Sightings of monkeys - with a message

One morning, after parking the car at the Visitor's carpark of a condominium where my friend resides, I heard screeching noises. What a scene it was when I looked at the direction where the noise came from.  A pack of monkeys were on a wall, and while they were heading for the trees - presumably to go back home - they were frolicking and playing among themselves.

This residential area is in Segambut, next to the French International School. There is still much remaining forests in sight. However, it may not be long before I see less of these. Another area of land right in front of the school had been cleared a month ago to make way for a new block of condominiums. At this particular area, there used to be some stray dogs which were exceptionally friendly. I could even get to pet one of them. They are that friendly because the residents have been feeding them. Since the trees have been cut down, they were no where to be seen. If dogs - which only seek refuge in the fringes of these forest - are driven away due to deforestation, there need not be any guessing how many species of animals- which depend on the innards of the forest for survival - are also affected.

As I watched these not-so-clear videos taken with my handphone with amusement, I pondered about these animals' future.

Early Morning Greeting

I was awaken at about 1 am plus by some noise in my front porch. Didn't sound like it came from my dogs, but I still looked out from my bedroom. Seeing nothing suspicious, I went back to sleep.

When I woke up at 4am to start bringing the dogs out, I saw an object on the floor in the midst of the darkness. I gave it a nudge with my foot. It felt soft, and immediately I knew what it was. It was a shrew. Or that's what I thought. It looked bigger than a shrew. "Crap, it's a rat?" Yes, it was.

Shrews are very common in this neighbourhood. Jon has killed a few. But for him to kill a rat, it is a first for him. I have killed a lot of rats after trapping them. I used to kill shrews, but lately have let them go a few hundred meters away from my area. They are not that dirty, don't stay in the house, and they are kind of cute.

I noticed there were blood stains on its body. I figured that this fella put up a fight against Jon, and Jon retaliated with more force. With a shrew, there were never any blood. A small force of the teeth is enough to kill it.

When the pet dog is no longer referred to by its name.

As an update to the situation described in the post yesterday, I received a sms message from her last night. It says " Just to let you know the dog has gone to a friend".

In my opinion, when one no longer refers their pet by its name, there is no more affection or feelings for that animal. I suppose it applies in human-human relationships too. Back to this sms message, is it not easier to type in the dog's name "B****", instead of "the dog"?

Abandon pet dog for self interest?

A woman called me up three weeks ago to ask me to walk her 13 year old Shih Tzu-Terrier dog.  From what she had told me - in bits and pieces, and that I did not want to be too intrusive -   when I visited her and the dog, this dog was brought in by her daughter 13 years ago.

This woman's husband passed away 4 months ago, and she said she has been, and still is, depressed. In addition to that, she is not physically well. The daughter is still around with them, and she has a maid. She said that the daughter is too busy to care for the dog, and that the maid, being a Muslim, is reluctant to walk the dog. The dog is still active with lots of energy. If she had not mentioned his age, I would not think he was over 10 years of age.

During that visit, she dropped some hints of sending the dog away. Hopefully, she can find a person to adopt it, and not sent it to the shelter. She added that he was a burden to her. I told her that since she is not giving her any problems -he does not eliminate in the house unless taken out and bark - why not let him spend his remaining days with her. Besides, she needs the companionship. I suspect she did not buy into both of the reasons.

I got back home and wondered why is she asking me to still bath and walk the dog when she has decided to send him away. My friend mentioned that maybe she felt guilty, and wanted to treat him well before departing.

I went to walk and bath the dog for the first time 2 weeks ago. A few days after that, she called me to come over for a second visit, and added that she had brought the dog to the vet, and that he has arthritis and dry skin problem. She mentioned again she has to send it away, and if there are no takers, she will put it to sleep. Again, I persuaded her not to do so. her reply was: "He is living in my house, so I will make the final decision..."

After my second session with the dog last week, she told me her friend "wants to try him out". If it does not work out, she will put him to sleep.  Later that day, via sms, I suggested she also advertise him over the internet. Her curt response surprised me: "Why not you do it. We are all very exhausted here".
It has been a few days since we got in touch with each other. I don't want to find out the current situation either.

The reason I am writing this is to reflect how easy it was for her to - harshly put it - dispose her dog.   If the dog is sickly or incapacitated, and it would do the dog good if it were to be put down, I agree with the decision.

I wonder how many more owners easily give up their pets. Dogs in particular. I read somewhere that the top three reasons owners abandon their dogs are: aggressiveness, excessive barking, and destruction to the house. Maybe depression does cause one to take necessary actions to alleviate the intensity.

When a Malay gets bitten by a dog....

