Adopted by Zheng Family
Journey of Zheng Family and Mocha
We’ve always remarked how adopting Mocha was truly fate.
When we casually visited the Plant and Herb puppies in LTV in 2021, we had no idea that we would eventually give one of the puppies a forever home. However, when we met Mocha (then named Monsterra), it was truly love at first sight. He had a beautiful tri-coloured coat, a constantly demure expression, and would quietly sit in our laps as we patted him. Though we loved Mocha a lot, what finally pushed us to adopt him was something Pauline (one of the organisers behind LTV) said. She remarked that in adopting a dog, we were actually saving two lives. We were both giving a forever home to a dog, and also freeing up resources so LTV could save another dog. That struck us deeply and truly changed our views in adopting instead of buying a dog.
Fast forward to March 2022, and Mocha remains the best boy that we could have ever gotten. He’s really intuitive and would use little signals to communicate his needs. For example, he often licks and nudges us, leading us to the gate and staring at his leash intently when he wants to go for a walk. He’s also quite reserved, and never barks unless there’s someone at the door. He usually spends his days lying in my parents’ room and greets us with boundless enthusiasm when we come home.
But it wasn’t always like this. When we first got him, because he was in a new environment, he would wail, whimper and howl every night. For a brief period, he also seemingly forgot all his pee pad training and began doing his business around the house. As first-time dog owners, we were confused and frustrated with these new developments. However, LTV always provided timely and useful advice for us whenever we would need help, and they guided us new paw parents every step of the way. Eventually, with training from K9 Kampong, and a lot of patience and love, Mocha finally integrated into our family. And though his growth from a tiny little puppy to a medium-sized dog has been exponential, we, as adopters, have also grown closer as a family and learnt so much, from having him around the house.
Though there are still some rough days, especially as Mocha goes through his teenage years, we still fall in love with him more and more each day, and his cute little antics never fail to warm our hearts.