A Boston at Sleep

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No barking from this boy

I don't like barking dogs. It seems the dogs that bark the most are those behind gates and fences, those who don't get a chance to meet the rest of the world first-hand. Tai, we're pleased to say, is a very quiet dog. In fact, people comment on it. Why is he so quiet? they ask. Because he's a happy, well-socialized dog, we answer.

As mentioned in our first post, we got Tai when he was already 9 months old. Certainly old enough for bad habits--like barking--to be well seeded. Amazingly (to me at least) we didn't hear a peep out of him until several months later. He never barked at strangers, he never barked at other dogs, and believe it or not, he never barked at the postman! Even now, he is a delightfully quiet boy.

I remember very well my own words when, on that momentous day, Tai decided to exercise his vocal chords: "What the hell was that?" It sounded like an old man with a hoarse cough. It sounded like he really had to work hard at getting the sound to come out. But I suppose it would be like us trying to speak after a year of not uttering a word. (Mind you, he's much better at it now, so his voice is not as deep as it was in those early days.)

What brought about the voice from the deep on that day? Simple. His favorite toy was under the sofa, and he couldn't get at it. Little else brings out such vocal lambasting as a favorite toy just out of reach. And once he starts, there is no stopping him till said favorite toy is dutifully retrieved and returned to said owner. Only then, does peace and quiet return to the realm. Until the next time!

Interestingly, though, when Tai wants our attention for all other situations, he doesn't bark, he sneezes. A little sneeze, then an expectant stare. Then another sneeze, then "the stare" again. Only when we fail to pick up on this polite call for our attention does he issue a slightly stronger half sneeze-half bark. It's so cute, how could we not cater to his every whim. One day when we were visiting this city before we eventually moved here, we were up at 5.30am, loading the car for an early start on our return trip to Chiang Mai. We heard Tai sneeze behind us. Then he sneezed again. When I turned, ready to tell him we didn't have time to play, I saw it... "it" being a snake, a big black snake, about 3 to 4 feet long, trying to get into the house. It was climbing up the door jamb and was just about onto a shelf just inside the open door. After some quick work with the broom, we managed to coax the snake out of the house and on its way in another direction. You can be sure Tai was treated like royalty that day. (Well, okay, he's treated like royalty EVERY day! But you know what I mean.)

Tai is an amazingly quiet doggie, for which we're thankful, except when he's snoring... but that's a story for another posting.

Introducing our boy, Tai

This blog is about our boy, a 4-year-old Boston Terrier called Tai. He is the center of our life and, naturally, he wouldn't have it any other way. Through this blog, we'll share Tai's life and times here in Thailand. Perhaps some of his stories will seem out of the ordinary, especially if you too have a Boston, while others might be intriguing and novel. Hopefully, you will find all the stories entertaining.

By the way, here's a bit of basic info, just to set the scene. There are three of us in our little family... a Canadian, a Thai, and of course our boy Tai. We lived in Bangkok for a few years, then in Chiang Mai (northern Thailand) for one year, then recently moved to a small city in northeastern Thailand. (No, we are not on the run!) By the way, Tai has learned to understand commands in both English and Thai... and is very skilled at ignoring those commands in both languages equally well. Thai is very independent.

In this first posting, we share how Tai came into our lives...

Tai came to us when he was 9 months old. We rescued him from an elderly American man living in our apartment building in Bangkok. To call it a rescue is not necessarily a criticism of the man's care of Tai--well, yeah, actually I guess it is--but it was not entirely his own fault. The man acquired Tai from a local pet shop, who acquired Tai from a puppy mill. For the first few months of his life, Tai lived quite well because the elderly man wasn't working and was home most of the time. At any time when he went out for a few hours, he left Tai with the girl who ran the admin office of the apartment building. But then the man got a part-time teaching job, which meant he was away from home more and more. Tai was left chained to a fence. Not as cruel as it might initially sound because the fence was right in front of the office and was well protected from the elements. The girl in the office did show Tai some attention, but let's face it, she had her own job to do. So there he was, chained to a fence for hours on end, with no one to play with and nothing to to do. He had no opportunity to learn how to be a socialized doggie and soon became distrustful of everyone.

Then it got worse. The elderly man slipped in his shower and was quite badly injured. There was no way he could take care of a young energetic puppy. The admin girl tried her best by letting Tai run around in her office, and by feeding him. However, when her workday ended, out he'd go to be chained once again at the fence for the night. And the Thai style of feeding pets, whether dog or cat, is to throw a bit of rice in the bowl with whatever else is at hand (chicken, pork, fish heads, whatever). But the ants usually found his food bowl before Tai did and it quickly became a writhing mass of insect life. Disgusting, to say the least. (To this day, Tai will not go near his bowl if he sees we've tried to mix a bit of rice into his food.)

Soon Tai was spending many long hours--both day and night--chained to that damned fence. We knew the office girl reasonably well, so we asked her if we could take Tai for walks. And we did. Sometimes several times a day. What an immediate change in his personality! Then we asked permission if we could take him up to our apartment where we could feed him something a little more nutritious than "rice and whatever," though we didn't actually tell her we thought her food was crap. And so we did. Everyday we bought something special for him. By this time, the American man had decided to move out of Thailand and gave "custody" of Tai to the office girl. We knew, though, that she was hardly in a position--financially or otherwise--to take care of him, so we told her that we wanted Tai since he was living with us virtually full-time anyway, not to mention already assuming the occasional vet bill. Of course, she agreed.

And so, there you have it. That is how our lives were forever changed. We were no longer in control. We no longer called the shots. From that day moment on, we were owned by a Boston Terrier. More importantly, though, Tai's life changed, very much for the better: comfortable bed, a clean home (oh c'mon, we do clean the apartment every once in a while ;-) , good food, and LOTS of attention. Given the miserable circumstances he had to endure previously, we just couldn't help spoiling him (for which we now pay the price every single day, and we love it!!!).