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our dearest tonto boy<\/p>\n
it\u2019s been 2 weeks since you were gone and your daddy and mommy are still emotional wrecks, sobering now and then whenever we think about you. and we think about you all the time!<\/p>\n
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let me tell you a bit of the story of tonto.<\/p>\n
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2 fumbling adults want to experience the joys of having a dog<\/b><\/p>\n
around 7 years ago, waishuen and i wanted to get a dog. both of us have always been terrified of dogs since childhood. growing up, i lived in a neighbourhood where most folks just let their dogs run free and i was chased a lot back then. the adults would always tell you not to run when chased by dogs but i always said to the adults, \u201ctry not to run if a tiger is chasing after you\u201d.<\/p>\n
anyway, life is about experiences and we have heard so much about the joys of having a dog, man\u2019s best friend etc, we figured the way to free our fear of dogs and understand the utter joys of a canine companion is to\u2026. get one ourselves.<\/p>\n
so we began looking around. we thought of getting a pug as that squiggly face always does it every time. but then we realised we can\u2019t get a puppy as we are both working, so no one can take care of him\/her when we were not around. as we went along, we came across the idea of adopting from animal shelters.<\/p>\n
i recall we were in a mall having an adoption drive when we met a kind volunteer called nancy. nancy told us there is just this dog called coco who was then with \u201csave a stray\u201d, an animal shelter run by jacqueline tsang.<\/p>\n
one thing led to another and jacqueline assured us that coco, with his sweet gentle disposition, is the best dog for us first timers. \u201cbut i must warn you,\u201d she said, \u201ci would bring coco to your place but if he doesn\u2019t like it, i\u2019m sorry then.\u201d<\/p>\n
fortunately he was okay with us.<\/p>\n
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the first time we met tonto<\/b><\/p>\n
the first night we got him, we were all terrified of each other. that was also the only night he slept alone downstairs in the hall while we tucked into bed. after that night, every night he slept in our room.<\/p>\n
slowly we began bonding via walks, feeding him, and slowly petting him. when we first got him, he would gobble up all his food. understandable as in a shelter, if you were to eat slowly, you\u2019ll have nothing left to eat.<\/p>\n
initially when we first got him, he would sleep on the floor, lying on a thick towel. then we got him a little bed. he loved it so much he didn\u2019t even want to go for his evening walk! for 2 consecutive nights! then one cold raining night, we offered our bed to him. and the rest is history.<\/p>\n
now it\u2019s like we are sharing his bed with him. whenever i get up in the middle of the night to pee, he would quickly claim my spot of the bed as his. i don\u2019t know whether he likes the warmth, the smell or just telling me, \u201chey, this is my spot\u201d.<\/p>\n
sometimes he\u2019ll sleep on the floor, then in the middle of the night, asked me to move my legs, so that he could climb on to our bed. he would do it so by gently nudging my legs with his head. as i\u2019m a light sleeper, i would fold my legs when i got his message and he would jump up on to our bed, laying himself between waishuen\u2019s and my legs. he loved to lean his back against waishuen\u2019s thighs. either that or use her legs as a pillow. as you can see, he\u2019s so attached to us in so many ways.<\/p>\n
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tonto\u2019s life before us<\/b><\/p>\n
coco, we later renamed to tonto, had a difficult childhood. we got him at 9 months old, very skinny and with scars here and there. he was a golden retriever + mongrel mix. he was abandoned at a vet when he had a car accident as the previous owner wasn\u2019t keen on spending money to save him. 2 vet surgeons were there, one was about to euthanise him but the latter, dr jenny, performed the surgery pro bono.<\/p>\n
after the surgery, dr jenny passed tonto to jacqueline. he had a shorter right leg and thus walked in a way to compensate this. in the shelter, the other dogs would bully him for his condition, hence his scars.<\/p>\n
heard from jacqueline, she found an adopter in ipoh (about 200km from here KL), drove him there, but fetched him back few days later as that owner ill-treated him.<\/p>\n
as you can see by now, he had a difficult childhood but fortunate enough to be blessed by these angels.<\/p>\n
