Gratitude Friday 9 26 25 Chibi

This is Chibi ("ちび or チビ Japanese slang term for "small" or "short,") we rescued him on August 25^th from the The Lehigh Valley Humane Society. He had been found running the city streets with no tag or chip. He jumped in a woman’s car who turned him into the police, and he ended up at the shelter in Allentown. Julie saw a post on a lost dogs social media link and went into sleuth mode. When we first asked about him, someone else was considering adoption. Luck was on our side as we went back to the shelter, we learned that he was available. This little meatloaf sized mutt met the rest of our pack who accepted him immediately, he was neutered, and he came home with us that Tuesday. 

We quickly learned his teeth were a mess. Our best guess is he had never had any kind of veterinary care over the course of his life. In that first two weeks, he was neutered, given various shots, two emergency vet appointments for antibiotics and pain meds and then dental surgery to remove 24 teeth, they found 8 were already missing. He still has his canines though. He quickly regained his stamina and probably has not been pain free as he is now for a very long time. There are some things that are apparent, he lived in a house and at some point, he was loved.

This diminutive dude has had a rough start with us but will live a longer, higher quality life, and that makes it worth it for us. The good news is that beyond the teeth, he is in good health. I have calculated his cost per pound in that first fortnight as $239.41. Grateful he is under ten pounds. As we were bringing him home from his latest vet visit, he was whimpering through the pain meds and Julie asked me if I thought we would have taken him on given the expense of the last nine days and my answer was yes, I think so. He gets along with our pack and has a big loving personality in his small frame. He was estimated to be about six years old but we really have no idea how old he is, although I am fairly sure he would not lived as long as he will now with the pain and infection and abandonment he was facing.

So now we have three dogs. We are outnumbered by our pack. They already move as a squad and help each other. Both Sumo and Chibi hate squirrels, and they work as a team to bark into the trees in the hopes that the force of their woof will dispel the marmots. Ella will rile up the other two to get them to run circles around the first floor of our home and then bark at the chaos she created. When food comes out, I look up and see six eyes trained on me. It all happened so quickly and we are really happy that Chibi was accepted so quickly into what is now our canine triumvirate. 

It has been a few years since a dog chose to sit on my lap. Sumo is Julie’s familiar, and Ella is a loner who infrequently seeks affection although she misses nothing, she just wants her own space. The last dog who would seek me out was Tweek who passed a few years back. He would jump on me and press the top of his head against my forehead, and it was one of the most powerful expressions of love I have ever experienced. So, my heart has warmed a bit because Chibi will seek me out from time to time.

It is my observation that dogs are better people than most people, no offense intended to readers here. They just are better than us in so many ways. They are unconditional love with fur, a tail and a cold nose. As has been attributed to Bill Murray, “I am suspicious of people who do not like dogs, but I trust a dog when it does not like a person.” There is no other species of animal on earth as close to humans as dogs. They have been with us for 33,000 years and the evidence suggest that wolves initiated the bond, so they choose us, not the other way around. I think we owe them something for placing the trust of their species in ours. I have my doubts and times we are worthy of the faith they have placed in us. The evidence in front of me is that all of our dogs are rescue pups. That they were abandoned is evidence that we do not consistently hold up our end of the bargain. Helping them is good for us too.

As I said a few weeks ago, the world is a messed-up place right now. There is a lot we just have no control over, and it seems in many ways as if our society is on the brink. I try and use my energies to improve our world in the small ways I can, but at times it certainly seems that all of the energies of people who do so are not making that much of a difference. I will keep at it, I hope others will as well. Yet while it is true that I may not be able to change the world much over the course of my efforts, the truth in this situation is that by adopting a rescue dog, we can change the world of one dog.

We can already see that Chibi is full of love and affection, but he does the world on his terms, and he will let us know when he wants what he wants. In the shape he was in when he was found running the streets he would not have survived much longer and even in a safe home, that mouth infections were going to shorten his life. Helping this little guy is good for us too. Dogs are worth that effort for all they do for us. Welcome home Chibi - may your next vet visit be for routine boosters many months from now. Grateful to have met and rescued our newest pack member.

What are you grateful for today?