royal copper

King Bhumibol Adulyadej of Thailand is much beloved of his people. You can begin to understand why when you come across excerpts of his book, Biography of a Pet Dog: The Story of Tongdaeng.

Though purebred dogs are the thing to have in Thailand, Tongdaeng (the name means "copper", which is her color) is, simply, a street mutt. Possibly some Basenji, but who knows.

In the richly illustrated book, the King tells us about Tondaeng's humble origins, beauty, and intelligence. She may even have telepathy:

Apart from being clever and quick to understand, it seems that Tongdaeng has the
gift of telepathy, and can use it effectively. On many occasions, Tongdaeng's
children would run off to play far from His Majesty. As for Tongdaeng, she would
scout about in front of the King, then come back to him. On one occasion, when
the King thought that Tongdaeng's children had strayed too far away, he said
"Tongdaeng, go and fetch Tongmuan." (Tongdaeng's number three offsping)
Tongdaeng stood up and gazed out in that direction; in an instant, Tongmuan came
running back. It that had happened only once or twice, it could have been
construed as a coincidence, but it happened many times, not only with
Tongdaeng's children, but also with other dogs. Tongdaeng can use the power of
telepathy to call them back to His Majesty.

This really is a touching, lovely document. Obviously the King is possessed of great heart. Why not see Tongdaeng's qualities for yourself?