:41,195 --> 00:38:44,275
Speaker 1: blood around his body, and there was no way to

640
00:38:44,355 --> 00:38:49,555
Speaker 1: do that. The median age of survival for dogs suffering

641
00:38:49,595 --> 00:38:55,035
Speaker 1: from tetrology. Of fellow was just about two years. The

642
00:38:55,075 --> 00:38:58,555
Speaker 1: cardiologist brought up Mischu's case on a board of international

643
00:38:58,635 --> 00:39:03,875
Speaker 1: experts in canine cardiac care, and they agreed that unfortunately,

644
00:39:04,395 --> 00:39:08,555
Speaker 1: there was no chance he could survive any operation, let

645
00:39:08,555 --> 00:39:13,275
Speaker 1: alone experimental surgery for this devastating malformation. He could not

646
00:39:13,435 --> 00:39:18,115
Speaker 1: survive the anesthesia, let alone six, eight, ten twelve hours

647
00:39:18,155 --> 00:39:23,995
Speaker 1: of surgery. Thus, the visits to the hospital turned out

648
00:39:24,035 --> 00:39:26,835
Speaker 1: to be more about letting people there who I knew,

649
00:39:26,995 --> 00:39:30,155
Speaker 1: meet him and hold him. And I can tell you

650
00:39:30,195 --> 00:39:34,395
Speaker 1: there was an extraordinary soothing quality to holding him. I

651
00:39:34,475 --> 00:39:37,195
Speaker 1: heard it from these people again and again, what a

652
00:39:37,235 --> 00:39:43,835
Speaker 1: special little soul. And he loved to be held. I

653
00:39:43,835 --> 00:39:45,715
Speaker 1: took him everywhere they would let me take him. He

654
00:39:45,755 --> 00:39:48,395
Speaker 1: was a regular at my weekly physical therapy for my

655
00:39:48,555 --> 00:39:52,435
Speaker 1: arthritic joints. My therapist adored him. She would just hold

656
00:39:52,515 --> 00:39:55,835
Speaker 1: him and tell him stories. Took him to the apple

657
00:39:55,915 --> 00:40:00,115
Speaker 1: store once that he did not like. He went for

658
00:40:00,195 --> 00:40:02,515
Speaker 1: walks with me and the other dogs, but always in

659
00:40:02,555 --> 00:40:04,915
Speaker 1: a bag draped over my shoulder. He did not have

660
00:40:05,035 --> 00:40:07,995
Speaker 1: the stamina to walk for very long, but he enjoyed

661
00:40:08,035 --> 00:40:11,155
Speaker 1: the outdoors. He enjoyed the park, He enjoyed the other dogs,

662
00:40:11,195 --> 00:40:13,355
Speaker 1: He enjoyed the people who would come up and say

663
00:40:13,395 --> 00:40:19,435
Speaker 1: hello to him. The inevitable finally came this time last year.

664
00:40:20,315 --> 00:40:27,515
Speaker 1: Throughout the last week, the little prefaints increased, but Mischo's

665
00:40:27,515 --> 00:40:31,835
Speaker 1: happiness did not decrease. Two days before the end, I

666
00:40:31,875 --> 00:40:34,555
Speaker 1: approached him with a treat and my camera phone rolling,

667
00:40:34,635 --> 00:40:37,475
Speaker 1: and sure enough he punched with the left, and he

668
00:40:37,515 --> 00:40:40,115
Speaker 1: punched with the right, and he ate the treat, and

669
00:40:40,195 --> 00:40:42,475
Speaker 1: he licked his purple lips, and when I surprised him

670
00:40:42,475 --> 00:40:48,035
Speaker 1: with a second treat, he did it all again. Sometime

671
00:40:48,075 --> 00:40:52,955
Speaker 1: a year ago, I was sound asleep. The dogs sleep

672
00:40:53,035 --> 00:40:59,075
Speaker 1: with me, and in my dreams somebody or something was

673
00:40:59,195 --> 00:41:04,355
Speaker 1: breathing in my ear. Well, of course it was me.

