I am 52 years old and I have never had a pet that has lived out its natural life. For one reason or another since I was a boy we had pets, failed to perform our part of the bargain in looking after them (or they proved too much trouble in the case of the cute but undisciplined Cairn Terrier we had when I was 7 whose party trick was to pee on all our guests at the house without fail!) and they had to go. A dog, some guinea pigs, two budgies and a rabbit. In the end, we gave them up, so I never really got close to an animal.
Many years later, my mother had a beautiful pedigree tri-colour basset hound called Tanya, but when my mother became very ill with Alzheimer’s and had to go in a home for 24-hour care, I still had my legal practice and that is one dog that should never be left alone all day, so reluctantly we parted with her - three times before we got the right home for her, each parting more painful than the last.
I see that I really loved her but I kept something back or else I don’t think I could have let her go. I feel as though my experience from childhood taught me not to get too close to animals as they will eventually go and, indeed, that become true even of Tanya, albeit my own choice.
So it was with some reluctance that I agreed about 6 months ago with my partner that we would eventually have a dog and then in a matter of weeks I saw a beautiful little West Highland Terrier puppy in a pet shop nearby. There were several, in fact, but I felt drawn to this particular one: not the cutest of the pack but there was something in that look as he turn his head to the side as we were leaving, as if to say “Well...aren’t you going to take me home with you then?”! On enquiry I had discovered they were as expensive here in Thailand as in the West, not least since they are quite rare here. Nevertheless, I made up my mind to have him eventually, when resources would allow. I knew somehow we would get him.
For the next 10 weeks, money got shorter and shorter and every time I went to the shopping centre where the pet shop is located, I would drop in to see him, though never going inside or holding him. I would go at least 3 or 4 times a week, sometimes more. Slowly, as he got older, the price went down but my resources would not even stretch to that. Finally I got some more work in after 10 weeks and on enquiry not only was the price down some 40% on the original price but they offer me a further 20% off that price as they had watched me coming time and time again and felt I would make a good keeper for him. It was a rare but genuine offer and I was very pleased to take them up on it.
A day later we brought him home, all groomed and ready for us and he was at home with us straight away. That said, when my partner was out working on the second evening that Lucky was with us and I was getting ready for bed, I put Lucky into the pen we put him in overnight, next to our own bed, and went for my shower as usual. Lucky was excited, I could hear, but I had to shower so I carried on and when I came out, oh my gosh, what a smell! I had missed the sign that he need to go out and he had done a fairly generous poo in the pen but not contented with that he had danced in it in all his excitement! It was all over the floor, his paws, some of the sides of the pen and even beyond the pen on the outside floor and walls! I think he set out to re-paint it all!
I was upset at the time and quickly lifted him out, first focused on washing him down with water with a smattering of Dettol then I set about cleaning up the rest. I was really exhausted by the time my amused partner came home!
Thankfully that experience has not been repeated and he was house trained in days to 80-90% reliability and with two weeks almost completely. What I find really fascinating about having had Lucky come into my life is how much it has altered me. He is so loving and loyal. Sure he is sometimes naughty and we do have a blue-moon incident such as him jumping off the floor above us in our apartment block, running down the main road untethered and refusing to come back and narrowly missing motorbikes and even a car plus a couple of pees on our bed! But, by and large, I would say he is somewhat of an angel!
Every morning when he wakes up he likes to spend time along side us (I swore I would NEVER allow a dog on my bed!) and when his urge to go out for a pee or whatever gets strong, he starts licking our faces and feet and if we are feeling tired or lazy, he will eventually start to bark gently until we have no choice but to get up!
I love how he can sense my moods so easily - I had tears over my dear late mother this morning and he noticed and came running over as if to say “There, there!”, showering me with wet kisses, as I call them. We are not perfect pet owners I am sure but we try really hard and why wouldn’t we? He is like a child to us and we adore him. Even when I sneeze, he comes running over to make sure I am OK (as I had a bad cold recently and he saw me suffering like most men - badly!).
As I said, he has changed me. I feel very close and whenever I think of him I feel very warm inside. I hate being away from him for long as he does me (and his other “parent”!) and I see that each of my partner and I have different strengths with him. My partner is more playful and indulgent whereas I am perhaps stricter but very calm and loving and actually he takes to me more in terms of doing as he is told. No need to shout loud (I occasionally slip up with that but generally I prefer the calm approach) and I am at great pains to praise his good deeds. He is 7 months old now and he has been with us just over 3 months, yet without any real attempt at training (nothing formal at all) he will usually obey my instruction. He will sometimes even obey signals accompanied by a simple clear intention that he obey. If he gets excited, it is less effective, but he amazes me how much he does do what I tell him. He knows when he is wrong and comes to call most of the time now. I love that when he can see it is time for bed, he sits on our bed and looks into the pen and if we ignore him he makes his funny growling sound that is so cute that it makes me feel I could almost eat him!
What I find most moving is that through my love and sense of connection with him, I have found myself feeling for other animals a lot more, sensing their feelings and pain at times. It is a lovely feeling, an extension of the connection I already felt with nature in terms of trees and scenery but now with animals too. It is glorious and I see so much richness but also sadness at how others miss out on the wonders of nature. I don’t judge them as I was the same until relatively recently, but I pray they too find it because once they do, there can be no more of the abuse of nature all over the world and I thank God for bringing me Lucky as my lesson: it is I who am indeed lucky!
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