Before Mumble, there was Padfoot

Padfoot; July 2007-August 2008

Exactly one year ago this week, I lost my beloved dog, Padfoot. His death was sudden and unexpected, although it could have been prevented if only I had been provided with accurate information about his health when I adopted him.

I found Padfoot at one of those large pet adoption fairs, the kind of event where there are booths selling things for pets, and shows with dogs performing tricks or jumping into water, and tons of rescue groups with dogs to adopt. I went with a friend who wanted to look at the pet products for her dog, Chopper. My mom and nephew had left the day before to go back to Georgia after a weeklong visit, so I was homesick and a bit vulnerable. We walked through rows and rows of dogs for adoption, mostly walking past and only half-heartedly looking. When we came to the booth where Padfoot was, however, I was stopped in my tracks right away. There he was, this beautiful white puppy, with his head cocked to one side as he looked right into my eyes, lifted his paw up onto his crate and silently told me "I'm your dog." I asked the people to let me see him outside of his crate, and we walked with him out into this little grass area, where he sat on my friend's feet and ignored me. Eventually, he came over and put his paw on me and looked me right in the face.

I didn't take him right away. I hadn't intended to get a dog that day, although I had been thinking about getting a dog for a long time. I asked a lot of questions, and was told that he was a Jindo, that he currently lived in a foster home, where he had been for a few months, with one other dog and a cat, and that he had been to the vet and all of his shots were current. I walked around and around the other exhibits at the fair and thought about it, talked to my friend about it. I knew he was the dog for me, and in the end I went back to the booth to get him. Because it was the end of the day, they didn't have time to take my application, so I sent it in the next day and picked him up one week later.

Padfoot was a great dog. He was smart and extremely loyal. He and my cat, Rascal, absolutely adored each other. They took naps together on the rug, followed each other around the house, and greeted each other every day when Padfoot and I came home. Padfoot loved playing with other dogs, especially with Chopper, the coonhound belonging to my friend. They played very rowdily, but they had so much fun, and they really loved each other.


On a hike with the whole gang


I don't want to talk here about all the things that could have been different, all of the ways that I could have saved him, all of the anger about the information I should have been given from the rescue group, or even about ultimately what it was that killed him. On the anniversary of his death, I think about how much I still miss him everyday, and I want to focus on how much he meant to me and how lucky I was to have him, even for that short amount of time. When I think about him, I have to think about what a great life he had for those months - going to doggie daycare with his doggie buddies, going for hikes and to the beach and long walks, hanging out with my nieces when they visited for the summer, coming to the office with me, eating doggie birthday cake and goodies from the bakery. I loved him, and I know that from the moment he looked at me that day at the adoption fair, he was meant to be my dog. And I miss him.

Losing Padfoot was such an emotional upheaval to my life. He was such a big part of not only my life, but of my office where he came everyday, my friends' lives, and the lives of the dogs we knew, Chopper, Zelda and Peach. It was devastating to all of us, and looking back, it amazes me that I was in a place where I could even think about adopting another dog merely five months later, when I found Mumble. Having Mumble has been an adventure, and has been a huge part of my healing. Mumble is never a "replacement" for Padfoot. Although there are many similarities, those two are also very different. Mumble is as much meant to be my dog now as Padfoot was then.

I found Mumble on the website of a local rescue organization, and from his picture I fell in love. I emailed them and found out he was from the South LA animal shelter and was just 3 months, 2 weeks old. There were other people interested, but after some back and forth emails, miraculously, it was me who got the chance to adopt him. I knew the day they came to my house with him would be emotional, and I was so afraid that I would just lose it and not be able to take him because I'd get overwhelmed, so a friend came over as moral support. I remember when he got there, and was running around and licking our faces and wagging his tail; my friend said to him "you don't even know us yet but we love you." The rest is the story of Mumble, to be continued in this blog...