woody, as with all my dogs and i never even have really thought of that until literally right now as i write this, was the first dog that i ever got that i never knew i needed. he was my soulmate.
i remember in 2006 when mark, my boyfriend at the time, said, "let's go get a dog" - my immediate thought was WTF?! i was finishing graduate school, he was finishing undergrad and we hadn't even decided what we were doing next in life. both of us were graduating in may that year (i actually didn't finish my graduate degree until that august) and we had discussed moving in together after we were both done with school but at the time, neither of us had really landed jobs. he was pretty confident he'd be getting set up somewhere in pittsburgh and i had no idea at the time where i would be headed. so really? a dog?
he had found a couple of dogs he was interested in on the orange county virginia shelter site - about 2 hours from blacksburg, va (we were attending virginia tech) - and we decided to make a day of it. off we went to look at these couple of dogs that were on his list. it was clearly going to be HIS dog. even though it would live at my apartment since his place didn't allow dogs. all of this makes sense right?!we get to the shelter and meet these two dogs. one was an older pup - she was adorable. she had gone through so much though. she was skiddish and cowered at so much. she was clearly abused and it was also clear she had been used for breeding and then simply tossed away. it was horrible to imagine any dog going through that. but knowing that i was in graduate school full time, mark was finishing his degree in mechanical engineering, and i had a small 1 bedroom apartment that she'd have to live in alone for a bulk of the day, i simply couldn't bring myself to get her since there was no way we could give her the attention that she so desperately needed. while my heart broke for her, i knew she wasn't the dog for us.
the second dog we met was 100% the opposite. a young bloodhound pup, he was guessed to be about 9 months old and was already over 60lbs. he was exactly what you would expect out of a puppy - full of energy, intense personality and - as a hound always does - a nose that he simply followed. this dog needed time and dedication to truly train him to be at his fullest potential. did i mention i was in grad school? mark was finishing his undergrad? 1 bedroom apartment?! i knew again, this was not the right fit for us as great of a dog as he probably was.
not to be defeated, mark asked if we could go into the back and check out the other dogs. the lady led us to the back and we were greeted by barks galore. there were so many that it broke my heart but also i could see their faces all light up at the site of potential new family members. there were all sorts of dogs - more hounds, some pitts, a lot of mutts - some dogs were jumping for attention, others pawing at the chain linked fence doors. but all were definitely doing whatever it took to get our attention. as we walked up and down the aisle, i noticed this dog, silently sitting there. tail wagging. he wasn't jumping, barking but just sat there - as if he knew i'd notice him without him doing a thing. i looked at him immediately and knew - this was my dog. and i'll be clear here - not mark's dog, not our dog - this was my dog. i pointed to him and said, him i want to see him, and the lady escorted us back to a room to bring him in for us to meet formally.
inside the room was simply a little love seat and we sat down. the second "harley" was brought in, he sprinted as fast as he could onto my lap and immediately gave me kisses. to most, some random dog doing this might be a complete deterrent, but we had a bond. i told the woman at the shelter that we would take him and she informed us that he technically wasn't ready for adoption and they would not hold him for us. she said that once he was neutered, he would be placed on the website and able to be adopted then. i immediately asked when that date would be and she said march 8th. i told her i would be there on march 8th to pick him up then so there would be no opportunity for anyone else to even consider him and she said that would be fine. i said goodbye to "harley" and mark and i made the 2 hour drive back to blacksburg.
a week later, without blinking an eye, i went and picked him up. mark and i had talked during the week about a name since "harley" was not cutting it. they had said he had been a stray and it was simply the name the shelter gave him so he was due for something different. i wanted to originally name him "gus" and his formal name would be Augustus McCrae after robert duvall's character in lonesome dove. but mark vetoed it. so i said, "how about woody" after Woodrow F. Call, tommy lee jone's character in lonesome dove. mark liked it and so he became woody - or more formally woodrow p. dogman.
