#5 Luckiest Dog In The World
We’ve had dogs in my family ever since I was a tiny person. The first-ever dog we ever had was a Shanghainese street dog that found its way to our home through the rooftop of our lane house. Today, Sandra and I have two dogs (Frank and Fofo) and a cat (Jon Snow). Although being in an apartment with three animals and Noah can be pure mayhem at times, there are always moments that remind us just how important these non-people members of our family have become.
One morning this week during breakfast, Fofo was curled up next to us, enjoying one of his many naps during the day. He is an English Cocker Spaniel and will be turning 18 next year. As I watched him lying there, I thought back to all the moments in his life and realised that he is essentially a living museum of some of my own cherished memories. With sadness, we realise he won’t be with us much longer as he battles returning cancerous growths, total deafness, deteriorating eyesight, arthritis and the general scourge of old age. This week, I wanted to chronicle Fofo’s life and how he has impacted mine.
福 /fú/ - Blessing, Good Fortune
Fofo’s name is an anglicised version of the Shanghainese pronunciation of Fufu 福福- a repeat of a character in chinese that means blessing. This repetition of characters is a common way names are given to pets in China. My uncle had a pair of toy poodles named Lele 乐乐 and Lala 拉拉. Lele translates to joy, joy while Lala translates to pull, pull. Lala’s name wasn’t chosen because of any pulling prowess she possessed, my uncle just liked the rhythmic sound of Lele and Lala. This method of bellowing titles also extends to nicknames for people. We occasionally call our son Noah Nuonuo. It means absolutely nothing but when spoken in Chinese, it just sounds cuter.
According to my uncle - Fofo’s original owner - he bought puppy Fofo at a Shanghainese market circa 2004. We went through this whole process of trying to figure out Fofo’s exact birthday but Sandra ended up designating 8/8 because the number 8 is considered auspicious and 88 is off the charts lucky due to its resemblance to 囍, a decorative character meaning double happiness. This collective superstition surrounding the number 8 is so powerful that the Australian Department of Home Affairs renumbered some of their business visa classes to include more 8s so that they are appealing to Chinese applicants. My own phone number has four 8s in it because the salesperson from where I purchased my number took one look at me and said “You Chinese? I have the perfect number for you.” It was most certainly a case of racial profiling but you know what, I’m not giving my number up anytime soon. So you could say Fofo is the luckiest dog in the world with his name connoting happiness, wealth, blessing and all of those times two.
Origin Story
In his early years, Fofo spent most of his time in the warehouses where my uncle plied his trade as a furniture manufacturer. Although Fofo was content enough rummaging around the place, my uncle felt guilty that he didn’t spend that much time with him. So when a neighbouring business owner asked if he could take Fofo off my uncle’s hands, my uncle said yes, thinking Fofo would be better off with someone else. That arrangement only lasted for a few months after my uncle saw Fofo alone in a small cage most days in front of his neighbour’s place. Soon our blessed canine was back on the factory grounds, nose to concrete, doing what he loves best. It’s common nowadays to see all types of purebreds in Chinese cities but back then, an English Cocker would have been a rare sight, especially in the Shanghainese countryside.
A few years go by and my uncle decided that it was best for Fofo to live with my wai po 外婆 (maternal grandmother). It was a mutually beneficial covenant where my wai po supplied the food and he supplied the companionship. This was also around the time my family and I got to know this tenacious pup. We would customarily visit Shanghai once a year during Chinese New Year and each time we went to see my wai po, Fofo would be there. Cocker Spaniels have been bred over a few centuries to be very receptive to human commands, especially directional ones. The novelty of making Fofo run to wherever we pointed entertained us for hours. We could always tell he enjoyed it too because of the subtle wagging of his docked tail. It was also during this time that Fofo became a father when he mated with one of my uncle’s dogs. I like to imagine Fofo’s offspring running around out there in the world and feel a peculiar sense of pride that he has successfully fulfilled his duties by passing on his genes. So many of these memories are intrinsically tied with family reunions, my early twenties and my wai po when she was around.
