The little devil who loves toes

IG: @mantoueatstoes 

Do you love dogs? Have you ever wondered what it is like to raise one?

Let me be the one to show you what it looks like. My family recently started raising a little Pomeranian last October, and it has been a crazy experience. Before Mantou came into our lives, having a dog always felt like one of those sweet ideas people talk about—extremely fun, adorable in photos, and probably chaotic in real life. You imagine fluffy fur, happy barking, little paws running across the floor, and a loyal companion who brightens up every day. What you do not fully imagine is how quickly a tiny puppy can change the mood of an entire home. 

Mantou and his first toy	Mantou’s first time sleeping in his cage

At the start, he was timid and afraid of almost everything around him. Every unfamiliar sound made him jump. In addition, he caught a cold on the very next day, causing him to be badly sick. We immediately brought him to a veterinarian and paid a huge amount for his checkup and medicine. Our hearts ached to see him cough terribly and fight to breathe. However, despite a full week of medicine and recovery, he was still coughing badly, and we soon realised that he was actually secretly spitting out the medicine after we fed it to him. We made sure to watch him ingest every last bit of his medicine over the next few days, and he soon got better after another week.

The naughty boy who kept spitting out his medicine 

One of my favorite pictures of him, he looks so indignant about being locked up

As a young puppy, he consistently needed 18+ hours of sleep every single day, so many of the photos we had taken of him when he was younger are just different angles and places of him sleeping and napping away.

Sleepy boy

Small boy follow along to see how big he grows

However, as time passed, Mantou grew into an incredibly sociable and affectionate dog. He would beam with excitement whenever he saw any of us, dashing over eagerly for attention. One of my favourite ways to play with him was tug-of-war using his toys, and he would bite down on it so stubbornly that he refused to let go. At times, his grip was so firm that I could pull him across the floor for quite a distance, making him look almost like a tiny vacuum cleaner trailing behind his toy.

https://video.wixstatic.com/video/41ffff_a07b18ed3c5e4be281e3423e63eedf94/720p/mp4/file.mp4

Mantou the vacuum cleaner

Mantou and his stubbornness to not lose	Mantou strongly advocates for no smoking

Around the house, Mantou behaved as though he were a fierce little predator stalking prey in the wild. He developed a cheeky obsession with biting almost anything he laid eyes on. Funnily enough, since he was such a tiny ball of fluff, the closest things to him whenever we stood nearby were usually our toes. Naturally, he would creep up quietly before launching himself forward in a sudden frenzy, trying to bite whatever he could get hold of. That hilarious habit was how he earned his nickname.

Mantou the ferocious little predator	Mantou mini photoshoot around the house

I think one of the best things about having a dog is being able to dress them up in so many different variations of outfits for different seasons. My family went crazy buying all kinds of toys, clothes and shoes for mantou. 

Mantou as a shark	Mantou as a lion	Mantou as Santa

Each time I came back from Raffles Hall over the weekend, I was stunned by how fast Mantou was growing. Within weeks, he seemed to have doubled in size, and over the months, he became so much bigger than the tiny puppy we first brought home. Back then, he was small enough to fit in the palm of my hands; now, I need both arms to carry the little fatty.

Mantou in comparison to his toy now	Dashing lad

One of the things Mantou loves the most is taking walks. In true Singaporean local ways, we associate taking walks with the phrase “Gai Gai”. The moment he hears those words, he would excitedly perk his ears up and bark excitedly. However, Mantou gets tired and lazy sometimes and would refuse to take another step, we end up having to carry him back. 

Boy refuses to take another step	Mantou interacting with a goldie who is much bigger than him	Tired boy yawning away on his walk

One thing is for certain: Mantou is our treasured and beloved new family member. His antics makes us laugh happily. He is always happy to play and clings to us for attention. Although he can never sit still and zooms around the place like a rocket, we love him so much. If you enjoyed this article and are interested to see more of Mantou please feel free to follow him on instagram @mantoueatstoes.

Mantou says bye bye