GOOD BOY LAC -- 'THE MOST WONDERFUL PITBULL'

This tribute honoring the great loveable Pittie boy Lac comes from the heart of is “mom” Tomi Ortiz.
We featured Lac several years ago at readlarrypowell.com — it was clear that he was adored and, in turn, adored his humans.

Thanks to Tomi, we were able to tell the story of how she and her husband found the right name for this puppy. She told us that when they got the puppy, Frank owned a silver Cadillac and “the dog got the ‘Lac’ part of the name rather than the ‘Cad’ part.”
When they lost their Lac more than a month ago, the family felt it.

Tomi explains in this tribute: “I finally got my emotions in check long enough to write a small tribute to Lac. It’s been a month since our Lac crossed the Rainbow Bridge. A day hasn’t gone by that we don’t miss our ‘Old Man.’

“He was the first dog in our home after my husband and I got together. He was with us for 14 years, since he was 3 weeks old and was rejected by his mother. 

“We bottle-fed him and cared for him through some tough times as a puppy and a few as an adult. 

“He was the most wonderful Pitbull I had ever met! Before he came into my life I had been terrified of Pitbulls. I would believe all the bad things said on the news about that breed. Those people couldn’t have been more wrong!
“We would often joke that Lac was not a Pitbull but a cat reincarnated. All he ever wanted to do was lay around the house and lay outside in the sun. If someone would’ve broken into our home they could’ve walked right over him and he’d be fine with that.

“People would look at him and back-up because he was a Pitbull, he’d look up at us like ‘Mom and Dad, what’s wrong with them?’

“We’d just say, ‘Come on boy, they don’t deserve to meet you anyway.’ 

“I remember when we would take him to PetSmart for training as a puppy there was a mixed breed puppy who was a little bigger named Keeper. He would grab Lac by one leg and drag him from one side of the pen to the other. I would look at my husband and laugh, ‘Yep! That’s our dangerous Pitbull alright!’
“All I can say is Our Boy is missed dearly, not only by us, but by our kids and his brother Boss and sister Angel. They have not been the same since he left us.
“Lac made us all better people and 100% Pitbull advocates. We will always feel blessed we had him his whole life. I know he’s in a better place now and I know we will see him again one day.”
The photographs show Lac through the years, from his puppy picture to, as Tomi writes, ”the very last one of him the day he left us.”

—- In honor of Lac —-

KYLIE HANSON -- MEMBER OF THE FAMILY...

On the morning of Tuesday, June 8, this news of a loss arrived in our inbox. It came from our longtime pals Deana Hanson, hubby Jim and their son Lee out in Weatherford.
The focus was on “Esther (Kylie) Ann Hanson,” known in home and hearts as “Ky.”
Deana wrote, “We took Ky to the vet last week and they said her kidneys were failing. She was about 15 years old.
“This morning (Tuesday) at 5 a.m. I checked on her. She was quiet from the meds they gave her. At 6:15 a.m. I woke up and checked on her and she had gone back to Heaven. 

“I think she was a dog you wrote about on your site (readlarrypowell.com) years ago in Irving’s shelter. Her name was Esther there.
“She had been surrendered with a broken leg and they needed someone to take her. She was so sweet. Jim drove to Irving and picked her up. He worked two days over time to get the extra money and Dr. Turner fixed her leg.
“She chased tennis balls out here in the country for years on that leg. So Dr. Turner did a really good thing. 
“Ky knew how to play peek-a-boo and she loved her stuffed monkey to play with. She was a loving little mix of a dog. … We've got that hollowed feeling again. The living room where she chose to lay is so empty.”
Deana sent one more note about the “family” aspect of Ky. It involves another family dog and the legendary rescuer and Fairy Dogmother of Dallas Angie Manriquez.

Deana wrote, “Whitney Cookie-girl has always stayed in our kitchen at night. Last night (the evening after Kylie left), she went straight into the living room and slept where Kylie had always slept. Angie Manriquez once told me the passed dog will tell the new dog what to do. When I got up last night, Whitney was still sleeping there. It helped us.”

After all, Deana wrote, “Really, Ky is out of all her pain and is her happy-go-lucky self.” 

[LARRY NOTE: These photos are two Polaroid pictures that Lee scanned for his mom. There’s a thumb-drive “somewhere,” Deana says, with more photos of Kylie. We’ll proudly add them when they’re available. After all, Kylie is “family.”]