celeb
Four paws, one unforgettable beginning
Carl’ s Boston Terrier journey began with what he thought would be a single puppy.
“ My first BT came from a beautiful litter that needed homes, so I drove out to Paarl and brought my firstborn home,” he says.“ Then I heard that homes were hard to find for that litter, so I adopted another angel.”
What he didn’ t realise was that his second dog came from a different litter. Before long, the pair had produced a surprise family.
“ The two of them got‘ stuck’, and the female had seven little Bosties, which we named Monday through to Sunday,” he laughs.“ I actually woke up at around four in the morning the day they were born and helped the mom deliver seven healthy puppies, so you could say I’ m a professional Boston Terrier midwife!”
If Carl’ s account rings a bell, that’ s because our previous pet celeb, Munich Nefdt, furkid of the as-famous Tanya, was the BT formerly named Thursday.
Chester is a typical firstborn child; he is the poster boy for CHarm and the apple of everyone’ s eye.”
The CH Squad
If you’ ve spotted a pattern in their names, that’ s entirely intentional.“ All of their names start with‘ CH’,” says Carl.
The tradition began with Chester, named after Carl’ s rock music hero, the late Chester Bennington of Linkin Park.“ Chester is a typical firstborn child; he’ s the poster boy for CHarm [ sic ] and the apple of everyone’ s eye. He is very, very affectionate and connects with people very quickly. He’ s the ultimate gentleman. Everyone who’ s ever met him has threatened to take him home.”
Chardonnay is the matriarch.“ She’ s the protective one and, as the natural protector of the pack, she can be feisty, but she’ s also very affectionate once she connects with someone.”
Then there’ s Chilli, the sporty one.“ He’ s the athlete, instantly triggered by the word‘ Ball-eee’.”
Champagne – the smallest, with arguably the biggest personality.“ Champagne is a fighter in every sense of the word. She has the heart of a lion. I almost lost her due to respiratory complications when she was a puppy. She fought through being the‘ runt’ of the litter, the last to eat, and many medical issues to become a strong little girl.”
Pack politics
Every family has its dynamics, and the CH Squad is no exception. When asked who causes the most chaos, Carl doesn’ t hesitate.“ Champagne is definitely the troublemaker. She starts fights and loves a playfight, but I believe that spirit comes from what she went through, and it manifests in moments of asserting her authority.” www. petpals. co. za 13