Mocha And We! was written by
Dr. Chip on 2011-12-11 05:55:00
Dr. Chip Gerlach is a Dentist in Louisville, KY
Your Smile Is Our Signature!

Thank you God for our dog Mocha.

He was everything that a family dog should be.  He was the first dog that would follow me around wherever I would go… just like you see a boy and his dog in the movies.  He was an angel.  He was our protector…even though he was sometimes scared of his own shadow.  But…we lost our dog today.   Well to be honest, he had to be put to sleep.

It’s a very sad day and tears are flowing at the Gerlach household.  As I said, his name was Mocha.  He was a chocolate lab but he was also a part of the family.  We already miss him desperately.

While the pain of his loss is paralyzing, recalling the memories is cathartically cleansing.  It seems just like yesterday that my oldest son, Hunter, sat in the back seat of our old station wagon with our new puppy in his lap and a peaceful glaze of contentment reflecting in his faraway stare.  That sense of joy was only the first of many beautiful experiences over fifteen years that our family would share with arguably the best dog that ever lived.

Of course, early on he would try our patience as he ate my wife’s fine dress shoes, chewed through the air conditioning electrical hookup, gnawed on the trim around the house and literally consumed a very nice car seat.  Depending on what he ate, he could sometimes smell up a room and he also had the proverbial doggy halitosis.  You would think that a dentist’s dog would have better breath.

Territorial fights with the neighbor’s yapping antagonistic border collies and the occasional run through the electrical fence made affection difficult at times.  Yes he sometimes annoyed, but we always enjoyed. Picking up poop and making sure that he was fed and watered often seemed to be an overwhelming task when also raising four active children.

As he grew older however, he seemed to mellow and become comfortable with his role as a family room floor potato.  And with this role were the positive reminiscences that come with a family’s relationship to the family dog.

I watched as my son Taylor tried without success to make “Moch” into a squirell dog.

I fumed when another son Dylan washed him in the kid’s bathroom using what seemed like thousands of towels to clean and dry his pet.

And then there was my daughter Ellie who gave this then aging, graying creature a new life as she took him up to her room and snuck him into her bed or laid next to him for hours on the family room floor stroking him incessantly making him feel like a King.  She always wanted me to bring him to her high school tennis matches so that she could show him off.

Of course I can’t forget my wife Jo Ellen.  “Mochy” would saunter over to her while she would be watching TV and with his wet nose he would pry her hand from her side until she petted him…not allowing her to stop.  And she would lovingly ablige him as his eyes rolled back in his head with pleasure.

He was an extremely kind and caring being…very respectful.  In the morning, or when he would be outside wanting to get in with the rest of the family, he wouldn’t bark incessantly like so many obnoxious animals.  Instead he would let out a little yelp that said, “Hey, I’m here, please don’t forget me”.  I will miss that.  But now we have lost him.  He is gone.  And we are sad.  We will be sad for a long time.

Taylor, Ellie,  Jo Ellen and myself witnessed as the doctor put him to sleep…forever.  It was a very difficult thing to observe.  But after months of watching him deteriorate and after much discussion with our wonderful veternarian Dr. Derf Bridges and his staff of Bardstown Road Animal Clinic we felt that we had made the right decision.

I called Hunter and Dylan who were not around at the time and let them know the depressing news.  I’m sure that they also experienced a great deal of pain and emptiness.  Anyway, he is gone and we must move on.

As time allows us to put this into perspective we will relish the memories, laugh at the comical moments and cry at the thought of the loss.  Always thankful for the opportunity.  But as I go forward I can only reflect on a recent moment that I had with my daughter, Ellie.  Yesterday, I told her that if and when we lost Mocha that it was going to be a very difficult time.  She insightfully replied, “I know daddy, he is my best friend!”  Well… yes…I guess that just about sums it up!  The Gerlach family’s best friend.  Mocha and we.

‘Bye “Moch”.