It’s Oscar’s 11th birthday today. But wait! Someone else is waiting eagerly for cake while the birthday boy takes refuge (or umbrage) in his bed at the scary flames in his kitchen.

What a year it’s been for him! He’s witnessed all sorts of comings and goings. His people came and went and some went and never came back. And then he was in a huge scary, noisy thing for ages and he couldn’t even go out for a pee and had to do it in this funny crate. The shame of it! And then his house wasn’t his house at all. And there were new walks and smells and lots of new noises and lots of steps and some new dog friends. And it was hot. And then he was poorly for a long time and his food didn’t taste like his food anymore and he didn’t want it but now he has different food that’s much nicer and sometimes it even has little fish in it. And even though he doesn’t see much of his puppies or his dogschool pack or the humans he knew before, now there are new humans and Ms Jenevieve who takes such good care of him. And it’s different, but it’s like home. Sort of.

At one point we didn’t think our beloved boy would live long enough to come to Hong Kong with us – flatcoated retrievers are not generally very long-lived – but he did, and so it’s been our priority to do everything we can to minimise the compromises that our boys have had to deal with. It’s always struck me as really odd that so many people have expressed such surprise that we’d bring our dogs with us. Of course we’d bring them! They are our family! Were we really going to have them rehomed, farmed out to a rescue, at this (or any) time of their life just for our convenience? I could not bear the thought. That seems like the ultimate in callousness to me, and we’ve tried to do everything we can to minimise the undoubtedly huge upheaval and make sure that they are at least comfortable here. They have a lot less space and a lot less time off lead and we are no longer able to drive them out for a walk in the countryside, but they do meet up with more dog friends and people every day and they seem content enough. There are lots of dogs and children here in Discovery Bay – I like to photograph the canines for this blog – partly because this is one of the most dog-friendly places in a city that doesn’t look kindly on anyone who gets in the way.

How is Oscar doing? He’s slowed down a bit at times but underneath it all is still the archetypal slightly random flattie, the sweetest dog in history. He’s recovered from Salmonella and seems able to cope with the steep hilly treks. He’s not keen on the ferries or the sea but at least he doesn’t seem quite as anxious as he was at things that move by themselves.

Thanks to Oscar, I have discovered the wonderful emotional world of dogs and I’m so very grateful.

Happy birthday, darling boy. May you have at least a few more. xxx