Dog Talk: From street to sweet

The Star

22-06-2025

Beary, a cheerful six-year-old Pomeranian, has an enviable existence. Joseph Chan, an IT consultant in Kuala Lumpur, is completely besotted with the little dog.
Beary has a house filled with toys, special rugs, fabulous food and he is out and about with his dad on most days too.
Recently, Beary's fairytale life was invaded by Jesse, a rescue street dog.
'I was out buying dinner in Kota Damansara when I saw an adoption drive,' Chan shares. 'There was a group of pups, looking sad and confused. You could see they were worried, and did not understand what was going on.'
Sensing a soft touch, one of the rescuers suggested Chan pet the pups.
'I petted and when she was okay with that, she suggested I pick her up,' Chan says. 'I expected her to be shy or scared but amazingly she had relaxed paws. Then she looked at me with these huge brown eyes and that was pretty much it. I couldn't resist.'
Beary is a little sweetheart.
Jesse was found on a construction site. The rescuer who took her in calculated the pup was probably around three months old.
She had cleared Jesse for general health and fleas but she needed vaccinations and further basic puppy care.
'On the way home, she was leaning against me. I felt her heart beating wildly and when she looked up at me, with that trust in her eyes, I fell in love with her,' Chan admits.
But being practical, he also had reservations. 'I wondered about Garfield, our household cat, and I wasn't certain Beary would take it.'
'When I walked into the house, Beary went ballistic. He ran up barking, asking what is that?
Jesse was really scared of him, so I put her inside an enclosure to keep her safe.'
Jesse with her pillow, guarding the house.
New introduction
Garfield sat at the far end of the room, staring hard at the newcomer. The cat may have remembered that he himself had arrived in similar fashion.
Chang had moved into his new home one day and hadn't even unpacked when a rainstorm hit. In the middle of it, he found a thin, bedraggled cat knocking on the window.
'He was ravenous and all I had in the house was a can of sardine in tomato sauce,' Chan says. 'I handed it over and went out for dinner. As the cat was still there the next day, I reckoned he came with the house and so I adopted him. Or maybe we adopted each other?'
While Garfield stared, Beary circled and put on a guard dog act.
'I told Beary he was ko-koh, the big brother head of the household, and then I let them sit and have a good long stare at each other,' Chan laughs.
When Chan gave Jesse his pillow so his scent would keep her calm, Garfield walked off, showing his disdain with a stiff tail.
'When Garfield came back, it was well past dinner time,' Chan says. 'I put out food, a plate in front of him, and another in front of Beary, and Jesse had one in her enclosure. When they all ate, I knew it would be okay.'
All pups are raptors and Jesse had a lovely time destroying this cushion.
Chan planned to leave Jesse downstairs for the night to settle in but the pup had other ideas.
'She cried the house down,' Chan said ruefully. 'I had to take her to my room, Jesse in her enclosure and Beary with me.'
In two minds
When Beary realised Jesse was there to stay, the little dog was in two minds.
'He accepted her during the day but at night he would guard the stairs, telling her that I am his,'
Chan laughs. 'Garfield walked past them both, saying it wasn't his business.'
As Jesse is still a pup, she has plenty of bounce. Like all little dogs, she also went through her raptor stage.
'She ripped up cushions and had great fun with that,' Chan says. 'It's just puppy teething and that's okay. But she does know when she's done something wrong.'
Wrong in the Chan household is being mean to others.
Maxie is a 20-year-old Shih Tsu whose family left her behind when they migrated. The little dog was taken in by Chan's father and when he wasn't well, he came to join Garfield and Beary.
'Maxie is blind and he sleeps with his eyes open and tongue out, so I keep thinking he's dead,' Chan laughs.
'He also insists on sleeping outside. He has his own place by the gate, but I insist he comes in when it rains – which he objects to as he likes to be wet!'
With Jesse being chewy and bitey as pups are, she made a mistake and chewed on Maxie.
'I told her off,' Chan says. 'She understood immediately and she never did it again. In fact, Jesse now sits with Maxie and takes care of him.'
Now that she's seven months old and is a rather bigger puppy, Jesse has her own pillow that she drags to the gate to lie on.
Garfield has accepted she's there to stay and sticks to his routine.
As for Beary, the little prince, he has given his verdict too.
'Beary has let Jesse up the stairs and he's now sleeping when she's in the room,' Chan reports with satisfaction. 'They're friends.'
So it's official. The orange cat, a blind buddy, and one spoiled fluffball have all accepted the little street pup into the pack. Jesse has it made.
Photo: BRENDA CHIA/Malaysian Dogs Deserve Better
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