WE GOT A DOG

So we got a dog.

Growing up I never had pets, as mum and I lived in apartments and we were just far too busy to be able to have an animal at home.  A few fish here and there, but nothing high maintenance.   I was given my first puppy as an engagement present from my ex-husband and ‘Scooby Doo’ was a mini fox terrier and he was just the greatest little guy ever.  When I started my world odyssey, he stayed with ‘dad’ and to this day was the only pet that I ever owned.

In Kenya, there are basically two different categories of dogs. 

Security dogs and stray dogs.

Rarely do Kenyans see dogs as pets, even though there are ‘pet’ dogs here in Kenya, they are 95% owned by mzungu’s (the foreigners) and these mzungus, are hard core pet owners as majority of their animals travel with them from their home countries, so the cost and stress is real, and these animals are LOVED!  Every morning in Runda you can see these mzungu dogs getting walked by the gardeners, or staff of the household and I always wonder what they think about walking these prized possessions and just how important dogs are to their owners, as it is not a concept that is done here.

So with that said, to buy a dog in Kenya is expensive, and even more so if they are a pedigree breed. We are talking of a starting price of 300AUD through to 1500AUD sometimes for nothing too fancy, and their pedigree cannot always be confirmed, even for that price.  Another way to buy animals is by the side of the road, puppies, kittens, rabbits etc……  These sales are targeted at the foreign market and unfortunately these are factory puppies, they are riddled with disease and after buying these animals (usually kittens and puppies) for a rock bottom price, they generally will not live past a few months.  I had a friend that bought two of these puppies while she was living here and after taking them to the vet, there was just nothing that could be done for them, and they both died.  Word is slowly spreading via social media to not buy these animals from the roadside, but new people who are unaware get sucked in and unfortunately the practice is still ongoing.  They are hard to resist, as you sit in traffic they shove these cute animals through your windows, and those big baby eyes look at you and your heart just melts…

There is a big push by the KSPCA (The Kenya Society for the Protection and Care for Animals) to adopt neglected and abandoned dogs and the pets of departing expats.  Generally the departing expat has been here for a significant time, but customs of other countries, costs of transporting and living arrangements, to name a few things can be reasons why people don’t take animals back with them when they leave.   It is a touchy subject when an expat wants to donate their animals on departure, as people see them as doing the wrong thing, that if they cared enough they should be taking this animal with them.  But it is not always as straight forward as that, and is it not better to have helped an animal for a time and try and find a good home later rather than to have not done anything at all? 

I’ve always entertained the thought of getting a dog, a small one, as I live in an apartment, but never thought it would happen.  As a dog, no matter what size deserves green grass to run around and do dog things all day.  I would never get a dog to just be an apartment dog, and in my area that I live, walking the dog is not an option, and there is also no green spaces walking distance from my place.  It was a pipe dream that I thought about, but had always shelved.  That, and the cost.  I would never pay hundreds of dollars for an animal.  Well an opportunity arose where we had friends who had rescued a dog from the side of the road one evening.  It was raining and was running across the road.  So they rescued her and took her home to the SEVEN other dogs that they have on their farm.  They posted online trying to find the owner for a few weeks but there were no takers and then…. little did they know that the dog they rescued was pregnant and three months later she popped out NINE puppies.  As their home was already full, they just couldn’t have SIXTEEN dogs, they decided to give the puppies away.  By the time I found out about it, there were only two puppies left.  So I took the journey out to the farm to check out and collect my little fluff ball and all nine of them ran out together.  It was the cutest thing, with them all falling over each other, and then one of the puppies came straight up to me, and it was one of the two that were still available… so it was like a sign and I knew that she was the one I had to take.  She has a dodgy left eye, is pure white with a touch of brown on her ears and she is awesome.  It was funny, on the drive back from the farm, I had her in a basket that I had bought with me on my lap and after about 30 minutes of driving, on quite a bumpy road, she SPEWED all over me, and she wasn’t even to upset about it!!!  Thinking about it now, I guess it was her first trip in the car after all and she had obviously eaten only recently, so it was quite a welcome from the little gal with me getting covered in dog spew……

Coming up with a name was rather easy, as our new addition was a gift, the Swahili word for gift is Zawadi, so it was just the perfect choice!  We know the mother is a long haired Jack Russell, but the father is a mystery, so let’s just hope that we don’t wake up one morning and find a St Bernard in the lounge room!!! 

So we got a dog.

Zawadi is a doing well, she is a bundle of fur and energy and puppy parenting is certainly challenging at times, but we are happy to have her in our life.  I try and channel Caesar Milan, the dog whisperer from TV, and try and remember all his tricks.  Remembering I am the pack leader, treating her as a dog, obedience first then love, and that she doesn’t have human feelings and does not have a long memory like humans.  It looks easy when he does it on TV!!!!!!  We drive together every day, where she now LOVES to stick her head out the window, with her sniffer working overtime and her checking everyone out that is walking by.  The upside is that I will be less likely to be car jacked with her in the front seat; she is like my personal security companion.  As she is with me during the day, she gets to run around a MASSIVE garden, eating avocados that fall from the trees, finding dropped bones from the eagles that fly overhead, and more recently the skull of a chameleon and the spine of a small snake!!!  She is like the little vacuum cleaner of the yard and I have only had one scare where she must have eaten something bad, as she was sick for about 2 hours and I was about to take her to the vet, when she made a miraculous recovery……  It is only now, the last few weeks that she has her confidence and independence to go outside on her own to explore and spend some time on her own, which is quite rewarding.  I then get her full time at home, with my only break these days, is when  go to the gym, so I think we are in a lucky position that we get to spend so much time together. 

So we got a dog, and we look forward to many more adventures and years ahead.