Paying off his debts

Last night, someone asked me what Chino's middle name was. Immediately, I said, "Diablo". I thought a second and then added "Visa", making his full name, "Chino Diablo Visa Lollo". Appropriate, considering the first 6 months of his life we dealt with mange, neutering, allergies, daycare, separation anxiety, puppy shots, chewing, pooping (and hiding it in the closet), eating innappropriate objects (shoes, light bulbs, etc. - see prior post), whining, housebreaking, biting, a couple of parasites (eeeww) and the general growing pains of owning a dog. Needless to say, he changed our prior view on puppies as a source of Rainbows and Sunshine. In fact, the very first night that we got him - both Nick and I thought that we had made a HUGE mistake and if one of us would have said the word, the other would have jumped on board and returned him, blaming graduate school and an upcoming wedding for us not being able to take on one more commitment. Needless to say, neither one of us spoke the word and didn't find out until months later that we had been thinking the same thing. By this point, it was too late and Chino had us wrapped around his little paws. So, here we were, the July before we were getting married and we decided to get a puppy. He was free after all (yeah right!) and needed a home so badly. I tried to rationalize the whole situation by saying that Chino found us. Actually, Nick's aunt Michelle found Chino's two sisters, Annie and Avery, fell in love and took them home. The entire litter was living in such horrible conditions that Michelle couldn't, in her good conscience and big heart, leave them like that. So, she adopts the ENTIRE LITTER plus MOM AND DAD and decides to reach out to her network of friends and family to find homes. I saw the picture of Annie and Avery and couldn't resist asking to see the pictures of the other pups. Pictures led to a meeting and a meeting led to us picking one out for our very own. We had already decided on a name, Neato Pa-Chino...Cap, Frap and Al Pa...so the only fair way to go about picking one of the boys was to give him a choice in the matter. So we both squatted down and called to both of them and our little yellow furball came running over. We remind him that he chose us, especially when he's giving us dirty looks for some reason or another.

Chino continues to be one of the dumbest things that we've ever done, but we are so grateful for our little mistake. He's a constant source of laughter and joy in our days and has done such great things for Nick and I. He pays his debt to us each day when he makes us laugh or forces us to take a walk in sub zero temperatures. His two mile per day requirment has likely saved us both many of those "just married" pounds, which from what I hear are similar to the freshman 15. So every time we take him to the vet, or bundle up for a walk, or buy 20lbs more of the desinger food that he likes, we add to the tab that he's been running for the past two years.
Today he made a big dent in his tab. In the middle of my lazy Sunday, one that I would have otherwise enjoyed TBS movies all day long, I decided to take him out for a nice little afternoon walk. He was so excited, especially since he truly enjoys the fall weather. Off we went, and we had the neighborhood to ourselves. Everyone else seemed to be hybernating or elsewhere. As we rounded a corner, he spied an abandoned raquetball, laying in the street. He walked up to it, batted it with his paws, and picked it up. He pranced with that ball in his mouth, all the way home, only dropping it when lifting his leg and maintaining his grip on the ball were too much. He'd drop it from his mouth and dribble it down the street, jumping with joy when he grabbed it. His happiness guage is his tail, which when happy normally resembles a question mark. When he's elated, it curles into itself and the tip rests on his back, springing along as he walks. The blue raquetball brought him such joy that it was impossible not to laugh with him, every time he dropped it, or it rolled or I threw it to him to catch.
When we got home, he pranced into the house with his ball and resumed his game of soccer for one. In the basement, it sounded like a stampede as he galloped across the kitchen floor. Before long, I heard the PLINKO-esque sound of the ball bouncing down the basement stairs and the elephant-esque sound of Chino bounding down after it. When the ball rolled under a shelf, he walked over and looked up at me like, "HELLO....fix this, woman!?" I tossed the ball up the stairs and he resumed the game.
This is one of those simple pleasures that he brings to our home every day, the sound of his nails running across the floor and the sight of his tail, curled over itself, bouncing along on the walk, happy and amazed that the blue raquetball was just waiting for him to find it. Every time he makes us laugh, or pretends that he doesn't like to cuddle (even though he does), he chips away at the debt and restores our belief that puppies actually do come with a bit of rainbows and sunshine.