Sylvester – or the answer to the question, how much love for life fits in 6.5 kg?
As this is the Paws for Thought website, you will probably now expect to read a story about a crusty, a wobbly or an extremely timid dog. Well not quite … Sylvester was only less than a year old when we got him, is faster than any other small dog I know, and his motto is “You are my friend whether you like it or not”. Still I like to think that he was at Paws for Thought for a reason.
I first saw Sylvester in October 2012 on the Paws for Thought Facebook page.
I had started looking around for a friend for our dog Benny, who we had adopted a few weeks earlier from Renbury Farm. At the time Benny was “holidaying” in Port Macquarie with my partner’s family, until we could move into our new pet-friendly home.
Benny was extremely timid, and it was therefore clear that his doggie-friend would have to be the opposite of him to help him gain confidence.
By the time I stumbled across the Paws for Thought Facebook page, Sylvester had already been in care for a few weeks without any suitable enquires.
On his Pet Rescue profile he was described as: “Goofball, clown, affection-hogger & utterly adorable… a young pup and has zero obedience training.” It was also said that: “When he is chastised he thinks it’s a game.” When reading this I thought that this might be exactly the kind of dog we might need as a friend for our timid Benny.
As we were not in a position to take Sylvester straight away, I contacted Paws for Thought and asked if we could be Sylvester’s back-up plan if he was not adopted by the time we could move into our new place. This was at 22:36 pm and I was really surprised to get a response only seconds later. Not only were we allowed to be the back-up plan, we were also allowed to arrange a Meet and Greet.
At the Meet and Greet, Sylvester revealed his gorgeous self-giving kisses and was running around all excited.
I was so happy when we could finally pick him up.
Since then Sylvester has become such an important family member.
As far as “zero obedience” is concerned, we have kept our promise to Mrs PFT and take him to dog school and lessons on a regular basis. He is very clever and a very fast learner.
Sylvester is always up for an adventure. He loves everyone and everything. His only moods are happy, very happy, bath-time and I-have-put-on-coat-because-its-cold. In the park he surprises people all the time because he is so fast chasing his ball. Whenever we meet strangers he jumps forward giving them kisses which allows Benny to stay in the background and watch the scene. Sylvester is our little cheeky monkey. We love him to bits and could not imagine our lives without him anymore.
Thank you Paws for Thought for all your wonderful work and for giving us the opportunity to adopt Sylvester.