Two Dogs

I have managed to walk both dogs together yesterday. The recuperating dog (named Dewy for now) still growls at Casper and I need to pull them away from each other during the walks. Walking 2 strong dogs can be pretty challenging – whether they try to go separate ways or pull me towards the same direction. Don’t think my parents are able to do this.

So far no one has come searching for Dewy. Wonder if he has been on the streets for a while. Looks like I might need to find him a new home. Anyone interested? He's trained to do his "business" during his walks, rarely barks and he has not attempt to bite anyone despite being wounded. Maybe just don't quite like my attention seeking Casper.

Casper is fine with him. Maybe too friendly. But when someone comes to the house, he barks at Dewy. Maybe trying to complain to that person that there is a stranger in the house and he dislike sharing the attention.

Brown Dog Found

I am currently looking for the owner of a male dark brown dog. He has a choker collar on him. Someone saw him hit by a car on LDP yesterday night before he ran to the Damansara Utama housing area nearby. Picked him out from a drain. He looks fine and is under the care of a vet.

Please drop me a message if you are or if you know the owner of this dog.

Dog-napped!

I knew that the local authorities here are very cruel to dogs and have always advised my family to never allow Casper out of the house. Any animal straying outside private property can be taken by the authorities. But sometimes being a normal dog, Casper occasionally makes a dash out when we open the gates!

Casper was missing since 29th April 2009. Yes, Casper runs out of the house but he normally returns within the same day. It is very distressing to come home and not see him. I printed and distributed flyers around my house hoping that someone might have saw him or might have taken him in.

I received an sms from one of my neighbour yesterday advising me to check at PAWS. In the sms, this person mentioned that we should quickly go check as a relative's dog was put to sleep by the time they went to search there.

My mum and brother went to PAWS in Subang today. After looking into the many cages, they gave up. When my mum passed one of our flyers to the counter, they just sticked it to their board. I guess there is just too many dogs that are brought in everyday. The person on the counter did asked if we have checked every section. There was a special section that is labeled MPPJ and NO ENTRY. After arguing with the person guarding that section, my mum was allowed in. The moment she shouted Casper, he came jumping. He was full of fear and was constantly shaking until he reached home. Really breaks our heart to see him like that.

Every dog taken from the pound is charged RM80. That was nothing to get Casper back. It was such a relieved. But can you imagine, someone might have "bought" him before we arrived? Yes, I admit that it is always the owner's fault for allowing their pets out of the compound. But, there must be a better way.

He is home now, with proper food and care minus the smell. I guess he is also sleeping for the 1st time in peace after 4 nights in the pound. I could feel that he is thinner than usual. He probably never ate much sinced. Knowing Casper, he is not as aggresive as most dogs. He can't challenge the other dogs to the food.

I can't imagine the method used to catch him. Maybe I'm just upset by the whole ordeal but can't seem to understand why the stray dogs around my area never get caught. They move around in a group - sometimes 6 together. But they have been around for years. Maybe it is more fun to bully naive, gullible, domestic pets that are easier to catch. Can't help but wonder if pet's are their primary target. There are many licensed dogs at the MPPJ section of PAWS. Hopefully their owner claims them soon.

UPDATE: Casper was coughing badly after returning from PAWS. The vet told us that his lungs were swollen. Suspect he was hurt during the capture. After an injection and antibiotics for a week, he is back to normal.

Marley & Casper

I bought a few books from last year's MPH clearance and one of it is Marley & Me.

I happen to read in the newspapers and saw the preview of the movie last month and decided I better read it real soon! It is an autobiographical about the Grogans and their yellow Labrador Retriever.

The subtitle of the book is “life and love with the world’s worst dog”. I roughly get an idea what it is all about. Since my childhood days I have attempted to convince my parents numerous times to allow me to keep a dog. I vaguely remember that we had one but died and another one stolen. My parents gave up. I guess they knew that they will end up caring for the dog anyway.

They finally gave the green light in 2002. We brought home Casper when we was around 2 months old. He was a furball. So rounded and super adorable!

As I read the book about Marley, I realized that Casper is actually a very normal dog. Like Marley, Casper likes to run and crash into the doors. He lungs and chokes himself when we walk him. He is also extremely terrified of the thunder and fireworks.

Thankfully Casper is not destructive like Marley when he is afraid. Casper would just want to be indoors when the storm comes. I suspect he has gotten over the fear. I caught him pretty calm one day during the storm. Everyone was out so he must have forgotten there is still one human in the house. When he heard noise from the house he started pleading to get in! Hmmm… con-dog.

Casper got over the chewing part of his life pretty quickly. We can leave our very new shoes with him and he will not touch them. Surely it is Casper’s presence that prevented the frequent shoe theft.

As I flipped the pages of the book, at every paragraph that describes an occasion or location, I could almost expect the possible disaster. I think anyone with a notorious dog should be able to relate. ;-) It was a good read and as I read towards the end of the book this morning... I cried…:-p. Old age can be pretty bad but that dog savored every moment of life!

Casper is almost 7 years old now. Still a baby to my family but in dog age, he is in his fourties! That's fast. He is aging so much faster than I am.

Every dog lover would agree with Grogan’s following line…
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.