Shadow of Christmas

By Troy Kechely
Copyright 2005

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 Leaning back I did my best to view my feeble attempt at present wrapping in a
positive light. The mangled metallic paper than was crumpled and taped around the box
looked more like a perverse modern art sculpture then the simple Christmas gift it was
suppose to be. With a raised eyebrow I looked over at my dogs who were watching me
with sleepy brown eyes. Wondering when my folly would be over and when we could go
for a walk.
“What do you two think? Close enough for government work?” Both dogs lifted
their heads at the sound of my voice. Their ears perked forward straining to hear key
words that might indicate our nightly walk was about to begin. Realizing that it was time
to go out, I gave up on trying to resurrect the wrapping job. Placing a name tag and a
bow I called it good and stood up, stretching my back to get the kinks out. My old
Rottweiler Mickey struggled to get up as her age had caught up to her. The gleam in her
eyes did not betray the cancer that I knew was inside her. It had started on her intestines
but had managed to get to her liver. It now was only a matter of time. Griz stood up and
stretched letting out a low groan mixed in with a howl. Half Rottweiler and half
Malamute I explained to people that he was a malweiler when asked what breed he was.
The black and tan markings easily conveyed the Rottweiler in him but when you got
close, you could see the two inch long fur that was the curse he got from the malamute
side of the pairing. Still, for being a walking carpet he was one of the best dogs I had
known.
Both of them were now staring at me as I started to get my boots on. Mickey’s
stub tail was willing furiously on her arthritic hips. I wondered when she would get to
the point where a walk was not exciting. I prayed not soon but knew that time was
running out. Griz let out a bark/howl when I put my coat on. Finally with myself
dressed and the dogs leashed up we stepped outside into the cold Montana air. It was
only a week before Christmas and we already had two feet of snow on the ground and
had been below zero several times. Mickey pulled us along as always though not with
the same intensity that she had in prior years. Her fancy blue coat that my mom had
made helped her deal with the frigid temperatures that Griz thrived in. Our walk was a
short one as I saw Mickey was struggling a bit. Her pace had slowed and she looked
back with eyes that were not as full of life as when we left but instead were saying that
she would like to go home now as there was a nice couch and a fireplace waiting for her.
Turning around we headed back making it to the door just as a scattered group of snow
flakes began to fall. As I took the dogs collars off the phone began to ring. Tossing my
coat on the table I went to the counter and picked up the phone.
“Hello. Hey Angie. How are things going?” Mickey, content with her walk,
crawled up onto the couch and with a heavy sigh settled in for the night. She lay her head
on the cushion and watched me with her ever vigilant eyes.
“That won’t be a problem. I can help. Ok tomorrow at noon. See you then.”
I hung up the phone looking at my calendar to make sure I didn’t have something else
planned. Angie had called to ask me to go to the rest home with her two dogs. Her
husband normally went with her but he was going to be out of town and she wanted
someone to help with their Rottweiler Taq. Angie and John knew of my love for Taq.
His one hundred pounds of energy and excitement was addictive especially when he was
doing his passion. Shutzhund. Taq excelled in the obedience and tracking part of the

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sport but it was the bite work he lived for. Once he saw the sleeve he became a totally
different dog. In the wrong context Taq would be considered an aggressive dog but to a
trained eye Taq was only playing a game. The sleeve was his goal, not the person
wearing it. It was funny because when Taq would get the sleeve from someone he would
prance around showing off his prize and then he would bring it back to the decoy to have
him put it on so the game would continue.
Along with Shutzhund one of Taq’s favorite things to do was to go to the nursing
home and visit those residing there. Angie and John did this several times a year. John
would take Taq and Angie would take her toy fox terrier Amy. What a group they made
with John being over six feet tall walking a 100 pound Rottweiler and then Angie with
her little five pound dog by their side.
I had heard stories of their visits and was amazed that a dog who so loved to bite
and sound vicious would become a total angel when with the elderly people in the
nursing home. Yet one more thing that amazed me about the breed and canines in
general.
It was a honor for me to be asked to handle Taq in John’s place for their
Christmas visit. John and Angie had informed me a year earlier that if something
happened to them that I would get Taq given my affection for him. I wasn’t sure how I
would work it out given him and Griz didn’t get along but I hoped and prayed that such
events would not occur.

