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| Harley a few days old! |
“Which one Mom?” Nikki said as her eyes scanned across the cute little dachshund puppies. Nikki and I went to visit the Bailey’s to see the brand new dachshund puppies. Ms. Bailey was holding the cutest one of all in her hand. A precious little puppy that was just a bit lighter than all the rest of her brothers and sisters.
We were both a little surprised at the size of the father. He was big. “I thought they were miniature dachshunds,” Nikki said, while inspecting the puppy with the same verve she gave to any important project. I relaxed knowing that not one tiny little detail would escape Nikki when she was in “business” mode. Then, she handed the little baby dog to me and I fell in love, yes that’s right, at that moment I knew this little dog and I were going to be lifelong friends. The problem was, that she was supposed to be Nikki’s dog.
I handed the little puppy back to the lady and said, “that’s the one, we will take her! Is there some way you can mark her so we are sure to get that very one?” Mrs. Bailey smiled and said it wouldn’t be a problem because she was a different color than all the rest. Nikki looked at me for reassurance and then back to the other puppies. I shook my head and she understood, in the way we have of communicating with each other silently, that this was definitely the one. Nikki wrote them a check for $300 which was $50 more than we thought it would be but by that time, it was a done deal. We left, but I spent the next 6 weeks bothering the Bailey’s and Nikki, to ask their son who worked with her at St. Elizabeth’s Fitness Center, to see if we could have our new puppy earlier. Being the responsible breeders they were, they held out against the onslaught of begging until the absolute end. I’m sure they were mightily relieved the day we went to pick her up.
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| Harley in her leathers.. lol |
The Name
There are different views on who thought up the name. Nikki says it was after a friend of a friend and I think it was because it matched our last name. But, Harley it was and Nikki settled her in a little basket beside her bed. I’m not sure when it became evident that Harley was going to be my dog but when Nikki decided to move out and get her own apartment, I asked to keep her with me and Nikki agreed.
Just Me and Her
Having Harley at this time of my life, when everything was such a jumble and when, with the exception of my kids, I was very alone. It was just me and Harley and then everyone else. No matter how scared I was, no matter what I said or did, she was there, nuzzling me and watching me. I had to take care of us after all, she had to count on me for that and I had to come through. Nikki was working hard to earn her degree and Josh was off in far away lands on the USS Lincoln. I am an only child and both my parents passed away, long ago. It was me and her against all odds.
Cats
For the first several years of Harley’s life, she thought she was a cat. It didn’t daunt her that she couldn’t jump to the back of the couch like the other cats, she just trotted around to the front and jumped and clawed her way there and then proudly strutted back and forth and slept there, just like her friends.
When one of them had kittens, Harley decided she wanted them. I would see her trotting past me with a kitten in her mouth and rush to take it away. After giving me a disgusted look, Harley just doggedly went back to get another one. For a week, the mother cat and I both spent a majority of our time moving kittens from Harley’s bed, back to Momma kitties bed. One day, I went looking for Harley and there was everyone, Harley, Momma Kitty and all six kittens, happy as little larks, in Harley’s bed. A perfect example of “If you can’t beat em, join em!” Harley couldn’t feed them but she licked them and nudged them around with her long Doxie nose and corralled them when they wandered out of their assigned (by Harley) territory. She grieved for them with Momma Kitty when they went to new homes and I think they consoled each other.
Sleeping
When Nikki moved out, Harley started sleeping with me. I put a low stool by my bed so she could get on and off on her own. She would climb in and then nose her way down my legs and settle herself by my feet. If I moved around too much, she’d growl to tell me to be still. When she got hot, she’d move up and flop her head on my pillow and lick me to let me know she was ok, just hot. Later on, when I got a bed that was too high for her to maneuver, she would just jump against it and bark at me to lift her into bed. As she got older, she was less interested in being in bed with me and slept in her own bed with her blanket. There was no rest for me though unless she had her blanket on her. She had no qualms waking me up in the middle of the night to re-situate her with her blanket. I did it with a sleepy smile.
Running the Field
We lived in an apartment at Fountain Woods and our door faced the athletic field at Austin Middle School. I would swing open the door and a small red blur would go tearing out the door, full speed with little legs pumping for all they were worth. It was amazing really, how fast she was with those little legs. She would run all the way around the perimeter once and then once again, slower to inspect for intruders and to look for squirrels in the little woods on the side. Then she would come back to get me so we could walk it together.
Zach
I had a home office at this time when I was working for Girls’ Haven. My friend and boss LaNell would come by every morning after dropping her son Dylan off at school to talk about things we needed to do and she brought her younger son Zach with her. Harely ADORED Zach. The minute she saw him she would jump up and down and they would hug and talk to each other. Zach liked to walk her so we would put a leash on her and they would go off together. We lectured Zach not to let Harley lead him too far but they got lost more than once. One time, the principal at Austin called to tell us that they were in a classroom. We rushed over to get them and the two of them were sitting happily on the teachers desk, basking in the attention of all the 8th graders and their teacher. I have to admit, they cut quite the picture, the curly haired redhead and the little red dog. It was a joy to watch them together.
Mandy
Harley also loved Nikki’s friend Mandy. Anytime Mandy was near she would wag her tail and whine and jump until Mandy picked her up. I finally talked to Mandy and asked her if she would agree to take Harley if anything ever happened to me. She said yes and it was always a comfort to me to know that.
Wendy
One day, Nikki's friend Wendy was visiting and Harley and I were sitting on the couch. I was singing the “Harley” song to Harley. She loved it and would lick me and wiggle around while I sang it to her. The melody was the frere jacques song and the words were:
I love Harley, I love Harley, Yes I do… yes I do… I will always love her, I will always love her forever and always, forever and always.. . .
