He Be 4

If you're an animal person then this post will make perfect sense to you.  If you think a dog or cat should be relegated to sitting outside, chained to a post, or left to wander the streets in search of it's next meal, then you won't get it at all.  This is Kody (and his buddy-Riley) and he turned 4 to day.  Or, this is the birthdate that was given to him by the Aussie Rescue group that found him wandering somewhere in southern Missouri about two years ago.  Infested with heart worm, somewhat emaciated but definitely a boy who could only give anything but love.  Fortunately for me, I met him some 4 mos. after my special boy "Dancer" died after a 18mos. struggle against nasal cancer.  At the time I truly wasn't looking for another dog.  I still had two at home and was still very much in a state of terrible grief over Dancer's death.  While I know full well that when you lose a pet, you never can find another one that will be like the one you've lost.  You only replace that one with another that you'll love unconditionally and they will do likewise.  However, in Kody's case, something very unique has occurred and when I saw his picture on the Aussie Rescue site, I was taken aback by him and his very uncanny resemblance to Dancer.  And now that he has been living with us for the last 2 years, I often think of Dancer reincarnated.  I'm not sure if it's the "Aussie" personality or if Dancer is "floating" around near our house and speaking to Kody, telling him to do the same things he did when he was alive.  Kody immediately looks to chase squirrels or rabbits as he bolts out the back door.  He poops as many times a day as Dancer did; like 5 or 6.  And when he does, he poops in  the oddest of places....along the fence under the ivy, or in the far back part of the yard where the ornamental grass is, or next to the trash cans.  He likes to curl up next to me in bed and lay his head on my arm.  For a dog that hasn't had any formal obedience training, he is frightfully obedient to me.  As you can see from the pictures I've posted, his love for Riley (and my other two cats) is astonishingly the same.  Dancer would often clean Riley's ears.  There's the old saying, "when a door is closed, somewhere God opens a window" certainly rings true in this case.  As I lost Dancer, God certainly brought Kody to help me heal.  

Happy 4th Birthday Kody!!