About fifteen years ago, my cousin took up residence in the downstairs bedroom of our house. She was nervous about being on the ground floor and so my parents thought having a guard dog would comfort her. Logically, we decided to bring up a puppy. He was a champion bred Jindo. His pedigree was excellent and well documented. But, for all that pomp, I remember he got car sick and threw up biscuits on the ride to his new home. My mother promptly put him in the bath tub and vigorously rid him of all fleas. To his dying day, he hated water.
My father named him after an orphan character in an old Korean drama who had been taken in by a generous family — Keum Dong. Tiff could never pronounce that name, despite all the tones in the Chinese languages. So, she took to calling him Mr. Kim. Of course, I think it was the cookies in her hand to which he responded and not the name by which she called him.
He was a peculiar dog. We bought him an enormous dog house. But, one day when I was in high school, it hailed in Los Angeles. Incredible but true. As the hail hit the plastic roof of his house like machine gun fire, he ran out completely scared to find himself being pelted by small hail stones. I ran out with an umbrella and covered the both of us. But, to his dying day, he never entered that dog house again. For shame. We had spent a few hundred to get our new puppy the best! And, year after year, on New Years and on the 4th of July, he would panic as the fireworks popping and crackling reminded him of that hail storm. We let him sleep inside the house these two nights of the year. Breathing rapidly and panting heavily with nervousness, he would sleep obediently next to the patio door, never venturing around the house.
He was also a hunter in his younger days. Birds. Cats. Opossums. You name it, he’d catch it and deliver it to the patio door like an offering. I loved him for that. My mother, on the other hand, didn’t appreciate it as much. I don’t think the neighbors knew that more than a few of their cats ended up in our waste bin.
He loved slices of bread. He loved Korean BBQ. He was brilliant as dogs go. He had two marathon one-night stands and fathered two litters. He had a few lady callers too who managed to squeeze through our gates for a little evening romp. That was my boy! He lived a long and happy life. And, we loved him dearly.
Ultimately his arthritis became too painful for him to endure and for us to allow him to endure it. Keum Dong was euthanized Thursday, August 28, 2008. Good bye, my pup. We’ll miss you. Rest in peace.