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tonto begins life with us<\/b><\/p>\n when we first had tonto, we realised he was very quiet. we thought he was dumb. in fact, our neighbours was surprised to know that we got a dog as he was so quiet. when he barked for the first time in our house, were so happy!<\/p>\n shortly after we got him, we enrolled in a dog obedience training class. sufficient practises later, tonto learned to respond to commands like \u201ccome\u201d, \u201csit\u201d, \u201cstay\u201d and \u201cwait\u201d. in an effort to teach him discipline, we won\u2019t let him eat from his bowl until we give him the \u201cgo\u201d command. and what a disciplined boy he is! throughout the rest of his life with us, he would wait for the \u201cgo\u201d command, though rather impatiently! if you waited too long to give the command, he\u2019ll excitedly bark at you. and if you aren\u2019t looking\u2026 he\u2019ll quietly sneak up to his bowl\u2026<\/p>\n initially tonto bonded better with me as i walked him the most every day. he\u2019s a very clean boy, only does his business out of the house so we make it a point to walk him 3-4 times a day. one night when waishuen was walking him, a neighbour\u2019s dog called patches managed to get himself off leash and came to attack tonto. waishuen and tonto fought patches until a neighbour intervened to separate the dogs. when both of them got home, both were panting heavily, but rather than attend to himself, tonto licked waishuen\u2019s wounds on her leg first, then only attended to himself. immediately both of them developed an iron clad bond!<\/p>\n <\/p>\n tonto the food gourmet<\/b><\/p>\n over the years, we take delight in making all sorts of food for him and for us. he loves to eat and although initially he would gobble up everything, over time he became a gourmand, only eating the best of the best. take durian for example, tonto loves durian. initially he would eat any type of durian but after tasting the stronger fragrant \u201cmusang king\u201d variety, he wouldn\u2019t settle for any less again!<\/p>\n even apples. at first, any apples would do. then waishuen bought some organic apples. these are really fragrant. from that day onwards, only organic apples would do!<\/p>\n over the years, there is nothing we wouldn\u2019t hesitate to feed him, as long as it\u2019s safe for him. so no grapes, chocolates for him, but otherwise, it\u2019s all fair game. sometimes when we take a long distance drive, we\u2019ll get some mcdonald\u2019s takeaway as snacks. 6 pieces of nuggets would be shared between all 3 of us. sometimes we get the 3 piece kentucky fried chicken dinner plate to complement our dinner. our boy here gets the biggest chunk of breast meat, minus the skin though. we always joked, daddy eats the skin, boy boy eats the meat. we like baking quail and he always gets one whole bird. in short, whenever we cooked, we always prepared one share for him.<\/p>\n though we can\u2019t bring him anywhere we would like, this being a country where dogs are considered \u201cunclean\u201d by the majority, we try to buy him whatever we eat. we have bought him sushi, jerkies, cheesecakes. often times we make our own too, like our own version of biltong (south african dried meat), mooncakes (he loves the crust), liver biscuits \u2026 i even made a food dehydrator to make his snacks – biltong, pig\u2019s ears\u2026<\/p>\n but as a carnivore, he never refuses his meats, so we fed him kibbles in the mornings and our home made dinners, consisting of beef cubes, tripes, livers, eggs, sweet potatoes, blended broccolis, rice, nutritional yeast and cod liver\u2019s oil. every month we\u2019ll make a huge batch and freeze everything up. i\u2019ll cook the meats and use the broth to cook the rice. i\u2019ll always keep half a bowl of broth as \u201cdaddy\u2019s soup\u201d for our boy.<\/p>\n waishuen though, being cantonese, boils excellent chinese style soups almost every week. she\u2019ll boil a big pot, taking hours to do so, then freeze some portions for mid-week. we\u2019ll drink some and some will be complement tondo\u2019s dinner. so guess who drank the most of excellent cantonese soups?<\/p>\n <\/p>\n playful, naughty and a sweet temperament<\/b><\/p>\n the first time we sent tonto for boarding as we flew overseas, the pet shop that was recommended (they don\u2019t cage their \u201ccustomers\u201d) didn\u2019t want to accept him as he was deemed \u201ctoo big\u201d. after assessing him, they were impressed by his calm quiet nature. they took him in after that and have been his go-to hotel whenever we need to be away. we also sent him there for his monthly grooming, trimming of fur, nails and a pampering bath. thank you kuan pet saloon for all that you have done for tonto.<\/p>\n over the years, we love to play hide-and-seek with him. the thing is we could hide at almost the same spots and he sometimes still have a hard time finding us. i like to sneak up on him too as he gives the cutest response when he\u2019s surprised like that.<\/p>\n the happiest we see him when he\u2019s back in my hometown, in my dad\u2019s house which has a huge compound. so when he\u2019s there, he runs like nobody\u2019s business. looking at him there, you wouldn\u2019t for a moment think that he had an accident before. he loved to sunbathe and taunt us to chase after him.<\/p>\n the first time he got off his leash, i was so worried for him. i ran after him, but he ran faster. i was worried he will get hit by a car or attacked by other dogs. i was fat and unfit back then. i ran so much i remembered my core muscles hurt so much after that. after he got tired of running, or he had his fill of fun, he just waited there for me to carry him home.