“[S]omething about her gave him this level of confidence he’d never had.”
Four years ago, Claudia Papp took a chance on a foster dog from Diamonds in the Ruff Animal Rescue. The dog, named Chapo, had been saved from an abusive situation only to wind up on a shelter’s euthanasia list.
When Papp first brought Chapo home, he was terrified. He had fleas, worms, a skin infection and his teeth were fractured.
Claudia Papp
“He probably didn’t even walk toward me for at least five days,” Papp told The Dodo. “He stood at the back door, staring at it the entire first night.”
Because of everything Chapo had been through, it took him a long time to establish even a base level of comfort in Papp’s home. Even five months into Chapo staying with Papp, he was too scared to step outside.
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Before fostering Chapo, Papp had fostered 47 other dogs. But there was something about Chapo’s gentleness and soulfulness that made it impossible for her to say goodbye. So she decided to make Chapo her very first foster fail.
One day, after noticing that Chapo had a sweet relationship with her cat, Papp decided to foster a kitten in need named Cecily. Chapo was instantly drawn to Cecily’s infectious playful kitten energy, and Cecily trusted Chapo because of his calm, respectful demeanor.
Claudia Papp
Before long, something about Cecily’s presence gave Chapo the courage he needed to feel comfortable in his new home. After just two weeks of Cecily being in the house with Chapo, Chapo just got up on his own and walked out the door into the backyard — something he’d never done before.
“It was just something about her that gave him this level of confidence he’d never had the entire time he’d been with me and probably his entire life,” Papp said.
Papp never could have guessed that all her 50-pound dog needed to come out of his shell was a kitten. Seeing the positive effect Cecily was having on Chapo, Papp decided to keep fostering kittens. As Chapo befriended more and more kittens, he grew increasingly comfortable, self-assured and affectionate.
The kittens served as role models for Chapo — he would even imitate their movements. When a kitten would roll onto their back, he would do the same, and when a kitten would stretch their legs, he’d stretch his legs too.
Papp took in a lot of foster kittens struggling with health concerns. As much as their playful energy healed Chapo, he nurtured them through their own difficulties as well.
Claudia Papp
“He just has this nurturing ability that I’ll never really understand how he got, because he certainly didn’t learn it from the person who had him before,” Papp said.
It’s now been four years since Papp first took in Chapo, which means he’s officially spent more time in a loving home than he did in his previous life.
“He’s at a level of progress that I never really saw as possible for him,” Papp said.
Thanks to the many kittens who passed through Papp’s home, Chapo couldn’t be more different from the terrified dog Papp first brought home.
