When I first moved to this area, the girl I was dating at the time worked at a pet boarding facility. Part of her job was to go to the local veterinary hospitals to pick up medicines for the pets that were boarding with them. One evening I was asked to go to a veterinary hospital to pick up some medicine. While there a gentleman came into the hospital with a very scruffy and dirty dog. The gentleman wanted to have the dog spayed and when was told the price, the gentleman was all but happy. The man complained that the dog was not even his but had found her living under his barn. While the dog was there she had a litter of puppies (for which he boasted having "taken care of them").
I was appalled at how the man was very open about his actions and I feared what he may do with the dog he had in tow. So I did what I knew was best. I offered to take the dog and pay for the spay myself. The man didn't even say anything to me. He just handed me her leash and left.
Since I wasn't supposed to have pets due to my lease agreement, I took the dog home to my small apartment late that night. I got her into the bathroom and filled up the tub with hot water and gave her what was apparently her first bath in a very long time.
After a long bath and a quick drying, we headed downstairs and I realized. I have nothing in this apartment for her to eat. Looking in the fridge I found some hot dogs. So, we sat in the living room and at a few hot dogs and kind of scoped each other out.
I lived at that time, about two or three blocks from a grocer so I walked down to the grocer and picked up some dry dog food and a squeaky toy (a nice plush green frog). Getting back to the apartment, I found the poor dog lying on the couch sound asleep.
After that point Chloe and I were the best of friends. I took Chloe with me everywhere I could. She would go with me to the park every evening for a walk around the grounds. Afterwards we would go to McDonald's for a cheeseburger and fry. Weekends were a lovely time in the dog park running and walking.
I lived with the girl that I was dating at the time for a while. And when she and split up, Chloe was the first that went with me on my new life journey. My life started to revolve around Chloe. "I have to hurry up and do what I'm doing so I can go check on Chloe" and the such. I then met my wife who shared my love for Chloe as well as all animals.
As my wife and I lived in our home we had 3 dogs and 2 cats. We first lost our cat Roxy, not long after that our White Lab, Molly passed away. Not even a month later our Water Spaniel, Marley was stricken with cancer and passed away. On September 29th, Chloe passed away in the caring company of myself, my wife, Dr. Janet and Frank.
Chloe was an amazing dog. She was blind, deaf, had hip problems and arthritis. At one point in her life she had Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever and survived that. The one thing that I could not save her from though was time. Chloe lived until ripe old age of 14. She was a great dog, a great friend and I will miss her more than anyone could possibly ever know.
