Teo and Meeko Tribute 2018

On Saturday morning, July 29, 2006, Leslie was driving home from working the night shift.  As she drove down Avery Drive towards Sand Springs she saw two puppies in the road.  She stopped and picked them up and then called me.  She came over to the house and when she pulled into the driveway I saw two puppies in her car!  She told me she was afraid they would be hit by a car and killed so she picked them up.  We got a kennel set up and put them in the side yard until we could decide what to do with them.  Later that evening Robin’s daughters were involved in a terrible car accident.  We spent the rest of the weekend and the following weeks grieving with their family at the loss of their daughter and serious injury of another daughter. 

Each time we came home we would play with the puppies.  They would play with us, lick us and do what puppies do.  Their presence was like a balm for our broken hearts.  We had  Andy and Ace, our poodles,  so I placed an ad in the local newspaper to find them a home, but only got one call and that person only wanted one puppy.  I felt strongly that they needed to be kept together.  I can’t explain why I felt this way.  By the end of the second week of having them it was determined that they were ours. I looked up dog names that began with the letter “T” because the dark puppy had a big white cross on her chest.  I found the name Theodore means “gift from God” and a shortened version was Theo or Teo.  I liked that name, it fit.  “Teo” she would be.  The white puppy had some Mickey Mouse freckles on her under belly so it was easy to see she needed a Disney character name.  Since she looks like she has a racoon type mask on her face we named her after the racoon in the Disney movie Pocahontas.  Her name would be Meeko.  The two pups were inseparable.  They did everything together.  Teo was definitely the alpha female but Meeko made her presence known and they sometimes had sibling spats.  A few times they broke their teeth from the snapping fights they would have.  No serious injuries to each other but their snarling and fighting could be ferocious at times.   They grew up into beautiful dogs. 

Meeko’s coat is thick white fur with a tan spot on her ribs. I think she looks like an Akita breed of dog.   Meeko always was the tattle tale sister dog to Teo. Always a sweet girl, but if Teo was doing something bad, Meeko would bark and come get me.  If Teo was outside and too slow coming back inside after a bathroom break, I would send Meeko back to “go get Teo” and Meeko would bound down the steps to get Teo to come back inside.  Meeko would not eat her food until Teo was finished with hers, then she would growl to warn Teo that she was guarding her food. 

Teo ‘s fur is a black, silver and tan coat.  Teo was my devoted companion and friend.  She was always by my side or underfoot and laying on me when she could. If I sat down Teo would lay on or near my feet.  If I was eating she would sit by me and watch me.  When I slept she laid on the floor next to my side of the bed.  When I was in the shower she laid by the shower door so she had to move when I opened the door. If I was on the potty she would put her head on my lap.  If I worked on the computer upstairs she would push her way under the desk, a small space, and lay on my feet.  When it was 8:00 PM she would remind me it was time for her bedtime medicine and a treat. She had an amazing sense of time.

When I came through the door after being gone she would greet me at the kitchen door with tail wagging,  turning circles and whinng with joy upon my return.  She would put my wrist or hand in her mouth and “hold my hand” as she greeted me.  I would have to substitute a toy that we called a “hold it” into her mouth so I could get my hand back.  As we did this over and over I began to say to her “get a hold it” and she would find a toy to hold as she did her circle dance around the kitchen upon my arrival. 

After her leg broke from the bone cancer Teo was in a cast. She would still get up and hop to the kitchen door to greet me, not wanting to miss a chance to have a sweet reunion with me.  Meeko would prance in the background waiting for her chance to say hello and get a rubdown and hug. 

Teo was my “gift from God.”  Meeko was her sister and best companion.  I love them both so very much.  Loosing a companion pet is heartbreaking.  I have a 90 pound hole in my chest that Teo used to fill.  I miss her beyond description or comprehension.  Meeko is lost without Teo here.  We are spending as much time together as possible to get through this loss.  Someday Meeko will be gone too and I will be grieved beyond description.  Jesus help me when this happens.  

O