Some of you have asked for an update on Chip and his new family. Here’s an e-mail from them and photos – I’m crying tears of joy. (p.s Bruno is their other dog. )
I came home early from school (sorry, JV Basketball) so I could look in on “the boys” while Linda was at work. Chip was in his crate, as good as gold, tail wagging as he waited for release. Bruno was pleased I was home early. He was standing sentry – as he always does – front legs up on the back of the living room couch, eyes fixed on the road.
Now the dilemma was: Do I give Bruno his beloved 2-miler before dark (it was 3pm)? Or do I get Chip outside, right quick (bathroom break), and see if maybe HE is ready for a full 2-mile loop? I chose Chip. Bruno was crushed, but stoic.
As Chip and I walked up the driveway to the road, I looked back, and there was Bruno’s head framed in the living room window, as he stood vigil on the back of the couch, sadly watching us and the road.
The temp. was mid-to-upper 30’s and Chip was being good, so we turned down Woodchuck Hill Road and into the Full Loop. Chip was very good on the leash, behaving very much as Bruno does, taking great and studied interest in smells that he paused to investigate along the way. He responded well to me. I tend to say very little on a dog walk, unless I have something to discuss with Bruno, who is an excellent listener. Chip doesn’t yet have Bruno’s wisdom, so I kept my philosophical queries to myself. But I DID utter my occasional home-brewed utterances – “GIT off-the-road” and “UP! GIT up.” when a car approaches. Chip was darned good, and he was attentive.
When he and I got home, Linda was getting ready to take Bruno out for a walk. When they left, Chip wolfed down his treat, his antibiotic (wrapped in ham), and his dinner. Then he went right to the living room couch, where he stood, front legs on the windowsill, standing vigil over the road where Linda and Bruno had just walked.
Chip is fast becoming a family member. And a tip of the hat to patient Saint Bruno, who is absolutely remarkable, as he calmly assumes the role of mentor to his rambunctious protege.
So the family solidifies. I’m very pleased.
Toby
Are you feeling the love here, like I am? Tears are hitting my keyboard as I type this, and it goes way beyond my joy for this loving dog and his new lease on life. The news out in the world can be so discouraging, and there is so much we can’t fix. But there is so much we CAN do, even in the tiniest of measures. Chip is just one dog among millions that need help. Each of you that take the time and make the effort, big or small… to assist a person or an animal in need… you are helping to change the world for the better. Your deed counts. Just as the beach needs every grain of sand to be a beach…. Every grain of kindness we impose on this earth brings it closer to the kind of world we want it to be.
