Anna the dog

[Mendip]

It was Max of course.

He hadn't been run over but his nose had gone a bit bent.



She had him absolutely perfect from the ears down to the bottom of his eyes. It was the nose that let him down.



This is the problem with these masks... when you're walking around Sukhumvit you never really know what yer looking at until they take it off.

[malmomike77]

I think she may have a future as a court room artist

[Mendip]

She does have quite a 'courtroom style' with her portraits. She has the knack of making them just recognisable but with a lot of room for doubt.

[hallelujah]

just recognisable but with a lot of room for doubt.

That's what the jury said when they cleared Chitty after he'd been out with his red roses and rohypnol.

[Mendip]

I've been home a week now and have been keeping a close eye on Anna and her integration with the pack.

This is still her default position... on her chair. Dan's not really with it any more and totters around the gardener's kitchen most of the day. She doesn't stray far from the fan.



I don't think Dan will be around much longer and hope that she passes while I'm at home because I think it will be an easier event if I'm around to take control of things. In my experience Thais aren't very good at organising... well, anything really. I leave for the UK with the daughter in nine days time and then it will be just the gardener and the missus to care for Dan. I've left the gardener an envelope with extra money in case euthanasia is needed and also given him instructions on where to bury her down by the pond. Same goes for Dan!

I worry that Anna's unhappy and not comfortable to live with the pack. She hasn't really made any good friends yet and spends most of her time alone.

The first few days home I carried her down to the pond in the evenings to try and get her out of her shell. I'd plonk her down on the grass and she wandered around, then headed back to her chair.



However it was noticeable that she didn't shy away from attention from the other dogs, but she appeared to tolerate it, rather than enjoy it. The gardener reckons that she seems happier when I'm home and gets down off her chair more often now because she knows I will protect her. I have noticed that after just a few days she now occasionally trots along behind me, unbidden, with the rest of the pack when I head down for my evening Leo. She seems comfortable in the company of Tommy and Yogi, our two intact boys.



Maybe I'm worrying needlessly. I found her yesterday lying on the floor under the fan. I don't think she would leave herself vulnerable like that if she was really worried about being attacked.



But of course there's no solitude for long.



And she soon became overwhelmed...



And retreated back to her chair. There's all seven in the picture below... for a street dog whose been used to battling for her position all her life, maybe I'm expecting too much for her to integrate just like that. Maybe she is happy but just not comfortable with six other dogs milling about? I would have expected her to be more part of it after six months, but maybe she's just different than the others. None of them spent so long on the street before coming to live with us.



Maybe she just enjoys to sit on a chair... she'd probably never sat on one for the first five years of her life? And maybe she's just not that social? I can relate to that. I'd much rather sit on my own if the wife has friends or the outlaws around for the evening.

Tonight we had a bit of a breakthrough. I wandered down with a bottle of Leo, looked behind and Anna was following along with the others.



Yogi did his best to impress her. He really likes Anna and I reckon the deed will be done the next time she has one of these 'pseudo seasons' of hers.



Tonight was also the first time I've ever seen Anna walk out onto the jetty.



Anna spotted Yogi standing on the stone table and went, on her own, to join him. He tried to impress her with his hole-digging skills but I think it's an excuse to show off his dangling bollocks if truth be told.



And then he knackered his toe nails. Yeah, been there...

Anna still hung around and seemed quite interested in Yogi's antics.



Anyway, enough was enough, and eventually after all this excitement Anna went back to her chair and I gave her one of Mike's chewy treats. I'll work some more with her tomorrow.

[malmomike77]

A lifetime on the streets looking after herself, perhaps she's happy with being able to sit and relax without worrying what is around her. i'm sure if she was really unhappy she'd make an effort to get out and leave, its just the way she is and she's doesn't appear unhappy to me so i'd stop beating yourself up over it.

[Mendip]

^ I've also been thinking mate, that if she was really unhappy she would be down at the back gate barking to get out. There's none of that.

I just seem to have turned into a real worrier in my latter years, which doesn't bode well as there's always something to worry about in this FKN place.

Anyway, enough about the dogs, it's Saturday night.

I'll give her a treat and spoil her tonight.

Then I'd better see what kind of mood the missus is in!

[malmomike77]

Anyway, enough about the dogs, it's Saturday night.

And time to settle down and watch/listen to Eng implode

Then I'd better see what kind of mood the missus is in!

see comment above

[Reg Dingle]

^^^Yeah. Life of fukkin Reilly.

