Pugs and kisses and cuddles, too

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 28/12/2009 (5800 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

She has bulgy eyes, a wrinkly face, a curly tail, and weighs just six kilograms.

Her name is Moka and she has brought us pugs and kisses for Christmas.

Moka is our new family member, a one-year-old pug born in a local rescue shelter’s foster home.

She is simply an awesome little dog — so sweet-natured, energetic and fun-loving. There’s no end to how long she will let you cuddle her or how many kisses she will try to give. I have never seen a dog so overcome with joy at all times.

She has made Angus, our huge eight-year-old Rottweiler-cross who is also from a rescue shelter, into her personal heat source. Anytime he lies down, Moka burrows into his enormous side and makes a cosy little nest against his stomach. Sometimes, she brings her chew toy and props it against his front paws while she gnaws on it. With him, just like all of us, Moka can pretty much do whatever she wants.

Moka’s life started in a U.S. puppy mill. Her mom, malnourished and suffering from an eye injury, was rescued by a Winnipeg group and fostered locally by a loving couple. Moka was adopted for an elderly man by his grandchildren to keep him company.

Last summer, when the he fell seriously ill and was unable to care for his little dog, whom he named Pug, his extended family struggled with what to do for her.

The family, all full to bursting with their own pets, shared her among each other for more than a month.

Fortunately, I happened into the story at this point through a series of coincidences that we all came to agree showed this little dog was meant to be with our family. Knowing their dad/grandfather was fortunately recovering, but not able to look after her with his new health concerns, his family allowed us to adopt her.

I will always remember the look on my 15-year-old daughter’s face when we put this little dog into her arms four months ago. Only weeks before, she had been begging us for a pug puppy, something she’d wanted and researched for years. We had resisted the huge job of raising a baby dog.

But this little dog — not a baby anymore, and needing us as much as we needed her — was a perfect fit. She bonded instantly with our oldest daughter and, no exaggeration, changed her teenaged life.

We count Moka among the many things we have to be thankful for this season. We hope you can join us in our Pennies From Heaven campaign to bring gifts and hampers to the homes of other families. Families receiving hampers from the Christmas Cheer Board who mention their four-legged family members also receive something for their Christmas dinners.

ashley.prest@freepress.mb.ca

 

Our angels this week:

Donald and Patricia Oster

Jim Kajpust

Elaine Dale

Hilda Scrutton

Yolande Bergeron

Linda and Greg Berscheid

John and Lillian Kinczylo

William and Margaret McKay

Patricia Guy

Terry and Michael Bellhouse

S. Jean Barker

Anonymous

Dolores and Louis Laurendeau

Shelagh Hinch

Verlie Junkin

Catherine Sim

In memory of Adelard Morier

Debbie Spindler

Audrey Goodman

J.R. Morden

Joyce and Dennis Smerchanski

Marlene Shaak

Angelina and Ronald Duval

Howard Cross

St Charles Catholic School

Joan Craig

In memory of Frank Mazur

Norv and Arline Christopherson

Ben Hein

Clinton and Jennifer Lawson

Carla McLeod

Doreen and Donald Phimister

Chris Hoeschen and Manfred Schulz