SPECIAL TOPIC NUMBER 3
ZIGZAG - A TRIBUTE TO A LOYAL AND FAITHFUL COMPANION
He knew. He was part Coyote and with that instinctive knowledge that wild
animals have, he knew The End was near. His body was failing him, his legs
once his greatest strength were now his greatest weakness. His hind legs
ravaged by arthritis had failed him earlier in the day and now in the night his
front legs were no longer able to lift him so that he could stand. Sensing the
end, his ears laid back along his head which he lifted up to the sky, he began
to send his plaintive call to his wild brethren into the rainy night to let them
know that a kindred soul was beginning its final journey. Initially, I tried to stop
him but he ignored me and then I saw what he was doing and stopped trying.
It was also about this time that I understood that he was leaving us. I had
earlier given him a meal of one of his perfect people foods-meat loaf with some
medicine added to help him with his pain but that didn't help though he ate the meal with gusto (it was to be his last
meal). It was well after midnight that I checked up on him for the final time that night. When I opened the sliding door,
he painfully crawled over and put his front paws inside the room and tried but failed to pull himself inside. Unable to lift
or help him, I comforted him. Two old bodies, both riddled with arthritis and wracked with pain-one leaving this Life and
the other destined to remain behind. It was then I began to make arrangements to have him euthanized. Unable to
move him to my van and unable to find anyone who would come and pick him up for a clinic, I knew I would have to
wait until the house call Vets were available later in the Morning. I then went to bed and listened to his call. Sometime
before Dawn and inaudible to humans, the answer came back as his barks changed character to what sounded like
answer barks. As the Sun rose, he gave out what sounded like a goodbye bark and became silent never to bark again
as he settled to await the inevitable.
He came to us in July 1996 at the age of 7 months. Born on January 1, 1996 he
was a rescue dog as the owner had abused him and the two older and larger
dogs at the house had bullied him so it came about that he had to be removed
from that environment. The owner's son, a friend of my son who adored Zigzag
asked my son if he wanted him. I was then asked if we could take him and I told
my son that he would have to take care of the dog. As it turned out of course, I,
being retired and home all of the time, wound up taking care of him especially
when my son moved to Tucson to attend the UofA. He still had his puppy
zanys (which never completely went away) which drove me to distraction as
he tore up the skirting around the Mobile and showed how he could jump a
4 foot fence with ease. Three events eventually convinced him to settle down.
He loved running around in the rain but where we lived in Sierra Vista was a local
hotspot for lightning during the monsoon storms and during a storm in September
1996 the inevitable happened as the house was hit by lightning as he was outside. The event so traumatized him that
he never went out during a thunderstorm again but often hid under the furniture shivering with fear. Then, a dust devil
blew debris in the yard which hit him on the head and now he never went outside during windstorms and if a devil blew
up he would jump the fence and it was on such an occasion that he got hung up and hurt his rear leg-an injury that
was destined to plague him all of his life though originally it didn't slow him down.
For almost all of his life, he was an energetic dog and was a speedy
runner taking after his wild roots for Coyotes are both the fastest and
the best jumpers amongst the Lupines (making up for being among
the smallest). Cartoon characters aside, he also inherited the great
intelligence of his wild brethren. He also inherited a liking for cats-
not as companions but as gourmet treats. Our Mobile Home Park
was infested with stray cats and often his kinfolk from the field across
the street would come into the Park to dine on some of them. He had
the ability to run down a cat and any cat not close enough to a tree
soon learned that bitter lesson. It took us a very long time to discover
that he had learned how to open the Yard gate and get out and only
then because he was late in coming back one night. One can only
suppose what he was up to on those nights when he sneaked out of
the yard and wandered around. However, once we discovered this
and locked the gate nightly, we did notice signs around the fence
that indicated that he had visitors in the night. He was protective and
though never trained as any sort of guard or attack dog, he
nevertheless protected his home and human when the occasion
required. He scared off a number of break in attempts, and one time
stared down a gang banger punk who was yelling at me in Spanish
and flashing gang signs after we stopped him as he was beating up
a 12 year old boy (he was 20). I never saw Zigzag's expression but
the way he stood and held his body told me that all I needed to do
was drop the leash and there would have been gang banger on the
menu. He LOVED his daily walk when I would check the mail and
also loved his daily ride in the van when I was no longer able to walk
him. That went on until his last year when his arthritis got too bad
for him to be able to get in the van. He also loved people food with spaghetti being one of his favorites. Late in 2006,
he began to have problems and by early 2007 had developed tumors in his rectal area and on his tail which became
painful for him by the end of April. Very early in May, he had surgery and the tumors were removed and found to be
benign but we were warned that the tail one could come back later and that if it did it could cost him his tail. He hated
the hood he had to wear and didn't especially like the meds but he recovered well and was back to his old (by now)
self.
