After college graduation (2008) i felt kinda alone since everyone started to do their thing, got a job, took the board exam, went abroad to work and i wanted to do something new in my life. Without a doubt i went looking online for a small dog and found myself attached to this photo advertisement of a cute little puppy, it was a shihtzu breed. That was when i knew i wanted the puppy asap! His smile was just the cutest! As if saying "please buy me".
After a week or so i called up the seller/breeder and he said he could drop the puppy at the house, yehey! They came all the way from pampanga and i was in manila the seller was kind enough to being puppy over without charging us for his bus fare. It was love at first sight, i was smitten by this cute little furry thing! he was just sooooo adorable! I couldn't help it i was so happy! He was so small, so white and so playful.
After the seller left it then hit me...umm what will this small puppy eat? What stuff does he need? Actually i never really thought about it before at all! I just knew i wanted a puppy without even realizing the responsibility attached to it. So i went to this place called arangque(not sure of the spelling) in manila cause a friend said they might have dog food but i didn't find any, in fact i found a whole lot of dog&cat breeders who sold everything from monkeys to snakes. It was an awkward place for me to see i just couldn't stand seeing puppies caged and sold like a piece of furniture. It was so heart breaking knowing those breeders were all just after the money. They made cross breeds just so they could sell the puppies more expensively. Insane right!?
I then went to the sm mall to check if they had dog food there (cause i had no idea) and yey! they did! So i just grabbed one (alpo) and went back home.
I started feeding puppy and he loved it. After a few days i came across a dog forum and read that puppies need vaccines too, so i started looking for a vet. The closest one was animal house i had no idea it was so expensive to have puppy vaccines and we had them every 2 weeks for the 5 in 1 + anti rabies would be the last given annually. We then needed to give him a name cause they were making a record so we decided to name him cloud, since he was so white.
I was starting to understand it now pets need a human to take care of them and that was something i wanted at that time in my life, i wanted to love and be loved.
After about 7 months i decided to get another puppy this time a girl. I learned a lot about shihtzu's from forums, how to take care of their hair, the tangles, how to cut nails, what shampoo to use, what dog food to eat, when to de worm and how often they need to be groomed.
I saw this small puppy who was a month old and the breeder was selling her asap cause he said he needed money. So after a few days i met him at sm moa and i saw how tiny his little puppy was. Back then i wasn't aware that puppies that are 1 month olds still drink milk from their mom. The breeder didn't say much he just showed her and gave the pcci papers. I didn't know she had skin problems because it was already in the evening when we met and it was impossible to see underneath the thick fur, i just noticed them when my skin started to itch too. Her first night at home i think she was looking for her mom, she was crying so loud and so i took her and made her sleep beside me. Cloud didn't know what to do either cause he was used to being the only puppy. We decided to name her lulu cause she was so small "little lulu". I then went searching for a better vet someone who could help cure my lulu's skin.
So i posted online and asked pet parents who their vets are and from there i looked for one who was close to me. I came across dr.rico of dogs land, the clinic was just a few minutes away from home so we made a visit the next day.
I was surprised to see so many pet owners at the vet, they were all happy and friendly. I never get to talk to other pet parents at our previous vet clinic because it would always be only us there. I knew we were in the right place. I filled up a form so they could make a record and then waited to be called. When it was our turn doc rico introduced himself, asked the name of my puppy and what my concern was. So i told him she has rashes on her skin and i didn't know what it was. Doc then took a sample from the rash and took a look under the microscope. He then told me it was scabies and made me look at the microscope too. He then explained that she may have gotten it from the kennel and it can be cured. He then took a look at her ears and told me she has ear mites then showed me again in the microscope what they look like. I've never seen such things! He then explained that some breeders don't care about the puppies they just want to sell them for the money and maybe that's why lulu was full of scabies&mites. Not everyone has a love for dogs.
Doc rico was so nice and considerate he explained everything i needed to know. You could see how passionate he is about his profession the way he explains it's so fab and understandable.
I was then given some meds to take home and use on lulu. He also advised to keep cloud away from lulu cause he might also get the scabies&ear mites. So i just separated them for a while.
I was so happy seeing such things as mites on the microscope and hearing all of this information for the first time. I knew he was going to be our vet forever!lol
Fast forward to today after 4 shihtzu's, 1 chihuahua and 1 yorchi, i would say i wasn't prepared for all of this responsibility at once but i sure am the happiest when they are around. Yes it's life changing but i made a choice for them to be in my life and so i shall enjoy this unconditional love that no one else could provide.
Having dogs is a life time commitment and i know as long as they are alive i cannot have an excuse for not waking up in the morning. They are the ultimate stress relievers and i can say they have changed my life forever.
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