I know this first picture is not Diesel. This is DJ. He was the second dog David and I got together. It is a cute story. He was given to David by my mom on his 25th birthday. She had a Chihuahua that had puppies. David had told her that if she had a black puppy he wanted it. Well she did, even though he didn't stay that color. My mom said there is David's puppy and she named him DJ (David Junior). Even though he was given to David he was my dog. When my mom died I still had something living that came from her. He was a comfort to me. When he died my heart broke. I said I would NEVER have another dog, I didn't want the pain. Four months went by, I couldn't stand it anymore. I decided that I did want another puppy. The search began.....
The boys and I spent many days at the Humane Society looking at dogs. After a few weeks I talked David into going with us. We started looking and we walked by a cage with a huge black dog in it. I had seen this dog before but there was a sign on his cage that said 'If you want to take me out Please ask for assistance because I am stronger than I look." That kind of turned me off and he had way more hair than I wanted to deal with. David stopped as I kept walking. I noticed and turned around and went back. I remember saying that he was a pretty dog. I stuck my fingers though the wire and scratched his head. I then kept going, I swear as I walked away he sighed and hung his head. Well I walked straight back to him! We asked to get him out and we took him outside. He was strong!!! We played with him for a while and took turns walking him. We liked him but went home without him. David and I discussed it that night. Jacob was a little afraid of Diesel because he was so big. David suggested that I take the boys back and have Jacob work with him a little on sit and down. As it turns out Diesel had been in a training program and knew several "tricks" already. But Jacob got really comfortable with him and we pretty much decided we wanted him. But we thought we would give some treats to the other dogs waiting for their forever homes. We took about 10 minutes and when we got back to Diesels cage he was not there. Jacob started pulling me to the door telling me we needed to go now and tell them we wanted him. So we went straight out and filled out the paperwork. We did not have a collar or leash or a kennel at home so we told them we would come back the next day to get him. When David got home that night we went and got all the supplies we would need. The boys put together the kennel then they all three got inside ;) The day we picked him up they told us he was an escape artist. Apparently he had been at the shelter several times, always running away from his previous adoptive homes. The last time he ended back up at the shelter they would not give him back to the previous people. I told them we had a 6 foot privacy fence, they said well the other people did too. He did manage to get out a few times on us but we ALWAYS chased him down and brought him back home. He was never lost for more than 20 minutes. I do remember one time when our friend from France came over. We looked all over for Diesel and couldn't find him. Ariane was very upset, I think she thought it was somehow her fault. We looked for him for a long time. I was in the van, all the boys were walking and calling for him. One of the little neighbor girls grabbed a leash and treats and went looking too. I think we must have looked for an hour. We came home and it hit me....Diesel had been sneaking into my bedroom and hiding to sleep because it is really dark in there. I opened my door and he walked right out! He was just looking at us wondering what all the fuss was about :)
Playing with Diesel at the Humane Society.
Jacob working with Diesel and getting more comfortable with him.
Diesels last night at the Shelter, he came home with us on January 20, 2010
This dog LOVED the cold and the snow!!!!
The boys were in heaven because even though he was 3 years old he still played like a puppy.
Diesel didn't really like tennis balls but he loved playing soccer and football with the boys. He also loved hiking with us. We liked to take him to Red River Gorge. He especially liked going to Miguels Pizza after hiking :) He also went to the Smokey Mountains with us. He was a good car rider, but he didn't like the Jeep as much as the van because he was behind us and couldn't see us very well unless he sat up.
We like to travel and we could not take Diesel with us every time. We had a wonderful family that took care of him for us. He loved being there with them and their other dogs. But he was always happy to see us when we came back. The above was picture was one of those times.
Diesel was truly a 'family' dog. He wanted to be where we were. I remember the first Christmas he was with us. We always take a family picture in front of the Christmas tree. I was taking a picture of my guys with my father in law Larry. Diesel just walked over and sat down in front of everyone to have his picture taken with the family. He then did the same thing every year, without prompting. He would just come over and sit down, he didn't always look at the camera though.
Diesel was a star!! He performed on stage with the APG Shakespeare Ensemble. He was so calm and the kids loved him. He got LOTS of treats. Treats were always a great motivator for him. He was even on TV with Lee Cruises morning show.
This is Emme, she was Diesels handler during both shows. She did a fabulous job with him. He played a thorn bush :)
After show cast party.
Can you believe this boy was ever afraid of this dog?
I know this is a really long post filled with way to many pictures. I have so many of this beautiful boy. He just always looked so cute I couldn't help taking his picture. We all adored him, but he was definitely 'my' dog. He was more than just a pet, he was a part of us. It has been almost a month since he left us. He is always on our minds. As I type this right now I see some of his hair on my keyboard. Did I mention how much of a shedder he was?
These last pictures are from close to the end. He had hip dysplasia and then he had a stroke. He couldn't get up anymore. That last night I heard him crying and went down to check on him. He had been trying to get up and somehow cut his foot. I helped him get back on his blanket and calmed him down. The next morning he wouldn't get up so we made the hard decision. We knew it was coming so the last few days we all just gave him lots of petting. We loved him beyond words.
Diesel brought so much joy and happiness to our lives. We are all deeply sad but having him those years was so worth the pain we feel now. I am not deceiving myself this time. I am a dog person, I need to have a dog around. We have already started our 'shelter' visiting. I got depressed during the time between DJ and Diesel and I didn't even realize it until one day I heard Jacob tell David that "Mommy is smiling again." No dog will ever be able to replace Diesel. With as much as I loved DJ, there was just something special about Diesel. I think he was my once in a lifetime dog.
