Koko Loco.

Dad’s Birthday: From the Journal of Ashley
When I was 15, I desperately wanted a small dog that could easily travel with me and be my little buddy through highschool. I wanted to be able to play with the pup and I didn’t care for anything too frilly. The options in the toy class was therefore limited to one…The Pug. I fell in love with their ugly, bug-eyed faces and curious personlities immediately. I worked all summer, saving for my first pug.

Fast-forward three years and you have me leaving for college. I couldn’t have any pets in my apartment and I didn’t want to tear my pup away from the only place she had ever called home. Sadly, I left her in the capable hands of my parents and decided to visit as often as I could. Over the next several years, my best friend replaced me with my father. They were about the same age (using her dog years of course) and seemed to agree upon the days’ routines. Everywhere my dad went, so did the pug.

Time is many things; mainly it is constant. It keeps moving even if we wish it to stop. A few more years have now passed, and the beloved pug is now almost 10. She is in excellent health and is just as cute as ever…with a few more gray hairs. The bond is so great between my father and his dog that my sister and I had grown worried that when the time did come for her to go to Doggy Heaven, it would tear my dad’s heart apart. So we did the only thing that seemed rational. We decided to share his heart with another pug.

For many months my sister was on the lookout for puppy pugs. Finally, shortly before Thanksgiving, a big batch of pups were born. They wouldn’t be old enough to leave their mother in time for Christmas, so we decided my father’s January birthday would be the next best thing.

Of course, it would have to be a surprise. If we even suggested to my dad to take a puppy by his own free will, there would be moaning and groaning and “no time” for that. Sometimes, children know best for their parents. On the morning of my dad’s birthday party, my sister and I went to the local supermarket to get all the pet supplies you might need for rearing a four-legged babe. Chew toys, puppy chow, a small kennel, a new food bowl, a sparkly collar, and a snuggly blanket to keep warm.

As soon as we heard my dad’s truck in the driveway, we put the pink bow on the baby pug and put her inside a cardboard box. We didn’t want to cover it so we decided to just give dad the gift immediately. As we walked toward him with our gitty little smiles he looks at both of us and says, “That better not be a puppy.”

As dad peered inside the box and saw this tiny ball of cream colored fur dominated by a huge pink bow, a smile slowly spread across his face and he couldn’t help but reach in to take the babe out of the box. Bonding time had now commenced. The puppy fell immediately in love with my dad, licking and kissing his face, and you could see my dad’s happiness slowly emerge.

We needed a name for this little one, and seeing how this was my dad’s dog, we thought it best if he decided her name. He hadn’t named a pet in over 25 years. So after much pondering he thought of the perfect name…Koko with a K.

The next day we went to see how both my dad and Koko had survived the night. There were a few “accidents” involved and a little bit of crying, solved by my dad snuggling with the little one in bed, but other than that the night went swimmingly. I was anxious to snap a few pictures of the pug playing outside so we grabbed the family and headed out back. Babies and puppies tend to attract all eyes to them. We were no different and simply sat back and watched Koko explore her new environment. She had much gusto and was running everywhere! She was so fast it was actually hard to take a picture of her.

My dad simply couldn’t help himself and wanted to play with his new puppy. He knelt down on the ground and watched as Koko would grab a leaf and run. It seems like this might be the start of something extraordinary. Happy Birthday Dad! We love you.