A Faithful Companion
A Faithful Companion
Hopper finds his home at High Point’s Buddhist Temple
By Cassie Bustamante
Photographs By Liz Nemeth
On an early-spring afternoon, Hannah Kohler drove up to High Point’s Buddhist temple in a Guilford County Animal Services van. Inside the vehicle was a gift for one of the resident monks, the Venerable John Manivong. The gift was a dog, but not just any dog. This was a special-needs dog, a three-legged canine with the improbable name of Hopper.
Before that moment, Hopper, a brindle-coated beauty, had spent months at the Guilford County Animal Services shelter on Guilford College Road, where staff had guessed him to be an Akita mix. Akitas, according the American Kennel Club, are muscular, double coated and descend from ancient Japanese lineage. In fact, in Japan, the “venerated” breed is thought to be a symbol of good heath, happiness and a long life — all things the shelter hopes its rescues will find. Stuart Belcher, an animal care technician at the shelter, says, “Our biggest mission is just to get them comfortable, feeling safe, and then help them find their perfect person.”
Where better to feel a secure and loving presence than by the side of a Buddhist monk? According to Buddha Weekly, dogs embody much of what Buddhists strive for and can guide us humans toward love, responsibility and living in the present moment. Perhaps a young dog could teach an old monk new tricks.
Wat Prakeonaramith, the High Point temple, is a center for traditional Buddhist practices including daily alms, food offerings and Laotian New Year celebrations. Plus, the temple hosts three-day forest retreats that promote contentment, something well-nourished dogs are pros at.
When Hopper arrived in late March, it was love at first nuzzle for Manivong, who is known as Yapho John out of respect for his elder wisdom. “He have three legs, but I love it,” he says. The 76-year-old native of Laos made news earlier this year when he joined in the Walk for Peace, supported by a walking stick as he traveled from Charlotte to Greensboro’s Grandover Resort. (Due to his age, the organizers didn’t want him to do more than that, but he was able to travel later, meeting at the Washington, D.C., finish point.)
Despite the immediate bond between monk and mutt, Hopper, who is estimated to be a little over 2 years old now, had to be sent back to the shelter from whence he came to comply with the temple’s strict protocol regarding gifts.
“It was a heartbreaking thing,” says Hannah, communication coordinator for Animal Services. The shelter, she says, had been operating under the assumption that the temple was aware of Hopper’s adoption. But, according to the temple coordinator, Andy Le, any gift requires approval from the temple board. The tripod dog, it seemed, hadn’t found his forever home quite yet.
Before meeting Yapho John, Hopper had been patiently waiting for his human. For reasons the shelter staff couldn’t fathom, no one scooped up the lovable pup who bubbled with personality. With his love of toys and walks — and even companionable silence — he was the ideal pup. “That’s why I was so shocked that it took him a while to get adopted because he just checks all the boxes,” says Stuart. “But I think sometimes the three legs can make some people very apprehensive.”
A quadruped canine at the time of his December 1, 2025, arrival, Hopper was discovered as a stray when someone called him in because their chickens were all riled up. Clearly, he was on the hunt for his next meal, though hobbling along due to an obviously serious back left leg injury. But, notes Stuart, “You could tell he wasn’t ready to give up or anything.”
Shortly after his intake, the shelter vets made the tough decision to amputate. The staff had already taken to calling him Hopper, but now the question arose as to whether or not his name could be perceived as insensitive for a three-legged dog. In the end, they decided that he looked a little like Hopper from the paranormal TV series Stranger Things, a character, much like this affable mutt, who never gives up. “He was always determined,” Stuart says. “You know, you could not get that guy to slow down — ready to meet people, ready to go, ready to play, ready to interact. So he definitely fit the name.” As for that amputation, it didn’t seem to phase him one bit. He kept putting one paw in front of the other and was made available for adoption on December 27.
It would be over three months before Hopper would find his home. Prolonged stays happen more than the shelter staff would like. The shelter houses upwards of 100 dogs and 50 cats at a time and some, sadly, eventually, are put down, such as the extremely ill or those who are injured beyond the state Hopper was in.
Left: Stuart Belcher and Hannah Kohler sidle up next to 4-year-old Lucy, a 95 lb cuddlebug who’s looking for her next lap
Middle: Big Boy, a 3-year-old lab mix, is a gentle soul seeking someone to stroll softly and slowly with him through the world
Right: Mama Woods, a 6-year-old, sits, shakes and high-fives – especially when a pup cup is involved – but she’ll happily sit by your side
“There’s always going to be at least 10 or 20 dogs that are going to fall through those gaps every month, that people just don’t notice,” Stuart says. “But if you keep trying, even though it’s five months later, all it takes is that one person coming in.”
In Hopper’s case, his one person was Yapho John. After just a few hours together, says Andy, “They got attached to each other. So, Yapho John tells the temple board, say, ‘Pretty please, a cherry on top, I want the dog.’”
