Pets!
Monday, June 08, 2009
Pets!
My mother is in a corner right now, and I mean it figuratively. She is in a corner because I have forced her there with the who pet talk. My mother is an avid fan of animals, and it is not difficult for you to catch her watching Animal Planet when she gets sick of the other channels with predominant human beings. She loves animals, and she especially loves dogs - yet, she hates keeping dogs. It isn't so much about the mess or the cost, but rather the idea of losing a dog after a certain period of time. My mother hates the death of dogs, and I suppose I understand her side of the argument. Ever since young, she has had a couple of stray dogs wander into her house in the past. Yet, for some reason, anonymous neighbors poisoned her dogs in the past and killed them for one reason or another, and such incidents traumatized her until this day. It's not that she believes that our neighbors would pump bleach into our dog or something like that. It's just the idea of parting with something that you have invested so much time and emotions into - it gets really difficult like that. That is especially true with a pet like a dog, when they are really affectionate to human beings. There is a reason why the death of a dog is always harder to bear than, say, the death of a hamster. Hamsters hardly ever cars about you, really. They look cute, and that's about as far as it goes.
My mother is in a corner right now, and I mean it figuratively. She is in a corner because I have forced her there with the who pet talk. My mother is an avid fan of animals, and it is not difficult for you to catch her watching Animal Planet when she gets sick of the other channels with predominant human beings. She loves animals, and she especially loves dogs - yet, she hates keeping dogs. It isn't so much about the mess or the cost, but rather the idea of losing a dog after a certain period of time. My mother hates the death of dogs, and I suppose I understand her side of the argument. Ever since young, she has had a couple of stray dogs wander into her house in the past. Yet, for some reason, anonymous neighbors poisoned her dogs in the past and killed them for one reason or another, and such incidents traumatized her until this day. It's not that she believes that our neighbors would pump bleach into our dog or something like that. It's just the idea of parting with something that you have invested so much time and emotions into - it gets really difficult like that. That is especially true with a pet like a dog, when they are really affectionate to human beings. There is a reason why the death of a dog is always harder to bear than, say, the death of a hamster. Hamsters hardly ever cars about you, really. They look cute, and that's about as far as it goes.
My mother and I are both dog lovers, and my sister is one as well. In fact, my sister loves dog so much, that she sometimes does things that resembles a dog altogether. You often hear about how dogs tend to do human-like things, and those are usually the times when they are the most adorable. My sister, however, when she is imitating a dog, it can be rather disturbing because of how well she does it. Besides, she can even correctly read the intentions of a dog just by looking at its body language. She was either a dog in her past life, or she really was a feral child raised by dogs in a wooden hut far away in the mountains. Anyway, we all love dogs, because we grew up with different kinds of pets all around the house. There was a period of time when the both of us really wanted pets, and it's not like they were a big financial strain to the family anyway. So my parents bought us everything from hamsters to rabbits, though neither of those went very far in our family anyway. They never passed the auditions as being a part of this family, and literally got lost in the household one day and disappeared completely. I still have no idea what happened to my pet hamster, the one that got out of the cage. I think it fell off the ledge of the balcony, but I cannot be sure.
Back when I was still in Taiwan, I had a dog and a canary. I killed the canary with my bare-hands because, well, I don't really know why I did it. I shall not go into details as to how I managed to do it, but let's just say that I have no recollection of how or why I did it. My parents told me that I did it out of boredom, something which I do not remember at all - thankfully. I'd totally stab myself in the side of my head if I recall anything from that fateful day when a poor bird died in my hands. I still have a nagging feeling that my parents probably made that story up, and they are going to tell me that it has been a joke all these years when they turn seventy or something like that. It'd be cruel, but let's just assume for now that I did kill a canary with my bare-hands and play along with the practical joke. I had a canary once, but I don't remember much about it. I was probably too small to remember anything, though my parents do remember it. I suppose you remember how, in the previous post, I mentioned that the adults in the family tried to convince me that a bird is a chicken. The bird I was referring to was the canary, the same one that hung from the ceiling on the first floor. I killed it, apparently, and I have no idea what happened. I am sorry birdie, I didn't know better.
I also had a German Shepherd back then, something which readers of this blog may know. A lot has been said about this old dog of mine, probably enjoying chicken bones and chasing small animals in dog heaven right now. I loved that dog, so much so that I decided to ride on it one day. I fell off as a result, and I tore my shorts from doing something as silly as riding a dog. But it was great fun, and we pretty much grew up together in the same household. The parents bought the dog when it was really young, and it pretty much followed me through my childhood until I had to move to Singapore. The story of my dog still makes me tear a little, the way it approached my car a few years later when we visited it at a warehouse in the middle of nowhere. You can read more about it if you do an entry search, but let's just say that it is an entry I'd rather leave behind. It's not because it was poorly written in any way. It's just that it is a part of my childhood that I'd much rather have been changed somehow. Perhaps, we should have given it to someone who would have actually bothered to take care of it, you know. Fellow dog lovers, or something. That would have been the right thing to do, especially for a family member that grew up with me - my furry brother.
