Last week Monday was the three month anniversary of my “poopie’s” passing.
Jenny was an amazing companion and I miss her every day. It turns out that her little sister Jessie misses her too. Jessie stopped eating anything more than the bear minimum. She stopped playing and would not come near me. I was devastated when I tried to pick her up onto the bed and she turned and snapped at me………something she has never done before. As the days turned into weeks Jess became more and more, well there is no other word to describe it other than depressed. I was very concerned about her weight loss and eventually had her at Dr Ryan (YUMMY) for a checkup. His diagnoses was twofold
(A) I am transferring my grief onto Jess and translating it into “She
hates me”
(B) Jessie is grieving
He suggested I start looking for a companion for Jessie. For the life of me I could not imagine “replacing” Jen who had been my world (*drama drama drama*). The mere suggestion of bringing another dog into my home set my heart racing and made my palms all sweaty and my tummy gave funny turns……in short the thought made me sick. I knew I was not ready.
However, for the sake of little Jess I put out a couple of feelers and checked out a couple of websites. Nothing serious just making enough of an effort to say that I had made an effort if I was ever asked. Here’s the thing, Jessie got worse and worse with each passing day and looking into her hurt (you think Puss in Boots can pull a look!!!!) face was driving me nuts.
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| A sad Jessie! |
One morning I was getting ready to leave for work and she was all around me. It was like she was trying to stop me from leaving by constantly getting under my feet. Eventually I made it to the car and as I drove away I could hear her crying. I turned around and drove back and spent some time with her. When I got to work I started scouring the classifieds for a puppy. Although my heart was breaking to be going through the process of “replacing” Jenny I knew that I would be saying goodbye to Jessie if I did not take action soon.
Now, I wish I knew what appealed to me about the advert but in all honesty I have no clue. I just found myself picking up the phone and calling the number listed. A young women answered and in minutes we were bonding. I told her about my Jen and she cried with me!!! We made arrangements for me to come and view the puppies. I called my brother to go with me because he has always chosen our animals and he has done a darn fine job until now.
I wish I had the words to describe my apprehension as we drove to the address I had been given. I was nervous and sick and heartbroken and just around YUCK!! When we got there a stunning blond with a baby bump opened the door for us. She and I got chatting and my brother walked through to the puppies. By the time Nadia and I got there he was knee deep in puppy love. The mommy who is a Rhodesian Ridgeback had given birth to 10 pups, 5 males and 5 females. Dad who is a Steenberg Boerboel was very scared of his offspring and not a very good daddy.
I spent a lot of time playing with the puppies dad. What a cuddle muffin. The perfect description of Bruno is “gentle giant”. Eventually I had to take the plunge and face the puppies. Ok so let me say that I am pretty sure that there is not a single person (with a beating heart) who can resist a puppy!!!
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| Some of the puppies |
I was overwhelmed by puppy love and was soon covered in puppy breath. At one point I had a puppy in each hand and I felt a tug at the hem of my skirt…….there was the cutest little face staring up at me.
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| Kleintjie... |
I played with the puppies for over an hour but time and time again I found myself staring into the eyes of a puppy the breeders had nicknamed “Kleintjie”. Kleintjie means “small” and since she was the smallest of the females it was an appropriate name. She loved attention and just wanted to be picked up and cuddled. There was a second female who had caught my attention who had been nicknamed “baby”. She was really sturdy and it was already obvious that she was going to grow into a BIG dog.
As my brother and I drove home we spoke at the puppies. I was still not wanting to get one and he was insistent that I do. I was in tears and he was laughing at some of the antics of the puppies. We did agree that I should get a female again if I do get a puppy. When I got home Jessie would not leave me alone for a second…she was sniffing at me and even long after I had changed she was sitting in front of the laundry basket. For the first time in two months Jessie’s tail was wagging!! It was at this point that I realized that I had to do this, no matter how much I don’t want to Jessie needs me to do the right thing for her. So later that night my brother and I had a long chat about the puppies. It seems that we both thought it was between “Kleintjie” and “Baby”. When we were discussing the girls it turns out that “Kleintjie” had been all over him before I arrived and that she had even growled at him when he put her down….this by the way according to my brother is a good thing!!
It was decided…..and two weeks later I brought a puppy home. There was great debate over her name but I had read something that had stuck with me…
Now because we have a Grace in the family I could not name my dog Grace so I choose to name her Charis which is Greek for Grace.
So without further adieu, ladies and gentlemen (really!!!) meet the new addition Charis……
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| First night in her new home |
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| Her new bed with a Teddy to keep her company! |
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| Playing tug of war on our first weekend together....please note she is a morning dog while I am NOT a morning person!! |
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| How cute am I...I found a stiiiiiiiiiiick! |
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| Check me out!!! |
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| With sister Jess...they were just playing I promise! |
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| My Buddy.....11 weeks old!!! |
I am truly blessed especially since she is a cuddle muffin and loves nothing more than to be with me. Charis has brought joy and laughter back to my home. She has also brought chewed shoes, wet spots on the floor and countless bruises because she thinks my skin is her chew toy!!!
Welcome buddy.....
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