Life is Good!: Man's Best Friend

I never consider myself a dog lover. I find dogs cute and adorable, but to really like and love them is another thing. In fact, I am SCARED of dogs - little, medium, big - the size does not really matter, I'm scared of them period.

My daughter, however, is my opposite. She loves animals especially dogs - all breeds and sizes of dogs! She always begging me if she can have one. And because I love my daughter so much, I gave in to her non-stop pleas.

February 11, 2010 when my family of five became six! But the sixth member has four legs and so fluffy like a teddy bear 😍. Toby...that's what we named this gorgeous lad.

I vividly remember his first night at home, it was a nightmare. It was like having a newborn baby again! My kids, my mother-in-law and I tried to make him stay at the back yard so that he can be trained as an outside dog. But that's way far from possible. All night he was howling. The kids sang songs to settle him, my mother-in-law placed a hot water bag underneath his bed and then wrapped him in a blanket. All those tactics failed. In the end, I cuddled him and let him sleep on my chest for three long nights! Gradually, I trained him to sleep in the laundry room and on his bed. In short, I became his Mom.

Eight years later, I still can't believe that I have this capacity to love another creature - a dog. Toby made me realised that dogs know how to love unconditionally and they do know what loyalty means. Toby will do everything and anything to protect me and my family.

Now, I fully understand why dogs are called man's best friend and why this four legged fluffy lad is called a dog. DOG spelled backwards is GOD 💓.