Buff

Yesterday, I took this picture of Ethan and Buff setting in my reading chair in my bedroom, no less! Ethan really loves his puppy and it has been quite the ordeal getting this puppy settled and half-grown. If you remember at the first of the school year how difficult the transition was for E-man? He loves animals and we thought it might help if we got him a puppy here in Thailand, to make it easier.




In October we purchased this miniature Shih Tzu, such a cute little thing. Ethan loved that puppy! After about 2 weeks we took it to the vet for its first round of vaccinations. When I picked it up they informed me they had wormed him too, I was concerned because he was so tiny. My concerns were valid, the next morning when we woke up he was practically comatose, he wouldn't respond at all. I really thought he wouldn't last while we rushed back to the vet. When I walked into the door, they asked, "You drop? Head injury?" I told them that no, I was questioning if maybe he had too much worming medicine less than 12 hours ago? They replied, "Oh, I think neck injury." After telling them that we didn't want any heroic measures taken, that I was okay with the IV that is now pouring dextrose into the poor little puppy but nothing else. I left the puppy in their care thinking that I would never see it breathing again. Miraculously they called about 6 hours later and said, "Come get puppy, okay now, no head injury!!" Ya think?! He really was awake and moving around, Ethan would be so relieved. But right away that night the poor thing started coughing and while we were gone on the weekend he died. Our housekeeper, Nok, stays in our home when we are gone and she called me while we were gone informing me that the puppy had died, I had warned her this might happen. Mark and I decided to wait and tell Ethan on the way home from the airport and not ruin his weekend. Our driver beat us to it. When he picked us up at the airport curb with our luggage in hand, he just blurts out, while laughing, "Puppy died! hahahaha!" Ethan was devastated and so upset that Songkran found this so amusing. That is so 'Thai' they laugh in any awkward situation. It was a long 1 1/2 hours ride home listening to Ethan cry, trying to comfort him and help him understand this culture more.




Well, the following week we journeyed back to the kennel where we had purchased the sweet puppy, Fluff, and bought his brother-Fuzz, who looked just like his deceased brother. Ethan was so happy. We decided to wait to take this little one into the vet for vaccines until much older and bigger. Three weeks later we were out of town again, this time in Cambodia and our phones wouldn't work there. When we returned, again we are met at the airport by Songkran laughing and bearing bad news. "Puppy died! hahaha!" This time I'm caught unaware also and I'm trying to clarify what he just said. I'm in shock and Ethan is devastated-AGAIN! "Puppy fall in pool and drown, hahahaha!" We are all so sad the entire trip home. Ethan is not only upset with the insensitivity of Songkran but is very angry toward Nok. I helped him think about how terrible Nok probably feels, that accidents happen. He keeps saying, "Why wasn't she watching mom?" I reminded him about an acquaintance of ours in the states that had just lost their 2 year old in a drowning accident. "Just think about how much they loved their son and terrible, terrible accidents happen." When we arrived home, there is Nok on the porch anxiously awaiting our return, crying too. She feels terrible and wonders if Khun Da will fire her. I tried to comfort her and assured her that I understand that accidents happen. She said, "You don't fire me?" I conveyed to her that we are Christians and that we are called to forgive. I told her that God has forgiven me of many, many things that were not accidents and that because I have been shown so much grace and forgiveness I must forgive those who do things against me. I know that this was an accident. The next morning she told me that when she went home, her husband, mother, boys and brother were all waiting to see, "What Khun Da say?" She told them that Khun Da different, she Christian. I pray that a small seed was planted there in that household and since then, I have had many opportunities to show Nok how Christians are different. Please pray for us that we faithfully live out the Christian life before others that God has placed in our life path.

We just couldn't handle the prospect of losing another little puppy, so after a few weeks, we went and found a big, strong, Thai dog. This is a breed that is known for its heartiness and guard dog abilities. It is a Thai breed, it looks like a small Husky. Ethan fell in love quickly with Buff also. This is much different than the two earlier dogs, this is an outside dog (where she stays most of the time!)a guard dog. It's been great having her here because we can now turn off the outside lights because we have a guard dog watching the place for us. That has been wonderful, I was having to sleep with a night mask because of all the light streaming through the windows at night. I'm grateful that we have made it through all the rounds of vaccinations and Buff is a hearty swimmer. In fact, she loves terrorizing the catfish in our pound, swimming, chasing them around. All the boys like Buff, but Ethan loves her. Boys and their dogs!