Our Faithful Dog

As I said earlier dogs can be faithful, protective and understanding. They know how to obey and be loyal to their owners if they are treated well and loved.
There was one particular incident that we had never expected. It was truly a show of true grit, bravery and courage.
We were all having our dinner at about 8.00 pm. I was in the primary school; probably in standard 3.
During that time, we normally had our dinner at 8.00 pm. The reason was simple. My mum or my grandma who would prepare our meals also had to help out in the vegetable farm. So after returning home, it was quite late. Only then would they prepare dinner. As kids then we would normally prepare the rice at about 6.00 pm. The dishes would be prepared when my mum or grandma returned. The dinners were late but all of us enjoyed the meals together. That is why I strongly believe the saying ‘a family that eats together, stays together’. Even now that we are all married and we have our own families, our relationship is strong as a rock. Incidentally, I had 5 other siblings.
So, let us get back to the dinner. Normally our dog would wait for us to finish our dinner and then he would have his share with any left-overs of the dinner. He would never bark or make a fuss about his late dinner.
That particular night, he was barking furiously and seemed out of control. He was barking; not as us but at something or somebody.
We all thought that some intruder had invaded his territory. Or it was a stray dog outside the compound.
My dad and mum shouted at him to make him quiet but the din was worse. It was unbelievable. So all of us left the table and went out to check the disturbance. He was looking and barking at the side wooden wall of the house. My father suspected something amiss. He got his torchlight and aimed the light at the source of the annoyance.
We saw a hole at the base of the wooden wall. My mum immediately suspected a snake was hiding in the hole. Her intuition was correct. She asked my grandma to quickly boil a pot of water while we all kept watch in case the snake slithered away.
We kept ourselves at a distance because we were inexperienced in such matters. My dad and my mum got long rattan rods that were kept for such purposes. They held them ready in their hands.
After a few minutes, my grandma returned with a pot of boiling water. My mum took the pot carefully and with precision poured the steaming water into the hole. She quickly backed away. My dad was ready with the rattan rod in hand. We being naïve moved closer but were shouted at to move backwards.
From the light, we saw something emerging from the hole. The dog was even more excited at the sight of the snake. My grandpa held him tightly. It slithered quickly out of the hole and tried to get away. If not for my grandpa who had held him tightly, our dog would have pounded and fought with the creature.
The snake apparently in pain due to the onslaught of the boiling water slithered and wriggled away. My dad moved as quick as lightning and whacked the creature. With just two strokes of the rod, it stopped and was motionless. The dog was even more agitated and tried to lurch at his enemy. When we were absolutely sure that the snake was dead and that it did not pose any danger, the dog was released. It charged and stopped at the dead snake. It smelled and touched his enemy with his paw. I bet he was also checking it to see if it was still alive.
It was left there for us to see. The dead snake measured about 2 metres; black and spotted. The width of its body was the width of an arm. I was not frightened but I felt pure excitement to see it killed because if it had been left alone and allowed to enter the house, our lives would be in danger. It was a black cobra, the deadliest and one of the most poisonous snakes.
I also came to know of a sad incident when one of our relatives; a distant one was bitten by one and was dead before she was sent to the hospital. This will be another strange tale.
Later my father lifted the dead creature with the rattan pole to a disused mining pool nearby and he threw it into the far end. That was the end of the curious incident and one of the many encopunters with snakes especially the cobras.

My dog Part 1

These creatures can be really cute, playful, mischievous, loving and active. Some on the other hand can be nasty, aggressive and fierce.
I had the experience of being chased, bitten, barked at and frightened by some of the later.
The memories of my encounters with dogs are the topic of this memoir.
As a kid I grew up in the village and many families kept dogs. They still do. We had several dogs and they dies one by one as they aged. They were not the well-known species but common ones. The wonderful thing about them is that they are not picky or choosy whe nit came to food. They ate what we cooked or the left-over of meals. Next, they were also really protective and loyal to the members of our family. They were never aggressive when we fed them; even when we removed their bowls while they were eating.
I knew of some which growled aggressively when their bowls were touched or removed. They are those that felt that their territory had been threatened or disturbed; just like humans, we get annoyed or angry when we are provoked.
There is this scene that is still very vivid in my mind. I was sitting at the entrance of the front door at night. At that time I was probably four or five years old. I was actually for the family canine to return. It had apparently gone out to wander and to look for its own kind.
I could still hear the words my mum said, “Go to be. You don’t have to wait for him to come back. It will return later. When you wake up, you will see him.”
I was quite reluctant as I loved the dog very much and I did not want to lose it. Dogs have often been knocked down by vehicles or poisoned or killed by people. Anyway it was there the next morning when I woke up.