rpadminWhat do you do when the puppy you adopt isn’t the perfect dog? You love him despite.
What do you do when he howls late into the night and the neighbours get upset and the authorities are called? You love him even more.
What do you do when he chews up your furniture, bites you and makes you fall flat on your face when walking him? You laugh, shrug and move on because he’s family.
Because he can’t help himself, it’s the way he is.
Chaplin was adopted as a 4.5 month puppy. He flunked his obedience training twice, barked all the time, chewed things up, had resource guarding issues, storm phobia, water aversion and pulled like a crazy sled dog on walks.
He pushed his family to the edge and they wondered what they had gotten themselves into.
But he was also the sweetest, goofiest and most loving boy. And he wormed his way into his family’s heart, especially his simple joy and delight at small but truly important things.
Like how he couldn’t contain his joy when his family came home, jumping and wrigging in delight and then flopping over for a belly rub.
Like how he was instinctively gentle with his hooman “brother” right from the get go. And in doing so, he learnt to share and his resource guarding was no longer an issue. And that also opened the door to them fostering other doggos on the way to find their forever homes.
Like how he loved his food, and would enthusiastically want to try everything and would strategically position himself in the kitchen when grandpa was cooking.
In the end, his family accepted him as he was, and the love and bond they had just grew and grew over the years. The little tendrils of affection had grown into roots of love sunk deep in their hearts.
Chaplin passed after CNY this year at the ripe old age of 16 years. He was the luckiest boi ever, because he was blessed with a family who understood “through thick and thin” in the most extaordinary, selfless, unjudgmental sense. We thank you and are humbled by you dear family of Chaplin’s.
Run free Chaplin, go with our love.