Surprise Party For A Dobermann

THIS WEEK’S start to a brand new lunar New Year may have very much symbolised a magnificent Water Dragon for followers of the Chinese zodiac calendar.

However, as far as happenings in my home-front were concerned, canines still reigned as champs during the recent holidays.

And there was no contradiction really to the joyous occasion.

Because the chief star of my band of service and therapy dogs – the Doberman named Dobe Ace Zhar who celebrated his one-year old birthday last week - is essentially a Dragon-personality at heart.

I discovered this fact from the moment Zhar joined my pack of special dogs at 10-weeks of age. 

Rules and regulations were generally better suited for other breeds of dogs than him.

Restrictions only stifled out the young Dobie’s creative sparks of enthusiasm and intelligence that is ever ready to burst out into positive flames to confront virtually any sort of challenge.

Zhar accepted my wheelchair instantly.

Whilst many other dogs like German Shepherds (GSDs) and even a Golden Retriever that I’ve trained hesitated at first; or took several minutes to adjust to the movements of my wheelchair, Zhar just joyfully leapt into my lap when he first saw me.

This was a very positive sign that the Dobe, whose nature – like Dragon people - is to be inevitably successful in almost everything that they do, was going to be a perfect candidate in assistance-dog work.

The “wheelchair-stunt” was the start to a strong bonding that we shared with each other for the next 10-months.

At first he was a little queasy as a pup over the sizes of the GSDs looking over him rather intimidatingly. However, he got over it quickly.

Zhar now towers over them instead but remains gentle as a lamb.

As a true Dragon, he is generous and allows his senior canines to grab a taste of his breakfast or dinner or even clean up the leftovers from his plate.

Even at 3-months old, Zhar was gentle during our wheelchair- walks in the neighbourhood. He never pulls on the leash except when I need help going up a slope.

Having said that, please don’t think that the Dobie is a pushover.

The utterly irrepressible canine (another Dragon trait) is alert at all times over suspicious-looking motorcycles, cars and characters that approach us.

He has also growled away bully Rottweilers and other dogs that put on a menacing show at the front gate of their owners’ homes when we passed by.

Zhar is naturally wary of strangers and frequently looks at me in the eye to give him the “Okay” to those who approach me. With society being the way that it is today, one can never tell for sure especially when it comes to total strangers.

But what Zhar excels most in is in his gifted ability to retrieve almost any object.

Like Dragons, the extroverted bundle of energy is able to pick up useful items from the floor or virtually anywhere they can be found and bring them over to me.

Not only that, but the Doberman loves to do it with plenty of colour and the flamboyance of the Dragon.

Whether it is my face towel, shoes, wallet, keys, a book or even my cologne, the free-spirited and uninhibited Zhar is constantly at my service.

With the items firmly locked in his jaws, he will dash through doors, squeeze through narrow spaces, leap over obstacles – including GSDs – and even somersault if he has to, but always land on his feet with the items still intact to deliver the goods to me.

So with an extremely ambitious service dog like this, I simply had to make his special day memorable.

But how does one throw a surprise birthday party for an extraordinary Doberman?

Why, with a little help from some super human friends, of course!

One the eve of the eve of Chinese New Year, more than a dozen friends close to me and Zhar gathered to blow out the candle of the Dobie’s birthday cake.

The gathering was held in the home of Dr S R Dev in Petaling Jaya where Zhar was born with his four brothers and a sister.

It is not only the present home of his mother but the venue is also where Zhar’s predecessor Soolam my Golden Retriever lays buried (with honours) for his lifetime work as an assistance dog for people with disabilities.    

  

Among the dog lover revellers at Zhar’s party included a research scientist, a professor of genetics and a professional dog trainer.

Zhar was given to me by Dr S R Dev who is a general practitioner to be trained and partnered as a service dog.

Incidentally, Zhar's ancestry boasts of 4 lines going back to a famous winning Argentinian Doberman with over 100 Best In Show wins named Lex Luthor after the villain Superman feared most!         

THE END

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