A heart warming tail

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

Hi all

When we moved back to Mrs Kaens village, some 18 months ago, after years of having two bars in Patts, it seemed very quiet to me.But i was informed that it would be wise to invest in a dog for security reasons.

We finally got a Red Poodle female, and named her Lucky, because she was Lucky she had chosen us to be her 'mum and dad' because we loved dogs, but it was not easy to have a dog in Patts.Lucky was a very pretty, happy little dog. 

She got to about 7 months old, and she was a funny,noisy little dog who would chase motor bikes along the garden fence.

One day, my wife's daughter came by and asked my wife if she would go to the salon with her,for the reason being she had no money and wanted to get her hair straightened.Yes, i was amazed too, i always thought that All Thai women had luxuriant, thick, black, straight hair. Ive never seen one with curly hair.

Anyway, the outcome was that they both jumped on the Motor bike and went off down the road.The daughter failed to close the gate and Lucky went in pursuit of the bike.And she never came back.My wife returned and said that Lucky had run after them and then just vanished.

I was very pissed off. I explained to my wife that Lucky had probably chased the bike until she was lost and couldn't find her way home.

I tried to console her but secretly i blamed her for being so stupid and the loss of our dog.

I had the village news reader put out a 5000 baht reward for her return, or news leading to it.We also drove around, calling her name for a month, but to no avail. We had to accept she was lost to us.

People told us that if a driver saw her on the road and recognised her as a 100% pedigree, he would have taken her home and tried to breed from her, or sell her.Thinking about that made me wish she had been better off dead,  rather than suffer that.

After the usual grieving time( we never forgot, but we started to feel better, of course my wife was heart broken, but the daughter didn't give a toss)we started to get back to normal, but we realised that we still needed a dog in the yard.

And one day 'Highway' came into our lives. He was spotted living on the street by our neighbour when he was at work. He brought him round.He was a little half breed, rather like a Yorkshire Terrier. Wet,hungry, filthy, tic ridden and very frightened. Cut a long story, we did everything to get him together and we called him 'Highway' He has turned out a little treasure, but Lucky was always on my mind and i never stopped looking for her.

We go to the small town every Thursday for a bit of shopping. Its a ritual, Lotus,market,petrol and some grub in one of the roadside eateries there.

This time as i was driving out of the town to come home, i spotted a dog, crossing the road. I was sure it was her. I told my wife, and we stopped immediately and walked back to the place i saw her.Sure enough she was sitting in a shop doorway,across the road from the Temple. We approached her cautiously and my wife said that she knew what to look for., She had a small scar on her head, where she had cut it when the gate closed and a sharp piece of metal (long since removed) had caught her.The hair had grown like dreadlocks, very thick an lumpy, It must have been very uncomfortable, because she couldn't scratch herself.Dirty,a thousand tics,  and lived in the temple with a monk who fed her rice. She had had several sets of pups and the evidence was clear.We spoke to the shop girls in the shop who said that she had turned up about 10 months ago and the monk took her in. The monk said she was about 7/8 months old when he found her.

We were so happy to find her, my wife nearly collapsed in tears.Although, Thai, she truly loved our little dog (Thai people are not big on compassion)

We took her home and cut and cleaned her, she is beginning to remember us now and and where she lives.

She is quiet and not the same dog she was, but last night she came into the bedroom and automatically jumped on the bed. A thing she did as a pup. She is not worried, at all about Highway and they get on together.

Its great to watch them both, she trying to be friendly and him ignoring her.

We are complete again.

So i say, i must have driven past her many times, and it was a million to one shot, but i never gave up and it paid off.

So if ever you lose your doggy friend, never give up looking for him/her. They can be found in some places you would never think of.

Thank you for taking the time to read this. If you are a dog lover, you will understand what it would be like to be without your best friend.

 

[nikmar 6,444]

nice story mate.  She is truly Lucky.

[cooked 5,930]

Thumbs up to that!

The fact that she is tired may be due to her having a condition caused by the ticks or other circumstances. You might want to get her a blood test.

