On December 28, 2019, we shared the following message on social media:

It is with heavy hearts that we share the passing of Koko aka Downtown Dog. He said goodbye to his family over the holidays and various Christmas celebrations this last week, ate one final turkey dinner and passed surrounded by loved ones.

He had a great life with many amazing adventures and friends. He was well loved and will be dearly missed.

The Epic Adventures of Koko the Dog have ended on this plane. I like to think that new adventures have started for him on the other side of the Rainbow Bridge. 

For such a tiny dog, he lead a life that many people were jealous of.

There were some ups and downs healthwise, but never stopped him from trying to take on the next big adventure. And there were many of them. Here are few snapshots of his life and his importance in mine (It is a long read):

In 2006, I desperately wanted a dog, my partner in crime at the time was less keen and had some requests: under 10 pounds and doesn’t shed. Given our lifestyle at the time, it didn’t make sense to have a large dog. I searched and searched the shelters and rescues, breaking down each time I had to leave and not  bring a dog home. There were so many wonderful animals, however none were for me. One day I came across an ad in the classifieds: Toy non-shedding puppies for sale. I phoned and spoke to the owner. She was a retired lady named Jan, she was a hobby breeder and had 2 litters at that time, Bichon-Shih Tzu crosses or Bichon-Shih tzu-Yorkie-Maltese. They weren’t quite ready for adoption, but I could come out and meet the parents.

I arrived at the mobile home that they lived in. It looked aged but well cared for. The backyard was huge, the front had giant flower beds, a newly paved driveway and immaculately kept grass. Inside it was simply furnished, and reminded me of where we lived prior to finishing elementary school. It was laid out the same, living room at the front, then the kitchen hallway passing 2 bedrooms, a washer and dryer, bathroom and then the master bedroom at the back. The furniture was aged but still serviceable, the place was clean, and I didn’t notice the smell of puppies yet. I met her 3 dogs, 2 females and 1 male, who were very sociable and waggy.

The puppies were too young to see visitors, but I could take a quick peek in the room, it was nap time. They were in the master room at the back, the flooring was linoleum, there were black out curtains over the window and an air conditioner blew cool air into the room. There was a heavy quilt laid out under the pen, covered in puppy pee pads, and plush blankets. All the puppies from both litters were cuddled up together on one of the plush blankets in a giant puppy pile. The room smelled a little, but not as much as I expected given how many puppies there were. (Jan later sent me is baby pictures)

Jan asked what I did for a living and how I was set up for a puppy. She invited me to her facebook page where she kept in touch with owners of the puppies from prior litters. In 3 weeks the puppies would be ready for their new homes, so I say goodbye and head home. I pour over the facebook posts and see the other puppies, what sizes they grew up to be. The Bichon-Shih tzu was too large, the ranged between 18-22 pounds. Of the 4 breed cross - she only had 4 puppies and they seemed to range between 5 to 10 pounds.

2 weeks later Jan posts on facebook that she will be coming to the center of town to run errands, and will be at the Pet Smart for anyone who wants to adopt. The day comes and I rush from work to the Pet Smart, it is closer for me than her house, so this works out. I arrive and there are only 2 smaller puppies left. She has all of the dogs in shopping carts, her and her husband like to keep them socialized so all pet store runs her dogs come, and now that the puppies have their shots, they got to come too. 

As I’m looking at the 2 carts of puppies, I see the smaller 2. One is pure white, hiding at the back of the cart talking up a storm. They other is white and chocolate brown, with black tipped ears and is running back and forth in the cart wagging his tail trying to see what is going on. I walk over to the cart and he is trying to climb out to say hi. It was love at first sight.I reach down to pet him and it is all squeaks and kisses. She says I can pick him up and I reach down with two hands and he launches at me, I barely catch him before he falls back into the cart. Jan is laughing so hard, as the little dog squirms and kisses. I ask if I can pick him, she says “of course you can, he picked you first”. I pay her and she hands over his vaccination record. The name on it is Brownie, apparently the use the colors to try and keep the dogs straight. She adds that his mom was Daisy and we walk over to say goodbye to his mom. I don’t recall his dad’s name anymore.  

Brownie and I enter Pet Smart and gather the essentials, a matching leash and color with smiley faces on it, a bed, food, toys and treats.

I load up the car and with puppy on my lap, we head over to my boyfriend & his parent’s place. His niece and her mother are also there. The 4 year old little girl solemnly walks up to me and asks if she can name him. I said yes, but I could veto any name that I didn’t want to yell across the dog park. She giggled, asked to hold him. They sit in a chair as he gives her kisses. She decides he should be called Cocoa, because he looked like hot chocolate with marshmallows. My boyfriend decided it needed to be spelt Koko. So Brownie’s name changed to Koko, not that he would respond to either for a couple of days. 

He was so tired that he kept falling asleep, I left my boyfriends house and went back to a friend’s where I was renting a room. They had a 9 month old yellow lab, 2 cats and a dwarf rabbit. Introduced him to the lab, whom he loved. The cats were scarce, and we didn’t want to traumatize him with the bunny yet. We went to my room, and I made him a bed in a laundry basket, he cried a little that night but stopped when I dropped my arm into the basket and he cuddled my hand. Thus ended Koko’s first day of life with his new family.

He was bright, learned fast and enjoyed going to new places. If I changed the route of our walk he was suddenly extra prancy and waggy, excited to see a new thing. He was also fearless, he thought he was a lab, and only wanted to play with the big dogs at the off leash park. Labs, Goldens and Rotties were his favorites. He learned to swim, basic obedience and to ride in a backpack.