<\/p>\n once we had a filipino maid, lydia, staying at our place for 2 weeks. one day when she was walking him mid day where we were out at work, he got off leash and got her panicked as she knew how much he meant to us. he ran all over the place and she was so worried. after looking around the whole neighbourhood for him, she was surprised to see him sitting calmly in front of our house. guess tonto loved tormenting his human friends!<\/p>\n later on over the years, whenever he got off leash, he didn\u2019t run like a mad dog anymore. he would just stroll around, turning around to take a look at this fumbling human (again!) but after a few minutes, would just sit and wait to be leashed again.<\/p>\n kids love him and he loves kids too. it seemed that anyone can pet him, especially kids, and any kid can bring him for a walk. i remember a friend\u2019s daughter asked me whether he can exchange his little sister for tonto! kids and dogs\u2026 what a combination.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n tonto\u2019s friends<\/b><\/p>\n we don\u2019t know much about tonto\u2019s friends at the shelter but in our townhouse neighbourhood, tonto sure has his friends and enemies.<\/p>\n shaggy stays just across the street. both of them used to want to kill each other but over the years, became good friends. shaggy would sometimes come over to look for tonto, while tonto after his walks, would sometimes want to go over to shaggy\u2019s house to look for his friend. from enemies to best friends, just in front of our eyes.<\/p>\n attila has always been very fond of tonto but our boy is quite arrogant around her. sometimes he wouldn\u2019t even acknowledge her presence, and just walk pass her. playing hard to get?<\/p>\n tonto is fond of umi too, except that she\u2019s much larger than him, so both seemed like a complete mismatch. umi\u2019s owner lim helped us a lot whenever we were out of town. gratitude to you, lim.<\/p>\n patches and his sister. patches is the aggressive one who attacked tonto before, but the flip side is that mommy and tonto bonded very quickly after that. their relationship has been totally transformed since that incident. whenever patches passes by our house, tonto will bark like crazy (seems like he reserves his barks for patches), likewise when we pass by patches house.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n tonto\u2019s worldly possessions<\/b><\/p>\n whenever we travel, we try to get something for him too. over the years, he has a backpack from hong kong (our friend ck was surprised we wanted to go to a pet shop, on our first trip to hong kong!). a basketball singlet from thailand, a raincoat from singapore and 2 hoodies from thailand.<\/p>\n he also has his kong toys which we love to hide his food and teddy bears.<\/p>\n he also has a travel pack whenever we go out of town consisting of a travel food container, backpack with his stuffs like hair brush etc.<\/p>\n all in all, he travels in more style than me.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n the daily grind<\/b><\/p>\n he adapted to our daily routine and would begin the day at 530am. i\u2019ll wake up first, make coffee then proceeds to walk him. sometimes he\u2019s lazy and would prefer to laze around on the bed a little while more. after breakfast he\u2019ll relaxed a bit while i leave for work and waishuen will walk him again ~730 before she leaves for work.<\/p>\n then he\u2019s alone till we get back. i usually reach home around 630pm and there\u2019s this face peering over the staircase looking for me. he\u2019ll be so happy to see me! (and likewise). we\u2019ll hug and kiss (every day for 6.5 years. only one day he didn\u2019t do that, he was probably lazing upstairs), then i\u2019ll walk him out. after cooking dinner and having his fill, he\u2019ll have another walk ~9pm before calling it a day.<\/p>\n this has been our routine for the last 7 months since i changed job. before that there were slight differences in routine and he adapted to them with nary a complain.<\/p>\n whenever he sees the opportunity, he\u2019ll park himself in front of us, back facing us and turning his head around, telling us \u201cmassage me\u201d. and we have always complied. he just loves his massages and never tire of it.<\/p>\n we talk to him daily, we tell him what are our plans, what are we going to do.<\/p>\n on weekends, he\u2019ll wait till at most 630 and start to wake us up. it\u2019s true that the best alarm clock is furry, has 4 legs and doesn\u2019t come with a snooze button. over the past few months, he seems to think that weekend morning wakes are reserved for mummy as daddy walked him during weekdays.<\/p>\n from our daily grind, i guess we did take him for granted. in our minds, he would always be there. as he has been such an integral part of our daily routine, and his inexhaustible energy, passion, have brightened our days. thus his all too sudden passing has been just too much for us to take.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n