by Staci Reed
The day I went to see the litter of puppies I fell in love at first sight. Cody came running right to me as if he was smiling begging me to take him home. I asked my friend to hold him for me and I would ask my husband if I could have him.
I must have asked my husband a hundred times to let me have the puppy and he kept saying no they're to much work. The next day I sat and cried telling my husband I just had to have him. I told him it would be good for our kids too. Finally he gave in and said I could get the puppy. I dropped everything I was doing and left the house to get my code-man. When I got to my friends house Cody ran right at me again, I knew he was the one. Cody was a German Sheppard, Golden Retriever, and Chocolate lab mix. He resembled a German Sheppard the most, he was so beautiful.
I put him in the car to go pick up the kids and cried the whole way, I was so happy. When I got to my inlaws to get the kids I told them I had a surprise for them in the car. When they both saw the puppy they were so happy, I've never seen them so happy before.
Cody was the best thing that ever happened to our family. I joined a search and rescue team with him for tracking people. He excelled so fast. Cody picked up on tracking right off at just a few months old. He was so smart and could find anyone especially kids. Cody absolutely loved children.
Cody did everything with us. He loved to ride in the car and go for a walk every night. I miss him so much. I entered him in a pet show and he won the best 911 rescue dog. Everybody loved him.
Then came my nightmare, just two days before my Birthday. It was St. Patricks Day and my husband took the day off. He had tied Cody out back to go to the bathroom and he went in the garage to do some work before the kids got home from school. We live way out in the country and he loved it under the big maple tree in the back. Cody had broken his chain and my husband never knew it until he went down to pick up the kids off the bus and saw a dog on the side of the road, he thought it was the neighbors dog. He went back to get her because he didn't want our kids to see her on the side of the road. When he pulled up he saw that it was Cody and not the neighbors dog. My husband took him back to the house and buried him before I or the kids got home. Cody died about a hundred feet from our home and no one ever stopped to tell us they killed our dog.
When I got home from work my husband came out to the garage and told me that Cody had died today he was hit by a car. I thought I had lost my whole world. I couldn't even move all I could do was cry. Cody was our 3rd child, he was only a year old. I wanted to know who hit him and he said no one came to the house, so I walked to the neighbors and she said she was home all day and nobody stopped and said anything to her either.
A week later we received a phone call, it was the man that killed our dog. He left a message to call his insurance company, so we contacted our lawyer and he said not to, let them come to your house. Two days had passed and the day finally came when he showed up at the door. We invited him in and he told us he was sueing us for damages and he needed some information. All I could do was cry and wonder how anyone could ever sue anyone for damages from a pup. A family member. I thought to myself that this man had no heart at all. I have never heard of such a thing as to sue someone for killing their dog. We gave him our information and then called our laywer. Our laywer told us we could sue him back for all the training we had in the dog and for losing days at work for mourning. My husband and I chose not to and to just let him rest in peace. We had no problem paying him but he was claiming more than the car was even worth.
I met a family member of the man that killed my dog and he said he was willing to testify that the dog didn't do the damages he was claiming that they were from a previous accident he had. The relative said the dog only cracked the front grill on the car. The car was a 1980 station wagon that was all rusted out, doors and all. I didn't have the meaness in me to sue him back all I wanted is for it to end and let my code-man rest in peace. The relative told us he sued someone else last year and that's how he got his new home. This just goes to show what kind of people we live around.
To this day I sit and think about Cody he would have been 4 last Feb 18th 2001. The kids and I still put flowers on his grave down back and we made him a head stone. I love and miss him dearly, there will never be another dog like him. Cody is my Angel By My Side.
I have a new Angel in my life named Tasha, she's a Boxer. She will never replace Cody they are two opposites, she is more the protective type and he just loved everyone. She stands guard over her family and he watches above us. Now I have two Angels By My Side.
I've learned from my mistakes and went out and got her a 10 by 10 by 6 foot dog run so I never have to worry about a broken chain again. Tasha is only in it when we are home and we can see her. If she wants to sit outside then so do we. I won't ever go through that again. I feel Cody is still watching over us every day. Tasha and Cody would have been the best of friends, she has just turned two and I hope to have her a long time. Thank you for reading my story.