He was the Keith Richards of the dog world. He had taken more "drugs" and supplements than I can possibly list here. He had his own fan club at the U of MN vet hospital because he was such a frequent patient there. There was only one department he had not been in...neurology. And in his last days he had a seizure but we elected not to take him since it was one and over so quickly, so he could have checked that department off the list to be honest.
Everyone had a nickname for him...Marty Mouse, Marty the Marvelous, Marty Moo, Mooman, Mart, Little Man, Marty Man, Hambone, Furball, the Spin Doctor (because he spun in circles when he was excited) Bubba, little Bubbie, Bubba/Bubbie-doo...everyone had their loving label. But whatever he was called, he should have been called brave, strong, resilient and heroic. Because he always was.
And six weeks ago tonight, in the quiet and peace out on the deck, we sat on the couch with him in our laps as his packmate Monse hugged up to my side with her head buried in my neck, and we gently let him fall asleep and then let him gain his angel wings, moving to Heaven as I told him "run to Maya." Maya was his BFF for almost a decade and she left us 5 years ago. Now he sits with Tessa, Maxwell, Chico and Maya in their places of honor on a shelf in the den watching over us.
I feel him here so strongly today, missing him SO much today. His little being was not large in physical stature but his spirit and soul were huge and the void here is palpable. Though he had been so fragile for several months and not nearly as active, the quiet here is heart-wrenching at times. I still go to pick him up to go to bed at night or think of it first thing in the morning to take him downstairs. I still look at his medicine at dinner time.
He was with us 13 years, more than half our marriage...and I remember when the hubs "found" him...
The previous year had been one that brought me to my knees. In the first 6 months of 2006 I lost both parents, two of our dogs, and our friend Edwin. The second half I lost my job in a voicemail telling me that I took too much bereavement for my parents and I was fired. I was in a coma. The next year was "repair" and I got a new job teaching that started in fall--actually two jobs at two universities in the area. I was overjoyed.
Our friend Retta was celebrating a landmark birthday and asked if we would come to Cozumel to celebrate with her and Pancho. School had started and I could not go but the hubs planned on going and celebrating for the both of us. Five days of his trip passed and I was due to pick him up at the airport.
You know the scene...you're meeting at baggage claim and excited hugs and smooches. The "how was the trip, how was her party, how are the two of them, how was the weather, how was the beach, who of our friends and family did you get to see while you were on the island?" And so we jumped into the truck quickly because I was parked right next to the door, and before I had the key in the ignition, the hubs pulled out his camera and said, "look at this little guy!"
And the next thing out of his mouth was "do you think you might be ready for another one yet?" OHHHHHHHHHH boy, what just happened?!
It seems that when Retta and Pancho walked out the back door to go pick up the hubs at the airport the scene above is what they found. A sweet little street dog laying on the back porch. No explanation, no idea whose he was, but he was a cute little stinker and the whole time the hubs was there, the little guy was too. He rode with the hubs in the morning to the bakery, he stayed there while they all went to the beach. And on the last day of the hubs' trip, he and Retta took the little guy to the Humane Society so he would not get hurt wandering the streets.
And here I was, at the airport, JUST having picked up the hubs and seeing this picture ^^^ and my heart melted. Oh boy, here we go... FATE just showed up at baggage claim.
So I called Monica about a week later after some discussion (Monica is "appointed family" and was president of the Humane Society at that time) and I told her that we wanted to adopt the pup that the hubs and Retta brought in but it would be a couple of months before we were back down to get him. On the other end of the phone was this voice booming "I KNEW IT!!! I knew that big-hearted husband of yours was not going to let that puppy stay here, I knew he'd be going home to you!" And his destiny was sealed.
Now I have to pause here and tell you that I cried my eyes out writing this on that 6 week mark and could not come back to it until today...6 months later. Spring is on the horizon and as I see Monse walking the yard smelling all the new spring smells, she is alone. The little man always loved being outside and now the void is looming large. But I need to tell his story and do his little life justice. So, on we go telling how he got here...
