Our search for a dog took us all over the Bay Area and the Web as well. When my wife emailed me a German Shorthaired Pointer mix named Champ, he was the cutest of all the cute dogs we’d seen. We drove down to Mountain View where Jay was fostering him and returned as quickly as possible to get him. We renamed him Dunkel but he goes by many nicknames such as Dunkey Kong, Sir Dunks A Lot, and Dunker Do. Dunkel’s back story is that he was living with a family of four in Merced County but kept escaping so the dad brought him to the pound, which was a high kill shelter. Thank God Rocket Dog salvaged this beautiful, friendly guy the day he was to be euthanized.
Dog-people warned us that Shorthaired Pointers notoriously run away or at least go bolting off on their own. Maybe it’s whatever Dunkel is mixed with (with think some sort of spaniel) or just the fact that he’s happy to be rescued, but this dog bonded to us immediately. Off leash in the park, he never roams very far. Off leash at the beach, he’ll chase seagulls (or their shadows) to the point where he appears like a speck, but he never goes beyond, and then he always runs right back (he’s super fast). He is bold enough to do his own thing but attached enough to want to do it by us. And at home, he’s amazingly mellow. Downright tranquil. A stuffed animal and some belly rubs and he’s one happy pup.
Overall, we can’t believe how lucky we got in finding this affectionate, gentle, cuddle-monger. He’s great with all dogs (and should some less-than-friendly dog bark at him, he’ll give as good as he gets but never elevate it to a physical level. In fact, that’s the only time he ever barks) and all kids and babies. Our young nieces and nephews love him. But probably not as much as we do. He completes our happy family.