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ONCE UPON A SUNRISE - The Story Of An Undefeated Soul
Once Upon A Sunrise
The Story Of An Undefeated Soul
by Amarillys de Jesús, PhD
18 May 2010
The Eve Of Daybreak
As far back as I can remember I have always loved all animals, but my true passion has invariably been dogs - regardless of their genetic ancestry, whether they be pure bred with impressive lineage, or strays with a dubious bloodline of descent.
My very first dog, a gift from my parents, was a coffee-colored Cocker Spaniel whom I aptly named Coffee. At seven years of age my repertoire of possible names and my vocabulary were quite limited, so I just went for the obvious. Coffee turned out to be quite a wonderful companion, confidante and best friend. She walked and slept by my side, was always a joyful and willing playmate and would guard all my childhood secrets with her own life. Growing up with three brothers, she became my surrogate sister safeguarding me from my brothers' never ending pranks by barking at them when they attempted to step out of line with me.
One day when I was fourteen I returned home from school and Coffee was not there to greet me, as was her usual behavior. After calling her and looking desperately for her for a couple of hours around my neighborhood, my mother finally broke down and told me that she had given her away to another family because my Dad had a serious persistent sinus condition which was aggravated by the hair Coffee shed. My Dad's ENT physician had recommended to get rid of the cause of his severe allergy. This was my very first deep seated sorrowful heartbreak. Although my Mom cried with me, I just could not forgive her and punished her betrayal by not speaking to her for almost two years. I vowed to myself that I would never - ever - have another dog in my life.
My childhood oath notwithstanding, as the years went by, as an adult I rescued many other dogs who, after coming into my life, I embraced and greatly loved each one of them. Prince, Chispi, Kappy (the undercover German Shepherd police dog), Ebony, Taina, Tembleququi, Bon-bon, and so many others - each of them was a delightful companion and friend, and every time I lost one of them I intensely mourned her or his loss. And then into my life came the yellow Labrador I called Indio.
I rescued Indio in the middle of unrelenting freezing winter rains while he was seriously injured and starving in a wooded area outside Tallahassee, Florida. Although the veterinary recommended to euthanize him due to the severity of his injuries and his atrocious health conditions, I did not turn my back on him and dedicated myself to nursing him back to health. He flourished into a strong, highly intelligent, playful and an exceptionally unique companion. In the prime of his youth there came a time in my life to mourn the loss of the human companion I had loved most during nineteen years, and Indio stood guard by my side freely bestowing me with his pure love. When I became so despondent and full of sorrow, he returned the favor by literally saving my life. Years later, as a loving tribute to his wonderful love and steadfast companionship, I wrote and published "For The Love Of Indio" in the magazine The Labrador Quarterly, Fall 2004 issue.
After the painful loss of Indio, once again I renewed my childhood vow : no more dogs - no more pain.
Comes The Dawn
During the Spring of 1997 after purchasing some groceries I casually looked at a bulletin board next to the store exit. Among the few posted ads there was a short note written in child-like small letters advertising Golden Retriever puppies for sale. I noticed that the address given was from an unknown neighbor who lived just a few houses down my block. Hmmm ... I thought to myself - not on your life - not again ! So I left and went on about my business to return to my home office and do some work.
However, the subconscious mind is such a powerful force that it kept that small message emblazoned under the folds of my conscious mind. A few days later, almost zombie-like, I found myself driving and parking in front of the neighbor's house. Before I could ask myself what was I doing there and just before I could make a quick exit, out comes this absolutely beautiful Golden Retriever to greet me like an old friend. Closely behind following her joyful paw steps and warm greeting came her owner who immediately and so very nicely asked me "Are you here to see her puppies ?" I was trapped !
So as to not be ungracious, I followed my neighbor to this enormous whelping box which had taken over almost the entire space of the covered carport. Inside the box was a rambunctious pack of nine poster-like puppies just learning to play with each other, awkwardly running and hopping and just being happy, healthy offsprings. Their mother, who had so joyfully greeted me, stood proud by my neighbor as the three of us admired her babies. As we were looking and enjoying the puppies' energetic and playful behavior, I observed that one of them would frequently stop playing to go sit by herself serenely in a corner quietly observing her siblings' exuberant antics. My interest was immediately aroused and drawn to this puppy - but I didn't say a word. Upon my inquiry, my neighbor indicated that a few of the puppies had already been selected to be picked up by their new owners when they reached eight weeks of age. Those already selected had different color stretch ribbons around their soft necks. However, the quiet one did not have a ribbon since she had yet to be selected.
