... a dog's tale ...

And finally...
*expect long, long boring entry >.<*


We first got Tiny about 12 years ago. My uncle felt a bit sorry for Doggy's death at his place and since we bought Doggy through him, he called us over when his next 'home-made' lot of puppies arrived by chance. They were 3 brothers - the best looking was one with Peke-ish long hair, the second was long-legged with a mixture of long and short fur, and the last was the smallest with short but soft fur. We chose the smallest as he was the only one sitting quietly *and rather distinguishedly, I must say :p*, looking on at all the 'excitement' of us visitors...

Named Tiny *by my mum - she couldn't call it Doggy since we were old enough to remember the other one -_-* but spelt Tyny *according to my sis -_-;*, he looks like a smaller version of a mousedeer with his light brown short fur. His unique appearance has earned him many names - 'little deer' in chinese (by my uncle's family), 'kancil' (by the neighbourhood kids), and even 'Lion King' (by this kid who pointed to Tiny excitedly when we were walking him). My uncle had Tiny's tail cut short when he was still a week old :( apparently, Tiny's type look nicer without one... And in his early years, Tiny still wags his cute tuft *aw* whenever he's happy or excited :)

...tiny...

He chewed off the first collar we got him and he never wore one after that. He chewed many slippers during his teething phase and had an apparent liking to my dad's brown leather-like type. There was once where my dad just bought a new pair from the market and it was found in pieces an hour later in the garden - my dad didn't even get to wear them *aw*

He observed and chased the 'wildlife' in our garden when he was very young - birds, butterflies, moths, tiny frogs that sometimes got lost in our house - and once brought indoors to show us a cockcroach he caught in the garden using his mouth (it didn't happened again, perhaps due to our surprised and unexpected reaction then :p). One thing though, he doesn't really chase cats *my theory is that he's too lazy or afraid since cats were bigger than him anyway*... when he got older and smarter ;) he would pretend to chase the cats off the garden if we happen to be looking, sometimes only barking and running a bit after we first shout at a cat.

Bath times were rather fun to watch. In his early years, Tiny would make a run for it whenever he had a chance and it was the highlight of the day to see my dad trying to catch a tiny and soapy dog *aw* around the garden. Encores include a second wet-dog-run around the garden, this time with a towel on him. As he got older, he would submit resignedly for this weekly ordeal when the time comes... though he never fails to hide quietly in his corner without a peep *hoping my dad forgets him* and wearing that puppy-dog-eyes look of his throughout the entire thing *as though saying 'spare me!' silently to my dad and any passer-bys*.

He was rather choosy when it comes to food, ignoring dog biscuits *the healthier option* as soon as he tasted meat mixed with rice. We had to ensure the meat was mixed in really thoroughly so that he doesn't leave all the rice in the bowl, whereupon the cats would start eyeing his bowl. If we offer him treats, he would take a sniff and refuse to eat if he's tasted it before and found it not to his liking. But if he knew something is nice on the table, he wouldn't hesitate to tap us with his 2 front paws even though he knew he wasn't supposed to do that... Oh, and he doesn't really bury food or anything either.

He was 3 years old when Jimmy and Lucky came. That was the only time he looked like a sometimes-aloof giant when his 2 younger half-brothers were playing around him. A random rabbit even dropped by for a very short stay *the only time our garden was so popular for cute animals*, which made Tiny even more protective of his basket. Can't blame him though... Lucky grew up with him, and it was perhaps lucky that he didn't learn many of Tiny's 'tricks' :p
We did however catch them sharing with a cat a piece of raw cod fish which was left to defrost in the kitchen, but that was indeed a rare occasion *not only my dogs eating fish with my enemies, but also we rarely have cod since it's expensive*.

Sometimes when my dad feels like it, he'll bring Tiny upstairs to wake us up in the weekends. Rather than waking us, Tiny would excitedly choose a comfortable spot on our blankets *that smart dog :p* and snuggle in. The thought of all his fur falling on our beds and the fact that we wanted to see him were enough to make us get out of our beds quickly.

He ran out to explore outside our house gate whenever he could, and even learned how to escape through my neighbour's drain gutter after jumping across the fence. When our neighbour had other dogs visiting, he was sure to 'crash' the party at least once, forcing us to extend the netting from the gate to the side fences. When he couldn't get across, he would start whimpering *he rarely whimpers - a dog with dignity ;)* whenever he saw my sis and I over at the neighbour's.

