Lilo & Stitch – the real story
The decision was final, we would get a dog or dogs, I wanted two, Steve only wanted one! We were both agreed that it would have to be a rescue dog so we embarked on looking for our new pet through Monica’s Rescue. As soon as we saw Stitch, a five month old brindle Pointer X, with his goofy face, doe eyes and wrinkled brow we were sold. As it turned out, he had a gorgeous sister called Lilo, so I got my way and two brindle babies became ours.
Steve wanted them to be outside dogs, I wanted them inside; after a week a neighbour complained that they were barking at possums, so they became inside dogs. It took a little longer for them to convince him that they should be allowed on the bed, but as you can see from the pics, that too has changed, and now the morning call is, “Lilooo, Stiiitch, where are my puppies, I need a cuddle?” I have to say that a queen size bed is really not big enough for two people and two almost 40kg dogs and it is usually me who ends up with the least room!
That first year we became experts at procuring lounges in street clean ups; they got through three, and I became immune to arriving home to a backyard covered in foam and fluff. Tug of war with the washing on the line (always my clothes) was a favourite past-time, not to mention anything left out that a canny canine could snaffle. One poor girlfriend came to lunch and made the mistake of kicking her shoes off under the table, sadly she went home barefoot. Stealing and unwrapping the Christmas presents was another good lark.
But oh what joyous fun they were and how horrific it was the day we received a phone call from the police advising that they were both at the veterinary hospital having been hit by a car (they had dug a hole under the back fence and escaped)! Lilo was only mildly hurt but Stitch was in a bad way with a smashed femur and pelvis, broken front leg, part of his tail cut off and badly grazed all over. When the vet informed us how much the operation to put a plate in his hip would cost we nearly fainted, but our sons agreed to forgo our future planned ski holidays to save Mr Stitch. What the vet omitted to tell us was that the post operative care would require our energetic 10 month old puppy to be immobilised for six weeks. We installed a cage in the lounge room and took it in turns to go home during our lunch hour to towel walk him to the toilet and give him some attention. Poor Lilo became quite jealous of the cage and took to getting into it as fast as we got Stitch out.
Eight years and two cruciate ligament operations later for Stitch, our puppies have become the two most adored members of our family and are still going strong. Stitch is riddled with arthritis and still sleeps with a blanket over his head (his cage comforter), but thankfully Lilo has the tough constitution of a strong woman, although highly emotional and such a daddy’s girl while Stitch is a mummy’s boy. They have given so much love and companionship to us all, and been a great support through school exams, relationship traumas and troubled times. Lilo’s soft nose in your lap or Stitch’s infectious yodelling and joyous spirit “let’s go for a walk, roo roo” does just make each day so much brighter.
All the money in the world cannot buy the treasure that we found in Lilo and Stitch (although I do recommend pet insurance, a silly oversight on our behalf)!