He learned how to fly on a plane, as carry on under the seat. Once he realized Grandma and Grandpa were at the other end, he was the best boy on plane rides and was always super excited if his flying kennel was pulled out. At their house, there were 2 doggy doors and he could go in and out to his hearts content. He preferred outside anywhere he was, but he also had FOMO. He always wanted to see what all the people were doing, and would have to go in and out, to make sure he wasn’t missing out on anything.

I had just recently been introduced to Susannah and Bernard, who were avid hikers and backpackers. I had expressed some interest, but was very out of shape. They were cool with going slow etc, so off Koko and I went having backcountry adventures. He loved hiking so much that as soon as we made a certain corner in the car, he was crazy excited. At first he was too small to go far so he needed to be carried. Soon he was able to out do us all.

My first backpacking trip we needed to scale a cliff using chains to climb. I put him in a front carrier and climbed. The trust he had was so deep that he didn’t care that his head was centimeters away from the cliff, he even fell asleep. 

From then on backpacking and hiking adventures were a part of his life. I’d pull out the pack and he went nuts. He has been on several multi-day hikes, his most epic was the Chilkoot Trail. 53 km which included a mountain pass of boulder fields, glacier crossings, desert like crossing with a train ride out at the end. His cousin Tika was along for this one.

He was best pup at my wedding, was rightfully adored and was a dapper in his vest.

Life took a few turns and Koko and I wound up alone. I had left my husband and lost most of our joint friends, it was for the best, but it was hard on both of us. I was in bankruptcy and dealing with anxiety and depression, it was a bit of a low point.

We flew out to visit Tamara and Tika, we had a small hiking adventure for a couple days, then we did a kayak trip. I had kayaked once in a pool in high school; Koko had never been in a boat. But Tamara had found both dogs life jackets, we did not use the kayak skirts, and we had a lovely paddle to a waterfall 18km away. At first he tried to climb out on top of the kayak, fell in once, and then he didn’t try it again (unlike cousin Tika who hates water but kept trying)! Just put his front paws on the top for a better view. The water was like glass, the sun was out, a lovely day for a paddle and a camp. We caught crabs for dinner, Koko wasn’t sure of these weird smelling things that  moved quickly and kept trying to pinch him. The way back we miscalculated and had waves crashing over us and we got soaked. He was ok with the choppy water, but not with with the cold salty water. He took it like a champ though! And was happy and waggy once we were done! (photo from a different trip)
This lead to a the next life twist, I had decided to move closer to Tamara. Koko was with me when we made the crazy end of January run for the Coast from Calgary, in the middle of the night, in the worst weather. It was a terrifying trip, full of emotion and tears. Once arrived in one piece, we moved in to a 2 bedroom place with Tamara and Tika. Koko loved living with Tika, they followed each other every where and played together often.

New life on the coast meant more beach time, new places to hike, snowshoeing and lots of trips out to Maple Ridge to hang out with Susannah and Bernard. Susannah had always been one of his favorites, but now seeing her usually meant hiking.

We moved downtown where both the dogs enjoyed daily trips on the seawall and were getting more social with seeing people everyday. They loved long walks around Stanley Park, and regular trips to the small off leash dog park there.

Life changed again, Tamara & Tika moved in with Wes, Koko and I moved out of downtown. There were still walks and parks, but fewer people. Then we met Ryan and we had new adventures. Koko and I attended regular get togethers at other peoples houses, parties, pool parties. He was out of practice with being social, so he needed to build up to it. Once he did, he was excited every time we were around other people.  

Ryan and I moved in together downtown, and Downtown Dog was born, we picked our apartment partially because it had a deck for Koko, he spent many many summer days out on the deck soaking up the sun, then coming inside to lay on cool tiles to cool off enough to go back out. Even in the dead of winter he would want outside, but we didn’t leave the door open all day for him! Daily walks to the off leash dog park near the house, got to know our neighbors and he would get all the love in the elevator, on the street, in front of the grocery store or coffee shop.

We had new hiking adventures, lots of walking around town adventures. Water taxi’s, Granville Island Market, Farmer’s Markets, he did it all. We eventually had cycling adventures where Koko learned to ride in a pannier bag and then a front bike basket. He loved cycling so much he got excited when he saw the helmet. He would go in the basket, actively watch and snoof for a while, then lay back, enjoy the wind in his ears and doze off. It worked well for an aging doggo.

He joined for a trip to Palm Desert where he could lounge on a pool chair for hours, and we did a desert hike. The smells were so new for him, he couldn’t stop being excited as he ran here and there.

He also enjoyed his visits at Nana’s house, with the big yard and upstairs doggo. He would make Nana open the door constantly to let him in and out, in and out. Nana also took him for big walks so he always had new places to explore!

At the end, he had a great last few days. He saw everyone who was important to him, and everyone got to say good bye. When his time came to cross the rainbow bridge he went with a full tummy of his favorite food, turkey, surrounded by loved ones in the arms of his Mom while being soothed by his Dad. It is the best send off anyone could have hoped for.

Koko was loved the most any dog could be loved, went on adventures as big as his heart, and touched the lives of many. I miss him so much, my heart breaks over and over. Eventually the pain will fade and the memories will remain. He touched my life in a very important way and I feel a hole in my heart. But he made it his life’s work to make me happy, so I will do my best to get back there and not disappoint him.

So here closes the last chapter of the Adventures of Koko.

I thank all of you for being in our lives.

Koko, Downtown Dog, the Bestest Boy, Goodest Boy

May 13, 2006 to December 29, 2019