A world without dogs is meaningless
This writer cannot imagine a world without special canine friends like Vai, Biman, Soo, Reba and Zhar.
Here
are some “doggie nuggets” for those wanting to discover the true nature
of “man’s best friend”; and why, for so many of us, it’s nothing but an
unstoppable love affair with our pets.They are taken from my personal notes – all of them true – based on experience living with special canines for more than two decades.
THINK OUTSIDE OF THE BOX: My first service dog was a Malacca-born Rottweiler named Vai. He lived with me for 13 glorious years. I visited a pet shop looking for an Alsatian.
The only dog available was the “happy-go-lucky” nine-week-old Rottie.
I wasn’t sure, at first, if this breed with a so-called “reputation for notoriety” was the kind of companion I wanted to take home with me. However, I changed my mind when the feisty pup suddenly leapt out of its cage and landed straight into my lap, licking me all over.
It was exactly what the doctor had ordered!
As a person born with a disability and having lived most of my life in a wheelchair, people without disabilities were always telling me what to do and how to live my life, instead of letting me make decisions on my own.
Vai taught me how to break out of that vicious mould for true happiness. Despite his robust size, he was also the gentlest canine I had ever met.
He saved me once when I unknowingly placed my foot on a nest of fiery red ants in the park. I couldn’t feel a thing because of my paralysed legs. Vai alerted me to them by pulling my wheelchair and got me out of there quickly.
AND ALONG CAME A LOVING GERMAN SHEPHERD: Born in Ipoh, Biman II, was my second assistance dog. He made a great team with Vai. Biman’s speciality was his extraordinary ability to perform basic tasks for me.
Once I accidentally locked myself out of the house with the keys inside together with the German Shepherd.
Realising what had happened, Biman miraculously went inside, zeroed his nose on the bunch of keys and adroitly picked them up. He came galloping towards me after that with the item securely between his jaws.
The German Shepherd also taught me to laugh at whatever life decided to serve me and to be strong during the most painful of moments.
I never realised that Biman was literally an angel sent from heaven to protect me until the day I lost him at the age of seven to cancer. There was a terrible electrical storm – one I had never witnessed before – as Biman breathed his last, while a group of veterinary surgeons fought hard to try and save his life.
Then, someone told me that when dogs suddenly died, there was a very special purpose for it. Could Biman have become a “fall guy” for a cancer that was actually meant for me?
Despite losing an amazing canine friend, I remained positive and defiant – the way my canine shepherd would have wanted me to be.
MORE ANGELS WITH TAILS: Bangsar-born Soo, my Golden Retriever, was also 13 years old when he went to heaven. He was the only service dog to travel with me to more public places than the others.
These included a shopping complex where everyone “oohed and aahed” at him and no one shooed us away; the Malaysian AIDS Council, the UN building in Kuala Lumpur and even a 24-hour return car journey to Penang. Soo knew that his sole purpose was to look after me, 24/7.
Australia-born Reba my Shetland Sheepdog discovered a nasty pressure sore in my foot which I didn’t realise was there because of my paralysis. The doctors rushed me into surgery to prevent it from turning gangrenous. Any later, they said, would have cost me not only a limb but my very life.
The top dog in my home today, undoubtedly, is my three-year-old Zhar, a Dobermann born in Petaling Jaya. He is a class above all else.
He does a variety of tasks to help me live a normal life. He makes sure I drink at least two litres of fluid a day to help me keep urine infection at bay.
He does this by bringing a full bottle of water to wherever I am – on the bed, in my wheelchair next to the computer or outside. Zhar also retrieves every single object I accidentally drop on the floor.
Zhar is also my bodyguard in the back seat when I drive. Even though we are in my room, he can hear when strangers arrive at the front gate or the slightest sounds on the roof.
Though he takes his job seriously, he is also a gentle giant when situations call for it.
Zhar is by my wheelchair at bedtime and checks on me with his wet nose now and then throughout the night to make sure I am okay. He wakes me up in the mornings when the alarm fails. It’s time once again to meet new challenges for another day.
I honestly can’t imagine a world without special canine friends like these.
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