We lost our Koko Puff last Friday.  I’ve wanted to write about her, but I have had trouble figuring out just what to say.

She was born around 2-14-96 (that’s the date we determined based on the vet’s estimate of her age).  We thought Valentine’s Day sounded nice.  When we adopted her, she was a 4 month old ball of fluff.  I’ve got to find those pictures.  She joined our family in the pre-digital era, and so I have actual pictures somewhere.

Here she is at 17.

Koko was such an interesting dog.  I think it’s because she really did not believe she was a dog.  When David brought her home, I picked her up; I was ready for lots of puppy kisses.  Koko was not a kisser.  She kept turning her head.  I remember finding this so odd, but that was Koko.  She liked pats though, and she’d paw you if you stopped before she was ready for you to.

Koko was pretty much in charge around here.  I used to joke (but it really wasn’t a joke) that the hierarchy went:  Koko, David, me and then Timber.  Timber and I were kind of tied at the bottom.

Koko was the most stubborn dog in the history of dogs.  If you put her behind a gate or a door, she’d make it her mission to try to escape – even if this meant totally destroying the door trim or the top of the inside of her crate.   She was stubborn until the day she died, and I’m pretty sure that it was that stubborn streak that kept her alive so long.

She was also very very loyal.  She finally stopped barking and protecting us in the last few years, but prior to that she kept a close watch on us.

In her lifetime, Koko broke her leg, and she also had a couple of bouts with an inner ear problem which caused her to spin around and around in circles.  We thought that would be the end of her, but she recovered again.  For the last few years, she’s suffered from arthritis and I’m pretty sure some doggy dementia.

She’s at peace now.  Davey has been sad about her going, but he explained some things to me.  He said, “Mommy, you know heart and heaven sound kinda the same.”  I said that yes I guess so!  They both start with “h-e-a”.  He then said, “I think heaven is in our hearts because when someone dies, their spirit stays in our hearts.”  I liked that.

He also told me that “God is happy that Koko is in heaven.” and then, “Mama, he might be a little mad at us for keeping her for so long.”

We will miss the puff.