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The aspin dog breed is a mixed breed, which means that it has parents of different breeds. Aspins are known to be extremely kind and lovable to all people. They are native dogs to the Philippines and are often seen roaming the streets. Although, they are now becoming more of a house dog. There is nothing negative about this breed because they are very low maintenance and fun to have around.
Video from Mary Caayon
Meet Gaudencio Caayon Jr.—or as I fondly call him, Lolo Jr.—a 77- year-old man from Northern Cebu who currently cares for 18 aspins consisting of 16 adult dogs and two puppies. His affection for taking care of dogs started around 1969 to 1970.
Originally, his wife, Encarnita “Inday Nita” Caayon, had 26 dogs. Inday Nita greatly influenced him to be a dog lover and so he eventually developed a love for animals in general. During their courtship days, Lolo Jr. had a really hard time visiting Inday Nita because her house was also the home of 26 aspins, which she also considered her fur buddies as she was an only child. She was the one assigned to feed, bathe, and get their lice out by combing their fur.
When they got married, Inday Nita and Lolo Jr. decided to run a copra business. They needed dogs to guard their business and the area where they dried their copra. During that time, the dogs were not put in kennels nor were they spayed or neutered. They grew in number but the couple didn’t seem to mind. Because of that, taking care of dogs grew on him.
At present, Lolo Jr. and his eldest daughter are still taking care of dogs and just like before, these dogs were allowed to roam freely since they act as guard dogs for the family property.
Photo from Mary Caayon
Lolo Jr. has no job, but he earns money by raising farm animals and selling chicken and pigs with his brother Jose. Lolo Jr. lives with his eldest daughter. She is the one who provides for their daily needs and he also receives a monthly allowance from his other children. However, given that he had to split the money with their different daily expenses including his medications, it was not enough to provide these aspins with dog food. Which is why Lolo Jr. feeds his pet dogs with leftover human food, but whenever he gets some extra cash, he’d buy them fish. These dogs usually fight over food as they do not want to share with their peers.
Last year, an unfortunate incident happened. Normally, when Lolo Jr. feeds the dogs, they get overly excited and try to take the food from him without hesitation and because of that, he fell and got injured. He was immediately taken to the hospital and was found to have a sprain. This was the first time he had to be hospitalized since the motorcycle accident he had in 2005.
Photo from Mary Caayon
Lolo Jr. finds happiness and loves his dogs dearly even if they are sometimes a bit aggressive and too active. He misses his children since they now live far away from him but his dogs keep him company. Whenever he leaves the house for some errands, his dogs would go and accompany him. Eventually, the dogs became tame and they ceased attacking people. They still bark aggressively, whenever there are strangers in the vicinity of the property. They also highly alert him by barking if there are trespassers or possible thieves on the farm.
Last month, Lolo Jr. lost one of his dogs due to roadkill. His dog, Pfizer, ran after him when he crossed the road and got hit by a bus. He sadly said, “It’s inevitable that these things happen since they want to follow me around and they don’t notice the passing vehicles sometimes.” His dogs would sometimes get an untimely death due to roadkill since they are not placed kennels.
Lolo Jr. with Pfizer, one of his sweet aspins. Photo from Mary Caayon
One of Lolo Jr’s longest living dogs is Kim. She has been with Lolo Jr. since 2010. Due to her old age, she barely runs around now and would only get out during feeding time.
Kim at 12 years old. Photo from Mary Caayon
These dogs have helped Lolo Jr. live longer, providing him with companionship and love that cannot be easily replaced. Lolo Jr. is keeping and continuing the legacy left by his wife Inday Nita which is taking good care of aspins and loving them like his own children.
Photo from Mary Caayon
He leaves advice for those who want to keep more than ten dogs to provide them a big space in their homes or yard so they can play and run to their heart’s content because this keeps them healthy and happy. These pets should also get vaccinated to avoid getting infected with bacteria, illness, or rabies. Aspiring dog owners should be aware of the consequences if they are not responsible enough for taking care of multiple dogs, no matter how low maintenance they might seem to be.
Remember, the attitude of your pet reflects what kind of fur parent you are.
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