I didn't have a pet for more than 2 decades. I don't remember our dogs in the past seeing ghosts. I was too young to notice that I guess.
Before giving birth to her pups, we never heard Brandie bark or growl. We heard her for the first time when she felt her pups were threatened.
I adopted Brandie and her 5 pups or gave them a foster home two weeks ago, after one of the pups was dognapped. Brandie has been been quiet, and would only bark (as in really bark) when someone or a dog/cat she doesn't know would approach my gate. In the evenings, our streets are so quiet other than the roving guards who patrol the village. That means a restful sleep for Brandie and her litter and us residents.
On the eve (12 midnight) of November 28th, I was awakened by Brandie's bark which seemed unusual. It was not very loud. It was not even a protective or threatening bark. She was not howling either. It was continuous low bark at about a second interval. She was not even by the gate or at the balcony. She was just at her place/bed. I looked outside. I saw no one, not even a dog, a cat or a frog. My neighbor was also awakened by it.
Brandie's bark was a bit puzzling. I shouted her name and she quieted down.
The next evening at 12 midnight again, I heard her doing the same bark. "What's got into her?" I wondered.
My mom called me at the office that day, the usual "kumustahan." I told her about Brandie and her unusual bark the past 2 midnight. She said, "Don't you remember? It was your dad's birthday yesterday. And we're gonna visit him tomorrow as November 30th is a holiday. You should come with us."
Sheesh! I forgot all about it! I don't know if it was just a coincidence. I don't know if I am going to believe that Brandie felt my dad's presence for 2 midnights. Since Dad's death in 1985, I never felt his "presence." I think it was only Mom and some siblings who did.
My Dad loved dogs, even not his pets. Dogs usually warmed up to him very easily. I remember a story where his dog found his way back home after being lost for many months. Our dogs would always be in a frenzy of excitement everytime they would feel Dad's car (not ours, but the company he worked for) would be nearby. They knew it. And they would be running around, downstairs, upstairs, windowsills, hoping to be the first to be hug/pet by Dad. I guess, he had the making of a dog whisperer at the time. :)
When our Jenny gave birth for the first time on July 31st 1982 at about 10 in the morning, I was the only one home. She was doing it under our sofa. The first pup was breached (legs first). Jenny could not push it out. Though I was scared as we all know that mom dogs are very protective of her newly born pups, that time she was looking at me as if asking for help. I pulled the two hind legs of the pup hanging at her birth canal very slowly. She let out a small cry but didn't bite me. She was then able to push it out. It was already dead. She tried to revive it to no avail. The next 4 pups were smaller but all were alive.
That evening, she would not let me or my siblings near her litter. It was only my Dad who could come near them. After a few days, she calmed down and would let all of us hold the pups. Of the 4 pups only Carla survived till adulthood. She was the complete contrast of her mom in terms of coat color. Jenny was a white chested black dog, while Carla is mostly white with some brown spots.
One day, my youngest sibling came home with a small pup. Not a very cute pup, unlike Jenny's litter. It was like a brown rat. We didn't like it. Dad decided the pup could stay. She was named Stephanie. Jenny didn't like her and would usually snap at her, not bite. She just didn't want Stephanie to be near her. But the small pup did a very unusual thing. Maybe it was her survival instinct or she was just missing or looking for a mom. She would be submissive to Jenny. She would crawl and wanted to be with Jenny. Then she tried suckling Jenny's nipples. Jenny had been without pups for a very long time. But with Stephanie's persistence, Jenny warmed up to her, and developed milk! Stephanie became Jenny's adopted daughter. She lived till adulthood. Her coat is a giveaway that she is not Jenny's pups.
All those dogs are all gone now. I am sure if Dad were alive today, she would surely adopt Brandie and her pups in a heartbeat.
Did Brandie do the same bark after the eve of November 29th? No. She was very quiet. Even the pups were sleeping soundly. It was a restful sleep for me and my neighbors.
Did my Dad visit me in my new house to remind me of his birthday, and Brandie felt his presence? You be the judge. :)
No comments:
Post a Comment