Furball, Healer
How two rescued dogs rescued me.
(Illustration by Kim Rosen)
Their bedraggled faces peered at me from the adoption website Petfinder.com. Lucky Dog, a 3-year-old bichon frise, and French Fry, a 2-year-old bichon/poodle mix, had been rescued from a puppy mill that kept dogs under appalling conditions and bred them until they died. Lucky looked like a tough guy and the protector of Frenchy, his pitiful sidekick. Together, they called to mind woeful street orphans from a hundred-year-old daguerreotype. They came as a duo - no separate adoptions allowed. I wasn't a prospective adopter; I was just looking. And looking. I kept going back to the site and staring at those two hurt creatures.
Lucky looked just like Goody, my son's 12-year-old bichon, who had died the night before I had surgery to remove a 3 1/2-pound cancerous tumor from my colon. The tumor weighed exactly what my son, Jesse, had weighed at birth. He had died two years earlier, suddenly, in his sleep at age 17. After the surgery, I was the semi-walking wounded, recovering on my daybed, watching reality shows to see if they bore any relation to my current reality, which seemed more like a particularly disturbing episode of the The Twilight Zone.
Goody had been a prince among dogs. He had arrived on my son's bed Christmas morning, after a spoken request to Santa Claus. The request had carried weight: Jesse was quadriplegic, nonverbal, and then 7 years old. Little-boy longing had pushed the word "dog" out of his mouth, and there was no question that heartfelt wish would be granted.
I showed Lucky and Frenchy's picture to my husband. Chris was noncommittal, but there was no mistaking that softening around his eyes. We became prospective adopters. Three recommendations and a home visit were required. We passed, even though we were convinced nerves made us seem shifty. After signing impressive-looking contracts (how would they enforce them?) and promising to never kennel them, we drove to Connecticut for the pickup. It was a soft June day, four months after Goody had died, four months after the surgery, 30 months since our son had died.
On the first day, I took stock: They weren't housebroken; they didn't know their names; they shrank from us, so no leash was possible. To make them follow me to our unfenced yard, I had to summon my inner alpha dog. What if they bolted? I pictured the formidable interview lady checking up on us, only to find we had allowed Lucky and Frenchy to be crushed by a school bus on their first day of freedom.
These dire scenarios propelled me to full alpha mode, and they followed me outside. They ran, tottering like elderly little men on walkers, their legs stiff from a life encaged. I blinked back tears and herded them into our enclosed pool area. Their true dog selves emerged; they began cavorting and chasing each other. Lucky careened around a corner and fell into the pool. Chris heard me scream and stood on the deck above the pool, highly amused, as he watched me haul myself out of the water, hampered by clothes that now weighed a ton. Lucky pranced off, ungrateful for my lifesaving heroics. Chris brought me a towel, still laughing. In the lot. Our laughter was creaky from disuse, like Lucky and Frenchy's legs.
It's a year later. They've commandeered the comfy chair. They're housebroken, they know their names, and they walk on leash (Lucky bites his). Frenchy nudges my leg, asking for caresses. Lucky still runs away if I even glance at him, and he sleeps with one wary eye open. He's my favorite, because he's both dauntless and terrified, and he reminds me of me. In bursts of bravery, he'll stretch himself forward, quickly lick my hand, then bolt. I stalk and capture him to put him in my lap and pet him.
"You heal me, and I'll heal you," I whisper.
He jumps down, turns around, and dogsmiles. He keeps his wary eye on me.
Marianne Leone, an actress and writer, lives on the South Shore. Her forthcoming memoir is called The Running Madonna. Send comments to coupling@globe.com.
