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Wednesday, September 1, 2010

Wanna Walk Milo?


In Woodlands, one can still find wide expanses of empty grass fields which the government very kindly trims regularly. Walking Milo is like a bullock (Milo) walking a cart (me).

I know. I know. There are ways to train him to heel. But I have not managed to do it. And no matter how irritating he is, all is forgotten when he gets onto my lap. So, after so long, he is still the bullock and I am still the cart.

Understandably therefore, one of my favourite ways of walking Milo is to bring him into a large (and secret) field in Woodlands with lots of grass and no one else, and take his leash off. He loves that. He will run, and run, and run... muscles rippling and ears flying back in the wind. He literally flies through the air with every bound. Our Milo has lotsa machismo. If he were a human, he would be a biker in leather pants.

When he sees a puddle of water, he'll run towards it full pelt... bound into the air and do a body turn and land on his flank ... SPLASH! into the puddle. Therein, he wiggles about and then turns the right way up and DRINKS in thirsty gulps. There is no way to stop him from drinking the water that possibly, another dog pee-ed in. If I can't stop him from being a bullock on our walkies, I can't stop him from drinking pee.

With the many rains this season, there are plenty of water puddles in our secret field. In some of them, we can stand knee deep. They're chock full of little tadpoles too. Milo loves them. It's such great fun trying to catch those black wriggly things in the water.

But you know, we're in Singapore right? Even if a field has no one in it, there are still people around. Joggers run by along the kerb. Little dogs the size of kitties scuttle along on impossibly tiny paws. And Milo gets attracted to anything that runs. I have thus to be vigilant to keep a good 500m distance of buffer between Milo and any moving target. When I spy a moving target, I start running in the other direction so that Milo will chase me instead.

There have been close calls though. Milo took off after a jogger, who saw him from 300m away and then jogged faster. Milo is fast. So the jogger sped up some more. I could not see the jogger's face but I would imagine that his pupils must've been dilated to the maximum. The Daughter had to run very hard in the other direction to get Milo to chase her instead.

Milo is a scary looking dog. All who know him, know he is a wimp. His favourite seat is on someone's lap and just 2 drops of rain on the patio starts him begging. But with his black snout and dark spots on his tongue, he looks like a Doberman wannabe about to revel in carnage and murder whilst on his walkies. You can just imagine him lifting his head up, jaws dripping with blood to howl at the white fluffy clouds after having ripped the hearts out of innocent passersby. Even when he is on the leash, most people's eyes go wide when they see him. Some stop in their tracks. Others walk around us gingerly.

BUT little old ladies and little old men with walking sticks recognise Milo for who he is. A kampong kia (village or small town kid) with no elegance, no style but a lot of heart. He's a huge giant that can be laid low with a sharp "No!", and all he wants when he chases someone is to smell him/her at the crotch and offer his own crotch for inspection. That's called making friends and being sociable.

Little old ladies and little old men love Milo. He reminds them of the village dogs that roam their childhoods. They'll tell us that Milo is handsome. They hold out in the frail and trembling hands delectable snacks that they keep away from the other dogs in the neighbourhood. By contrast, The Daughter's classmates call him "that rabid dog". Obviously, these young people never heard of crotch etiquette.

8 comments:

Fresh Fry aka 福星 said...

*hands award for Best Pet Story of The Week to Petunia Lee*

Yay!!

*applause*
*confetti*
*pops champagne*

oh, me think me old man would love to see Milo too. he's a kumpung kia also. and there're so few kumpung dogs around these days.

Petunia Lee said...

Fry - This post was written for you.

Blur Ting said...

Such a delightful post. I want Milo to sit on my lap and catch tadpoles with me. I'll even let him drool all over Rusty and sniff his crotch.

Fresh Fry aka 福星 said...

awwwwwww..... *HUGZ*

Malar said...

He must be very cute dog!
I can't imagine how the jogger run to escaped Milo! hahhaaa...

Petunia Lee said...

Ting - Milo would so like that!!

Open Kitchen Concept said...

Petunia! Milo has GROWWWNNNNNN.. Wow. I remember seeing him as a small cuddly looking puppy. He is a Big Boy now! Wow!

Petunia Lee said...

OKC - The thing is that he is a full-grown dog with all the clumsy sincerity of a puppy. He slobbers over everyone and chews up staircases... and just races around the house when the fancy takes him. It's nice to see a puppy do that but a full grown dog should have somewhat more dignity huh?