674
00:41:05,235 --> 00:41:10,115
Speaker 1: He had figured out how to wake me. He had

675
00:41:10,115 --> 00:41:13,995
Speaker 1: to go to the bathroom. He knew enough to tell

676
00:41:13,995 --> 00:41:17,075
Speaker 1: me that he knew enough to wake me, to get

677
00:41:17,075 --> 00:41:20,275
Speaker 1: me to get him down, and he had to get

678
00:41:20,355 --> 00:41:27,755
Speaker 1: some water. On the afternoon of the twelfth of November

679
00:41:27,915 --> 00:41:30,435
Speaker 1: a year ago, Saturday, I was holding Mishoe in my

680
00:41:30,515 --> 00:41:32,995
Speaker 1: lap as I sat and looked at the peak foliage

681
00:41:33,035 --> 00:41:36,115
Speaker 1: in the park out the window. With no warning. He

682
00:41:36,155 --> 00:41:40,915
Speaker 1: suddenly let out that near human cry. The other dog's

683
00:41:41,035 --> 00:41:44,475
Speaker 1: frozey in place. I stood up and walked him around

684
00:41:44,475 --> 00:41:47,635
Speaker 1: the balcony again. I had to sit him down in

685
00:41:47,795 --> 00:41:49,635
Speaker 1: his pen for a second, and I was just picking

686
00:41:49,675 --> 00:41:51,715
Speaker 1: him back up when he tensed up, just like all

687
00:41:51,715 --> 00:41:57,675
Speaker 1: the other times. His body got rigid and twisted, and

688
00:41:57,755 --> 00:42:01,915
Speaker 1: he died. He died as I picked him back up.

689
00:42:04,835 --> 00:42:09,835
Speaker 1: The special little soul was gone. His body was getting

690
00:42:09,875 --> 00:42:13,635
Speaker 1: cold with stunning rapidity, and something inside me said, no,

691
00:42:13,795 --> 00:42:20,155
Speaker 1: not yet. I'm not ready. And I don't know why,

692
00:42:20,155 --> 00:42:24,235
Speaker 1: but I don't think he's ready. And with no training

693
00:42:24,315 --> 00:42:27,275
Speaker 1: and no earthly clue what I was doing, I tried

694
00:42:27,395 --> 00:42:30,555
Speaker 1: CPR on him. You have to try, You have to try.

695
00:42:33,755 --> 00:42:35,795
Speaker 1: I had so little idea what I was doing that

696
00:42:35,915 --> 00:42:39,075
Speaker 1: after breathing air in and out of his lifeless body,

697
00:42:39,155 --> 00:42:41,075
Speaker 1: I moved my face away as if I was going

698
00:42:41,115 --> 00:42:44,755
Speaker 1: to spit out water before I had to remind myself, no, moron,

699
00:42:44,835 --> 00:42:48,155
Speaker 1: that would be if he was drowning. I must have

700
00:42:48,275 --> 00:42:52,595
Speaker 1: done five or six breaths. When I heard him exhale.

701
00:42:53,675 --> 00:42:55,715
Speaker 1: I waited for it to stop or to be a

702
00:42:55,755 --> 00:43:00,715
Speaker 1: false alarm. It wasn't, damned if this little dog didn't

703
00:43:00,755 --> 00:43:05,955
Speaker 1: somehow teach me how to resuscitate him, he was dead

704
00:43:06,155 --> 00:43:11,435
Speaker 1: and now he was back. I didn't delude myself that

705
00:43:11,515 --> 00:43:16,395
Speaker 1: this was going to last very long, and the circumstances

706
00:43:16,435 --> 00:43:18,275
Speaker 1: could not have been worse. It was a rush hour

707
00:43:18,435 --> 00:43:22,115
Speaker 1: on a Friday afternoon, and there was a bottleneck and

708
00:43:22,235 --> 00:43:25,915
Speaker 1: the bridge approach between Mishu and I and the hospital.

