Cargo "Pants" - The Formosan Mountain Dog

I am writing this story a mere two and half weeks after my dearest furry friend Cargo, aka, Cargo Pants, Mr. Pants, Lover Pup, Bud Bud, Buddy, my boy… passed away on January 7th, 2022. So needless to say, writing about him is cathartic. I just painted a picture of him too. He was almost 13 years old. He came into my life on November 9th, 2010. I happened to find him by pure timing and luck. I mean, how many people rescue dogs from Taiwan and bring them to Canada? I had seen an ad in Granville Island in Vancouver on the bulletin board for another dog, the same breed, a Formosan Mountain Dog. I had never seen this kind of dog before. I quickly inquired about this dog, but it had been adopted already. But not to fear! The person I spoke to said, “Oh we have many more dogs! Please check out our website, Ocean Dog Rescue.”

So, I did, and low and behold, to my delight, was the cutest little German-Shepperd colored guy with one lop ear and the biggest, softest, brown lemur eyes you have ever seen in a dog. This was the start of a beautiful friendship, a companionship, a love affair, that would last 11 years and almost 2 months. He was a quirky dog, gentle and kind. He loved sticks and balls, but was never very good at bringing them back. He was affectionate, but not smothering. He was energetic, but loved to relax (on the couch and even on my bed when I wasn’t looking!). When I first got him, he was a tad skittish from living on the streets as a puppy. He would spook at flapping awnings, loud exhaust bangs, or truck doors rolling up. His rescuers told me that a little girl had found him and brought him to her mother to keep. They couldn’t have a dog, so they took him to a local dog groomer to see if she could help. She did; in fact, she ended up training him and got him off the street for the first year of his life. I am always so grateful to her for saving him and the enabling me to adopt him. She continued rescuing dogs in Taipei.

Cargo had been given the name “Ano” in Mandarin, which sounded a little too close to another word in English for me, so I changed it to Cargo. This was after a discussion telling my friends he was coming on the airplane, like cargo… So, the name fit. I picked him up at YVR airport. He came out in a big crate with a bunch of other dogs. He had a “thunder jacket” on for the trip. He was so excited and hungry when he first got out of the crate. I walked him around and he wouldn’t pee, he was so excited. I can laugh about that now, as this was a sign of his fickleness. He was very cat-like in a lot of ways. He settled into Canadian life and of course had to learn English. ;-)

When I first got Cargo, I had a pseudo-boyfriend, but it wasn’t so serious. The dog became, after all, my "main man." We did everything together. I would sneak him under tables, or be steadfast in finding dog-friendly establishments to enjoy patio drinks. Life was good. Simple. Easy. Free. I finally had a dog, a nice apartment in Kitsilano, a good job at the University of British Columbia teaching English and life was just fun. It was about two years after getting him, that I made a move to my own condo in East Vancouver. I sadly went through the loss of my dear grandmother Jean, but then the universe works in mysterious ways and I met my now husband Tom. So, my wonderful dog, my companion Cargo, had been with me through some of life’s greatest challenges by this point. Tom instantly fell in love with me, ahem, I mean Cargo, and well, we were off to the races! I mean beach. I have so many stories of Cargo. It’s hard to narrow them down to just one, but one strikes me as particularly humorous, so I’ll share it.

One of the first dates I ever had with Tom was at Spanish Banks beach in Vancouver. I had driven down with Cargo, and was near the dog-friendly area. Tom shows up and I wave him down. While I have my eyes on Tom for a few moments, Cargo decides to beeline it out of sight. I think he must have run off to see another dog. So, here I am, trying to be all chill and cool like a nice normal girl, meeting a guy I hardly know, and now my dog has disappeared. Well, I was panicking but trying not to visibly panic… I was yelling, Cargo! Cargo! and frantically looking around for him. If you are ever at a Vancouver beach in the summer, well, let me tell you, it is BUSY!! So many people and dogs and kids and birds and trees and just SO much going on, it was like a Where’s Waldo with my dog. What seemed like an eternity, and dear Tom was so sweet, helping me find him… we spotted him, doing what he does, sniffing another dog’s butt. Of course. I put him back on the leash and we proceeded back to our area. Phew! Relief. We hang out for a while, then decide to go for a walk out on the sand banks. Spanish banks is famous for its sand banks as they stretch for miles. They’re filled with warm tidal pools and the backdrop of the North Shore mountains is just stunning.

We go out onto the beach and Cargo is just frolicking along, tail wagging, mouth open, with his pink tongue hanging out. He’s chasing seagulls and ripping around at full speed. (Did I mention he was UBER fast?! Like a greyhound). We come to the first tidal pool and walk through it and Cargo comes barreling through the shallow water, happy as can be. What!? Wait a minute. This is the dog who NEVER goes in a puddle. He avoids water like the plague (or should I say Covid now?). We continue on to the next tidal pool, and again, he comes bounding through! At this point, I was like, who switched my dog? Who is this animal that suddenly doesn’t mind water? Ok, so we go through a few more tidal pools in this manner, and finally we meet the waves and the actual ocean. It is still very shallow for a while. Tom and I walk out in the ocean as Cargo is still frolicking around on the sand banks. I call to him and he again comes bounding into the water, but this time, we have gone up to our waists, so it gets deeper! He actually starts to swim on his own accord as I am calling him. He reaches me and it was the funniest thing ever, as I could swear he was like, what now mom?? He looked a bit panicked as I don’t think he had ever swum before!

So, I grabbed him around the body and pointed him back to shore, steering him gently with his collar so that his paws could touch the sand again. Well, he certainly shot straight out of there and took off again! But thankfully, not for long. He was shaking his furry wet body and head around excitedly enough to say, “Gee, wow, that was fun! Aren’t you proud of me Mom?”

There was only one other time that he voluntarily swam to be with me, but that is another story. I will be telling stories about this beautiful dog for years to come. Rest his soul. His presence is sorely missed, but he remains in my heart forever.

According to the Council of Agriculture, there are now over 150,000 stray dogs in Taiwan, which is a 6.45% increase over the last three years. Please adopt!

Source: https://www.taiwannews.com.tw/en/news/4280637 <January 26, 2022 >