A Family Grows In Brooklyn
– by Skipp Sudduth
Delia Bonfilio and Skipp Sudduth are devoted Animal Haven volunteers, donors and adopters. Delia, the owner of Bonfilio Design in New York, volunteers her talent and skill by designing most of our invitations and publications including The Journal. And Skipp of Third Watch fame always brings a smile to our events. Together they have adopted two cats and now a dog from Animal Haven. This caring Brooklyn couple is a part of the Animal Haven family and we are honored that they offered to share their Animal Haven experience with you.
As corny as it sounds it really was love at first sight. Delia and I had been talking about the possibility of adopting a dog for months. It was two weeks before Christmas and we were attending an event to celebrate the soon-to-be-opened Animal Haven Soho when four puppies arrived. Someone asked me if I wanted to hold one of them as they placed his little velvety black body in my hands. He was about ten weeks old and part of an eight puppy litter that had been rescued and brought to the shelter. The crew at AH had given them foster-names appropriate to the season. The improvised tape and paper collar around his neck said “Frosty.” He looked like a Dachshund except his perfectly proportioned little body had nice long legs. He was totally cool and relaxed as he was passed around among the celebs present posing for photos. I remember watching him “do the green carpet” with Bebe Neuwirth and was amazed as he stared down the flashing clicking hoard like a total pro, never squirming or complaining. That’s when I knew he was my dog. I wanted Bebe to hurry and hand him back to me. We had already started bonding. Delia said, “if you want that puppy you’d better speak up, everybody loves him and someone might adopt him tonight.” We agreed right then and there that he was coming home with us. We also agreed that he wouldn’t stay “Frosty” but would be “Louie L’Amour” – a nod to our sweet little Lucy who passed away in May of 2006.
A week later we picked him up from AH Flushing. The toughest thing about that day was not being able to adopt one or two of his brothers with him. I went upstairs to the “dog room” to get him and there they all were. Louie and five of his rambunctious siblings. They were all so beautiful, so loving, so cute – but our apartment and more importantly our cat just couldn’t handle so overwhelming an invasion. I lifted Louie out of his pen and into our lives. They wrapped him in a little blue turtle neck sweater and Delia carried him in her arms.We set out for home and his first meeting with “Ethelina”.
In 2003 we had adopted two female cats from Animal Haven, who had been left at the shelters doorstep in a box with no information. We named them Lucy and Ethel. Lucy was the most warm and affectionate cat either one of us had ever met – and we miss her dearly. Ethel is a big Maine Coon and looks like a lioness on a slightly smaller scale. She doesn’t like strangers and never hesitates to let you know if she doesn’t like what is happening. For the past year Ethel had been the true reigning queen of the roost. How would she handle this very young, bouncy, playful, CANINE addition to HER household? Their first meeting wasn’t promising. This transition would be tougher than we thought. We took it slow, went to puppy class, did our homework, and everyday we fell more deeply in love with him and everyday Ethel forgave us a little more and tolerated her rapidly growing little brother a bit better.
Now, three and a half months later, Louie is house trained! Delia has taught him to sit, lay down, stay, and even “shake hands” with either paw. He is retrieving. He still tries to play with Ethel, but a couple of healthy swats from those big paws of hers takes care of that. Now they sit on the couch together while we all watch Animal Planet. Simply amazing.
When we brought Louie home, he weighed just over nine pounds. As of this writing he tips the scale at a healthy 40 – and he’s only six months old! He loves to sleep in the bed with us and loves to ride in the car. He also loves to take showers! One Saturday morning about two months ago, I stepped into our shower with the water already on and as I reached back to close the door Louie stepped in too. He walked right into the stream of water and stood there soaking in it like he’d done it a hundred times before. His favorite part is getting out. I spread a big towel on the floor and he rolls around on it rubbing his clean shiny coat. You can really tell at that moment that he’s one happy dog and I can tell you that there will always be a towel at our house with Louie’s name on it.
