The Epic Tail of Feniq
So I had officially given up on having a dog. I had also decided against a cat since my whole family is definitely more Cat-people than Dog-people not that we hate dogs or anything. Jade had also given up on a dog. When I had showed her the poodle puppies she wanted to have partial rights to the puppy, walking, cuddles, etc.
20.10.2013
So when I read a story that involved a Fennec Fox and included pictures and then Jade and I went to the Woman’s Mall and Jade got her nails done which included a fox charm even when I hadn’t mentioned anything I should have realised something was up.
Jade and I had just finished at the Dongdu area and were walking through Binping Jie the dirty little street that connect Dongdu to Jinnan Lu on our way to get dinner at Pizza Hut (Tea Time!) we found a woman selling a puppy in a box that looked a bit foxy around the face.
The lady told us that the puppy was 80 RMB and he needed shots. The puppy looked clean-no bugs, and well taken care of. She said he was three months old. We told the lady we would be back once we ate dinner in about an hour. Surprisingly, dinner at Pizza Hut took less than an hour and we got back to the woman at the time we said. But now the lady was saying the puppy was 100 RMB. Jade got her down to 90 RMB, so we got a puppy in a cardboard box.
On the car ride home we were talking about a name for the puppy and I suggested Fennec/Fennic/Fenik since he reminded me of the fox. And Jade agreed, so the puppy got his name. We also found out that he is not a fan of car rides!
We got the puppy back to the school and the Soy Milk ladies offered to help us get a collar the next morning. Back in my room I picked up the carpets and the roach motels before I let the puppy out of the box. I took the hard plastic gelato ice cream dish that I had saved from the first time I ate at the gelato place in Zhenhua with water for the puppy, since it was perfect puppy size.
When Jade was ready I put the puppy in the bathroom and from the discussion with other foreigners we decided that Zhenhua was hopefully a big enough grocery store to have pet stuff. The younger Soy Milk Lady said we should just feed him some lamb skewers from a Shaokao place.
Zhenhua did not have dog food. But I was able to get a second dish from the gelato people. When we got back to the school we bought three unseasoned lamb skewers for the puppy and went back to my place.
The puppy went through all three skewers at lightning speed. So we hung out with the puppy and he seemed to be healthy and happy.
For bed I put the cardboard box with a sweatshirt in it in the bathroom over the drain. Since the drain is actually big enough for the puppy to get stuck in. I also filled both dishes up with water and left them in the bathroom.
21-26.10.2013
01:50 in the morning I was woken by puppy whining. I let the puppy out and cuddled with him for a while before putting him back in the bathroom.
Unknown time in the morning, I was woken again. The bathroom door wasn’t closed enough and the puppy was looking at me from the threshold. We went for a short cuddle again, whenever I lay down with the puppy in bed he would lick my face and ears and I always kept an eye on him to make sure he didn’t pee on the bed. When I was bringing him back to the bathroom he squirmed out of my arms and fell. So he got extra cuddle time.
04:30 woken to howling had a short cuddle and the puppy went back to bed by himself. I decided not to close the bathroom door since it was only an hour and a half before I had to wake up. But I did close the door to the living room.
At 06:00 I woke up the puppy was sleeping, so I swept and mopped my room and then moved the box with the puppy into the bedroom and took a shower and then went and got the puppy Meat Baozi (steamed dumplings). He wasn’t the biggest fan. I met Jade at the gate with the puppy at about 09:00. Soy Milk Lady went to get a harness collar for us but it was too big. So we gave it back.
We went to the Pet Store/Vet that a Chinese friend with multiple dogs goes to. During the car ride we settled on the spelling of Feniq for the puppy. When we got to the store Feniq was a mess he doesn’t like car rides and I think he thought we were getting rid of him!
We asked for shots and they looked at Feniq. They asked us how old he was and what he ate. They tried to get him to eat kibble and walk around but Feniq wouldn’t have it. So they told us we had to wait five days to get him shots. We said we needed to get a collar and Jade picked a powder blue one with pink bunnies on it. I asked what we needed to feed him and they tried to feed him kibble again. This time he ate and we bought a bag of kibble.
Partially to prove that he could walk and partially to see if the collar actually fit, we walked Feniq out of the store. We decided to walk to the opposite intersection to give Feniq some exercise. He stopped a couple times but didn’t go to the bathroom. Jade wanted a second opinion about waiting 5 days for shots but I thought it was logical and we didn’t know any other pet stores. We stopped on the next corner at the Brown Sugar Café and got a coffee. After Feniq and I went back to school since I had class and Jade went shopping.
The more I thought of it, the more I thought the Jade was right, so I asked the other foreigners in a chat group. They thought it was a bit silly to wait but not bad, I was told not to let him walk around outside until three weeks after he has finished getting his shots since Parvo is a disease that is passed through waste and is a big dog killer in China.
