Dog Congratulates His Hooman Parents For Graduating From UP Diliman

Dog’s owners graduate from UP Diliman

Filipino culture values family above all things, as our families are often first in line to cheer us on whenever we achieve something. From hanging tarpaulins outside houses to buying lechon, there’s no end to ways in which we express our pride over a family member’s success.

And when we talk about family, we can’t leave out pets that almost every Filipino household has. This proud dog congratulates his hooman parents on social media, a couple who graduated from the University of the Philippines Diliman with honors last Sunday, 26th July.

Rusty the dog graduates with his own honors

Rusty the dog congratulates his hooman parents
Image credit: Czai Paglinawan

Sablay season is upon us, and that means congratulating your Isko and Iska friends on graduating from one of the top universities in the country, University of the Philippines Diliman.

Rusty the dog joins the tidal wave of support with a post on Facebook group Who’s Your Pupper?, congratulating his hooman parents Czai Paglinawan and Jace Nadong for graduating with honors – magna cum laude and cum laude respectively. The happy grads are a couple who take care of Rusty together.

Their doggo even got his own honorary title, cum-akain ng tsinelas, a play of words on how he likes to chew on slippers.

Juggling being students and dog parents

Images adapted from: Czai Paglinawan and Jace Nadong

Being students and dog parents at the same time isn’t an easy job. Fortunately, Paglinawan and Nadong gave us a few tips on how to juggle the two roles, and do great at both like they did.

First, the road to pet parenthood is not to be taken lightly – plan and prepare. “It is not easy to be a student-dog parent so make sure that you have the time, resources, passion, love and patience to raise a furbaby,” Paglinawan says.

Second, spend time with your fur baby. In their case, Rusty lives with his dad, Jace, so Czai makes sures to set aside time for the both of them. They frequent dog-friendly parks and malls during school breaks, walk Rusty inside the university grounds as a date, or more recently due to COVID-19, do frequent video calls.

Lastly, save money for checkups. It’s all fun and games until your pet gets sick, so make sure you have enough money so that you can take care of your fur baby independently.

Netizens’ heart-warming reactions

Image adapted from: Czai Paglinawan

Ever since the Facebook post went up on 25th July, it has amassed over 14,000 likes and almost 500 comments sending congratulations to the couple and boops to Rusty.

A restaurant selling flavored chicken poppers, Chimkins, even sent the dog’s family a surprise – a box of their chicken – in response to the post’s caption.

Look after your pets like these dog parents do

The story of these proud UP graduates and dog parents prove that juggling university and fur parenthood is tough, but possible. With proper time management, resources, and dedication, it’ll be a cake walk. So don’t forget to check on your pets and shower them with love and care.

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Cover image adapted from: Czai Paglinawan on Facebook group Who’s Your Pupper?