Saturday, June 20, 2015

How We Made Our Money

The love birds today.
When we adopted Diego "The Shark" Burrito he turned out to be more than we had bargained for and we knew we needed help, and he needed a friend and we needed a break.  Which is how we found ourselves rolling in Money.  

The Facebook post said that Nyx came form the streets, but was the sweetest, tiny girl they had ever met.  However, because their big dog kept harassing her they needed another foster immediately.  Something about those big mournful eyes grabbed me through the screen and wouldn't let me go.  There was also something about her nearly hairless, boney, desperately sad pictures that said to me, "No body is going to want this dog.  It's not cute.  If you don't give her a home for a minute she won't make it."

Thinking I had lost my mind, I texted the Harri-bou-bou the photos of her and said, "What if we try this for Diego?"  We worried about it overnight, and then in the morning said to each other, "We gotta try something.  Can't be any worse than it is now." An hour later I was off to Suwon for the hand off.

Of course, the moment I saw her tired little head rested on her foster moms chest, carefully wrapped in a scarf sling because she didn't want to be alone, I knew she was something special.  When I took her from her temporary people, she put up no resistance. Rarely have I met something that wanted so desperately to be saved.  She had put all of her trust in humans, any humans.  It wasn't that she had given up,  she was just too tired to do it on her own anymore.  Her fragile little body easily flowed into any shape of mine as I wrapped the scarf around me, she didn't even wiggle.  She was just too tired to fight. 

As her gentle nature won me over on the subway home, my fear for her with Diego grew and I wondered if I had rescued the lamb only to deliver it to The Shark.  He had never liked other dogs so I knew I needed to be committed to helping them get to know each other slowly.  When I arrived home I put her down carefully went to let Diego meet her with just noses between a gap in the sliding glass doors by opening it just a bit. Except that was not what happened at all, the door stuck a little and then slid back much faster than usually letting Diego race into the room right at her.  My heart stopped, he was about to eat the sweet little bite of a lady.  

Then, just as he was about to run right over her, he pulled up short and came to rest with his nose gently touching hers. He stood there, still.  She carefully sniffed him, he moved gently away to give her space, and I didn't move at all from the sheer shock of him being affectionate.  Diego was in love at first sight.  So enamored was I with this process I had not noticed that Diego still had food he hadn't finished on the porch.  Of course, Nyx was a starving dog so she smelled it right away and eased herself out to give it a little taste. 

When I realized what she was doing it was too late and my heart dropped again.  I had let my guard down too soon. "The Shark" had earned his nickname because of his desperate and violent need to protect his food and space.  The true love was about to end as soon as it started... except... Diego did nothing.  He just watched her slowly and delicately eat all his food while he sat a respectful distance away.

And that's how it's been ever since.  From the moment they touched noses he loved her.  She can do no wrong in his eyes.  Even though long gone are they days when Nyx passively viewed the word, he doesn't care.  He loves her when she takes all his toys, eats all his food, or refuses to let him on any sofa.  The only thing that matters to him is that they are together and he will cry for hours at the door if she has a day out without him.  His love for her, helped him learn to love us because she loved us and his fear and anger slowly started fading away through his big happy puppy feet.

And that is the story of how The Shark was saved from extinction and how Nyx earned the full name Nyx Money.  You see, she is our hope in a new day, our lucky penny, that $50 dollars you find on the street on the day you've spent your last dollar.  She makes us feel rich and we are happy every day that we decided to save our Money.

Her first days off the street.
One the way home for the first time.
Their blooming romance.
How they spend their days.

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