To make Snoop's case even more heart wrenching, he had a family! For TEN YEARS! And when he was just over 70 years old, they dropped him off at the shelter because they recently had twins and he was barking too much. Oh really? Barking too much? Because that's so odd for a dog and really the only solution would be a kick in the pants to the nearest shelter. Bravo! MEAN AND TERRRIBLE, NO GOOD PREVIOUS OWNERS! I really really dislike you and we've only met on paper.
Enough about Snoop's dreary past, I'm here to tell you about his bright and shining FUTURE; as the new face of Nanny 9-1-1. For those of you who aren't familiar with the show, basically some no-nonsense British former nannies can be hired to whip your family into shape if you have unruly kids which are usually a product of their unruly parents. She spends a day observing and then the 'transformation' begins. You can read more about it HERE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nanny_911.
My recommendation for Snoop's future is a similar show but one that focuses on PREPARING unsuspecting childless adults who think they have a clue about what's in store in this glamorous journey called 'Parenting'. It would go a little something like this:
Enter Snoop from stage left.
Bark without ceasing all night long for no reason.
Poop without ceasing all night long for no reason.
Hold your poop in, until you are inside on the rug and then let loose like the tsunami in China.
Don't listen. Don't come when called. Don't do what your told.
Embarrass your parents in front of their friends and neighbors.
Be mean to the other kids in the neighborhood.
Turn your nose up at healthy food and hold out for the left over cheese filled weiners.
Run away every chance you get when no one and everyone is looking. Run faster when said parent starts to chase you. Snap at parent when they grab you by the collar because you aren't getting your way.
Sleep. Repeat steps 1-10. Over. And over. AND OVER.
NOTE: I wrote the above MONTHS ago when I was in the throes of adoption remorse which isn't REALLY remorse it's more like significant irritation at how out of whack your life seems at the time. Now, as I stare in the face of the end of my sweet old man's life and reflect upon how powerfully he has impacted OURS, the pooping isn't so bad really. You know what they say. Hindsight is 20/20 and you don't know what you have until it's gone. What they say is true. Here is, the REST of the story.
So, Snoop-Lion is dying on me. And all of a sudden like. Almost overnight he has stopped walking and eating and I see the light in his eyes getting dimmer and dimmer. When we adopted him six months ago we knew that we were risking another loss sooner than later. Considering his age and his health and the trauma of spending several years in a shelter, the employees there were surprised he was still as spry as he was. Andis reminded me of the possibility that we could be burying him in a matter of months, weeks, days even. I was ok with this. All I knew was that I couldn't bear to let this sweet oldie live out the rest of his days, weeks, months; whatever he had; in a 5x5 cell with limited love and no people to call his own. He had been 'lost' in the worst way by his former family; purposely lost. And as tragic as that was, the timing of us finding each other couldn't have been more poetic. Because in the deepest part of my heart I believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that if we hadn't been given the opportunity to adopt Snoop six months ago, we would NOT, in any shape or form, be trying to adopt FOUR older children RIGHT NOW. Learning to love and care for him through his age and his attachment disorder and his lack of proper bonding and his quirky behaviors that we didn't understand and the things that scare him because he had been abused and the ways he is ok being apart from me because he was neglected and the fact that I didn't train and teach him from the time he was little have prepared me, in small and big ways, to become a mommy to children who will probably struggle with much of the same.
A long time ago I heard a story or theory rather on the idea of souls making agreements with God before they were put into bodies and sent to Earth. Agreements about where they would go, who they would love, how they would impact the world and those around them. And not every agreement included an easy, walk in the park life for these souls. In order to accomplish small and big things, significant sacrifices were sometimes required. I don't believe that we were pre-destined to live a certain life and I very much DO believe in free will and natural consequences but what a beautiful idea. What if, before I had a mind or a body, my spirit and God sat down over some heavenly coffee and had a conversation about the 'what-ifs' and 'what-fors' and 'how-tos'? I feel like it would go something like this....."There will be a child. And that child will become something GREAT and will impact my Kingdom on Earth for decades to come. But before that can happen, that child will be abused and neglected and placed in an orphanage and forgotten and YOU must find and save that child in order for it to have the opportunity to accomplish such things but in order for you to find and save that child, you must lose a child of your own and experience grief and loss and sadness and separation. It will only be through this common bond of loss that you and this child can truly become all that I have prepared you to be." And we wouldn't REMEMBER these conversations if they really took place, we would just encounter the possibilities as we meandered our way through life. And sometimes it would just WORK, like a perfect storm. You know that feeling; where everything seems to be in place for once and it all goes smoothly as if there is a Divine hand pulling the strings.
Snoopy was one of those strings. And regardless of if the vet tells us we have five hours or five days or five months left with him this afternoon, I will be eternally thankful for the 'Agreement' he made to live a life less fortunate so that he could bring great fortune to us. Thanks Snoop-Lion. You are my favorite geriatric dog. Adopting you was a GREAT idea. xo.
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