In the 2.5 months in between the hubs falling in love and Marty coming home, it was discovered he was heartworm positive. The fast track cure for heartworm is not easy and involves intramuscular shots, painful for the skinny little man. And heartworms die out and as they go away the little man coughed and his bark sounded hoarse. But he would be well and coming to us hopefully feeling 100%. So we made plans to get him home.
The hubs and I have a sweet friend named Martin who works at a favorite restaurant on the island. For whatever reason, hubs wanted to name the new pupper Martin. But he looked one more time at that picture from Retta and Pancho's back porch and decided he looked more like a "Marty." And so he was to be christened.
Our dear friend Kevin and the hubs decided to make the trip together and on a wintry trip the first few days of December they flew down and stayed at our friends' house all set to bring the little man home. So after a few days of the three buds hitting the beach and the two legged ones drinking tequila and eating chile rellenos, the boarded a plane to bring the little man home to Wisconsin.
As we did when Maya came home from Cozumel, I had a note prepared to attach to his kennel and to give to a flight attendant so that crew knew who his new dad was and where he was going and that it was his first plane ride. As the hubs and Kev settled into their seats, hubs handed a flight attendant the note and asked if she'd let the captain know. Suddenly, a voice came over the speaker calling my husband's name and his seat number. The voice was the captain and he said, "your son Marty is firmly ensconced in the first-class cargo section safe and sound and I can hear him barking right now." And upon arrival at MSP airport, he stepped out into -3 and ran right to me like he had known me all his life. And so his new life began.
He was bone thin and fur that was like a thin, blonde Brillo pad. He had no problem adjusting to kibble for breakfast and dinner and fell right into place behind Maya and Chico. That good food would soon turn the Brillo pad into silky blonde hair and his ribs no longer showed. There were a few scraps with Maya putting him in order and him trying to push himself with Chico, who was blind. But life became a loving glow for the little man with good food, trips to the groomer, time sleeping on the couch (or bed at times) and Monday nights with me at puppy school where he was a star. It was the typical scene of our family structure and path with the fur kids and a home full of love and laughter.
And about 4-1/2 years into the little man's life up north, he was getting his teeth cleaned and Dr. Eric called me. I was home working on a consulting project and he said that he found something under his tongue and would we want it removed and biopsied. Dr. Eric is literally a couple of blocks away and I contemplated running over to look at what it was but decided that we'd just have it removed and biopsied. And that was a turning point...
Now, go figure, there is a vaccine for canine melanoma. So every 6 months we'd go to the U for the onco checkup and vaccine. He became a rock star and would walk in the front door to the desk to everyone fawning over him. The swagger he strolled in with told of his "status" with his harem (most were ladies.) One trip in for his onco appointment, he stepped onto the scale in the lobby area to be weighed as was required for each visit. A group turned the corner led by a young lady in a white lab coat. She squealed "MARTY!" and stooped to love on him a bit. She then stood and said to the group of new students on their orientation tour, "Guys, this is MARTY and he is a star here, we all love him so much!" And the Oscar goes to... he was top of the chart, #1 in all hearts!
He came gently to his bestie and laid next to her quietly for the rest of the afternoon. It was what they both needed and his love seemed to help her get better immediately. His job now was watching over the queen and helping her get better so she could function on 3 legs in her new body and without pain.
And life went on and as Maya healed she resumed her spot as the matriarch and supervised the new baby, Monse. Marty watched gently as she took to her life as a tripawd and was just amazing. She went through treatments with chemo drugs and had mostly good days. But on those days that were not so good, he was her guardian angel.
Life adjusted in the coming days and months and it got easier and better as he adjusted to the tribe being just he and Monse. And he had his "issues." Pancreatitis became something to contend with and we had to make sure that we halted anything to feed him outside of the prescribed kibble. And it meant yet a new department at the U to visit.
And on Mothers' Day in 2017 we were arrived home from dinner to a happy pair with him bouncing up and down in loving greeting only to have him hit the kitchen tiles and both front limbs splayed out to his sides dislocating his right shoulder. Aaaaaaaaand now another department at the U, orthopedics.
