My favorite pet...that I adopted

Pippin was called Jiggs when I first met him 6 or so years ago at the local shelter. I had volunteered there during high school, so I watched as his signs of depression grew. Something about him stood out to me and I used to love to walk him. I remember how he would perk up his head off the ground every time he heard the jingle of the chain collar. His fluffy black ears would stand up and his brown eyes would get this gleam in them. His eyes couldn’t hide his excitement to be noticed and the hope to leave the cement and steel pin he resided in.

He is part chow with the full black tongue, so all prospective people looking for a dog would pass him up for a “safer” dog like a lab or a cockapoo (cocker spaniel and poodle). Granted, if I had known the reputation of a chowchow I would have been more cautious myself, but I loved to run in the park with him and watch him smile a pearly white smile.

A month passed and his condition is only worse. After a lot of begging, persuading and promising, I was able to convince my family to adopt him. The first thing he does is jump from the trunk of the station wagon into the back seat with an Elizabethan collar on (the cones) and stitches from being neutered. I was pretty amazed at his flexibility and drive. Soon his name was changed to Pippin after The Lord of the Ring character, and he started to learn how to live with cats and other animals. He has slowly become more confident over his fear of men and still surprises us with his mental and physical abilities.

Pippin has always been a sweet, loving, rule-bound (mostly), protective dog who likes to lie in the morning sun and take quiet naps alone in his corner. He’s trained new cats and dogs the rules and hierarchy of the house and is best friends with the alpha cat, Wesley (also a rescue). Even though he is getting older and has started to get white hairs in his solid black coat, he is still my favorite pet.