Last Thursday Chloe had to be put down. Sad day for me and Mum. Chloe was my dog but when I moved the UK she went to go stay with Mum and they really grew close over the years. When I moved back to SA and then to Kidds Beach, Chloe stayed with Mum. She was getting old by then and struggled with mobility, but they also had such a special relationship so it seemed unfair to split them. So she stayed and was her stately self till the end.
Chloe had the most wonderful loving nature and used to really enjoy getting hugs. She was the bestest to hug… she had this wonderful thick coat that made her look three times her size! Nobody was ever allowed to mention her big bushy butt… 😉 It was big, and it was bushy… sorry Chlo!
Chloe at least made it back it down to Kidds Beach one last time, last weekend. Mum moved down to KB last weekend and Chloe got to smell the sea and even if she never made it to the beach she would have know where she was. So in the end, at 15, she made it back to the sea one last time and for that I think we both where grateful.
Chloe was a real lady. A matriarch to all the other dogs and especially Bono as he was growing up.
They made a great pair and grew up together on Hout Bay beach in Cape Town. One of my favourite pictures of Chloe was taken there while spending a day on the beach.
Chloe loved sleeping in luxury, read: on the couch. But she was never allowed to. In Cape Town I had this amazing comfy couch you could stretch out on, it was huge and navy blue. I’d wake up in the morning, particularly in winter when it could get nice a bit nippy in Hout Bay, and I’m come through from the bed room and find Bono and her up and about. As I walk through to lounge with my morning cuppa, I’d get to the couch and right in the middle, there’d be this big white patch of fur…still warm too. I’d say Chloe, come here please….and then, what’s this? Pointing to the fur… she’s look at me as if I’m mad for accusing the only white dog in the house for doing such a thing turn around and walk off…. mmm. Still makes me smile years later thinking about her “whatever dude” attitude to the couch “mystery”.
Now there was only one true love in Chloe’s life. And that was roast chicken. Everything came second to that! There was no reasoning with her, no rule or boundary that she would not cross for roast chicken… I’d had her for a little while and I’d noticed the fascination with roast chicken… I mean who doesn’t like a good roast chook right? So one day I bought dog food and a chicken to roast and that was going to be our chow for the next few suppers… Fed the dogs, put the chicken in to roast. It was a beauty, one of my finest (well it was nice anyway). So I carved off a portion for dinner and left the rest on the counter (as I normally did with food, the dogs where good like that – so I thought) and went to go watch something on the tele. Well, I went back in a short while later to make a cup of tea or something and noticed the roasting dish, still on the counter where I left it… but empty. And not only empty, but shiny… not a trace of chicken to be seen!!! I was like, what the hell? Bono was still in the lounge…. so there could only be one culprit, Chloe. Boy she cleaned up the chicken as if it had never existed. Almost trying to get rid of all the evidence! And leaving the roasting tray where it was all with not making a peep. I mean Bono did not even click there was free chicken going! I was so cross, that was supposed to by my nice supper for the next few nights. Gone. Sandwiches for me that week for supper it was 🙁 From that day onwards it become clear that when it came to chicken, Chloe was not to be trusted! 😉
In every other way though, she could be. She could be trusted to love, to make you smile, to bring joy into you life. And that she did bountifully.
I’ll miss you Chloe. May doggy heaven be filled with as many chicken drum sticks as you could ever want. Love you.
(click on the pics to enlarge)
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