On Pabu's birthday today, I tried to find a photo of him as a puppy but could not easily find any. Instead this photo calls out for some contemplation today. Here are Pabu and his first person, Ellie, on their Christmas card for 2002 which I took in their back yard. Ellie holds him with soft hands. She never touched or patted him with anything but the most gentle hands. Pabu at about 3 and a half years old had grown out his tail and black ear tips to almost their full lengths. His puppy fur colors had disappeared. Ellie had just started having trouble with vascular dementia so Pabu took extra special care of her now that he was becoming the "adult" in the household.
They met in Placitas, New Mexico, at the home of Ruth Davis. She bred her bed dog, Lucky, to her female dog, Libby, and they had one puppy who would be a bit too big for AKC Tibetan Spaniel standards. Ruth said he had a personality which would need to have him be the only dog in a household. Grandma Ellie and her daughter, Carolyn, sat in Ruth's living room waiting for the household puppies and dogs to charge in together. Pabu ran straight to Ellie, stood up on his hind legs and showed he wanted to sit in her lap right away. She picked him up, he snuggled down, and never left her lap again on that visit. He knew she was the one for him. He had spotted the ur-mother of the human world who needed and wanted him. Someone who would devote all of her mothering skills to him and then he would devote himself to her care in her final years.
Tibetan Buddhists believe dogs like Pabu are often monks reborn to try life again after making mistakes in the past. I see in this picture Pabu saying, "I'm all grown up in this dog life and ready to take care of her as she has taken care of me."
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