Kai Sima was still saddened by the loss of his 12-year-old dog when she died at the end of his seventh-grade year, saying there was a stillness in his heart and home since the terrible news came.
“Ever since then, there was some quietness that something needed to fill,” said Sima, 16, who is now a junior at Atlantic Coast.
When arriving home from school last May, Sima’s mom let loose a fluffball from her arms that ran up to Sima with her tail wagging. Sima said he felt overwhelming joy when he saw his new dog Mabel for the first time. “I’ve never seen a really small puppy before that was mine,” Sima said.
Mabel is a Golden Doodle, which is a mix of a golden retriever and a poodle. Mabel looks a bit like an Irish sheep dog, or some other unknown breed, “probably ‘craziness,’” Sima said. “When she was a very, very young, couple week old, she did look like a stuffed animal. Across her nose, or snout, there is a line where her hair is kind of parted and it looked like a stitch line. Like a stuffed animal, stitched together.”
She was named by Sima’s mom, part based on her wanting to give Mabel an old-fashioned name, but also because it fit her personality.
The pup’s temperament changed fast, from leaping on Sima to lick his face off, pouncing on leaves in the yard to chew them, and then the real terror – learning how to climb the stairs and never again giving Sima a chance to escape her puppy ways.
“She acts super sporadic,” Sima said. “One minute she’ll crawl all over you and lick you, and the next moment she’ll growl at you and try to bite you. Not aggressively, not with the intent to harm.”
At first, Mabel seemed scared, Sima said, and in particular, was terrified of the staircase by the front door. Sima said Mabel changed after she figured out how to work the stairs. “She’ll chase you,” Sima said. “You know how people pick a side, either left or right side of the stairs, she just picks in between and just gets in your way.”
Now Mabel rules the house and never leaves Sima’s side. She harasses him, and Sima messes with her, shaking her head and attacking her with pets to her belly and head. This usually sets her off in a playful way. “I’ll pet her and she’ll go around in circles around one of my legs for minutes.”
She understands everything Sima tells her but sometimes pretends not to hear. “You can call her name, tell her to come here and sit down, but she just won’t just register it.” Sima said. “If two people call her and I’m one of those people, she’ll most likely come to me.”
Sima said Mabel is obsessed with ice cubes: “Whenever she hears the ice maker, she’ll come running, no matter what she’s doing. It’s her top priority – to get ice.”
Sima tells Mabel to sit, but she responds by giving her paw. After giving the ice to Mabel, she either chews it when it’s given to her, or she’ll eat it on the couch.
Having a playful new dog makes his afternoons feel more alive again, and the quiet in the home is now filled with love. “I think Mabel fills that,” Sima said. “I think of her as family.”
Pet Patrol reporters Sarah Leite and Arianne Peixoto are seeking students and staff on campus who would like to feature the love of their pets on the Coastal Tides website. If you have a pet you would like the Pet Patrol to feature, please write Mr. Noonan at [email protected] or stop by the newsroom (Classroom 521).
