Those of you who know me on a personal level know what a sucker I am for animals and how many of them I have added to my furry family over the years. Scruffy was one of the neediest of those animals when he literally showed up on my doorstep one night in June 2004. Normally, I would have still been out doing lessons, but it was the week before a student piano recital, and I was doing most of my lessons at home. I was saying “good night” to a student’s mom when this small but very self-confident dog came trotting down the street. Chelsea, my Australian Shepherd mix, never took too well to other dogs, but she came out and sniffed him and then chased him into the house. I was dumbfounded! I sat down with the little guy and thought he must be ancient - his fur was all matted, he was covered with sores and scabs, and he was exhausted and hungry. I fed him and then gave him a 20-minute shower, but he still smelled like he’d been rolling on dead fish for days and his skin and fur were terrible. I took him around the neighborhood the next day to see if anyone recognized him, and no one did. I was sure that I didn’t want a second dog, but you know how that goes. He was such a mess that I knew he would be put down if I took him to the pound.

My good friend, Marlene who is a housecall veterinarian, looked him over and started running some tests. She was surprised to discover that he was actually a fairly young dog (from his teeth). To make a very long story shorter (I DO go on sometimes!!!), I was referred to a dermatology vet who diagnosed Scruffy with severe demodex mites. He wasn’t sure he could cure him, but we gave it a real go and Scruffy responded well. A few months into his treatment for the skin problems, he blew out the cruciate ligament in his knee and had to have that repaired by an orthopedic vet. $$$$$$$$$!!! That surgery went well, and Marlene found us a gardening cart that worked perfectly for taking Scruffy out on walks with us while his knee healed. Needless to say, he charmed everyone he met as we pushed him down the streets and onto the shoreline. I don’t remember how many months we did that, but it was a long time. I’ll never forget the sight of him sitting up in the cart with his ears blowing in the wind! Eventually, he could do our whole walk on his own, and the cart was put in the garage in case of emergencies. Now I actually use it for gardening!

Scruffy and Chelsea were two of the most opposite dogs you can imagine, but they were the best of friends. Chelsea, who is at least twice his size, would stay on the ground or on the floor so they could roughhouse nose-to-nose. It was amazing to watch, and you could tell they were both laughing. Sometimes Scruff would jump on Chelsea or pull at her ears, and whenever she’d had enough, she’d just stand up, and that was the end of the game.

We brought Scruffy with us up to the Oregon Coast several times on vacation, and I will never forget the emotion I felt when he started running up and down the beach, free of the pain in his leg. He was euphoric, and I was moved to tears.

The treatment for Scruffy’s skin problems lasted about two years - up until we moved to Oregon in 6/07. He had a lot of bald spots, but everyone was so charmed by his personality that they all fell in love with him. He absolutely loved our daily walks on the beach and running up and greeting dogs of all sizes and dispositions without any thought about a possible negative reaction. He was loving, pig-headed, and not as smart as he should have been, and I often introduced him as “Little Napoleon.” He had to piddle on every piece of driftwood he could find, and sometimes he’d just take off running - just ‘cause he could, I guess. He wasn’t a very big dog, but his personality was huge!

Scruffy took nine pills a day and a liquid medicine once a week. To make that routine more palatable, I wrapped the pills in melted cheese and they usually went down without any trouble. I melted enough cheese for both dogs, and Chelsea took hers without pills - a twice-daily routine for most of the five years I had Scruffy. Over the past few weeks, he became obsessive about water. I was concerned, but had my own major health issues to deal with. Scruffy had plenty of energy and was enthused about his meals and walks, so things seemed to be okay. Mom and I kept coming home to puddles, so we started watching him more carefully. Since I had surgery only a week ago, it was hard to be as watchful as I wanted to be, but he seemed fine. Mom took him for a walk on Monday, and he got tired a little sooner than he usually did, but Mom didn’t see any signs of problems. Monday night, he started vomiting a lot of water, so we took him to the vet on Tuesday. She did a glucose test and he tested positive for diabetes. She gave him fluids and advised us to watch him. We agreed to drop him off on Wednesday morning on our way to Eugene for my surgery follow-up. He seemed lethargic Tuesday night, but was alert and mobile. I heard him vomit water a couple of times during the night, but he didn’t seem to be in any real distress. When I woke up, he was lying in my closet, obviously not doing well at all. I cleaned him up and put him in his little bed. He was breathing hard, so I called the vet and said we’d be there when they opened. It wasn’t ten minutes later that he was gone. It was so fast and shocking, but I’m so grateful that he didn’t suffer for long.

I felt really bad about all of this yesterday even though my own health report was excellent. A dear friend told me that she had heard that sometimes pets will take on their owners’ illnesses to help them get better. What a comforting thought! Other random thoughts have been that he just didn’t want another illness in his life and knew that it was going to be a financial burden for me. Perhaps it was just his time, but I like to think he was doing something valiant for me after our great five years together. He was like that. I just wanted to share his story. He was an exceptional little dog that someone threw away for whatever reason, but he brought a ton of joy into my life with his full heart and enthusiastic (but straggly!) tail wags. He is missed but will always be in our hearts.

4/22/09