Best Friend or Slave?

Recently I was watching some video clips on YouTube. There's this one about a cute little sweetheart called Ava who was playing with her dog, a big German Shepherd called Brown. She had in her hand a doggy bone and was teasing Brown with it. At one point, her daddy (who was filming the clip) told Ava to give the bone to Brown. Like a good girl, she did. But the moment Brown had it in his mouth, the daddy (in a sharp voice) told Ava to retrieve the bone from Brown. I could see from the expression on little Ava's face, young as she is, that she knew it was wrong and dangerous to try to snatch the bone from Mr. Brown.

Of course I jumped up with shock and disbelief! What kind of daddy is that? What if Ava had listened to the daddy and had done as she was told and Mr. Brown, in a moment of animal instinct to protect his food, decides to "engage with the enemy"? It would be a messy disaster to say the least.

But wait, that's not all to it. The (expletive deleted) daddy, now that he can't get Ava to do what he wanted, he proceeded to ask Ava to "kiss Brown on the nose". I mean, what kind of daddy is that? Seems to me, he wants to film Ava getting hurt!!!

Anyways, that clip drew plenty of comments from viewers. Some actually agreed with the daddy's actions. But of course many disagreed like me. The few that thought that it was a bright idea "explained" that dogs must be taught who the master is. They said that Brown must be taught who is the "alpha dog". I find such "explanations" quite unacceptable.

From time immemorial, we've been told a trillion times that dogs are man's best friend. Is this how you treat your best friend? That they must obey our every command or else? Must they come, go, sit, sleep, eat, rollover, stand on their hind legs, run in circles, jump, attack, or do whatever before they become our best friend?

I don't know about you, but for me, that's not how I would treat my best friend. And for those who feel that it is not wrong, well, all I can say is this...he is no longer your best friend. He's your slave.

Woof! Woof!

Are you good at keeping promises?

How good are you at keeping promises? Yeah – like the little secret that you told your friend never to tell anyone else. People make - and break – all sorts of promises in their daily affairs. Especially politicians – these people make the most promises and they will routinely break it without batting an eyelid. Some make promises out of necessity, and they break it too, out of necessity. A promise is much like a vow – maybe not as dramatic; and solemn as the one below:

“I, (your name), take you, (her name), to be my lawfully wedded (husband/wife), my constant friend, my faithful partner and my love from this day forward. In the presence of God, our family and friends, I offer you my solemn vow to be your faithful partner in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad, and in joy as well as in sorrow. I promise to love you unconditionally, to support you in your goals, to honor and respect you, to laugh with you and cry with you, and to cherish you for as long as we both shall live.”

Unfortunately, many people don’t really mean what they say. Many people say things in the heat of the moment. It could be due to a feeling of love, lust, fear, anger, joy, sympathy, hate and sometimes when they are sad or lonely. But most of the time the vows or promises they make are way beyond what they would humanly do. Sure, it’s nice to hear someone say, “I’ll die for you”, “You’re my only love” etc, etc. Every one of us go through life making vows or promises that we eventually break because of certain circumstances or situations. You may be a husband or a wife, or a CEO, a salesman, or a soldier, or a spy, but like people say, "when push comes to shove" the real you will surface. No one can honestly tell you that he will make good his vow no matter what. Not unless you are a GoGo; like good old Raja Boy.

Dogs don’t need to say all those bullshit. The day you bring him home, he will come with an unspoken promise to be your best friend until the day he dies. Whatever is said in a wedding vow is what you’ll get from your GoGo. And unlike us cheating humans, dogs will keep their promise. No matter you’re Bill Gates or a homeless beggar, he’ll love you just the same - unconditionally.

So for me, I don’t mean to offend anyone, people who don’t love GoGo are sending a message that they are not friendly by nature. They may behave in a friendly way, but deep within their heart, they probably don’t have ALL the qualities of a friend that a GoGo possesses. That is why I said before, in my list of friends, Raja, has remained at the number one position. And although he is gone, the position has never been replaced.

Warmest regards

Happiness is going to PD

Many years ago, I worked as a Head of Department in a 5-star hotel in Kuala Lumpur. My job was hectic like hell. Every day, I'd be at my office by 8am. Often I won't be home until past midnight. By the time I get home, everyone would already be in bed. Sometimes, when my mum had made some nutritious herbal soup, she'd leave a note on my bedroom door and tell me to warm the soup left in the fridge and drink it before going to bed.

