Mê Thú Cưng - Pet Magazine for Vietnam | Số 5 | Issue Five | Animal Welfare Vietnam | Page 61

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Puppy Mayhem

By Stivi Cook

My pups were about nine weeks old

when they finally arrived on the back of
my friend’s motorbike. Overwhelmed by
the heat and dust of travelling in a large
red plastic picnic basket, they collapsed,
panting with their little tongues hanging
out under my motorbike. Their eyes
seemed twice the size from the excitement
of their new surroundings. Thus began my
fledgling ‘fatherhood’.

If you are considering having a dog,
then treat this humble tale as a
cautionary warning.
They are sixteen weeks old now
making them about five or six in
human years and they behave like it
too! It’s play and sleep, sleep and play
and lots of big sad puppy dog eyes
when they are hungry.
I’m lucky though, I have a large
garden, mostly concrete but a small
section of grass and plenty of potted
trees for them to wreck and find
shade. In addition, they have a large
wooden dog house with a padded
mattress inside and plenty of old
pillowcases for comfort. Why lucky?
Well, these little fellas get bored easily
and love to chew anything in sight. So
the large outdoor space means I can
yell ‘OUTSIDE’ and they sprint out the
always open kitchen door.
The first thing you really learn about
pups is their insatiable need to
chew and the natural curiosity of
youngsters. This meant everything
has been moved off my floors and
lower shelves. My main living room is
now blocked
by a large
whiteboard
and some
heavy weights
as I discovered
they have
learned how
to work as
a team to
push away
barriers. The
cleaning fluids
and other
dangerous
liquids are
Matty & Blackie

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now safely behind a make shift
wooden barrier under the sink and
when I leave the house, that too is
heavily blocked.
It’s a shock when your little fluff balls
of love destroy your house and then
wag their tails in welcome when you
get home.
So far they managed to destroy
one of my ATM cards as my wallet,
un-noticed, fell to the floor, luckily I
grabbed it before they could get to the
cash! A torch, my teaching notes, the
motorbike foot mat, towels, a T-shirt,
broke a cup, the cable ends of my
headphones, the old internet wires
and so the list goes on.
Now, before I leave the house, I look
around like an army drill sergeant.
The bedroom door is closed – check.
The barriers are in place – check.
There’s enough water – check.
Nothing is within reach. Side benefit?
It doesn’t look like a single guy’s cave
any more…
Their behavior is changing too. The
tough little white boy puppy, Matty
is learning fast it’s better to do what
I command than run away or try to
ignore me. Big, Black, lanky Blackie
is still struggling to understand what
I want her to do. I’ve found out that
small dogs mature faster than bigger
ones. Blackie is already nearly twice
the size of her smaller brother.
It’s true what the books say – patience,
don’t yell too much, don’t hit them
– it just makes them more resistant
to obedience – use treats (I’ve got
tiny dog munchies) or just good old
fashioned hugs, cuddles and pats
and happy sounding voices. I’m also
learning not to overdo the ‘strict’ voice.
They tend to ignore ‘sit’ commands if
it’s snapped at them too much.
Most importantly of all, repetition,
saying the commands again and
again – being still so young they
don’t remember straight away some
commands although thankfully they
did learn not to run out the front gate
when I’m getting the motorbike out!

changing slightly too. Originally big
blackie led and matty followed but his
tough temperament and muscularity
are starting to assert themselves.
Matty loves to rumble with his bigger
sister who compliantly rolls over
and lets him bite her all everywhere.
Hmm… that sounds familiar…
Matty is now the one who starts
games and loves to chase. They
sometimes knock over the floor fan in
the kitchen racing a circuit from the
gate, though the doghouse, around
my desk and out again!
Food time has calmed down too. I
made the mistake of putting their food
bowls too close together, ending up
with bowls banging, little snarls and
growls all over the place. I taught
them to sit before I would give them
their food and put the bowls on
opposite sides of the room.
The rivalry for my attention and pats
is still sometimes fierce as they leap
for my thighs when I’m sitting writing
at my desk or outside in the garden.
Blackie needs more reassurance and
comforting than Matty – she has been
confused sometimes by the training,
imagining that I don’t like her because
of my raised voice. I’ve made a point
to touch or talk to her more often and
the response has been good.
Getting older, they are settling into my
routines as I’m often away from the
house for hours in the afternoons and
evenings teaching, however I still need
to remember to bring in their favorite
toys to distract them from climbing on
to tables or dragging things down to
the floor. I keep the chairs well away
from the table now as Blackie will
soon learn how to jump well enough
on the chairs and then the tables.
You have to think ahead a bit to avoid
preventable accidents and disasters.
So is having a pup worth it? Definitely.
It’s funny, warm and interesting. In a
way, they are teaching me patience
and in return I get two pups who
forgive whatever I do to them. How
good i