See How Easily She Moves In Her Wheelchair!

Long time no hear!

Jin Jin had an operation 2 months ago as we suspected she had hernia. On the right side of her belly, it was bulging out obviously and also there was some blood stain from the urinal. We decided for her to see a vet. After some decision making, the operation was done within 2 hours and she was fine. What the vet found out was that it wasn't actually hernia but her wasted muscles were causing the problem. Wasted muscles were trim off. Anyway we were happy Jin is feeling good today except that she could hardly drag herself around the house. This is due to the fact that during the operation, part of the belly hair were shaved and it takes time for the scarred area to regrow the hair. So during recuperation period, we had to carry her around. She eats and sleep well but now had to be confined in the house.

We were thinking about making her a wheel chair and after talking to my brothers, both made different sets for her. Currently the one she is using inhouse is so easy to manoeuvre, she can do back steps and "download" herself when she wants to be off. At times, she would come to stand beside my leg and do a back turn; that is her backside facing me and then turn to look at me. I know then she wants to be off-load. What a clever girl she is!

Seeing her able to at least move around the house instead of laying around most times, it makes us happy and she is also happy to follow us around the house. She lost weight during this period but her tummy is still a bit bulging but looks like it is healing, not so swelling as before. At this moment, whatever we can offer to her, we give so that she would have some good golden years. Her favourite food barbercue pork, sometime I would buy from the market and cut into small bits and mix with her dry food and she enjoys it all.

What we can give her now is love and tender care of words whisper into her ears. I feel she knows what we meant and you can see the look in her eyes in return. My little darling Jin!

How to have them around my little paws?

This is Jin Jin today. She does not like to take pictures. Whenever I take out the camera, she knows I'm going to take pictures of her and she would look away. Today, I put her on the weighing machine and she's 6kg. Definitely, over weight. I've tried putting her on diet by cutting her meals but she keeps barking whenever she sees us eating our meals or snacking. It's quite disheartening to do that. If I give her a lunch, by night when we are having our dinner, she would come and sit next to you, wagging her tail and bark at you, hoping to have some food. I would tell her "go away" and she would sit quitely and stop barking. This comand is very strong to her. She learned this word would mean, I don't like her and would not sayang her (sayang means love in Malay). When she disorbey or makes me angry, I would use this word and she would sometimes turn away from me and pose as what you see in this picture. Don't you think she is quite pitiful. This is how she captures my heart. After sometime, I would call to her and carry her to tell her why I'm angry and use that comand. She would be okay after my stroking her and, the button is switch on again and she would start her nonsense again at times. I am only angry/annoy with her when she barks continuously. Some small dogs barking are sharp and loud.

Jin is a smart girl. She knows how to watch our face expressions. When I give her a good hard look or my voice is strong, she knows I mean business and she would be quite. But to her dad, she would bark at him for food whenever she sees him eating. If I'm eating she sometimes would bark and that's the signal to tell me she is really hungry. She would "bully" her daddy for my husband would band all rules to favour her. Of course, there are times, she also makes him annoyed, he would take the cane, and lightly tap on her butt. Aha, she knows she must behave. Then you would give you that look again, as in the picture, and you would soften again. You always hear how people talk about their pets which makes them happy when they are down and how some pets also have their owners around their little paws? I saw an article sometime ago in the local papers that a dog has a thousand looks, I truly believe so because I saw it in Jin and it's difficult to describe it, I can only feel what it means to me.

FEAR

6 months past, she grew stronger. Her right hind leg can straighten after a few fast steps and she would run once she had the balance. I couldn't catch up with her during her daily walks so I had to buy a retractable leash. She always have this habit of moving ahead of me and then turn back to look at me. She wants to ensure I'm with her and not wanting to lose me. There is insecurity with her. Whenever we take her out to my parents place or my in-law, she would follow either one of us around the house. When we leave her at home alone, she would sit at our bedroom door and wait till we are back. I knew this because when I returned home the first thing I would do is unlock my bedroom door. Always felt the floor there warm.

She's afraid of rainy days. When the sky turns dark, she would move round my feet. When the thunder roars, she would bark at me, wanting to be carried. She would be trembling so much there's nothing I could do to comfort her eventhough I'm carrying her close. If we are out, she would be hiding somewhere and when we call out to her to show herself, she would not even make a souund. So we have to go looking under the furnitures to locate her. She would not come out at all.

Jin has a way of telling us when she wants to go home when we take her to some friends place which is not a familiar ground like our parents. She would look at you and bark. Not wanting to be carried but telling us she wants to go home. A friend of ours, her dog would pull her skirt or pants, signalling to go home. Isn't it funny or smart of the dogs to communicate like that? At our parents place,she would not tell us to go home. I think she enjoys the attention given by the old folks as well as the "aunties, uncles, cousins..." TBC...

JINJIN STORY 4

JinJin is a very "personalized" dog. She goes wherever I am. Be it in the kitchen, study room and even the toilet. She would sit right next to you as close as possible. I taught perhaps due to the trauma of being abandon she may change after sometime but then even now she still behave the same. If she not close by she would sit and face you directly to be sure you are within sight. Sometimes I feel unesay with her staring at my back or looking directly at me while I'm focus on the television.


The meeting between JinJin and my husband was a bit of mixed reaction initially. Few days before my hubby came back I was telling JinJin that daddy would be coming back and sayang her. That evening when he came back, her first reaction on seeing him was barking and sniffing around him. After I introduced daddy and seeing him around the house and going into the bedroom, she quiet down. (I did not allow her into my bedroom and she slept besides the door each night). Seeing daddy going into the bedroom, I suppose she feels that he must be somebody special. During those few weeks she was with me I have no visitors and I only took her downstairs for walks and she knows only my neighbours who also have dogs. Daddy is really someone important to mummy (myself). My husband talk to her but not touching her. He was like not interested in her. So my husband stayed for a week before flying back to China. During those few days, slowly things changed. My husband only touch and carry her after the third day. I could see JinJin was getting close to him by following him around and sit next to him instead of me then. My husband likes to snack and she would sit and look at him with pitiful looks. She dare not bark as she knows I will scold her. She's really afraid of me (right now I'm always the bad guy and my hubby the good guy, like the rule of discipling a kid), mummy is bad and daddy is go, giving snacks. As usual a few days before he was due to return to China, I drum "daddy is going to work work in China" many times. As my husband took midnight flights to China, he left around 9pm. I locked the door and told her to go nite nite but she sat near the door and look at it. She must be thinking daddy will come back later. After a few hours, she must have sensed daddy is not returning, she want to her bed. So whenever there is some sound at the door, she would bark. Up to now whenever daddy is out, she would do the same thinking he's back. Of course, sometime it's correct but at other times it's just the neighbours. TBC

JINJIN STORY 3

2 days later I took her to a pet groomer for a total cleanup. Her ears were full of dirt and the groomer gave me some tips on how to keep her ears clean. Do you know that whenever a dog smells bad (odour),it's usually because the ears are full of ear mites due to ear hair not pluck. It's a breeding ground! From the advise of the vet, I bought fresh chicken thighs from the market and steam it. I can see she enjoyed the food and she licked the bowl clean. I was getting advise from my neighbours how to take care of her and also discipline. It took more than a month before she finally listen to my commends. I called my husband in China and told him about JinJin and he wasn't happy nor excited. His advise than was where am I going to place her when I go to China with him, usually for more than a month. At that time, I was thinking of nursing her back to good health and put her up for adoption. During this period I talk to JinJin using basic words of command and also told her I was talking to Daddy whenever I called him in China. I supposed after sometime, she knows who's Daddy although she had yet to meet him..tobecontinue (tbc)