But no matter what time I get home, there's always one member of the household who is always there, wide awake waiting for me. Yup, that would be Raja. By the time my car pulls up at the gate, he would be standing there quietly waiting to greet me in the darkness. Before getting into the house, I would play with him for a while. Sometimes, I'd quietly sneak him into my bedroom and let him sleep on the floor. Somehow I sleep better with Raja beside me.

Weekends to me is time to detox from my crazy career. Different people do different things to relax. Some would play weekend golf, some would go fishing or hunting, and yet there are others who'd do nothing but stay home and watch TV. My work involves managing or meeting people, lots of them. So, for me, my idea of relaxation is to get away from people. And Port Dickson offers the perfect getaway.

Port Dickson, or just "PD" to the locals, is a beach resort about 2 hours (back then there was no North-South highway, so driving time is much longer along the federal trunk roads) from KL. By 9am, I'll be all set to go. With Raja in the front passenger seat, we're off! By the time we reach Seremban town, it would be around 10am. I'd usually stop by the A&W hotdog joint to have breakfast. We'll both have a corny dog and root beer with ice-cream in the car. Normally I'd feed Raja first as I can't eat mine peacefully with a hungry canine fighting for his share. In any case, Raja would finish his breakfast in under one minute. Then I'll have mine, and he'll just sit there salivating.

Another hour later and we're there - beautiful PD. Back then PD don't have all those big holiday resort hotels crowding the beach area that we see today. But still, many parts of the beachfront are quite populated by weekend tourists; mostly Malaysians from other towns or cities. Some would be there who came in their own cars, while many were groups that came in hired buses presumably organized by their companies or schools to spend an overnight weekend by the sea. But there's a particular stretch of sandy beach way beyond all the regular pinic spots that's surprisingly very quiet. And that's where we'll disembark.

Raja needs no introduction to the sea and soon we'll both be frolicking in the water. Once in a while, we'll meet one or two small families who are there with kids. Somehow, they would be dog lovers too, and before long, all fears of a big German Shepherd dog are gone, and they, especially the kids, would be playing with Raja barking in happiness. Make no mistake, Raja is a fearsome looking and HUGE dog, and he can be REALLY intimidating if he detects an unfriendly stranger. His two longest teeth in front is about half the length of my thumb and unless you are made of steel, you'll have to go to the hospital if those two teeth happened to be clamped around your arm or backside! LOL!!!

Anyways, by 4pm, both Raja and I would be quite happy to leave. We'll both have a shower in one of those "pay-to-shower" facility before we hit the road for home. This weekend fun by the sea would remain for a long time until one day I found a job in another part of Malaysia.

Do you have similar happy memories that you would like to share with me?

Warmest regards

Woof! Woof!

My blog is dedicated to animal lovers. If you love animals, especially dogs, then you're welcome to come and share your stories with me. I'm particularly fond of dogs; any breed of dogs.

What do I know about dogs? Not a lot really. But I do know that dogs are "a man's best friend". As this is my debut post, I'll keep it short and simple. Later I'll write about some of the happy times that I shared with my "best friend".

My Best Friend
Many years ago I had a big-bone male German Shepherd. His birth certificate says his name is Cosmo. But I called him "Maharaja", or "Raja". My family called him "Raja Boy". Sadly, Raja died very young from heartworm disease. During the short four years of Raja's life, he had, except for money, given me everything a "best friend" could give to his buddy. If you look up the dictionary for the definition of a "friend", Raja would have no troube filling all the qualities. Until today, on my list of friends (including my human friends) that I've built over the years, Raja has remained at Number #1 position.

I know a lot of people go to YouTube to watch short clips of the beautiful dogs put up by their adoring owners. I do too. I can spend a long time just watching the clips of happy dogs playing with babies or kids. Once in a while I'll make a comment. But I still feel that our best friend deserves more than just some short clips. We need to honor them by reserving a space that is devoted entirely to them. Hence, this blog.

You will notice that the header says China GoGo. Well, for those who are not familiar with the Chinese language, "GoGo" actually means dog. The word "GoGo" is usually prefered by kids and girls. Men normally refer to their dog simply as "Go". Its like saying "doggie" and "dog".

Do you have a GoGo now, or had one before that you once shared your life with? Feel free to share your experience, or post a pic of your beautiful GoGo here.

Warmest regards.