Call her what we may; pookie bear, nana, poplap, pie pie, flappe, baba (I swear she’s the dog with the most names!), she’s our little princess. From the moment she stepped her pretty paws into our lives, we were never the same again. She’s an absolute diva and throws tantrums when she doesn’t get her way but she’s an absolute joy to have. This dog has taught us so much about life (and we call ourselves adults – puhleez) and she’s so much more than just a dog.
We’ve had quite a few dramatic times too! At 2 months she became extremely ill and we almost thought we’d lose her. We were two weeks away from our wedding, which is supposed to be one of the most exciting times in your life, but suddenly that seemed so unimportant and we were 100% prepared to give our everything to save this beautiful soul. That’s when I realised just how much this little fur ball had changed our lives. I remember waking up one night while she was sick and not being able to find her in the house. I called and called her name but she did not respond or even make a move. I finally found her sitting behind the couch, head bowed down, appearing embarrassed because she had vomitted. I could care less, I sat on the floor next to her and hugged her for about 15 minutes. Nothing was more important than her getting better. And she did!
Of course our drama didn’t stop there, which is not surprising if you’d know our dog – never a dull moment with her around! We decided to take her camping with us in December last year and of course she ate something she was not supposed to (she loves exploring) and got sick again. Her getting sick again wasn’t the problem, the problem was we were almost 600 kilometres away from home (Cape Town) in Kammieskroon, Northern Cape. So off we raced through multiple road works and stop-and-go’s on the N7 highway only to stop at a garage in Citrusdal, Western Cape to fill up our tank and have her jump out tail wagging and playing with the petrol attendants! Oh well, maybe she just wanted to go home and had had enough of our pathetic attempts at setting up camp.
What can I say, she’s needy, demanding, dominating at times, loveable, protective, playful, always curious and gives the best hugs ever. She has taught us so much, as every dog probably does if their owners take interest – always be happy, forgive, forget, don’t bear grudges, treat everyone kindly. We love her to bits and could not imagine a life without her. She adores kids and unfortunately this breed of dogs does not have a long life span so my only wish would be for her to meet my kids one day because I know they will love each other and have wonderful times together.