The Beginning

If you read my earlier posts, I have mentioned a couple of times that I wanted to own a dog ever since we moved here in Singapore. However, in the beginning, my husband still had his doubts regarding our limited space. 

It all changed when I started my pet sitting job, slowly over time we started to received dogs in our home for a short period. On those occasions, he was able to see that there are ways that a dog can still live a happy life even if he lives in a small space.

One day, out of the blue he sent me a picture of a puppy that he took from a local shelter website. He asked if I wanted to visit the shelter. I absolutely thrilled when I read the message.   For your reverence, this is the picture of the puppy he sent to me.

We made an appointment with the shelter to visit the puppy in the picture.  We also received the invitation to visit but to bear in mind the image we saw on the website is no longer representable. At this point, I was thinking “oke, he is probably taller now.”

I can remember how excited I was the week before the appointment.  I read a lot of articles regarding rescue dogs, and on how to choose a dog from a shelter.

The day that I’ve been waiting for came, and I was so excited that we arrived half an hour earlier. We saw that many people were volunteering and they were taking the dogs out for their morning walk. It was surprising to see that all of these dogs look happy and in a healthy condition. They definitely didn’t look like the shelter dogs I saw on TV or social media, which often seems beaten, very sad, and sickly.

This is mainly thanks to the local shelters whether they are a government entity or non-profit organizations that dedicate their life to the welfare of stray dogs throughout the island. With the help of the volunteers, they are able to care and ultimately to find a home for many of the dogs in their care.

These non-profit organizations captured a lot of strays to be sterilized and then to be released back in a better place. But that’s not the case for puppies that they found, they will care for them until they are ready to be adopted and try to find a home for them.

When we finally met the “puppy,” the lady who is responsible for the shelter told us about his background.  The volunteers Captured Taro and his two siblings from a nearby jungle.  Whereas his mom and her other two pups managed to ran away.

When we arrived at Taro’s (my dog name) kennel, many dogs shared the space. Some were barking at us, some were curiously watching us, and some were hiding. We didn’t see the dog in the picture though.

The warning was an understatement, he didn’t look like the picture at all!  The only thing that made me recognize him was a mark in his chest that looks like an angel spreading its wings.

He was barking madly at us, and when we approach him, he went hiding straight away. We weren’t able to get close to him without him being on a leash. He was terrified, so bad that he urinate and defecate himself when he saw us.
We were encouraged to take him for a walk and as you can imagine it was a disaster. He pulled so hard until he chocked himself in a desperate attempt to stay away from us. I remember thinking “this won’t work.”  It against every advice I read on the internet on how to adopt a dog.  Check out my post on Five Mistakes to Avoid when Adopting a Dog here

When Taro was a puppy an elderly couple who already had two dogs at home took him in. For some reason and for Taro’s sake, they decided to return him to the shelter. He had an unpleasant experience with the grandchild and (possibly) the maid of that elderly couple.  It makes him terrified of human especially kids. He became a super cautious dog, scared of everything, timid, and developed a self-harm behavior.

After that disastrous first walk, the shelter lady took us to meet other dogs.  Because obviously, it was such a disaster that the lady of the shelter thought that we were incompatible. The other dogs that we met were also shy and timid, but they are not as bad as Taro.  They were also at the same age group as Taro

On the way home, my husband and I discussed a lot about the dogs that we met.  We kind of decided that we want to continue with one of the later ones. 

The Bonding Phase

The requirement from the shelter for adoption is that we have to make a regular visit as much as possible on a weekly basis for at least two months.  Taro also was going to start his obedience training and he needed to complete the training before he was available for adoption.

So then it starts the bonding period.  It was not easy to commit ourselves to come and visit the dogs twice a week.  Not to mention that the shelter was so far from our home.  

The first 2 weeks of our visits, we focus our time to bond with the other dog.  We still walk and feed taro whenever we had spare time. He was always very uncomfortable with our presents, but he tolerated it.

There was something about him that makes us curious and challenged. I think that’s the number one reason why we finally chose him, against all the odds.

This decision surprised the shelter’s lady because Taro is one of her “difficult” cases.  She also  thought we have given up on him. I could tell that she was doubting our decision, but she still let us continue the bonding process. After a month, he showed a bit of improvement. One of the contributors to his development was obedience training. He was smart and easy to follow commands when he is not in a panic mode. This was a huge relief to us because it means he can be better in time.

We were finally able to bring him out for a day-trip to the beach. We had a lovely time, and he went for a swim on the beach.  He loves to swim and was more relaxed in the water. After we went back to the shelter, he had a bath where we also learned that he was sensitive in certain parts of the body.

Long story short, after almost 3 months we were able to bring him home. Officially, the adoption process took 4 months. The long process of adoption here in Singapore often make many people choose to buy than to adopt. Although I believe it is good to have a bonding process before the adoption it is not very practical. There were some couples other than us who wanted to adopt within that same period.  However, from the information that I got, we were the only couple who actually brought home a dog.

As for his name, when he was found as a puppy the shelter registered his name as Taro Blessing. When he was first adopted, the elderly couple called him “Blue” due to the bluish color of his fur. When they returned him to the shelter they called him “Taro” again.  We thought that he had already gone through so many changes.  Another name will mean an additional thing he needs to adapt. So we sticked to Taro, although for years we wanted to have a dog called “Harrold.”

The Adaptation Phase

Taro’s adaptation process was tough and full of trial and error. He refused to eat or drink for almost 1 week.  I had to wet his lips and tongue only so that he had a bit of water intake. He was hand-fed for the first 5 months, this habit he got when he was in the shelter. With many dogs sharing the same space, they need to make sure every dog eats.
I tried every possible tips I found on how to make a dog eat by itself.  Including “a tough-love trick” where we basically give him food for 10 minutes, and if he doesn’t eat it, we took the food out until his next meal. On and on until hunger drives him to eat. He went 4 days without eating, and I couldn’t keep it up.

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When we first met him, he had patches in his skin which was self-inflicted (refer to the second image). As I mentioned before he also has submissive urination issue (where he urinate when he feels threatened).  To this day we are still dealing with this issue. We live in a condo, there are more than enough time where we have to clean his pee in the common elevator.  

Unlike any other dog, he hates to walk. For him outside world is scary, whenever he sees his leash his whole body shake. Now, seven months after we got him, he still feels uncomfortable of physical contact but he tolerates it.  He will come to us if he wants to play, shares a bed with us, and he stays close to us but no petting. I can tell though, that he starts to like to be petted (on the rare occasions that he allowed us) where he will wag his tail. That small thing can really make my day.

My pet sitting job really helps him to stay social.  Those times are basically the only proper social interaction that he had with other dogs. Taro is a very different dog when there is another dog in the house. He is a very playful and curious by nature. We know for a while now that he needs to have another dog as a companion.  Unfortunately, we don’t have space for two dogs living in our small apartment.

His Transformation (work in progress)

Of all the hard times and the hassles, my husband and I never regret our decision. He is the best dog for us, and we love him so much.

The moral story that I want to share with you who are reading this article, and/or is considering to adopt a dog is that it takes a lot of time, effort, patience, and love to rehabilitate a traumatized dog. If you don’t think you are ready for it, then find a dog who is “ready” to be adopted or just get a puppy. They are a wonderful and loving creature no matter what breed or age they are, they deserve a loving home.

Let me know in the comment your own adoption story or just any story about your furkids.  I spent a lot of times looking at pictures of dogs or watching animal videos, it always makes me happy.

Thank you for stopping by and reading this story of Taro.  Wishing you a very nice day and stay Positive.