by M L Ross

Created on: January 04, 2009

I miss Kiki.

Kiki was our family dog, a beautiful black and white Siberian husky with steely blue eyes and a smile that never seemed to quit. She was a birthday present to me from my daughter when I turned 42. It was a dog that I had always wanted.

Kiki watched the kids go through their teen years, helped me through a divorce and was one of the positive points my new wife saw in me. She, too, was a dog lover. Kiki made the move from Oklahoma to Alabama in stride, putting up with the increased humidity and lack of winter with no complaints.

But like all of us, Kiki began to suffer the effects of old age. She was developing the stiff joints in the morning, failing internal organs, and probably the most depressing for dog or human, the slow deterioration of the mind known in humans as Alzheimer's. When all Kiki could do was wander around the back yard, oblivious to where she was or who we were, it was time. It was not an easy decision to make but it had to be done. I was responsible for her and she was leading a non-life now. So on a Tuesday in November, we made the last trip to the vet's office.

There was no doubt after that that we would eventually get another dog. Once you become a dog lover, the house is not a home without one. It would just be a matter of time.

During this time we had seen the mistreatment of dogs on the national media as the story of Michael Vick's dog fighting ring became public. We also saw the abandoned pets that were victims of the hurricanes on the Gulf Coast, not to mention the locally abandoned pets as the decline in the economy made the care and feeding of an animal a luxury some could no longer afford.

It was at that point we decided instead of raising another dog from birth, adoption would be a better choice. With all of the needy pets out there, why not lend a hand and save one from euthanization. The choice of where to adopt then became the problem.

We discussed going to the animal shelter but both my wife and I decided neither of us could walk out of there without adopting them all. We're both softies. Searching online was the next option.

We looked at several of the local shelters that had web sites but soon realized we weren't even sure of what we wanted. The first thing to do, we realized, was to decide what kind of companion we wanted. More online searches ensued.

We finally decided on something in the Golden Retriever family, a breed that was friendly, not small, and notoriously good with people. Looking into local rescue groups,

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