I remember the first time I set my eyes on him….. so…. this is the new addition into the family…. With the hive of activities around him, he looked blur. He’s just trying to stable his walk after the long tiring journey from pahang. After doing his stuffs on the grass patch, he walked back to the porch. Now he’s curious, sniffing about…. I bent down and I called “come lil’ fella….” I must say, he caught my heart that instant, the instant he responded to my voice and strutted towards me. My heart melted that he recognized me as the one who would love him, adore him and sayang him and most of all…. I’d be the master to him….. this is the story of MY Jimmy….. MY be-love-ed angel-monkeydog in disguise. =)
It’s been almost 5 years since I had him. Jimmy never fails to put a smile on my face each time I think of him, or when i look at him or when i come back home. Let’s begin when he was a pup…..
The very first night for the lil one in a new home; I was trying to get use to the newcomer. He’s tiny…. I remember him being a cute and adorable lil furball, golden in colour. I let him sleep in my room that nite, couldn’t bear that poor fella feeling lost in a strange new place. I remember waking up middle of the night, finding him asleep next to my face. =) I thought that was cute, at the same time disgusting as this lil one hadn’t had a bath.
And so, the next few months…. He got to stay in the house. I must say, jimmy is a smart lil dog. He knows that he can’t do his biz in the house and he’ll patiently waits at the door till somebody let him out. If I’m in the house he’d follow me to almost everywhere. Every step I took, he’d be by my side. i enjoyed the time playing with the lil pup, chasing him around the house, him chasing me, play tug of war with a rag, wrestle with him…. Ah… the joy of playing with a pup….
During the few months, he found a cozy place to sleep and that’s in the laundry basket in the kitchen. I tell you, the picture of it is like watching a child sleep in his cot, peaceful…..
As jimmy grew older, he graduated from a pup staying in-door to a teenage pup staying out-door. As soon as his body can’t slip though the gate anymore, jimmy started sleeping outside. Na-ah… my mom won’t let him sleep in the kitchen anymore, it was time for him to be a dog. And so he had spent the rest of the nights sleeping outside the house. I used to peep out the window just to check if he was okay.
Let’s share the memorable moments I had with jimmy….. I remember when I was in college, I used to let jimmy into the house even though I know my mom won’t like the idea. But she relented anyway, who could resist an adorable mischievous angel in disguise. Anyway, I’d let him into my room, and I’ll do my homework and studies. Jimmy would be asleep by the side of my chair. I remember once I heard weird noises in my room, dunno how to describe it…. but where I discovered the sound was coming from, I smiled. Now I found out that dogs dream too…. hahaha…. Not only was jimmy making whiny noise, his feet were also moving as if chasing something in his slumberland….. that’s MY jimmy….
Then of course I remembered the time he got ugly….. gosh! Poor fella! He developed a skin rash on the hind leg, furs were dropping off and dark red ugly spots appeared. Poor jimmy was itching away as his skin got dryer. I remember praying that the itch would go away, and he would heal quickly. But it did not, it took months. My dad suggested putting a mixture of sulfur and oil to the rashes. Erm….. I think it did the trick. Anyway, jimmy is completely healed now, legs beautifully covered with fur. =)
Oh! He also got attacked by kutus at two different occasions. I remembered many colonies of kutus sucking the life out of Jimmy. It was a disgusting sight!
Eeewwww….. many, many ( prolly zillions of it!) tiny black bodies at the corner of his ears, in between his toes, underneath this coat of fur…. Urgh! Blech! Anyway, I quickly bought a flea spray and sprayed the infested fella. I remember spending every single evening for one and half week just to pick the kutus out from his body. Using a tweezers, I’ll pop the fat blood sucking parasites while cursing their existence. Today jimmy is a flea free dog. God please keep the fleas away from him!
