Villey recalls the day she told her mum that she was going over to Port Klang to “check out” a just-rescued puppy.
An independent rescuer had just picked up this poor pooch, sent it to the vet and put up advertisements online – in hopes that somebody would want to adopt it and give it a forever home. Fortunately, Villey answered the call.
“I drove all the way down to Port Klang to pick her up on Jan 18, 2018. My mum was under the impression that I was just going to have a look, but who knew I would actually end up bringing her back?” Villey laughs mirthfully at the recollection.
Villey says QQ is very smart overall, but very timid among strangers and other dogs. In fact, Villey reveals that QQ is afraid of other dogs too!
“Yes, she’s afraid of thunder and other sudden and loud noises but her biggest fear is definitely dogs. Guess she doesn’t know she’s a dog herself!” shrugs Villey, who adds that QQ adapted to her new environment in a blink of an eye, but took up to a month for her to warm up to strangers.
“Who knows how long it’ll take for her to warm up to another dog?” Villey ponders out loud.
Though QQ was quick to adapt to her new home and new human, she threw massive fits when she was younger – especially when Villey used to leave her to go to work.
“I was working in KLIA2 at that time and the long hours of work plus travelling distance from Cheras probably amplified her separation anxiety,” says Villey.
Villey relates how she would come back to a chewed-up home and a very guilty-looking QQ.
“She nibbled her way through everything in the house – the couch, dining table, chairs, pillows, blankets, mattress – just about everything she could find!”
Villey says that the old QQ didn’t know much about training back then, hence the crazy and destructive behaviour, but she’s thankful that QQ is very well-behaved now.
Showing off her smarts, QQ knows enough words to fill a tiny dictionary. She can understand an impressive array of commands such as “sit”, “hand”, “swap hands”, “boop”, “give”, “lie down”, “stay”, “bang!”, “come”, “backwards”, “fetch”, “sit pretty”, “stand”, “pray”, “quiet” and “peekaboo.”
She can also differentiate the names of her toys, and recognises the washroom – which is useful whenever she and Villey travel.
“I’ll bring her to work on some days as my office and colleagues are very casual about it, and some days she’ll stay at home with my mum.”
QQ seems to have a proclivity for parks, rivers, ponds and lakes, and one might think that she is a mixture of a water dog breed, but Villey insists that QQ doesn’t like swimming at all.
However, QQ does love a fishy diet, as she enjoys fish, soup-based food and anything served to her must be wet.
QQ has always been an indoor dog, but according to Villey, this was not always the case. She says she had to change her parents’ mindset about how dogs belong outside.
“Now, they love QQ to the max and will snuggle up to her on the bed. Otherwise, she’ll just sleep with me. She has this funny habit of imitating us, where she’ll sleep like a human kid by putting her head on the pillow and hugging my bolster!” laughs Villey.
Villey admits that QQ has inspired her to open up a pet account on Instagram to show the world that the life and adventures of a mongrel, mutt or mixed breed – whatever you may call them – can be wonderful too.
“I often get people asking about QQ’s breed because she’s so pretty. Other times, people tell me off for bringing a ‘mixed breed’ or a non-purebred dog out,” says Villey.
“But I think a ‘mutt’ can also travel to all the pet-friendly places, go to work, go on road trips and be just as active as other dogs.
“They may look less pretty but let’s just embrace all kinds of pets, spread love and positivity. That way, we’ll have a better pet community here in the country!”
TELL US ABOUT YOUR PET: FMT Lifestyle readers are invited to send in pictures (landscape format) and a short video (if any) of their furry, scaly or feathery friends to [email protected]. Don’t forget to include details like your pet’s name, age, breed and a short story about them.