Rescuing Alpha

In my recent post, Canine Brotherhood, I mentioned that there were three dogs which are always together. I have taken Teri off the streets. She had just recently given birth to six pups.

Recently, me and a friend went to the same area I rescued Teri to look for Alpha. As it was the mating season, we were not surprised to see six other dogs together with her. One of the six male dogs was the third "buddy" of Teri and Alpha, GR. It became quickly clear which were the top competitors to consummate this year's round of the mating ritual. It was GR and the one in the picture below.  

In fact GR - even though much larger in size than the other dog - was not even close in being the alpha male. This other dog was more determined; he was the one more frequently trying to mount Alpha, while fending off GR. GR did not manage to even manage one attempt. GR and him will frequently square off with each other. Surprisingly, the fight was just baring of teeth and growling. Anyway, Golden Retriever are not aggressive? They are one of the most compassionate breeds. At one point, these two dogs were standing on their two feet with their front paws on each other. Just like how bears behave. They were merely growling at each other.

In the meantime, Alpha was running, sitting, putting her tail down. As the sun was setting, me and my friend decided to accomplish our mission quickly. And it was because of us that this alpha male successfully overcame Alpha's resistance. Initially, when I put the collar on her, she freaked out and ran away. We thought that she would never come back. Luck was on our side as she still came over hesitantly when we called for her. But once the leash was attached, Alpha went berserk. She stood up, and this caused her to forget to defend her back. With a blink of an eye, this alpha male mounted on her.

Truth to tell, that was my first encounter witnessing a complete process of dogs mating. I was both awed and emabarrassed - because people were gawking at us. As if it was to give us all the spotlight, this incident happened to occur under a lighted street lamp. My friend, though, had already seen this process many times.

The two dogs were subsequently locked to each other at the back. I was fortunate to bring my friend along, as she had advised me on the do's and dont's while copulation was in process. If I was on my own, I would have forced the two dogs away, which will risk injuring them and myself getting bitten.

While we were waiting, I noticed GR was looking from afar with a forlorn look. Finally the dogs were separated after 30 minutes. This alpha dog still had not had enough of Alpha while my friend carried her into the car. He kept obstructing her from moving Alpha. I told him to get lost and take a nap.

We quicly drove off to the vet before it closed. She was so exhausted that the car seat cover was wet with her saliva. Alpha was checked in, and was told by the vet she would be spayed in three days.

I went to see Alpha yesterday. She has been spayed. I was not surprised that she looked depressed. She had been a roaming dog , and now is caged in. I took her for a walk before I left.

Blowing Wind on a Dog's Face, Dog Bites and Phobias

There are many habits that I have that just never goes away. Even after a bad experience, the particular habit still stays within me. It is like an Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). Blowing air on a dog's face is one of them. I recall the first time I did this when I was about 6 years old. This dog was enjoying the cool air, and began licking it. From then on, I would do this to any friendly dog I came across.

One day during this innocent and mischievous childhood period, my father brought along to his friend's house. I remember there was this black dog which was staying indoor. It was resting on its belly under a chair. As my father and his friend were chatting, I squatted and poked my face near the dog's face. I blew my first few air, but it did not respond enthusiastically to them. It just looked at me, and must have made comments of how silly I was. I recall it did not show any signs of annoyance and imminent attack ie growling and baring of teeth. It literally did not flinch. So I continued blowing, and hoped that it would appreciate this cool air I was supplying to it. Suddenly the dog moved its head forward, and then back. It was like a knee-kerk reaction. I practically did not see that coming. I only moved when I felt a pain on my face. I can't remember which part of the face got bitten. "Bitten" is not the word to use. "Grazed" is an appropriate word, as it only took off the top part of the skin. Thus there was just a smudge of blood.

Before I could register any emotional response, my father and a few household members attended to me. I told them I blew onto the dog's face. Recalling their non-urgency to my "injury", I guessed they were said "serves you right for provoking it". But I knew it was because the injury was insignificant. Anyhow, my father cut short his meeting and rushed me to the doctor to have me jabbed.  I remember that I lied down with my butt facing up, and I kept looking back at the needle until I could not see it anymore before it came down into my skin.

The only other time I got bitten by a dog when I was 13 years old. That was more severe. I was hand feeding an Alsatian-mix in the dark through the gates. I remember during other times I threw over food for him, but cannot remember if I had fed it directly from my hand. While taking the food, it grazed my finger. This time there were blood coming out. I didn't blame it because it was dark, and it was so hungry that he hurriedly ate it.

