The faulty dog

My family had a "No Pet Dogs" policy for a very long time. It is mostly because unlike cats, they are overly dependent on owners for food and attention and that makes it hard to leave them home alone. Cats, on the other hand, are more independent and are able to hunt for their own food when other sources of food are not available.

Despite objections from the family, my foster brother was very determined to have a dachshund. We were concerned that it was another phase, much like his past interests in rearing fish and growing a ponytail. My mother has a weakness for dachshunds since she had several of them growing up and he was able to exploit this loophole to his advantage. We also suspect that he had entrepreneurial motives on being a dog breeder after he met his friend from whom he bought a puppy for a price of USD 40. This idea, however, didn't catch on since our family strongly opposed the idea of breeding animals for cash. 

Personally, I dislike commercial dog breeders. I'm not sure if there are professionals who do the job humanely out of concern for the mother dog and puppies, but most small-scale breeders are after a quick buck. Driven by profit, they put the welfare of the animal on lower priority. For example, Nicky's mother is made to mate regularly and produce litter after litter of puppies which are then sold to people who like pedigree dogs. It is sad that a puppy bred for sale only gets to spend a few weeks with the mother, when she may also miss nursing and caring for her litter. Also, it is hard to guarantee to what kind of homes the puppies go to. Perhaps, they stand a good chance of getting good care owing to their "pedigree" status since people tend to take better care of valuable things for which they paid a price. Or they might end up in a home where the owners realised that the dream of owning a pedigree dog was a passing fancy and that it is a big and expensive responsibility. Or the puppies might once again be used to continue the cycle of commercial breeding. If the puppies are fortunate, they will end up in a loving home where they will spend a good dog life till eventual death.

In December 2015, Nicky joined our family as a six week old puppy. Soon, he became the center of everyone's attention and brought much joy and endless entertainment to my parents and brother. While living in Singapore, I received regular updates of Nicky and pictures of how my father cuddled and showered Nicky with attention - that even my sister and I didn't get as children!

Baby Nicky

    

Bath time - dunked in a bucket of water and dried with a hair dryer!

A literary critic and humorous journalist H. L. Mencken described dachshunds as "half a dog high and a dog and a half long." Nicky, true to his breed's personality, grew up to be comical, sociable, playful, hyperactive and too stubborn to be disciplined.

He has soulful eyes and regular mood swings, specially when he gets wind of us planning to leave the house. He hunts animals like spiders, cockroaches, frogs and mosquitoes for the thrill. He is a terrible guard dog. Even though he barks very loudly for his size (we learned later that it was because this breed has a large chest cavity), he would welcome any burglar to the house or would gladly get into a stranger's vehicle. And due to his friendly nature, he was popular with all the animal-loving guests who stayed at our bed & breakfast inn.

Grown up Nicky at 10.5 months

As he continued to grow, we realised that my brother may have accidentally purchased a faulty dog. He does insane things that no dog we knew ever did. He was hyperactive all the time (except when sleeping), he greets favourite people with so much joy and sprinkles of pee, he loves to eat catnip, he would bark at all the clocks in the house, his sex drive was at 100 percent a 100 percent of the time, he mistook our old cat for a mate and tried to hump her too, he started humping legs of unsuspecting guests, he started roaming around our neighbourhood chasing away male dogs and looking for females, he started eating the carpets at home and swallowed chunks of carpet fabric, he would jump into tyres of incoming vehicles, he would litter the house with soil and partially decomposed material (like rotten remains of frogs) brought from outdoors, and the list goes on.

This is how Nicky sleeps

With all that energy, it occurred to us that perhaps he would do well with a companion. Although he is a playful dog, he never had dog friends before. All the stray dogs in our lane treat him like an outcast, probably because they were not sure what this tiny, horny and loud dog-like creature was. The cats were the only animal company he had, but they didn't have enough energy to keep up with him. One moment he was loving and still, but the next moment he would play rough, slobber them with saliva and bark at them. The only issue was that we did not want to adopt more than two dogs at a time (considering food and medical costs) and that meant Nicky could not be allowed to breed. 

Castrating a healthy pet in our culture is not a black/white matter. People are more forgiving if it is a female dog because these same people think it is a burden for a female to be impregnated against her will by a male dog and that they are doing her a favour. Those who believe in karma thinks it is a sin to castrate an animal and in future births, those who back it may be born infertile (or something to that effect). One person told my mother that he knew of a dog that died a mysterious death after being castrated. Others took a more ethical point of view and suggested it is equivalent to taking away a basic right of an animal and goes against natural behaviour (which I also agreed with). Who knows how its psychology, behaviour and general health will be affected when a dominant hormone is no longer present in his body. 

