The Story of Mookie

My First Rescue

Apr 15, 2025

This past weekend was the four year mark for losing Mookie. Now most people who follow my art and rescue work tend to forget about Mookie. One being Buckner got a LOT of attention being my soul dog and the most gorgeous boxer boy ever in a wheelchair. Second, Buckner and Mookie looked a lot alike to the untrained eye, so I think people thought they were one in the same if they weren’t both in a picture.

That said, Mookie was my first rescue (I got Buckner from a pet store. And before you freak out, I was young and didn’t know any better. Plus it was a How much is that doggy in the window situation of love at first sight and he came home with me). So while Buckner can take the credit for my love of the boxer breed. It is Mookie who should get the credit for introducing me to rescue and basically changing the course of 5149 & ½ Art. Without her, there would be no statues, no fundraisers/raffles, etc.

So let me tell you how Mookie came into my life….

About a year and a half after Buckner, hubby and I decided he needed a companion. I think Hubby also wanted a dog that loved him. Buckner was a total Momma’s Boy and hubby thought if we got a female, she could be his Daddy’s girl. By this time we had heard of Norcal Boxer Rescue and wanted to adopt a young pup. We met one dog before Mookie. It was a puppy that we drove four hours away to meet and knew immediately it wasn’t meant to be with us. Hubby kept going through pictures of available dogs every day and one day, he came across one that he just had to meet. Her name was Tula. She was being fostered an hour or so away and she was approximately a year old.

So we drove up to San Francisco to meet ‘Tula’ (I still love the name Tula and actually used that to publish a couple books as my pen name). I thought it was odd meeting a boxer in San Francisco just because the yards are so incredibly tiny and when we walked in the fosters house, the furniture was white and pristine. Wood floors everywhere. Fancy art sculptures on glass coffee tables. Totally not a dog house at all. And clearly not a dog on the furniture house. But we went outside to meet Tula, and she instantly jumped in my husband’s arms and hugged him. Cutest thing ever. Also, put a fork in my hubby, he was done after that. She was coming home with us.

The back story of Tula we heard from the rescue: she was found malnourished and wandering the streets of Visalia, California. She had scars all over her legs and body. And she had wire wrapped around her neck several times. It was so deep that it had to be surgically removed. And she always had this horrible scaring around her neck. Didn’t effect her swallowing or bark. But looking at her compared to Buckner, people always knew she was the rescue. We named her Mookie, after Mookie Wilson, because we are huge New York Mets fans. Thought it was a perfect pairing to go along with Buckner (aka Bill Buckner, game six, 1986 World Series).

We brought her home and since we didn’t have any experience with dog introductions, we followed the guidelines the foster recommended, keeping the dogs separate. We had Mookie in a crate and Buckner came up and sniffed the crate. And then in the process of trying to get Buckner in his crate and let Mookie out to pee, both dogs got out and ran into our backyard. They immediately started playing with each other and it was a very successful introduction by accident. They were instant best friends.

Now Mookie got along with Buckner and my parents extremely submissive golden retriever, and that was it. She was super dog reactive on leash. And she would go crazy at the front window or fence anytime a dog walked by. We figured this behavior shut down our discussions of possibly fostering for the rescue we got her from.

Since I couldn’t foster, I initially volunteered to do transports. I did maybe two or three I think before my schedule as a 911 dispatcher on midnights and a girl’s lacrosse coach on the weekend made it too difficult. At some point I decided I should use my artwork to help rescues. I had already started including pictures of my dogs with my artwork for size reference (and let’s face it, for gratuitous dog pictures because who needs an excuse to share more pictures of their dog, right?). The next logical step was combining the two: artwork and boxer rescue. How I could do that took some time to figure out.

At first, I would donate a portion of my sales to rescue. This worked well because all the rescues I was reaching out to offering my services were either not replying or simply saying no thank you. So this way I didn’t need permission so to speak. But my business was super new and I wasn’t making a lot of sales. I certainly wasn’t making enough that a portion from them would excite a rescue. So my next trick was offering free work for people that donated a certain amount. Like the wood burn custom boxes I did a lot in the beginning or free dog portraits. I was able to find a couple rescues that paired up with me on this for medical fundraisers. Anyone that donated $50 or more got some free custom artwork.

