“Since I was a little girl, I have always wanted a dog. It was only until recently that my dad finally gave the green light for us to have a little addition to our family.
My dad, who used to live in the kampung, would always tell us stories about how he used to have a Singapore Special named Jackie. He would recall how Jackie would always protect him from the other dogs and the mad man in the kampung. This dear experience and fond memory led us to decide on adopting a Singapore Special as these are known to be loyal and loving dogs. When we mentioned this to our uncle, he recommended that we have a look at SOSD. Coincidentally, there was an adoption drive at MOCA Cafe that Sunday, so my parents and I drove down to have a look.
At the adoption drive, the one that caught our eyes was Theo. We saw that he was a really smart and well-behaved boy. Upon wanting something, Theo would not just charge head-on for it. Instead, he would hint to his fosterer, Dorothy, that he wanted it. For example, when he wanted to play with a ball which belonged to another dog, he sat down, looked at it, and pawed at it, instead of snatching the ball. We were amused by his way of getting the things he wanted. When I first sat down and said ‘hello’ to Theo, he came up to me, pawed my cheek, and licked my nose! Later on, Dorothy asked him to sit down for a treat, and he ended up sitting on me. These funny antics of his caused my parents and me to constantly think of him after we left the adoption drive.
Two weeks later, we got to see Theo again at his fosterer’s house. When he saw us, Theo seemed to remember me as the first thing he did was to come up to me and lick the whole bottom half of my face! We brought him back home for the home stay the following day, and he has never left our home since then.
Theo has definitely changed our lives for the better. It is clear that he has brought much joy and stress-relief to all members of our family. My dad would often play with him and laugh out loud at him, and I would feel less stressed about school. My short-tempered brother would not even raise his voice against Theo, my grandma would look at him lovingly and pat his head, and you would often hear my grandpa saying ‘good boy, good boy’. Even my mom, who was initially reluctant to have a dog, and our helper, who is scared of dogs, love him a lot and keep telling me that he is ‘so cute’.
Every morning, on seeing us, Theo would ask for a handshake, and sometimes even a belly rub, which we usually give to him. We usually walk Theo twice a day, mornings and evenings. To Theo, who is so playful and food motivated, a typical day would be taking his toys and shoving them at our legs to ask us to play with him, as well as looking at us, following us around whenever we eat, hoping to get some scraps with his irresistible puppy eyes.
Many ask me why I chose a Singapore Special. To me, regardless of the breed of a dog, it is cute and lovable all the same. Sometimes, you just have to look a little closer, get to know them a little better, and you just might find something (or many things) in there that would make your heart melt, and make you feel warm and fuzzy. For Theo, it is the way his forehead wrinkles up when his ears are perked up, the way his tail wags slowly then increasingly fast when he sees you, the way he runs over like the sky is falling when he hears the sound of his treat box being opened, the way he looks at you and drools when you have food (food = power), the way he accompanies you and lays beside you while you are busy getting your homework done, the way he curls up to sleep just like a baby when it is cold, the way he comes to you for a cuddle after a long day at work because he misses you…”
– Kimberlee, who adopted Theo in March this year.
