As many of you know, we lost our sweet Kira at the beginning of April, following a long battle with diabetes and Cushing's disease. As much as we tried to fight it, we eventually lost the battle and had to make the difficult decision to let our sweet princess cross Rainbow Bridge. It was one of the most difficult decisions we have ever had to make and it was so hard to just have Koda. We had spent so much time taking care of Kira that I felt empty...that little girl left a huge hole in our hearts when she left.
We initially decided to focus our time and energy on Koda, showering him with the attention of two dogs...and that was great for a while. But we started noticing that Koda was being a little restless and destructive; we would come home from work and he would have pulled things off the counters in the kitchen or he would rummage through the trashcans in the bathroom while we were sleeping. It seemed he was bored during the day while we were at work. So we started thinking about getting another dog. After all, we have been a two dog family for a long time. Koda always had Kira and was not used to being an only dog.
But I knew that it wouldn't be easy to find a companion for Koda...Shiba Inus are not known for their incredible hospitality to just any dog breed. He is extremely particular with who he likes. But I knew that he had a friend in the neighborhood named Buela who was a Finnish Spitz mix that he was really fond of; anytime he saw her outside, he would run up to her and want to play. So I got onto Petfinder.com and started looking at Finnish Spitz mixes.
And in South Carolina, I found this beauty...
Her name was CoCo and her story was so sad. She was found under an abandoned building, after she had a little of puppies. She was owned by a man who disciplined her by hitting her on the head with an object and only fed her scraps. She was also made to drink from a stream on his property and not given any clean water. She was so scared she had her puppies under the house to keep them safe. A great family in South Carolina got the man to sign her and the puppies away and they took them to their place, which they run an animal shelter out of.
As soon as I saw her sweet face over Memorial Day weekend, I just couldn't get her out of my mind. Jeff and I talked about it and decided that I should send an email to see if she was available and what her personality was like (always keeping Koda's alpha personality in mind). We were lucky to find that she was pretty mellow and just wanted to have a home. So we set up a time to go down and see how she and Koda interacted together.
Last Saturday, we got up way too early to make the 3.5 hour drive to Winnsboro to meet her. And she was such a doll. Her and Koda hit it off so well, so we took her home. She has been with us a week already and has made huge strides...she is learning that not all people are mean and that love is something we give away freely here. Last Saturday, she was afraid of the stairs in the townhouse; by mid week, she was running up and down them, sometimes two at a time! She is now coming to us when she is called, running to the door to go potty, and jumping on the bed to sleep next to Koda at night.
And I am so proud of Koda and his protectiveness as a big brother...he is so good with her and loves her already. Here are some pictures to prove their bond is tight...
Although we can never replace our sweet angel baby, we can rescue another dog and give her the absolute best life. Welcome to the family, Miss CoCo. We are so glad you came into our lives and look forward to loving you for a long time!
