Yesterday, my dog and I went to an elderly home for his Dr Dog’s duty. It was around the New Year and so we had a special performance. From the community centre, ten kids joined us too, and each was assigned with a dog. And we taught the kids to do some tricks with our dogs and then showed them to the elderly. It was great fun to watch them.

After the performance, an old man was talking to me. He said he does not like Pekingese in particular. It’s far too clingy. In fact, he had a Pekingese before, the dog cling on to him too much, had to lie on his arm before it could get to sleep. Then after a few years, the dog got an incurable illness, and he had to watch him being put to sleep. Tears were flooded from his eyes when he was holding its dead body. He was so sad that he could not eat for days and days, and only got himself drunk. That was far too painful for him. So his advice for people is, never keep any dog. I said to him that he had his happy days with the dog but he thought the pain of loss was unbearable. Even up to the very moment when he spoke to me, he still got tears in his eyes.

I know some people who do not fall in love because they do not want to experience the loss when a relationship does not last. Some people don’t keep pets because they know those pets will definitely die before them.

But I guess that’s the fair deal in life. When you love someone/something that much, the pain, if not more, will definitely be as much as the happiness one gave you when you were together. Some people will choose never to experience any. While I would, in no uncertainty, choose to experience them all. Infact, I would want to see to my dog until it dies, as I don’t think he can make some important decisions himself. I would want to see him through his life first, and probably in return, he would check if the coast is clear to Heaven, and show me how to sneak through the side entrance if I were not allowed an immediate entry!