Our furry family members help get us through tough times. This issue is dedicated to them
To Miranda Augustin, the idea seemed absurd.
After all, she’d only been sober a few months following a recent relapse. She was unstable. Vulnerable. And now here was her husband, Aran, suggesting she get a dog, something for which she’d be responsible, something that depended on her to stay alive and safe.
“I couldn’t even take care of myself,” she said. “How was I supposed to take care of something that needs to be fed and taken outside? I was just so down and miserable. I was depressed and wanting to die. That’s where I was at. I didn’t think I could be responsible enough to do it. I was kind of on the verge of losing my job. I called in a lot. And so I just didn’t know if I was equipped with the right tools.”
And then he arrived.
The Mankato couple got Charly at 5 months old — not quite a helpless puppy and still with plenty of youthful energy.
Aran was right. Charly was exactly what Miranda needed.
“He actually helped me a ton. I was going through a really, really rough time, and he just brought new joy and unconditional love. It was so wonderful,” she happily recalled … until she gets to the sad part. “He lived to be just shy of 9 years old. We found out that he had gotten lymphoma.”
When Charly started to have diarrhea, they took him to the vet thinking it’d be an easy fix. X-rays, however, revealed something in his intestines. The vet thought it might be a dog toy. But when they performed surgery, the real culprit revealed itself. Cancer.
“They said, ‘Your only option is to euthanize your dog,’” she said. “I fell to my knees scream crying. I could not even believe it. He was my baby. I really struggled for a little while after we had lost Charly. It was a pain I’d never felt before.”
And then, just like before, Aran knew what to do. When Miranda was saddened at Charly’s loss, he suggested the exact same remedy. A new pet to love.
And then he arrived.
They got Walter as a puppy, which was exactly the kind of challenge Miranda needed.
“Little Walter just turned 4 months yesterday,” she said. “He has brought so much joy to the house and so much livelihood. It was so quiet when Charly left us. He’s a little light.”
Pets.
To the humans who love them, they are every bit a member of the family. And in many cases, they come with healing powers. They help us through loneliness, accompany us on journeys both physical and emotional, and become indispensable companions. In some cases, such as Miranda’s, they help us through the grieving process.
Many learned during the pandemic just how helpful such companionship can be. When remote work became the norm, pets were suddenly hot commodities. And some pets were no doubt thrilled to have their human companions around a lot more.
But there is an undeniable truth here: For people who have them, pets play a huge role in our mental well-being. The love we have for our pets is one of the reasons we do a pets issue of Mankato Magazine. They are sources of pride and we’re thrilled to be able to provide a venue for readers to show us their furry loved ones.
We also wanted to share a few of your stories where pets have gone beyond the call of duty to take care of us. Charly and Walter fit that bill perfectly. Now meet Windsor and Milo.
Everybody loves Windsor
“We got him when he was 8 weeks old and he’s the best dog we’ve ever had,” said Diane Rauchman, of Mankato. “We go into Scheels and the girls and the guys come running. They know his name. He runs to the front for a pup cup. He runs to the back for the treats. I have him on a leash, of course.”
Rauchman thought about making Windsor a therapy dog. But there was one problem.
Windsor
“I did a little research and it said the final exam would be that he would have to walk past a chicken nugget while I called him. And right away I just said, ‘Nope.’”
While Windsor may not have the official title of therapy dog in his future, his presence was certainly therapeutic for Rauchman.
She recently lost both her mother and brother just 11 months apart during the pandemic.
“Windsor never left my side,” she said of those difficult days. “If you happen to be a dog lover, you understand that the unconditional love given from a pet cannot be written in words. It has to be felt, felt in your heart.”
She lost her brother Brian first. When he didn’t show up for work, Rauchman said she had a feeling he’d passed. Sure enough, when they went to his home, they found him dead on the floor. Massive heart attack.
A few days later, she had to tell her mom, who suffered from dementia and was living in a nursing home prior to her death.
“I brought her a shoe box of pictures (of Brian) to look at. And I said, ‘Do you want to look through these?’ And she said yes and she looked through them. When I came back the next day she said, ‘Who’s that cute little boy?’ I said, ‘Well, that’s Brian’ … So, you know, that was tough.”
A lot of probate paperwork followed, she said. It got to be overwhelming.
Windsor was there to help make her feel better.
“Every day right after lunch he would look at me and run downstairs,” she recalled. “He touches the door handle, and he touches the leash. Then he’ll go back to the door handle and back to the leash.
“There was a connection right away when I met him,” she said. “Our other dog had died. We had run to get some groceries and we got home and he was laying by the side of the wall. I said, ‘Spot, what’s the matter?’ And he looked at me and he took his last breath. So he waited for us to come home. So then I said to my husband, ‘I can’t get another puppy. I just can’t do it. I get too attached.’”
They waited a while after Spot died, but eventually her husband brought home a golden retriever puppy.
“He took him out of that truck and it was love at first sight,” she said. “He was adorable. He was just a little blond ball with a big belly and big brown eyes.”
‘If Milo can’t come, I’m not coming’
Nicole Black, of Mankato, has had an emotional support animal for seven years. His name is Milo.
“I have a child now, too, but I say he’s my first baby,” she said. “Because anybody who knows me knows that he’s going to be with me most of the time. If Milo can’t come, I’m not coming.”
Milo
Milo helps Black with post-traumatic stress and anxiety-related issues. He’s also been a big help during the pandemic.
“I sometimes think I could talk to Milo more than I could have a conversation with a real human being,” she said.
Black said being a single mom of a 2-year-old is difficult. Milo occasionally steps in to help when needed.
“Having him kept my child busy when we were locked at home and couldn’t go anywhere,” she said. “And we didn’t have day care so having him there was helpful. That was just a hard time for everybody, especially people with mental health issues. And he’s always been such a support. And he’s pretty darn cute.”
Black said Milo is good at sensing her energy. He notices when she’s stressed and sticks close by.
“He definitely can tell when I’m sad or when I’m having anxiety,” she said. “Even my sister said a couple months ago he was really acting kind of funny and clingy to me and she said, ‘It’s because he’s reading your energy. You’re stressed so he’s going along with that.’”
Milo gave her a scare a few months back. She found a lump on him and her mind immediately went to a dark place. Her vet couldn’t examine Milo for several days, so Black spent that time fretting.
“I about had a heart attack. I was like, ‘Oh my gosh, this cannot be happening!’ We found out it was a noncancerous cyst. Thank the Lord it wasn’t serious,” she said.
“To me he’s like a person. I would do anything for him, and I am so glad I have him.”