That night I moved the dog’s box into my room and he still didn’t seem happy about it. I was woken again, and when I brought him up for a cuddle, I was laying down he walked away from me and before I could sit up he peed on my blanket at the end of the bed. I put his nose in it spanked his bum and put him in the bathroom where I wanted him to go to the bathroom and closed the door since he hates that. I bundled up the blanket that he peed on and pulled out the blanket I borrowed from Reinout last year. Then I let the pup out and denied him bed cuddles so he would learn his lesson.
He seemed to learn his lesson since 80% of the time after that he went to the bathroom in the bathroom. I also found if I got ready for bed and then gave Feniq a cuddle and then hung out in bed with the light on for a bit than he would settle down and stop waking me at night.
The week went by quickly and at 11:30 on Saturday; Dean, Jade and I went back to the store. Feniq got his first shot and didn’t cry! We got the more expensive non-Chinese shots that cost 200 RMB for four of them. We also picked up a brush, a collar with bells on it that is purely for fashion/knowing where the dog is instead of for use with a leash, a ball, some dog treats, and a pink bunny squeaky toy/tug rope. We were told that we had to go back in 18 days for the next shot. Feniq did a backwards sneeze and the vet said he had a cold and to get some human medicine for him, if he still had a cold he couldn’t get the next shot.
After the vet, we went to lunch at a Muslim noodle place and then we went to a grocery store. I stayed outside with Feniq while Jade and Dean got their shopping. After we went to Dongdu and I bought a scarf outside and then went home while Jade and Dean went shopping in Dongdu.
Feniq is a big fan of the tug rope, but he is not heavy enough or strong enough to get it to squeak. And I found out he could go 0 to 60 to 0 in a matter of minutes!
The next morning I taught Feniq to sit. He became greedy though and if he thought that I still had treats on me he would sit down without prompting and look at me like, “where is my treat?” And when he gets a treat he is hyper and runs around expecting more. I have to wash my hands to get rid of the lingering smell to get him to calm down faster!
That evening Eileen came over with her dog Eva for a play date, Tricia also came by, and my friends Cyhus Chi and John Lee. We ate McDonalds and the candy I brought from Maine. Tricia and I taught everyone Hearts. Everyone had a good time Feniq got attached to the sofa and Eva seemed to dislike Feniq (and ate his food!).
Feniq survived the week which means he has a good chance of surviving. We aren’t there yet, but we’ll get there!
20.10.2013
So when I read a story that involved a Fennec Fox and included pictures and then Jade and I went to the Woman’s Mall and Jade got her nails done which included a fox charm even when I hadn’t mentioned anything I should have realised something was up.
Jade and I had just finished at the Dongdu area and were walking through Binping Jie the dirty little street that connect Dongdu to Jinnan Lu on our way to get dinner at Pizza Hut (Tea Time!) we found a woman selling a puppy in a box that looked a bit foxy around the face.
The lady told us that the puppy was 80 RMB and he needed shots. The puppy looked clean-no bugs, and well taken care of. She said he was three months old. We told the lady we would be back once we ate dinner in about an hour. Surprisingly, dinner at Pizza Hut took less than an hour and we got back to the woman at the time we said. But now the lady was saying the puppy was 100 RMB. Jade got her down to 90 RMB, so we got a puppy in a cardboard box.
On the car ride home we were talking about a name for the puppy and I suggested Fennec/Fennic/Fenik since he reminded me of the fox. And Jade agreed, so the puppy got his name. We also found out that he is not a fan of car rides!
We got the puppy back to the school and the Soy Milk ladies offered to help us get a collar the next morning. Back in my room I picked up the carpets and the roach motels before I let the puppy out of the box. I took the hard plastic gelato ice cream dish that I had saved from the first time I ate at the gelato place in Zhenhua with water for the puppy, since it was perfect puppy size.
When Jade was ready I put the puppy in the bathroom and from the discussion with other foreigners we decided that Zhenhua was hopefully a big enough grocery store to have pet stuff. The younger Soy Milk Lady said we should just feed him some lamb skewers from a Shaokao place.
Zhenhua did not have dog food. But I was able to get a second dish from the gelato people. When we got back to the school we bought three unseasoned lamb skewers for the puppy and went back to my place.
The puppy went through all three skewers at lightning speed. So we hung out with the puppy and he seemed to be healthy and happy.
For bed I put the cardboard box with a sweatshirt in it in the bathroom over the drain. Since the drain is actually big enough for the puppy to get stuck in. I also filled both dishes up with water and left them in the bathroom.
21-26.10.2013
01:50 in the morning I was woken by puppy whining. I let the puppy out and cuddled with him for a while before putting him back in the bathroom.
