THIKA
Sonja, my wife and I had no kids together and her daughter Debbie was grown-up by the time we married. We soon found that we really did miss the patter of tiny feet around the house. Sonja’s father had died unexpectedly and to help her get over the trauma, I took her down to Plettenberg Bay for a brief holiday. We stayed in a flat overlooking the main street and we used to sit out on the balcony and watch the Village go about its business while we were enjoying the sea air.
On one of these occasions Sonja spotted a lady walking down the street with a beautifully groomed Maltese dog and she was instantly and irreversibly taken with the breed. She just had to have one. As we lived in a block of flats at the time, we had never considered keeping a dog. I had bought a Maltese for my Mom some years previously and I had grown very fond of the breed but the little dog had died a bit prematurely of heart trouble. I thought it unwise to try and keep a pup in the flat but Sonja had made up her mind.
Sonja found a breeder, Mrs Newcombe, on a smallholding out near Seaview and her little lady dog had had pups very recently and yes, she would keep a little girl for us. Sonja could not wait for the pup to grow a bit so we went out to view the tiny, bumbling creature. Cuddles was the name of the mother of the pups and a fine little caregiver she was too. After that initial visit, Sonja insisted we HAD to go out on successive Saturday afternoons until our baby was old enough to leave her mommy. My wife was like a mother hen, impatiently wishing the days by so she could go and see her new child.
Eventually we were allowed to bring her home and we decided we were going to call her THIKA (Pronounced Teeka). (NOTE : After that initial naming, ALL our later dogs had names starting with TH… and no, I don’t know anymore why we decided that!) Thika was a clever, friendly pup with boundless energy. She could run like a little greyhound and developed a route running from our lounge, down the hall, through our bedroom, out onto the balcony of the flat next door (Which also belonged to me), through that lounge, into the next door bedroom and all the way back. She loved it when I took my shoes off while watching TV in the lounge because then she could do Dad a favour by pulling off his socks. It took a while but we actually managed to teach her to use a tray, just like a cat. We experimented with various “litter” ideas – cat litter wouldn’t do and newspapers were not absorbent enough and made her feet smelly. We eventually settled on old fashioned babies’ nappies with which to line the tray. She seldom had any accidents after settling into the tray routine.
I woke up early one Sunday morning to find our pup staggering drunkenly around on our bedroom floor. To my horror I also spotted bits of her tick and flea collar, which she had wriggled out of and had been chewing and ingesting. Heavens ! What to do at 6 AM on a Sunday? Sonja took a chance and phoned the Walmer Veterinary Hospital emergency number and got Dr Kampfer. Without a moment’s hesitation, she told us to meet her at the clinic as quickly as we could. By then our baby was becoming very lethargic and ill, as the poison took effect. We raced out to Walmer with the pup, where Dr Kampfer took charge of her and started immediate treatment. While it was touch and go for a day or two for her, Thika pulled through and came back home to us. No more dodgy collars for Thika after that.
When she was small, we always took her along on our shopping trips. To keep her quiet and occupied in the car, we would allow her to gnaw on the bigger bones from a chicken. As she grew stronger. she had to be weaned off chicken bones but when we had a leg of lamb, she would get the bone and happily gnaw at it for hours. Once she grew tired of it, she would wander around the flat moaning quietly, looking for a place to bury the bone in true doggy fashion. She eventually settled for “burying” it in my bookshelves, behind the books. Out of sight, out of mind was her motto.
We added a pool to our property after a few years and while Thiks would sometimes stand on the edge and look down into the water, she made no effort to go swimming. However, her ability to swim was tested one day when Sonja was unwinding the hosepipe to water some plants and the hose caught Thika and flung her into the pool. No panic or hysteria from her; she just started doggy-paddling energetically and looking for a place where she could get out. The panic came from Sonja, who was dressed to receive visitors later in the day and she simply plunged into the pool fully clothed, all the while calling, “Hold on Thika, hold on, Mommy’s coming, Mommy’s coming.” I witnessed the drama from our bedroom and it really was most amusing. Thika was lifted out of the pool and shook herself for a while and then simply went about her business as if nothing had happened. Mommy however, was in a state of nervous collapse!
In common with most dogs, Thika would sell her soul for a piece of what we called tong-tong (biltong). Mere mention of the word was enough to get her excited. I love biltong myself and it cost me a fortune to keep the two of us adequately supplied.
