OUR DOGS
We hope you love dogs, or at least don’t mind them. We currently have 7 Bali dogs, from 11 a while ago..! We love them all. At least most of them, most of the time… It wasn’t really our choice to get dogs though, at least not completely…!
Here is the story, and the dogs.
Malu
“Malu” in Indonesian means “shy”. And that’s what she is. Very shy… She came with the plantation when we bought it.
She had a very traumatic past, was chained, and most likely often beaten. She eventually found refuge in the plantation we bought. She still had a piece of rope around her neck, buried deep into her skin… She couldn’t bark, and was incredibly skittish. She didn’t want to be touched, at all, and would always keep a So we just fed her, and accepted her presence. Slowly but sure she accepted our presence, but always kept safe distance. It took a few months before she would carefully take a treat out of our hand.
A few months later she started to slowly bark a bit, and effectively became a decent guard.
We wanted to vaccinate and sterilize her, but the problem was that she was so scared of other people that she’d hide immediately when a vet came to try to use a blow pipe to tranquilize her. We tried tranquilizing tablets, but the highest dose would not bring her down…
And then she became pregnant! At first it seemed she had a miscarriage. We didn’t mind, as we did not really want more dogs. But it turned out to be only half a miscarriage; a week later she gave birth to 2 puppies. She left them out in the bush, in the cold, in the rain. She didn’t care for them at all…
So we did. We took them in and bottle-fed them for the first few days. Until slowly but surely Malu showed more interest and eventually started to give them milk. Nothing more, nothing less. She didn’t keep them warm, she didn’t sleep with them… This is when we learnt that puppies are a lot stronger than what we were made to believe! They survived the cold and wet nights, alone in an empty drum we used as nest for them.
Malu
“Malu” in Indonesian means “shy”. And that’s what she is. Very shy… She came with the plantation when we bought it.
She had a very traumatic past, was chained, and most likely often beaten. She eventually found refuge in the plantation we bought. She still had a piece of rope around her neck, buried deep into her skin… She couldn’t bark, and was incredibly skittish. She didn’t want to be touched, at all, and would always keep a So we just fed her, and accepted her presence. Slowly but sure she accepted our presence, but always kept safe distance. It took a few months before she would carefully take a treat out of our hand.
A few months later she started to slowly bark a bit, and effectively became a decent guard.
We wanted to vaccinate and sterilize her, but the problem was that she was so scared of other people that she’d hide immediately when a vet came to try to use a blow pipe to tranquilize her. We tried tranquilizing tablets, but the highest dose would not bring her down…
And then she became pregnant! At first it seemed she had a miscarriage. We didn’t mind, as we did not really want more dogs. But it turned out to be only half a miscarriage; a week later she gave birth to 2 puppies. She left them out in the bush, in the cold, in the rain. She didn’t care for them at all…
So we did. We took them in and bottle-fed them for the first few days. Until slowly but surely Malu showed more interest and eventually started to give them milk. Nothing more, nothing less. She didn’t keep them warm, she didn’t sleep with them… This is when we learnt that puppies are a lot stronger than what we were made to believe! They survived the cold and wet nights, alone in an empty drum we used as nest for them.
Tangi
“Tangi” is the local name of one of the 2 large trees we have right in front of our home.
Tangi is now leader of the pack. He was the smaller of the two, and the underdog. But it was obvious a matter of time that he’d put his brother to submission.
He’s a proud dog and excellent guardian of the plantation and us. He’s also an excellent hunter. Sometimes unfortunate, as he once in a while likes to go out to hunt down chickens in neighboring plantations…
Tangi
“Tangi” is the local name of one of the 2 large trees we have right in front of our home.
Tangi is now leader of the pack. He was the smaller of the two, and the underdog. But it was obvious a matter of time that he’d put his brother to submission.
He’s a proud dog and excellent guardian of the plantation and us. He’s also an excellent hunter. Sometimes unfortunate, as he once in a while likes to go out to hunt down chickens in neighboring plantations…
Wani
“Wani” is the local name of the other of the 2 large trees we have here.
Wani is the sweetest of all, and often also most funny one. His ever sad face makes us smile. He loves to play with his younger brothers and adopted sister and really looks after them in an adorable sweet manner.
Althoug he loves to play fight with Tangi he is a bit lazy and a lack of exercise made him rather chubby. But that makes him look even sweeter!
Wani
“Wani” is the local name of the other of the 2 large trees we have here.
Wani is the sweetest of all, and often also most funny one. His ever sad face makes us smile. He loves to play with his younger brothers and adopted sister and really looks after them in an adorable sweet manner.
Althoug he loves to play fight with Tangi he is a bit lazy and a lack of exercise made him rather chubby. But that makes him look even sweeter!
Pokat
“Pokat” is the local name for avocado. We have plenty of those as well.
Pokat is the underdog amongst the puppies. But he’s doing his best to change that position, his own way. He is still recovering from some weird but serious illness, which somehow affected his mouth and ability to eat. He has recovered well though and is gaining self-confidence. I suspect him eventually putting Gamal under him…
Pokat
“Pokat” is the local name for avocado. We have plenty of those as well.
