Koda-Chrome, Welcome Home

When it comes to the rescue, Jim Dandy’s got nothing on me.

As you know, I had to put my “Snowball” down a week ago.  And I want to again thank everyone who was kind enough to send words of condolence and shared your own personal stories about man’s best friend.

Well, on Thursday I got a call from my eldest daughter, Kristen, who works at a veterinary hospital.  Seems one of their patients had been given a horrible choice: Get rid of your dog or get kicked out of your apartment.

And the 2-year-old Husky-Pomeranian mix, “Koda,” looked uncannily like Snowball.  He was purchased from a reputable breeder, has all his shots, has been neutered, and is house-trained.  Would I be interested in adopting him?

Well, that was a little quick so soon after sending Snowball to the Big Dog Park in the sky.

I really wasn’t ready for a new dog, and the family had discussed maybe getting a puppy down the road that would be raised from the beginning around our Noah’s Ark of critters and wouldn’t hurt them.

And I’ve also always wanted an Alaskan Malamute.  Already have a name picked out for him: “Khan.”

But I’m a sucker for dogs in a pickle.  So I arranged for Koda’s owner to bring him over for a sleepover to see how he’d do with my other daughter’s dog, our two cats, four rabbits, a parrot, a chinchilla and a desert tortoise.

The poor lady was, as you can imagine, quite distraught and emotional.  Put in this terrible position, all she wanted was to make sure Koda went to a good home.  And I assured her that if we took him in, she could come visit anytime.

He’s a sweet dog, but man, is he a barker. And he needs some leash work.  But, like Snowball, he spent the afternoon lying in my office next to my desk while I worked…

At night, he hopped up right next to me while watching TV (he seems to have a particular fondness for the Cartoon Channel – and I’m not talking about CNN)…

Then the acid test…

The alpha-cat we rescued years ago, King, generally “lives” in my bedroom.  And yes, he sleeps in the bed with us at night.  Would Koda and King live-and-let-live and share quarters in peaceful co-existence?

On first contact, Koda took a sniff.  King proceeded to give him a smack across the snout.  Fortunately, the 40-pound interloper didn’t retaliate and rip King to shreds.  He just moved on to something more interesting and less combative.

At bedtime – after barking non-stop from being in a strange place and obvious separation anxiety from his owner – Koda finally hopped up in the bed, laid down at my feet and went to sleep.

When I woke up in the morning, King and Koda were lying next to each other…

Dogs and cats living together.  Could the Stay-Puft Marshmallow Man be far behind?

Now, here’s the kicker…

Since Koda’s owner bought him from a breeder, she gave us his papers.  And guess what his father’s name was?

Snowball !!!

Well, some things are just meant to be, right?  So guess who’s the newest “rescue” member of the Muth Clan?

Seems happy.  Let the adventures begin!