Ewok and Us, The Journey

My son Oscar always wanted to have a dog after we lost his first dog, JackJack. He liked his teddy bear and wondered if it was possible to find a dog with a bear or a lion look. I showed him a picture of a chow chow and see if he agreed that they all look like bears. Oscar's eyes got bigger and got so excited when he knew that it was possible to have pup that looked like a bear or a lion. Nikolai would be happy with whatever we chose.

Sometimes in December 2007

I did my research on local chow chow breeder. None close by. I contacted Carla of Rhenegade Chows and had a please conversation. I needed to make sure that the puppy didn't come from a puppy mill and that the puppy came from a loving breeder home. I decided then to get one of Carla's puppies.

I asked my friends at KuliDollar mailing list to give me ideas of Indonesian names for boys and girls. I got tremendous responses with all beautiful Indonesian names. Everybody was excited that my family might have a new member. I didn't tell them it was for naming a puppy.

3/13/2008

I got a call from Carla. She said the puppies were being born. I saw from the puppy cam all the little munchkins and mama Latte were all doing well. When I was on the way home from work, Carla called me saying that if I would be honored to adopt the first born of the litter, a white male chow chow pup. She sent me a picture of Ewok at 2 hours after the boy was born. I went home and broke the news to the kids, shared the picture and started to decide on the name for the AKC certificate a.k.a birth certificate.

3/15/2008

It was almost my mom's birthday. I asked Niki and my cousin Ben to have a drive to visit the newborn pup, it was a 4 hour drive. Oscar had a boy scout camp that he couldn't come. We got so excited, we sang and enjoying the views of the country side. When we arrived, Carla and her family welcomed us. It was such a pleasure meeting everyone in her family, including the pup dam and sire, Latte and Micah. When I saw Micah, I was a bit scared since Micah was a 75 lbs white chow chow who barked and barked at us. But when we got closer, he was such a sweet gentle giant. Latte was a tiny chow chow mama at 45 lbs. Then we met this beautiful sweet puppy. It was love at the first sight.

We decided to name him Ewok Putih Rifai, and we picked him up 8 weeks later.

More of early months of Ewok being with us.

Our Journey Together

Ever since we picked him up, Ewok became the center of our life. I planned around the kids activities and words cannot describe the experience with Ewok. He had grown into a handsome boy who was a muse, an inspiration, and had taught us about the unconditional true love.

He was never a destroyer as a puppy, never chewed door panel, carpets, blinds, or shoes (except those belong to my cousin, Baby....sorry tante Baby....)

Yes, he wished he would have his hoomans food. And yes he did steal unattended food from the table from time to time. The epic steal would be half of Nando's Chicken.

Oscar and Ewok

Oscar was Ewok's discipliner and trainer. He trained Ewok to walk without leash and would always come back when called. With Nikolai and I, Ewok felt that he had rooms of negotiations.

Ewok was Nikolai's muse and disturbingly, his doll. Nikolai loved playing dress up with Ewok and would experiment any look with Ewok. Nikolai also taught Ewok to sit still and be patience.

Surprisingly, Ewok didn't mind at all.

Nikolai and Ewok

Ewok and our friends

Our friends and family loved Ewok and often shared their pictures with him too. Whenever I walked him, people on the street sometimes (so often) asked to pet or take pictures of him. With our friends, they always love petting him or even gave him some treat (Ewok loved treats!)

Purple Tongue Pride

Final Moment

Ewok passed away on February 20 at 2:30PM.

Today, I am so heartbroken and can't stop feeling of a big hole opening in my heart. For the last years, Ewok has been not only my fur child, but also the best companion since Oscar and Nikolai have their own places. I could sleep better knowing he was in my house.

I can't help but thinking what a privilege to have him in our life. He brought us joy and love. He taught us patience, determination and unconditional love. He was more than just a dog, he was our precious family member. He was kind, sweet, gentle, sometimes cranky and hated puppies that I hugged (sorry Hudson, he was too jealous of you being around us.) As he grew older, he was not that patience anymore toward puppies and small children.

Thank you so much for our journey together, my baby Yewokee. People told me that I have to say goodbye so you continue your journey over the rainbow bridge to heaven. It's still hard to say goodbye. We loved and will always love you, Ewok Putih Rifai. We will continue our journey and hope we will meet you in heaven at the end of our journey.

5/10/2008

2/20/2021

Pike and Rose, February 21,2021.