My Dad Got a Doggy Miracle for Christmas

There is a website called doesthedogdie.com where you can search books and movies to find the fate of canine companions. While not listed on the website, I can reassure you that the dog in this story is very much alive. And that is a true doggy miracle.

My family is composed of dog people. We stop to pet dogs on the street, have canceled plans because there was a dog sleeping in our lap and often remember dog names better than those of the humans that care for them. I begged for a dog almost as soon as I could talk and have successfully been surrounded by dogs since I was 7. It seemed only natural, when my parents separated, that my dad got a big black pitbull named Kal from one of the local rescues. Depressed, heartbroken and lonely, my dad needed a companion. He needed someone that was happy to see him and would give him reason to get out of bed in the mornings and leave the house. In Kal, he found everything he was looking for plus the unconditional love that he didn’t realize he needed.

Kal is a bundle of need covered in a very thin veneer of fur. Separation anxiety doesn’t begin to explain the frenzy that Kal will whip himself into whenever he sees one of his people. My dad once said that Kal is his emotional support animal. I pointed out that it was far more likely that he was actually Kal’s emotional support human.