Claire: A story of unconditional love
By Tracy Copeland
Special to The Star-Herald
What do you do if your newly-born puppy is born without a cerebellum, and because of this cannot walk? Do you take the veterinarian’s advice and have the puppy put down, or do you accept the puppy’s handicap and let it live, knowing that you will have a lot of work ahead of you assisting it in the daily activities of living?
This was the case with the American Eskimo puppy Claire Copeland 
, who came into our (my wife Carolina and I) lives five years ago. We brought her mother and father from Chicago when we moved to Maine. Shortly after arriving, the mother gave birth to three puppies. We decided that we would keep all of the puppies since we allowed the mother and father to breed and because we loved these puppies. We named the smallest and only female puppy Claire.
Within days, we noticed that Claire wasn’t able to get into position to nurse as well as the other puppies. After a couple of weeks, we discovered that Claire could not walk. We took her to specialists in Presque isle and Portland and learned that she was born without a portion of her brain, so she would never be able to walk.
We faced a choice: put her down or let her continue living, knowing that it would take a considerable amount of effort on our part to care for her.
We decided on continuing her life. Five years later, we still agree with this choice. Sure, we have had to lift her up and hand-feed her water about four times a day (about 7,300 times during her life so far), many of these occurring during the night.
But what we receive is unconditional love from a dog who knows that we truly love her — a dog that, despite her handicap, is very happy and grateful that we let her live; a dog that relishes every moment we spend with her.
Claire has given us as much as she has taken from us. She has given us the ability to love unconditionally, the ability to put others before ourselves and, most importantly, she has given us her complete love and devotion.
Our 2-year-old daughter, Isabella, loves Claire very much. At such a young age, Isabella does not understand why Claire cannot walk. She tells us time and again “Claire no walk.” And then she reasons “Claire needs shoes.” If only it was that easy.
As you think about adopting a dog or cat, think about how much love they could bring to your home. Think about how they might help you and your family grow as a unit. These pets come with few or no defects — think how much easier that will be for you!
