Wednesday, March 01, 2006

Barking

Do dogs say "arf" in Arabic?

Mr. Fixit—my company's finance and whatever-needs-doing guy—wants a puppy.

I was with him when he bought three goldfish from a man on a street corner. I'd always wondered why people sell goldfish and turtles in Chinatown at certain times of year. It turns out that on Chinese New Year, it's considered good luck to bring a live thing into your home. Mr. Fixit is originally from Hong Kong, so he wanted to follow the tradition and get himself some luck.

Sven laughed at him and said: "Those fish will be dead within a week."

They were. Even Mrs. Fixit's loving care could not save them from a watery toilet-y grave.

But the seed had been planted. Mr. and Mrs. Fixit like having pets. And now he wants a dog.

In Kuwait, getting a dog is a little tricky. Dogs are unpopular in Islamic culture. Some people believe that dogs are dirty or forbidden. Dogs are uncommon here. If you want a dog, you don't just pop down to the mall and check out the pet store, or stop by the animal shelter on the way home from work. You have to find someone who sells dogs—an outrageously expensive proposition here—or you have to import one. I've been following the adventures of Geo, a handsome puppy brought in from Europe by one of Kuwait's top bloggers. When Geo is walked, people always ask if the dog is for sale. Ew. Weird.

Mr. Fixit certainly doesn't want to be reduced to asking people if they are selling their dogs. Fortunately, the CanIndian Staff Writer had heard of an animal shelter that just opened in July.

I spent ages yesterday looking at the shelter's dog gallery. Mr. Fixit likes the fluffy white thing. I prefer Zorro, Bradlee, Poppy, Brownie or Bear. And Rolo is cute too.

Which dog do you think Mr. Fixit should get? The Fixits live in an apartment. Mrs. Fixit works part-time so she'll be home a lot.

4 comments:

Linda said...

If he likes the fluffy white one, why not? So many cute ones... but he needs to go down there and observe their dispositions.

Marie Javins said...

I guess it would match his iPod. Except I don't think he has one.

Pville Peg said...

How about the shih-tzu mix, Alfie, if the Fixits want a fluffy dog that tolerates apartment living well? The shih-tzus I've met have been the most un-yappy of any small dog, and they're smart and calm. If I were going to bring one of the dogs home, I'd want to meet Belle, and Sam, both retriever mixtures of some kind, and check out their personalities (see how they tolerate being rolled on their backs & having their bellies rubbed, as a test for aggressive/dominance problems, for instance). I'd also want to meet Brownie, Bear, and the others you were attracted too. But, only because I like bigger dogs, and need to have a dog that needs to be walked a good distance every day (my personal trainers, Lila & Chewie, understand this).
They are ALL quite adorable, and I can see why you spent so much time looking at the website. Maybe you can be the Fixits' dog's foster Auntie Marie?

Anonymous said...

Rolo is adorable......i want him:)