Woof! It's Hazel.

I was wondering if a dog could have autism, but if it could, then Hazel, our beloved Golden Retriever would be a perfect example. This five-year-old, one-balled adorable dog can turn into a Greek-hydra, having the time of his life decapitating all in his sight: balls, fish nets, slippers, you name it!

We all know that munching is a habit of a puppy, so I’ve found his way of expressing himself atypical. We had a professional dog-trainer train him when he was a year old, but little fruit can be seen now as the lessons seem to vaporize as he gets older. He understands the basic command ‘sit, down, sleep and stay’ and in many cases that is what you can expect from a dog. However, as a Golden Retriever, known as “pet with brain”, he’s quite a dim-wit. Well, munching being one of the many reasons. I wonder if it has anything to do with his being a one-testicle male. ;-) duh!

As an adult dog, he's often assumed as a one-year old, mostly by looking from his not so big bone structure and his lack of mane. His behavior doesn't help either: very hyperactive – a puppy character. He'll captivate everyone around him with his innocent cute Golden Retriever face, which I couldn't agree more, but again, looks can be deceiving. In this case, I think I'm one of the few people who can relate well to John Grogan, the author of Marley and Me. Marley was a wholesome, and Hazel is too: the attention seeker, very playful, ball-blaster Golden Retriever!

Putting all his misdemeanor would be an endless list. Maybe I should narrow it to what he did in this past week:
- stealing warm bakpaos (which were supposed to be our dinner) from the dining table in stealth mode
- drinking from our new fish aeration
- munching chocolate pie left-over from the coffee table
- lurking our koi fish and presumably swallowing a small one (as we found a fish scale in his mouth)
- snitching a sausage and fish from the kitchen table
- chewing a bundle of tissue from the bathroom
- blasting a neighbor's ball
- escaping from the window to another neighbor's house
- tearing two door mats to pieces

- scratching our livingroom floor with his gigantic paw nails (as a result of trying to dig a bone underneath, perhaps?)

As we live in a cluster-type neighborhood and so it's without a gate, we usually have him tied to a 40-kg block of cement in our garden. I'd love to see him unleashed at all time but unfortunately Hazel's wayward, fun-loving attitude made it impossible. He's easily distracted and will dash out of sight once he sees something interesting (that includes leaf falling from a neighbor's garden, cat passing or kid running). But, I really marvel at the power he possesses; he can drag the block of cement with him! There's this guy living in front of us, and he's always picking on our dog playfully, with a ball sometimes. Once Hazel chased him while being leashed, dragging the cement block to my neighbor's door for the chance of playing.

Like what Marley had done in John Grogan's life, Hazel has brought colors to our life; he's both a nuisance and blessing. He's may be a transformation of a hellish creature in a comical way, whose meal portion equals to that of five persons'. But for me and my husband, he's more than that. He's literally one of a kind son of a bitch, a happy-go-lucky furry friend who'd willingly serve himself as a living carpet and follow us whenever we're with food.

On the hindsight, the blame should not be put on him. Maybe this is the result of having lots of negligence since he was a puppy. He was originally my husband’s family’s dog and used to be put in the porch. He didn’t get many people to pet him, except my husband, who also spent limited time with him – after he got home from work. Now that he lives with us, we’ve been trying to make ‘talking to pet’ a habit, and have seen a good progress: when he comes to his senses, it’s really easy to communicate with him, though there are still times when he’s more than what we can handle. It’s frustrating for us and I know it’s also exasperating for him too, being talked in a stern way.

But then, how could you be really angry when he shows this face:

Assuming his hyperactivity is a gesture of attention seeking, I hope in the near future there’ll be time when it’s no longer impossible to put towels or food in his reach, without him trying to snatch it. Let it be soon, please..