Our rescued chocolate Lab crossed the Rainbow Bridge and left an empty quietness in our house that was very hard to live with. We had a black Lab before our chocolate, so it was time for a yellow dog. Needless to say it had to be another Lab, and it had to be a rescue. It was time to look online, and that’s how I learned of Sunshine State Labrador Rescue. That search took us to Melissa in Jupiter, only 2 to 3 hours from our house. Not a bad drive if we came home with a rescue. Melissa has a dog and a cat of her own, plus several birds in a large cage, and still has the heart to foster. This blond girl Lab is actively playing when we get in, and when she looked at me I just fell in love with her beautiful face. Her name is Athena but she’s not responding to it yet, she’s been at Melissa’s for only a week. She was picked as a stray so there’s no history on her. And she is estimated to be about 3 y/o. I’ve been in this situation before, a repeat of my chocolate girl who was also a stray. So we fill the paperwork and head home with a new beautiful blonde baby Lab. Since I am from Puerto Rico I wanted a special Spanish name for her. After much thinking, we named her Coquí. A Coquí is a tiny frog that lives only in Puerto Rico and it’s call through the night sounds just like coquí (pronounced koh-kee).
I had shoulder replacement surgery two months before this adoption took place and my husband wanted to “test run” the new dog before I walked her. Well, she pulled, all the time, and pretty hard. And to make things worse, she pulled off my husband’s hands and ran to the neighbor’s yard and their very antisocial Mastiff. She not only did it once, she did it twice! As a result we stopped walking her out on the street, she could only be out in our fenced yard. And we got a trainer to correct her behavior.
It’s been two months since Coquí has been “going to school”, and she has demonstrated to be a particularly smart little girl. In the process we discovered that whomever had her before she was a stray, actually taught her all the basic commands. So we could skip that phase with the trainer and concentrate on walking without pulling and control her desire to run away from us. Not to mention “attacking” the neighbor’s dog. According to the trainer, Coquí goes to other dogs with the intention of playing. There’s no aggression, only desire to play. Last week we went to a park and eventually Coquí was allowed to play and fetch off leash. I almost cried happy tears, just watching her play and run and being a happy dog. It was an activity only done in a dream, something I thought would never happen.
Coquí has been a challenge, but a great and positive challenge. I was told by a good friend that challenges may turn your life around. Coquí has definitely done that to us. Together we make a very happy family.