I looked up at Wendy and the look on her face was just priceless. I said, "WHAT, she likes it!" She said to me with such a wry expression, “I hope you die before that dog does.” I said, “THANKS Wendy!” while laughing. I knew Wendy well enough to know that was her way of saying she loved me. She explained, “No, I’m serious, how will any of us console you? I’ve never seen anyone love a dog so much!” You were right Wendy. I’m inconsolable. Sadder than I ever knew I could be. Missing you guys too, because, regardless, just knowing you care does help.
Getting LadyBug
A few years later, LadyBug came to live with us. I don't think Harley was too impressed with the new addition but as time went by, they became fast friends and Lady was added to our little "family". Harley remained the boss of all of us until her last day.  |
| This was right before Harley scored her duck |
Ducks and Dogs and Dylan
We all moved to Baton Rouge for a short time when my company transferred me. We had an apartment beside a beautiful lake. Josh brought my grandson Dylan to visit and they became fast friends. I kept warning Josh that Harley might be able to get away from Dylan but he seemed to have such a grip on the leash that we let him have her. As we were all walking around the lake, a momma duck came out with her babies. Harley shot into action like the space shuttle and before any of us could do anything about it, she had a duck in her mouth and headed for some people safe cover so we couldn't take it away from her. It was quite traumatic and I had to scold Charles and Josh who were laughing uproariously as opposed to Dylan who was horrified. Harley? Well she was just concentrating on stopping Josh from taking away her prize duck. Much to my chagrin, Charles insisted on referring to her as DK short for Duck Killer for the next year.
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| Harley at Silver Lake Park in Staten Island |
Moving to New York
One of the stand out moments for me and Harley was the first night of our move to New York. It was a major life changing decision and Harley and Lady made it with me. When my friend Debbie invited me to come live with her and work in New York, I was terrified but circumstances were pushing me that direction. I explained to her that where I went, so came my Harley and now Lady.
Debbie said we were all welcome, so plans were made and we all made the trip together. After she picked us up at the airport, and took a short nighttime sightseeing trip, we all went to Debbie’s where chaos ensued as Harley and Lady proceeded to chase Debbie’s horrified cats all around the house. Debbie showed us to our room and she went to bed.
I will never forget the weight of the moment when we were faced with the quiet reality that we had moved here. The picture in my mind of the three of us sitting on the little bed in the tiny little room in this strange city where we knew no one, will stay with me forever. I just took a deep breath and looked around the little room, thinking, Oh my God, what have I done. Did I really just pick up and move to New York City?
Harley climbed into my lap and looked up at me as if to say, “hey, what’s all this and where is our house?” Then she just sighed and snuggled down in bed with me, knowing that wherever we were, we were together and it would be ok. That memory, and the peace of mind it gave me to have her there, will stay with me always. I was scared to death, but having her there let me know that I was the team leader and was expected to do whatever I needed to do to make things right. That’s exactly what I did.
We made the best of the situation and took long walks in Silver Lake Park which was right across the street. Harley got her first taste of snow there which was NOT received well. Her little belly was always in the snow and she let me know right away that she was NOT going to be a snow dog!
Sacs and the Village
One day I was in Sak’s Fifth Avenue and saw another shopper had her little dog with her. I asked the salesperson about it and she said, in New York, most of the stores allowed shoppers to have their dogs with them. I went right home and excitedly planned an excursion to the city with Harley. Lady never has calmed down enough to be a “city” dog so she had a long walk in the park first and then Harley and I boarded the bus and started our trek into the city. Harley wasn’t too happy about being stuffed into a “bag” but she endured it. On the Staten Island Ferry, I took her out of the bag and she and I sat on the upper level outside on the bench and looked at Lady Liberty. I smiled at what “big girls” we both were. After a stressful subway ride, discouraging well meaning subway riders from petting Harley’s head, lest they lose a finger or two, we headed for Sak’s first and I laughed at how easily Harley learned to turn up her nose at the other little dogs and prance around, showing them just how snooty little Texas dogs can be. We shopped and I think we bought a key chain since that is all we could afford, especially if we wanted to eat later.
Then we met some friends and went to the Village where we sat at a sidewalk café. There was an extra chair and Harley hopped into it, seeing no need for her to be on the, “gasp”, ground. We all laughed and the waiter brought her a bowl of water, mineral of course, and we all shared little tidbits with her. People walked by and cooed at her and took her picture which she happily posed for. We had a wonderful day and I think Harley enjoyed it as much as I did, even if she did have to endure being stuffed into the bag to get there.
As it turned out, New York was to be our new home for these 10 years now and I came through with my promise to Harley to make everything all right. She was with me for the long haul and I could do no less for her. No matter how bad things got, we were going to stay together and New York was good to us. It brought us Charles, a job, security and happiness.
Saying Goodbye
When I first noticed Harley didn’t look well and when the vet explained as kindly as she could that my time with Harley was at a minimum, I took her home. We sat quietly together and I assured her that I would be there for her always. I told her that I appreciated that she was there for me through all the scary times and I would take this journey with her too and I’d do my best to make it dignified and that she would know how much she was loved.
For the next few weeks, I walked with her, pacing our slow walk with what she could do. I held her as we rocked outside in the sun together in the rocking chair that I finally got for us. I sat outside while she stretched out in the sun and fed her tidbits from my plate. I took her with me in the car when I ran errands and talked and chatted at her like always. And when I got upset, I pushed it down so it wouldn’t scare her and just hugged her.
Last Saturday, she spent the day outside with us and went to sleep that night snuggled in her blanket and never woke up. She was right beside me then, just like all the other times. It’s an understatement, but there are not better words for me to say than, “I miss you Harley, and thank you for being my true friend always and thank you for all the love you poured into me for the 15 years we had together.”