Nicky's regular veterinarian asked us to allow him to mate at least once before castrating him and joked that he can help find him a mate. He didn't explain the reasoning behind it so I can't tell if it is because he thought it was best for the animal's welfare, or that it was a waste to operate on a pedigree dog with money-making potential, or because he felt that letting it sire puppies once will reduce karmic effects of castration.

Another friend/veterinarian in Singapore advised that it was best to castrate him as early as possible (preferably before 12 months of age) after he starts showing signs of sexual behaviour because otherwise, with constant practice, humping quickly becomes a learned behaviour. She also said castration has other health benefits to the dog like reducing the risk of testicular tumours, transmissible venereal tumours, hernias and prostatic diseases. She also suggested contraceptive implants as an alternative to castration, but these are very costly and requires replacement every 6 - 12 months. She also added that even if we manage to rehome all of Nicky's future offspring, that is potentially a lost opportunity for a stray or a shelter dog that could have a home. Two other dog-lovers with many years of dog rearing (and rescue) experience voted for castration.

The family was divided on opinions. However, after much debating, asking around for advice and receiving conflicting views, we made the difficult decision to castrate Nicky and get him a companion afterwards.

About three weeks ago, we visited two dog shelters (Tikiri Trust and SOFA) to find a suitable companion for Nicky. The first shelter didn't have any young female dogs for adoption because we were told that it will be easier for Nicky (who's never had dog company before) to bond with a younger one. At the second shelter, we were quizzed thoroughly to assess pet ownership potential and asked several times if we were ready to commit to looking after another pet for another 13 - 15 years. We explained that we were there that day only to look at a companion for our dog, but we would finalise the adoption only two weeks after that. And that would also give us more time to rule out any impulsive decisions. After she was convinced, she said there was one female puppy about four and a half months of age and brought it out for us to see.

It was a done deal the moment we saw Lea! It was hard to think clearly when there was a puppy in front of us and we (irrationally) thought it would be good if Nicky had a sister who looked like him. On second thoughts, I don't think Nicky has any idea of what he looks like. True to our word, two weeks later, we picked up (a taller) Lea from the shelter on the way back from having Nicky castrated. It was a bitter-sweet day for all of us. 

Meet Lea - now 5 months old and way taller than Nicky!

Lea, thankfully, was not a faulty dog. She is shy and gentle in nature. She's only fierce when eating and protecting her plate of food. She likes to be carried and is very curious to explore her surroundings. 

Nicky was a bit unwelcome on the first day, but Lea being a shelter dog with experience sharing space with a hundred other dogs, was patient with him. Since then he has grown very fond of her. He experienced the joy of playing and wrestling with another dog for the first time and loved it. He takes her around our garden and the neighbour's garden to show her his favourite hangouts. His appetite has improved since he imitates her (good) eating behaviour. Previously a fussy eater, Nicky now eats his food faster and indiscriminately knowing that his adopted sister will take it from him otherwise. Nicky is also learning slowly to share toys and his love and attention from us. He's stopped roaming in the neighbourhood and marking territory with pee a hundred times a day, which might be the effect of castration. He still tries to mount her sometimes though that might be a sign of affection or just conditioned behaviour. On the downside, he's become a bit swollen headed after getting a sister and now barks at our two cats and chases them away (even animals have an "us versus them" mentality!). Lea also follows suit. 

Going crazy during play time

Nap time

 Kitty, who's been with our family for 8-9 years, eyes the energetic youngsters with mild annoyance

For now, everyone (except our two cats) is happy. 

We're here! What now?

It occurred to me one morning quite recently that I've finally reached the "destination" of a journey I struggled to get to for about a decade. Last year around this time, I was working nearly 70 hours a week to ensure that ships met the regulatory and statutory regulations to leave the port and join the global fleet of vessels that extract and process fossil fuels. And before that, I was weighed down with student loans and stuck around in unsatisfactory jobs without a way out. Compared to all that, now I go to classes that teach about species extinctions, struggle with trying to memorise hundreds of animal species in local animal guide books, visit National Parks, associate with people who have devoted their lives to conservation efforts, and (on a similar level of joy) wake up without an alarm clock.

It is definitely not a happy ending or a final destination, but I'm going to camp at this checkpoint for awhile.

