Our Baby from Bohol

We almost had two chocolate labradors! Can you imagine that? At the height of the Ondoy aftermath in September 2009, a veterinary colleague of Joseph called us up to ask if we were willing to adopt two choco lab puppies who got misplaced during the typhoon. The owner was offering the dogs up for adoption because their home was devasted by Ondoy.

At that time, we were renting out our 1-bedroom condo unit in Mandaluyong, and were living in a much bigger loft type apartment in Cubao. Unfortunately, it was still too small for TWO LABRADOR RETRIEVERS! So we had to refuse the offer eventhough my nephew and I were looking forward to taking care of the puppies.

God indeed had another puppy in mind for us.

We found Gringa in Bohol several months later when we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with Joseph's parents in Tagbilaran. We had just concluded Tailrunners Metro Dog Run 2010 at that time. It was the most grueling event that my husband and I have organized together under our small web-based company MyPetChannel. It was a successful dog run, being the "first of its kind" back then. 300 dogs and 500 humans were registered that day. It was the longest day of my life! I literally had no sleep for 48 hours. It was fun. But it was also stressful.

So as a treat, and as a break from all the doggie business, Joseph and I retreated to his parents' house in Bohol -- which ironically houses about a dozen pooches! I already mentioned in an earlier post that my mother-in-law was virtually a cat lady who has dogs instead.

Alin.. alin... alin ang naiba!

There was a pack in the house, and among the new set of litter, there was one brown furball that just grabbed my heart!

My mom-in-law called her Cinder because she was the only brown puppy among the white ones, making her  look "madungis" but the moment I saw her -- I saw my old dog's face. And just right then and there I uttered "Oh my little Gringa!"

Gringo was my childhood dog who died in 1994 right before I left for college. And this Gringa looked exactly like him. Parang lukso ng dugo, kumbaga!  

Gringa with her foster dad

What even made her adorable was her quirky personality. When we met her, she wasn't even playing with the other puppies. Her best friend was this old male tabby cat that has been in the Palarca household for as long Joseph can remember. In fact, Gringa spent more time with this other specie more than she ever did with her mother. Hmm... doesn't that sound familiar? (I guess she really was meant for me, LOL!)

At that time, the idea of having a dog was more farfetched than it ever did before because we just moved back into our smaller Mandaluyong condominium unit. This was right after Kean, my nephew, joined his mother in the US.

You're probably made of stone if your heart doesn't
melt to those adorable puppy dog eyes :-)

But before Joseph could give me the cons of adopting a puppy at a time when our married life is hitting a few bumps here and there, Gringa had us at "woof"!

And the great Gringa adventure begins!

--Mommy Jill--