Delia by Katherine Peacock
If Delia were human, she would be a grumpy old lady sitting in her rocking chair on the front porch. She would pass the day by fussing at the crummy squirrels stealing from the bird feeder & shaking her cane at the rascally kids from down the street messing with her mailbox.
Delia in her dog form lives for two things. A spot on the couch under the front window so she can be comfortable while she keeps an eye on things & barking at any poor bastard that’s has the effrontery to walk past the house. She also LOVES babies. Delia is happiest sitting next to a baby & cleaning up any dribble around a baby’s mouth that is left over from a recent feeding. Best babysitter ever.
With Holly’s friendship by my side & Cesar’s wisdom in my back pocket, I moved to Boulder, CO to continue my formal education. We made friends with the Dog Park Diehards in the afternoons after my classes. At that point I was the happiest I had ever been in my life. Boulder was magical. The panoramic view of the Rocky Mountains assured that even the rough days were good.
In June of 2008 I added another member to my tiny pack. My Mom calls me in the afternoon from the clinic she works at as a Vet Tech. She is on her lunch break.
“Hey Mom, what’s goin on?” I answer.
“Tough day. A woman brought her dog in to be euthanized.” She sighs.
“What’s the matter with the dog?” I reply.
“She has chronic diarrhea.” She scoffs.
“And that’s a death sentence?!” I reply dumbfounded.
“Apparently so. They have spent an unbelievable amount of money trying to figure out what’s the matter with her. They even sent her down to the University of Texas to have her tested.” She replies.
“I’ll take her.” I popped off before even realizing what I had said.
“No, I spoke with the doctors & in Tennessee animals are by law property. If the owner wants her put down that’s the end of the story.” She said sounding defeated.
Bummed out about this poor dog that probably wants a healthy poop as much as the owners want her to, I went about my day. Two hours later my Mom calls again.
“Katherine! You won’t believe it! The owner just called & said that if anyone wants her they can have her!” she says barely able to contain her excitement.
“I’ll take her!” as excited as she is.
My mother relayed the story of how the owner’s father (whom had given the dog to his daughter) came and saw Della for the last time. The Drs were waiting till the end of the day to do the deed. Sometime after the father had left, the daughter called to relinquish ownership. I booked a flight to Nashville immediately. Due to exams the soonest I could get there was in two weeks. So Della sat in the kennels. And continued to have awful diarrhea.
When my mom came to pick me up from the airport. I completely ignored Della as advised by Cesar Millan upon meeting a new dog. I asked my Mom to take us to Edwin Warner Park. When we got there we went for a long “I’m the pack leader” walk. I never said anything to her. Just put her on a simple leash & walked.
Getting a chance to get a look at her I noticed a few things. She looked like a standard Shepherd & had somewhat of the signature slumped hind legs. She looked different from Holly in that Holly is built for working. Della was built to impress the judges in a show ring.
She was easy to walk. She always got huffy when we came across other dogs, which took time & calm assertive energy to correct.
I drove back to Boulder with her in the back seat. During the 1000-mile drive, I wondered what had happened to her. Her poop was pretty loose but nothing explosive as the previous owner’s reason for ending her life. Upon arriving back to my apartment on Boulder, renamed Delia & I walked to the vet office to pick up Holly. Without letting them “greet” each other we set out on an extensive walk around town. After showing Dee the sights, we made it home and both fell fast asleep.
Holly & Dee never had problems with each other. I lucked out in that their energies compliment each other. Holly is medium energy submissive while Delia is low energy and a bit more dominate.
I noticed when she would try to run that she didn’t have the strong gait that Holly possessed. Her hind legs more resemble a rabbit hopping. I asked the vet to do some X-rays since hip dysplasia is very common in German Shepherds. The images that came back were painful to look at. Her hip balls were characteristic of cauliflower, grinding against the sockets when she moved her legs. A classic sign of neglectful inbreeding. To adjust for her condition, I keep walks on concrete to a minimum & walked her mostly at parks & on trails. She also gets a good spot on the couch.
As far as her ground-rumbling bowel movements that were to be her demise, I haven’t had a problem. She poops twice a day & they are just as they should be. I have had her for 6 years & she just turned 9 in February. I came to the conclusion that two things could have been going on. Either it was the food that she was receiving or she was stressed. Like, all the time stressed out. I will never know but I am very happy to have such an amazing, baby loving, old soul in my life.