i picked woody up promptly at 5pm from the orange county dog shelter. he was still groggy from his neutering, but after paying $60, i had him wrapped up in a blanket on our way back to his new home. from then on he was my little buddy. we did everything together. he would walk to the lab and we'd work on finishing up my lab research together. we'd sit outside at the coffee shop typing up the last of my thesis together. we'd go to pittsburgh to visit mark together. we moved to connecticut to start our new life after college together. we flew to pittsburgh and to north carolina to visit mark and his family together. when mark and i broke up, it was logical that woody was my dog and so we started that new chapter together too. woody would eat a shoe when i would go out and come home super late in hopes of keeping me home the following weekend. he would hide bones in my pillow cases. he would sit outside for hours and chew on sticks. we went everywhere together including a trip to maine where we stayed on an island for a weekend and had to get there by tuna boat. we'd go on hikes, trips to the dog park, visits to WV to visit my parents - he was truly my soulmate.in 2012, he gained a sister, cali - a purebred golden retriever. at this point he was 9 years old and while, not interested in having to share the pets, welcomed her anyway and they became fast friends. in 2013 he had 
his first back surgery. being a beagle dachshund mix, little did i know he was prone to slipped discs. he came out of that as a trooper. in 2016, he gained a second sister, hazel. this shifted the dynamics in the household to say the least but he still was my little guy.
his first back surgery. being a beagle dachshund mix, little did i know he was prone to slipped discs. he came out of that as a trooper. in 2016, he gained a second sister, hazel. this shifted the dynamics in the household to say the least but he still was my little guy.in 2017 he was diagnosed with bone cancer in his spinal column. when he started limping, i had hoped it was simply another slipped disc and we'd be fine and dandy, but the doctor came back and told us that was indeed a tumor. and where it was located, and how much bone it had already eroded, he would need a plate and screws and be what i joked, a partially bionic dog. we opted to operate and it was very successful. while we were waiting for the surgery to heal a bit before we did radiation of any of the tumor that the doctor could not get, he began limping again and having issues walking. i was in paris when this happened for work. i remember the doctor calling me and it being simply devastating. he said that he wasn't sure if it was the tumor growing again (which was a very rare possibility) or simply a blood hemorrhage and the CT scan simply showed "something" was pushing on his spinal cord causing the limping and other symptoms. i told him to operate - i needed more time with him. i wasn't ready. not that i'd ever be, but i needed more time.
dr. hammond operated - and saw that it was indeed the tumor. he again removed as much as he could and was positive and optimistic but said that if we wanted any chance of more time, we needed to discuss radiation immediately and determine if it could help. we went to see dr. ware once he was released from pieper where we were told that yes, radiation had a high probability of helping. so we began immediately and with the most aggressive form of treatment possible - radiation every single day for 3 weeks. this required woody to be under anesthesia every single day. he was 14 years old and this was a huge risk. i don’t know if i kept pushing because i was being selfish or if it was because I knew he’d be able to do it – I don’t know. but I do know my gut said he could handle it. the doctors were shocked at how well he was able to come in and out of his treatments. it was a win for sure.after his second tumor removal, weeks of radiation treatment and the start of monthly chemotherapy, we started physical therapy. woody unfortunately had lost the ability to use his back legs. there were some promising signs that indicated that he would be able to regain his movement, but he would need help. so we started physical therapy, and it worked. woody was able to make significant progress and walked all the way up until this final days.
we entered the holidays feeling positive and optimistic. in february of 2018 that started to change. it had almost been a year since his diagnosis and the cancer had finally decided to make its final move. slowly, woody had started to lose his appetite – something anyone who knew woody knew was uncharacteristic. he became slower in his movements as well and the amazing progress we had seen in physical therapy started reverting. it was clear that the tumor was growing again. we approached dr. ware to discuss possible radiation and it was not recommended since the chances of success were low. there was a hope of an experimental vaccine but some march snow storms prevented that treatment from being an option. 
the night of april 10th was a hard one – woody had a very rough night of sleep and it was clear he was very uncomfortable and as hard as it was, i recognized there was little more i could do for him, except make him comfortable. the next morning I had an appointment (to actually serve my husband at the time divorce papers) but I put him in his crate and promised him that when I came home, we would go see dr. Hammond and team and I would make it all right for him. it was 730am when I left and gave him a kiss. I arrived back home about 2 hours later, and woody, the most selfless dog I have ever known in my entire life gave me one last gift – he made the decision to say goodbye for me so I wouldn’t have to.
even now I get teary when I write this. I miss him more than words. he continues to visit me in dreams to remind me of how strong our bond was. he was the love of my life and we chose each other for sure. the love I have for my other pets is unconditional and I care for them just as deeply and would do everything and anything in the world for them, just like I did for woods. and there is something that will always remain special about woody. him and I are soulmates for life and I have no doubt there will be anything that replaces him.
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