One day in February 1994, Aida was told of a litter of pups, born to a maltese mother and poodle father and these puppies needed a home.
She went to see the puppies and out of 6 puppys 5 were white and they were all taken, the little black one no one wanted, so thats the one Aida chose.
On an afternoon shift, Aida picked up this little black ball of fur - he was 4 weeks old and his mother started to not allow the puppies to feed.
Armed with a box, a tin of puppy food and some puppy formula, Kookies journey had just begun.
First stop was with my mum, who looked after him for the day.
Aida picked him up after work and brought him home.
She was going to leave him by the door with a note saying "i need a home and i have brought my own food"., it was raining that day and i had left the garage door open so she could drive in and not get wet.
Aida thought now what can i do i cant leave him out in the rain, so she put him and his box on top of the garbage bin.
As she said hello,I was reading the paper and she asked if i could put something in the bin - so i did - but i used the kitchen bin.
Aida still determined took the bag of rubbish out and told me to put it in the big bin - "oh for christs sake" i muttered as i took the garbage out.
There was this box on the top of the bin and as i grabbed it to toss it on the floor - i heard a little grunt - i looked in and my eyes watered i think i droped the garbage on the floor - i dont know but one thing i do know is that i had just fallen in love with this little bundle of black fur -Kookie.
Oh yes they were the good times, i had resuced a cat who was 8 weeks old from being put down and gave it to Aida as a birthday pressie - a dusty ginger cat called Dusty.
Kookie was only 4 weeks old and dusty thought that this was great - a new play mate.
I used to have Kookie beside my bed every night and bottle feed him every 2 to 3 hours, night after night - hey i was also on shift work but i didnt care, that little ball of fluff was truley in my heart now.
Over the years Kookie saw dave go off to high school, first job, and first girlfriend, he was there when shanny was born and spent countless celebrations, family gatherings and shared in some of our most darkest hours.
He was there always, he used to meow like a cat as the only role model he had was Dusty the cat - many times he tried to climb trees, and with a lot of guidence we taught him to be a dog.
He has many friends both human and animal ones, and they shared in his life like we did.
There are 3 tdays when you notice your pet, the first one is when they are a puppy all brand new and so cute, the second is when they start getting on and you notice the grey hairs and they arnt as active as they once were, and finally the third one when you look into their trusting eyes and as the ultimate act of love you can give them is to end their pain.
The third day is the worst.
Kookie at times had to drag himself around the yard and when we made the decision to relieve him of pain and suffering, it didnt come easily.
We spent those days enjoying him, looking at each thing he did, loving him like no other.
On the day of his departure Aida, shanny and I took him to the vet, they took him to get him ready and returned him to us, we were there when the procedure was done.
Theres one thing i will never forget, its when Kookie passed away in my arms, the same arms which greeted him throughout his life.
We took Kookie home and burried him in the back yard, just the 3 of us, we stod there to reflect and the hardest thing was to admit we did the right thing for him - no more suffering, no more pain - i have lost my best mate- and i write this with a tear in my eye.
I never knew that a dog could reduce a tough man like myself to tears, but he has - ive cried for the past 7 days, and still put flowers every morning on his little korner of the back yard, i say good night every night, knowing that on the other side of the rainbow bridge he is waiting, for one day we will be together again.
Good bye my baby - till we meet again
Wayne (Dad)