I did not go to the doctor for a jab after the second incident. That was because I had developed a fear of needles. Till now, this phobia still exists. I would have expected for me to develop a fear of dogs too, but it never happened. While only psychologists will know the reasons, but from my point of view, could it be that the fondness of a particular thing - whether it is animated or not - overwhelms the fear of an unpleasant situation related to, or as a result of indulging into that thing? Furthermore, I was at an age when I was psychologically very vulnerable to extreme events - be it unpleasant or pleasant.

Teri's Puppies

Yesterday evening I got a call from the vet - where Teri is currently boarding - that the dog had given birth to six puppies. There were four females and two males.

Not one of these puppies looked like Teri. Well, except for the white color composition. I wonder if the father is actually one of her buddies - GR - which was featured in Canine Brotherhood.

As for Teri, she was healthy. She appeared longer and was aggressive toward other dogs. While she was tied outside the cage while the cage was being cleaned, she keeps looking into the empty cage to look for her babies. The vet assistant and me dare not show her that the pups were in a box.

A question for animal rescuers.

The question is: "What is your role as an animal rescuer?" This question came about after I came across three incidents, and they made me wonder if the rescuers like me  - particularly in Malaysia - are saving animals the right way. The first one was this:

Last week I helped a fellow dog rescuer to put up an adoption advertisement on http://www.petfinder.com.my/ for two female dogs she had rescued. Two days later, I got a missed call from a landline telephone, and immediately followed by a sms which read "I am interested to view the dogs, Sally and Brownie - Mak". This sms and the previous call are related, as you will later know.

I then called the handphone number and this Mak asked to see the dogs. He said these dogs will be taken in as guard dogs for a factory. He asked how old they were. Did Mr Chia call me earlier? (which explains the missed call). He said Mr Chia asked him to "look into it". I concluded that Mr Chia was the boss. The instruction for someone to "look into it" made me put out a red flag. I then mentioned something which immediately put him off. It was said in a matter-of-fact way. I said that the dogs are spayed. "Oh, then I don't want to view them. We actually want them to mate with a male dog that we have here. He is kind of unique in its color composition. We thought we could breed some puppies out of them".

Another incident is actually related to this dog rescuer. She has been doing it regularly - including vaccination, spaying / neutering - but the issue is that if she can't find homes for these dogs, she releases them back to their original habitat. She acknowledges that the only danger the dogs face are the dog catchers. But at least there is less reproduction of dogs.

The third example involves all animal rescuers. After looking at Petfinder and some websites of the dog rescuers, I see that - in a desperation to get the dogs adopted - puppies below ages of 5 months old are advertised as ready to be adopted even before they are  vaccinated and spayed/neutered. However, my concern is the spaying / neutering because sterilization keeps new strays off the streets. These individuals will say that they follow up with the owners to make sure the dogs are sterilized once they reach a suitable age ie 5 months and above. I would like to know how successful are these rescuers in achieving this objective.

I understand the rescuers' noble intentions of giving homes to the dogs. They will say that even if they can't get the owners to sterilize the dogs, at least they have a home. What if the owners decide to give up on the dog? I experienced such a scenario. Nacho -one of five pups I found two years ago - was adopted by a middle-class family from Kuantan (300 km from Kuala Lumpur). It was fated that I happened to be at PAWS on the day the family came to look for a pet dog. They took a liking to Nacho, who was 4 months old at that time. And it was a coincidence that I would be going to Kuantan for a business trip in two weeks. I told them of my trip, and asked if I could drop by to see Nacho. They didn't mind, and in two weeks, I got to see Nacho. In addition, I forged a new friendship with this family. However, three months later I got a call from them that they were going to drive down to PAWS to return Nacho. He has been too mischievous and uncontrollable in the house, and has destroyed everything in sight. To cut to the chase, this is one of many examples of owners returning a dog. Out of these quantity, how many actually return the dog back to where they adopted it from. In my case, it was to PAWS - a distance of 300km. And it was plain fortunate that the family and I know each other that they took the initiative to inform me. For the record, Nacho was already neutered before he was adopted. And that was because animal shelters have a strict policy of sterilizing dogs and cats before they are adopted.

I would really like to receive comments from all animal rescuers on your role as an animal rescuer. What are your objectives? Do you release puppies for adoption before they are sterilized? Also, do you release adult cats and dogs back to the streets after all the medical attention were given to them?

I do ask myself: "When the puppies are ready for adoption at ages 5 months above - with so much competition to be adopted - will people still be interested in them, or more inclined to get a younger pup? I would then let a chance pass by for these pups." " Am I only providing half of the solution by returning adult dogs back to the streets - even after they are sterilized? I am stopping reproduction, but they are still exposed to roadkill and dog cathers."

Teri the Wire-Haired Terrier

In a recent post Canine Brotherhood, I mentioned that there were three dogs which were always together. However, during this mating season, the terrier was nowhere to be seen. I thought this could be due to her being on heat. During my next visit, I spotted her roaming around at one of the roads. She was pregnant. That explains her disappearance.

