Happy Birthday, NEMO!

I know you can't read but someday when you're at the Rainbow Bridge, I'm hoping that a special human would read this to you. I once read a poem which says, when a dog dies, he goes to the Rainbow Bridge and is taken care of by special humans who have incredibly big hearts for dogs. The Rainbow Bridge, says the poem, is a special place in heaven where dogs and special humans can talk to each other.

Maybe you are still wondering why I renamed you Nemo. Your breeder called you Chocolate. Well, you came to me when I had fallen in love with a fish character named Nemo in a Pixar movie. I think I have watched that movie on TV while you were on my lap but you were not able to watch it because you had fallen asleep.

Did you know that your breeder is from Batangas and that you were born there? Yes, you are a Batangueño. I got you through a friend who knows your breeder. You were four months old when I took you home, so small that you fitted in a small shoe box. Oh, I hope you won't feel offended when I tell you that you were dirty and smelly. But that's because the breeder had not given you a bath. I was told very, very young dogs shouldn't be given a bath yet.

As a pup, you were hard-headed. You resisted being told what to do. That is why I had a hard time training you to urinate in the right place. Well, I'm still having a hard time because you haven't learned what I've been teaching you for three years. But that's okay. I admire you, however, for teaching yourself where to poop. You just surprised me one day when you pooped in your cage. From then on, you've made your cage your comfort room and the whole house your playground. Just a question, my dear, why do you urinate on anything that looks like a pole? I'm just curious.

Anyway, you have been a very sweet-natured, energetic, happy dog. You enjoy playing with doggie toys but sometimes you get so in the mood to play that you would want your human friends to play with you all day long. That cannot be, my dear. Humans have many things to do, including work and rest. And an energetic dog like you also needs to have time to rest. May I remind you again that the following are not toys: towels, shoes, socks, pails.

I am sorry if sometimes I'm not at home to comfort you when there's thunder. I know you're afraid of thunders. But I believe you have found your comfort zone already, right under the couch where I usually sit. I am sorry, too, if you cannot dig a real hole and if you have to pretend to be digging one on the leather couch. You see, our apartment is in the second floor and we do not have a backyard. Maybe someday you can dig holes in a real backyard. There are times when I want to ask you why dogs love to dig holes. Are you digging for buried treasure? Just kidding.

I have to admit that you have put extra spark into my life. I now look forward to having free time to rest and to play with you, instead of staying extra long hours in the office. You have reminded me the pleasure of walking in the park on early Sunday mornings, something which I have not experienced for a long time before you came. Now I look forward to walking with you, even if sometimes you drag me when you get excited to run with the other dogs. When I look at you, I see myself in you: I see someone who will not survive without the loving people around me. And for that I appreciate all the more the people who make each day of my life beautiful.

I hope we will have more years to walk together. But when the time comes when you cannot walk long anymore, would a dog walker be okay with you? I saw one in Under the Sea and Other Creatures. It's a little expensive, though. Bu't I'd be willing to save for it if only to have you for a company in my walks. Please do not feel ashamed when that time comes. And please let me know when your eyes become slightly cloudy. That's normal. That comes with age. Humans grow old, too. When your gray hairs begin to ring your soft muzzle, please do not think that you are not a cuuuute dog anymore. You will always be cuuuuute and lovely no matter what. You will always be my trusted four-footed friend. You will always be loved by me, Tita Hamlet, Tito Noli, Lolo Emo, Lola Helen, Tito Alip, Tito Tikboy, Joshua, Tita Owen, Lance, Tita Glenda, Tita Jenny, the Bautista kids, Tita Helen, the dog owners in Animal House and many others whose lives you have touched.

Happy 3rd birthday, buddy! Keep on learning more tricks!

With love,
Mommy B.