709
00:43:26,155 --> 00:43:28,675
Speaker 1: And I had visions of being stuck in traffic for

710
00:43:28,795 --> 00:43:31,795
Speaker 1: half an hour or longer and almost nothing they could

711
00:43:31,795 --> 00:43:34,835
Speaker 1: do for him if we somehow got there in time.

712
00:43:36,035 --> 00:43:41,035
Speaker 1: But you have to try. You have to try. I

713
00:43:41,155 --> 00:43:44,195
Speaker 1: loaded a bag full of those cans of oxygen. I

714
00:43:44,275 --> 00:43:47,395
Speaker 1: grabbed him, I got in the car. The driver realized

715
00:43:47,435 --> 00:43:49,635
Speaker 1: my distress and asked me what he could do to help,

716
00:43:49,635 --> 00:43:52,075
Speaker 1: and I said, don't run any lights, but do not

717
00:43:52,195 --> 00:43:54,635
Speaker 1: stop unless you have to, and when you do stop,

718
00:43:54,675 --> 00:43:59,315
Speaker 1: help me unwrap some of these plastic wrapped oxygen cans.

719
00:43:59,715 --> 00:44:06,235
Speaker 1: The oxygen cans are what are keeping him alive. Normal

720
00:44:06,235 --> 00:44:10,675
Speaker 1: trip twenty minutes. We made it in eleven minutes. The

721
00:44:10,755 --> 00:44:16,635
Speaker 1: streets parted for Mishu at the Animal medical center, somehow

722
00:44:17,195 --> 00:44:19,555
Speaker 1: I ran up the stairs. I handed him off to

723
00:44:19,595 --> 00:44:22,555
Speaker 1: the emergency room doctor, saying with an evenness, I could

724
00:44:22,595 --> 00:44:26,675
Speaker 1: not believe I was mustering. My dog is dying. He

725
00:44:26,755 --> 00:44:31,275
Speaker 1: has tetrology of fellow. She ran off with him to

726
00:44:31,315 --> 00:44:34,355
Speaker 1: an examining room, and a second doctor came out, and

727
00:44:34,435 --> 00:44:38,795
Speaker 1: I briefed her on everything, including Mishu's human like cry

728
00:44:39,035 --> 00:44:43,275
Speaker 1: and his unexpected resuscitation, and I told her he had

729
00:44:43,315 --> 00:44:46,195
Speaker 1: been seen by the chief cardiologist there, and she said

730
00:44:47,475 --> 00:44:50,835
Speaker 1: Dr Fox. Dr Fox is here, and now Mishu was

731
00:44:50,875 --> 00:44:54,275
Speaker 1: being worked on by the expert in the field. And

732
00:44:54,315 --> 00:44:57,915
Speaker 1: despite all of this good fortune, I knew, I knew

733
00:44:59,035 --> 00:45:04,835
Speaker 1: there was no hope. I had managed to texts too

734
00:45:04,915 --> 00:45:08,235
Speaker 1: from the Maltese rescue who adored him, and she came

735
00:45:08,235 --> 00:45:12,075
Speaker 1: to the hospital, and three of the people from other

736
00:45:12,155 --> 00:45:16,035
Speaker 1: departments in the hospital who had met Mishu came down

737
00:45:16,195 --> 00:45:23,915
Speaker 1: to see him, not for my sake, for his. It

738
00:45:23,995 --> 00:45:28,555
Speaker 1: was heartbreaking and heartwarming at the same time. And when

739
00:45:28,595 --> 00:45:30,715
Speaker 1: his doctor came to me and said, he is alive,

740
00:45:31,115 --> 00:45:33,555
Speaker 1: but if you take him out of the hospital, you

741
00:45:33,675 --> 00:45:35,835
Speaker 1: get about as far as the parking garage and then

742
00:45:35,875 --> 00:45:37,755
Speaker 1: you'd have to bring him back because what you heard

