Healing Charlie

This is my dog...Charlie...as he is most comfortable...poking about in the grass. And this is the beginning of his recovery and rehab from spinal surgery on Friday, November 4, 2005 .

20 pounds of rambunctious, waggling fur came into my life Valentine’s Day two years before my world splintered into unrecognizable slivers with my Jim’s sudden death in 2002.

Little did I know on the ride home that day that he would become the constant companion, silent confidant and tear blotter that was often my sole excuse for not leaving this life as I struggled to put it back together again.

Now, I return that favor as this 42 pound mass of waggling fur faces the challenge of rehab from the spinal chord injury that robbed him of the use of his hindquarters. The hours of therapy, slinging him for outdoor needs and encouraging his abundant spirit are but a token of the debt I owe this small, enthusiastic, trusting creature.

Watching Charlie scoot crablike across the floor tears at my heart. He valiantly labors to stand for even a handful of seconds, lumbers like a drunken sailor on the carpet and scrabbles across the kitchen tiles like a seal. (A trip to Home Depot and runners by-the-foot are on today’s list.) He pees on my foot when I aim it the wrong way and looks at me as if to say “HA!!! You thought that was going to be easy? Now you know how I feel.”

Uncomplaining and unendingly cheerful he takes each moment as it comes to him trusting that I am doing all the right things…even when I am not certain of it myself. (Not unlike the baby steps we refer to in our journey on this widowed walk.)

Yet as I feel the muscles slowly strengthen to my touch, I see him puzzled that his hind end will not keep up with his front end. He often looks around as if to say “HEY!!! What’s the deal here? I’m going this way…straighten up and get moving.”

Lucky Charlie Brown Dog (so christened by my grandmonkey) is a Boykin Spaniel, official breed of the state in which I reside, liver in color, wavy coated, amber eyed, curious, eager, eternally optimistic and thief of my heart.

Officially speaking:

“Medium in size, sturdy and typically spaniel, this sporting dog is first and foremost a working dog with proven retriever instincts and hunting ability, characterized by boundless enthusiasm and endurance, moderate speed and agility and possessing an intelligence and a desire to please which makes him easy to train. As a pet and companion he is exceptional with amicable disposition and love and personal attention improves his desire to hunt. He is a strong swimmer, taking to water easily and is valuable for water retrieving as well as field retrieving.”

Charlie will never be a gun dog, never run in a field trial nor be a champion show dog. He is just a plain old dog who loves to rummage in the brush and flush the birds and other wildlife that dwell within the borders of my little 1 ½ acre plot in the boonies of the foothills of lower Podunk, SC.

Recovery will be measured in microns and every step hard won. Yet, if will can “make it so” then he will succeed and rehab to be as happy on what ever ground he recovers on four legs as he is even on two that work and two that don’t.

Here’s to you, Charlie.

Charlie’s “siblings” Grace (aka Queen Bee Shitzu) and Jax (full name General Beauregard Jackson…I didn’t name him…honest.)