The Day My Life Changed … 

My name is Otto. I am a shih tzu with long, silky hair like some sort of show-dog. My fur color is white with some brown patches. I do not shed, and I am very old, almost fifteen years old. I also am pretty grumpy, so I like to be left alone. I spend most of my days sleeping on my fluffy pillow. 

A long time ago, I injured my tail. So, I do not like to be touched by my tail! I do not like to be touched in other places, like the bottom of my foot because an ant bit it, but I especially loathe it when people touch my tail. Of course most dogs do not like their tails pulled, but I especially hate it. Also, I like it when people leave me alone. All I want to do is relax. This has worked for almost my whole life until the day it all changed. 

I live in Atlanta, Georgia in a big house with three stories. Steep staircases are the only way to get from floor to floor, but I usually fall down them, because they are so steep. I live with my owners, who we all call Grandpa and Grandma. I sleep in their bedroom on a cushy dog bed. Outside, there is a hilly landscape with small stone steps, vegetable gardens, many beautiful flowers, and various fruit trees. You can see some of the flowers in my picture above!

Our house is nice, and I had a happy life for the most part. Well, I had a happy life a few years ago, that is. At the time, I was the only dog in the house. I got all the affection. I had luxury. Every now and then, dogs would come over to my house, because Grandma and Grandpa would take care of these dogs when their owners were on vacation. 

I never paid attention to any of these dogs. But one day, that changed. Two dogs came this time. Brothers. Youngsters. Full of energy. Their names were Tip and Spot. I did not pay attention to them, because I thought they would leave soon enough. 

They did not come because their owners were on vacation. Instead, their owner was dying from cancer. They were only a few months old, and they were also shih tzus, but their hair was shorter. They were offered to Grandpa, so he adopted them. They would stay forever. I did not know this, but they were a pain in the neck. 

Originally, their names were Tip and Spot. Tip’s name was changed to Mung Mung, which means “Barking” in Korean. Spot’s name was changed to Bok Dol Lee which means “Blessings.” Then, Bok Doh Lee was name was shortened to “Thoree,” and Mung Mung was renamed to “Bruno.” The funny part is Thoree is named after the superhero named “Thor” but Thoree is not really a superhero at all.

These dogs were much cuter than me. So, they got more attention than me. At that point, only Grandpa cared for me that much. Everyone else, strangers, family, and friends, payed attention to Thoree and Bruno. Soon, they started taking over the house. They peed, sniffed, and investigated further around the house. They spent most of their time doing this instead of just sleeping. They learned about the rules of the house. They learned they were not allowed to pee in the house, fight each other, or steal each other’s food. To bad that they never followed the rules. Punishment for these offenses was time-out. But time-out did not change Thoree or Bruno. They ended up spending a lot of their doggy days in time-out. I never had to go into time-out, and I think it is dishonorable. 

They learned the ways of the house and learned where they can get food. One day, they found out why the sofa is nice to sleep on, but they ripped it and got in big trouble in the process. They also learned that they could receive treats or scraps of meat if they sat next to a certain chair. They learned everything, including about me. They learned that I was the original man, and they had to compete to take rulership. 

At first, Bruno looked like the dominant force. But, it was the exact opposite. Although Thoree is smaller, he is smarter. They are the brain and the brawn: Thoree makes plans, and Bruno does it. If they work together, their team will always beat me. Right now, I saw Thoree bark orders into Bruno’s ears. I always wonder what mischief they are up to. Bruno probably gets the worst of it, because he is always getting hurt trying to test the boundaries. Even Thoree can do a better job and come out without a scratch. That is the main reason why I stay away from these two. 

Thoree does everything he can to obtain power, even over his own brother. He bosses his brother around and steals everybody’s food: the dog’s and the human’s. Wait a minute! I see Thoree looming over my food. Uh-oh. I better scramble out from underneath this table and run to the kitchen to shoo away Thoree! He’s at it again … trying to steal my food! I didn’t even get a chance to eat a single little nibble. These dogs are not trustworthy and do not show any respect. 

