By Ruel S. De Vera, Associate Editor
Sunday Inquirer Magazine
NEVER did I consider myself an animal lover. I had a couple of strange pets growing up, including a rooster named Randy and a fortune lobster. In fact, if you did that Internet quiz on your porn name (name of first pet plus street you grew up on), mine would be awesome: Randy Bonanza.
But I digress. I was pretty much a loner growing up, and pets never figured in the equation. Oh we had animals around us, but I was never the type to spend time with them. What I did like was giving them names. I mean, Brownie, Blackie and Doggie don't cut it. I like names with a bit of a sense of humor. When my family got a rather sleek, longish dog and promptly named it Hotdog (not me), I took it to the next level and named our next dogs Ketchup and Mayo (that is me). But I never imagined that I would grow to absolutely adore dogs, the way my old boss Alya adored hers (hello Banana!). It's all my wife's fault.
My wife Joysie, you see, is impossibly good with dogs. It's like she can read their minds. Even before we got married, she would tell me about time spent with dogs and I would start to find the whole idea cute. It was non-negotiable that dogs would be part of our lives once we got married.
And the dog of our affections is the largest shih tzu known to man.
His name is Mito (short for Mamito) and my wife brought him from the states. When she visited the kennel, she chose the biggest puppy. Who knew he was going to keep growing?
But our wonderful mutant dog (he is pure shih tzu -- no Lhasa Apso in him
Whatsoever -- he's just gigantic) just turned two and (I'm sure all dog lovers say this) is the smartest, cutest, most loyal dog ever.
Once he got to the Philippines, he went quickly to work at Joysie's house to establish himself as the Alpha Dog. Along the day, he has learned how to open screen doors (put his paw in and then push with paw and nose) and has developed the habit of sitting up in dining room chairs like a human. I actually believe he thinks he's human now.
At night, I can hear him barking quietly, sleepily. My wife says it's because he's dreaming. Sometimes, when I am up late and so is he, I sit with him on the parquet floor and, with him on my lap, stroke his fur as he lays still. My wife just told me that if I scratch him under the chin, he'll go straight to sleep. I did this last night for the first time and, I kid you not, within minutes, Mito was fast asleep--and snoring.
And in the morning, when it's time for him to go out (the bizarrely early hour of six on the dot) he climbs up on the bed and pats me with his paws until I wake up. If I take my time waking up, he ups the ante by increasingly the frequency and intensity of the paw patting or -- the final resort -- starts licking me. That is sure to wake anybody up.
It stuns me sometimes to think that, with how much affection and knowledge I have regarding Mito, my wife cares and knows infinitely more about him than I do. In a way, learning to love Mito is one of the greatest things I learned from my wife (and there's a lot). I waited all my life to meet Mito and now, I'm happy that I have all that saved up love to give.
NEVER did I consider myself an animal lover. I had a couple of strange pets growing up, including a rooster named Randy and a fortune lobster. In fact, if you did that Internet quiz on your porn name (name of first pet plus street you grew up on), mine would be awesome: Randy Bonanza.
But I digress. I was pretty much a loner growing up, and pets never figured in the equation. Oh we had animals around us, but I was never the type to spend time with them. What I did like was giving them names. I mean, Brownie, Blackie and Doggie don't cut it. I like names with a bit of a sense of humor. When my family got a rather sleek, longish dog and promptly named it Hotdog (not me), I took it to the next level and named our next dogs Ketchup and Mayo (that is me). But I never imagined that I would grow to absolutely adore dogs, the way my old boss Alya adored hers (hello Banana!). It's all my wife's fault.
My wife Joysie, you see, is impossibly good with dogs. It's like she can read their minds. Even before we got married, she would tell me about time spent with dogs and I would start to find the whole idea cute. It was non-negotiable that dogs would be part of our lives once we got married.
And the dog of our affections is the largest shih tzu known to man.
His name is Mito (short for Mamito) and my wife brought him from the states. When she visited the kennel, she chose the biggest puppy. Who knew he was going to keep growing?
But our wonderful mutant dog (he is pure shih tzu -- no Lhasa Apso in him
Whatsoever -- he's just gigantic) just turned two and (I'm sure all dog lovers say this) is the smartest, cutest, most loyal dog ever.
Once he got to the Philippines, he went quickly to work at Joysie's house to establish himself as the Alpha Dog. Along the day, he has learned how to open screen doors (put his paw in and then push with paw and nose) and has developed the habit of sitting up in dining room chairs like a human. I actually believe he thinks he's human now.
At night, I can hear him barking quietly, sleepily. My wife says it's because he's dreaming. Sometimes, when I am up late and so is he, I sit with him on the parquet floor and, with him on my lap, stroke his fur as he lays still. My wife just told me that if I scratch him under the chin, he'll go straight to sleep. I did this last night for the first time and, I kid you not, within minutes, Mito was fast asleep--and snoring.
And in the morning, when it's time for him to go out (the bizarrely early hour of six on the dot) he climbs up on the bed and pats me with his paws until I wake up. If I take my time waking up, he ups the ante by increasingly the frequency and intensity of the paw patting or -- the final resort -- starts licking me. That is sure to wake anybody up.
It stuns me sometimes to think that, with how much affection and knowledge I have regarding Mito, my wife cares and knows infinitely more about him than I do. In a way, learning to love Mito is one of the greatest things I learned from my wife (and there's a lot). I waited all my life to meet Mito and now, I'm happy that I have all that saved up love to give.
