She Changed My Life and Thinking

She Changed My Life and Thinking

Suzanne Marsh

She entered my life like a gust of Texas wind! Her name was Nicholas. Yes, Nicholas was a female, a German Shepherd. She was an early Christmas present. She was born in Louisiana. Nicholas came by her name honestly, sort of honestly. Our eldest daughter was raising German Shepherds and asked if we would like a puppy. While visiting her I told her youngest sister to put the collar on the male runt of the litter. The morning we left, I grabbed the puppy with the collar on. I promptly named the “little feller” Nicholas. When we arrived home our eldest daughter called:

“hey mom have you got the other female?”

“no I have Nicholas.”

Words that I will never live down. I upended Nicholas only to discover Nicholas was not Nicholas, I had the other female. We weren't going to take her back to Louisiana, but there was a small problem, she now answered to Nick. This complicated our first visit to the Veterinarian. I filled out the paper work and the assistant took Nick to be weighed. When she returned she giggled:

“Are you aware this is a female?”

That was the wrong thing to say to me as I attempted to control myself:

“YES, I AM AWARE SHE IS A FEMALE!!!”

Thus began my adventures with Nick and the beginning of an eight year friendship. Nick, was very intelligent. We learned that early, when she chewed up her green squeaky toy. We threw it in the garbage; thinking she would not bother it. Right? Wrong! I came home from work, took Nick outside, then began to cook dinner. My husband came home, Nick greeted him at the door with half the green frog. Apparently she had take the frog out of the garbage and never bothered the other contents. The following morning, the green frog went to work, to their garbage. Nick, never one to be outsmarted next had a rubber ring. My dad came over for dinner, she had tugged me off the couch when I was playing with her. I warned dad not to cross his legs because Nick would put the ring on a foot and tug. I was putting the finishing touches on dinner when I heard dad yelling. Nick had him by the foot tugging on the ring and dad had a death grip on the chair. It was quite a sight.

Winter, in Buffalo, New York can be hazardous to your health especially where Nick was concerned. My husband's cousin Karin thought that Nick was rather antagonistic toward her, I really didn't believe it until one afternoon in January I was preparing to take her home. One might say that the “devil made me do it” but I told her to ask Nick if she wanted to go bye bye. I was on my way to get my jacket, boots, all the winter accoutrements when I heard a yell. I raced down the hall as I began tugging my jacket on as I ran toward the yell:

“NICK, NICKKKKKKKK!”

There was no mistaking that cry. I got to the door just in time to watch Karin, her foot in Nick's mouth attempting to retain her balance. I wasn't sure if I should laugh or simply snicker. Nick wasn't exactly finished tormenting Karin, not by a long shot. Karin, myself and Nick had to go do the banking. The tellers loved Nick because she would always open one of the electric car windows and bark happily hoping to receive a bone. That worked fine most of the time. This time Nick opened the window, it closed on her nose. Karin became the object of Nick's disgruntled behavior. Nick began to nibble at Karin's hair on the way home. Karin suffered at Nick's paws.

Fast forward, several years. My husband became an over the road truck driver. Nick and I went with him. That was when Nick became a true teacher. I learned that we could leave the truck door unlocked. We came back from supper to find the truck door open and Nick sitting there. She was a wonderful deterrent to any thief. She was also a good deterrent to a state trooper. We had pulled off the road or so my husband thought until a state trooper put on his lights and got out of his car, walking toward the truck. Nick, never liked uniforms and this trooper was no exception, although I wish he had been. As my husband rolled down the truck window, I grabbed Nick's collar. We got into a wrestling match as I found a sixty nine pound German Shepherd in my lap. In the mean time the state trooper was hanging onto the window and wondering why he had not just left well enough alone:

“You know what you done boy?”

“no sir?”

“You see that white line, that's a three hundred dollar fine for parking on it where are you

trying to go?”

“I need to find a scale so I can scale this load.”

There was a DOT scale before a CAT scale. The trooper routed us out of the state with husband's own map. Nick, kept growling and I kept hoping the trooper would get the idea to get off the truck. The culmination to this entire episode was what the trooper said and did on his way back to his car. He tapped his hat, muttered:

“and don't do that no more boy!”

Nick, was a true teacher. When she became ill, she showed the love and loyalty of a wonderful dog. She had a great deal of dignity. We took her to the veterinarian, who was very empathetic. She said that she would keep Nick for a few days and run some tests. We had a run that we had to deliver. We left her with the veterinarian, who called us two days later:

“Nick, has renal failure. You can either stop every hour to let her out or put her out of her

misery.”

It was a horrible choice, we didn't want her to suffer, but did not want to let go either. My dad had passed away earlier that year. I sat there numb as did my husband. We went back to the veterinarian's. They brought Nick to a room. Her normally bright brown eyes were so fatigued but yet she carried herself with the dignity she always had. She was ready to cross the rainbow bridge, and I have no doubt that my dad was there to greet her.

Nick, taught me that no matter what the situation decisions have to be made, whether you want to make them or not. The decision to have her euthanized, was a difficult one but to make her suffer would have been worse. She taught me that love and loyalty are basics in any type of friendship. She changed my way thinking, she wasn't just a dog, she was member of the family. She was Nick