The LaLa Project: Stage One

I used to be afraid of dogs.

I was young (and chibi) back then, and most dogs usually towered over me easily. Especially my uncle's Great Dane named Zack. Or was it Jack?

My uncle loves dogs. And he really takes care of them, having reared a selection of dog breeds in rotation.

Corgi.

Pomeranian.

Chihuahua.

Rottweiler.

Golden Retriever.

Labrador.

But the one that really caught my attention was Zack. 

He was a gentle soul trapped in a giant body, but to my six-year-old self, I felt he was too giant to the point of scary. 

He was a brave one, known to chase away burglars who attempted break-ins at my uncle's house. 

I remembered one day when I was finally ready to get to know him, only to find him gone. Forever. According to my grandma, a snake bit him, and it pulled on my heartstrings then, to lose a gentle and brave one. 

Fast forward to the year 2009, it was Chinese New Year eve. My sister, Jazz and I, decided to take home a stray puppy. It was adorable, but perhaps all puppies are such. Those enormous puppy eyes, cute moist nose and adorable floppy ears always make them look cuddly. 

There were around twelve pups and the mother could not support all of them, so we believed we were doing a good deed by adopting one under our wings. Those little pups were susceptible to hunger and the SPCA people, which usually end up euthanizing them if no one adopts them.

We carried him away from his family, but he started to cry.

That poor little puppy, it was as if we were some kind of kidnapper.

Perhaps we really were.

Though our intentions were good.

Ultimately, we returned him to his family because it was such a heart-wrenching scene to watch.

I supposed our disappointment was contagious.

Even my parents were sighing back then.

It was then we went on dog-hunting around town.

Our hopes were not high, but a miracle happened.

We entered a pet shop in the Pulau Tikus area.

It was not really a big place. Now that I think of it, it does not look like a proper pet store at all. 

Not to mention it really reeked of "pet smell".

But we found some puppies that caught our attention.

There were a beautiful Shih Tzu puppy and a trio of pups whose breed was unknown to us back then.

We thought about what we wanted.

And we crossed the Shih Tzu off our list.

Shih Tzus are cute and obedient.

Yet somehow, they are a little dumb, according to my friend.

And so, we choose one from the trio.

The owner introduced the trio as "The Silky Terriers".

And he recommended we take the female one.

The reason being with her, the process of fur-colour changing had already begun.

And it was the best decision we had ever made in life yet.

For we have brought home a new family member, who we will always love. 

                                           Baby Darling with her favourite water bowl

Only two months old when we brought her home.

She was so little and light that we could just lift her up with one of our hands.

Honestly, we did not even realise when she peed.

She was like a ball of black fur.

Soft and cuddly.

And she blends in well among our plush toys.

We named her Darling.

And we showed her off the next day during Chinese New Year.

                                                         A Collection Of Little Darling

Well, we sort of changed her name to Lacus after the I-Am-Embarrassed-By-Calling-My-Dog-Darling-In-Public incident.

We named her after a character in Gundam Seed (go check out the anime!).

As a baby, Lacus a.k.a. LaLa has many unpleasant habits.

She was definitely not toilet trained.

Therefore, she often ended up wetting all our carpets.

Especially the ones in my bathroom. [Smiles]

Another bad habit of hers was to do with biting.

Chewing most of the stuff she could find on the floor.

And the worst thing was, she also had the habit of biting US.

Perhaps her teeth were growing.

She was feeling itchy and restless without chewing something.

And when she hurt us, however unintentional that may be, my dad was furious.

He probably hit one of her eyes with a rolled-up newspaper.

And from that day onwards, she is officially afraid of seeing a rolled-up newspaper.

This applies to this day. 

                                                         Evidence of Biting Behaviour

Another vice of this babe was the annoying habit of being extremely picky.

Choosy, in terms of her food.

She did not enjoy eating her dried food.

And she would rather puke and have a whole gastric episode than filling her belly.

Call it the dog has attitude.

Well, this is mostly about the baby stage of Lacus.

I'll be updating more stages about her in my subsequent posts.

Hopefully, you may one day own a dog of your own.

And love her or him with all your heart. 

They are definitely worthy of our love. [Smiles]

                                                                          [End]