[worgeordie 43,548]

When I was a young lad,I took my cross Alsation dog to my Grandmothers,

about 20 odd miles away,and he buggered off, thinking i will never see him again,

coming home from school 3 weeks later, surprised to meet him coming down the

road, he was not in too bad a condition.

regards worgeordie

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

cooked

Yes, she is up and about, but she's sort of languid and slow. She will let me handle her, and she is very receptive to being stroked. The blood test is a good idea.We had the dog nurse come round on Wednesday, and he injected her with a serum that is poisonous to tics. We removed most of the tics, some of them were the big fat type. She was seriously infected with them.The tics that are left now are the baby ones that have just hatched, but they have no support from the adult ones because they have been removed. The baby tics are now falling of of her, or we are finding them already dead.Her skin is now scabbing over, which is a good sign of healing.What were wounds are now just dry skin. We are feeding her on meat, fish and vegetables. Boiled cabbage is good, and we give her that with boiled fish.She is also on some chicken that we buy. Later we will get her on to the small biscuits that are made for dogs, as they contain the ingredients that dogs like. I will see what happens over the next week, and if nothing has changed i will go to the pet clinic in town and have her blood tested. Thanks for your interest and input.

KKD

[jak2002003 4,886]

Great story... and please take her to a vet today!!

 

My 2 dogs nearly died of a tick disease... common here... and one dog got it 2 times.  The blood test and treatment is not expensive and recovery is quick if caught early.

 

The first time my dog got the disease I just thought she was sleepy and off her food.  With this disease to go down hill so fast.. and waiting a couple of days to see if she got better was a big mistake and she nearly died.. had to go on a drip, lost lots of weight and was kept at the vets for 2 weeks.

 

The disease attacks the dogs liver.. they go off food, loose their red blood cells and become anemic.  If you dogs have pale gums, feels hot on its skin, is sleeping a lot and not eating much, or at all... it will likely be this disease.

 

 

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

jak2002003

Thanks for that. I have just fed both the dogs and they have eaten all their food. They do not feel hot, they are not panting, nor are their gums pale. However, after reading your post, i will get them to the clinic first thing tomorrow, as the vet goes to Khon kaen on Fridays, but is open Saturdays.

Thanks to all who are giving me advice about this situation. It good to know that there are dog lovers out there, who treat their dogs like pets and not like inconveniences.

[jak2002003 4,886]

Just now, Khon Kaen Dave said:

jak2002003

Thanks for that. I have just fed both the dogs and they have eaten all their food. They do not feel hot, they are not panting, nor are their gums pale. However, after reading your post, i will get them to the clinic first thing tomorrow, as the vet goes to Khon kaen on Fridays, but is open Saturdays.

Thanks to all who are giving me advice about this situation. It good to know that there are dog lovers out there, who treat their dogs like pets and not like inconveniences.

No problem.  I am so pleased you got your dog back. 

 

I spent all morning looking for my Chihuahua mix dog...  I went cycling up and down through the village calling her.. asking at the local shop, and the old buffalo farmer.  I got more and more frantic.. because that morning I had seen the temple dogs surround and kill my neighbours cat out in the rice field.

 

My dog always comes straight away when I call her, so I was really worried when she did do respond to my calls.  I checked all her regular sleeping places several times.  Then  I walked through the overgrown plots, cutting my foot on barbed wire!!!   I was so worried. 

 

When I got home.. I did a house search for the 5th time.. and all around the garden.

 

Then I was about to really get upset.. when the dog appeared from under the table (where I had looked many times) and rolled over in front of me, with a big smile on her face.  I was so relieved... I had no idea where she had been and why she did not come when I was calling her... really strange.  I think she got out and came home when I was out looking for her. 

 

The good thing that came out of this experience was a found a few gaps in the fence where she might get out.. so am off to buy more fence this afternoon.

 

You will have to post a few photos of you dogs on here... we would love to seen them. 

