And they call it puppy love

By Yang Wanli (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-10-19 09:00

A small black stray dog is now enjoying the love of a happy family and yesterday showed off its gratitude.

In the Rich Dog, Poor Dog competition held at Green T. House yesterday in central Beijing, little "Xian Dai" (Modern) successfully finished all the training courses.

Although the little pooch was nervous, her excellent performance proved that poor dogs were just as good as rich dogs.

"She is perfect!" said Joanne Aronott, who adopted Xian Dai three years ago.

Aronott is a teacher at an international school in Beijing and also works for a big pet shelter.

She said Xian Dai was found by a student and sent to the shelter.

"She is timid, but so pretty. She is the smallest one in the shelter. She never shouted or did anything to upset anyone."

At the international school in which Aronott worked, students, many of who are foreigners, enjoyed going to the shelter help out.

Aronott said in China, many people take in dogs or cats as pets. And she said in Canada and many western countries, people treat dogs like family members.

"In my family, when we are planning to do something, we will consider about our dogs too," she said.

In some cases, how to get along with pets has become a big problem which is one of the reasons that some pet dogs and cats been discarded.

American Michelle Bruce, the organizer of the competition, said in the United States, people are more experienced in dog training.

"We have a longer history of having pets, and gradually found there were many people who can't train their dogs. It is a problem in China, and it is also a problem everywhere."

"Just train them like a child," said Theo Vavas, vice-president of a kennel club, who also raised dog for many years.

In the competition, many dogs that had never received training before were learning jumping and other skills with their kids' friends.

Wan Yilin, a seven-year-old girl who is happy to play with dogs, also raises two dogs and one was adopted from the street. She calls him Black.

"My father found it on the street. It was as small as two of my palms. He is so pretty. I love dogs. I don't know why people discarded him," she said.

According to Bruce, pet care is gradually improving in China.

"It warms my heart when I see downtown people treat the dogs like their second child. It is really touching," she said.

Government associations like the Association of Small Animal Protection in Beijing provide several services including pet adoption, pet care and vaccination.

However, many NGOs and private pet-lovers seemed to be more active in animal welfare.

Zhang Luping, 57, is famous for mothering more than 600 stray dogs and cats in Changping district of Beijing.

She devotes everything to these animals and built the first pet refuge in which pets are freed from cages and play outside. Zhang's pet refuge attracts more than 1,000 volunteers.