Often times, we spend a lot of time planning a journey and being involved in the act of getting to the destination. And when we finally get there, we don't realise the magnitude of the achievement. Or we might (like me) find ourselves ill-equipped without knowing what to do next, because we realise that we concentrated most of our efforts and energy on just the journey!

Whether it be starting a new family or finally getting that dream job, it applies to many life goals for various people. If we are not mindful enough, we might even run the risk of gambling away a big "achievement" because we forget the bigger picture (like how much we wanted it, or the sacrifices that went into it, or the people who helped us get there) and not make the most of a given situation. Also, it's probably a good idea to constantly remind ourselves that most good situations remain "good" for as long as we play an active part and things can change in a moment's notice. This way, we are less likely to be complacent, take it for granted or be too devastated if it was all gone. 

As of late, I'm rediscovering the natural beauty of Sri Lanka. The country stretches for 430km from North to South and 230km from East to West, and towers to an altitude of 2524m at its highest point. Within these confines, exist flora and fauna that have led Conservation International to list Sri Lanka as one of the world's 36 Biodiversity Hotspots.

Two weeks ago, I was fortunate enough to join a team of researchers and their students as a volunteer evaluator for an environmental impact assessment. They were very accommodating and down-to-earth folks. Although I was the newbie (and still a "small fry"), it didn't take us too long to bond because beneath the professionalism, they were a fun-loving bunch. We were on the road for 3-4 days, driving through beautiful rural parts of Sri Lanka, conducting field surveys and observing plenty of wildlife along the way.

 

We had to stop a couple times (at a safe distance) to let wild elephants cross the road.

People in these parts were accustomed to minor traffic blocks caused by wild elephants. Similar to when trains cross over highways, the vehicles had to stop and wait till the elephant passed.

This is what remained of the lake during the last month of the dry season. This small amount of water helps many elephants, birds and other animals survive till the rains come later this month.

The assignment involved interviewing 35 families (primarily rice paddy farmers) which were beneficiaries of a lake expansion project which took place 2 years ago. My team helped me in getting familiar with certain terms in my native language (which I'm not an expert in) so that I was able to use it during the interviews with the villagers. These were resettled families from previously war-torn areas. Unfortunately, many acres of forest (previously elephant territory) have been cleared to make space for homes and agriculture. Although we were just there to collect data from the villagers, it was a moving experience to hear about their struggles like elephant conflicts, job insecurity, difficulties to send children to schools, flood season and losses when adverse weather destroys their crops. Most of the parents worked very hard as farmers, wage labourers and small shop owners to build their houses and give their children a good education so they can move on to better prospects. Children juggled school work and helping out at the family fields. Several families offered us whatever they had like fruits and vegetables from their home gardens, tea, delicious sweets and even curries for our lunch. 

This little boy followed us with a lot of enthusiasm and his parents let us have our packed lunches in their home. He is seen here making a fishing rod to play with.

This boy showed me around his house and shared a piece of raw woodapple. 

Raw woodapples are sour yet yummy!

One family showed us their newly adopted pet. 

Some of the villagers were small shop owners who depended on visitors to a nearby temple to earn a living.

Overall, I'd say the assignment was an eye-opening experience. Not only did I learn something about the type of work conservationists do, it made me want to get more involved in beneficial community projects like these and reminded me to stay humble. 

Excuses

Just like that, the season for mid-term exams are here.

Some subjects appeal to me more than others, naturally. So the drive to prepare for a subject like Geology is somewhat an uphill task. Each time I tried to get past a few pages of notes about rocks and minerals, my Heart comforted me, "You totally deserve a small nap for trying."

Even my Brain agreed.

As a team, we didn't get too far today and the anxiety levels continued to rise... until, a classmate clarified that I was mistaken with the dates and there was no exam tomorrow.

We learned a lesson: luck sometimes favours procrastinators.

~ ~ ~

My latest classical music crush is Karthik Iyer.

The genius of this guy can be seen around t = 6:20.

He's incredibly talented. His music takes me to other worlds and has the same effect on other fans too (judging by Youtube comments). His Youtube videos also take up a significant portion of data allowance from my monthly broadband connection. He makes me believe (falsely) that I can play like that because it looks so effortless when he does it. He makes me want to pick up my violin again.

I am hopeful that someday I'll have a stroke and wake up being able to play like this, similar to reports of the foreign accent syndrome where people develop new accents after a stroke.