Since the puppies were being sold at a steep price, I decided to learn more about the puppy's mother and father's temperament and lineage. I found out that both the mother and the father were owned by my neighbors and that each came from a quite respectable lineage of AKC registered Golden Retrievers. The Dam (mother)'s name was Leah Rose, and I could tell that her temperament was wonderfully gentle, loving and sweet. Her coloring was a pale, soft tone of light cinnamon. The Sire (dad), named Maxime, was playfully running around in their backyard, a dynamo of pure energy, colored light blonde golden, like a sunbeam at the peak of Summer. I thought right then that, if I should decide to select the quiet puppy, I would name her Canela Sunrise, canela being Spanish for cinnamon.
The Sun Rises
Of course, my heart had already decided for me, so I ended up selecting my quiet puppy before I left my neighbor's home and agreed to pick her up in two weeks when she reached eight weeks of age. The day I brought her home was a beautifully brilliant Spring morning with a cool tropical breeze that seemed to harbinger the joy of living life to the fullest. I immediately started calling her just Sunrise and, after familiarizing her with my home and backyard, I quickly found out that her former quiet, serene behavior was nothing but an Oscar award winning performance cleverly designed to make me fall in love with her ! Although she did have the wonderfully gentle and loving demeanor of her mother, she certainly took after her dad's high energy genes. She was playful, energetic, vibrant, always displaying an exuberant joy and high spirits. This sparkling and highly effervescent passion was her own signature on life all the way from puppyhood to her very last day.
In hindsight, naming her Sunrise was almost prophetic because she represented a new beginning for me in different levels of my life : a new puppy to love and train, the renewal of a personal relationship, a new own professional small business, a new lease on life.
Sunrise as a puppy was a delightful excursion into surprises, as well as an inspiring challenge. During her first month with me she tripled her size and weight and still had a lot of physical growing to do. Therefore, in order to harness her seemingly irrepressible feistiness, I decided to take her to a basic training program locally sponsored by one of the leading pet food companies. The first day of training she made it her business to let every other puppy and dog know that she was the one in charge ! Her "I am the alpha dog here" attitude continued until the very last day of the eight weeks training. She tried her very best to be disruptive through her (many times hilarious) mischief, testing the trainers and my own patience to the limit - even though we would some times have to turn our backs on her to quietly crack up laughing at her unending frolicking. Nonetheless, she was keenly intelligent and quickly learned the basic commands - at least during training sessions. At home, well, that was a different story because she knew how much I enjoyed her outrageous capers and foolish pranks.
Since I ran my own small business from my home office I was afforded the wonderful privilege, blessing and luxury of having Sunrise by my side at all times. Her curiosity about everything was relentless and she would make it her business to investigate and learn about every single thing that was unfamiliar to her. Just like any other baby, she would use her eyes, her nose, her mouth, her paws, her entire body to explore shapes, scents and textures. Whether an inanimate object or a live being - there she bolted on a high speed sprint to find out more about it.
From my office I have doors that open to our fenced backyard and our tropical weather allowed me to keep them open at all times so that Sunrise would have the freedom to go out whenever she needed or wanted. This allowed for her self house-breaking training, as well as to expand her universe to explore. Of course, this also gave her license to get into more mischief so I had to be constantly monitoring her to insure that she didn't get hurt or got into any trouble. In spite of my constant monitoring, once in a while she managed to pull one of her capers. Her favorite one was jumping on the banana trees to steal a low-hanging fruit and eat it. I lost count of the many times she bounced joyfully into my office so proudly bringing a banana across her mouth, triumphantly showing it to me as a coveted prize she had won.
On other occasions Sunrise also would take on the very serious role as my private secretary while I worked in my office. When I opened the lower drawer of the fine wood file cabinet she would step up and carefully place her front paws on the edge of the drawer, attempting to help me find whatever file I was looking for. It was fascinating and extremely amusing to see her so focused on all the different files, as if reading each one, trying to find the correct one.
When Sunrise was not too busy running, playing, stealing bananas or acting as my private secretary she would lie down under my desk to take her puppy naps while I worked. Once she was tall enough, she learned to stand on her hind legs and place her front paws on top of my desk to investigate and / or steal anything available. This made me be extra careful to keep the desktop puppy-proof for her safety by making sure that it was clear at all times. However, one day after finishing a nap she refused to get up and come out to play in the backyard. Very suspect behavior for her. She just wouldn't budge from her lying position. When she finally did move she whimpered, which immediately indicated to me that there was some kind of pain.
