Seurat - My Life Hero

Seurat loved the tortillas Frank made for him.

Heroes come in all shapes and sizes. And some even have feathers, fins or fur and four legs.  Seurat is my four-legged hero.

At fifteen, he is showing the signs of a life well lived with cataracts, some difficulty hearing and a desire to sleep a lot. Still – he has not lost his zest for life.  Which is why he is my life hero.

I met Seurat when he was about 2 years old and living in the Española New Mexico Animal Shelter. I was looking for a companion for my aging sweet German Shepherd, Livvie.  I describe the meeting in my Chapter 4 of my book,  “A Woman Awakens:Life, AfterLife” 
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Seurat's first free days in Española

“Seurat’s fur was dotted black on white, thus named after the artist Georges Seurat, a nineteenth century pointillist. I’d hoped to find a Welsh Corgi, but discovered something almost as rare in northern New Mexico, that being a dog that wasn’t a mix of area favorites: Pit Bull, Mastiff, Rottweiler or Chow Chow. When I asked about the dog sitting off in the corner of the fenced kennel that contained smallish dogs, the attendant explained, “He’s not very sociable; been on the street a few years. Gets along with other dogs, but doesn’t like people. He is scheduled to be ‘put down’ tomorrow.”

I looked at all the noses and wagging tails on the other side of the chain-linked gate and then returned my gaze to the dog in the corner. Such a sad sight. Suddenly he lifted his head and focused on me, then uttered a long eerie howl. I replied to the attendant, ‘I want to see that one more closely.’

Seurat with Livvie, 2006

Once Livvie had approved the choice—after meeting and visiting him—Seurat was neutered and Livvie and I brought him home a few days later. It took two months to fully convince him that I was Alpha and he could not go out a door in front of me. Or growl at me.”

During the first two months of my relationship with Seurat I discovered that he was very bright and even seemed to understand my thoughts as well as my words. He was also stubborn – but merely a match for my own stubborn streak.

He came within a day of being taken back to the shelter because I didn’t think I could trust him not to bite me. His growls were sufficiently intimidating to make me wary. In desperation I ttold him that though I really cared for him I would have to take him back to the shelter because I was afraid he would bite. He seemed to listen intently. And from that day, that talk, he did not growl at me again. He got it.

2009. Sitting and looking out over the Costa Rican hills

When I moved to Costa Rica on Christmas Eve, 2008 Seurat and Livvie came with me to my new place. Seurat seemed to love all the new smells and scents – but often sat at the edge of the yard looking out over the valley. It seemed that he was thinking as well as watching. 

Livvie passed away in 2010 and Seurat became my sole canine companion. He took his job of watching over me quite seriously. His protectiveness was severely challenged when Frank and I got together. Though Seurat liked Frank, he didn’t like us spending private time together. Frank, another dog lover was able to change their

dynamic by sitting next to Seurat on the couch and talking softly and directly. “Seurat, the trouble we are having is because we both love the same woman…”  Seurat listened and there was never again a problem.  And he listened again when we asked him to accept into our family a starving shepherd mix female rescued from the streets of San Isidro . He accepted her completely on the day we took him to meet her.  He had objected strongly to another dog and a puppy in the months before. Seurat was definitely opinionated about both people and other dogs.

Though I admired Seurat’s obvious intelligence and ability to understand, it was the example he set for me during illness that put him up on the hero-worthy pedestal.

Seurat, constantly attentive

When my Achilles tendon ruptured in mid-May, 2018, I had emergency surgery to repair it. I was to be in a fiberglass cast from my knee to my toes for four weeks. It was a difficult time and I was cared for by friends and my neighbor/like a daughter Anita since I could not walk. Seurat became even more attentive to me. He was never more than a few feet away from me whether I was resting with my casted foot elevated or moving to another room on a knee scooter. He followed me to the bathroom and watched me while I slept from his bed in the corner of my room.  After the cast came off, I developed a wound infection that kept me off my feet for an additional four weeks – and Seurat kept his vigil. I felt constantly comforted by his watchful presence.

Suddenly one morning Seurat collapsed and was having difficulty getting up off the floor and to walk. His head was cocked severly to one side. I was terrified at the possibility that I was losing my dearest friend to some kind of neurological demise. He was after all 15 years old - or 105 in dog years. Fortunately, a friend arrived who could take Seurat to the Vet,

who gave him 3 weeks worth of medicine (prednisone) and the diagnosis of either a middle ear inflammation or my worst fear, neurological decline. I took over his 4 feedings per day, which at first meant feeding him by hand since he couldn’t move his mouth well.  Slowly he improved. While sick, he still continued his job of watching over me from room to room. A month later – just about when I was allowed to again put weight on my healing foot, he was acting pretty normal except for a slightly cocked head and some persistent weakness. 

The thing that impressed me most, however, was his heart. He just never gave up.  While he was still stumbling and walking wobbly, he would follow Frida out the back door and try to run up the road. Of course he only got a few feet the first time or two – but he didn’t stop trying. 

Such an inspiring attitude about life. I took to my own heart his example of persistence and courage. It was Seurat, this little dog with the big presence who helped me to endure the 89 days until I was able to take my first tentative steps, aided by a cane. I celebrated silently, with my eye on Seurat.

Seurat showed me how to keep going. 

He is my hero.