Mê Thú Cưng - Pet Magazine for Vietnam TET 2017 Issue | Page 63

Expats Pet Owner ’ s Guide for Vietnam
a lot of walking she started to calm down and find her place in the pack .
Then came Daisy never in all my years have I seen a dog that looks like her . My nanny actually brought her back from the provinces for my daughter ; I actually wasn ’ t overly joyed about having a puppy when there are so many grown dogs looking for homes . But after seeing the look of love on my daughter ’ s face I didn ’ t have the heart to send her back . So now we were a pack of 3 and stayed this way for the next 5 years .
Until along came the one eyed bandit Lucky . Once again Dr . Nghia had asked me to consider a puppy that was filled with anxiety and fear after having her eye poked out by a small child . While her physical wounds have healed she is still an anxious dog who is very wary of strangers . Once again we are helping her with a lot of exercise and making her feel secure through techniques taught me to me by Regine from ARC . AND then came along Pinky , puppy of Foxy who is an ARC animal rescue dog that lived with us while nursing her litter of 7 ! Once again I wanted to take Foxy as I knew the puppies would all find homes easily but mature dogs are much harder to re-home . Again I caved to my daughters pleas for her own dog . All the rugs are rolled up and the house has been puppy proofed . Although we have still managed to
loose a few pairs of flip-flops !
How do I manage such a big pack of so many different personalities ? EXERCISE . I walk my dogs at 5:30 am every morning , which leaves them to spend the balance of the day lolling around in the garden with my gardener until I get home from work . Evenings again is all about routine making sure they eat their dinner on time , usually a mix of dried commercial food and home cooked chicken with mixed vegetables . I avoid feeding my dogs starchy food like rice I don ’ t think its good for their skin . I also throw in raw eggs with one meal per week and a couple of times a week I add a little apple cider vinegar to their water . To be honest I never chose any of my dogs out guilt or feeling sorry for them I chose them when I met them and felt that connection , that was so much of what my father taught me about dogs .
I have conflicted feelings about dogs in Vietnam
Both expats and locals behave with amazing kindness and also with equal measures of heartlessness . Expats taking their dogs to the vet and just never coming back to collect them , I mean what is that about ? Who does that to a member of their family ? The other one that makes me mad is people trying to sell their family pets ! I understand there are circumstances
Mê Thú Cưng / Volume 01 2017 / methucung . vn 63