The next year was a whole series of things in attempt to get the shoulder to strengthen and stay in place that included yet ANOTHER department at the U...physical rehab! But nearly a year after the dislocation, his shoulder had to be fused in another surgery. We had no idea until we went to pick him up the next morning but he would be sporting a cast and we'd be back every 2 weeks for 8 weeks to have it removed, shoulder checked, and a new cast put on. And so we headed home on April 12th with the little man sporting quite the look.
That April was quite a "spring" and it started snowing on the Friday the 13th and by Sunday the 15th we had two feet of snow. To get a 30lb pup sporting a body and arm cast out to potty was an event. The hubs plowed the patio and we wrapped him in a garbage bag and carried him down to potty. You just could not have made this scenario up. And as the weeks went along and spring showed up for real, he learned to prop on the casted arm and lean on a tree in the yard to "lift a leg."
The next 8 weeks were a challenge as one of us would sleep on the floor at night with him and listen to his sounds like mothers listen to newborns to determine if they are hungry, tired or need changing. He had the sounds for "I want to get up for a drink," "I want to go potty," "I'm hot, please get me an icepack," and "Flip me over like a burger because I cannot do it myself." We left the TV on in the night muted so that we had the light to see him as he slept in case he needed help. I carried him up to bed and back down in the morning. We propped him against the wall to stand at his food stand to eat. And then came that glorious day when the last cast came off and he walked through the lobby at the U with a huge smile on his face. He smiled all the way home...
And somewhere in those days that followed, we found that he had a small mass on his liver.
And then we found he had a heart murmur. So as I said, we were then only one department short of covering the entire U for department visits...neurology.
The hubs made him special dinners to keep him free of pancreatitis and he loved standing next to the stove playing the sous chef as it was being prepared. If dinner didn't come at the appointed time, there were times he'd let out that little man bark to tell you that you were falling behind on service.
And he...
💖Loved laying his head on the footboard of the bed to sleep
💖Loved laying on the patio/deck chairs
💖Loved sleeping like a frog dog
💖Loved licking your face with a tongue that was unusually sandpapery
💖Loved riding in the car
💖Loved fluffing his puppy bed before he laid down to sleep in it
💖Thought he really was 99 pounds and 3 feet tall
💖Smiled all the time
💖Winked at us
💖Could fall asleep just about anywhere and he barked and yipped in his sleep loud enough to be heard in another room. And he dreamed a lot.
💖He walked with the "I'm the boss" strut and swagger
💖He hated us giving him a bath but loved me grooming with the clippers and would fall asleep when I did.
💖He was the bravest little man ever...he put up with any and all procedures he went through to help him feel better.
💖He loved mommy carrying him...I miss that terribly and I feel empty going to bed and coming down in the morning...
💖He was a street puppy boy from Cozumel, Mexico and left over from those days he was a little food protective and would "mark" things, especially the refrigerator for some reason. And since he had never had or played with toys, he never touched them until he saw Monse playing with wild abandon. And then he had only one chosen toy...
Harry the hedgehog :)🦔
💖He loved sleeping under the coffee table in the den...and sleeping at bizarre positions on the puppy beds. And on the big chair in the den he loved sleeping on the arm of the chair on his belly...
And then came the time we dreaded, we knew that all of those health issues that we attended to so diligently could not be subtracted and instead became a zero sum game. And last summer on out last visit to the U he came out to us as a frazzled and stressed boy that had clearly used up the reserves of his bravery and tolerance. We decided to keep him happy and comfortable and above all pain-free. And nearly three months later we held him and let him gently move to Heaven.
How do we sum up the joy of the little man, our lives and adventures getting him here and our lives with him over 13 years and his life of 15? It has been 24 years since we've been a one pupper household and Monse is beyond lonely. Her "job" was taking care of her boy; watching over him, following him, letting us know when he needed us or she thought he did. I know there are a lot of pictures here, a lot of "him" to know but I cannot begin to touch it all...his love, his happiness, his bravery...
But he was a stoic little soul with such courage and such character. His "mark" is on us forever as the love he spread and the people he touched. I wish you all would have known him...I hope you do a little bit now, here through my love and pictures capturing his spirit and soul.
God, I hope you're taking very good care of the little man, because my heart aches missing him. Tell him to come visit again soon...💗
And let him know we'll see him because we can't fall to sleep without the TV on anymore 💔
