The adventures of a little dog

Spark is one of the gentlest dogs I've had. I got him when he was four months old. We had lost our sweet little girl (Choco our fur baby) in a freak accident a few months ago and I was so depressed. I had decided never to get another dog again despite the begging, pleas and threats from my boys.

I was at a friends place when he told me about how a guy and his kids abused a cute little puppy. He excused himself and brought Spark so I could see him, he begged me to take the puppy since he himself had two dogs already.

Spark looked undernourished and unkempt. He whined when we went near him and crouched under furniture in fear. I couldn't leave him to live that hellish life, so I paid a hefty amount to rescue him. He was so afraid of people that it took us a few weeks to be able to pick him up without him crying out in fear and peeing on our hands.

The boys came up with various names for Spark; however, we didn't think any of those suited him. Then my older one came up with the name Spark and I agreed because he was the Spark of happiness in our lives after Choco's death.

Spark used to be so afraid when he left him alone at home even for an hour or so. I remember once our neighbor told me that he cried so pitifully when we went to church and that was it, he came to church with us every Sunday in his cane veggie basket. Never would he whine or cry during the service, he was such an amazing little puppy.

We took him with us wherever we went, even on our road trips. Not many hotels here are pet friendly, it is a real trouble trying to find a pet friendly hotel here. So we often had to cancel our trips. On one of our trips we had to book a suite just to keep him in the room. The boys had their room at the other end of then corridor and Spark would dart from ours to theirs each time we opened the door. He had so much fun doing that and had so many admirers by the time we left the hotel. The staff became so friendly that some of brought him treats and many of them came out to wave goodbye to him as we drove away.

Eating out at restaurants was another major adventure with Spark. No restaurants here allow us to take dogs in. We've never put him in a cage, so we would carry him in a cane vegetable basket, cover him with a fluffy towel and drop a rubber bone inside. We would ask him to be quiet and he would until we finished our meal, never once moving out of his huge basket. He was such a darling and is one even now.

Spark was so tiny that he could not climb the steps to our bedroom for months after we brought him home. When he tried he would come rolling down and we had to roll up towels and place them on the stairway to break his fall. We always carried him up or down with us until he was big enough to climb on his own.

Chicken is Spark's favorite meal, he doesn't care so much for the packaged doggie food we buy for him, he likes his chicken soup and bits of chicken in his pellets. He loves to eat bananas though. However, he is a poor eater and it's hard to get him to eat well.

We used to carry him on our trekking trips. The little fellow would get exhausted after a few steps and it would fall upon one of us to carry the exhausted sleeping puppy all the way.

The first time we gave Spark a squeaky toy he was so happy with it and was busy chewing away at it until it made a noise. He jumped up and hid under our bed and refused to play with it for sometime.

Now, he is all grown up and likes to be a perfect gentle dog. None of Zoe's (my other dog) naughtiness for him. He often stays as far as he can get from her. He is such a wonderful dog but not a very playful one. He is smart and learns new tricks in no time at all.

His favorite trick is to fetch the newspaper from the front porch and deliver it to my husband each morning. He takes the role of a delivery dog very seriously, he is so crazy about newspapers that he always wants to deliver it to one person or the other.

Spark's favouite position to sit and watch the world.

Going to the groomers is Sparks nightmare, he tries to escape when he knows it is time to go. He is mortally afraid of the scissors. That meant that I had to groom him myself. He has gone through various haircuts which made him look like rag doll, but I guess now we are both good at this.

Mondays are his worst days, he hates it when the boys go back to work or university after the weekend stay. He usually goes on a hunger strike on Mondays, he waits for someone to comeback home. By evening he realizes that he would have to wait until the next weekend to meet them so he nibbles at his dinner.

Spark plays the big brother to Willie our rescued budgie. He hates it when Willie cries, he will sit near Willie and calm him down. He is a real sweetheart.

The one naughty thing he loves doing is to grab one of Zoe's squeaky toys and run away, but he never gets much further, as Zoe gives him a good chase. LOL They are such a strange pair. In fact I got Zoe hoping that her energy rub off on to Spark and would make him more playful, but he isn't influenced by her nor is she influenced by him. They are just who they are, unique dogs.

Spark is so adorable, I couldn't ask for a better pet.