After Jared and I got married I developed an urgency to own a dog. We knew we'd have to wait atleast a year because the apartment we were living in did not allow dogs. So for that entire year I researched breeds and breeders.
We knew we would be living in a small space, so we needed a small dog and we knew that sometime within the dogs life span we would have children, so they needed to be good with kids. We decided on a Pug. I wanted a Fawn Female and Jared wanted a Black Male. So, we compromised on a Fawn Male and would name him Lotus. We broke our lease a couple of months early and moved in a much more expensive duplex in the name of pug ownership.
I found a breeder in Carney, OK - about 45 mins away from Stillwater. So, in March of 2003 we made the trip from Stillwater to Carney.
We arrived to a very dirty and unpleasant puppy mill. All of my research told me "to run the other way." We went ahead and went in and found about 8 very cute pug puppies. But, the house was a mess and stinky. We met the Mom and Dad to the puppies, Ruby Love and Spike. Spike was huge and Farted on his way out of the door. Overall, very unimpressed. We told the Breeder thank you and were headed out the door, when this little boy came over and pawed at my pant leg. I reached down and picked him up and he planted a gigantic kiss right on my nose.
Lotus aka Loti or Bubba chose me that day. And an era in our family began.
We had had Loti only a couple of days and he became very very sick. He had diarrhea every 30 mins to hour for about 12 hours. I stayed up with him that night praying he would make it through the morning. Jared had read that honey would help replenish lost nutrients, so we gave him honey. The next morning I brought him to the vet and he had a horrible parasite. The doctor said that if we would not have given him honey he would have died.
When he was baby he liked to wake up at 5:00am and eat breakfast and play. I, of course, got up with him and fed him and played with him until he was ready to go back to bed. To say that he was pampered, was an understatement. In fact, I fed Loti breakfast before dawn everyday until we started having "human" babies.
Lotus was a gigantic turd from the very beginning. He was ornery and into everything. We took him to an obedience training class when he was an itty bitty baby, too young to actually enroll the class, because he was such a turd.
When Loti was a couple of months old he started throwing up. We spent WAY TOO MUCH to say on vet bills his first year trying to figure out why he kept throwing up. Three vets and many tests later, we discovered that Loti was part Billy Goat.
One Glorious afternoon around 3:30 pm Loti went outstide to poop. I remember the time, because a school bus had just dropped some kids off close to our duplex. I watched him potty and his turd just kept going. I called the vet in a panic because Loti's turd was so long it was dragging the ground and still coming. She said "glove up" and help things along. So, I did. Loti pooped about 2 feet of string and wicker and Lord knows what else. Finally, a reason for the unexplained vomiting. Loti had had a partial obstruction for a good year or more that was causing the bad behavior and the vomiting.
After spending 8.5 years with Loti, I have come to the conclusion that Loti had some sort of mental condition that made him eat things. He wasn't your normal puppy, where they chew on shoes and gnaw on the couch. No - he would eat shoes and the couch.
We had to put the Toilet Paper high because he would eat it. He would literally eat EVERYTHING and he was obsessed about doing it - you couldn't turn your back on him for a second and he was eating something he shouldn't be.
When Loti was 6 months old, we gave him a sister - Lexus aka Lexi or Sister. They were the bestest of friends. ALWAYS beside each other.
As Loti grew older he developed a very laid back personality. He got excited when company came over or when we would come home - but he didn't let much get to him. He was always affectionate and kind to our babies, never a worry to leave them in the same room.
We've had to make many trips the emergency vet because of Loti eating things. One New Years he ate an entire bag of little Hershey Candy Bars. One day he got into an entire bag a dark chocolate chocolate chips. He's eaten probably 10 diapers at once. He had a liking for crayons. He has gotten into the garbage and ate who knows what. And this happened, over and over and over again.
Loti has been able to escape out our backyard because of unshut gates, but by the Grace of God - he always found some trash to get into, so he never got far. One time, while we were still on Wilshire - I was probably 8.5 months pregnant with Jet. Loti had snuck out the back yard and I freaked out. I found him a few houses down, gnawing on a chicken bone. I Praised the Lord for that chicken bone.
Recently Loit's health was going down hill. He had a few seizures and was on medication for that and had suffered a herniated disc. But he was doing well.
This past Saturday Morning Loti got into the trash. Really, we didn't think anything of it because this is what Loti did. He vomited much of the night on Saturday. On Sunday, I could tell something was wrong. I took him to vet first thing Monday morning. They opened him up and the vet said his intestines were a mess. It took 5 incisions to get everything out of his stomach. They didn't know if he would make it through recovery.
Tuesday Morning, the vet called and said he wasn't doing well. We went up to visit him. That afternoon I received a call from the vet. He said that we could come get him, not because he was better but because he wouldn't keep his IV in and there was nothing they could do.
I took him home and loved on him all night long. I told him what a good boy he was. I thanked him for his friendship and for the joy that he had brought to our home. I told him that I was sorry that the past few years he didn't get as many treats or walks as he deserved. And I promised him that if he would pull through, he would have an endless supply of treats and walks.
He made it through the night and he was looking better until yesterday afternoon. My heart told me something was wrong. He had lost his spark and the light in his little ornery eyes. I once again stayed up through the night giving him kisses and telling him what a good boy he was. I was laying on the floor with him and with no exaggeration tears started falling from his eyes. I told him that I loved him and I wouldn't let him suffer anymore.
We went into the vet this morning and the vet said that he had "something" (my brain turned off because I knew what it meant) all through his stomach. He said he could go back in and operate again and I tearfully shook my head. It was time. My dad came and got the kids and Jared and I stayed with him as he passed on. We then took his little body and buried him, thanking Jesus for the 8.5 years that we had with him.
To say that this day has been hard, would be an understatement.
We miss him terribly.
Rest in Peace Bubba we love you always.
yes, that is fruit snack wrapper hanging from his lip. :)
