In Loving Memory of Dodge
(aka NXS Horn)
December 12, 1997 – March 1, 2010
Dodge was my third greyhound. He came to be adopted because my fiancé at the time wanted to add a male greyhound to our family. I think he felt there was just too much female energy in the household with me and Maggie and Bella. He wanted to add some testosterone into the mix. He actually was the one who chose Dodge from the group of foster greys that were available for adoption at that time. There are many things for which I am grateful to Brian, but choosing Dodge for sure is at the top of that list.
We had some great years together. After Brian and I split up I adopted two more greyhounds (Harry & Takala) so it was just me and my five greyhounds. The “Truhlik Six-Pack” as we were known back then.
“The Snack Pack” (L to R: Bella, Maggie, Dodge, Harry & Takala in the rear)
Takala, the last of my five greyhounds to be adopted, was the first to go. She died in later 2005 from bone-cancer. Then in early 2006, Bella passed tragically during a dental procedure, dying on the table while getting her teeth cleaned. For the next three years, life was busy and full of fun with my “three musketeers” Maggie, Dodge and Harry.
2009 changed all that. Within just six weeks, I lost two of my furkids (Maggie from congestive heart failure in April and Harry from that damn osteosacoma bone cancer in May). Dodgy went from being in a pack of three to being an only dog. He was depressed for quite some time afterward and I was doing all I could to help him move through his grief.
Dodgy went everywhere with me after Maggie & Harry passed. He got so spoiled because we spent his next 10 months road-tripping — not very far, mind you, but every trip out was an adventure for him, even if it was just to run errands. One day I just had to run to the post office and naturally Dodge came with me. We were gone all of 15 minutes and when I pulled back into the garage and opened the back of my truck, Dodgy refused to budge. He just laid there and looked at me. He would not get out of the truck! He was demanding a longer ride. So I hopped back in the truck and off we went for another ride. So silly he was.
Dodge would come wake me in the middle of the night and I assumed he wanted to go out to pee but when I’d go out to the garage and open the dog-run door, instead of following me out, he’d go stand by the rear tire of my truck and just look at me. I’d say, “Dude, it is 3:00 in the morning! We’re not going for a ride right now.” I ended up saying that a lot!
As time went on, Dodgy came out of his depression and he really relished being an only dog. We had settled into a nice routine but sadly, seven months after losing Maggie and Harry, Dodgy died from a sudden Hemangiosarcoma. And then, for the first time in over a decade, I found myself in a dog-less household.
But I knew that my dogs were still around me. I had asked my angels to help me recognize when my dogs’ spirits were near me. The afternoon of Dodgy’s death, I was sitting on the edge of my bed when all of the sudden a cat, who I had never seen before (and haven’t seen since) came on my deck and right up to my window, looked in and we held eye contact for a few seconds and then it was gone in a flash. I couldn’t help but think that cat was an angel messenger, letting me know that Dodge had made it ‘home’ safe.
The following days I kept hearing collar tags jingle. Tags jingling in an empty house. Strange! One night I woke up to a rainstorm. I absolutely love storms and immediately felt heartache when realizing it was my first rainstorm without Dodge. I went out onto the deck and sat for a while watching it rain. I always liked to see the water pour off the roof in the dog-run so I went through the garage and just as I opened the dog-run door I heard tags jingling again, as if Dodgy were coming around the corner. As I finished watching the rain, I closed the door and upon turning to go back in, something caught my eye. I walked over to find a long black feather lying on the garage floor next to the rear tire of my truck…in the exact same spot that Dodge had stood so many times in the middle of the night when he wanted to go for a ride.
I know he’s up there in the heavens now, riding the winds and lovin’ every second of it!
My Roger-Dodger, my big Lug-Nut, my road-trip buddy, how I miss you! Remembering you today…and every day.
Angels Bark 