If anyone asks me how many siblings I have in my family, I would answer that I have only one elder sister. And oh….almost forgot to mention, I also have a little brother. And that he is the favourite kid in the house.
“Oh, how old is he?”
“He’s about 7″
“Oh wow, he must be adorable!”
“Oh yes, he’s charming alright. He has soft wavy dark blonde hair and he really likes being around people.”
By this point, I’ll get really confused and puzzled looks on their faces. I am an asian you see, and having a blonde sibling is in fact very puzzling.
“Oh did I mention he’s a golden retriever….?”
Say hello to Alfie!
I just love tricking my friends sometimes…ha!
My mom brought him home a four-month old puppy in 2003. The moment I laid my eyes on him, I decided to name him after one of my favourite songs…well, Alfie. Alfie became the apple of our eyes from that day onwards. My mom and granny would actually argue with each other because they couldn’t agree whether Alfie should be fed at 3.00pm or 4.00pm. Or whether he should be fed breakfast or not *rolls eyes*! Yes he was is spoilt.
Alfie begging for food
On the other hand, Alfie has every right to be spoilt because he is the most obedient, gentle and faithful dog a family could ever have. For the last 7 years he was with us, he had never caused any trouble with the neighbours or anyone. He barked less than 5 times in his whole life! Even our Muslim neighbours adore him. He loves people and smothers every visitor in our house with warmth. Literally. Read: saliva (haha…!)
To Alfie, everyone is his friend 
He only relieves himself during his walks and refuses to do so anywhere inside our house albeit never been toilet-trained before. He will whine and pull your sleeves until you get the idea! He learnt the commands “sit” and “shake hands” in less than an hour with my sister. My sister also taught him how to climb up the stairs and he insists on going up into my his mom’s bedroom to sleep every night ever since! Mom has been referring to Alfie as her youngest son for as long I could remember…
Mom and her youngest son
Alfie is walked twice daily. Since my sister left home for work in Kuala Lumpur, and me being away for university and now in New Zealand, this is done by my granny and mom. Granny takes him in the morning while mom takes him in the evenings. In the mornings, knowing my granny has weak knees, Alfie walks really slowly by my granny, never pulling the leash and stops whenever my granny needs to rest. Whenever my mom (or sometimes myself or my sister) takes him, he is more lively and jogs along happily. His ability to recognise and put the needs of my granny above his own during the morning walks is truly amazing.
Alfie in 2010
Alfie turns 8 this year and I notice white hairs already appearing on his face the last time I saw him during Chinese New Year 2010. Mom worries everyday about the day he will be gone forever. It will be a very sad day for our family. We are very blessed to find an excellent companion and listener (yes he listens and he understands every word, I swear!) in him, my little brother Alfie boy. I miss him to bits!
Here is my favourite story about Alfie:
One day during one of his morning walks with granny, he sniffed out a litter of kittens at the corner of an abandoned house in our neighbourhood. Alfie got excited and refused to move. Granny figured he must be curious and since she was certain he won’t hurt the kittens, she let him move closer to have a look. He was staring delightfully and sniffing the kittens while wagging his tail happily when suddenly the protective cat mother appeared from nowhere, jumped in front of him and gave him a few good smacks on the face! Ever since this unfortunate incident, every time he spots a stray cat nearby during his walks, he moves a step back and keeps his distance!
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