Now those were quite successful for the rescue. For me, not so much. It was a ton of work. Plus, it was promoting my custom wood burn boxes. I liked doing the boxes. But it wasn’t what I wanted to be making ALL THE TIME.

So around this time, Hobby Lobby was selling these boxer statues that were gorgeous, natural ear resin figures about 10-12 inches tall. I painted up a couple and started looking for rescues that would let me auction them on my page and the all the money raised would go to the rescue.

No one was interested.

And then I heard back from Legacy Boxer Rescue in Texas. Sharon was like, “ok”. And that was it. The first two statues raised around $250 each. I remember thinking at the time OMG this is incredible, so much money! (to put it in perspective my last few auctions brought in over 3K-5K, raffles at minimum were bringing in $1500 for rescue). But that was how 5149 & ½ Art got into boxer rescue fundraising. So thank you Sharon for saying yes, and thank you Mookie, for not liking other dogs at all ;)

Mookie was the feisty pocket boxer to Buckner’s mellow big boy couch potato. She was a huge Daddy’s girl as expected. Up until Buckner’s passing….

While Buckner went through the process of Degenerative Myelopathy, Mookie took the back seat a lot priority wise. Buckner had a lot of different therapy appointments. I walked him in his wheelchair separately. And when he was wagon bound he came with us everywhere. Including every weekend when we were coaching club lacrosse games all across the bay area. Mookie would stay behind at our house or with my parents.

We let Buckner go the day before 4^th of July. And I took Mookie with me up to the mountains to avoid dealing with the fireworks which she always hated. We grieved the loss together. And from that point on she was by my side. If it hadn’t been for her, I would have spent days in bed. I was so miserable after losing Buckner and it wasn’t just losing him that hurt. It was all the guilt I felt from watching him go through DM. And constantly wondering if he suffered and if I did right by him letting it go as long as I had.

Then came the miracle of the Intern….

I found out I was pregnant a month after Buckner passed. Mookie had me on a regular walking and exercise schedule every day. She would lay next to me always and she loved putting her head by my belly. Leaving her paw there. She was very aware and super protective of me.

When AJ arrived, mommy was no longer number 1. From the moment he came in the door that first day, she was by his side all the time.

When he wasn’t sleeping and needed to be rocked and swayed all around the house at 3am, she was there with me, following me around. As he grew, she was at his side. Whether it be making sure he wasn’t getting into anything he shouldn’t. Picking up after him when he dropped a snack. Or trying to walk him when he was learning to take steps. She would lick his face and he would giggle. She would gently take cookies from his outreached hand. She was his friend during the pandemic when we were all stuck inside. She really was the very best first dog for him.

By the time AJ, aka the Intern, was walking and running around, Mookie had lost the use of back legs. The vet wasn’t convinced it was DM like Buckner, but then again, we were in the middle of covid and not seeing the vet in person as often as we had in the past. She never liked the wheelchair and didn’t have access to much therapy. Though we did do some water therapy in my parents pool. She end up deteriorating quickly.

I carried her around the house from room to room as my boy and I moved so she was always with us. We carried her outside to potty. Buckner’s old wagon came in handy. And I found a stroller for her that I could use for walks to the park with my son.

My husband wanted to have one last birthday with her. But in April it was pretty clear she was telling us it was time. We didn’t do it at home as we originally planned. Our vet was out of town on a family emergency. My son at this time only said two words: doggy and Amber (my name, I wasn’t mommy for a very long time). My son hadn’t been diagnosed with autism yet. But I know I was having some concerns by this point. Under a lot of stress.

I don’t know why, but it feels like my dogs seem to know when my son is going to need more of my full attention. Like how Buckner knew there was no way I was going to be able to continue lifting him when I was pregnant. Or how Mookie knew I would be drowning in the stress of his ASD diagnosis, scrambling to speech therapy appointments, occupational therapy appointments, online classes, psychologists, etc.

Buckner was my introduction to boxers. My reason for falling in love with the breed.

Mookie was my introduction to rescue and the reason I continue to try and use my artwork to help boxer rescues.

A few months after her passing and right around what would have been her birthday, we adopted Kona, a very senior girl with the beginning showings of DM.