Lola used to live on my street. actually in the street. I would see her day or night, sitting out in front of the house where she lived, barking at cars and riling the other dogs in the neighborhood. Her owner was a gringo who kept her outside all the time and let her roam freely around town. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for freedom of dog choice, but roaming freely in mexico can be a dangerous activity for a dog. back to the story. Lola’s name was Shiba and she was known all around town as the wonderful, sweet dog that needed a little structure.
About three or four weeks ago, Shiba showed up on my doorstep, obviously looking to come in. Since I knew that she was someone else’s dog, I didn’t let her in. As I turned her away, I joked with Marcia that we should take her in. I had a fleeting feeling that she was asking me to take her in. either that or she was just looking for a good meal and I was a sucker.
The night before we left for Yelapa, my mom sent me an email from the Bucerias gringo network, that Shiba’s owner had sold her house and moved back to the states, Shiba had been abandoned and subsequently hit by a car. Her hip was badly damaged and she was at the vet, waiting for some lucky person, to adopt her and pay for her surgery.
I knew in my gut, right away, that the dog had chosen me that night, so before we left for Yelapa, I went down to the vet and checked her out and I really wanted a dog. Marcia wasn’t so happy about the idea of a dog, maybe a puppy but a quasi street dog that needed intensive hip surgery?
When I got there, she seemed like she was very happy to see me. Her injury didn’t seem serious on the outside. The vet told me that the ball of her back, right leg had popped out of the socket, tearing all the ligaments. Shiba would need surgery to reattach her leg to the socket. Marcia and I talked it over. She wasn’t so sure, i.e. she felt like she was being dragged into something. It was a big step for her. I talked it over with mom and we agreed that we’d split the surgery and when I got back from Yelapa, Marcia and I would decide if we wanted to keep her. (thanks mom! don’t forget to have me pay you back!)
Over the next few days in Yelapa, we had plenty of conversations about Shiba. The agreement came down to this: I wanted her, but I also needed Marcia to take responsibility for her. Shiba had to be our dog, not my dog. I proposed that we test her out, Marcia would try to figure out what her boundaries are with the dog. How much was enough. and if the dog wasn’t working out for her, I’d help find her a better home.
The day after we got back from Yelapa, I went to the vet to check up on Shiba. Again, she was very happy to see me. The surgery had went well and she was ready to leave but the doc wanted to keep her a few more days. She was looking pretty skinny, I thought to myself that I don’t really know if she could last a few more days on whatever this doc was feeding her.
Over that next weekend, we were in LA. talking about our soon-to-be new dog. We both decided that since she had been abandoned and then hit by a car and then hip surgery, we decided she deserved a new name. She deserved a new life. A new name was a good start. I wanted to call her “Jimmy James”, seriously. Marcia couldn’t think of a good name. As we sat in front of the dog tag making machine in Petco, Marcia said her name is Lola. Lola was a name in a song, that we listened to together. I thought it was perfect. Henceforth, Shiba would be known as Lola.
Oh here you dog name purists go with the old “you can’t change a dog’s name?!” stuff. I can. and I did. and you know what? she likes it. and more importantly, she responds to it. It turns out that Lola is the best dog ever. Literally. She loves our house. Loves our cats, well, maybe not Citlali, but Citlali is a hard customer to please, she even gets territorial over Lola’s food. Lola loves my parents’ dogs and cats and can get along mostly with anyone. She won’t jump on the bed or the couch, she knows where the bathroom is and she never barks in the house. She doesn’t chew on things at all and even turned down one of the rubber chew toys filled with peanut butter.
She’s like the perfect dog. She is the perfect dog. Marcia has taken to Lola quick and fast. They are developing a bond I believe that Marcia never thought was even possible. She didn’t grow up with dogs. Lola couldn’t be more of a cooler dog to have. She has her rough edges, like if I let her off the leash and she’s feeling the call, she take off down the street with me chasing her. Yes, it’s happened twice, Marcia is quick to point out. I just get in the car and follow her until she’s too tired to walk further, open the door and in she hops. How far can a dog go on three legs.
Lola’s hip is on the mend, she’s not using her back leg yet, and we were worried about the vet botching the operation. he’s not the most talented vet in the universe. so yesterday Marcia took Lola to another more reliable vet for a second opinion. the vet reassured her that the operation was pretty standard and that Lola was doing fine. we need to re-train her to walk on the leg again but other then that she looked good. Marcia also noticed that she had a temperature, Lola would be lying down, panting and her nose would be hot. So the vet is tested for the animal version of Lymes Disease. It’s common down here for outside dogs and one of my parents’ dogs has it. It turns out that she has it, in the early stages, so we have her on meds. lucky thing.
I better end this thing now.
Lola turned out to be one of the greatest things to happen to Marcia and I. we both feel blessed. Lola loves it with us and all looks good. If there’s a moral to this story, it’s that animals choose their owners. Lola showed up on my doorstep and against my better judgement, I turned her away. Now, weeks later, she’s the newest member to our family and exactly where she wants to be. Marcia rather considerable comprehension has melted away as she’s found herself the perfect dog. not a new puppy that you have to nurse and train. a funky-ass mexican street dog turned out to be the coolest dog in the world.
who knew?!
oh, that’s just so sweet! :)
citlali - your cat - that’s a nahuatl word, right? i forget what it means. i was thinking that was flower but flower is xochitl. butterfly? my spanish teacher in high school had named his dog that. :)
i’m glad lola chose you and you complied. congrats!!!