743
00:45:37,795 --> 00:45:41,555
Speaker 1: when he cried out was a stroke. The oxygen deprivation

744
00:45:41,875 --> 00:45:43,795
Speaker 1: was finally too much for him. He had a stroke,

745
00:45:44,955 --> 00:45:48,035
Speaker 1: and he began to gently prepare me for the question

746
00:45:48,115 --> 00:45:53,915
Speaker 1: about letting him go, and I stopped him and I said,

747
00:45:53,995 --> 00:45:58,555
Speaker 1: I know we've all done everything we can, miss you,

748
00:45:58,715 --> 00:46:09,275
Speaker 1: especially I'm ready when you are. M So, they brought

749
00:46:09,355 --> 00:46:12,515
Speaker 1: him back to me, a little drip attached to his arm,

750
00:46:12,755 --> 00:46:15,075
Speaker 1: and when the toggle on the drip was thrown, the

751
00:46:15,075 --> 00:46:19,915
Speaker 1: medication would end his life. He was as warm and

752
00:46:20,115 --> 00:46:27,435
Speaker 1: as soft as ever in my arms, and yet I

753
00:46:27,475 --> 00:46:30,955
Speaker 1: knew he was no longer there. Sue held him for

754
00:46:30,995 --> 00:46:40,715
Speaker 1: a while too, and then everybody left me alone with him.

755
00:46:40,755 --> 00:46:46,915
Speaker 1: I said what you would expect somebody to say in

756
00:46:46,995 --> 00:46:58,835
Speaker 1: such a circumstance, about love and happiness, and then I

757
00:46:58,875 --> 00:47:02,675
Speaker 1: heard myself saying things about gratitude, gratitude to him for

758
00:47:02,755 --> 00:47:05,515
Speaker 1: teaching me that in the face of death, the point

759
00:47:06,435 --> 00:47:09,995
Speaker 1: is to know when to try and when to say enough,

760
00:47:10,715 --> 00:47:12,675
Speaker 1: and that he had taught me how to confront death

761
00:47:12,755 --> 00:47:18,915
Speaker 1: and crisis and urgency with evenness and practicality that I

762
00:47:19,035 --> 00:47:23,675
Speaker 1: never knew I had in any quantity whatsoever, And to

763
00:47:23,715 --> 00:47:30,155
Speaker 1: be able to say, I know you had a happy life, MISSU,

764
00:47:31,355 --> 00:47:34,275
Speaker 1: And it seems like that, and not the fact that

765
00:47:34,315 --> 00:47:37,035
Speaker 1: you had a happy life but not a long one.

766
00:47:38,515 --> 00:47:44,755
Speaker 1: The happy life is all that mattered to you. The cardiologist,

767
00:47:45,035 --> 00:47:50,915
Speaker 1: Dr Fox and the tech came back into the room

768
00:47:50,955 --> 00:47:53,755
Speaker 1: at this point, and I said I was ready, and

769
00:47:53,875 --> 00:47:59,315
Speaker 1: they turned the toggle and left very quietly. And I

770
00:47:59,355 --> 00:48:01,675
Speaker 1: said to miss you, I know if there is a

771
00:48:01,715 --> 00:48:04,435
Speaker 1: place for you to go now, I am certain you

772
00:48:04,435 --> 00:48:07,515
Speaker 1: will be the first one they let in. I just

773
00:48:07,595 --> 00:48:11,755
Speaker 1: hope they will let me visit you there someday, and

774
00:48:11,875 --> 00:48:19,235
Speaker 1: I hope you will remember us. I said, good night,

775
00:48:19,395 --> 00:48:22,875
Speaker 1: sweet prints and flights of angels sing thee to thy rest,

776
00:48:27,275 --> 00:48:33,395
Speaker 1: and he was gone again, as I had prayed when

777
00:48:33,435 --> 00:48:39,555
Speaker 1: he died. Misu died in my arms, and he managed

778
00:48:39,675 --> 00:48:47,915
Speaker 1: somehow to do it twice. There are some postscripts. Missus.