That dog lives better than Edmond

[malmomike77]

That dog lives better than Edmond

Indeed, at least she doesn't have to eat meals with meat bulked up with carrot cos she's shit her wad on a crypto scam

[Loy Toy]

My adopted street dog Lucky, also has her favourite and secure place and that is in the shower cubicle in the bungalow bathroom.

I try to keep her outside but she sneaks in and I have given up.

And she is the alpha female in our pack.

[dirk diggler]

Our adopted soi dog sleeps all day out in the sun.

[DrWilly]

And time to settle down and watch/listen to Eng implode

And they did!

[Mendip]

Indeed, at least she doesn't have to eat meals with meat bulked up with carrot cos she's shit her wad on a crypto scam

Strangely enough our dogs don't seem to enjoy carrot much. Today they had cheap beef/offal cuts mixed with rice and a chopped omelette on top. We got the omelette idea from Ed's breakfast the other morning. I've noticed lately how much even the cheap beef and chicken cuts have gone up in price and try to use our surplus eggs as much as possible. Even though, I've had to increase the 'dog' allowance by 1000 Baht a month and I don't think that really compensates for the recent price rises.

I've also noticed that none of our dogs like peas. Sometimes I hide a couple of peas in their food and without exception they finish up with a clean bowl apart from the two untouched peas sitting at the bottom. I wonder why that is?


Anyway, I'm going to try and relax on the Anna front and let nature take it's course, but I'll still encourage her to come down off her chair whenever I'm in the garden. She seems to be a bit more relaxed every day since I've been home and today she came down to the pond, again unbidden, to share our morning coffee routine. She even jumped up next to me without being coaxed.



After the coffee I did a few chores around the garden and looked back around 20 minutes later to see Yogi working his charm.



Love is definitely in the air. I must admit that Yogi reminds me a lot of my younger self. He's quite the cool customer.

[Mendip]

If, back in the early 80s, when I was playing in the local pub's Sunday night, north Somerset pool league, underage, with my baggy black troosers, tucker boots and quaffed up hair, someone had said, "in 40 years time you'll be spending your Sunday nights in north east Thailand, nakhon bumfuk nowhere, sitting on your own while taking selfies with an aging street dog and drinking a mixture of of homemade rice wine with cough medicine", I would have probably disbelieved them.

I was young, eager and optimistic about my future back then.

But life can take some surprising turns.



Dan is aging fast and she's also moulting, so my fur-covered T-shirt went straight into the wash after this picture was aken. She also left a big brown skid mark on my lap, not her fault of course as she's so old. My cargo shorts also went straight into the pre-wash 'stain bowl' where a lot of the daughter's underwear seems to spend time before the washing machine.

And then the daughter complains that I'm walking around in nothing but my wicking boxers. She has no idea what I go through.

I wish I could go back 40 years.

[malmomike77]

But life can take some surprising turns.

Indeed, if you'd stayed carefree and single just think what you could have been getting up to now. I know that if i'd not paired up and had kids i strongly suspect i'd not have been around now for a variety of reasons.

And then the daughter complains that I'm walking around in nothing but my wicking boxers. She has no idea what I go through.

Given your history with both your wife and daughters knickers at least she's not caught you walking around in them

[malmomike77]

Re-Dan and its a difficult subject but given you are going away i'd consider putting her down whilst you are there. You can see she's in serious decline and her quality of life won't get better. If you do it before you leave it'll hurt, but at least you can and mini can say your goodbyes and ensure she goes after having had some quality time with you, cuddles and pampering, rather than being left to the mercies of Thai's who may not be able to judge how poorly she is.

Sorry to drag the thread down but if it was me, its what i'd do.

[Loy Toy]

I had to make that difficult decision to end the life of my aged, long suffering cocker spaniel Susan as at 18 years old her quality of life was terrible.

A cardboard box and a car exhaust hose was all that was needed and I got to bury her after the event.

Heart breaking but it had to be done.

[armstrong]

I had to make that difficult decision to end the life of my aged, long suffering cocker spaniel Susan as at 18 years old her quality of life was terrible.

A cardboard box and a car exhaust hose was all that was needed and I got to bury her after the event.

Heart breaking but it had to be done.

What the actual fuck

[cyrille]

Re-Dan and its a difficult subject but given you are going away i'd consider putting her down whilst you are there. You can see she's in serious decline and her quality of life won't get better.

Having pets put down in Thailand is not straightforward.

[malmomike77]

Having pets put down in Thailand is not straightforward.

I am aware of that, had problems ourselves but from Mendips previous posts on the subject he has a good relationship with his vet.

