The story of Tsunami is a sad one, but despite our hardships, it is a story on a lesson of love, loyalty and compassion. One that not many dog parents or even dogs experience in their lives. But one, that has taught me there is always something or someone worth fighting for.
Tsunami was my first Shiba Inu. I adopted him when he was around two years old. I of course loved him from the very first time I laid eyes on him. He was EVERYTHING I had hoped he would be.
I traveled across state several times to visit Tsunami and his family to make sure the adoption would go well.
We played fetch in the front yard, snuggled on the floor and took many walks together into the woods.
I was okay, in his eyes. But I was Not his mommy.
I worried that with him being bonded with his previous mother that he would never warm up to me.
The first few weeks were rocky. You could see the hurt in his eyes and his emotions unraveled when we put him into the car and drove away from his previous mother's house. He knew he would never see her again and with that he lost his will to live.
The first two days he did nothing but lay under my coffee table and watch. He would not eat nor drink. His curly tail was limp and his ears were flat. So I would lay on the floor in front of him offering him some kibble and talking to him softly. But he would just ignore me as if I disgusted him.
Though I was not too offended by his disdain. After all, to him I was the villain. The evil woman who stole him from his mommy.
But the obvious agony in his eyes only made me love him all the more. I refused to fail him, I refused to let him die. He was now my child, my little boy and I was going to bring joy back into his life.
When I made family meals I would make an extra plate just for him in a desperate attempt to get him to eat anything. The fourth day had came and he still refused to move or eat and I again as I did everyday since he came home lay on the floor in front of him. This time was different though. You could see the tears streaming down his cheeks. And my heart crumbled. I began to sob and beg him to eat as I stroked his head gently. It was then he looked over at me with his big brown eyes and let out a low nasal whine. As I continued to cry and stroke his head gentle the most amazing thing then followed. He crawled over to me and began licking my tears away. As if he suddenly understood that I truly cared for him.
That evening he lay at my feet at the dinner table as I fed him from my plate. After dinner he stayed at my heel still shy and tired but I knew in time we would be okay. I took things slow with him and let him decide when he was ready to move forward in our relationship. All the while flooding him with all the love that I could.
I took him everywhere with me, to work, the grocery store, to visit family and friends. And of course we met a lot of resistance. Humans are so cold and harsh. But that did not stop me. I've always been one to follow my heart and do what I felt was the "right" thing despite rules or regulations. "Where there is a will, there is a way." is the motto I adopted. And I found a way.
As the days progressed into weeks Tsunami and I became like one. He would shy from strangers to only look up at me with eyes full of intelligence and wisdom far beyond my years or understanding.
Our bond quickly struck jealousy into the hearts of many. But Tsunami was just a dog to them, to me, he was so much more. I was his mother.
Months had passed and turned into a year and a nasty divorce took over our family. But it only made me love Tsunami more. We decided we would make our own family and foster another dog. He was an Akita Inu mixed with Chow Chow. Beautiful black and elegant. Such a giant teddy bear. And that is why we named him "Cub".
Tsunami and Cub adored each other, it seemed to be a match made in heaven. They would romp and play in the back yard. I hadn't seen Tsunami play like that since he came to live with me. It took little convincing of the ladies at the shelter for whom I worked with to officially adopt Cub. He had been through so much already. Adopted three times and returned each time by no fault of his own. He too longed for a family all of his own. And Tsunami longed for a brother to play with. So only after a couple of months having Cub live with us, we signed the papers and adopted him. Though Cub was unlike Tsunami and small, compact easy to conceal when necessary. So I was forced to keep him in the back yard while Tsunami and I went to work during the day.
I would wake up at 7:30 and let the boys out to go potty while rounding up Cub's dishes. Tsunami would then come inside and sit in the kitchen window as I poured Cub's food and would take it back outside to him. Then Tsunami and I would go off to McDonalds for our breakfast before heading into work.
But one tragic morning I screwed up. I screwed up big time and I will never forgive myself nor forget my terrible mistake.
Working two jobs and still battling with my ex in the divorce the stress was getting the best of me and I over slept. My boss called and woke me up at 8:00 and I began to scramble throwing on my clothes and instead of following routine. I just grabbed the bag of dog food, pushed Tsunami back inside the door denying his potty break and began to pour Cub's food into his bowl. His massive black bearish head eagerly eclipsed his bowl and the food spilled out all over the ground as I poured. I nudged him back with my leg, frustrated. But he pushed back into the bowl. I nudged harder but he latched onto my leg viciously taking me down. As I fell to the ground he growled and snapped ripping at my body in a fit of rage. I looked to cry for help as I wrestled with the giant beast who was hungry for my throat. There I saw my kitchen window shatter as Tsunami jumped through the glass onto my sun porch and through it's glass in a charging dash. All went dark as I cried out "No" to Tsunami as I watch my little boy lunge and grab Cub by his throat.
When I awoke, I could hear the ambulance pulling up in front of my house. My neighbor was standing over me with a cell phone in his hand. My Tsunami was laying with his head on my chest bloody, weak, with tears streaming down his cheeks once again. And my Cub was laying at my feet bloody and dead. I was broken and torn from head to toe.
My neighbor told me he came out hearing the dogs fight and watched Tsunami fight Cub to the death to keep him off of me. And said he was the one to call for help. I thanked him and reached up to stroke my Tsunami's head and said "Thank you" just as he died. The ambulance took me to the hospital. I suffered many deep wounds, and broken bones but none that would match the eternal pain in my heart from losing my Tsunami.
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