Chack is an albino Border Collie who is currently four years old. This dog has a beautiful story and, in addition, several curiosities, one of them is that he goes to mass.
In fact, in the church he is already so well known that the nuns of the Pedralbes monastery in Barcelona already know him and let him enter. He is another participant. He goes unnoticed, gets up when everyone else does and sits quietly when he plays.
Isaura Marcos has photographed the dog Chack and his owner, Santi Godó, at the doors of the monastery church and has shared them in La Vanguardia’s Readers’ Photos.
They had this dog as a guard in a farmhouse belonging to a shepherd known to Chack’s current family. One day they decided to make an exchange: two rabbits, which were the Godós’ previous pets, for the albino Border Collie.
“In the distance from the farmhouse I saw a dog and suddenly I arrived and saw it tied to a chain. Suddenly I saw that the dog immediately got on its knees and was lying down looking at me with a little face…”, explains Santi Godó, ” For the first time, the fear that I had always had of dogs went away.
“And I said I wanted this one, I noticed something special about him, although I didn’t understand dogs either. He was the guardian of the flocks. I was very surprised that he also wore a spiked collar to protect himself from wolves,” he adds.
“When we kept him, he walked only with his front legs, the back ones could barely support him. He had one eye of each color and we found out that he was an albino dog,” explains Santi.
“Everyone recognizes me at mass because I go with the dog, now I have gotten used to going every day and the dog comes, he is super calm there,” he explains. “He detects that we are calm and that there is a lot of peace in the church and he has never barked. He comes, sits next to me and there are days when he endures super long masses. Everyone knows that he is the dog that goes to mass,” he remarks. .
“It’s as if he participated in the mass, because of course when you are at mass, when you get up, the dog also gets up,” says Santi. “Normally only guide dogs that are already trained in this way enter mass, but I also try to put myself in the back rows so as not to disturb,” he acknowledges, “everyone tells me that he behaves very well. He has gotten used to our life “adds the dog’s owner.
But going to mass is not his only talent, he is also a very empathetic dog and, although it is said that Border Collies are very nervous, he is not at all, on the contrary. He is a very happy, smart, empathetic and affectionate dog.
“When my father died, I began to mourn and then the dog also mourned for two months, in an impressive way. He neither jumped nor bothered, he saw that I was sad and he was always by my side,” explains Santi. “After two months I suddenly saw that the dog started jumping and running again, I looked at myself and said, I’m not grieving anymore,” he adds. “I realized that I myself was no longer grieving because I saw that the dog had realized before me that I had already gone through it,” he explains.
Santi Godó highlights the relevance that finding Chack has had in his life. “I was very shocked to think that it is said that dogs in principle do not have souls, but, for me, they help their owner’s soul go to heaven,” he says. “He is faithful until death, I am learning fidelity from my dog, always with that attentive look,” he confesses.
The entire family is thrilled to have Chack in their lives. In fact, Santi is convinced that, thanks to him, he is a better person. “I have discovered loyalty with my dog, I have become a better person, more sociable,” he reveals.
Chack’s master’s recommendation regarding having a dog is, above all, that you have time. Having time is essential to be able to create that bond and give back all the good that the animal can give you.
