"Tinker!"

Tinker was the name of a black & white mongrel, that was owned by a neighbour, three houses away. Originally, the name was Tinkerbell, but it became Tinker, less of a mouthful. When he needed a bath, he was called Stinker, for apparent reason.

Tinker had the run of the whole estate where we lived, and everyone knew and loved him. He was well tolerated.

After a short while, Tinker decided to come to my house and refused to go home. Every efforts were futile in trying to get him home to his owner. When he was let off the chain, he would run to my house and went to sleep. Finally his owner decided to give him to us. Offers of compensation were refused since we were all friends and neighbours. So I became the custodian of Tinker. I was still a schoolboy at that time, and Tinker became the family pet.

Tinker had a nose for trouble. He would fight with every dog in the neighbourhood and get himself into many scrapes. Sometimes human beings become involved and I would have to step in to rescue Tinker. Several times, he would injure himself so badly that I had to send him to the veterinary. In the evening, I would go with my father and sister to visit him and bring him his favourite food. He would howl and cry and beg to be taken home. Driving away from the veterinary, I could hear him barking and howling away pitifully.

Tinker was also the 'Casanova' of the dog community in the neighbourhood. Sometimes he would stay away for the night and we knew that there was a bitch on heat nearby.

Being the family pet, Tinker showed his protective nature for my mother. One day, a young girl came to the house to sell eggs. After my mother paid her, the young girl picked up her bags to leave. Thinking that the girl had taken something from the house, Tinker lunged and snapped at the girl, frightening the girl, who broke down in tears. This created one heck of a commotion with the girl's family coming to claim compensation. We finally paid her some money and apologised to them.

When I placed a piece of 5 cents cake and a piece of 20 cents cake in front of Tinker, he would gobble up the 20 cents cake and left the 5 cents cake uneaten. This story appeared in the Straits Times children's page, when I wrote to the Wise Owl Club of which I was a member.

Sometime later, my father bought a Pekingese for my sister for $50. When we brought the new dog home, Tinker was absolutely irritated and intolerant of the Pekingese. We decided to call the Pekingese 'June' as it was the month of June, and it was a bitch. There were a lot of growling and snarling between the two jealous dogs.

June was a rather cantankerous and spoilt dog and snapped at everyone. Unlike Tinker, who was more friendly, June distanced herself from me for most of the time. She used to drive Tinker up the wall every time she came on heat, by snapping and hiding under the furniture. Sometimes in the middle of the night, I had to go downstairs to tick off Tinker for his amorous behaviour and separate the two. A very frustrated Tinker went back to sleep under the settee.

When I joined the Air Force and had to leave for the UK, Tinker became a problem. He refused to eat when the servant gave him his food. He ate when I gave the bowl to him. So I spent many days weaning him from me and finally he accepted food from the servant. They finally got along well. My father and sister kept me updated on Tinker by mail.

After all these years, Tinker became old and feeble. He would spend most days sleeping under the settee.

One day, I went home on leave. I noticed Tinker had goitre and was in very bad shape. He would wag his tail to greet me but I knew he was in pain. He looked bad and struggled to move.

My father spoke to me and we decided to do something to end the misery for Tinker. He called the veterinary and a vehicle was sent to collect Tinker. I carried Tinker, who had refused to come out at first, and prepared him for his final jouney. The handler insisted I muzzle Tinker to prevent him from biting. I knew that Tinker would not have the strength or will to do that, but had no choice. So I tied a white cloth round his mouth and carried him into the vehicle. Tinker sensed that it was the end as I looked into his sad eyes. I gave him a final pat on his head and stood watching the Land Rover as it drove off. Tinker looked over the tail board with his sad eyes until the vehicle turned out of sight. My tears fell for Tinker and as I think back to that day, my eyes still well up for Tinker.

Till then....