I am not a dog person (so maybe that is not my son over there – but it is my son). Come to think about it, maybe I have not held a dog in my arms. EVER. Don’t get me wrong, I do not hate dogs and in fact, I do have a dream dog to have as a pet – the Labrador. Dogs are awesome and I believe that sometimes, they are better than human beings. They’re not called “man’s best friend” for nothing.
But I am scared of dogs. When you grow up in a place with lots of stray dogs in the street, some just chase you out of nowhere and it’s either fight or flight, trauma builds up. When you hear horror stories of people dying after being bitten by stray dogs, you get paranoid. That stuff is scary.
Fast forward, I left that place and lived in places where dogs are not stray – they are actually PETS who live inside the house, *only* eat dog food (and not morsels of garbage they can find), go to for vaccines like human babies or visit an animal doctor regularly! But still – I can prove to you that childhood trauma can linger way well into adulthood. Once we visited a house with a small dog who ran around, barking and had a habit of licking visitor’s heels…I had to put up my feet in the sofa all the time. (I hate hyperactive dogs!)
My children on the other hand are not afraid of dogs. This and so many other characters/behaviors that make me question if they are indeed my children.
Maybe because they have not seen vicious stray dogs and the only dogs they know are tame and cute ones as pets? They would readily stroke a dog whenever they see one – I always have mini heart attacks when I see them doing that.
Now, we have a dog in our house. He is our friend’s dog we could be fostering for about 3 months. They are going back to Japan soon but their dog is with us now “on trial” because of dog travel related stuff, Chataro (the Shiba dog) is not allowed to enter Japan yet.
Why did I agree to this arrangement, being dog-phobic that I am?
The dog is unbelievably tame. He never even barks and do not have that fetish to lick human feet. It’s because he is already 13 years old, almost 14 so if he is human, he is between 68 to 72 years old! He moves slow but still engage in short play sessions of throw-and-fetch which the children loves.
It’s been 4 days since Chataro came to live with us and it looks like he can stay with us longer. Our children are very hands on with the dog (one almost don’t know how to keep his hands off!)…Pristine wakes up earlier than usual in the morning to take Chataro out for a walk before she goes to school and Benjamin is always keen to go with us when we take the dog out in the evening.
As for me, I am still very cautious with the dog around…there’s still that fear that he might lick my heels and I might scream…and the old dog will die of heart attack! *knock on wood*
Finding Backroads 
Awww im so very jealous and at the same time so happy for your family! I grew up with about 10 dogs in the house so i’m a big dog person and when I moved to Australia I had to bid goodbye to them and because weve lived in flats that don’t allow pets (not to mention our semi nomadic/ to and from lifestyle), its hard to keep a pet. I’ve been yearning to have a dog again and I really recommend keeping the dog, its good for the kids , it gives them a sense of responsibility. I could go on and on about how a having a dog/s really changes one’s life for the better 🙂 and Chataro sounds like an old sweetie. He will grow into you , I promise 🙂
LikeLike
Awww senior citizen pala si Chataro!
TBH, I am more a cat person vs a dog person, though we did grow up with both animals in the house. But with I think I changed my mind. Earlier I was with a cat, who I called to my side, but, of course, cats being who they naturally are, did not heed my call and only approached me at her own terms. With Obi, I do feel that unconditional love, the clingy-ness and its just heart warming.
I hope that someone takes him out midday lalo na senior siya. Holding in his wee / poo maybe more of a challenge in this time of his life
LikeLike
Our maid and Benjamin takes him out mid-morning and mid-afternoon…but if Benjamin has his way, he will take Chataro out every hour!! So smitten si Benja sa doggie!
We also open the balcony door and put some newspapers and showed him he can pee/poo there. He goes out, sniffs the papers and then go back in…I guess he really prefers to be out.
LikeLike
Not to be morbid but since he’s an older dog, do you wonder how your kids might handle his loss? I lost mine six years back and it still affects me.
LikeLike
Not morbid at all. We think about that all the time. The dog will be with us for 3 months, out of which, I will be taking the kids for a month outside the UAE but yes, we do think how they will cope up with the loss. We had a hamster once and when it died, our daughter grieved for days…
But we could not say no to fostering this dog since our friend is going back to Japan in June and the dog is only allowed entry into Japan on September and our friend has no one else to ask for the dog’s care…:(
I hope Chataro don’t die while with us!
LikeLike
same here…i don’t hate dogs and infact would love to pet one!! but yes…I have this fear of the dogs that I can’t touch them..or go too near them…like you said its because of the stray dogs we had back home in our place…and i have had a few bad incidents too …. The fight or flight kind….mine was flight of course until I found a hand to console and chase away the dog!!
LikeLike