Summary
- Duke was a rough-playing Doberman Pinscher, four years old, weighing 23 kilos, with a red coat and a fawn vest. Chuck Hooper had doubts at first about buying him because his wife, Marcy, was not really a dog lover. She’s a tiny blonde; a Pomeranian was her idea of the right-size dog for a colonial house on a small plot. However, Chuck was very impressed with Duke’s energy and agility.
- Hooper himself had an athletic build and was the Zonal Sales Manager of a chemical company. At the hospital, there were other injured people, but each morning when Marcy quietly went to work, it was a gate slamming down. One unlucky day, Hooper met with an accident and had to be admitted to the hospital due to a haemorrhage in the motor section of his brain, completely paralysing his left side.
- Hooper remained critical for a month. Exercises, baths, and a wheeled walker did not work. He was discharged from the hospital and became very depressed as he was lonely at home, with Marcy away at work. In his first meeting with Duke after his accident, Duke hit Chuck above the belt, causing him to fight to keep his balance. Perhaps the dog sensed his master’s need, and from that moment, he never left Hooper’s side.
Recovery Journey
- Hooper remained grim and didn’t reciprocate at all. Secretly, Marcy cried as she watched the big man’s grin fade away. One fine day, Duke seemed to be in no mood to tolerate his master’s indifference. He nudged, needled, poked, and snorted. By chance, Chuck’s right hand hooked onto Duke’s collar to hold him still. Duke pranced, and Chuck asked Marcy to make him stand.
- He moved his right leg out in front. Straightening his right leg caused the left foot to drag forward, alongside the right. It could be called a step. Chuck was exhausted, but a beginning was made. The next day, Duke walked to the end of the leash and tugged. He managed to take four steps. In two weeks, both of them managed to reach the front porch, and by next month, they were along the sidewalk. Seeing this progress, the doctor prescribed a course of physiotherapy with weights, pulleys, and whirlpool baths.
- On January 4, Hooper managed to walk to his district office without Duke. But Hooper was not mentally fit to undertake a full day’s work. There was no time for physiotherapy sessions, so Chuck again took Duke’s help, who pulled him along the street faster and faster. Chuck regained his stability and endurance, and the next year, he was promoted as the Regional Manager.
- Chuck, Marcy, and Duke moved to a new locality in March 1956. But it was not to be. One day on October 12, 1957, after being run over by a car, Duke succumbed to his injuries in a nearby hospital. Duke was drugged and made it until 11 o’clock the next morning, but his injuries were too severe. People who had seen Chuck and Duke walk together sympathised with Chuck, who walked alone now. A few weeks later, the chemical company promoted Charles Hooper to the post of Assistant National Sales Manager. As a special tribute to Duke, they called this promotion as advancing ‘towards our objective, step by step.’