Falling In Love With Otis

Growing up, Schalk and I both had family dogs. We loved them dearly, but they weren’t our responsibility, and our parents did most of the looking after. We both grew up and moved out of our parents’ houses, but neither of us has had our own pets until now, after making the decision to adopt little Otis from Dogtown.

- Wendy McKechnie

We’re engaged and live in an apartment in Linden that has a lovely communal garden. Every day I used to watch families walking their dogs and people taking their dogs to Emmarentia and Delta Park, and my heart was yearning for a dog too.

After lots of research and many YouTube videos on potty training in an apartment, we decided we could do it. I mean, it’s a very common thing in Europe and New York to have a dog in an apartment, and millions of people do it. In South Africa, though, very few people do. And I can understand why, as many people here have the luxury of having a big garden, and if you live in an apartment, you don’t have that space. In an apartment, if you aren’t willing to put in the work, your dog will become bored and destructive. Potty training is a lot more effort too. Regardless, we were willing to take on the challenge, and we don’t regret it for one second!

ADOPTING OTIS