The dog with no name

I knew when I saw the sign I was going to end up with him. A young woman was walking a timid Queensland Heeler with a sign around his neck: “I’m a stray. Please take me home.” I made the mistake of talking to her. The young dog, probably about a year old, showed up on her doorstep several months earlier. She said she tried to find his owner but signs and a newspaper ad didn’t work. She tried to take him to the local animal shelter but was told they could only keep him seven days. She planned on keeping him, but her landlord found out and gave her 24 hours to get rid of the dog since she already had three other dogs. So she showed up at the park in Lodi where a four day festival was taking place and walked the dog through the crowd. My kids weren’t around at the time. One was taking a workshop on tightrope walking and the other was learning a few new balloon animals to add to her repertoire.

A few hours later, I was feeding the dog the sandwiches that were supposed to be our lunch. Over the next three days, everyone at the festival helped out, bringing food, spare dishes, and thanks for helping to rescue the dog. We tried out several names. Since Queensland is in Australia, Boomerang was the front-runner until I said we could call him Boo Boo for short. He panicked whenever he heard Boo Boo, tucking the little stump of his docked tail in as tight as it would go and trying to hide.

For a week we tried out other names, but nothing seemed right. When he was happy, his entire back end wiggled, so my daughter suggested “Wiggles.” My son vetoed that name. When I took him in to the vet for a check up and shots, we had to choose a name for their records. I’m not sure exactly how it happened, but his veterinary records list his name as “That Wiggle-Butt Dog From Lodi.” It was supposed to be temporary, but we never did decide on a name. He seemed to answer to everything from That Dog to Lodi to Wiggle-Butt or Wiggles.

As cattle dogs tend to be, he became very intense, staring at people in the eye for hours on end. His favorite game was to herd all the neighborhood kids into a tight group by nipping at their shoes. He was by far the smartest dog I had ever owned. He would pick out specific toys from his bucket when asked ‘go get your bear, rope, ball, tug-tug, Frisbee…. He knew our names. He always won at hide and seek. I would make his stay in one room while the kids hid then say, “go find Kerry” or “go find Brian” or even “go find the kitty.” And he would bypass the others to find what I asked him to. As is common in his breed, he became deaf at a young age. He quickly learned sign language. At last count, he knew about 40 signs.

When the kids moved out, he got so depressed that I got him a puppy, huge dog, easily twice his size who was already a few years old. He had been adopted and returned several times as being ‘untrainable’ but That Wiggle-Butt Dog picked him out at the pet adoption fair and would not let us leave without him. A new word was introduced into his vocabulary: ‘your puppy.’ He taught his puppy well. No touching food until Mom says ‘go eat.’ Sit quietly when Mom brings the leashes. Stay off the bed until Mom is asleep. Important things a good dog should know. Unfortunately, the puppy loved to be chased and as a cattle dog, he loved to chase. Visits to the dog park were hilarious as the little cattle dog chased the huge chow-shep mix for hours until they were both exhausted.

Then a few years ago, he developed a strange lump on his belly. A biopsy showed it was cancer. The lump was removed, but we were warned it would probably come back. And two years later it did, only this time, it was very aggressive and fast. At the same time, the puppy developed a huge cancerous growth on his leg after having several growths removed from his face. Because of their ages, about 16 and 13 years, we decided against aggressive treatment. The dogs have their pain meds and are spoiled rotten. They no longer have to wait until they think I am asleep to be allowed on the bed. Walks are too tiring, so they get to go on rides which usually end up with me buying them ice cream cones or tacos.

The puppy started having seizures. That Lodi Dog can no longer get up the stairs when I let him outside. I know it is time to let them go to the big dog park in the sky, but I can’t bring myself to do it. One more day, I keep telling myself. Another day and I will be able to decide on a name for That Wiggle-Butt Dog From Lodi.

Backup Blues

I finally just about finished the rewrite of Butterfly’s Daughters. After my first group of readers’ suggestions, I completely rearranged how it was organized. Then I read through it and discovered I had somehow lost the conclusion to one of the subplots. Big build-up about sheep dying in the canyon and then…nothing. Hence the ‘just about finished’. I debated just cutting subplot completely but it is important in showing how slow and methodical one character is, as opposed to another who jumps in and looks eventually. And usually only after explosions, broken bones and police involvement.

“Why don’t you just go to your back up and just put it in?” you ask.

I was afraid you’d think of that. Hemming and hawing aside, I lost it. It was on a USB drive on a bracelet. I was out with my authors group and just in case my bag was stolen or lost, I didn’t want to keep it in my computer bag. I didn’t notice I’d lost it for WAY too long. I really need to back up more often. So if anyone in Oakland, Castro Valley, Hayward, Berkeley, Pleasanton, or the San Jose ice rink finds it, PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE look at the file named if found please call. Or maybe San Leandro? Could be in the Emeryville IKEA. Or theater. Did I have it at the Ripon Almond Blossom Festival?

The purpose of wearing it on a bracelet was supposed to be a reminder to back up often. It was a great idea and the drive was comfortable, reasonable and proceeds go to a great cause, child literacy and encouraging young people to write. Check out the Office of Letters and Light. Great group.

Meanwhile, I will be attempting to recreate the end of that subplot. I’d like to order another bracelet flash drive but they don’t have them any more.