779
00:48:47,955 --> 00:48:51,995
Speaker 1: Cardiologist very solemnly returned and respectfully said that of those

780
00:48:52,035 --> 00:48:55,715
Speaker 1: international experts who had reviewed his case and were deeply

781
00:48:55,755 --> 00:48:59,835
Speaker 1: saddened that they could not help him, only two out

782
00:48:59,875 --> 00:49:02,635
Speaker 1: of a couple of dozen had actually seen and been

783
00:49:02,675 --> 00:49:07,275
Speaker 1: able to study any small dog suffering from tetralogy of

784
00:49:07,355 --> 00:49:11,835
Speaker 1: fallow and Mishu might have one final blessing for them

785
00:49:11,875 --> 00:49:14,555
Speaker 1: and the rest of us if they could keep and

786
00:49:14,595 --> 00:49:19,795
Speaker 1: study his poor little malformed heart without hesitation. I said yes,

787
00:49:20,235 --> 00:49:24,795
Speaker 1: because in that instance I saw him positioning his head

788
00:49:25,315 --> 00:49:29,635
Speaker 1: on Stevie's head, and his back paws on roses back paws,

789
00:49:29,675 --> 00:49:31,835
Speaker 1: So the three of them were cuddling together, and I knew,

790
00:49:31,875 --> 00:49:34,635
Speaker 1: as I had always known, this was a dog who

791
00:49:34,715 --> 00:49:40,715
Speaker 1: cared about and actually loved other dogs. So the hospital

792
00:49:40,715 --> 00:49:44,155
Speaker 1: wound up recalibrating some of the cameras they had that

793
00:49:44,235 --> 00:49:49,355
Speaker 1: they used to photograph the smallest teeth in the smallest dogs,

794
00:49:49,395 --> 00:49:53,035
Speaker 1: so they could get every imaginable image of Mishu's tiny

795
00:49:53,115 --> 00:49:58,395
Speaker 1: heart and maybe someday learn methods with which to fix

796
00:49:58,475 --> 00:50:05,515
Speaker 1: this nightmare in another dog and Mishu is in the

797
00:50:05,595 --> 00:50:11,595
Speaker 1: veterinary textbooks now. As a second PostScript, Mishu's parents had

798
00:50:11,635 --> 00:50:16,675
Speaker 1: another litter late last year after he died, and they're

799
00:50:16,755 --> 00:50:19,395
Speaker 1: human was kind enough to offer me either of the brothers.

800
00:50:19,435 --> 00:50:24,875
Speaker 1: Mischu would never know. Each was eerily reminiscent of him,

801
00:50:24,915 --> 00:50:31,395
Speaker 1: but healthy, completely healthy, so healthy that they were threats

802
00:50:31,435 --> 00:50:33,995
Speaker 1: to my other three dogs. I had each of them

803
00:50:34,035 --> 00:50:35,595
Speaker 1: live a week with us, and I would have been

804
00:50:35,595 --> 00:50:39,755
Speaker 1: fine with each other. They liked me fine, but each

805
00:50:39,795 --> 00:50:42,675
Speaker 1: of them first bit ted in the genitals, and then

806
00:50:42,715 --> 00:50:45,315
Speaker 1: Stevie in the genitals, and rose in the genitals, and

807
00:50:45,355 --> 00:50:49,635
Speaker 1: in one case me and the genitals. They were crazy,

808
00:50:49,675 --> 00:50:53,955
Speaker 1: fun but crazy. And the second one was not only

809
00:50:54,035 --> 00:50:58,395
Speaker 1: twice as large as other Maltese his age, he was

810
00:50:58,475 --> 00:51:01,835
Speaker 1: able to vault out of his pen like an Olympic gymnast.

811
00:51:04,355 --> 00:51:06,835
Speaker 1: So they went back and now have their own homes

812
00:51:07,595 --> 00:51:10,515
Speaker 1: where there they are the only dogs in their own homes.