Then, Grandpa’s grandson came. We call him “Young Master.” He learned about Bruno and Thoree. He was offered to pick one of them to own. Of course, he picked Thoree, who was cuter, and specifically more dangerous. Young Master played with Thoree and kept him busy! Though, that did not change anything in the end. I could not believe it. Young Master used to pay all the attention to me, and I did not appreciate it that much at the time. Now, I had no idea why I did not appreciate it then because now he does not even care about me!

To get his attention, I slept in his room. Sleeping in his room was difficult for me, because I do not like going downstairs. He never appreciated the effort that I put into climbing upstairs and only gave a few little taps on the head. He focused his attention back to Bruno and Thoree. I got angry, and I started biting him. Nothing I tried worked. Soon, the youngsters started taking the house I once owned and loved. 

First, they took almost all of the outside. They took the whole garden, backyard, and the surrounding areas. Then, they squeezed my territory further. To this day, I only have some slivers of land on the property line. 

I called them invisible but invincible barriers. No one can cross them without permission. It is really dangerous to do so, since there is a big ravine with a lot of sharp sticks and potential falling trees. It could get really worse if they continue to push. I barely ever got to romp around the house and its backyard freely like the old days anymore. Life became a struggle!

Soon, the dogs took the whole basement. I did not go down there anyways, though. Also, I did not go upstairs usually, so Bruno and Thoree took that entire floor. Then they took my old bed and Grandma’s room! They took the front entrance and the fancy dining room and the praying room! The only territory that I could roam around in was the couch, the regular dining room, and the kitchen. But Thoree and Bruno could still freely come in and out of my territory whenever they pleased.

They accumulated way too much power. And Bruno and Thoree would have pushed more, if it was not for Grandpa, who pushed the boundary line to today’s borders, but I still do not have a lot of territory. I needed to fight back. I also needed backup. But in the coming days, my backup would wither away and would be gone forever. And without backup, life would be harder than ever, and life would be in luck’s hands. 

The Worst Day of My Life …  

So, my owner saved me a lot of times. But one day, he just vanished. One day, he went outside for his regular gardening work. I heard him walk back into the garage. Then, he walked back out again. I heard some clunking of footsteps. He did not return that day. I did not know it at the time, but the backup was all gone. 

So, I waited. I waited for my owner in the mudroom near the garage. I slept there too. I did almost everything there in the mudroom. I waited day after day. Weeks went by. Then, months went by.  Whenever I heard the clunking of footsteps and the door open, I looked up. Or if I was in the kitchen, I raced over to the door. But, it was not Grandpa. So, I returned back to where I had been lying down.  It was not Grandpa after all. 

With Grandfather gone, my situation got even worse. I lost control over many areas of the house. But I did not care. All I cared about was seeing Grandpa again. My life was acceptable at the very least. But it would all end when my owner never came back. 

One day, Grandma told me to get in the car. I did not know where we were going, but I was happy that I was the only dog invited to go. After a while, we stopped at a building that I had never been to before. Suddenly, I had this weird feeling. I was nervous and confused. My instincts told me that something was wrong. I was allowed to go into the building. We went into one of the rooms. Inside, there was a dark wooden box. It was long and rectangular shaped. It was open. I was lifted up so I could look inside. 

From that day on, I never waited again. I, unlike Hachi, knew the truth. Now, it was my part to accept it. 

Epilogue:  Have you heard about the real live dog Hachi? 

Hachi is the famous Japanese dog, an Akita who loved his master. Each day, Hachi followed his owner to the train station from where the he got on the train to go to work. Hachi would then walk back to his home. Later on, Hachi came back to the train station to meet his owner when he came back from work. One day, Hachi’s master went to work and did not return. He had passed away. Hachi sat there at the train station, waiting for his master and never giving up hope. Hachi kept waiting for ten years. He came to the train station in the morning and then left. He came back later and then left again. The cycle repeated for the rest of his life. Otto did that too, because he waited for Grandpa to return. But we found out the truth – his owners had passed away. So, he never waited again. Do you think it is better to know the truth and be sad or not know the truth and still be hopeful? 

Today is National Social Media day! Go on Youtube, Facebook, Twitter, Tik Tok, and more on this day. I’ll see you next post on July 4!