I had always wanted to rescue these three dogs, but only after they fully get used to my  presence. Besides, I will be holding a leash and a collar, and they will definitely freak out upon seeing it. But the terrier's pregnancy accelerated the need to take her off the streets. A few days later, the intent of my visit was clear. Get the terrier. After work, I went over at 6pm to look for her. She was not around. I took my chance to  just wait for her at an area of 50 meter radius. It was 45 minutes later that I saw her rummaging for food at a garbage disposal bin. I attracted her attention and waved a bag of kibbles. I made sure that when she came over, we will be near my car. She did come over and I let her eat. Since she had an old collar on her, it was easy for me to attach the leash. She was not surprised and did not struggle to free herself when she realised that she had been leashed. Nevertheless, she refused to budge when I pulled the leash. She just remained seated. Not sure if she will bite me if I carried her to my car, I patiently nudged her seated rump toward the car. Every nudge moved her for about 6 inches. When she was about 1 foot from the car, I decided to carry  her. I was ready to risk getting bitten. I would have waited longer if she had been larger. She did not resist and I thanked her for her cooperation.

I drove to the vet and asked if he could take care of the dog and her soon-to-be-delivered pups. The vet measured her weight (10kg), and did some blood tests. He said she could be around 2-3 years old, and that she is a Wire-Haired Terrier. She could be due to deliver in about 2 weeks.

I had decided to name this dog Teri. I have put her up for adoption on http://www.petfinder.com.my/, and will do the same for her puppies. In the meantime, I feed her eggs and chicken wings whenever I visit her. I hope her delivery turns out well, and shall see what is the next course of action. In the meantime, I plan to get the other two remaining dogs.

Be Vigilant During Mating Season

When I walk my dogs, I don't bring along a long object to protect against stray dogs. The strays in the neighbourhood may be afraid of humans, but seeing an outsider dog is another matter. With the ongoing mating season, their hostile response to other dogs is now more intense. During other periods of the year, we have been barked and chased by stray dogs, but they always stop when they see me stamping my feet and pretending to take something (on one occasion I actually took a stone and hurled at them when they didn't retreat) to throw at them.

This morning I decided to bring a metal rod because I wanted to let Max run off-leash. When a dog attack happens, Jon will know whether to face them or run away. He has been on the streets before he was adopted. As for Max, I am sure he will not be able to avoid being harmed. This is based on two facts: First, he is much smaller in size. Second, he is too inclined to be friendly. I am sure he will actually approach these dogs, and they will perceive it as a challenge. Initially - when he was younger - I thought he was naive, inquisitive, and not able to differentiate between friend and foe; and between what is safe and dangerous. For example, he learnt that Jon is not friendly after getting pounced upon with bite marks. Until now, I still don't know what is behind Max's gung ho behaviour. I think he likes to face challenges presented by humans, dogs and inanimate objects. And this morning's incident somehow affirmed my conclusion.

We were taking a different route to a playground so that I could release Max to run. Just before reaching the place, two dogs appeared very quickly toward us. One of them seemed to have an owner because he had a collar on him. The other larger one - which was an alpha - appeared to be a stray. I stood my ground and shouted at them, but the alpha did not retreat. I then waved the metal rod and moved forward by two steps. He still walked on, albeit slower. I then frantically waved the rod, and this made him stop. We quickly walked away, leaving the two of them trailing us. It was not so much as to shoo us away, but more of sniffing on the ground for any scents left behind by my two dogs.

As I regained my senses, I recalled the incident and realised how differently Max and Jon dealt with the situation. Upon seeing the dogs, Jon quickly ran off. Max didn't move but looked at them. When I faced-off with them, Jon got back his courage and came to my side (not in front) and growled. Max lunged forward, but did not make any sound. I am sure if the leash was off, Max would not fight the dogs, but will actually enthusiastically greet them. Both of them respond to their own kind in opposite ways. Jon being hostile and fearful, while Max is too friendly.

All said, I will always be bringing the rod during our walks until this mating season is over. The hostility displayed by the males are too intense.

Vomiting in Dogs. Is he actually vomiting?

This is the title of a post from the blog Dawg Business. This post caught my interest as Jon occasionally vomits. One part of this post that - "Respiratory symptoms and vomiting" - closely described what Jon is experiencing. His output has always been "white and frothy".

I posed a question if this is the result of him pulling on the leash during his walk. I will have to observe at which point in time that he vomits. Health-wise, Jon does not wheeze or cough. I have not been concerned with him vomiting because it only happens about once a week; and thinking it was merely due to indigestion.