外婆/wàipó/ - Maternal Grandmother
My wai po was a generous and kind woman. Each time I think of her, I am immediately filled with warmth. Like many people of her generation in China, she lived through hardships that were senseless and undeserved. As a baby, she was given away by her parents because they couldn’t look after her but was later retrieved by her mother after she caught wind of the mistreatment she suffered at the hands of her foster parents. During the Japanese invasion in the second world war, she was sent down a river, only to be rescued by a Japanese man. After losing my grandfather to throat cancer, she raised her four children on her own, my mother being the youngest. Even after all of that she had room in her heart to love and be loved by all who knew her. Some of my fondest childhood memories are with her - telling me stories and cooking her legendary meals. In the last few years of her life, she lost her speech, her movement and eventually her spirit to the affliction of parkinson’s. Although she passed away in 2019, the last time she called my name was in 2017. That was also the time I made a conscious effort to close my eyes so that I could etch the sensation of my fingers running through her hair and holding her hands deep into my consciousness. Today, when I see Fofo, I am reminded of my grandmother because so many memories live through him. When he’s gone, those memories will become a little more distant and that is a day I don’t look forward to. When bad things happen to good people, it will never make sense from our limited perspective but I like to think that she succeeded in making the world a better place, at least for the people she loved.
New Chapters
When I moved to Shanghai in 2014, Fofo had been living with my dad for a few years because of my grandmother’s ailing health. I always felt a little bad for him since I knew that as much as my dad enjoyed spending time with him, those times were limited and he spent most days wandering the yard on his own. He soon developed a habit of taking himself out for walks whenever someone left the gate open. I was horrified to hear from dad that he was hit by a car on two occasions during these self-guided walks. Apparently, he picked himself back up and just kept moving like it was nothing. When I moved out to my own place in Shanghai, I decided that Fofo should come live with me and his new best pal Frank the French Bulldog. Despite the age gap between the two, they soon became inseparable. Back then, Fofo had three great loves. One was rummaging through the rubbish any time he saw an opening. Another was jumping onto the couch so that he could snuggle up next to me while I watched tv and his favourite pastime was to terrorise the cleaners with his imposing bark. I don’t know his criteria but he always chose the people he liked and didn’t like.
In 2017, our clan grew bigger. Sandra moved in with her cat John Snow and the animal members of our family outnumbered the people. It was around this time that I learnt something new about Fofo. Our neighbour had this enormous Saint Bernard that lived in a unit above us. This dog was goofy and clearly didn’t know his own size. For whatever reason, any time Fofo saw this dog or even got a whiff of his scent in the elevator, he would transform into a berserker, aggressively barking, foaming at the mouth and could only be calmed after great effort. The science on the cause of this sudden on-set aggression or ‘rage syndrome’ isn’t settled but it is believed to be genetic amongst Cocker Spaniels. Having witnessed it first hand on a few occasions, it is clear Fofo has absolutely no control over it. This always makes me wonder how many people have certain behavioural triggers that are beyond their control.
By 2018, Fofo’s condition had deteriorated considerably. It started with a few failed attempts at jumping on the couch but he would soon develop complete deafness and require surgery for a number of ailments. Despite all of that, when Sandra and I relocated to Germany for 10 months in 2019, Fofo went with us and added another chapter to his storied life. He accompanied my father-in-law Gerhard on many walks through their town and surrounding forests. If the start of Fofo’s life was tumultuous, this period was him enjoying his retirement. Due to his age, we were concerned that he wouldn’t make it back to Sydney and had mentally prepared ourselves to say goodbye to him in Germany. If that had happened, I would have been comforted by the fact that he was with my in-laws, who love him dearly.
Living Memory
Nevertheless, two years on and the veteran is still kicking. It’s a little surreal to see him in Sydney considering we were concerned he wouldn’t make it out of Shanghai. Nowadays, it takes him a long while to get going in the morning. His eyesight is starting to go and his bladder control is fading quickly. We were informed recently that cancer he beat last year has already come back and we should be prepared to say goodbye to our elder statesmen in the coming year. When I first heard the news, I was crushed. Fofo has been around for so much of my life that it was easy to pretend he would just go on forever. Observing him sets off so many memories of the past 17 years that it feels like some of those memories live within him.
Each morning as I take Fofo for a walk, I always wonder whether that might be his sunrise on earth. I guess much like people, dogs never really know when it’s their time to go. However, unlike people, they live out every moment of their lives doing exactly what they want. For Fofo, that means devouring his food and waiting for us to slip up so he can explore the rubbish bin. Each day, my heart is filled knowing that my son Noah got to know Fofo. This old robust dog is now the common thread that binds four generations of my family. When he is gone, things will be different and he will be missed.