Although he hated storms at the house and usually hid in
fear when lightning would hit close, he would readily go
storm chases with me. Usually these involved storms
here in Arizona though he did come on a chase we did in
Texas in 2002. In 2003, a day before this picture was
taken, we were on a chase in Sonoita and just gotten
back into the van when lightning hit a power pole 50 feet
away. Surprisingly, he reacted very mildly to this probably
because he was in the van and not at home. In 2004, we
drove to Missouri to view the Transit of Venus and it was
during this trip that his phobia about walking on tile floors
became serious. Probably because as he got older his
hind legs were not as strong as they were before, walking
on tile floors became a problem for him and he began to
avoid them even in the house. This was to become a
major problem for him in later years.
Snow was his favorite weather-if I let him out while it was snowing, he would chase the snowflakes and then run
around in the snow covered yard when the snow stopped falling. If he were to see me videotaping the snow he would
come up to where I standing and give me a reproachful look as if to say "why aren't you out here too?" In 2003, as I
began to explore a new spiritual path, Zigzag assumed a new role-that of a spirit guide. During rituals, meditation and
prayers he would be there, often physically, to offer companionship and guidance and an unusual rapport developed
between us where we would frequently understand each other and commune with each other. He enjoyed the rituals
especially. In 2008, changes came to both our lives. Following his surgery in May 2007, as Fall came I fell ill with a
variety of ailments and was taken off my Blood Pressure medication. In January, as I was restarting the meds, I had a
very bad fall. It became obvious that my living alone with just Zigzag was no longer a viable option. By March, we were
ready to move into a new house in Tucson which we did in the next month.
My son, Stephen, also moved into the house as he was tired of Apartment living. He brought with him his two dogs
both mini Doxies Oscar and Barry. Zigzag had met both on occasions when Stephen would come to Sierra Vista to visit
and at the time was not fond of either. But in a new home environment he mellowed and in his last months came to
assume the role of an old grumpy Granpa type dog-watching over the two younger and smaller dogs barking happily
at their antics and in annoyance when Barry would tease-with his wicked sense of humor he would also pee on Barry
when the smaller dog became too much of an annoyance. But there was saddness too. Zigzag during all of his years
in Sierra Vista would always sleep in the house taking up his post either just outside my bedroom door or inside my
room. Here he couldn't because between him and our rooms was a hated tile floor. A few times he made it across and
took up his post but most of the time he had to settle for the back room. On January 1st, Zigzag turned 13 and we
celebrated with his traditional steak meal. At the time he seemed in good spirits though there was a problem-his tail
tumor was back though apparently not as badly as before. On February 15th, a new puppy-Teddy another Doxie
joined the family but Zigzag was not destined to know him well.
The End came swiftly-on Friday the 6th of March he was obviously a little slower getting up but was still very much
alert and reacted when I called him and bade him good morning which I did each morning. By Saturday, though he was
till moving around, it was apparent to me that we were probably going to have get some treatment for him soon
because he was obviously in some discomfort. But he was still moving around and had a good meal of some of his
favorite people food. Sunday afternoon he was still able to get up but with difficulty and after another good meal, he
laid down and was never able to get up again. We now knew it was serious and as it was night decided that we would
call someone in the morning. The call began then. Around 3 AM I came back to the back room and opened the sliding
door. I had already commune with him spirtually having said goodbye since I knew now that this was the end. Later in
the morning, I made the calls and made the arrangements and as I looked at him said more goodbyes. The Vet arrived
and immediately assessed the situation as I did. Zigzag had now with great pain and effort moved so that he could look
out into the yard and thus he would be looking out into the sunlight in his last seconds and not a sterile wall of a clinic
which we gave that chance to him. But, I can't help but to think that instead of a sunlight yard in Tucson he was seeing
a grassy tree shaded yard around an old Mobile Home in Sierra Vista across the street from the field where his kin
lived. At times, at night he would answer the singing dogs with his own long mournful howl but now all was silent as
everything he needed to say had been said. The final shot was given and at 3:15 PM March 9 2009 with a final
gasping breath, the light went out in his eyes so recently dark with pain and his spirit left his body to fly among the
birds in the Sky.
HIS SPIRIT FLIES FREE
ZIGZAG-LOYAL AND FAITHFUL COMPANION, FRIEND, AND SPIRIT GUIDE-BLESSED BE
