Eulogy for Chloe Boxer dog, RIP 15 July 2015
The closer you are to a given dog, the harder writing a Eulogy can become.The most curious thing about Chloe for me was her extreme steadfast passiveness. Yes she was an old boxer, that would have probably had much more 'spark' when she was younger, but that doesn't explain nearly anything that I witnessed.
Chloe was the life-long companion of Apache the staffy, another rescue dog. Apache was very high energy and once a long time ago had some aggressive tendencies when over excited when I first met her- but this was not outright aggression or malice, just over excitement that could lead to biting without intent. Apache has since beginning regular off lead walks become very social, Chloe was always social beyond measure, and Apache's alpha. You would often see them running along, with Apache leaning into Chloe as some kind of attempted dominance and companionship thing.
The one time that I had concern for Chloe was when a random dog (a break away from a house back yard) decided to run up behind our pack and grab onto the largest dog it could with as much ferocity as it could. I turned around in just enough time to see this happen and ran to get the dog away, but here is the amazing thing I have never seen before. Chloe just stood there. Not running not fighting. Just being extremely social hoping the dog would get it and go away. From this point on I realised she was the closest thing on earth I have seen to a dog being like the Dalai Lama. And she carried herself like this every time since then.
Chloe would run with the pack and enjoy a sprint along the shoreline or in the water and she would socialise with new dogs just as any dog in our pack would. She never tried to dominate a dog, nor did she become submissive to any dog. Anyone who regularly goes to dog parks will know that it takes a very special dog to stay on that completely neutral line.
To truly understand the how amazing these events were, one should look at the Boxer's ancestors. These were two German mastiff type dogs, (Bullenbeiszer and the Barenbeiszer). They were later crossed with other Mastiffs and a Bulldog. Today mastiffs still account for a reasonable number of attacks on dogs and humans and the early boxers were used for dog fighting, bull baiting and cart pulling. This meant they had strength and their prey drive and attack abilities were continually bred into the dogs often making it hard for urban owners to suppress these original characteristics.
Chloe exhibited none of her original breeds tendencies.
We will miss Chloe for her gentle nature, and positve effect she had over all dogs that she encountered, including dogs in our pack. She knew how to have fun, but this was explroing fun and being social fun the best kind for all dog parks, owners and dogs!
RIP CHLOE 15 July 2015