In later years, I started calling her Toddy. She was approaching the age of 15 when she started showing signs of being unwell. You can imagine our dismay when eventually cancer was diagnosed. We kept her with us for as long as humanely possible but eventually we made the decision to let her go and we both attended the procedure, administered by Dr Ferreira. Having to watch that precious girl go quietly was easily the worst, most traumatic experience of my life. The rational part of me insisted that we had done the kind thing but my aching heart has never fully recovered from that awful experience.
THANDI
When Thika was about six years old, Sonja decided that we needed to look to the future and bring in another pup to ensure canine continuity in our home and to be company for dear old Thika. A breeder, Mrs Schlesinger, had her kennels on a smallholding near Uitenhage so we took a ride out there to have a look. We were met by a pack of madly yapping little dogs of several breeds. A rather disgustingly dirty old house with doggy-do all over the place, met Sonja’s gaze as she walked up to greet the old girl. The breeding dogs were in cages and our pup was brought out to meet us – a beautiful little female Maltese. Little did we know when we got her home that she suffered from a heart defect which would take her from us in less than two weeks.
When we took her to the vets (Drs Venter and Ferreira) for her shots, they diagnosed a hole in her heart, apparently quite a common defect in the breed. They were pessimistic about her survival chances but were willing, in collaboration with another Port Elizabeth vet, to pioneer an operation to correct the defect. It would cost around R8 000, money which we did not have but in an odd twist of fate, we had a Lotto win of about the amount we needed, so we decided to go ahead. During the week-end prior to the operation, the little girl suddenly took a turn for the worst and died quietly. We were heartbroken as we had bonded with her but we realized that she would probably have died under anaesthetic anyway, so we were thankful that she had not suffered.
THYLA
We were determined to add a second girl to our family so back we went to Mrs Schlesinger for another pup. This time we decided to have her checked out by our favourite vet, Dr Ferreira, before cuddling and bonding with her. She cried pitifully in the back of the car, as we drove to the vet, homesick as only a small puppy can be but we hardened our hearts until we arrived at the vet. To our delight, Dr Ferreira gave her the thumbs up and beautiful little Thyla came to live with us. From the outset it was apparent that this was a feisty dog. She was lightly built and athletic and very sure of herself. She wouldn’t hesitate to nip us if we overstepped her mark and we jokingly started calling her Veevee, short for Vivacious and Vicious. She might have been small in stature but heavens that little dog had and still has, a huge bark.
When we originally moved to Cape Town, people with big dogs moved in next door to us in the townhouse complex in which we live. Our property has an electric fence along its perimeter for our security. Thyla would go up to the wall and react to the barks coming from next door with her own huge bark, which would enrage the neighbours to the point where they would do their level best to scale the wall. On one such occasion, one of the dogs must have touched the electric fence and yelped in pain and surprise. That was the end of their attempts to tangle with Thyla. We figure the dogs thought that Thyla had inflicted their pain – “with THAT bark and THAT kick, she must be huge! Time to stay away from that wall…”
Even now, nearly 17 years on, she still has a bark which makes sensitive ears like mine ring. Yes, that pup has reached the respectable tally of 17 years and while a little stiff after rising from a nap, still gets around like a teenager. We sometimes call her Captain now because she’s in charge of our perimeter security. She really acts like a soldier – scorns comfy blankets on her bed, which she insists on “making” herself and you may as well forget about having a cuddle with her. She will however accept a scratch from me around her neck and head and along her back.
She was a brave little soldier and was quite ready to take on dogs much bigger than she was but one thing she greatly feared was thunder. Port Elizabeth had some violent thunderstorms in the time we lived there, some in the middle of the night and I would wake up with Thyla, hiding behind my head on the pillow or crawling down under the blankets, burrowing down to safety. She would shiver so violently that MY teeth would chatter. The problem has been pretty much solved now as she has become quite deaf and anyway, thunderstorms are not much of a feature of Cape weather.
Sonja’s sister Pam has never unduly fussed or petted Thyla yet she has always adored Pam. Even when Pam had not been to see us in many months, she would always make a huge fuss over her. We have never been able to figure out what it is about Pam that she likes so much. Even now when she sees Pam on a weekly basis, she gives her an effusive welcome. One can speculate about what makes Pam attractive to Thyla – who knows, perhaps to a dog, she smells like tong-tong or something!
