Alive and Wagging at 15!!!

I've been wanting to move out of our condo so I can raise and have a dog again. Like most filipino-chinese families who claim to be canine lovers, every mom has had some hairy toy dog like a shih-tzu or lhasa apso. I had my first toy dog for my 8th birthday. It was a beautiful white Pekingese named Celtic. His dad and grandad were champs, so he came with papers. Papers said Celtic so we stuck by it. My family had a problem saying those two syllables so Cel-tic eventually became "Tic-tic". Then, Auntie Lily just assumed that it was "di di" (弟弟) which means little brother so that worked too.

Well Celtic got really sick after 7 years and mom had him put to sleep forever. I was so busy with my workshop that summer that it took me a few days to realize what mom did. And since I was super busy with my concerns as a teenager, I forgave her (mom), even before she apologized. We could tell that Celtic was in serious pain, it was just really hard for me since he looked exquisite on the latter days of his life. And I refused to take in another pet after that.

Fast forward, my ninang's brother from HK was migrating with his entire family to Australia. Him and his family passed through Manila on the way and was able to sneak "B 仔" (pronounced as B Zai in cantonese) in the ship.

I didn't like him at first. It was a 3 year old mongrel. Physically, it looked like a stuffed toy from Blue Magic. But it was a happy dog. He minded his own business and barked occasionally when necessary. But I refused to allow him be Celtic's replacement. (First pet never dies...)

Well, we loved him alright. He kinda potty-trained himself and would open the door with his snout and bark for us to open the door. He was safe to children and we groomed his hair short so he's low maintenance. What more could a pet owner ask for? My dad liked it so much, it slept with him.

"Sao" is cantonese for hands. So mom trained him to give her his paw when he hears "sao sao". Of course yaya thinks it could also mean ..."saw saw suka, mahuli taya...". Who knew dogs could be bilingual?

Well, when dad died in 2005, mom moved to a condominium that didn't allow pets. So we sent "B 仔" off to my ninang's house to be taken care of.

I was amazed to see him alive and wagging! He's around 15 years old now, human years, could barely see but I call him a certain way and it responded like how it used to! I was sooooo happy to see my second pet, if only it could talk, I'd be in deep trouble. Alas! He was neutered in HK, which is probably why his appetite and bowel movement is normal still, but he moans and groans alot. So what to do?

Mom said it could be in alot of pain. But no, he has no reason to go to sleep now. So, picture picture nalang muna kami. =)

The word "仔" (zai), is used to refer to a kid. Now, we no longer call him "B 仔", instead we call him "B伯" (B Ba), like how we would refer to an uncle. So "B伯" is alive and wagging at 15, enjoying his very own electric fan, and is sometimes annoyed by 2 chow dogs who think they're the same age.