Elbi xxx

Back in Tokyo

So, we got a dog back in July....a little French bulldog with an underbite and big ears.

We had, in fact , been eyeing him up for 3 months, since before May, that's for sure.

I used to be a cat person. Always cats, dogs never really swung it for me. I loved the brash selfishness of the feline and the need for love. They are great, they want tickles, we, as silly humans, want to give tickles.

But, one day, we walked past a local pet store here in Tokyo and suddenly things changed. For those of you who haven't yet been to Tokyo, be warned. Animals are sold in little box like areas, usually facing out onto the street so that passers by will simply have to stop and say ''kawaii!!!!!'' (cute) in a high pitched squeal.

Now, granted, these animals are adorable, I mean, a.d.o.r.a.b.l.e...but the reason? well, these poor little blighters are plucked from their mummies as early as a few weeks after they left the comfort of her womb. It's shocking, isn't it? But, what can you do? As an animal lover myself, I was, at first , outraged by this. But, if we look a little deeper, then we see the high (very high in some cases) costs for these creatures and then there is registration and then health insurance and so on, and so on....so, we hope that there is subsequently less abandonment.

Yeah, you would need to think twice before just grabbing one from the shop, as did we. Most shops are the same, just some add a little more love than others. We found a local store that we liked a lot and a dog that we like even more and started popping our heads in on a rather regular basis.

There was a French bulldog, the cutest little mutt you had ever seen, no seriously. He was awesome. His big triangular ears poked up, as his large bulbous eyes gave you that puppy stare to which so many people refer. His eyes pleaded with us 'take me, take me' each time we went to see him. His adorable face was really scrunched up, as if he had walked head first into the wall. Around his short nose were many wrinkles, even at his young tender age of 6 months.

There was something about this fawn coloured creature that grabbed us. After the first visit to the shop, we would talk about him, refer to his big ears, his little body, his cute stare...

We went back , again and again, trying to stagger the visits and create a bit of time in between each one. Let's not count cycling past and staring in as a visit, shall we? And then, the times we actually went in to see the dog were staggered.

He was so cute and clearly crazy. Even at this early stage he was entertaining us and chasing his tail in a circle and then , simply falling over. Pure silly. We were in love.

He was a little dog,with big ears and the name stuck. Little Big.L.B....or soon to become Elbi, for the sake of having a 'real' name.

He became ours. Not quite just like that, but after much deliberation. So much in fact that

we went to the shop to say 'no' so many times and couldn't quite bring ourselves to do it.

Even when we did eventually get him, we did get him, we took him back the next day!!

You see, he woke us up at 5am, (not the main problem, he is a pup after all) but we had a visitor with

us and I felt that I should take the day off to spend time with Elbi, for had he been left alone, he would have

gone stir crazy, barking and yelping etc.

After spending a great, but exhausting day with him, we met up with papa and then decided that it was

best to return him.

If the neighbours had complained, then we could be kicked out....

I cried as I tried to hand him over. He resisted, knowing full well what was happening, poor beggar.

We were sad for the next 24 hours....feeling guilty that we had dangled the carrot of fun that was us at Kubo Biru (home)

and then making him go back.

But on 2nd July, when Ian & I , with Tom, went to get our wedding certificate and finalise our wedding (YAY!)

I was still worried about Elbi, and after we got our certificates, I hopped on my bicycle and went to our

agency to see if they would let us have the pup.

My fingers were crossed tight and I must have looked really anxious - if they were to say no, that would be it,

we would have to drop it, all our deliberation and desire to have him - but when they said a simple 'OK!', I was

ecstatic!!!!!

We went straight away to get the little mutt and haven't looked back since.

The only annoying thing was that we had two months of holiday ahead of us in Indonesia & in the UK.

Thankfully he had a temporary home with Shane, but we were going to miss him already...bless him.

Now, on 29th August, I have been back from the UK for one (hectic) week and all is well. He is cho genki!! We love him!!! So much xxx