Initially I assumed that she had pulled a muscle playing or running. However, when the pain persisted during the afternoon, a visit to the vet and x-rays showed that she had chewed and swallowed three large paper clips and the twisted metal mess was embedded in the lining of her stomach. The surgery to remove the intertwined tangle danced to the tune of $ 1,300.00, which I'm sure places those paper clips in the Guinness world record for being the most expensive ones in the Western hemisphere and its history of civilization. To this day I don't know how she got a hold of them, but I assume that they fell unnoticed from my desk and, in the blink of an eye, they were in her mouth.
Another of Sunrise's favorite pranks was stealing laundry. Right next to my home office is the laundry room area where, in between work tasks, I would frequently take a break to do some laundry. Of course, my footsteps were immediately mirrored by her own paw steps since Sunrise always shadowed my every move. Actually, she loved to stalk me when I was removing clothes from the dryer, keenly focusing on any piece of fabric that would be left hanging from the dried bundle as I lifted it from the dryer. Once she zeroed in on one she would swiftly snatch it and run at full tilt speed into the backyard, the piece of clothing flapping and fluttering from her mouth like a banner of victory. Once in the backyard she would toss the clothing up in the air and grab it again, all the time sneaking glances at me smiling, almost saying "hey Mom, thanks for the new toy !" Nonetheless, in spite of her mischief, she would immediately come to me when I called her and would return her "new toy" when I asked her to drop it. Of course, I had to toss the item back in to be washed with the next load of laundry.
High Noon
When Sunrise was about six months old I realized that our fenced backyard was too limited a space for her fathomless high spiritedness. She just simply had too much high strung energy to burn. Since here in Puerto Rico we really have limited parks where I could take her, I established a routine to take her to the beach at least three times a week at different hours of the day, including sometimes in the early morning hours and other times right before dusk. She absolutely loved the car ride to the beach and her joyful anticipation to arrive would manifest itself with non-stop movement, full body dancing and tail wagging while in the back of my SUV. I used to joke that she seemed like a pebble inside a maraca - she just wouldn't stop moving. Sometimes we would drive next to another car where another dog was riding seated and tranquil and I would comment to Sunrise : See that ? It can be done !
The beach turned out to be her very favorite place in the whole universe, the ideal arena and the perfect amphitheater to play out her wonderful youth years. Once I got out of the car and checked to make sure it was safe to release her, I would unleash her and she would run up and down the shore line zipping through miles of sand while I tried to catch up with her. She would chase and many times ride ocean waves like a born surfer. All the time she had this wonderful smile of exhilarating joy in her semblance. When I called her to me she would fly back into my arms - every single time - panting, exuberant and smiling her goofy smile. She would then lie down by my side and drink iced water from the cooler I would bring just for her. Then we would just relax and bask on each other's company as we were surrounded and embraced by nature's spectacular ocean side tropical scenery and symphony.
After I met my friend Martin I would take Sunrise to the beach more frequently after work hours at night. He lived within one block walking distance from the beach and he had Sheba, a beautiful female Dalmatian who became Sunrise's best buddy. It was quite a sight to see both of them chasing waves, their starlit coats gleaming with splashed ocean mist and the soft glow of moonlight. There's no doubt in my mind that for Sunrise those moments were filled with pure, unadulterated happiness.
I don't remember exactly when, but from almost the very beginning of our outings at the beach, Sunrise decided to run her own campaign to become a viable candidate for mayor. At daytime or evening, every time we would encounter anyone at the beach she would immediately approach and greet her, him or it with the warmest affection, almost like a long lost love. Be it an adult or child, woman or man, dog - whomever or whatever - there was Sunrise smiling and wagging her tail trying to pump up some votes. Sometimes we didn't have to encounter them - she would simply dash out on her own to find someone to greet. Through her gregarious and loving behavior she accumulated many more friends, and even fans, that I could ever hope to have in my entire lifetime. The few times that I would go to the beach by myself everyone would stop to ask me where Sunrise was, if she was okay.
Once while being at the beach I decided to stop at an oceanfront small hostel known for its wonderful natural fruit frappes. I sat on the back terrace and tied Sunrise's long leash to the trailer of a boat that was parked on a shaded area at the edge of the property while I sipped my frappe as I enjoyed the frothy ocean waves gently brush and enfold the sand. While she was tied there she sat quietly waiting for me. When I finished and stood up, so did Sunrise. And when Sunrise moved so did the boat, unexpectedly and noisily shifting its position which totally freaked her out ! Her immediate response was to start running away from this strange object that was menacing her every time she moved. Of course, the more she ran the more she dragged the trailer and boat behind her. In spite of her terror, she finally listened to my command and stopped so that I could untie her leash and embrace her to let her know that she was safe. Tourists around watching this incident were either in awe of her strength to pull that trailer and boat, sympathetic for her fear, or just busting at the seams laughing. Personally, to this day I don't know if for me this event was more embarrassing, frightening or hilarious. Probably a little bit of each.