Yapho John made his plea and waited for the board to deliberate Hopper’s fate.
Four or five days later, says Hannah, the shelter got word that his adoption had been approved. She and one of the intake staff members loaded him up in one of the animal control vans and headed to the temple, where Yapho John was waiting. The reunion? “It was like a Disney moment!” exclaims Hannah, who admits that the way this adoption went down was rather unconventional. “It’s not what we recommend. But he fell in love with the dog, regardless.” Smiles stretched across both dog and human faces as Yapho John repeated the words, “I missed you, Hopper.”
The day Guilford County Animal Services made the news social-media official? April 1. “A couple people thought we were pulling a prank,” says Hannah. “But, no, it was for real. Hopper found a home.”
Now, a few months later, Hopper has settled in, spending his days by Yapho John’s side. “I like to walk outside all the time,” says Yapho John. “He will follow me everywhere.”
Stuart now admits she’d had one little concern about Hopper’s new home: “He might be too energetic for an old monk.”
Yet, when it’s time to meditate in the temple, Hopper waits patiently just outside the door for Yapho John. Stuart says she and her coworkers initially erupted at the thought of Hopper just sitting and meditating. “We all laughed. We said, ‘If anybody needs to meditate though, it is Hopper!’”
So far, the Buddhist way of life is suiting Hopper just fine.
“I am so happy,” says Yapho John, his faithful companion by his side. OH
Though it’s located a stone’s throw from Interstate 74, the Wat Prakeonaramith temple is a colorful, woodland oasis. Vibrantly-painted buildings, fences, murals and shrines adorn the hub of the 14-acre property “where Lao Cultural Tradition melds with Buddhist Forest Tradition.” Here, the two resident monks, John Manivong, aka Yapho John, and Venerable Dr. Pra Maha Ajahn Wichian, adhere to a strict discipline that includes eating one meal a day, celibacy, detachment from worldly belongings and meditation — often by walking in the woods — with a goal of enlightenment.
Founded in 2016, Wat Prakeonaramith welcomes visitors and volunteers in an environment that fosters peace, compassion, wisdom and connection to nature. The temple even hosts an annual Lao New Year festival every April where guests can immerse themselves in the culture for a weekend. The monks not only serve as role models of what it means to let go of material longing, but also lead no-cost meditation retreats on site.
Yapho John only became a monk a little over a year ago. Before that, he’d been married with grown children. His new companion, Hopper, he jokes, has filled him with so much love that it’s like having another child. Prior to his adoption, the shelter had guesstimated Hopper’s birthday to be on the same day Yapho John became a monk, so the temple celebrated both last month.
His former wife, Sandy Manivong, now serves as secretary of the temple board. The two first stepped onto the path to enlightenment together. “Sell our house, everything,” she says. “We’re still trying to practice to the point that we won’t attach to anything,” she adds. “We try to free our spirit.”
Sandy explains how to free the spirit using a metaphor of a cup full of water. In goes salt, representing dukkha, or negative emotions and suffering. Suffering is just part of the human experience, whether it’s financial, physical or emotional. But through releasing attachment to material things or sending loving thoughts to those who have wronged you, you fill your cup with more water, diluting its saltiness. In the Buddhist principle of reincarnation, what you do in this life flows over into the next one, creating karma, which is inherently neither good nor bad. Ideally, each life cycle, or samsara, that you go through will be purer than the last. The ultimate goal is to reach nirvana, the point where the cycle ceases.
“So when we pass, we just, nothing will come back,” says Sandy, also in her 70s. “We just kind of let go.”
For Yapho John, simply practicing Buddhism wasn’t enough. He chose to become a monk, abandoning belongings and shaving his head to symbolize the letting go of vanity. When he set out on that spiritual path, the plan was to go to Laos, where he would practice mindfulness in the forest, meditating and connecting with nature. “But this temple needed help,” says Sandy. “So that’s why we end up here.”
At first glance, the temple buildings are a kaleidoscope of bright colors, painted in vivid reds, turquoises, yellows and greens. But, temple coordinator Andy Le points out, “We need a better living condition — living conditions, building conditions.”
He gestures to a breezeway ceiling that connects two buildings. “This is not really up to code in some ways.” The meditation space, he says, could use temperature control.
“When you go in there, it’s too hot, too cold, too hot,” says Yapho John, who would like to welcome guests to meditate with him in a comfortable space.
The first night Hopper slept at his new home, Yapho John worried that Hopper might be cold. “I could not sleep all night,” he says, noting that he eventually got up from his own bed to bring Hopper a blanket.
Now that Hopper has found his home at the temple, those much-needed donations have been on the rise, allowing for the purchase of a fence and doghouse for him. Plus, toys and other goods have been dropped off. Some have even bought items from the temple’s Amazon wish list.
Maybe with enough funds, Andy jokes, the large property could serve as home to more dogs.
To find out more, visit watprakeonaramithhp.org.