‘My fashion philosophy is, if you’re not covered in dog hair, your life is empty.’
– American comedian and writer, Elayne Boosler
I have two dogs and I think two is enough.
Lately, I was tempted to accept two more dogs. When I visited my former sister-in-law during the Chinese New Year, I was surprised to see two beautiful young dogs in her backyard. One was brown while the other was black and white. The dogs were friendly and tried to climb all over me.
“They have another sister that has not been adopted. Do you want it?” she asked me.
Much as I was tempted, I turned down her offer when I thought of the hard work involved in looking after an additional dog.
But I could not resist playing with my sister-in-law’s playful dogs which followed me everywhere in the yard. She has trained them not to enter the house. Any dog which tries to do so will be hit gently with a rotan rod.
I have two dogs; Cookie, a black and white male mongrel, was about 10 years old while Bailey, a brown female mongrel, was about two years old.
I also thought of my son, Patrick. “Dog hair all over the house. Don’t adopt any more dogs. Don’t let the dogs sleep inside the house,” he would say whenever he visited me.
A few days ago, while strolling along a corridor near my office during a break from work, I came across a small brown female mongrel. It resembled my dog, Bailey but Bailey had a curly tail while the puppy’s tail was straight.
I touched the puppy and patted its head. After that, it followed me everywhere.
Although I was tempted to bring the obvious stray home, the thought of hard work involved in looking after an additional dog and the image of my son’s frowning face stopped me from doing so.
My family has been rearing dogs for ages. Our first dog was a white female puppy which followed my father home from work late one night in Sibu. We called the dog Bobby. That was before I was old enough for school. I cannot remember what it ate and how it died. That was how uninvolved I was in looking after the dog.
After that, there was another female black dog called Lobby, its son called Bobby, another female dog called Buddy, two dogs, one male and one female, called Lucky simultaneously and a female dog called Doggie.
All the female dogs were exceptionally loving, offering us unconditional love, and very loyal.
Many of the dogs we reared earlier on were not spayed. There were no concerns about stray dogs and their booming population and no fears of rabies infections then. Hence, none of our earlier dogs were vaccinated against rabies. If the female dogs gave births, we just gave away the puppies.
Now , both Cookie and Bailey are spayed and vaccinated against rabies. They are also licensed.
The last female dog to die in my house was Lucky. It was clever; it could open the gate if it was not properly locked. It was loyal and loving. One day, when it fell sick, my family took Lucky to the vet but it was too late.
After that, only Cookie and a male orange cat called Mimi were left. Then Mimi died of old age.
Cookie and Mimi used to fight for my affection. When Mimi died, Cookie was broken hearted. It did not eat for a few days and just lay on the floor, looking lifeless.
That was when I decided to look for a puppy to keep it company and play with it.
My nephew, Kiong, soon found a cute brown female mongrel which my niece named Bailey. For your information, many of the latter dogs in my house were named by my niece, Ah Hong. She would diligently search for their names in the Internet.
Some people say looking after dogs is not hard, just a lot of work and expenses. I disagree. I think looking after dogs is hard, involves a lot of work and expenses.
I seldom walk Bailey because it is very energetic and strong. When it was younger, it was lost for 12 days. One day, in the wee hours of the morning, it reappeared whimpering in front of my gate. Since then, I refuse to take chances with Bailey.
Since then, it has escaped a few times from my house, with my sisters and son in hot pursuit, at different times.
When my youngest sister, Ah Lan, came back for a holiday recently, she and my son had to chase Bailey and bring it back from another lane in my neighbourhood.
When I came home from work, Ah Lan angrily related the hardship she endured and the hide and seek game she played with Bailey.
I don’t have to walk Cookie; it will go out by itself to answer Nature’s call and return home after that. But I have to clean up after Bailey every day after it does its business and after both dogs have eaten.
Both Cookie and Bailey want to be played with me, especially after work at night. They need to be bathed at least once a week and fed two meals a day.
I also spend a lot on their meals which have to be changed every day. If I feed them chicken feet or chicken livers every day; they will not eat the food.
Both dogs want to eat biscuits, to be patted and even massaged before they go to bed every night. I also have to take them for veterinary checkups once in a while.
Yes, my friends, there is no denying the tremendous joys Cookie and Bailey have brought to my life through their companionship. Without them, I will be lonely.
But looking after them is hard and involves a lot of work and expenses. That is why, for now, two is enough for me.