813
00:51:13,595 --> 00:51:18,435
Speaker 1: So the third PostScript when Sue from Maltese Rescue reached

814
00:51:18,435 --> 00:51:21,875
Speaker 1: out again this past June and said, um, I've got

815
00:51:21,875 --> 00:51:26,595
Speaker 1: another special case. Fifteen year old perfect health but but

816
00:51:26,795 --> 00:51:30,515
Speaker 1: rotting teeth, and he has dementia. His human got sick

817
00:51:30,555 --> 00:51:32,875
Speaker 1: and and didn't really take care of him, and then

818
00:51:32,915 --> 00:51:35,115
Speaker 1: she died, and I don't know what to do. Who's

819
00:51:35,115 --> 00:51:40,715
Speaker 1: going to adopt a fifteen year old. I was able

820
00:51:40,755 --> 00:51:44,195
Speaker 1: to raise my hand. I had an open roster spot.

821
00:51:45,835 --> 00:51:49,435
Speaker 1: The fifteen year old's name is Mena. It's French for kitty.

822
00:51:49,675 --> 00:51:52,515
Speaker 1: I can't imagine what confusion that's caused him all these years.

823
00:51:53,595 --> 00:51:57,595
Speaker 1: His human had been a French teacher. He actually didn't

824
00:51:57,635 --> 00:52:00,115
Speaker 1: have dementia, or at least not very much dementia. It

825
00:52:00,155 --> 00:52:04,475
Speaker 1: was those teeth. His teeth was so bad, so rotten

826
00:52:04,755 --> 00:52:06,635
Speaker 1: of them came out by just pulling on them with

827
00:52:06,675 --> 00:52:10,675
Speaker 1: your fingers. So we had them all taken out, and

828
00:52:10,755 --> 00:52:12,675
Speaker 1: the next day he woke up like he was seven

829
00:52:12,755 --> 00:52:15,235
Speaker 1: years old, looked around like how long have these other

830
00:52:15,315 --> 00:52:19,235
Speaker 1: dogs been here? Every day since then he's gotten a

831
00:52:19,275 --> 00:52:25,075
Speaker 1: little younger. He's Benjamin Button, and he's a living instruction.

832
00:52:25,235 --> 00:52:27,995
Speaker 1: Look out for your dog's teeth. Even if you think

833
00:52:28,035 --> 00:52:34,155
Speaker 1: you know to do that, do it more. The last PostScript,

834
00:52:36,635 --> 00:52:40,595
Speaker 1: I got the tattoo a month after me. She she died.

835
00:52:41,355 --> 00:52:46,075
Speaker 1: His pensive, half smiling little face looks up at me

836
00:52:46,155 --> 00:52:48,275
Speaker 1: from near the crook of my elbow where he used

837
00:52:48,275 --> 00:52:51,355
Speaker 1: to sit when I would carry him around after one

838
00:52:51,355 --> 00:52:57,755
Speaker 1: of those pre feints. It is a remarkable likeness to me.

839
00:52:57,955 --> 00:53:00,235
Speaker 1: It means exactly what you would think it means. It

840
00:53:00,555 --> 00:53:08,955
Speaker 1: comforts me greatly. It means Mishu is always with me

841
00:53:12,795 --> 00:53:22,675
Speaker 1: and always will be with me, And now as this

842
00:53:22,835 --> 00:53:29,675
Speaker 1: unwanted but not tragic anniversary approaches, Mischu will also, I hope,

843
00:53:31,195 --> 00:53:38,955
Speaker 1: always be with you. Countdown with Keith Olderman is a

844
00:53:39,035 --> 00:53:42,595
Speaker 1: production of I Heart Radio For more podcasts from I

845
00:53:42,715 --> 00:53:46,195
Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

846
00:53:46,435 --> 00:53:48,435
Speaker 1: or wherever you get your podcasts.