Kamlette and Her Nose for Smelling Gold.

My very first pet, Kamlette, a mixed retriever, was given by my ACS boys who found her abandoned at a mangrove swamp. There was a litter of 6 puppies which the boys rescued and after giving away 3 puppies to the security guard of a nearby condominium, they brought back the remaining three puppies to school. My heart melted when I saw the puppies with their eyes shut in deep slumber, and with persuasion from my students, decided to adopt one with brown, shiny fur.

Kamlette was very intelligent. Whenever I was almost reaching my apartment, I would cough and she would immediately race to the sofa and pop her head out of the window, anxiously looking out for me! Once my eldest brother tried to cough to see whether Kamlette would appear at the window. I reminded my brother that "the sheep only hears His master's voice."

A mixed retriever, Kamlette did not like to go for her regular walks especially after the rain. She hated getting her feet wet. Once I took her and Xiaobai for a walk. To my surprise, she insisted on remaining at a palm tree with short trunks. She kept sniffing and suddenly I realised there was something shining on the patch of soil. I picked it up and it was a gold necklace with a pretty ruby pendant.

On another occasion, while walking my two dogs, Kamlette kept scratching on a piece of dirty and folded newspaper that was on the ground. I picked up the newspaper to throw into the rubbish bin nearby and lo and behold! there was a gold cross beneath the paper. I thought it was some kind of costume jewellery as it was quite big. On reaching home I showed it to my neighbour. To my surprise, she told me it could be solid gold, as it was quite heavy. I argued with her that it looked more like costume jewellery as I had never seen such a big cross. I brought it to the jeweller who verified that it was indeed real gold! The value was abaout $380/-.

Of course, friends teased me about training my dogs to smell not only money, but also gold! To save costs, I had never sent my dogs for professional training. I trained them in my own loving and gentle ways. Again, I would like to think it is the great Creator of these beautiful creatures who provided for us. My dogs had given me such great joy and learning experiences that I would always encourage everyone to love dogs and animals. If possible, find time to enjoy nature. Take time off to go to the zoo, bird park, sea world in Sigapore and other parts of the world. Subscribe to Animal Planet, National Geographic and Discovery Channels and marvel at God's great creation. Whenever I feel discouraged, I look at nature. None of the birds that sing on the trees near my apartment are underweight. They all look nicely rounded. They live for just a few years, but the Creator has taken pains to have them beautifully made.
The Creator considers man to be His highest form of creation! If He takes care of nature, He will surely take care of His most precious creation ...you and me!

Gan Chau