\tGuide Dog Chronicles: A Touch of Malory
\n\tby Kate Chamberlin
\n\u201cMom, can I bring Malory home for Thanksgiving?\u201d my college son, Paul, asked several years ago.
\n\u201cSure,\u201d I said calmly trying not to let my excitement show.
\nMaybe he\u2019d found Ms Right? What does she like to eat? I\u2019d better get new sheets for the guest room and other such thoughts rushed into my mind.
\nMalory turned out to be quite short and stocky with brown hair so dark, it looked black. She had a really bad attitude and was quite the bitch.
\nThe vet pegged her to be a mix of Doberman through the head and legs, Shepherd or Black Lab through the torso and Husky in her hind-quarters.
\nThe hyper-active little dog came ramming through the front door with our son and immediately piddled on the floor when my husband, Dave, bent down to pet her. She jumped and yapped so persistently at my gentle, Golden Retriever guide dog\u2019s face that Future Grace growled and snapped at her to shut her up.
\nMalory whined and barked through dinner, bit Dave\u2019s shoe and parked on the living room rug. I kept telling myself to remain calm. I didn\u2019t have to be in control. Malory was Paul\u2019s dog and his responsibility to clean, feed and care for.
\n Behind closed doors, Dave and I agreed it was a good thing that dog was only visiting. She\u2019d never last long living with us.
\nMalory spent her formative years growing up in Paul\u2019s car and college fraternity house. While Paul was on the road driving 18-wheelers cross-country for Schneider, Malory was welcome at the Frat House, but as the fraternity brothers were graduated and Schneider\u2019s policy is to have no pets in the cabs, Malory began spending more and more time in a vet\u2019 s kennel. Malory had no home.
\nWell, you know that saying about \u201cnever say never\u201d? We agreed to a two week trial of her living with us. If she got along with my guide dog and our elderly cat, we\u2019d keep her for a few months until Paul could get 100,000 \u201cMalory miles\u201d to qualify to lease-to-own his own cab. Malory could then live and ride with him in the truck.
\nMalory came to live with us on July 21, 1997. At the age of three, she was no longer a yapping little dog. But she was still hyper-active. She followed my husband every where when he was home and paced from room to room when he was gone. She wouldn\u2019t stay still long enough for a hug or even to be petted. There was no such thing as brushing or bathing her.
\n The first morning Dave had to go to work, he took her up to our bedroom after breakfast and put her on \u2018tie down\u2019 (a length of leash attached to the bed leg), just like we do if we were going to leave my guide dog. He left and Malory started a hue and cry of pure anger and frustration.
\nWithin five short minutes, she had managed to scratch, rip and mutilate the bed spread, blanket, two sheets, bed pad and the eyelet bed ruffle.
\nWhen she repeated this behavior the next morning, I decided that if we were going to live copesthetically, her Frat House behavior would have to be extinguished. I would have to become the alpha dog. The only way I could do that was to keep her on a leash with me the whole time.
\nFuture Grace was trained to be on my left and, fortunately, Malory had a penchant to being on my right or ahead by a leash length.
\nI had to laugh at some of the situations this training method got me into. She would race up the stairs while Future stopped at the foot to let me ascend safely. More than a couple of times, I found my right arm would be fully extended up the stairs, my body almost laying on the steps with my left arm extended backward holding Future\u2019 s leash.
\nGoing down the stairs was especially dangerous with both girls on leash! She never caught on to \u201cstop at the top of the stairs\u201d but in time, she did pause long enough before charging down the stairs to give Future and me enough time to safely descend the stairs.
\nAfter Malory had been with us for four months, Future was diagnosed with lymphosarcoma and expected to live only two months.
\nDuring the first month of Future\u2019 s retirement at home, Malory taught her lots of dastardly doggie deeds. When the doorbell rang, they\u2019d both bark, but, Future would come sit next to me while Malory charged toward the door to defend the realm. They\u2019d clean out the cat\u2019s cookies every chance they got and scavenged the kitchen floor. Both girls enjoyed the freedom of roaming around the house without a leash on. Definitely not things found in the GEB Russ Post Book of Guide Dog Etiquette, but they had become good friends.
\nWhen I\u2019d call \u201cGirls, out\u201d, Malory would race to the door and wait for Future and me to get there. I felt each back and tail go out the door. Occasionally, I\u2019d feel the back and tail of an exiting cat, too.
\nAfter giving them time to piddle and park, I\u2019d call them back in. Future usually responded quickly to my call, but Malory would linger.
\nOne snowy day Malory showed up at my call but not Future. I sent Malory back out with the admonishment \u201cfind Future\u201d. Within a few minutes, they came jostling in together.
\nWhen Future\u2019s joints became too painful and stiff to move easily, Malory would bring a bone to Future and flip it within her reach. Malory then got a bone for herself and they would happily chomp away together.
\n One time, I knelt beside Future and Malory came to sit on my right. She looked at Future laying with her head on her crossed paws and slowly slid down with her paws out. She looked at Future again and put her head down, too. Malory was learning patience from Future.
\nMalory also became friends with Milo, our daughter\u2019s black and white kitten. They had a couple of spirited chases, but it was usually Milo who started it! There were times when Malory didn\u2019t move a whisker while Milo sniffed her face or played with her tail.
\nMalory treated our elderly cat, B&W with deferential respect. I was amazed (and thankful) that these four \u201cstrangers\u201d got along so well.
\n Malory provided a touch of companionship that only another dog could give to Future Grace during her last days.
\nMalory seemed to take on a calmness and responsibility as Future\u2019s strength waned. Malory would be the one I felt when I absently put my hand down by my side. It was Malory who popped up when I got out of my chair. If I picked up her leash, she\u2019d walk slowly to the stairs and stop.
\nThe morning after Future Grace died, Malory methodically checked each room as if looking for her friend. Not finding Future, she came and laid down on my feet. From time to time she\u2019d poke my leg with her nose as if to say; It\u2019s okay. We\u2019ll get through this together.
\nShe brings me back to life. When she wants to go out, she picks up her leash and puts it in my hand. When she wants to play, she won\u2019t take no for an answer and will continually put a prickly nyla bone in my lap until I pay attention to her.
\n When its close to Dave\u2019s time to come home, Malory paces back and forth from where I am to the kitchen door.
\nShe brings new meaning to \u2018jump for joy\u2019 when He comes in the door.
\nIn the evening, if she thinks we\u2019ve been watching TV too long, she\u2019ll start flipping her tennis ball between us on the couch until we laugh and throw it for her. She is really quick at retrieving it, even if its hidden.
\nI know the day will come when Malory will return to her rightful place with Paul to ride shotgun. They\u2019ll stop in from time to time for a visit and I hope she\u2019ll become friends with my new guide dog.
\nUntil then, as I brush Malory Grace\u2019s luxurious, dark brown fur, gently hug her strong neck and plant a quick kiss on her soft nose, I\u2019m thankful for this brief touch of Malory.
\n(versions of this essay have appeared in \u201cGood Dog! Magazine, Wayne County STAR Newspaper, and Wayne County MAIL Newspaper. Copyright \u00a9 1997, 2010 by Kate Chamberlin. All rights reserved. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Guide Dog Chronicles: A Touch of Malory by Kate Chamberlin \u201cMom, can I bring Malory home for Thanksgiving?\u201d my college son, Paul, asked several years ago. \u201cSure,\u201d I said calmly trying not to let my excitement show. Maybe he\u2019d found Ms Right? What does she like to eat? I\u2019d better get new sheets for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-188","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=188"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":254,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/188\/revisions\/254"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=188"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=188"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/katechamberlin.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=188"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}