An Introduction

Ricky came into the family on 5 May 1996, a few months after our cat leaped out of our 11th storey flat. We decided to keep a dog instead, as the likelihood of another jump was quite unlikely.

At the pet shop, we decided on this boy because he was the only dog sitting quietly in his cage whilst the rest of the puppies were barking the place down. Like an angel. When we brought him home and he continued his silence, we worried that he was a mute. It was only when he was watching TV did he start barking (at the screen).

Ricky barks at everything. The newspaper man. Thunder. A whistling kettle. The Air. The Sky. Me. Ma. Kor. Pa. Everyone. For dinner. For breakfast. For lunch. For the Apple. Everything. Except little animals and insects. :) He simply drowns the insects with his drool.

He used to be a sweetheart and loved having guests at our home, until one day, my cheeky piano teacher hid behind a chair and BOO-ed him, scaring the hell out of him. Since then, he has acquired this deep hatred for strangers in our house and will bark at the intruder with every step he or she takes. He is only at peace if he sees you sitting down with no big movements.

Like the family, he enjoys food a lot and cannot do without his nightly apple snack. We used to be careful with what he eats because of his skin allergy. But now that he has a huge tumor/cancer and we know he won't be around much longer, really, we let him have all the yummies he desires.

He's 13 years old now. Old, balding, down with a huge tumour, unable to control his bladder and bowels sometimes... but still possesses the cheeky (nice word for naughty) and curious (read: kaypoh) spirit since puppy hood.

I know he won't be around much longer and one day, in a sudden moment of great panic, I decided I shall blog and capture his life before he fades away too quickly.

A Big Baby

It's funny how we love this dog so much but still find caring for him such a great chore at times. 

Showering him. 

Feeding him. 

Walking him. 

Cleaning up his mess. 

Clipping his nails. 

Cleansing his ears. 

Blah blah blah. 

We whine. We complain. We push it onto each other. We point fingers. 

But we still do it. Maybe grudingly so but still we do. For a simple reason that we love him and if we don't do all those things, he will be one smelly, hungry and grouchy dog.  

I think people with dogs (and to a certain extent, cats) who actually take care of them will be good baby-carers in future. No, I don't mean good parents. I only mean the person will be patient and good at taking care of the baby's basic needs and hygiene. Because a dog is like a baby who never grows up throughout his entire time with you. 

13 years and counting... 

I'll Be

...the greatest fan of your life. 

My Dog Is More Handsome Than Yours!

I bought this poster from IKEA yesterday.

But seriously, why did I bother when there's a poster dog at home??? 

Not cute meh?! 

:D 

The 'Clearance' Puppy, Mum and Me

I can't recall the last time I went to the movies with my mum.

I do remember watching 'The Land Before Time' (1988!) in that dingy cinema in Bedok (the most happening place in the east in the 1980s) with mum, her friends and their kids before primary school. Then came a vaccuum. Then came primary school where she trusted me enough to go for movies with my friends. Then came the 'boyfriends era' during which going to GV was a weekly pilgrimage. Then came 'sisterhood of the singles' where I started watching movies with my single girls and boys.

The bottom line is this: I've probably not been to the movies with my mum for over 20 years.

Being a huge fan of the book 'Marley & Me', I hyperventilated the first time I saw the movie poster in Novemeber 2008. I'd probably coerced a dozen people to read the book and to promise to watch it with me but I finally decided the best person to watch it with would be mum. She loves dogs. We have a dog. This movie is about a dog's journey with his owners from puppyhood to senior years. We will be able to relate to it perfectly.

I was secretly hoping that mum would cry watching it. Haha. In fact, I thought I saw her wiping tears away but she insisted she didn't cry. Naturally, I cried a lot towards the end of the movie and she was poking fun at me. Hmmph! But really, I think we can appreciate what the author said of Marley and dogs in general:

Was it possible for a dog - any dog, but especially a nutty, wildly uncontrollable one like ours - to point humans to the things that really mattered in life? I believed it was. Loyalty. Courage. Devotion. Simplicity. Joy. And the things that did not matter, too. A dog has no use for fancy cars or big homes or designer clothes. Status symbols mean nothing to him. A water-logged stick will do just fine. A dog judges others not by their color or creed or class but by who they are inside. A dog doesn't care if you are rich or poor, educated or illiterate, clever or dull. Give him your heart and he will give you his.

When we came home from the movie, we couldn't find Ricky at his usual spot in the living room. We eventually found him lying on the floor right in the middle of my room awake and waiting. He didn't hear our chattering and only noticed us when he turned his head towards the door. Ricky scrambled to his feet and greeted us. A classic example of how a dog will always welcome you home no matter how long you go away... <3