she gave me deep meditation
oh my sweet collie."so goes the Selecter song, but i don't think that song was about a dog, and ours wasn't a collie, it was a beagle and she was gone...
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| with pepper |
a long time ago when i was still in grade school, my father brought home a mongrel puppy from Talim Island, a fishing community somewhere in the Province of Rizal, to be our pet. i was ecstatic because for the first time, my mother agreed to have a pet around the house; she was not fond of pet pooh, pee and other "clutter" a pet would bring or create around the house, but she agreed and i was so happy. we called him Tami, but unfortunately, when Tami has grown up to an adult dog, he accidentally swallowed some chicken bones which choked him to death.
around 2002, my cousin Carmen, who owns a dog (a mongrel), who was about to deliver some pups, promised to give us one. so the dog delivered, and true to her word, Carmen gave us a female pup. we named her Mizay, and the kids enjoyed Mizay so much we even slept with her. later on we developed some sort of allergies from Mizay's ticks and fleas, so after more than a year, we decided to let go of her, we returned Mizay to Carmen, who eventually gave the dog to her boss.
around 2002, my cousin Carmen, who owns a dog (a mongrel), who was about to deliver some pups, promised to give us one. so the dog delivered, and true to her word, Carmen gave us a female pup. we named her Mizay, and the kids enjoyed Mizay so much we even slept with her. later on we developed some sort of allergies from Mizay's ticks and fleas, so after more than a year, we decided to let go of her, we returned Mizay to Carmen, who eventually gave the dog to her boss.
...and then came Pepper -- a female tri-colored half-bred beagle, she was given to me by my sister Lilia, from her pure-bred male beagle Charlie and half-bred female Lakeisha. at first, i was hesitant to accept her, thinking that owning a pedigreed dog (even though not pure) would be of high maintenance. so after a few months of feeding from Lakeisha and the necessary "shots", Pepper was ready to be transported to Mandaluyong.
at first, feeling alienated, she was afraid to move around the house. she would not go out on the streets even with my kids' encouragements; she would just look and sniff around. but when the time came that she had grown accustomed to her new surroundings, she would bite her leash begging me to take her out for a walk. that was every after dinner, as if on cue, whenever i stood up from the dining table, she would wag her tail and bark non-stop. what's nice about beagles is that they are affectionate and playful -- there was never a dull moment in the house when Pepper came.
but the inevitable came -- during the recent typhoon Pedring, Pepper was not in her typical playful mode, she just lied most of the time; we thought she was afraid of the rains outside or the darkness because of the power failure. we let her sleep with us upstairs that night, but when she peed, i had no choice but to let her down the living room. there was something that i noticed about her, she was panting quite hard thinking she was having difficulty to breathe, thinking it might have been a case of a runny nose, i went upstairs to sleep.
the next day when i went down, i saw Pepper panting heavily than last night, i gave her a bowl of warm milk and some bread but she only consumed the milk. i went about preparing to go to work, checking on the dog while putting on my shoes, she was still panting and thinking it as runny nose, i went to the office; on my way out, i looked at her and she gave me that pitiful look of hers, as if trying to tell me something and even followed me to our door. at the office, i realized that she might have swallowed something foreign, so i began searching the net for solutions. i texted my wife, Marie of possible solutions and continued searching for more answers. at around 11:00 in the morning, my wife texted me to call her back, i was hesitant to talk to her, fearing what she had to say, and when the phone connected, i heard Basti and Anne in the background crying and Marie told me that Pepper blew blood from her mouth and nose and was now lying dead in the living room. i was shattered and felt sorry and helpless for what had happened to Pepper.
i have never been so affected by the loss of a pet as what i had with Pepper; it was like losing a family member...as the saying goes, "dogs are man's best friend", well, they really are, they're always there when you need them, never complain about anything, and they're great companions -- i sure miss her...Pepper.
i don't think i'll be able to own another pet right now; i don't think i'm ready...it's really hard when sometimes you don't have all the means to pursue and nourish something that is valuable and vulnerable. i'm sure Nanay would have approved of her, would even like her when they meet.
but the inevitable came -- during the recent typhoon Pedring, Pepper was not in her typical playful mode, she just lied most of the time; we thought she was afraid of the rains outside or the darkness because of the power failure. we let her sleep with us upstairs that night, but when she peed, i had no choice but to let her down the living room. there was something that i noticed about her, she was panting quite hard thinking she was having difficulty to breathe, thinking it might have been a case of a runny nose, i went upstairs to sleep.
the next day when i went down, i saw Pepper panting heavily than last night, i gave her a bowl of warm milk and some bread but she only consumed the milk. i went about preparing to go to work, checking on the dog while putting on my shoes, she was still panting and thinking it as runny nose, i went to the office; on my way out, i looked at her and she gave me that pitiful look of hers, as if trying to tell me something and even followed me to our door. at the office, i realized that she might have swallowed something foreign, so i began searching the net for solutions. i texted my wife, Marie of possible solutions and continued searching for more answers. at around 11:00 in the morning, my wife texted me to call her back, i was hesitant to talk to her, fearing what she had to say, and when the phone connected, i heard Basti and Anne in the background crying and Marie told me that Pepper blew blood from her mouth and nose and was now lying dead in the living room. i was shattered and felt sorry and helpless for what had happened to Pepper.i have never been so affected by the loss of a pet as what i had with Pepper; it was like losing a family member...as the saying goes, "dogs are man's best friend", well, they really are, they're always there when you need them, never complain about anything, and they're great companions -- i sure miss her...Pepper.
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| princess pepper |