 

 

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

jak2002003

 Dogs can drive you crazy. When you cant find them, or they will not answer your call, an instant panic attack comes over you. "did i leave the gate open, did i not shut the back door," you call again and you start, in your panic, getting annoid at the animal for not listening to you when you told her/him not to go out. Then the final,dreadful, realisation comes over you, that you might never find your dog again.If you smoke, the first ting you do id light up and convince yourself that you are going to be calm about this.But you are now panicking more than ever and the fag, rather than calming you down, is leaving a nasty taste in you mouth. Now nothing matters more than finding the damn dog.And then it happens, the dog runs out from wherever and looks at you , as if to say, "whats up with you"?.Your stomach has turned to jelly, you are weak with relief and you pick your dog up, cuddle it and say '" you naughty boy/girl, where have you been" and you probably kiss her/him on the head.Really you want to scream at the dog "you little $h1t, do you know what you have just done to me"

And in your mind you are seeing yourself having to explain to the wife and possibly kids, how you managed to lose their precious pet.

I do know how it goes.

Thanks jack, a funny, but regular occurrence with dog owners.

RIP the cat,i have two of them as well.

 

[AliasJohn 250]

Great story Dave. We have a temple dog that attopted us almost two years ago and yes...her name is Lucky. She feels as though she has won dog lottery as she is loved like never before. We don't have children (yet) so Lucky is our baby. She brings so much joy into our life. The dog from the temple that started out sleeping out side, not allowed in the bedroom and defiantly not allowed on the bed. Well now she is allowed in the house and spends most of her day on the bed. She feels like she has had a second chance of life and shows us that. That's my Lucky story. Cheers

Sent from my SM-G930F using Thailand Forum - Thaivisa mobile app

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

AliasJohn

 Ha ha, that's exactly right.You start off with "not in bedroom, and it has to sleep outside" Yeah, we've all said that. What started as the bedroom being a sanctum for two, soon ends up as a sanctum for four. I cannot sleep now, spreading my self,in starfish fashion for fear of disturbing the dogs. And i am sure that they have a smirking expression on their faces, depicting a "we won the war"look.One of my dogs, cuddles up to my wife, as if to tell me that what the bedroom was defined for, is now an avenue of pleasure that has been closed off to me.And me, like a fool goes along with it.

Its a pity that there are no Sunday schools for dogs, that i can send them off to(like my mum and dad did) for a few hours, so i can get reacquainted with the wife.And the kick in the kishkas is that i am still paying all the bills here.

The initial rules are hastily broken when the wife says,"ahh she/he /they look so lonely and uncomfortable sleeping on the hard ground" And that's it, you've lost a battle, and that you can never arrange a rematch.

The maddening thing about is that the wife initiated these rules in the first place.

I give up.

[Khon Kaen Dave 2,765]

AliasJohn

 Your lucky post was great. You are obviously a person that loves dogs.You have saved another dog from a miserable existence and possibly a painful death.There was a post on here some time ago about a woman with some 217 stray dogs, that she was caring for. She was being evicted because she didn't pay her rent. A wonderful, if misguided person, not always shown in Thai people. I wanted to go up to BKK and take one off of her, but things happened that prevented me from doing so. Still i think that Buddha was looking down on me and repaid my intentions by sending my lost Lucky, for me to find.

Strange things happen in this country, i was prevented from doing one thing, and was repaid a million times over with another.

[AliasJohn 250]

Dave, Very glad you got your Lucky back and Highway Lucky get on well. Sometimes a temple or soi dog can be better behaved and give back so much more than a pedigree. 

All the best and enjoy your dogs.

[Andrew Dwyer 13,839]

Dave,

Nice story,
Before coming to Thailand I had 4 dogs , which to be honest was 2 too many, the ex brought the last 2 home as they were strays, I initially was angry but one look at the dogs happy faces melted my heart.
The ex used to go out walking with her sister for exercise early evening and the last one she brought home she said had been following her for 1 hour. I was a little suspicious that the dog was a stray as was obviously well cared for ( no id though), she swore blind that the dog had followed her home. About 6 months later her sister told me that she had picked the dog up and carried it for about 30 minutes !! ( that only brought my decision to divorce forward).
Right now am in an apartment so can't have a dog but my master plan is to move to a house in a relatively quiet neighbourhood and get a dog......or 2.
For me any dog will do, big or small, pedigree or mutt or soi, I find any dog treated with affection will give back 100 fold.

[bergen 306]

Great story KK Dave. An enjoyable read.