Unknown time in the morning, I was woken again. The bathroom door wasn’t closed enough and the puppy was looking at me from the threshold. We went for a short cuddle again, whenever I lay down with the puppy in bed he would lick my face and ears and I always kept an eye on him to make sure he didn’t pee on the bed. When I was bringing him back to the bathroom he squirmed out of my arms and fell. So he got extra cuddle time.
04:30 woken to howling had a short cuddle and the puppy went back to bed by himself. I decided not to close the bathroom door since it was only an hour and a half before I had to wake up. But I did close the door to the living room.
At 06:00 I woke up the puppy was sleeping, so I swept and mopped my room and then moved the box with the puppy into the bedroom and took a shower and then went and got the puppy Meat Baozi (steamed dumplings). He wasn’t the biggest fan. I met Jade at the gate with the puppy at about 09:00. Soy Milk Lady went to get a harness collar for us but it was too big. So we gave it back.
We went to the Pet Store/Vet that a Chinese friend with multiple dogs goes to. During the car ride we settled on the spelling of Feniq for the puppy. When we got to the store Feniq was a mess he doesn’t like car rides and I think he thought we were getting rid of him!
We asked for shots and they looked at Feniq. They asked us how old he was and what he ate. They tried to get him to eat kibble and walk around but Feniq wouldn’t have it. So they told us we had to wait five days to get him shots. We said we needed to get a collar and Jade picked a powder blue one with pink bunnies on it. I asked what we needed to feed him and they tried to feed him kibble again. This time he ate and we bought a bag of kibble.
Partially to prove that he could walk and partially to see if the collar actually fit, we walked Feniq out of the store. We decided to walk to the opposite intersection to give Feniq some exercise. He stopped a couple times but didn’t go to the bathroom. Jade wanted a second opinion about waiting 5 days for shots but I thought it was logical and we didn’t know any other pet stores. We stopped on the next corner at the Brown Sugar Café and got a coffee. After Feniq and I went back to school since I had class and Jade went shopping.
The more I thought of it, the more I thought the Jade was right, so I asked the other foreigners in a chat group. They thought it was a bit silly to wait but not bad, I was told not to let him walk around outside until three weeks after he has finished getting his shots since Parvo is a disease that is passed through waste and is a big dog killer in China.
That night I moved the dog’s box into my room and he still didn’t seem happy about it. I was woken again, and when I brought him up for a cuddle, I was laying down he walked away from me and before I could sit up he peed on my blanket at the end of the bed. I put his nose in it spanked his bum and put him in the bathroom where I wanted him to go to the bathroom and closed the door since he hates that. I bundled up the blanket that he peed on and pulled out the blanket I borrowed from Reinout last year. Then I let the pup out and denied him bed cuddles so he would learn his lesson.
He seemed to learn his lesson since 80% of the time after that he went to the bathroom in the bathroom. I also found if I got ready for bed and then gave Feniq a cuddle and then hung out in bed with the light on for a bit than he would settle down and stop waking me at night.
The week went by quickly and at 11:30 on Saturday; Dean, Jade and I went back to the store. Feniq got his first shot and didn’t cry! We got the more expensive non-Chinese shots that cost 200 RMB for four of them. We also picked up a brush, a collar with bells on it that is purely for fashion/knowing where the dog is instead of for use with a leash, a ball, some dog treats, and a pink bunny squeaky toy/tug rope. We were told that we had to go back in 18 days for the next shot. Feniq did a backwards sneeze and the vet said he had a cold and to get some human medicine for him, if he still had a cold he couldn’t get the next shot.
After the vet, we went to lunch at a Muslim noodle place and then we went to a grocery store. I stayed outside with Feniq while Jade and Dean got their shopping. After we went to Dongdu and I bought a scarf outside and then went home while Jade and Dean went shopping in Dongdu.
Feniq is a big fan of the tug rope, but he is not heavy enough or strong enough to get it to squeak. And I found out he could go 0 to 60 to 0 in a matter of minutes!
The next morning I taught Feniq to sit. He became greedy though and if he thought that I still had treats on me he would sit down without prompting and look at me like, “where is my treat?” And when he gets a treat he is hyper and runs around expecting more. I have to wash my hands to get rid of the lingering smell to get him to calm down faster!
That evening Eileen came over with her dog Eva for a play date, Tricia also came by, and my friends Cyhus Chi and John Lee. We ate McDonalds and the candy I brought from Maine. Tricia and I taught everyone Hearts. Everyone had a good time Feniq got attached to the sofa and Eva seemed to dislike Feniq (and ate his food!).
Feniq survived the week which means he has a good chance of surviving. We aren’t there yet, but we’ll get there!