THANZI
Each and every animal and bird that we’ve ever had has been special and much loved but there was just something extra special about Thanzi, which made her unique. A few weeks after collecting Thyla from Mrs Schlesinger, Sonja phoned the farm to report her progress. The phone was answered by Mrs Schlesinger’s daughter, who told us that the old lady had had a stroke and would not be returning to the smallholding. The daughter was there, with the help of the SPCA, to dispose of all the dogs and puppies and find them homes. She revealed that they had found homes for all the pups bar one sickly little runt which they were probably going to have to euthanize. Sonja was horrified and without hesitation, said that she would save the wee thing. Trouble was, we already had two dogs and getting permission in our townhouse complex for a third dog was unlikely. I was a Trustee at the time and Sonja rushed round to the other Trustees to lobby for the acceptance of a third dog in the Lyle household. Sonja was most persuasive and made solemn promises to sternly discipline the dogs so as not to be a nuisance.
Authority granted, I took my triumphant wife out to the smallholding once more, to collect that filthy dirty, mewling little bundle which she was determined to rescue. Once again we turned in at our vets before taking Thanzi home and Dr Ferreira reported no heart problems but he told Sonja months later that he had had his doubts about whether the pup would make adulthood, because she really was quite a sickly little thing. Sonja wasn’t to know that so she set about giving the pup all the loving care it was possible for her to absorb. She was brown when we first got her but after a bath, we discovered she was as white as the other two but extremely filthy. She was an odd-looking pup with eyes wide apart; so much so that she reminded me of a frog and what is more, she made a noise like a bluebottle fly buzzing inside a window. I whimsically renamed her “Padaqui Bwomma” (Paddatjie Brommer in Afrikaans). A bit of my silly name stuck and she became “Paddy”, a name to which she would readily answer throughout her life.
That scrap grew into one of the most lovable, intelligent dogs I have ever encountered. She had the most delightful nature and would never dream of snapping at one the way sister Thyla would. All Maltese are bright dogs but Paddy was a thinking girl. She soon got to know and love tong-tong as much as her sister did and identified me as the source of such treats. Sonja had a little wooden box full of the stuffed toys with which the dogs had played when they were pups and many had names. Paddy would sometimes be lying sleeping on Sonja’s bed, when she would have a little “snack attack”. She would then root around in the toybox, select a toy and trot off to my study with it. If I failed to notice her sitting next to my chair with a mouthful of toy, she would drop the toy and resort to “talking”. It was obvious that she wanted to “trade” her precious toy for some tong-tong and was prepared to negotiate with me about it. We’d have long conversations during which it really seemed as if that girl was trying to tell me something and was becoming exasperated because I couldn’t seem to twig. If that seems unlikely, we actually have video footage of some of those negotiations. Sometimes, when Sonja found her rooting in the toybox, she’d say, “Daddy likes Phydeaux. Take Phydeaux to him”. She would unerringly pick Phydeaux, a small stuffed dog, out of the jumble and cart him off to barter with me.
Paddy’s poor start in life impacted on her health throughout her days. The vet discovered that she had glaucoma and for the rest of her time with us, she had to have most expensive drops in her eyes. She had all sorts of medical problems over the years but always pulled through without too much trouble. She had turned twelve when it became obvious to us that she was very ill and once again we were given the news that old beloved little girl had cancer. After agonizing about it for a few weeks, we decided to let her go and Sonja took her in to Dr Ferreira for the last time
THAMI
Thami was another bit of heartbreak for us. After Paddy passed away, we wanted another Maltese but discovered to our dismay that quite suddenly, there were no breeders specializing in the breed. There was a time when they were common as dirt and backyard breeders abounded, yet nowhere could we find a pup. Eventually we traced a breeder near Graaff Reinet who supplied us with a gorgeous pup. She seemed healthy enough but as days went by, it became apparent that there was something amiss with her. She was not able to walk properly and was not improving. Rather than go through the heartbreak of euthanasia yet again, we contacted the breeder who came and retrieved the pup and returned our money. They were very reasonable about the transaction and took the doggie back to their own vet for further assessment. We did not follow her progress after that.
THINA
I was all for calling this little charmer Scooty because scooting around like a flash is something she used to do whenever she could. Sonja however preferred Thina and apparently the girl preferred the name too as she would not respond to Scooty or Scoots, no matter how hard I tried.
