|
Mario and Mr. Brown -
The Golden Years
This is a letter written to us by Dena Allen, Mario and Mr. Brown's proud Mama!
Letter from Home
Mario
Mario was my first adoption. He was one of a number of dogs tied up in a S. Bronx junkyard. He was dying with end-stage demodecosis (a type of mange). Toni Bodon bribed his release from the homeless squatter who was tending to the dogs. These wonderful Spanish women tended to these junkyard dogs for years. One of these kind women was Rosa. She kept him and his compatriots alive. It wouldn't be until four years later that we got them all out. Mario was dying so he had to get out first.
At the time Mario came to me I had only begun to foster for SFTH. It took me a long time to even do that because I was afraid that I couldn't keep my apartment as clean as I would like with dogs around (imagine that!). After fostering for a while I thought I might be ready to adopt a dog. I wanted what I grew up with -- a small female dog. When Beth told me about Mario and how he desperately needed a quiet foster home to try and recover (the doctors gave him a 50:50 chance at survival), I agreed. But he was "all wrong" for my "new" dog. He was big and he was male. 
I think I was fostering Mr. Brown at the time who I loved. My "specialty" were the sick ones; nursing them back to health if I could. When I went to the hospital to pick Mario up I couldn't believe what I was seeing. He smelled so bad. He was rotting away. I brought him home and Beth came over often to help me with all his medications. I wore a mask the first several nights. Mario's self-esteem was non-existent. He kept his head pasted to the wall looking into the wall. After three days we finally made eye contact. I knew then that he would be my dog.
Mario is an exceptionally bright and empathetic young man. He is the perfect dog for someone in rescue. He knows just what to do with a new foster. Whether they are babies, elderly, a hospice case, a behavior case, he knows just what to do. He is now somewhat of a service dog and travels with me on subways, buses, even planes -- always by my side. He has incredible discipline. In public I can almost control him with eye movements. Mario is a pit bull/ACD mix. I've set him loose on cattle and he is brilliant. He chased six cows up a steep mountainside but one broke away from the pack. He lined the five up on a ridge and then went down to corral the wayward one, brought him back up the ridge and put him right in line with the other five. My friends and I stood at the bottom of the mountain in disbelief. We were awestruck and still. When he was finished, he turned his gaze down the mountain to us with his head cocked to one side as if waiting for approval.  We cheered wildly! He took off down the mountain and took a flying leap into a pile of cow shit. He rolled and rolled on his back in it as the shit hit the sky with his arms and legs punching in the air. It was the cutest thing! The ride home in a small Honda was miserable. I had to sit in the back with him and keep him away from me as he was covered in shit. Mario is about 8 years old now and he's still a wonderful athlete. It's nothing to him to fire off 8 miles of running. I keep him lean and mean and never feed him dog food.
Mr. Brown
I always loved Mr. Brown, known then as "Brownie". I was thinking seriously about adopting him 8 years ago when Beth had to take him out of my home to put in Mario. He was an older dog even then. It wasn't until November of 2005 that my then boyfriend and I ran into Beth on the street with Mr. Brown. I was finally in a situation where I could have two dogs. We discussed it and decided to foster Mr. Brown. At this point he was very feeble but could walk pretty well and go up and down three stairs. I live in a very steep four-story walkup loft space in Bushwick, Brooklyn. I was able to take Mr. Brown because of the boyfriend who could help me lift him up/down the stairs. When that relationship failed, I remember having to make a conscious decision to bulk up in the gym in order to be able to lift Mr. B lest my back would go out. I'll never forget when I was fostering him those years ago. .
Mr. can only walk a few steps now. Stairs have long been out of the question. I'm his legs now. He's 100% incontinent and in diapers. I bought this really cool bright red high-tech stroller for him.  It's his "car" and he is very proud of it. It has revolutionized our life. I strap Mario's leash to the stroller and the three of us set out on the town. I think Mr. Brown must be one of the most photographed dogs in the city. When we go into town in his stroller it's like walking with a movie star. The tourists (and New Yorkers!) go wild. They can't believe what they're seeing. Every few steps we're stopped by his admirers. It is comforting for me to know that his picture is probably all over the world in tourists' photo albums.
Mr. Brown was a stray dog in Brownsville when a near-homeless little boy championed his cause. The boy, Ernest, was having problems with his drug-addict mother and would run away, spending several nights at a time in abandoned cars with Mr. Brown and other stray dogs, his friends. A couple years later, Ernest set off walking with one of the younger dogs when he saw the Brooklyn Bridge on the horizon. He crossed it, slept in the park on the Manhattan side, and meandered his way north, across Central Park and to the park bench of the Museum of Natural History. Fortuitously, his path crossed Beth's as she was doing her morning walk with her dogs. Soon, Ernest would make the trek back to Brownsville. He didn't know if Mr. Brown could make the trip across the bridge but he knew he had to try.
 Mr. Brown was old even back then. This was around 1994/1995. Ernest thought he may have been about 5 then. So that puts his age at around 17 or 18. One vet thinks he could be as old as 19 years. I have a theory that he's a shepherd/coyote mix. Coyotes can easily make it to this age. He has a few coyote characteristics. Mr. Brown was kicked, stoned, fought, had hot scalding water thrown on him for which he has two massive scars, one on each hip. He has not had an easy life, yet he's made it longer than any dog with a comfortable life. He is one tough ol' bird! He is my indomitable spirit. I love our story. I met him 8 years ago, and circumstances separated us.
Many years later our paths crossed again. I had room for one more. Mr. Brown was always my pick of the litter.
I've never felt good about my dogs' lifestyle here in Bushwick. It's a horrible ghetto with no parks nearby. Because I can't handle 50 lbs up and down 4 steep flights of stairs their outdoor life has been largely restricted to the roof deck of my building. Mr. Brown always loved to dig in Central Park. Mario has been affected by this, too. He only goes out for runs with me. Good news! I purchased a small two-bedroom condo with a Jacuzzi in Park Slope just blocks from Prospect Park. I bought it for my boys. They will have a beautiful park to play in once again and Mr. Brown will have a Jacuzzi to help ease his arthritic bones. They'll even have their very own room. Because this is a new development it's taken months to close. I have been telling Mr. Brown that he has to hold out until we move to our new house. We just got word last week that we'll be closing on April 19th. And I think he's going to be fine!
|
foster
