Our Dog Sylvia...or Suevee..or Soviet.

Other aliases include: Sylvee-pops, Saliva, and The Water Bottle Dog. but more on that later..

A couple of months into our marriage I was begging Ellison for a dog. Growing up in Texas, I always enjoyed canine companionship. We always had a dog..there was Cole, Sunny, Sadie, Cookie..etc. But I thought a dog would be a perfect addition to our little two person family. Now we had been warned. Our dear friends, The Bells once had a dog in HK and they would tell of their tragic stories of dog ownership and how the dog eventually had three legs instead of four. Nevertheless,we continued to search for weeks for what I thought would be the "prefect" dog. I wanted a small dog. One that didn't shed, didn't bark, didn't chew on anything, and didn't pee in the house..

Finally we decided to adopt and we made our way to Wan Chai SPCA. We played with a couple of dogs and then we saw "Eva"..a little tan mongrel about three months. We asked to play with her in a pin and she completely ignored us the entire time. She was completely opposite of what we were going for, but somehow Ellison convinced me she was the one. (I kind of thought so too, but I'll never admit it to him..) We brought her home a couple of days later. We gave her the name Sylvia, after the last comedy production I was in at Chapel Hill about a taking dog who came between husband and wife. I don't know what it is about the name Sylvia, but Chinese people CAN NOT pronounce it properly. Sylvia became best friends with our guard lady downstairs at our old apartment and everyday you'd hear "HEY SUEVEE!!" While moving to our new place, the guard lady teared up when saying goodbye to Sylvia. I was a bit sad too. She eventually had to wear the cone of shame for two weeks...Luckily I missed out on that one while I was away in the US. Our new place isn't so dog friendly. Our first week there a lady complained everyday about our dog (even though she was on a leash.) She claimed "My son is scared of dogs!!" One day she started yelling at Ellison because Sylvia didn't have a muzzle on. It's a bit ridiculous. For the most part, Chinese people tend to completely avoid dogs, often walking all the way around to avoid coming close. Having a dog in Hong Kong is very difficult. They aren't allowed in any parks unless it's stated as a "dog park" (very few)..they are only allowed to ride in taxis and you have to scoop up their poo every time you walk them! :/
But in the end, did I get the "perfect dog" I was looking for? NO!...she's not small, She sheds a bit, and chewed a couple of things as most dogs do, but the worse thing of all..she has an excitement pee problem. She's gotten better, but every time she would get excited PISS everywhere! I can't keep any rugs in the house in case she has an accident. We've done our research and she honestly can not help it, but they say that puppies tend to out grow it. We'll see!! But other than that..she's a great addition. She loves a cuddle, she NEVER barks, eats well, plays well...she's really a great dog. Over the past couple of weeks she's become pretty popular up and down our road, because after she goes to the bathroom she gets to carry her water bottle back up the the flat. Ellison took her for a summer haircut a couple of weeks ago and she came back looking like a Chiwahwah on steroids. Yesterday, Ellison had a couple of the youth boys over at our house for a bible study. One of the boys, Ho Ching, could not pronounce Sylvia's name either.. he kept yelling "Soviet, SIT! SIT, SIT SOVIET!" But she's been really great and we're definitely looking forward to more wonderful moments with Sylvia, Suevee, Soviet! :)