Time Heals All Wounds

I wonder does time heal all wounds or does time just lessen the pain into something tolerable?

This is a personal musing post.

I still miss my dogs, and the recent run in with the neighbour shooting my cat has heightened those feelings of loss. Smudges, the cat, has failed to reappear as yet. I walk back to the old house every night just to see if the little fella has made the trek back there. It is not too far back to the old place, about 700 meters or so.

I think about Chockie, Unyil, and Smudges everyday. It is strange but the dogs in particular had been like children for me. I will soon be a father to a son in a few short months.

The missus has a few photos of the dogs on her mobile and these caused a few tears last night and today.

Perhaps the healing is in the ability to focus on and remember the good times.

A Happy Cat Story...

This story is the reason that I walk back to our old house every night of the week.

This is a story about Dixie. Dixie is a cat who went missing in 1999. Her devoted owners, the Delaney family (I am guessing that the photo is of Dixie and Mrs. Delaney) thought that their beloved pet had been killed, most probably run over.

However, to there great surprise Dixie has returned some nine years later. She is no longer the sprightly 6-year-old that she was when she disappeared. But, by all accounts apart from being a little skinny and disheveled Dixie is doing OK.

Dixie had a microchip inserted so it was as simple as scanning the chip to recover all the necessary information need to track down the owners. The wife and I were planning to get both of our dogs, Chockie and Unyil, microchipped unfortunately they were poisoned before we got the chance to do that. And little Smudges would have had to be microchipped in order to get into Australia.

Strangely enough, Dixie was found only a couple of kilometers from where she disappeared.

If only cats could talk in a language that we can understand. The story would most likely be a best seller.

Still Missing My Dogs

Although the days pass into weeks and the weeks pass into months the sense of loss has not really started to recede. It is hard to lose something that has been such a great and fun part of your life for so many years in a mere heartbeat! Chockie has been gone now since 6 December 2007 and I still think about her everyday! Unyil has been gone since 12 May 2008 and I still think about her everyday too!

I trust they are both keeping each other company in puppy dog heaven and are having the time of their lives, so to speak, and enjoying each other's company once again!

As I was rummaging through boxes to find a paper that I want to publish, I came across these two photos. I asked the better half (a.k.a. "the missus") to scan them and send them to me. The original photos are prints and not digital. I might add I stopped looking for the paper when I re-discovered the photos.

I am sure the better half is doing it at least as tough as I am. We miss our dogs!

Missing My Dogs & Sleep

I have been having trouble sleeping of late and I do not think it has anything to do with increased stress at work (although this probably should be a problem)!

I think that my "problem" is that I am so used to having two dogs sleeping on the bed and for the last six months or so one dog that both the better half and I miss the company! I am also missing going for the nightly walks and the barking when some one comes to the gate or the running round like a headless chicken when the local kids are letting off the fire crackers as they regularly do!

The beauty of pets, and particularly dogs, is that they are great listeners and you can talk to them without fear of being judged or getting an earful of this is what you should or shouldn't do! I am sure that my dogs of past and future will continue to be repositories of my greatest secrets and sounding boards for my stupidity.

If we were not seriously considering going back to Australia at the end of the year we would probably have already bought another dog.

I have never been a big believer in God or all things religious but I would like to think that my dogs, Chockie and Unyil, are together again and enjoying each other's company and looking after each other like they always did.

R.I.P -- Unyil

My dog, Unyil, passed this morning at about 8am...

She let us know she was sick at about 4am and I comforted her until the end! The vet came and went and came again but it was to no avail. She was seemingly in good health yesterday so it has been sudden, shocking, and tragic.

She was a great little dog; loving and loyal to the end!

Unyil is the second of my two dogs to have died within the last six months...So, my better half and I are in mourning again. We will miss her terribly as we have missed Chockie...

Unyil -- My Dog!

It has been a while between dog posts, so it is probably time for another dog post!

Unyil is a bitzer! That is a bit of everything for those of you not familiar with the term! She is a dog with an unknow heritage. She is probably not an orphan but more likely forcibly removed at birth from a loving mother and sold into the dog trafficking trade! However, she lucked out in a sense because she ended up with us as doting parents and a life a little more luxurious than might have otherwise been!

Yet, speaking of luxury and consistent with the plan to return to Australia at the end of the year, Unyil is about to become a very expensive dog! The money paid to the vet to keep her well pales into insignificance compared to the costs of quarantine. I am sure that the Australian government has perfectly legitimate reasons for demanding quarantine time however because Unyil would be entering into Australian from Indonesia there are some specific rules to be followed.

Dogs cannot be directly imported into Australia from Indonesia. This is good for Singapore because the entrepneurial spirit is alive and well. A dog coming to Australia from Indonesia must do six months quarantine in an approved third country (Singapore is an approved third country) and then a further 1 month in Australia. If the word rort comes to mind you might not be alone in this way of thinking. Hey, it is not Singapore's fault but they might be able to make some good cash out of this! The six months in Singapore will set us back about SGD 4,500 and the final month in Australia about AUD 1000. There are doggie airfares to be added on top of this too! All in all it is going to be an expensive more home!

So, unless the meeting with my bosses goes particularly well this afternoon then I better start saving!

Unyil

Unyil is my walking companion, confidante, friend, and dog. Unyil and I, we have a deal--I take her for a walk every single day, no matter what time or how tired I might be, and she doesn't bark at people walking by. I am keeping my end of the bargain.

But seriously, the point of this post is that owning a dog, particularly a dog as man's best friend and all, is therapeutic and beneficial. I enjoy spending time with Unyil and if some one was willing to pay me to stay home and spend more time with her then I would but I have yet to find someone this wise!

Everyone should own a pet and especially children (and some adults). Pets teach discipline in that the care needed to ensure that the animal is looked after is ongoing. Even when you might be having that really bad hair day, your pet still needs attention. This is the therapy angle. A bad day always gets brighter when you get home, to both your family and your pets. One of the best parts of my day is getting home after work and Unyil being excited to see me and bouncing round in circles until I sit down and she gets a long-awaited tummy and back rub.

It is nice to be loved no matter what, and this is what pets can bring to your life.

As I sit here in the study and write this post my furry little companion is sleeping at my feet, as a matter of fact on my feet, this is an important dog strategy so that I cannot sneak away without her noticing. Reminds me of a Cat Stevens (now Yusuf Islam) song, "I Love My Dog"...