After our morning walk I left Mickey and Griz at home sound asleep as usual.
Their routine was simple enough. Eat, walk and sleep. With an occasional game of tug
or chase thrown in for the heck of it. The roads were slick after the inch of snow we had
gotten the night before. Pulling into the parking lot of the rest home I saw Angie’s van
already there. After parking I stepped out and headed towards her van. She had seen me
and was stepping out when I got there.
“Hey Angie. How are you doing today?”
“Fine, fine, got to warn you Taq is full of himself today so he might need some
correction.” I smiled knowing that Taq’s nickname was “The Criminal” for his regular
antics.
“No problem I am sure he will be a champ.”
“Well if you can’t handle him I can take him and you can walk Amy.” Her smile
told me of her sarcasm.
“Umm, no thanks.” Angie knew my overall dislike of small dogs though I had to
admit Amy was more tolerable than most. Angie opened up the back of the van revealing
Taq inside his travel crate. His excitement was evident with the quivering of his muscles.
Getting the leash on him I let him jump from the back of the van and begin the olfactory
exploration of the surroundings. Angie and I talked for a bit while we let the dogs
explore and calm down before going in the building. The dogs had been there countless
times before but safety was the foremost of our concerns. All it would take is for Taq to
bump someone in a moment of exuberance to result in a broken hip or other injure. With
the dogs under control and calmed down we headed into the main entrance. The head
nurse saw us and came up to give Taq and Amy there obligatory greeting. Amy, being
her normal neurotic self, pranced back and forth between the hands of the nurse wanting
to pet her. Taq went into a perfect sit, his regal nature coming out in force. He was, after

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all, a Rottweiler. Something that I swear he knew and played as often as he could. The
nurse fawned over him for a bit and chatted with Angie about who needed visits and who
had illnesses thus preventing our visiting with them. I looked around the place. It had
been years since I had visited a nursing home. The last time was to visit my Grandma. It
had been depressing then and seemed even more so now. Though all the hallways and
doorways had Christmas decorations hung and the soft tones of Christmas music was
playing somewhere down the hallway it still had the air of loneliness about it.
“Come guys we have our marching orders.” I followed Angie as she walked
down a hallway to the main living room of the facility. There in the corner was a TV
playing reruns of Laurence Welk and several couches and recliners. Around the room
were many of the residents, most in wheel chairs. Some stared blankly at the TV while
others were alert and saw our coming. Those that saw us immediately brightened up. I
heard one old lady call for Amy who she knew from prior visits.
We first went to the rooms of those who were unable to go to the main living area.
Each bed brought a new face often blank from boredom or the struggles of illness. Yet
each one would light up once their hand felt the soft fur of Taq and Amy. Taq was the
perfect gentleman as he would lay his large head on the bed next to the occupants hand
and just keep it there while they felt his velvet-like ears. It was obvious though that Amy
was the star, especially with the ladies. Her small form was perfect for frail hands to
touch and pet.
After making the rounds to the rooms Angie guided us to a couch against a wall in
the main living area. I put Taq in a sit and watched as people began to migrate to us.
One by one both patients and nurses would come by to see Taq and Amy. The air of
loneliness that permeated the place upon our entrance was gone if only for the brief time
of our visit. Off to my left I could see a frail old man sitting in a wheel chair. He was
about fifteen feet away but made no effort to come closer. I could see that he was staring
intently at Taq and I wondered if he was afraid of him. As a nurse was loving on Taq I
asked her about the man in the wheel chair.
“That is Harold. He came here about a month ago. Very quiet.”
“Do you think he is scared of Taq?” I asked.
“I don’t know, let me go see.” The nurse walked over to the man, who in his
prime, would have been just under six feet tall but now he looked as though he didn’t
weight more than 100 pounds.
“Harold. Harold, are you okay?” The old man nodded yes. “Do you like those
doggies Harold?” The old man raised his left hand slightly, the tremors of his muscles at
the effort being very evident.
“That’s Shadow. That’s my Shadow.” The nurse looked over at Taq and I as the
mans words pierced my heart.
“Harold, did you have a dog like that once?” The old man nodded yes.
“That’s my Shadow.” I felt my heart tighten in my chest realizing the connection
and memories that Taq was invoking in the mans mind and soul.
“Sir, would you like to pet him?” I asked as I stood up and began walking Taq
over to him. Taq seemed to sense something in the old man. Taq sat next to the wheel
chair and lay his head on the arm rest. The withered hand trembled as it gently stroked
over Taq's head.

