Remembering Cocoa

Two years ago today my beautiful little girl preceded me into Heaven.

I remember the first time we met her at Mary's (the breeder) home. We were looking at a number of Pomeranians. We saw Cocoa, Cocoa's sister, their mother and grandmother. Cocoa and her sister were beautiful little 8-week old puppies. Cocoa's mother was not available, of course, and nor was her grandmother. Cocoa's mother was the only one who was not chocolate colored. She was parti-colored, white and black. We were sitting in the kitchen by the kennel that the dogs would go in and out of. We picked up Cocoa's sister and looked at her. She was very well behaved and an entirely lovely dog. We fell in lover with her. We put her down and she went walking around the into and out of the kennel and the net room.

Then Mary handed Cocoa to us. My wife held her for a bit and then gave her to me. Cocoa was struggling to be let go. I tried to hold her but she was struggling so hard that she fell from my lap to the floor. We were mortified and Mary was not happy. Cocoa shook herself off and went into the kennel for a moment, then came back out. She still wanted our attention and wandered around our the area where we were sitting. She was not going to let any other dog upstage her. We loved her to.

As this would be our first dog, we got into a discussion about what personality of dog would be suitable for us. A dog who was too willful or demanding may not be a good match for us, and that would not be good for the dog either. It was a tough choice. We loved them all, particularly Cocoa and her sister. As we talked, we kept coming back to Cocoa (who continued to wander about in our presence). Although she may turn out to be difficult in the future, she was the choice. Her fiery personality was something that we could not resist. She was the choice.

We loved her very much, and she loved us. The memory of her bring tears to my eyes even as I write this. In a comment to my memorial post of her from last year Marguerite wrote,

I have a priest friend who thinks that man's ability to make friends with animals is a proof of God, perhaps he's right.

I believe that he is right.

I have two dogs now, Niko (a pomeranian) and Mikro (a long haired chihuahua) and love them. We almost lost Niko this summer and it was difficult for us. He is a good friend. He is doing well now, but he is 14 years old. That will be hard to.

Cocoa was exceptional and we miss her.



UPDATE: My wife reminds me that when Cocoa wanted to go into the kennel, she would just push any other dogs aside to go in. The kennel was large enough to hold four or five puppies or an adult and two or three puppies. When Cocoa wanted in, and if there were other puppies in there, she just pushed them aside to get where she wanted. Any other dog would look and see that there was no room and not enter. Cocoa, however, would not be denied.

She lived every aspect of her life with great gusto. She loved people and she loved us with that same gusto. Truely she was a gift directly from God to us and I thank God for her.