[Mendip]

There's a lot of issues here, and I appreciate that you have Dan's best interests at heart, Mike. Thanks for the thoughts.

Firstly, our vet will have no problem putting Dan down, when it's her time. He put down her brother about three years ago once he was confirmed to have terminal lymphoma with no chance of a cure. I held Den during the procedure and it was very peaceful and now he lies under a mango tree by our pond.

Dan is declining, probably more noticeably to me than others because I'm away for periods of 4 or 6 weeks at a time so I see her health change in steps, not gradually. But, I don't believe it's her time yet and I'm not sure the vet would put her down, even if I asked (which I'm not going to do... yet).

Dan has previously had a couple of these 'episodes' that have knocked her off her food for a few days, and she needed a lot of coaxing with fish and milk smoothies fired down her throat with a syringe, etc, to get her back on her food and both times she bounced back. The second time was about a year ago and I was ready to take her to the vet for the final trip but the wife convinced me not to. I'm very glad I didn't as she's now had another 15 months or so of good life since then.

And that's another issue... Dan has also lived with the wife in Korat the same length of time I have, since we first moved here nearly 16 years ago... 16 looong years... (Dan will hopefully be 16 in September). I have to respect the wife's view on this also, and she is very against having Dan put down while she seems to be happy and eating her food. And Dan does seem to be still having a good life. She eats, potters about the garden, sleeps, potters about some more. She's half deaf, her eyesight's not great and her back legs are going, but she still seems happy to me. To have her put down before we leave for the UK would seem like euthanasia for convenience and I wouldn't be comfortable with that. Although Mike I do take your point that she'll be at the mercies of the Thai contingent which isn't ideal, but I will have to trust their judgement on this. The wife has promised me that if Dan goes off her food, or if her back legs go completely, then she'll take her straight to he vet. But not while she's mobile and eating.

This morning I took the others out for their walks in two lots of three, and Dan was at the gate yelping because she wanted her walk as well. I took her alone for a slow 300m circuit and she loved it. I still believe she's a happy dog with a good quality of life and it's just not yet time to end it. I may regret this decision and I haven't taken it lightly, but I think it's the right one just now.

[katie23]

@mendip - I don't follow a lot of threads here on TD, but I follow this one since I love dogs - have loved them since childhood. I'm partial now to street dogs since my dogs (actually, my mom's dogs) are soi dogs which have some hairy mix in them. They don't have any known pedigree and my mom got the parent dogs/ puppies (now dead) from a neighbour. I (or my mom) now have 2 dogs. They live in my parents' house and I play with & take care of them when I visit my mom/ hometown. My mom can't give them baths anymore because of her bad back.

Anyway, one of the dogs is turning 8 this July and is showing signs of old age. He had rough times last year but was able to recover, thankfully. I don't know what I'll do if/ when his end is near. The last dog that we had lasted only 11 years.

I'm fond of Dan (from afar) because of her costumes from months/ years ago and because she's a grand old lady. I wish many more good days/ weeks / months for Dan.

Here's a pic of my male dog Sais - he's the 6th from a litter of 8.



Here's Sais inspecting a parked car. He did give his approval (and blessing) later on.

[Mendip]

Thanks Katie.

Seis looks lovely... is that a local mame?

Many of these street dogs do seem to age quickly, even when they have a good home, regular food and vet care. I think that very often they come from weak genetic stock and inbreeding is common among the street community. Many diseases are endemic among the street dogs also and I think that just a short time on the street often has a long term effect on the health of a dog.

We found Dan late in 2006 after being hit by a car and near starving. For her to live (so far) for almost 16 years is nothing short of a miracle. She's a very much loved part of the family and when she passes it will be a sad day indeed and there will certainly be a few tears shed. I've kept many dogs over the years but Dan stands out as something special.

I was hoping that she'd be involved in England's triumphant march through the world cup later this year but I think the rigours of a full tournament will be too much for her, if she is still with us of course.

I think Dan will probably hand over the mantle to Anna, who is already showing some skill at predicting match results.

[katie23]

^Sais (or Seis) is Spanish for 6. We had 8 pups in that litter and we named them Uno, Dos, Tres, etc. We kept 2 in that litter. His mom was named Blondie - you can guess what her coat colour was! My mom got Blondie and Guardie (male dog, Sais' dad) from different neighbours but they came from a nearby community. So yeah, Sais' parents were probably cousins!

Good luck to Anna in predicting football results! Hope Dan will survive this year's world cup.