Adventures of a Princess: A Bowl of Wisdom: As a Doggy-Sitter

I can still feel his nails on my arms, his husky hair on my cheek and his soft warm skin resting like a pillow on my lap. It had been a long yet interesting day of baby, I mean, doggie-sitting. For those who’ve dogs at home, this may not be something new to you. Perhaps, you’ll just be reading how one sees a dog through the eyes of a naïve girl.

The first time I laid my eyes on Shiloh was nine days ago. He was so small, so fragile. He was carried like a little stuffed teddy bear by Ona, my auntie’s kasambahay, to our house. At first I thought Shiloh was part of his (pertaining to Ona) clothing; Shiloh was very little, about six inches, and he was covered with a checkered cloth t-shirt that hung loosely on him. When I said hi to Ona, it took me around ten seconds to realize that there was another living thing on his body. It was a delightful surprise! I can’t express in words how cute he is. May the picture below speak a thousand words of cuteness.

So today I became a dog-sitter (not used to typing this new coined word. I had to delete ‘baby’ before I typed the word ‘dog’). My first hesitation of taking care of a dog was that he might pee on me. Soon I learned that like humans, dogs cry before they feel like excreting waste. Shiloh cried for so long. It was only when I placed him on the floor that I knew why. Praise God! That solved my hesitation number 1. My hesitation number two was that he might excrete waste on his bed, which is a little taxing to wash and dry and all. I just discovered awhile ago that similar to humans, little dogs like Shiloh do not want to place their waste just about any where.

I placed Shiloh in his made-up bed. The borders of this bed were a little bit high so it was difficult for a baby boy like him to jump out. I left him sleeping there while I was having lunch. I asked our kasambahay to check how he was doing. She told me that he pooped. Oh my, not in the bed! I thought. Our maid reassured me that he did it on the floor. I went to him and saw him sleeping in the bed. Then I asked, “Fay, did you place Shiloh in the bed again?” She said, “No.” He went out of bed to poop and back to bed to sleep all on his own.. at the age of 1 month and 10 days. Hesitation number 2 solved!

As a doggy-sitter, I had to carry him when he cried, place him under the electric fan when he cried, dance him around when he cried, let him walk when he cried, put him to bed when he cried, let him discharge waste when he cried. I realized he was such high maintenance dog! Believe it or not, I had to wrestle with him just so he could drink 14 teaspoons of milk per meal. Moreover, this must be done either in an airconditioned room or with an electric fan focused on him. Gee!

I also got a taste of being a new mom. Moms carry their baby around while they do ordinary work, right? Ergo, the baby carrier. In my case, I had to carry Shiloh and make him sleep while writing on this laptop, after which I left him on the table in front of me and othertimes in the bed beside me. I had to divide my attention between my work and him. While cooking, I had to divide my attention on my pasta and his crying. It took plenty of multi-tasking skills. I guess this is probably why most women are wired by God to have the multi-tasking ability.

When I met Shiloh’s mom, I was like a child in gradeschool learning about animals. I was amazed at the practical and aesthetic aspects of God’s creation. Check out this logic: since dogs usually bear and deliver a larger number of babies than humans at one period of conception, dogs would need more breasts to nurse the little babies. I discovered that afternoon that female dogs have 10 milking breasts. This gives every puppy opportunity to be nourished.

While Shiloh was in my arms, I was thinking, how do dogs fit-in in the eco-system anyway? Why did God even create them? They do not belong in the wilderness, nor do they fly in the air or swim under the sea. Most often than not, I see them in houses of people. Sometimes locked in cages, sometimes wandering in a bedroom. Then I realized, God may have created them for a beautiful unique purpose... to be the first to greet us when we get home, to follow us joyfully with its tail wiggling wherever we go, to make us feel needed, to listen when no one is around. Perhaps, God may have created dogs for us to have a loyal friend.