Bongo is my baby poodle.
Together, Bongo and I live alone.
The loneliness of living by myself led me to bring Bongo home.
But fate is too ironic.
Bongo, who came to fill my solitude, spends her days alone at home.
When I’m at work, when I go to school, when I have plans,
Bongo waits at home only for me.
When I return late filled with guilt, Bongo forgives me.
She does more than greet me; she welcomes me with open arms.
All the love this little one can give, I receive.
Is it the destiny of a dog to take on the burden of my heart
And still shower me with love?
I feel sorry yet grateful for Bongo.
I want to raise Bongo the happiest she could be
For me to be deserving of her pure love.
That too is my destiny.
I wrote this poem about my dog not long after I adopted her. Though it has been a couple years now, the content of this poem still stands true. Everyday I do what I can to make her happy. And everyday she brings me so much joy that I can’t contain it in my little heart.
This blog post is just a little record I wanted to keep of who Bongo is and so that her spirit can be kept alive forever.
1. Bongo never leaves anyone behind. The few days that I walk Bongo with my sister and my mom, Bongo always makes sure everyone is there the entire walk. She turns around frequently to smell their legs. If my mom wants to go inside a shopping center, for example, and tells us to go ahead without her, Bongo will sit and refuse to leave. She needs the whole group that came out together to stay together. So my mom has to give up shopping and walk Bongo till the end with us.
2. Bongo is obsessed with her ball. Obsessed doesn’t even cover her attachment to the ball. As soon as she senses my eyes open in the morning, she brings her ball over to play fetch. She stalks me around the house the entire day tossing her ball at me. She wants to play all day long. She continues this until all the lights are off and I go to sleep. Even then, she leaves the ball next to my head. And if I don’t throw it, she growls at me as if to say “how dare you!” What’s even funnier is that she has about 20 balls, and she chooses exactly which one she wants to be thrown. If I grab any other ball, she doesn’t fetch it. She just waits for me to throw the one she selected and placed in front of me.
3. Even though Bongo is extremely annoying in regards to her ball, she is so well-behaved and calm in any other setting. Especially the times that I need her to be quiet. Since I am all Bongo has, I try to bring her everywhere I go – cafes, restaurants, hanging out with friends, and even to school. People ask me if I’m allowed to bring my dog to school. Heck no! But because Bongo stays still and listens to me, I sneak her in. And so far, no professor has kicked me out of class since there is nothing about Bongo to complain about!
4. Bongo is a city girl, so she was so afraid of the beach water at first. But despite her fear, I could tell she loved it! She kept running towards the waves and running away. So I took every opportunity I got to bring Bongo to the beach, and she is one with it now. I would park my car and open the door, and Bongo would suddenly take off. I would grab my stuff, go through the fence, and walk down to the beach and Bongo would already be running around in the sand. Though she is still scared of the water, she dares herself to go in whenever I walk into the waves.
5. Bongo is not a cuddler. She hates it when you try to grab her and hates it even more when you try to hug her. She makes an escape with all her might. She sleeps at the end of the bed next to my feet and won’t come to my arms no matter how much I call her and pull her closer. But I love the winter because winter is the only time Bongo would cuddle willingly. She gets so cold that she scratches my arm to lift the blanket. She comes inside the blanket and cuddles right into my arm. It is perfect. But once the weather gets warmer, she leaves me again to go to my feet.
6. During our walks, Bongo is so indifferent to other dogs and people. She is so chic and trots away even when other dogs want to say hello. But when they are dogs she acknowledges as her friends, she is so playful and loves them. I think she even has 2 different boyfriends at the same time because she is inseparable when it comes to them.
There is so much more when it comes to Bongo, but I can’t possibly put it all here. It would be an entire biography. The main thing is that though she can drive me crazy with her balls and her avoiding my hugs, her little quirks makes me so happy to have her as my daughter.
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