Calypso the Adorable Pup

I met Calypso two days after I had to say goodbye to my best friend, familiar, and beloved furbaby, Selene. Her health had started to deteriorate a couple of years prior and the year before saying goodbye to her we’d discovered she had a rare type of cancer that was inoperable and had no treatment. The type could be either aggressive or super slow growing. Sadly, Selene had the aggressive version of this cancer and even while writing this almost 3 years later I get teary eyed over the loss. I knew there was no way I could handle the void there was without having a dog in my life. One of my best friends knew this; she was with me the day Selene passed.

My best friend volunteered (and still does) for the local animal shelter transporting furbabies and that day she was looking at the dogs instead of the cats (she and her husband are crazy cat people) and she sent me a couple of pictures. One of which was of Calypso. She was so cute and I loved the black and tan markings that look very similar to Rottweilers, which reminded me of my first dog, Zeus.

I told my best friend that I would be there in 10 minutes and asked her to wait for me. Once I was at the shelter, I looked at all of the pups because why not. In the end I asked to meet just two of the puppies. The first one wanted nothing to do with either one of us other than trying to eat our shoes and purses when he wasn’t calculating his escape. He was cute, but definitely not a good fit for me living in an apartment.

Then the shelter worker helping us brought in Calypso. The sweet little girl beelined for my lap, flopped down, rolled over, and looked up at me with her big, brown eyes. My heart instantly melted. I was chosen that day as much as I chose her. There was no way I was leaving the shelter without that adorable, sweet puppy who refused to leave my lap for anything other than to grab the squeaky toy and bring it back to me.

The shelter worker let us stay in the room with Calypso to keep playing with her while they prepared all of the adoption paperwork for me to sign. It was at that point that the lady told me she was glad I was taking Calypso home. Another person had been in the shelter earlier that day looking for a dog to adopt and they had put a hold on Calypso. Their living situation wasn’t very conducive to adopting a puppy from what the shelter worker said. So the universe had aligned that day and enabled me to bring Calypso home that day.

Not much was known about Calypso before she arrived at the shelter other than she was a stray, around 3 months old, and she was a mutt. The shelter thought she was a Rottweiler and German Shepherd mix based on her markings, but given how small she still is, I think they were a little off (35lb of cuteness).

Calypso insisted on riding in my lap on the car ride home and then followed me wherever I went in the apartment. And if I was sitting or laying down, she insisted on cuddles, which was perfectly fine with me.

She had (and still has) so much energy, and wanted to play all the time. It was almost non-stop playing and I of course indulged her by buying plenty of toys. Have you seen how cute doggie toys are lately?!

Once she was fully vaccinated, I started taking her to the doggy park in the apartment complex to make sure she was socialized properly. She absolutely loves playing and running around with other dogs of all sizes. And shortly after that I took her on her first short hike. Hiking was (and still is) something I enjoyed doing. I always took Selene on the hikes with me and I was happy to see that Calypso also enjoyed the trails. She quickly picked up on when I would stop to take pictures of whatever I thought made a good picture. Including more pictures of her cuteness.

Even with all the playing, there was still plenty of sleeping too. And she was an expert at getting comfy for nap time.

She was also there for me while I still grieved the loss of Selene. As subtle as a paw on my leg while I was crying is, it helped me a lot through the grief.

I can’t see my life without Calypso in it. She has helped me through so much and still gives so much love every single day. Her positive energy radiates from her and anyone that meets her falls in love with her. Plus her level of cuteness is off the charts. I really don’t know how so much cute can exist in one creature.