Debbie found a Maltese breeder on a farm near Willowmore and without any further ado arrangements were made for a friend of the breeder to bring the pup with him, when he came to Port Elizabeth. Sonja was so excited about the pup that she went out and sat at the gate and waited for the truck to arrive. Tina was everything we’d hoped for and then some. Sonja had a portable baby cot in which she had prepared a “nursery” for the new child and Thina was soon installed in what we thought would be comfy playpen for her. But that little miss had her own ideas. She was having none of this “cot” nonsense and straight away she was clambering over and out of the cot. Sonja hastily installed a dog basket next to her bed for the pup but she wasn’t having any of that either. The other two dogs slept on mother’s bed and Thina wanted to do the same, so she clawed and clambered her way onto the bed and at last was where SHE wanted to be. From the word go, it was clear that here was a dog who didn’t follow orders – she preferred to give them!
As she grew it became apparent to us that Thina didn’t fit the conventional mould of a Maltese. Her fine fur was different to a Maltese’s curly hair and the shape of her face and muzzle were different. After a bit of research, we concluded that she had Bichon Frise blood in her and this was confirmed by our vets. I mentioned this to the breeders in a message to share her progress with them and I never heard from them again! I suppose they preferred to believe their Maltese bloodline was pure. Something else which points to Bichon blood is the difficulty which we had and still have, with her potty training. She tends to go anywhere at short notice and sometimes, just after she has been out. The literature reveals that the breed has a small bladder so I guess she has an excuse.
The girl’s intelligence is really quite astounding. She has learned an amazing number of words in English and I talk to her as I would to a small child. While her vocabulary has the usual "car, tong-tong, shopping" etc words in it, she understands things like, “Joyce (the maid) is coming. Look out for her” or “The dustbin truck is coming. Tell Mommy when you hear it”. A trick which she taught herself, is to “walk” me. I walk extremely slowly with my crutches and when she feels like impressing me, she stations herself behind my left leg and walks along with me. She’ll take exactly four steps and halt, four steps and halt etc so as not to overtake me and has the patience of Job when putting up with my slow pace. It is most touching to me and I invariably reward her. She also occasionally does the same when Sonja brings in her shopping from the car.
She is also the most temperamental dog ever. If we annoy her in any way and believe me that is the easiest things in the world to do, she will turn a very icy shoulder and refuse to so much as look at us. This includes mentioning it to her if she has a “dirty bottom”, which sometimes happens due to her long fur! There’s no doubt that she’s most fastidious and hates airing her personal problems in public! Sonja can usually turn the tide by telling her, after a clean-up, that she has “the cleanest little bottom in town”!
She has a phobia about flying insects like flies and bees. We don’t know if she was perhaps stung by a bee when she was a pup but just the mention of the word “FLY” is enough to make her beat a hasty retreat. She’ll even abandon her food if a fly buzzes around her head, even though she’s usually very protective of her food and bowl when Thyla is near. Poor old Thyla often gets snarled at just for walking into the room when Thina is eating yet she won’t hesitate to filch Thyla’s share when the old girl is slow in picking up a treat.
She’s very keen on protecting her territory from allcomers and has a few vantage points in and around the house, from which she can watch the passing foot traffic in the street. Her favourite perch is probably my rather high bed, which overlooks the front garden and fence. She will spend ages watching for passersby and then when she spots someone, rushes off to the stoep to deliver her warning at close quarters. As Thyla is Captain of our security squad, Thina has been given the rank of Lieutenant and it’s quite amazing to see how seriously they take their self-appointed duties. Small dogs are far better at enhancing home security than big dogs – no intruder can get past those sharp noses and ears.
The amount of fur Thina produces between clips is quite astounding. Once clipped, she suddenly becomes quite a small dog but with her coat at maximum length, she looks quite intimidating. I’ve often threatened to save her clippings and have yarn spun from them, so my wife can knit a doggie fur beanie for me but Sonja does not seem very keen on the idea.
WALMER VETERINARY HOSPITAL
Several times during these canine biographies, I have mentioned the names of the veterinary practitioners from Walmer Veterinary Hospital : Doctors Kampfer, Ferreira and Venter. Technical competence is quite common amongst vets but empathy for the animals and their owners, is not as common, as we have discovered after moving from Port Elizabeth to Cape Town with our animals. Those fine people got to know out pets by name and always pulled out all the stops to ensure their good health. Their "bedside manner" to us, the owners was unforgettable. Their sympathetic handling of the euthanasia of our girls was genuine and immeasurably eased the trauma of those sad occasions. Even their cost structure was reasonable, especially when the quality of the treatment is considered. We will not forget them or their two lovely receptionists, Cathy and Maureen.
The Lyles will never forget you wonderful people.
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