A Lifetime filled with love for dogs ...

It all started when my Nanny gave me a dog book for a present. There was a full page close-up picture of a white Toy Poodle. I wrote to my Mom who was in New York asking her to bring me home a poodle. She apparently didn't know what I was talking about and brought a remote toy dog that barked instead. My birthday was coming up and my Mom left for New York again. I saw an ad in the newspaper that said Toy Poodles. I cried every night for two weeks begging my Dad to buy me the Toy Poodle. With my mom gone and me, being the spoiled rotten brat that I was ... he gave in and my Aunt accompanied me to M.A. Reyes, Little Baguio, San Juan. There we met Mrs. Ma. Rocio de Vega. I was nine years old and BAMBI was my very first purebred dog. I still bump to Tita Chuchie at dog shows at present and almost always she will tell people around us that she had known me since I was nine. That is over 20 years ago. Both of us do remember. Bambi holds a special place in my heart.

I remember him sleeping with me. My Nanny would take him out at around 6:30 a.m. and he'll be back licking my ears and face waking me up at exactly 6:45 a.m. He would wait patiently while I dress up for school. He would dash for the car as soon as I step out the door and I would wave at him as the car would leave, he then would bark as if saying "See you later!" When school's over, I would see his head out the car window and barking. As soon as I ride the car, he would lick my face and we would play the rest of the afternoon.

Tie-dyes were in and as a kid I would experiment. I remember having mixed too much a quantity. I dipped Bambi in the pail of dye. For about 2 months, there was this pink dog running in our lawn and every now and then, passer by-s would stop and get a good look at what was running in the garden. Cars would stop. I thought it was cool so I tried all the other colors. Pink got the most attention.

Bambi is such a nice pet and playmate, being an anti-social-spoiled-rotten-only child. I was his master and even if he didn't like what I was doing, I was still his master. I would pick on his whisker one by one and he would just sit still and pretend that what I was doing didn't hurt him. There were times when he would whine but he never really complained. I wanted his whiskers off. It was much like being kissed by my Dad when he hasn't shaved. I was a kid and I wasn't allowed to play with scissors.

Bambi was also the first dog that bit me. Accidentally, I was feeding him Chicken while he was on my lap. Then there was a brown out and he thought there was still chicken in my hand. He bit my finger and so I had to get vaccinated 25 times.  What do kids know about annual vaccinations, anyway?

I only had the pleasure of being with Bambi for about two years. Somebody stole him. Of course, I cried. My Dad replaced Bambi with Bambi 1 who got stolen again and so came Bambi 2, or should I say Bamba because this time, I got a female instead.  After the third one, I decided that I wanted a Pekingese who in a way wouldn't fit in between our fence thereby, less chances of getting stolen.

Cob - O - oodles...

Poodles are so intelligent. They are probably the smartest purebred dog. They are the only dogs that do not shed. Other than having spent a lifetime living with them, we know nothing about the Poodles' Breed Standard and we don't really care to know. We simply like poodles and it will remain that way for as long as we live. They are perfect little companions and serve us well.