Recently, I have been carefully drilling the thought of having a dog in the house into my mom's head. My mother does not believe in keeping a dog in a house, because she wants her dog to be running around on a field and having fun. We were driving by this private housing estate one day when I noticed a black dog in the garden, prancing and sniffing about in the bushes. I pointed it out to my mother, and my mother's first reaction was to question what would happen if the dog brings fleas into the house. That was when I noticed her contradiction, the way she wants a dog to run around in the fields and yet, didn't want fleas. I understand her argument, but that was the angle that I attacked from. I told her the only way for her to get a dog to not have fleas is to keep it in a high rise building (I did not say my house at this point). She asked me what I was getting at, and I told her that I was "just suggesting something", and that's all. She said that we can't have a dog because a dog wouldn't have enough space to roam around, and that it'd feel imprisoned or something. My solution: get a small dog. The house, relatively, becomes bigger - problem solved.
I have been feeding her with such informations these days, and I think it might work out in the end. My persuasion tactics involve a gradual slide of my foot through the door, and then I'd eventually slip into the house. By feeding my mother with subtle persuasions these days, maybe she'd figure out that it is time to get a dog. I mean, it all works out for all of us because all of us take turns to take care of the dog while we are away. For example, when my sister and I are out in the day, my mother could be the one to take care of the dog. When I return from school, I could take over the job and, maybe take the dog for a walk and clear up the poop and stuff. At night, when my sister comes back, she could be the one to take care of the dog until we all go to sleep. It works out here, and I am sure it is easier said than done. But with three dog lovers at home, it is very difficult for me to imagine why it'd be so difficult to keep one. I am not sure what is holding my mother back, and I am thinking it is because of the fact that she has always wanted to move back to Taiwan. Perhaps when she does, she'd finally get a dog to grow old with, and I think that'd be a brilliant idea. In the mean time, perhaps I should look to other pets for comfort.
Before I tell you what I want, let's talk about what I don't want. I don't want hamsters any longer, no matter how cute they might look when they are all cuddled together in a corner and sleeping. They are cute, but they are not responsive enough. Look at the way they mindlessly run around the wheel all day long, and the way they try to barrow into the wood shavings when their tunnels usually lead to nowhere but a clear layer of plastic. They aren't very smart creatures, and it's not like they can respond to names very well. The amount of care and concern you give to them does not really reciprocate very well, because they don't show their affections very well. They don't run to the doorstep to welcome you home, and they hardly fill up your palm for the most part. They are puny, and they are not nice to stroke like you can with a dog. So, that is a main problem for me, and the same goes for rabbits. If you think that hamsters are not responsive, rabbits pretty much doesn't know your existence at all. It hardly even looks at you, because the only thing that it wants is more food, more food, and more food. You can dangle carrots in front of it, and it'd eat it. You can dangle blades of grass and it'd eat it as well. It's not a very clever animal, and I don't like that.
Now, cats, I am starting to grow fonder of cats. I have a sneaking suspicion that it is because Neptina likes cats, which is why I have taken a liking towards them. Cats are beautiful creatures, and they are proud in everything that they do. The way that they leap from a bench to a table, and then from a table onto a tree. The way that they scramble away, or the way they look back at you to see if you are chasing them. They are graceful animals, though that is why it may make people think that they are cold and heartless. My mother has lesser love for cats, because she thinks that they are not as warm as dogs. True, but at the same time dogs just look like the kind of animals would've love a roll in the mud for the fun of it. Cats would probably prefer to remain on the edge and lick its paws, or something. There is a difference, but I guess I see the cat appeal. Cats don't seem to like me very much, and about half of them scramble away when I try to approach them. I even went online to look for ways to approach cats better, and even those methods only work half the time. It gets very frustrating after some time, and I start to wonder if it is the smell of dogs embedded in my skin or something like that. Either way, I am working on cats right now, so give me some tips the next time you remember this entry.
Now, other than cats and dogs, I think I really want to keep iguanas. You know, those awesome looking lizards that are scaly, and they never seem to die. Those are awesome pets to keep around the house, and just think of the way it'd scare away house lizards! One of the main reasons why girls, or some guys, are afraid of house lizards is probably the speed at which it moves. In fact, I have theorized the fear by saying that the only reason why humans are afraid of living things smaller than ourselves is the fact that they move faster. Rats, cockroaches, house lizards, they all move faster, and they are scary. Iguanas, however, they are pretty slow moving creatures for the most part. Iguanas are like tiny dinosaurs around the house, like a piece of prehistoric evidence walking around the lawn - that, is amazing. Remember that dream as a young child when you dreamed about dinosaurs being alive and walking in the forests of today? Iguanas are the closest that you are ever going to get to realizing that childhood dream. They are also very easy to maintain, because they are actually herbivores, and they eat vegetables! It is just too bad that it is illegal to keep iguanas in Singapore. It's a shame, really.
If I am rich one day, I am going to have a lot of animals in my house - no, I am going to own a zoo. That's right, I am going to have a zoo, and all the animals inside are going to be my pets. No, I am not going to have a zoo, but I am going to own a safari, because I wouldn't want my animals to be in a damn enclosure. I am going to have horses in my backyards as well, and they'd be allowed to run free - like wild horses, which I'd like to see one day. Anyway, so this is my pets wish list, though I understand that they are pretty hard to attain. Aside from that room full of Lego toys, of course, I'd like to devote some time to animals too. I love animals, and sometimes too much. I get emotional when I see animals killed by humans, and then of course there is that famous video on the internet of a dog saving another dog. I will definitely own a dog when I am able to, maybe two if I can have them. I will have dogs, and love my dogs. I am such a sucker for cute dogs, and cute animals in general. So here, I leave you with some really cute animals that I'd like to have in my safari in the future.
This entry was posted
on Monday, June 08, 2009 at 9:09 PM.
You can skip to the end and leave a response.
