Four years ago: Mulligan's story

On January 31, 2005, I was on my way to meet my friend Stacy and her girls for lunch. I had stopped by the cement plant to see Mike on the way, and was coming down Hagar Shore Road. There was snow on the ground and the temperature had hovered around zero for days.

I passed a dog hanging out by the side of the road, so I turned around. I was greeted by the dog and he was very friendly. I knocked on the door of the nearest house, but there was no answer. Not wanting to leave him out loose and in the cold, I left a note with my number and loaded the dog into the car. A couple hours later a man called me back. He said the dog wasn't his, but had been hanging around for several days. (Don't even get me going here on why he would leave the dog out in zero degree weather without doing anything about it.)

I happened to have my camera with me that day, and snapped these pictures of Mulligan the day I met him: I got the big veto from Mike on bringing him home, so I had to drop him off at the Benton Harbor Humane Society. Several days later I managed to talk Mike into adding the dog into our family, and Mike and Kayla went to meet him. I had to wait for the Humane Society's mandatory ten day waiting period, and Mulligan was set to come home on February 11 after he was neutered. I got a call the afternoon before and was told he had tested positive for heart worm so they could not do the procedure. My choice was to pick him up and treat him myself for the heart worm or they would put him down.

This was hard to swallow. It's expensive to treat heart worm, and I'd only just met this dog. I couldn't be the decider of his demise, though, so I got him. He loved me after our first trip together was to the groomer for a flea bath, LOL.Mulligan began to fit right in, and several days after his arrival we began the heart worm treatments. Several days after that I arrived home from work to find a VERY sick dog. Mulligan quickly went down hill; I talked to the vet twice during the night. I was on their door step when they opened at 7:30 the following morning. At that point Mulligan was barely hanging on.

The diagnosis was Parvo. An extremely serious illness that only a quarter of dogs survive. Because the treatment was going to be significant I had to sign a form okaying the expected costs. I called Mike and he said to do what I needed to do. I signed it, but in my heart thought it was a moot point. As I watched Mulligan lay there with an IV and oxygen mask, I didn't think he was going to make it much longer.

It was touch and go for a couple days, and we had a serious set back with a secondary infection, but after a week in the clinic's ICU Mulligan came home. He was their miracle dog and the staff at Nickerson was thrilled for him. Our now 70 pound dog was only 35 pounds when we brought him home he'd lost so much weight from the illness.

When Mulligan finally got home we'd sunk nearly two grand into him. Mike looked at me and said, "This is the last stray dog you bring home." Not ten minutes later I went to let one of the dogs out and there on our porch was a dog. Just sitting there minding his own business. And no I didn't get to keep him, LOL.

Mulligan's first couple of years with us was filled with mischief. There were times it was exasperating, but he was such a nice dog. Fortunately he has moved past much of that and for the most part behaves himself. He has been very healthy, thankfully. Most importantly he has become the protector and lover of our children. He watches out for them, and puts up with a lot from them. He loves me even though the kids distract me and I sometimes allow his water dish to go dry or am late with his dinner.

Mulligan and I were lucky the day we found each other. He is truly a member of our family, and I think fate has him right where he belongs.