Petco Love
Petco Love story submitted August 23, 2025
Submissions are being judged in late 2025: selected stories will be announced in February 2025.
https://petcolove.org/adopt/love-stories/
Jonathan Kelley
[email protected]
626-241-4013
My wife and I adopted a young Australian shepherd, Coco, two years ago, on a tip from a friend at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. I’d had reservations about adopting another dog then, because I was 83, well aware that our relationship could be, well, short-lived because of me.
I’ve had dogs off and on all my life. They’re all different, and they all have something to teach us.
Coco gives me the joy of a deeper man-dog relationship than I’d ever imagined possible. He teaches me how lucky I am to have a dog who wants to be close to his human family. Coco keeps an eye on me, follows me everywhere, lies at my feet when I’m at my desk, or under my chair when I’m sitting at the dinner table, and never runs more than fifty yards away when he’s off leash at the park. At age 85, two years into our relationship, I’m grateful for each day with him, taking it all one day at a time, the same as Coco!
Training? I took him to school, but found him difficult to train, which had been so easy with a shepherd mix I had two dogs ago. But I came to realize that this time around, what I really want is the close relationship we share, rather than having a dog that will sit-stay-come-down-down stay on verbal or visual command. I don’t need a guard dog. I need a best companion.
In the past, I’ve simply accepted the fact that often dogs are not permitted by a spouse to enter the sleeping quarters of their human owners. Also, that not all dogs even want that kind of closeness. Yet for many decades I’ve craved the 24/7 companionship that I knew some dogs needed too.
The magic, this time around: Coco, after his late evening bathroom break, comes with me to our bedroom, where he hops onto the bed I share with my wife. My wife and I then enjoy laughing and hugging and petting him as he snuggles between us. Then, he lies down and goes to sleep with his head on my leg, while I rest my hand gently on his shoulder, loving the connection I’m making with his warmth, his breathing, and his very heartbeat.
It’s magic time for me, enhancing a loving closeness between Man and Dog that makes all the problems of this troubled world recede into the background, bringing me peace of mind and mental tranquility, exactly what my soul desires.
It’s my favorite moment of the day. Thank you, Coco. Thank you, God. I never dreamed I’d have my chance for this.
Submissions are being judged in late 2025: selected stories will be announced in February 2025.
https://petcolove.org/adopt/love-stories/
Jonathan Kelley
[email protected]
626-241-4013
My wife and I adopted a young Australian shepherd, Coco, two years ago, on a tip from a friend at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society. I’d had reservations about adopting another dog then, because I was 83, well aware that our relationship could be, well, short-lived because of me.
I’ve had dogs off and on all my life. They’re all different, and they all have something to teach us.
Coco gives me the joy of a deeper man-dog relationship than I’d ever imagined possible. He teaches me how lucky I am to have a dog who wants to be close to his human family. Coco keeps an eye on me, follows me everywhere, lies at my feet when I’m at my desk, or under my chair when I’m sitting at the dinner table, and never runs more than fifty yards away when he’s off leash at the park. At age 85, two years into our relationship, I’m grateful for each day with him, taking it all one day at a time, the same as Coco!
Training? I took him to school, but found him difficult to train, which had been so easy with a shepherd mix I had two dogs ago. But I came to realize that this time around, what I really want is the close relationship we share, rather than having a dog that will sit-stay-come-down-down stay on verbal or visual command. I don’t need a guard dog. I need a best companion.
In the past, I’ve simply accepted the fact that often dogs are not permitted by a spouse to enter the sleeping quarters of their human owners. Also, that not all dogs even want that kind of closeness. Yet for many decades I’ve craved the 24/7 companionship that I knew some dogs needed too.
The magic, this time around: Coco, after his late evening bathroom break, comes with me to our bedroom, where he hops onto the bed I share with my wife. My wife and I then enjoy laughing and hugging and petting him as he snuggles between us. Then, he lies down and goes to sleep with his head on my leg, while I rest my hand gently on his shoulder, loving the connection I’m making with his warmth, his breathing, and his very heartbeat.
It’s magic time for me, enhancing a loving closeness between Man and Dog that makes all the problems of this troubled world recede into the background, bringing me peace of mind and mental tranquility, exactly what my soul desires.
It’s my favorite moment of the day. Thank you, Coco. Thank you, God. I never dreamed I’d have my chance for this.
Coco
July 20, 2023 with an advance tip from our neighbor Becky Daugherty, whose retirement gig is volunteering at the San Gabriel Valley Humane Society, we adopted a beautiful Australian Shepherd pup, born November 23, 2022. From our first meeting, it was apparent that he craved friendly contact with humans.
We considered various names for him:
'Kelbi' which means 'My Dog' in Arabic... but also has an unflattering connotation;
also Argos, after Ulysses' dog, which had a nice aura of loyalty... but seemed stiffly formal;
and finally 'Coco' because of the brown patches over his eyes,
with generally white color as you'd see in coconut meat,
and some black flecks as you often find on the inside of a coconut shell.
Coconuts.. a subject near and dear to me for many reasons from the functionality of coconut shell bowls to the nutritional options of coconut meat, water, and oil, to the many useful items that may be woven from coconut fronds.
So, Coco: sweet, inoffensive, unpretentious.
It turns out that Coco is the best dog ever.
His mission: to be near me at all times.
I get up to go to another room: he follows me.
I sit at my desk: he lies at my feet.
I sit to eat dinner: he's at my feet.
I nap on the sofa: he stretches out on top of me or beside me to nap at the same time.
We take a walk together, on or off leash, he's never far.
No question, this dog is everything I've ever wanted in a canine companion.
A gift from God.
To top it off, Gloria loves him too!
We considered various names for him:
'Kelbi' which means 'My Dog' in Arabic... but also has an unflattering connotation;
also Argos, after Ulysses' dog, which had a nice aura of loyalty... but seemed stiffly formal;
and finally 'Coco' because of the brown patches over his eyes,
with generally white color as you'd see in coconut meat,
and some black flecks as you often find on the inside of a coconut shell.
Coconuts.. a subject near and dear to me for many reasons from the functionality of coconut shell bowls to the nutritional options of coconut meat, water, and oil, to the many useful items that may be woven from coconut fronds.
So, Coco: sweet, inoffensive, unpretentious.
It turns out that Coco is the best dog ever.
His mission: to be near me at all times.
I get up to go to another room: he follows me.
I sit at my desk: he lies at my feet.
I sit to eat dinner: he's at my feet.
I nap on the sofa: he stretches out on top of me or beside me to nap at the same time.
We take a walk together, on or off leash, he's never far.
No question, this dog is everything I've ever wanted in a canine companion.
A gift from God.
To top it off, Gloria loves him too!
Gloria's son Lawrence
A friend, Robert Amico
Coco and me, February 2025
Farmer's Market, 3d and Fairfax, Jonathan and Coco and Edwin Craig, April 11, 2025
Easter Greeting, April 20, 2025, Jonathan and Coco, Easter Parade, Irving Berlin 1933