Wonders of man’s best friend
WHEN our family re-located to Petaling Jaya in 1975, we were truly fortunate to find a spacious house in a quiet and pleasant locality blessed with all the best amenities conducive for bringing up three active boys aged two, four and six.
While managing our household with a constrained budget, we had to postpone renovating stronger enforcements around our compound. Not long afterwards, our neighbourhood experienced petty thefts. Jeans, shirts, shoes, and even a cylinder of gas were stolen during the night. The last straw was when our car was broken into and the radio stolen. We desperately needed a watchdog!
Our first pet was a Boxer, strong and regal-looking with shiny black fur and was honourably named King. He was loving, alert and playful – but not with strangers. With King around, there were no more petty thefts as King was truly vigilant. During the night, he would climb onto our car bonnet to enable him to have a commanding view of the neighbourhood.
One night, King barked ferociously and incessantly but, on checking, we saw no one. The next morning, to our surprise, our front neighbour came over to thank us for King’s good deed. Apparently when he heard King’s fierce barking the previous night, he decided to investigate. Seeing nobody outside, he went to his kitchen quietly and was shocked to see an intruder trying to force open a window to gain access into his house. He shouted at the thief who ran away swiftly, climbed over the gate and escaped.
During a December school vacation, we had to travel to Penang for a wedding. We had no choice but to put King up at a pet home-stay. Five days later, on our return to fetch King home, we were taken by surprise at his indescribable joy. He barked and jumped with joy, did several jigs and circles, stopping once in a while to lick us while wagging his tail. What a joyous reunion it was for all of us. Poor King had thought we had abandoned him!
The adage that dogs are man’s best friends rang true for our next pet.
Sandy, a female Chow Chow which looked more like a lion, was not only a very good guard dog but was also extremely loyal, gentle, intelligent, courageous, affectionate and fiercely protective.
Being so very furry, she needed a cooler atmosphere and so she became our indoor pet. Spending much time grooming her daily strengthened our relationship.
Every morning, at seven sharp, she would wake me up to let her into the garden. She would wait at the gate patiently for my return from work daily. During the weekends, she would whine for her evening walk to the park. These outings were social sessions for pet lovers and also opportunities for our pets to befriend one another.
Sandy exhibited her protective and possessive nature when we were away for a long vacation. On our return, our maid told us that during our absence Sandy guarded our bedroom and even slept on my side of the bed at night.
Once, during a trivial argument with my husband, Sandy ran into our room, put her paws on me and whined protectively at me. Surprisingly, she stayed by me till we ended our spat!
Sport, a male mongrel, was a strong, alert, exuberant and good watchdog. He was faithfully protective of our family. He kept our garden free of intruding mice from the back drain, chased away all the stray cats and kept the garden squirrels at bay.
Whenever we returned home from marketing, Sport would sniff curiously to see what we had brought home. Once when a friend helped me to unload my marketing trolley and basket, Sport was quick to growl angrily at him, thinking he was stealing our possessions.
Sport’s favourite part of the day was evening which was his exercise-cum-walking time. When I pretended I had forgotten, he would run round the house, peering inside and barking loudly till I responded. At the end of our walk and as we were about to enter through the gate, Sport would cunningly lead me away to walk farther to the end of the road and then back.
Sport lived to a ripe old age of 13 years (91 human years).
Today, whenever I see dogs walking by, I would reminisce about the wonderful time I had spent with my “best friends”.
Indeed, in the words of M.K. Clinton, “The world would be a nicer place if everyone had the ability to love as unconditionally as a dog”.