I would never forget the day jimmy came home with an injured leg. The naughty fella ran out of the house when the gate was open. Ie: Never ever leave the gate open when jimmy is not leashed. If he ever slipped through, he’s like an uncontrollable tornado. He’ll be running everywhere, as if a prisoner escapee. Sigh~! Anyway, he came home with an injured leg…. Hahaha… I can only laugh! Hope he learnt a lesson but did not… his left hind leg had a deep wound at the joint, not sure if I saw the tendon or the bone. I could only remember calmly treating the wound and not freaking out. Mom gave me some Chinese medicine to apply to the wound, and I would balut it tightly with bandage hoping that he would not tear it open. For a week plus, he spent most of the time lying on the floor…. Hahah, what pitiful sight, could even see the sadness in his eyes. Yup, he lost some weight. During the week, every morning I would have to dress the wound which is not a lovely sight. It had yellow greenish puss coming out of it, but I got a hang of it and even became more efficient in cleaning the wound. You might be wondering why I did not send him to a vet, I was afraid of the bill…. Anyway, I’m proud to say that I think I did a great job. Used to want to be a vet when I was younger and here I am doing what I dreamt of. The wound has fully healed now, but his leg can never bend like normal anymore, sometimes you can just see it sticking out awkwardly when jimmy sits.
Jimmy has a habit of burying his food. I remember giving something and immediately he buried it. I got a shock when I saw his face. It was like a kid who was given chocolate, not only did the kid eats the chocolate, but also decorate the whole face with it. Jimmy’s mouth was full of dark soil, front paws included, never ever give food to jimmy right after the rain! Now he has a pink patch on his nose, a result of too many burying of food.
In my college days, I’d spend almost every evening walking him around the neighborhood. My brother would joke, “are you walking the dog, or is the dog walking you”. see, when jimmy’s feet step right out of the house, he’ll go wild! Like I’ve said before, jimmy would act as if prisoner set free, plus tornado, plus monkey. Anyway, he’ll start dragging me to wherever he went. but of course, I’m still the one who sets the route. I remember once I was walking him; the opposite direction came a kid with a rotteweiler or was it a german Shepard… anyway, the dog was huge!!! The boy reassured me unleashed dog was okay and it wouldn’t bite. Suddenly I think jimmy said something and the big beast came wanting to bite jimmy. It was scary, i shouted to the boy to get his dog away, now here’s the joke. he’s wat he said “that’s not my dog!!” Not your dog?! Not your dog?!!!! Then why in the world is it following you….. he shouted back “ I don’t know!!!” now…. that’s funny……
Now I spend lesser time walking him, no longer have the luxury of having free evenings. I tell you, jimmy is so cute…. Each time when evening comes, he’d start whinning, “take me out, take me out” in dog language. He’ll put on the pitiful sight, pouting and sulking at the corner of the door. And of course I’d take him out. =) now, every morning before i get to work, he put on the same façade. I did ask my mom if he does the same thing when I’m not around, guess what? NO! He never! He knows I’m the one who’d manja him and he’d used his doggish way to get what he wants.
Oh, how could I ever forget the times when jimmy killed kittens! Yup, he’s a kitten killer….. sorry cat lovers….. Jimmy is not a big fan of cats, reason being they always eat his food when he’s not around. Anyway, to date he has killed 4 or maybe 5 kittens. Yup…. Poor kitten, bad dog…. nothing I could do or say, except to clean the mess, remove the dead body, make sure there wasn’t any eye-witness to the murder. Sometimes I just pity these juvenile cats…. So inexperienced in life….. sigh~!
Though as ganas as he may be at killing, jimmy is terribly afraid of loud sound. Be it thunder or fire crakers. The festive seasons are the time you’d hear him whinning and see his pitiful scared face. When the thunders are loud, you’d see jimmy climbing on the chair in the porch just to get our attention. Once he even climbed unto the table. Sometimes he’d peek from the window with his head resting on his two front paws. Jimmy… jimmy…. Why are you so cute…. No matter how loud the thunder or fire cracker is, we’ll never let you in.
Other than the kitten killing incidents, Jimmy is simple a lovable dog. He loves to play, he loves to be bathed, he loves going out for walks, he loves the sight of me coming back home. I in turn found joy of just loving him, giving him hugs and calling him names. =) he’s MY jimmy!!!