....it is always the fault of the former. Period. This post will certainly cause an uproar among certain quarters. However I don't write and say things without evidence gained from personal experiences. A few months ago, I posted a rant on Facebook about one of my Malay neighbours, whereby the kids harassed and taunted my dogs while we walking past the house.

This again happened from the same house, but this time I am not sure if it was the kid living there. On Saturday, there was a party at that house. Kids were playing on the road, while the adults were chatting inside After 5 hours - at 9pm - the party was still alive. My dogs couldn't wait any longer to eliminate. I have already delayed the walk by an hour, knowing that if I had walked while these kids were playing, my dogs would be harassed.

Passing by them the first time was not much of a problem. By the way, the road is a cul-de-sac, so avoiding them is not an option. The kids were telling each other "Anjing, Anjing! Masuk rumah!" (Dog, Dog! Get in the house!) So the path was clear for us to pass. Upon coming back, it looked like it would be easy. Same warning words were used by the kids again. But as we were passing by, this young boy suddenly rushed toward us as and shouted at the dogs. Max, who is always unafraid, and game for play, also rushed toward the boy. The boy was taken aback. The adults were seated at the house compound, and didn't even say anything. As any irresponsible, and one-sided parent would behave, the kid did not do any thing wrong. The previous time was also similar in nature. The parents did not blink an eye.

This mentality among the Malays is a confounding syndrome. More like an obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). I never - N.E.V.E.R - see this happening coming from an Indian or a Chinese. That's why when I read headlines about a Malay person - especially a kid - getting attacked and bitten by a dog, I don't read any further. I would just say "You deserved it". But the dog is just as guilty as a dead man is. Because a dead man can't talk.

Master, there's a lizard in my food!

During one of the dog's meals, I noticed Jon has been eating exceptionally slow. In fact, he was unenthusiastic in the meal. Sniffing and using his tongue to select what he wants to eat. At first I thought it was because it was the long beans that turned him off (Jon does not like to eat vegetables). On closer view, I saw a dead lizard among the ingredients.

After I took it out, I realized it was already hard. It must have died quite some time already in the packet of kibbles which it crept in to feast.

Poor Jon, he couldn't voice out his complaint to me. This is a reminder to me to constantly monitor my dogs'g body language in order to understand their behaviour, and probably their language.

Internal Clock and Homing Instinct

I try to read Stanley Coren's books whenever I have the time. Currently I am drifting between two of his books: "The Modern Dog" and "Born To Bark".

I was reading "Modern Dog" this morning, Chapter 13's "Dogs That Wait and Dogs That Come Home". This chapter talks about some true stories of faithful dogs that keeps a vigil wait for their loved masters / mistresses who could not return because they have passed away; and on the opposite scenario are dogs that have a special sense that allows them to find their way home to their loved ones from wherever they have been left or lost.

Upon seeing words like Internal Clock and Homing Instinct, I recall one stray dog which had formed part of my relationships with dogs over the years. Before proceeding, Stanley mentioned that many dogs have an Internal Clock. They seem to have a knack of knowing the time which a routine event happens. Homing Instinct is a term still debated among many scientist and animal behaviourist. Do dogs naturally have a special sense that allows them to find their way to their loved ones, or that it is a myth that started from the movie Lassie.

Anyway, these two terms reminded me of a female stray which wandered into my home in 1983. My family always leave the main gate open to enable easy entrance and exit of the car. At that time, robbery, house break-in, kidnapping were words rarely heard of. I named this dog Phoebe, after an actress by the name of Phoebe Cates. I was fond of her at that time.

I was not allowed by my parents to keep Phoebe, but always welcomed her coming into the house compound. One particular "skill" she had was that she never failed to visit us seconds before 8pm. That was when the TV3 signature tune "TV Tiga...." rang out before the news came on. We found it really amazing that she has a sense of time (Internal Clock). Also at that time, my mom will always go to take her bath. And she will reprimand me for feeding her with feeding her human food ie powdered milk and biscuits when she sees me doing so. To make life easier for all of us, I always waited for her to begin her bath before preparing the milk and biscuits for er.Phoebe.

As for her sense of direction (Homing Instinct), I discovered her ability when on one particular day Phoebe followed me when I cycled out to buy groceries for my mom. The shop was about 2km away. Phoebe was adamant on following me in spite of me shooing her away. I was afraid she would get lost, and that the journey to the destination had heavy traffic. Phoebe followed and upon returning, she did not manage to follow close enough to me, and was left behind. When I got home, I was worried about her managing to come back. To my relief, she was at my doorstep one hour later. Perhaps she did have a homing instinct, or that she has been to that area many times for her to be familiar with the route.