Pokat is the underdog amongst the puppies. But he’s doing his best to change that position, his own way. He is still recovering from some weird but serious illness, which somehow affected his mouth and ability to eat. He has recovered well though and is gaining self-confidence. I suspect him eventually putting Gamal under him…
Boni
“Boni” is the local name of a rare fruit, which is often used in Rujak.
Boni is suffering from some kind of polio. His legs are increasingly bended, and he has difficulties walking. He can’t run, and prefers to spend his time laying around the house. A bit sad as he can’t join the pack when they go out to explore or play “outside”. He’s a lovely and most easy going dog though!
Boni
“Boni” is the local name of a rare fruit, which is often used in Rujak.
Boni is suffering from some kind of polio. His legs are increasingly bended, and he has difficulties walking. He can’t run, and prefers to spend his time laying around the house. A bit sad as he can’t join the pack when they go out to explore or play “outside”. He’s a lovely and most easy going dog though!
Vlekkie
“Vlekkie” is Dutch for “spots”. She and her sister were thrown away by her owner, in front of our plantation. I guess they knew we like dogs, and didn’t mind a few more…
Initially we left them on their own, but when her sister apparently had eaten a poisoned rat and became very sick we decided to take them in. Her sister didn’t make it…
Vlekkie is a real lady. She knows how to behave and loves cuddling. She has been well-accepted by the rest of the pack, except by Malu…
Vlekkie
“Vlekkie” is Dutch for “spots”. She and her sister were thrown away by her owner, in front of our plantation. I guess they knew we like dogs, and didn’t mind a few more…
Initially we left them on their own, but when her sister apparently had eaten a poisoned rat and became very sick we decided to take them in. Her sister didn’t make it…
Vlekkie is a real lady. She knows how to behave and loves cuddling. She has been well-accepted by the rest of the pack, except by Malu…
In Memory
Manggis
She Rests In Peace now, under her favorite Manggis tree, Mangosteen.
She was the only girl in Malu’s second litter, but a serious match for the boys. One day she slowly lost her appetite and eventually stopped eating and drinking all together. She started to avoid us and the rest of the pack, hiding in the bushes, slowly getting worse. A few days later she must have come back to our house at night, for her last breath… We found her in the morning. Very sad.
Manggis
She Rests In Peace now, under her favorite Manggis tree, Mangosteen.
She was the only girl in Malu’s second litter, but a serious match for the boys. One day she slowly lost her appetite and eventually stopped eating and drinking all together. She started to avoid us and the rest of the pack, hiding in the bushes, slowly getting worse. A few days later she must have come back to our house at night, for her last breath… We found her in the morning. Very sad.
Kopi & Coklat
Kopi & Coklat, Coffee and Cacao, were the first 2 girls thrown away by their owner, in front of our plantation. We took them in and cared for them throughout their early lives. We were not sure to keep them though, as somehow they didn’t fit into the pack. They were independent rebels, noisy, and often trouble…
Kopi and Coklat were always going their own ways, individually. They became eventually very capable of looking after themselves, even finding enough food throughout the plantation, until late at night.
Eventually we decided to set them free in the bush, hoping they would simply survive as wild dogs. We lost track of Coklat the moment we set her free, but Kopi was often seen by one of our friends. She was doing very well, and indeed very capable of looking after herself. Maybe too good… She was found dead a few months later, most likely poisoned. I guess she was too good as a chicken hunter…
Kopi & Coklat
Kopi & Coklat, Coffee and Cacao, were the first 2 girls thrown away by their owner, in front of our plantation. We took them in and cared for them throughout their early lives. We were not sure to keep them though, as somehow they didn’t fit into the pack. They were independent rebels, noisy, and often trouble…
Kopi and Coklat were always going their own ways, individually. They became eventually very capable of looking after themselves, even finding enough food throughout the plantation, until late at night.
Eventually we decided to set them free in the bush, hoping they would simply survive as wild dogs. We lost track of Coklat the moment we set her free, but Kopi was often seen by one of our friends. She was doing very well, and indeed very capable of looking after herself. Maybe too good… She was found dead a few months later, most likely poisoned. I guess she was too good as a chicken hunter…
Gamal
“Gamal” is the local name of a tree often used as shade tree for coffee and other crops. We have plenty of them!
Gamal was the dominant male of the puppies. He was usually going his own way, and was relative quiet and easy going. Except when he reinforced his dominance over his brothers…
Gamal was a brave puppy, perhaps too brave… He died of poisoning. We want to believe it was a dead (poisoned) rat he ate, and not a poisoned bait by one of the farmers…
Gamal
“Gamal” is the local name of a tree often used as shade tree for coffee and other crops. We have plenty of them!
Gamal was the dominant male of the puppies. He was usually going his own way, and was relative quiet and easy going. Except when he reinforced his dominance over his brothers…
Gamal was a brave puppy, perhaps too brave… He died of poisoning. We want to believe it was a dead (poisoned) rat he ate, and not a poisoned bait by one of the farmers…