In loving memory of Huniu

I am very lazy when it comes to write something down.  But this past Sunday, September 6, 2009, our dog Huniu died.  There is so much on my mind; I cannot carry it around any more.  What better place to put them down then in words.

 

Talking about Huniu, I always have to start with her name.  In Chinese, Huniu (虎妞) means "Tiger Girl".  It was a name of the heroine in a famous Chinese novel my generation was grown up with (老舍先生的骆驼祥子).  We tried from time to time use the name "Tigger", but it did not really catch on; not even with our American friends.  Everyone loves the name "Huniu".   It is funny how it is pronounced in English, it sounds more like "Who Knew?".   We thought she was a bilingual dog who understood both English and Chinese.  Of course when you have some reward in your hand, like a piece of cheese, her language skill improved dramatically.

 

Huniu was born in January 23, 1998.  Her birthday is so close to my wife's birthday, many times they celebrated together.  When we got Huniu,  I just got this consulting job which requires extensive traveling.  I always joke with my friends that I got my wife two things:  Home Security System and a dog, then I leave the house.  We did not have any kids yet.  Huniu was truly our first born.  It felt like having a child as well.  When we house breaking her, I stayed up until 2:00am and my wife got up at 4:00am.   I remember one day we went out to a dinner party and coming home with dog poop all over the dog cage.   I was mad at her and I pushed her. She tumbled down few steps of stairs.  At this day, I still feel very guilty.   Lucky, the whole house breaking took only 7 days. Well, now we look back, the potty training all three children was not that bad either.   Another example is how I teach my kids swimming.  It was not easy the first time I took Huniu to the lake.  You can tell she was nervous about the water.  She was shaking, even though she was a big dog weighed 100 lbs.  I had to pull her in the water with a leash.  But once we get her started, we cannot get her to stop.  Talking about overprotective parents, we got her a yellow life jacket, even though we knew with her strength, she will not have problem swim across the small pond. She was so big, even the biggest life jacket was still too tight for her.

 

Huniu is a pedigree yellow Labrador retriever.  Her mom was yellow and her father was black.  She has this beautiful golden coat.  She is a lady for sure.  She always has this tucked tummy, long lean body and legs, which always portrays a touch of grace.  She was not a bowl of fire like other hyperactive dogs, jumping and licking. Most of the time, she would just quietly site by my side and enjoyed a scratch behind the ear or massage under the belly.   Everybody loved her, including my parents and sister who used to fear dogs.  Whenever we talk to old friends, they always remember to ask about her.   Her personality is a quiet one.  When we took her to the dog park, she would initially greet other dogs by sniffing each other's behind. But soon after, she was all by herself.  I joked with my wife: Huniu must have a quick conversation with other dogs, asking "What did you have for dinner yesterday?"  When others told her "Dog food." she just told other dogs she had fried rice and said to herself: "I am not hangout with the peasants."  And it was the end of that conversation.

 

 

Huniu flew in a commercial airliner across the country when we moved from New Jersey to Scottsdale, Arizona.  Because of her, I was given the special upgrade to the first class (2B), so I can watch her to be loaded and unloaded to the cargo bay.   She was so use to the green lawn in New Jersey, she refuse to go in the Arizona desert for the first few days.  We were so worried!  But both Huniu and I enjoyed the desert scenery.   We used to get up before the sunrise and have a run in the desert.  One time, she stopped, and I saw a coyote about 100 yards away staring at her.  They were staring at each other for a good 10 minutes, and finally, the coyote decided that Huniu is just too big for him, and walked away.  And I found myself clinching my fists so tight that my hands hurt badly.  I have never seen Huniu fight with other dogs, so I am not sure what will happen if the coyote actually charged to us.

 

During the two years in Arizona, Huniu gained quite few pounds.  When we moved back to Pennsylvania, the airline was no longer taking any pets due the extreme heat (over 110 degrees F).  We had to hire a dog transporter.  The transporter offered us to take pictures at every stop, but we were too busy with our little kids, we declined.  I am sure Huniu had seen more America than I did.

 

I had different philosophy than my wife when it comes to raise Huniu.  I want her to be free, to experience life to the fullest.  I don't like leashes, fences and rules.  I may upset few neighbors that way, but I am glad Huniu had a good time.  My dream in New Jersey was to take Huniu to hike the Raritan Canal tow path from Princeton to New Brunswick. We never did it, partly because Huniu did not share my passion for the great outdoors.  She was not born a hunting dog.  She was born a house pet.

 

Ever since we had Huniu, our live went through tremendous changes; I joined a startup, moved cross country twice, had three children, and tripled square footage of our house.  I have to say, the past 11 years was the best of my life so far.  I have to give Huniu good credit for it.  She is my lucky star.  I did not realize how many decisions we made in our life were to accommodate Huniu.  Ever wonder why all the Yang mobiles are in color beige?  Because the interior matched the color of her fur, so no one can tell there are a lot of dog hair.  For the same reason we insisted on leather seats.   Now it seems everything comes to a natural pause.  I will pause to remember her, to savor the sweet memories, and then move on with the rest of the Yang clan.