Upon our return from each of our beach excursions I would always hose down the salt water from her coat. Being true to her breed, she loved water in any shape or form, including being hosed down and bathed. I would then wait a while until she settled down to feed her, and after being fed she would then collapse exhausted but absolutely satisfied and content after her energy was fully spent. She was blissfully happy and so was I. Life was good.
Although at a very muscular 75 pounds Sunrise very strong physically, since she was always such a loving, outgoing and gregarious character (and potential mayor), I was always concerned that she would never make a good guard dog. I would think that if a stranger came into our home she would not only greet him, but would gladly show him the way around the entire house as she generously offered all goodies for him to steal. Then one afternoon I heard her running and barking extremely aggressively, something that she had never done before. When I looked out the window there were two guys from the cable company trying to work just on the other side of our backyard fence. And Sunrise was charging at them, almost trying to go through the chain link fence to keep them at bay from her territory. When I called her she immediately stopped barking but remained squared in an aggressive stance, posturing herself just in case further defensive moves or attacks were necessary. After that event I never doubted her ability to be the very best guard dog ever.
Twilight
Sometimes life has a knack for hurling unforeseen and unexpected curve balls right on your face. When Sunrise was in the prime of her youth, just four years old, I suddenly got very ill with a severe kidney condition that kept me hospitalized for the most part of the year 2001. Further complications with my liver and neurological system kept me mostly bed ridden and unable to produce any income for a total of three years. As a former athlete who during my teen and adult years intensely engaged in playing tennis, racquet ball, volleyball, swimming and power walking six miles daily, being incapacitated was a very hard pill to swallow.
To aggravate an already difficult situation, other major tragedies were concurrently and sequentially taking place in my life : my younger brother was diagnosed and dies from colon cancer, my best friend dies from ovarian cancer, two days before Christmas my oldest nephew and godson is killed in a robbery while buying groceries, my 85 year old Dad is diagnosed with Alzheimer's and my personal relationship of thirteen years disintegrated. Moreover, although I had carefully planned and saved for a secure financial future, I became severely financially strapped due to my own and my Dad's astronomical medical expenses and my overextended time without any income.
All these situations notwithstanding, and even though this was a time of many hardships and sorrow, the presence of Sunrise in my life helped me keep an even keel. She knew things were going downhill fast, she felt my physical and emotional pain, and she stayed steadfast by my side to love me unconditionally and would lovingly offer herself for me to embrace her when I felt I couldn't take any more pain. With the remarkable innate wisdom that only a dog has, Sunrise slowly metamorphosed into a much more gentler and calmer companion. Almost like magic, her typical outbursts of high intensity energy became subdued. And, even though my physical and my medical conditions forced me to stop our trips to the beach, I never saw or felt her reproach me for that. On the contrary, she kept teaching me how to make the best of a situation that proved to be very difficult for both of us. From that point forward, her daily exercise routine was limited to playing in our backyard.
After my brother passed away I decided to rescue and adopt Chavito, a small 15 pounds mutt he had given to my nephew three years before for his twelfth birthday. Although as a child my nephew had begged for a dog, like a typical teenager, at that time he was too busy being self-centered and was not taking the responsibility for the proper care nor for giving any love, time or attention to this small, wonderful dog. When I walked Chavito into our backyard he was immediately star struck by Sunrise and her loving reception of him. She saw him as a new brother and playmate. For him, she was simply a goddess with whom he instantly fell in love and would adore for the rest of his life. In the midst of all so many other awful things happening in our life, and my inability to engage in physical play with her, it was a wonderful feeling to see Sunrise playful, happy and mischievous again with Chavito, who worshipped the ground she walked on. She even taught him her favorite prank of how to steal bananas from the tree ! Since he could not reach the hanging fruits, Sunrise would drop a fruit for him and then pluck another for herself.
