Meet Malucca my eleven year old Portuguese Water Dog. In Portuguese his name means crazy. He does an excellent job of living up to his name. We have found him jumping on the trampoline and sliding down playground slides. Crazy I know, but not as crazy as his being terrified of water. Some water dog, right? The older he gets the crazier he gets.
He has become increasingly more attached to me, to the point that I have considered changing his name to Velcro. He literally doesn’t leave my side. The furthest he strays from me is usually within eyeshot. He whines for my attention when I am only a few yards away. Being vocal is both adorable and annoying. My pleas for him to be quiet are often ignored. Even though I am Malucca’s person he is our family dog, which is why I dreaded having to tell them when he went missing.
Malucca was strolling around my mother’s driveway as she and I worked on removing a bike rack from the hitch of her car. The task took a mere five minutes. When we finished the plan was to walk our dogs. Having been tethered my mom’s dog was ready to go, Malucca on the other hand was nowhere to be found. We looked in the obvious places, house, garage, front yard. Nothing. For the next hour my mother, a neighbor, and I searched the neighborhood by foot, bike, and car. In addition to calling his name, we offered treats and reminded him of the walk. He seemed to have vanished. Eventually I conceded to having to report him missing.
As we entered the garage for the umpteenth time, my mom called out, “Here he is!” Sure enough, still as a statue and silent as one too Malucca sat in the back seat of my mom’s car. For the first time ever, he was silent. My crazy Portuguese Water Dog was living up to his name once again. Malucca had turned the tables and made me the crazy one. I’ll never take his being by my side for granted again. I’m his person and he’s my crazy dog!
