Cola Paul

2010 - 2020

Cola, it has been over three weeks now that we lost you and we miss you so much. Our hearts and home feel empty without you. You brought so much love and energy to us all and for that we will be forever grateful.
From Mom: I’ll never forget the day you arrived at our apartment in Lima with 2 of your siblings and the 2 other puppies. You were all found in a bag somewhere outside of Lima and ended up at our house. Your dad was so surprised to come home and find all of you and you were such a handful! Despite standing out from the other puppies as a totally wild dog that didn’t care about anyone or anything in your way of whatever antics you had planned, you had an immediate bond with Limena. Watching the two of you play was one of the highlights of our time in Peru and your energetic and wild nature quickly grew on us. Everyone who met you has a wild story about you! One very prominent memory I have is losing you at the potholes. You had such a strong prey drive and at this particular time we were learning about recall in dog training school, so I had your long lead on as they recommended. But I let it go and as soon as you saw a deer, you were off! You were not the type of girl to just chase something to scare it away, you chased it like your life depended on catching it, even if it meant you were lost (which happened a lot). Well this day at the potholes, you scared me so much I NEVER let go of that leash again.
At some point along our journey together as a family, you decided you liked us and began to listen. You became the most loving girl and you gave your heart to us and to Lynden when he arrived. Instead of being jealous of the new addition to our family, you loved and accepted him almost immediately. You watched over us all, and you were our protector. You made me feel so safe when I was home alone or we were out on a walk together, because I know you’d never let anyone near me. I miss your giant, person sized body snoring beside me and the sound of your tail wagging. It was so hard to watch you in your final days as you stopped wagging your tail and stopped getting up to bark at anything that moved – which was one of your great joys. It’s hard to believe how quickly the illness took you and we miss you everyday. Love, your Mum, Susie
From your sister, Limena: I remember when you came to our house in a crummy box filled with other dogs. I was not impressed! You were all so noisy and squirmy and well, just plain annoying. But after a few days, we started to play and you grew on me. We became best friends and you were like a sister to me. I relied on you for so much and I miss you dearly and wish you were still here.
Love, Limena
From your brother, Lynden: Cola, you let me hug you and kiss you and play with your toys. You were so nice to me and I enjoyed feeding you from the table when Mom and Dad weren’t looking. I ask about you nearly every single day and I can tell that my Mom and Dad are sad without you around. I will miss you Cola! Love, Lynden
From Dad:
From the moment you came to us we knew you were special. You were such a difficult puppy! You didn’t seem to care at all if we got angry or scolded you when you tore up the house or ran away along the cliffs of the Costa Verde. You were fearless and were always up to something mischievous. I will never forget the day you somehow found a carcass of a monkey in the park and raced around with it in your mouth as I chased after you, demanding that you drop it. By the time I caught you there was nothing left of the carcass and everyone in the park was horrified. Or the time we came home from dinner and found you wagging your tail over a floor covered in spilled milk, rice, oats and anything else you could tear up while we were out. Poor Limena cowered at the back of the room but you seemed quite proud of the mess you had made! But over time you began to relax your ways ever slightly and came to enjoy the love and affection we showered upon you any time you did something good. You became such a loving girl! You always remained true to yourself as a wild dog though. You would leap over the backyard fence after squirrels or take off after deer unexpectedly during hikes. One night we thought we had lost you for good when you never came back after taking off into the woods. We were out there all night looking for you, screaming your name. We were so worried. The next morning, I thought for sure you were gone but we miraculously found you, no worse for wear. Part of me couldn’t believe it but the other part wasn’t surprised. You were such a strong girl it seemed natural you would be there in the morning. The fact you were so strong and fearless was what made your passing even harder to comprehend. Your condition deteriorated so quickly, and I am sorry we couldn’t do more to help you. You were so brave and strong until the end and I wish we could have bought some more time together.

Cola, I miss the sound of the wap of your tail on the baby gate at the top of our stairs when I come home or the weight of your big body against my legs when you crawled up into our bed and under the covers early in the morning. I miss your cheery voice when you wanted to play and your loud bark when a neighborhood dog dared to walk by our house. I miss the look in your eye when you could see I was getting ready to a play a game with you. You gave me purpose. You gave me strength and you were always there to comfort me to lift my spirits when I was down. You were my little girl and I will always love you.

Your loving Dad, Trevor