Goodbye Tommy

Parental advisory: this article contains images and texts displaying violence and blood. Only proceed if you are prepared to face crude reality.
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Tommy has probably been the sweetest dog on earth for us. This is the day when we picked him up from Kawuku Road in February 2009:


Quickly, hew grew up and became a big, active and handsome dog, almost everybody's favorite. He enjoyed running around the compound, chasing the other two dogs, and jumping at people, licking and chewing their feet. Nothing spectacular for a young dog. So we decided to spend some hours of training on him. A dog trainer got him to listen to SIT, to go OUT, to STOP, to DROP whatever he has in his mouth and to stay more or less at one's HEEL. We even took him for a walk outside from time to time.


However, he's always had a mind of his own. I was the first to discover this, when I tried to teach him that I'm the one to give him his food and I'm also the one to take it away from him. Even if it is juicy bones and meat. He did not quite agree with me and growled stubbornly at me while I grabbed him firmly at his neck. We stood there like this for a while - he was waiting for me to release his neck and I was waiting for him to release the bone, repeating loudly "Tommy DROP!" After a minute or two of power struggle he tried to take over by snapping at my other hand - and got my thumb! Ahhhh... Bleeding and howling of pain and anger I snatched him high up and he found himself flying two meters high up and through the air - not only to his own but also to my family's shock! But I guess that taught him a lesson because since then I was his undisputed lead-dog.

A few months later, however, he started to growl at kids that came to visit Leona or Adrian. Some of the kids had an almost native fear of dogs. He found pleasure in testing this out. He came close to them and growled at them, face to face. Did they show any signs of fear or did they step back or turn around to run away, he chased them until they found shelter with us or the house. "Well", we said, "he's just playing..." And in fact those kids who did not fear him, he did not chase. But then, there was one particular friend of Leona and she once panicked in his presence, exciting him all on edge and he bit her in the leg - but not seriously. Just one tooth entered her upper leg and it wasn't even half a centimeter. A plaster was enough to ease Leona's friend and soon she smiled again.


Then, we sometimes put him on the chain when kids came to visit us. Of course he did not really appreciate our care so one day he snapped at Fred, our guard, who was about to put him on the chain. That's enough now! Hew was due to be castrated anyway - so two weeks ago we had the veterinarian come and remove his testicles. That usually calms male dogs down a bit. (By the way, the funny white collar's purpose is to inhibit the dog for a few days to lick and bite his fresh wound and pull on the stitching.)


But unfortunately this did not have the desired impact. Only a few days later - we don't know exactly how it happened - he bit our guard's little daughter (3 years) who also lives on our compound. This was not just a simple bite with two teeth entering straight, no, he was trying to rip his victim as if he was trying to hunt her down. A terrible flesh wound with lots of blood resulted and Mirella only took a hasty picture with her mobile phone before she dressed the wound and rushed to the clinic to be able to show the image to the doctor without necessarily opening the wound dressing again...


By now the little girl is fine again. A terrible accident though. Since then, Tommy was mostly on the chain. We felt, it was maybe also because his castration wound was fresh and itching a lot, making him very nervous and aggressive.

However, again a few days later, another friend of Leona came to visit her and Tommy kept circulating around him - like sharks do in water when they examine their prey. Luckily, Mirella noticed what was going on and came running while yelling and telling Tommy off. She grabbed Leona's friend but Tommy was too determined: He bit the poor boy in the leg while Mirella was lifting him up - not as vicious as before, but again a badly bleeding flesh wound. Terrible. Everybody was in shock.

That was it. From then on, Tommy was on the chain 24/7. No more excuses. I would have taken him straight to the only existing animal shelter in Kampala or have him euthanised. Sorry to all animal rights activists - but I don't want a dog on my compound who could be on my or any other kid's throat the next moment. But Mirella had the bright idea of advertising him and finding him a new family - without kids:

10-months old guard dog
to give away!

We have to give away our 10 months old male guard dog. He has been with us since the age of 3 weeks but unfortunately he doesn’t get along well with children.

If you don’t have children, he could make a very good guard and family dog for you!

He is very active, likes playing and running around. He is used to stay and sleep outside the house. During the night, he is very attentive and barks if he hears some sounds around the gate.

He has been:
- vaccinated
- sterilised
- trained by a dog trainer

For further information please call 0779-450074

...and so we parted. Last Saturday we had a nice Ugandan family on the phone who expressed their interest. Their almost adult son wanted a pet and the family had a big compound just outside Kampala. We took him there, briefed them on what to do and what not to do and said bye-bye to Tommy. With a little sigh of relief and little tear in one eye, because despite all he will always remain our "little and cute" Tommy...