Senior Pug Shorty Misses His Dad So Much That His Mom Buys Him A Dummy To Snuggle Instead

There are few things on this Earth that are stronger than a bond two living things can create between each other, and a bond between a dog and its owner is no exception to this rule at all.

Meet Shorty. Shorty is a 15-year-old pug that, until recently, has pretty much spent every single waking moment of his little life going along and enjoying his life with his human dad, Marc. And when you consider how the pair first became acquainted, it’s not surprising in the slightest.

You see, Marc actually rescued Shorty 1 long years ago from a dog shelter he visited in Philadelphia after deciding he just couldn’t leave him there.

Apparently, the connection that Marc felt towards Shorty was such an incredibly mutual one due to the fact that ever since he brought the little cutie home, the two have been completely stuck to each other like glue.

And according to Marc’s wife, Kristen Peralta, during an interview with The Dodo, she divulged that the bond her husband and little Shorty share reaches beyond just the mere ordinary pet/parent connection.

“Shorty and Marc have a very special relationship. Marc calls Shorty his ‘angel dog’. Shorty is just so happy when Marc is holding him.”

Unfortunately, however, for the adorable fun-loving duo, as is true with any relationship, time can be a cruel, cruel thing.

15 years old is not young for a dog. Now that sweet little Shorty is entering his senior, golden years he just can’t get around as well as he used to when he was in his prime puppy years, and sadly this means spending a lot less time with his dear Daddy.

You see, Marc has to travel most of the time for his work, and as Shorty has aged, he’s just not in good enough shape to be the road dog he once was.

“He’s been having a lot of separation anxiety in his senior years and, unfortunately, Marc has to travel a good amount for work.”

So, as a concerned dog Mom, Kristen describes how hard it is on Shorty when Marc isn’t around.

“Shorty will bark and cry when Marc is gone and nothing seems to calm him. He won’t even settle when I am holding him now. He just wants his dad.”

As you can imagine, after spending literally every minute with his Dad for just over 11 years, it’s really not surprising that the poor little furball pines for Marc when he’s away traveling on business.

Alas, Shorty certainly doesn’t suffer alone, and lovely Kristen has tried just about everything she can think of to pug her heartbroken little pug at ease.

To add even more wonderfulness to this story, Marc and Kristen actually operate a retirement home for hospice and elderly dogs in Rhode Island which is called Vintage Pet Rescue, so they really do know what a heavy toll separation anxiety can be on an old doggy.

And even though Shorty was surrounded constantly by the loving company of all the other retired, golden-aged doggys along with Kristen, there was just nothing that could take his little mind off of missing his Dad. Kristen knew she was going to have to start thinking outside of the box.

In an attempt to soothe little Shorty, Kristen began by stuffing a pillow into one of Marc’s shirts so that the heartsick pup could snuggle up against it during the day. However, smart little Shorty was wise to Kristen’s tricks and paid absolutely no attention to her thoughtful decoy.

As Shorty continued to be as inconsolable as ever without his dad’s lap to take refuge on, Kristen was becoming more and more desperate to find a way to comfort the dear old pug.

After learning just how forlorn Shorty was without her son, Peralta’s mother came up with an ingenious idea… and sneakily ordered a life-sized dummy in order to trick the switched-on Shorty.

Then, when the dummy eventually arrived, Kristen took pretty much every precaution to make sure it was as Marc-like as humanly (or, dummily?) as possible, and in doing so hoped that Shorty wouldn’t once again, detect her trickery.

“I put one of Marc’s already-worn shirts on it so it would have his smell. I sat Shorty down on the lap, wrapped the arms around him, and he was asleep within half an hour. He slept through the night wrapped in the dummy. It was truly remarkable.”

And AT LAST, it seems that the Peralta family had finally found a solution which would help to ease poor Shorty’s heartache whenever his Dad had to leave their little bromance bubble, and it does not look like it will be a temporary solution, either. Marc the dummy is here to stay!

In fact, shorty is SO convinced by the Marc dummy, which we are told has fondly been named as Farc (as in, Fake Marc), that he now spends pretty much all of his time snuggled up next to it whenever his real dad isn’t around to hang with him… and as it turns out he isn’t the ONLY one that’s been fooled by him.

The sweet old pug’s little brother, who is adorably known as Bug (Bug the PUG… I can’t cope), could not WAIT to try and coax his dad into partaking into some playtime.

“He thinks it’s a real person so he was all over it, licking the face and pulling on the hands. It was hilarious.”

And even better, luckily for us, Kristen has even managed to catch a video of Bug doing his utmost best to get Farc (the dummy’s) attention. And it, is, MAGICAL.

Watch it for yourself below!

Even cuter, the puppy love for this tatted-up dummy doesn’t stop with brothers Bug and Shorty either. In fact, ALL of Marc and Kristen’s rescue dogs have come to love their dad’s decoy, and so “Farc” has become a regular favorite visitor to the Vintage Pet Rescue retirement home… how amazing is that!?

“It’s actually been completely adorable. The other pups will lay next to the dummy or on its feet. Last night, five of them were huddled around the dummy.”

Be sure to share this adorable story of Shorty and Bug with all your friends and family to help brighten up their day! x

All images sourced from Vintage Pet Rescue

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