On the week of Thanksgiving of 2005 our family of three grew when a another wonderful and loving partner came into my life like the sweet breath of a cool autumn breeze. Very much like me, she has a passion for all animals and especially dogs, and has been a blessing to not only me, but to Sunrise as well who simply adored her. Her adoration stemmed not only from her innate loving temperament, but also because my partner would make the time from her busy work schedule to groom and bathe her, feed her, play with her and would always relate to Sunrise in a very sweet and loving manner. Eventually we added another rescue dog to our family : Choco, a tailless Chihuahua mix I found running terrified in the middle of a very busy shopping mall parking lot and who was almost run over by cars four different times as I watched from my car. When I was finally able to reach and grab him his little heart was thundering away. He was panic-stricken, obviously undernourished, dehydrated and just skin and bones. When I brought him home Sunrise immediately opened her heart to him, and since no one claimed him or responded to our inquiries, he remained with us and Sunrise and Chavito had another playmate. Our family was now complete.
Before Sunrise turned twelve years old she started showing slight signs of discomfort with her hips. A veterinary check up and x-rays confirmed the beginning of hip dysplasia, a crippling degenerative disease that has no cure. Nonetheless, she still remained very active, playful and always, always so very sparkling and joyful. To manage her condition without drugs I changed her nutrition to reduce her weight in a healthy manner (eventually she went down to sixty pounds) and started her on a natural therapy of high doses of glucosamine and chondroitin. This approach had an almost immediate positive effect on her. Her almost imperceptible limp stopped and, with her natural unbridled passion, she resumed her very active playing and running around with Chavito and Choco.
During the three months before her thirteenth January birthday Sunrise's behavior toned down considerably and she spent many hours of the day sleeping. Although I knew that she was old and that increased sleep is typical of old age, my heart knew that she was preparing herself and me and all of us for her departure. When she started drinking excessive amounts of water I suspected that perhaps she could also be having problems with her kidneys. Nonetheless, in spite of her increased sleeping hours and water consumption, Sunrise's high spirited, joyful and sparkling demeanor shone through every day, she still walked without a limp and her appetite was as strong as ever - - and she was still stealing bananas. This led me to convince myself that up to that time she was still fine.
Nightfall
At the end April of 2010 Sunrise could still walk and sometimes even run without limping at all. However, the muscles in her hind legs had weakened enough so that, sometimes suddenly and without warning, they would not sustain her weight. In spite of this obvious physical weakness, her exuberant joy and her alertness remained in full tilt fashion. But I could tell that she was in pain because it was difficult for her to lie down and could not get back up without my assistance. Since her cheerful demeanor remained intact, I spent countless sleepless hours debating on what to do. Following these anguished moments of indecision my love took over and, in spite of the sorrow that ensued, I decided to end her pain. With my heart burdened with sorrow, I called and talked with her veterinary about what was happening and arranged for an appointment.
On the May 12 car ride to the veterinary clinic Sunrise tried to stand through the short trip in the back of my SUV attempting to do her usual "pebble-in-a-maraca" number, but she just was unable to do so. Seeing her efforts made our hearts wrench in pain. However, when we walked into the vet's office Sunrise strutted her way in with her tail wagging a mile a minute, and when the veterinary saw her so alert, joyful and not limping she stated that she would hate to put down a dog so full of life. She suggested that perhaps Sunrise could be placed on pain medication for some time if her blood analysis showed no diabetes or kidney problems. Drug therapy for her hip pain would not be viable if her kidneys were not functioning right. For a brief moment there was a ray of hope and the painful burden was lifted from our souls. However, her blood work showed that Sunrise was already in kidney failure.
Saying good bye to a beloved pet is always a heart breaking and significant event for any pet lover. Saying good bye to one that is so full of life and joy is overwhelmingly shattering to the soul. But a love that is authentic can and will set aside and ignore its own pain so as to do what is right for the loved one. We held her and kissed her non-stop as we whispered our love in her ears, thanking her for being such a wonderful companion and friend as her undefeated and perfect spirit was released and soared away to that sacred place where pain does not exist.
Afterwards, we brought Sunrise home to Chavito and Choco so that they would see that she was back home. When Chavito saw his goddess' lifeless body he literally choked and lost his breath, but he kissed her tenderly just the same. Then we laid her to rest in her second favorite place in the universe, right under her banana trees.
* * *
Canela Sunrise
January 18, 1997 - May 12, 2010
Amarillys de Jesús, PhD
18 May 2010
About the Author
- Born and raised in San Juan, Puerto Rico
- Published author (The Labrador Quarterly, Fall 2004 issue)
- Full verbal and written command of English and Spanish
- Writer and editor in both languages
- My passion is to write poetry and short stories, but will tackle technical writing as well
- Retired due to kidney and neurological disabilities
- College - U.S. - PhD (ABD), MS, BS - Criminology
MY PUPPY ALREADY EATING HUMAN FOOD… HE CAN BE OVERWEIGHT LIKE MY CHIHUAHUA. xEOL.