He escaped and went missing for months once *my mum remembered it as a few weeks but it was about 3 months for me*. We suspect he was caught by someone since he had no collar, Tiny being a dog very unique and 'marketable' as a pet. We had given up hope on finding him until he showed up one day unexpectedly at our gate, dragging a long stainless steel leash behind him... he didn't ran out as energetically after that, but still wanders outside when possible.

He had many favourite spots indoors where he likes to spend his time relaxing *pondering the meaning of life, I imagine*, but none more punctual than when it was time to feed his dinner around 6pm each day. At 4pm, he would lie quietly in the sitting room, taking a position with a good view of the kitchen door. Sometimes around 4.30pm, he would lie quietly at a point exactly mid-way from the sitting room to the kitchen *yes, in the middle of the road - quietly*. At 5pm, he could be found lying quietly right next to the kitchen door, his eyes following the movements of his dinner-preparer and lifting his head at anyone else who enters or leaves the kitchen. At 6pm, he would sit up quietly and apply a stronger dose of his puppy-dogs-eyes at said person. If said person is not in the kitchen by this time, Tiny would find a strategic spot which would place him in that person's direct line of sight, no matter where *ensuring he is not forgotten*. Quietly. If by 7pm and still no sign of his food, that's when Tiny would start tailing said person closely and give an occasional whimper to remind you he's there... but he never bites or tries to rush you - his system is effective enough ;)

He knew when to obey orders and when to pretend to misunderstand. Seriously, he was the most clever dog we had. We had trained him to come indoors when we call and go out when we shout *outside!*, through our door grills. My dad had this tiring habit of calling him during advertisement breaks to sit by his side. After a while (and depending on Tiny's moods), Tiny would try to ignore half the time *especially when he has been nicely seated indoors quietly for the evening* or go in the opposite direction instead. In his later years, he would ignore the first few calls, giving us all pleading stares and pitiful looks throughout *we totally understand :( - we even scold my dad whenever he does it*, then finally getting up and going outdoors as though he mis-heard it as 'outside!'...

As he got older, we became more worried and concerned for him. He hurt his leg once when younger and walked very slightly differently since then. Perhaps because of that and the fact he was putting on weight, we started hearing the shake in the grills which anounced his entrance or exit in the later years. He also took to climbing upstairs when he couldn't bear to sit with us if the fireworks got too loud *dunno why those kids like to play those type which suddenly goes off with a loud bang and nothing after that - not even a bright display :((*, looking for a hiding place.

After more than 10 years, he was just qualifying as being called old for a small dog. He refused to go out and sleep when we close up at night, especially when there's fireworks during Hari Raya season. Usually he would dilly dally, wearing his puppy-dog-eyes look, taking at least 10 minutes of us urging him before he would go out. Often we had to see him to the door to ensure he didn't make any detours. When there's fireworks *how can these kids play past midnight on the roads? :((*, we literally had to drag him to the door in his position and close the door on him before he finally went out. It's not that we don't understand his fear of fireworks, it's just that we know he gets restless trying to escape them and was afraid that he could hurt himself trying to climb upstairs when we're not around *at that age, he could still climb the stairs (though taking longer) to escape the fireworks, but couldn't get down after that - he had to wait for us to carry him*.

That Hari Raya season seemed to last forever - the kids never let up with the fireworks. After we close up, Tiny tried to escape by somehow getting outside our gate and wandering the neighbourhood in search of a hiding place, before turning up at our front gate the morning after - barking shortly for us to let him in. It went on for a few days and we couldn't discover how he managed to get out. One night when I was closing up and having put him outside, I heard some noises from our back gate and guessed that must be how he was doing it. At that time, I remember thinking that I could tell my dad about it and we can finally stopped him from running out by sealing the holes the next day. I even thought I heard him barking his short barks to be let in at dawn the next morning... But it was already too late :'(


It was exactly 2 years ago.
*til this day, I still regret...
and a hatred burns forever in me
- towards kids that play dangerous fireworks unsupervised late at night and their parents who let them do it*

And I still miss him.


... most of all, he had character.