May is the month we celebrate Mother’s Day…and for some moms it’s about all those poopy diapers, kissing boo boos and molding young minds into strong, caring and responsible adults. For this mom…it’s about scooping poop, teaching to sit and finding my favorite pair of Betsy Johnson’s all chewed up. I’m a mom…to Divot, Driver and Dimple...my 3 “fur-children” …all Basenjis. When my husband and I were dating we decided to get a puppy…but I wanted to wait till we got married. No puppies out of wedlock. Ha!
Divot was our first. Sweet tempered, beautiful and perfect. She was a breeze to bring up. Potty trained so fast and no chewing incidents. Yes, we were spoiled by the first one. So we figured she needed a brother to play with. Along comes Driver five months later. A beautiful bouncing brindle boy with soulful eyes. He looks you right in the eye when you speak to him….and was a bit of a challenge to raise. He insisted on pooping ON the patio. I guess he had some strange aversion to grass. It took 3 long years to break him of that habit. He did have an affinity for glasses though…readers, sun or otherwise. Apparently they make good chew toys. I lost my favorite pair of Gucci’s to Driver’s chewing antics and my husband lost 2 cell phones. But...we love him. He became such a sweet and loving young man. We are incredibly proud…like any “parent” would be.
Then, for some strange reason…I felt we needed juuuuuussst one more. It’s so funny how the thought of puppy breath can make you forget all the chewing, peeing on the carpet and whining in the middle of the night. Enter, Dimple. A black and white Basenji that was born growling. It’s true…we held her in our hands at just a few weeks old and when you stroked her fur, she snarled and showed her teeth. Some people laughed at the sight, but I thought ruh-roh, this can NOT be good. I should have listened to my gut instinct. But no, Dimple was ours. The good, the bad and the ugly. She decided from day one that she would be the alpha in our pack. Constantly challenging Divot and Driver, stealing their food and growling at the drop of a hat. It has taken 2 ½ years of intense “parenting” to turn her into a fur-child that we don’t have to preface with….”uh, let her come to you”…”don’t reach out to her”….”sorry, but she really is nice.”
They're all different and we love them all. The ups and downs. I wouldn't trade being a fur-mom for anything in the world. They love us and they complete our family. I know it’s not the "normal" family but it’s the one that works for us. Every year my husband gives me a Mother’s Day card and I say…"oh, thank you honey I just hope we raised them well and they are healthy and happy." Families come in all shapes and sizes….and sometimes the best ones have fur.
~Susan