Chloe Spoodle

Chloe didn’t start with that name, she was a little bundle of fur who couldn’t get upstairs without help and loved to be in the middle of games as my 4-year-old daughter played on the floor, bounding right through the middle. She started out as Daisy, Maggie, Flower then Lilly and finally we settled on Chloe, who was a spoodle or cockapoo. A cocker spaniel and mini poodle mix and she was the runt of the litter, in fact the last one left out of 8 when I saw her, tiny and cuddly. I had been sent to the breeders to bring home a hypo-allergenic golden doodle but when I saw how big there were at this farm, I asked for something smaller.

Chloe and Jessie grew up together and she was a great dog to have around. She maxed out at 17 pounds and was protective of Hannah and her friends, the whole family too. The first 6 months of puppy life are extremely trying for housekeepers as teaching them to potty train outside only can be difficult, especially small dogs. Potty pads did not work, neither did large amounts of newspapers on the floor, a gated pen followed and she climbed out putting her tiny paws in the holes and pooping everywhere.

So, the next day a cardboard ceiling was added to the pen, tied down tightly with bread ties. After leaving Chloe for 5 hours, I came to a plethora of poop and pee as she had continually rammed her head against the cardboard until it ripped and she could get up and over the side. You see my husband thought it was cruel to crate train and deliberately left work late so he wouldn’t have to clean up the huge mess, I put an end to that. Suddenly, as she grew fast in a few months she started to get trained, she stayed in the pen and only went on the paper and pads, I guess she got old enough and strong enough to hold it all until we got out side.

Once spring came and the snow melted, Chloe loved running around outside with the kids, she could run for hours and then flop down for a nap. She was never aggressive and never bit anyone. Such a fun little dog and cute as a button with spaniel rusty reddish tan and white patches, floppy wispy ears. A button nose and a long-haired tail. As with most non shedding dogs, she needed her poodle styled curls groomed every few months. Sometimes the groomers would poodle her, other times it would be a close shave, then the terrier shape would show.

Once we went to the cabin in summertime, and went swimming in the small lake in Sparta, Wisconsin, Chloe had to be there too so she quickly learned to dog paddle all the way across and onto the beach from the cabin. She also loved to run a full circle around the lake, over the bridges and back home just for the fun of it all. The neighbors thought she was adorable and extremely fast. She loved to snap at the fish as we caught them and they were pulled out of the water, or even jump in and try to catch them herself. One time when I was walking around the lake with her, she ran off, I didn’t see her again until I was back at the cabin and a truck from the power company arrived with her inside. She had lost me in the woods and decided to rest in the middle of the road, luckily it was a country town and then locals were not too excitable. Afterall any other time it could have been deer or moose or even a bear holding up the traffic.

We moved to Macau China for a year to set up a casino, and Chloe came. She was very unhappy about the whole being in the pet hold area of the plane, then a week’s quarantine for a week and finally a helicopter ride to Macau. She was happy to see us but when my husband went to put his shoes on the next morning, he found a rather large surprise aimed perfectly in the right place!

There’s not much grass land on Macau but we were lucky there was an empty lot next door to our building where some weeds worked to allow dogs to feel they were in a normal place. I had to take her down from the 12th floor 3 to 4 times a day and lots of walks. There were very good groomers in town but the locals loved to have their dogs colored in bright pinks and yellows so Chloe looked odd au natural. It was always hot and always very humid but she didn’t seem to mind, she was always up for a walk.

Back home in Minnesota I had a doggy door put in the porch door so once let out onto the porch, she could go out and so her business. It was extremely cold and windy sometimes and quite honestly, we never watched her. When the snow stopped coming in the screens, and it began to melt, there were lots of surprises! She had never left the covered area. These were the trials and tribulations of having a pet and either living in a bitterly cold place or in a high-rise apartment.

We had an invisible fence and Chloe knew the boundaries even without the collar on, however once there was a huge snow pile close to the line and she figured out to climb to the top and jump off! Now she wouldn’t come back in fear of being zapped. My husband had to chase her around backyards and streets until he gave up. Next hour he was getting a call from the police as someone had called them because once again, Chloe had decided to rest in the middle of the road.

In Florida she no longer had trouble jumping up as her arthritis did bother her in the warm weather. She loved to run around the park at full speed once again even though she was 15 by now and Jessie was away at college. Now I miss my girls more than I ever want to acknowledge, and my husband is gone too. We lived a wonderful family life and Chloe was a big part of it but unfortunately people and pets do not last forever but memories do. Chloe was an extraordinary member of the family who was well travelled and always found her place.