Tuesday, June 5, 2012

And so their journey begins

Ohhh so cuteeeee!

The new puppy at Gentle Paws has been showered with a whole lot of attention the past two weeks.




Rescued from the same offshore island as our island puppies, this brown and white fur kid has been acclimatizing to life at Gentle Paws, together with mom Daphne.

Being an impatient old grouch, I am not usually a puppy person. What's more, this puppy was so small I couldn't tell it apart from a hamster!

But as the still nameless puppy grew and its spunky personality started unfolding, I too became curious about this naughty furball, whom we suspect to be a little girl.

For convenience sake, let's call her Puppy.


Hello Puppy


Puppy loves cuddling against her mom for warmth. It's fascinating how she can take a snooze almost anywhere, even in her mommy's feeding bowl.


When no one was looking, she crawled in by herself...


We suspected that Daphne wasn't producing enough milk for Puppy. To keep her alive, Suat started bottle feeding her with puppy milk manually every day.

Like her mama, this little girl was constantly ravenous. As she downed bottle after bottle of milk, she grew steadily stronger.




Seeing her scamper unsteadily on all fours can be quite entertaining. Seeing her mother grab her curious puppy by the scruff of the neck for a good clean is equally so.

We are still waiting for nanny Suat to give this puppy a name. It seems like inspiration hasn't struck.

It hit me during one of my sentimental moods that whatever Puppy is eventually named, she is going to be raised eating Wee's food and surrounded by Gentle Paws volunteers until she is ready for adoption.

And in my biased view, a Gentle Paws education is not too shabby for a homeless offshore island puppy.

With human interaction, human chatter and boisterous human laughter, Puppy will grow up to be a happy well-adjusted dog with her island days well behind her.





And how can we forget about Daphne? Puppy is still tiny and for now, Daphne is still the protective, loving mother.

But as Puppy grows bigger, stronger and more of a friend than Daphne's puppy, we do hope that Daphne will come to be known as Daphne, not Mummy.


Daphne for you


Daphne was malnourished while on the island. Three out of five puppies in her litter failed to survive. She succumbed and walked into her rescuers' ambush after three nights. When captured, she was confined in a crate and had to endure a half hour's choppy boat ride to the main island.


She came to the shelter with 2 babies but the one on the left couldn't make it


When Daphne first arrived at the shelter, she was traumatized. She hid herself in the corner of her cubicle and quivered, refusing to look us in the eye.


When she first arrived...


After three weeks at the shelter, Daphne has relaxed slightly. Her appetite is huge, she is starting to trust us with her baby and she is slowly allowing us to pat her.

There's a whole personality waiting to be uncovered beneath that uncertain, insecure demeanor.

As the days pass, we are hoping that Daphne will emerge from her shell and lead the life of a proper well-adjusted dog.


The first time I saw Daphne jump up excitedly


And with that, we have come to the end of the tale of Puppy and Daphne for now.

The worst is over and what lays beyond them is an exciting journey towards stability and happiness.




Let's clink our glasses to more happily ever afters to come.



Puppy and Daphne will be put up for adoption the soonest possible. Meanwhile they are recuperating and recovering in anticipation of a better future. 

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