I ♡ Choco

The town of Coatepec here in the interior of Mexico is quite charming and even a bit magical. Since we arrived, many things have simply fallen into place, from our lovely rental home to meeting just the right people. And most recently, Coatepec has gifted us the sweet & adorable Choco. He is a jack-chi (half jack russell terrier, half chihuahua) and he is my first pet ever!

He has always been a friendly street dog roaming our area. In mid-Feb, he started barking in the middle of the street at nights disturbing our sleep. Diego called him close one night, then made room for him to sleep in the van where he rested quietly. After a week of his sleeping in the van at night and running the streets during day, we thought, ok he's too cute, let's adopt him. Named him Choco (for my favorite sweet treat chocolate), bathed him, cleansed him of parasites, and began letting him sleep in Diego's room. This was early March. For the first couple of months, he and Diego bonded really closely. Once Choco felt safe with Diego, we focused on bonding him with me since I really needed his companionship. He resisted at first, totally attached to Diego. He was actually a lil sh*t to me in the beginning, ignoring me and growling at me. I could tell that because he had bonded with the male in the house, he felt his position was secure, and I could be snubbed. I started feeding him which helped but the turning point was a day of isolation for him after he growled at me and then having me be the one to let him back into 'the pack'. We also made a place in my room for him to sleep, and nights of sleeping with me has really bonded us. We've made great progress, and now he showers me with affection. I can't fully express how much this has helped me. Choco's pure, innocent love has touched me deeply, and I haven't had a single moment of depression or suicidal thought since we bonded. I recently read on the internet that one of the functions of a dog for the disabled is emotional support. How true!!

I have gotten really into my role as a dog owner taking the health and comfort of my Choco quite seriously. First was his diet. It was killing me to feed him commercial dog food as I drank my mango-naner smoothie. So I went to the GI2MR Raw Pets page and read a helpful post by the owner of a cute puggle (half beagle, half pug). She had just started feeding her doggie a raw diet with patties made of raw beef, raw egg, yogurt, & veggies, and her dog was thriving. Now Choco is very finicky so the first day, we thought we would transition him gradually to a raw diet. In his bowl, we put some of the commercial dog food and some raw ground beef. Well he proceeded to eat all the raw beef and turned his nose at the dog food he had been eating for months. He looked at us like, "It's about time you guys started feeding me REAL food." We returned the remainder of the commercial dog food to the store :)

So now he eats raw beef, loves chewing on meaty bones, and enjoys the occasional yogurt swirled with honey as a treat. He insists on being a total carnivore rejecting fruits & veggies. No worries Choco, more for me ;)

I swear he has gone through physical & emotional detox. The first week of his new raw diet, he seemed to be doing well then 3 days into it, he decided to fast for a day. He didn't seem ill or depressed as he was still his usual perky self. He just didn't want food. I didn't worry having just done a beneficial one day water fast myself the week before. The next day his appetite was back and he happily chomped down his raw ground beef.

Then a few days later, he got sad & depressed. He ate his meals but no perkiness. Lots of moping & napping and minimal interaction with us. The next morning he seemed to bounce back, sweetly showering me with love & affection, more so than usual, laying the Choco love syrup on thick. Then whenever I attempted to get up he would beam his chocolate brown eyes at me and snuggle closer. He used his sugary charms to keep me in bed an extra hour!

For his comfort, I picked out a new doggie bed for him. At first, he resisted his new bed making a dramatic show of how torturous it was to get in. With some coaxing, he hesitatingly got in, stretched out, and relaxed. "Oh, this is nice. What was I worried about?" thinks Choco.

He stays in his bed through the night occasionally joining me on my bed for a bit then returning to his bed. My favorite time with him is in the morning. As soon as I wake up, I call him to my bed for a morning snuggle fest. He is sooo sweet and loving- perfect start to my day :))