For those who don’t know, I have a 19-year old dog named Oscar. How did I get him? Well that’s a long story, and something I’d love to share with all of you who are taking the time to read this.
You see, back then I had a partner who was a dog lover and we lived in a two-level apartment in a small village in Sai Kung, Hong Kong. When we first moved in, we got two dogs, and before we knew it, it turned into a troop of seven, among which there were two Saint Bernards, an English Sheepdog, and even a German Shorthair. My partner, well she was the bigger dog lover, so she named most of them.
Anyway, one day while we were driving downtown, we saw a taxi run over a little puppy. We thought the puppy had died. However, before we knew it, the little fella was pulling himself up and making his way out from under the car! What a fighter! Well, we couldn’t just leave him there, so my partner and I picked the puppy up and took it to RSPCA. RSPCA told us there wasn’t much they could do, they said he was a stray dog and even if he survived, he wouldn’t live well because he had a broken hip that needed surgery. They said the best thing to do was to just put him down. No way in hell were we going to do that, so we decided to adopt him. So that was the first time I named a puppy, simply because I felt that we had a connection. Frankly I had no clue what to call him. But since the Oscars was playing around the time, sometime in March or April, that’s what we decided to call the little fella..Oscar!
The vet told us that if we kept Oscar active, his hips would be replaced with muscle. And since his hip was totally broken, he limped around for a while but managed pretty well. He lived with us in the village for two and a half years.
I used to take Oscar running with me on the Maclehose trail in Hong Kong. Back in the early 80s, the Ghurkhas used the trail for training. Lots of people also trained there to prepare for the Maclehose Trek, which was a 100km trek up the hill. It required a team of four people, who each had to finish in time. It was quite a challenge and I daresay there have been a lot of broken relationships along that trail. For 5 years I trained to improve my time, and all the while Oscar would come with me. Never once did he complain.
I remember an incident that took place sometime in my 3rd year of training on the trek. It was a hard Sunday and I had just finished hiking for 4 hours, I still had two more hours to go. Oscar was running ahead of me, when I suddenly stopped at a shop to get a drink. Suddenly I heard a whole lot of barking and I found that he had gotten into a fight with 2 German Sheppards up ahead. The owner had his dogs off a leash and they were really vicious. At one point, it got so bad, I had to throw myself between the dogs to save Oscar. By then, the owner realised and grabbed his dogs. Oscar seemed alright, so we continued on our way. Only later did I realise that he was limping. When I looked closely, I saw that he was hurt. He actually had little chunks bitten out of him in at least four places. But he never once complained.
There was also another incident that I remember clearly. Some cruel people used to intentionally leave rat poison along the Maclehose trail in Hong Kong. One unfortunate day, Oscar ate some food that was poisoned and he went into violent convulsions...I had to carry him 4 and a half blocks to a vet and they had to literally pump the poison out of his body to save him.
Sometimes I wonder if Oscar’s half human. He’s never been trained, but even when he needs to answer the call of nature, you’ll find that he’ll never do it along the sidewalks or the streets. He always looks out for a bush. And even when he does it in the bushes, he seems almost embarrassed if anyone is watching!
Today, age has finally caught up with my 19-year old Oscar. He now has a big growth between his legs and a tumour behind his eye, and everyday his limp becomes more pronounced because of his hip. He also suffers from arthritis and rheumatism. But he’s been taking it one day at a time.
It’s been an amazing journey with Oscar by my side. He’s been more than a pet, he’s been a good friend. It stuns me as to how it started off as an arbitrary and inconsequential relationship, and how, just by showing him some tender loving care and affection, he has reciprocated it a thousand fold. I guess that’s the difference between man and dog. Sometimes the latter just appreciates you more.
