There are few things in my life that have been more or as painful as holding my sweet Choncho boy as the light from within him moved on. I still long for him and I weep as I write this. I have been a dog person, an animal person to be more exact, my whole life. Starting my young adult life with my significant other, we picked up sweet Choncho at the pet pound... he had been there for a few weeks and we were the first to be able to get him to come out of his kennel. He laid over his sister Mimi in the gutter of the pound so we couldn't get to her... I needed them both. And just like that I was again fulfilled with dogs in home, as it should be. Chonch got me through all the times I needed him. I still feel an incredible amount of guilt thinking of all the coulda, shoulda, wouldas... truth is, nothing I could have done would have changed the fact that Choncho had severe hip dysplasia in both hips starting at a very young age. As a result of poor genetics and spaying early the odds were not good for our boy... we had always just thought he was our little old man. I had no idea that the mannerisms he displayed were the result of poor health.
Until this experience I was always a rescue advocate... now I advocate for supporting responsible breeders and honest rescues... I'll save the meaning of that for another post. When we knew what the outcome was going to be for Choncho, I decided to add a pup to our family pack before he was gone. I wanted memories of him to be intertwined with our new puppy instead of feeling as though he was being "replaced". I knew when the time came I was going to need that comfort as selfish as that is. But the comfort of our baby Mowgli just wasn't enough for me. I didn't want others to endure the suffering I felt and I was determined to breed healthy, structurally sound dogs with an extended lifespan... The light that Choncho was had fueled the dream of Desert Bohunk Doodles. I will miss him and love him for all my life and I hope every family that welcomes home a pup from our program loves that sweet baby as much as I love my Chonchi Boy... Endlessly.
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