(C) Daily Kos This story was originally published by Daily Kos and is unaltered. . . . . . . . . . . Licky Boomba and the tongue of destiny [1] ['This Content Is Not Subject To Review Daily Kos Staff Prior To Publication.', 'Backgroundurl Avatar_Large', 'Nickname', 'Joined', 'Created_At', 'Story Count', 'N_Stories', 'Comment Count', 'N_Comments', 'Popular Tags'] Date: 2023-03-02 We don’t know where he came from… he was found as a stray by a shelter in my old neighborhood… a shelter we adopted our first few (deceased) pups from. I saw Lupo’s handsome Dutch Shepherd/Pitbull face online, then placed print-outs of Lupo, and one other pup, from that local humane society in hubby’s lunchbox. That same day, hubby’s boss called and transferred hubby to a job just down the street from that shelter, and, off the cuff, hubby decided to stop and see those 2 dogs after work. Hubby bitched and moaned that I placed those print-outs in his lunchbox, but… He was enamored with Lupo, who wouldn’t stop jumping on his shelter gate and licking hubby’s hand while hubby visited (hence the nickname Licky Boomba, and the Tongue of Destiny). That tongue is what got Lupo adopted! Lupo at the shelter Shelter volunteer announcing Lupo’s adoption We decided to pay Lupo a visit the next weekend, possibly to adopt. We went to the shelter, only to find out Lupo was at an adoption event at a kind-of far away PetSmart. We raced there because it was almost closing time, fell in love, and brought Lupo home! He’d been at the shelter for almost A YEAR, surely due to his resting jerk-face (he looked perpetually pissed off, but was the sweetest dog we ever had). Nobody else but us took the time to figure that out, and I’m so glad we did! His resting jerk-face Since we live an hour away from the shelter we adopted Lupo through, I created Lupo’s Facebook page, so the people from that shelter could see how he was doing. Lots of the shelter volunteers became Facebook friends with our Woop Woop (his nickname). Da Woops loved his toys! Lupo was very outgoing and unusual looking, so whenever we took him out, people wanted to pet him. Of course, our Woops loved the attention! We took him to Saugatuck, Michigan a few times, and everybody fell in love! At a dog-friendly cocktail hour Snoozing in a Michigan trundle bed He was so lovable, he was nominated for the shelter’s 2013 Pet of the Year award (which was a fund-raising contest, but fun nonetheless!) He came in third place, and even though they spelled his name wrong, we were just happy Lupo got to see all the volunteers he loved from his shelter days! Dog of the Year award — his name mis-spelled! 2 years of sweetness, and suddenly Lupo was eating ravenously, and having accidents in the house, which was very unlike him. Took him to the regular vet, who sent him to an oncology vet - Lupo had cancer throughout most of his body. Though we were willing to spend the money to help him overcome his cancer, the most time it would bring was 4 to 5 painful months. We decided no chemo, and just to support him until he told us it was time. We’d then have an at-home euthanasia vet help him to cross the rainbow bridge in his favorite spot on our deck. The day that happened, the shelter folks all changed their FB profile photos to pix of our Lupo, to honor his way-too-short life. Heart-wrenching but wonderful! Facebook tribute on Lupo’s page A few months after he passed, we visited Saugatuck again, and for the first time ever, saw this Australian wine in a wine shop…. With Lupo’s nickname (Woop Woop) on the label. I believe somehow he was sending us a sign that he made it safely over the bridge - but I still cry on his Gotcha Day - March second - because no matter how long ago we lost him, I’ll always miss him. Thanks for reading! [END] --- [1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/3/2/2155740/-Licky-Boomba-and-the-tongue-of-destiny Published and (C) by Daily Kos Content appears here under this condition or license: Site content may be used for any purpose without permission unless otherwise specified. via Magical.Fish Gopher News Feeds: gopher://magical.fish/1/feeds/news/dailykos/