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 “My Shadow. My Shadow. You are such a good boy.” The nurse and I looked
at each other and seeing that each of us were tearing up. For ten minutes the man petted
Taq’s head and spoke of how good of a dog Shadow was. I didn’t try and explain that it
wasn’t his dog but was another dog because in that moment Taq was his Shadow and
who was I to deny that pleasure.
The head nurse could be heard on the intercom that the evening meal was going to
be served soon. Angie nodded at me indicating that it was time to go.
“Sir, I am sorry but I have to take Ta…I mean Shadow back to his kennel.” The
man smiled and patted Taq’s head.
“You be a good boy Shadow.” As the nurse pushed Harold’s wheel chair away he
looked back at us and I saw his hand raise up slightly in a wave goodbye. I was silent as
I walked out of the building with Angie. Taq was in a heel until we were outside and
then reverted back to his normal criminal self and began exploring the snow drifts on the
way to the car.
“That was a tear jerker wasn’t it?” Angie broke my thoughts with her words as
she loaded Amy into her crate.
“Yeah. Big time. Is it like this every time you come here?”
“Yes, sort of. There is always one person that really pulls on the heart strings but
that was the hardest for me to see.” I motioned to Taq to get in his crate. With a smooth
athletic leap he cleared the bumper and entered his crate. I petted his head.
“You be a good boy Taq. I mean Shadow.” I smiled with his temporary
renaming. After saying goodbye to Angie I headed home to my crew who I knew would
be waiting to have dinner and to be let out.

It was after eight in the evening that I finally got settled and ready to take Mickey
and Griz out for a walk. The fresh coat of snow from the night before and now a full
moon lit up the landscape in brilliant tones of blues and grays. We walked for a while
‘til we were on a tree lined street that I knew I could give the dogs full slack on their
leashes and let them explore. The moon light shown through the trees illuminating the
sidewalk. The shadows of the trees and houses lay softly across the snow. I looked to
my side to see my two shadows walking next to me. Thankful for their presence I wiped
a tear away knowing that soon a true Shadow one would become. Mickey stopped and
looked up to me, the light in her eyes as bright as ever. Her attention then turned to Griz
who had found a new smell up the sidewalk. She trotted up to him as fast as her old hips
would move her. I smiled a bit trying to enjoy these last memories. Memories of my
Shadows.

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After Thoughts:
The events told in this story actually did occur though not at Christmas. My female
Mickey died of cancer in February of this year. She had been diagnosed in December of
2004. The event at the rest home also took place but in May of 2005. Angie and I were
teaching a seminar in Casper, Wyoming on dog behavior and handling and Taq had been
brought along as our demonstration dog. I asked if we could take him to visit my
grandmother who was in a rest home in Casper. Taq who had never been in that type of
environment was the ideal ambassador for the breed. When the man in the wheel chair
started calling him Shadow the emotions that swept through Angie and I were beyond
compare. It was an event that is engrained in my mind and I knew that it would have to
be the basis of this years story. My thanks to John and Angie McDunn for permission to
use their names in the retelling of this story and for their wonderful dog Taq. I hope you
enjoyed it and that you have a most blessed Christmas.