Cinnamon

The memory I am choosing is where I first met this lovely and goodest of girls. It was in Fort Collins on April 1st, 2011. I had recently lost my dog Pepper. She was old and had passed away a couple months prior. She was a black Lab/Chow mix, and had been an amazingly loyal and gentle girl. I missed her dearly. Several of my friends were aware of my loss, and knew that I would benefit from some positive canine companionship, so they kept their eyes out for me.

I was living in Greeley at the time, but was performing with Canyon Concert Ballet in Fort Collins. On April 1st we had a dance concert occurring at the Armory. I was injured and using a cane to get around. I was definitely not supposed to be dancing… but I was going to do so anyway, because that is what I do. However, outside of the studio, or off stage, I was very limited in what I was willing/able to do physically. This is important to the story.

I arrived at the Armory at 9am to rehearse, set up, and prepare for the performance that evening. I received a phone call from two friends who lived on a farm near Ault, and were going to be headed to rehearsal that morning as well. They told me that their neighbors had moved away. Their neighbors had three dogs, but when they moved, they had taken only one with them, and had left the other two staked out in the front yard with no food or water, in a coyote heavy area. I have a very strong opinion about people who could do something like that. Luckily my friends noticed, and realized what had happened, and rescued them. One of the dogs was named Shadow, and he was a Black Lab like Pepper had been. So, my friends told me they were bringing Shadow, and the other dog, Cinnamon, down to rehearsal to meet me. If I liked Shadow I could keep him, and if not, they would swing by the animal shelter and drop them off, so they could be adopted.

So, 10 am on April 1st, my friends arrived with these two dogs in their truck. They had the dogs on horse leads since they didn’t own leashes. They brought Shadow out of the truck to meet me. He was a very handsome dog, but was very uninterested in the people around him. Instead he wanted to sniff all the things. I liked him, but I knew I needed a more people-focused dog, so I told them that I probably was not the right person for him. They asked if I wanted to meet Cinnamon. Cinnamon was sitting in the passenger seat of the truck, and had not gotten out with Shadow, so I went to the truck and greeted her. She is a Boxer/Pit Bull mix with reddish golden hair. In my mind I was waiting for a black lab, so I petted her for a bit, but didn’t consider her as an option. However, she was very people focused, and was instantly attentive to me and very sweet. I recall feeling sad as I stepped away from the truck.

So, I was on the sidewalk, leaning on a cane with my wife (now ex) and my two friends. They went to load Shadow back into their truck with Cinnamon. When they opened the door for Shadow, all of a sudden, Cinnamon jumped out of the truck, and began hauling butt down the street away from us. My friends and my ex chased after her calling her name, but she was having none of it. I was not able to run, so all I did was kneel down and call her name. Cinnamon. I wasn’t even that loud and she was way down the street at that point. But she heard me anyway. Her ears perked up and she stopped running away. She turned around and began running towards me instead. My ex and friends were still chasing her, but she dodged right through them as she made her way to me. And once she arrived, she threw herself on the ground in front of me on her back, belly up. And I knew that I had my dog. She chose me...