Of course there is a blurry line between each type of person, but if there was a war, most people wouldn't hesitate to choose a side to fight for.
Me? I'm a Dog Person. Yes, I have a turtle and I've owned cats and hamsters and rabbits throughout my life that blur my allegiance between Dogs and Animals, but I when push comes to shove, I'm a Dog Person.
Before I continue with this story, I need to set the scene:
I live in a 3rd floor apartment with my girlfriend, Zon, in Taipei City, Taiwan. The apartment has a decent sized living room (suitable for a projector), a bedroom, a bathroom, and a hallway/kitchen area. I work from 9:00- 6:30 and I'm home for about an hour each day at lunch. My living situation was the only thing stopping me from getting a dog. I am such a Dog Person that, although I fight a daily urge to get a puppy, I know I don't have the time or space to give a dog the life it deserves.
Well, at least I thought that.
Today Zon and I went for a bike ride at Dajia Riverside Park along the Keelung River in Taipei. There were foreboding clouds in the sky, but nonetheless we ventured out anyway. During the bike ride we stopped occasionally for a few pictures and to check out the dead fish floating along.
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| Zon posing with her bike on the way to Dajia Riverside Park |
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| Under the bridge |
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| Me doing my best "cute Taiwanese girl" pose |
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| Zon riding like the wind |
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| This lucky little lady is Pup #1 |
Outside the rink, under a small platform, I found a tiny black puppy. I shouted for Zon to come over as I picked it up and cradled it on my lap. It's eyes were barely open. Zon brought over our water and we tried to give it water, only to realize it wouldn't drink it. The small puppy kept sucking my fingertips because it was not past nursing.
I kept hearing that sad, helpless whimpering sound and I knew immediately I was keeping this puppy. It had obviously been abandoned, either by its mother, or by a human, but it was suddenly my responsibility. As I handed the puppy to Zon, my mind had already been over my new lifestyle changes. Where to keep it, what to feed it, when to get the shots, etc. That though process, however, was interrupted by the puppy's whimpering sound. Except when I looked down at it, I realize that it wasn't whimpering anymore.
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| This little guy (Pup #2) is a male. |
I looked around me and into the tall grass next to the hockey rink and saw a silhouette of a tiny body lying in the grass. I rushed over and there I found another puppy. This one was had all sorts of white, brown, and black patterns on its fur and looked just as pathetic as the black one.
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| Puppies in a bike basket. |
Zon and I sat next to the hockey rink for another 5-10 minutes thinking about what to do. By this time, the hockey players were long gone, and besides the occasional biker on the bike path, there wasn't an adult dog or human owner as far as we could see. The only thing left to do was take them home and figure out a plan.
Luckily, Zon had one of Taipei City's U-Bike rentals because they come with a basket in the front, which was where the two puppies rode home.
On the way home, we stopped at a vet to ask for advice on what to do. He told us they were at least 2 weeks old (because the eyes were open), suggested they were Formosan Mountain Dogs and he gave us some instructions:
- bottle feed every 2 hours
- after they eat, you need to rub their private parts to initiate elimination (pee/poop)
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| Pup #1 and Pup #2 at the vet. Both weigh 1 kg. |
He recommended a pet supply store for milk powder and bottles, and we were on our way.
When we got home, we fed the puppies milk through the bottle and put them in a box to rest. Which, of course didn't last very long, because puppies need to eat every 2 hours...
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| We saw these adult dogs with similar coat patterns, but it was at least a 10 minute bike ride from where we found the puppies. |
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