Azlan'+Rasyad's
Dirac & Goeppert
13 MARCH 2020 - ON BOARD
"Bad dog! Say sorry!" Instantly, Dirac reaches her paw out to apologise. My heart shrunk as I didn't believe Dirac was a bad dog at all and that she had nothing to apologise for.
Azlan brought the girls over for a meet and greet to determine if boarding his pups with me would be a good call. He was in a difficult position, having to move his dogs out of the farm in an urgent circumstance in the midst of relocating to another. The girls were homeless and he needed to board them for over a month as he sorted things out. This was about a week before the Movement Control Order in the event of the COVID-19 outbreak in Malaysia was established.
During the meet and greet, Azlan, who was the first pawrent who recommended to do so, was very descriptive about how he rescued and raised Dirac and Goeppert on his farm. He was completely understanding about my entry level experience in pet care and never having long-term boards under my belt before.
To my surprise, these farm dogs were extremely obedient towards Azlan's commands. I have never heard the "Bad dog" command before, and to even witness a dog responding apologetically towards it melted my heart. The sight of very well-behaved dogs off-leash was completely new to me. What was more admirable was the strong and positive emotional bond between Azlan and his dogs. It was the first time I saw a dog kissing its pawrent on command. Azlan was very thorough during the session, showing me all the commands his dogs can do, and feeling openly embarrassed at times when they wouldn't listen. It was absolutely adorable to know that Dirac and Goeppert knows their pawrents as Mommy and Dada.
A week into the MCO, Azlan and Rasyad could not take the pups out for their park visits any longer. They were just starting to learn to walk on the leash with them. Through their first days, Goeppert would pee in the front yard while Dirac would hold it in till Park Day. Over time, Goeppert began to learn to pee on her walks on the leash with me. I would take them out separately and encourage them to wee wee along the way.