Oreo & Me
Sometimes amazing gifts come in small packages, and sometimes they come wrapped in soft white and brown fur. So it was with Oreo.
He came to me when I least expected it - I was just 17, still in high school and excited about life. I have just embraced a new found love for little puppies because for the past 17 years of my life, I was afraid of dogs, just as my parents had warned me that they would chase and bite me. It came daunting enough that I was bitten a big stray dog, one that I tried to help in its depression and nurse back to cheerfulness.
But on that afternoon, a friend came to me and passed me a brown box, big enough to carry in my arms, but I was disinterested to find out what it was as I had just finished crying over some silly things. Nevertheless, I opened up the box and found a little shih tzu, slightly bigger than a guinea pig, looking at me. My eyes brightened up, and I let it run loose in my house.
Even then, Oreo, which had not been named at that time, ran about and played with me as though we had been friends for long time. Eventually, my little canine friend was named Oreo, and not Oldie, because it had white fur and dark brown fur and also, because Oldie sounded like Old Farts.
He hit his head on the couch countless times, and from then on, I questioned his IQ. How much did his little brain hold? When he lied down to rest, he looked like a pretty fur carpet. I was careful that I would not step on him. As days went by, Oreo proved that he failed obedience school like Marley did. All the corners of my house were tainted with his pee and how much joy did he had humping my soft toys.
My house was now almost a zoo. With fish, 3 tortoises, 13 hamsters and a dog, my parents complained of bad smell and bad hygiene. While others were busy studying, I was busy bathing my hamsters, bringing them to the vet when they were sick and dogsitting Oreo. It broke my heart when my little hamsters died. I watched them play the wheels, eat the corns and cabbages and some died of brutal deaths. One was bitten by a sibling, another suffocated herself, and my favourite, Tammy was accidentally squashed to death by my mum when he ran away. Oreo had a huge curiosity bite, played with my hamsters like they were some aliens.
Nonetheless, Oreo was with my faithfully through the years, through the weekends. Though he is now almost 8 years old, lost some of the vigor he used to have, he scores 100% on the loyalty scale. He waits for me at the door forlornly, and jumps at me the moment I get back. Just like humans, Oreo has his temperaments. He knew that when I changed my clothes, I would go out and hence he would ignore me until I came back. He is painfully afraid of thunders and rollercoaster rides. Once, I found him hiding at a corner somewhere due to the sounds of thunder. Oreo, like the male species, have a problem with odour. Despite stinking badly, I allow him to sleep on the bed with me and play with my bolster. I feel uneasy without the Oreo smell on my bed.
My parents told me that this ain't a dog who takes care of your house but that's ok. Some dogs are put on this Earth just to love you.
