MY dogs

Are you keen to have a pet of your own?

Well, having a pet of your own is lots of work. Originally, I did not have any pets. When I was young I was terrified of dogs. Those big mongrel dogs at my grandma's kampong house would always howl and bark, showing me their teeth. I got so scared of them, my grandfather would have to leash it up with their chain before i would alight from my dad's car.

Come to think of it, that's very bad behaviour. The dog must not like me, cos everytime im there to visit my grandparents, he's being locked up. NOw that i think of it, I very much pity the dog and hoped it went to heaven already.

Do you know that dogs have a life span of only about 13 years? It must have been more than 13 years since i last saw the dog. It must have went to heaven, since all dogs go to heaven dont they?

I kept my first pet when I was in primary school. I got myself pet swordfishes. They are red in color and have this pointy pointy red and black tail. However, I think they are a little dumb.

Why? Whenever i left the cover of the plastic tank open, they would commit suicide by jumping out of the water. At times, I managed to save it by realising it on time and putting them back into the tank. But sometimes I am too late and they die all dried up! *sniff*

By P6, i decided fishes are stupid. I refused to have anymore pet fishes. I refused to follow my parents to the market anymore becos they used to sell pet fishes in the wet market.

When I was in JC, my friend gave me a cutesy little hamster for my birthday present. Cage, water bottle included. But I have to buy my own pet food. Which costs alittle over $3. It's a white syrian, with long white fur. I called it brandi and i had to clean its cage every weekend or else it will stink the air. I even bathed the hamster so that it dont smell.

Brandi is a very mischevious hamster. It ran away one day while nobody was looking and we cannot find him. The disappearance hurt alot and I was so angry with it for running away.

a few days later my mother's friend found two baby hamsters, (Somebody abandoned the hamsters, probably because the hamsters are too smelly) and gave one to me. I called her Whiski.

She was so fun to be with. She would wake up aqt 8pm sharp everyday and does the suicidal act of jumping from her second storey house to the base of the cage, so that we know she is awake and will go feed her.

Whiski lived a ripe old age of 3 years old and passed away one afternoon. Everybody in the house was upset. My two younger sisters wept, I wept even my mother was affected. She was buried under my block - my mother helped me to bury her. From then on, my mother decreed - no more pets! They caused too much heartache.

however, we met up with an old neighbour a few months later. You see her female dog gave birth to 4 puppies recently and she wanted to give one to us. So I was excited and asked my mother for permission. She said no no no no no no and no.

I thought that was the end of it. Then one fine day, she came to me and asked do you really want that dog? I say yes! And she laid down her conditions. At that time I was a big girl already. I was already studying in the university and is able to take care of myself and I was also working part time. So after my university examinations, my mother agreed to let me go visit my old neighbour and choose our puppy home!

That was the happiest day of my life.

I choose the puppy and brought it home. To date, the dog's food, grooming, cleaniness, poop and urine are all undertaken by me alone. It took me 2 months before i successfully trained my dog to pass motion and urinate in the toilet and not anywhere else.

So you see, if your parents refused to allow you to have your own pet, it is not because they cannot afford to. It is also not because they dont love you. It is simply because at the moment, they want to have the time to take care of you. When you are older, perhaps your parents would allow you to take on the responsibility of having a pet to call your own. So in the meantime, be satisfied with just playing with somebody's dog until you are all grown up and can take care of yourself and others too.

Why did I have two dogs instead of one? I shall save that story for another day.