HINENGGEN CHAMORRO : DOGS AND OCTOPUS

 

MÅTGAN SIEMPRE I PILU-ÑA I GA'LÅGO YANGGEN CHUMOCHO GÅMSON

If a dog eats octopus, its hair will fall off.

I've heard this al my life.

But is it true?

According to many websites, run by veterinarians or canine experts, dogs can eat cooked octopus in moderate amounts now and then with no risk to their health. Eating raw octopus or octopus in large amounts and with frequency could be hazardous to dogs (germs, worms, mercury and many other factors involved).

As for the dog's hair falling off, only one internet source that I came across treats the question and the vet's answer is "no." It won't happen.

Maybe it's just a Guam/Marianas thing. 

If someone has a personal experience seeing a dog eat octopus and lose its hair, please share the story in the comments.

Still, don't feed your dog octopus. If you do, there will be less kelaguen gåmson for humans.

True or not about the dog losing its hair, I decided to write a little poem about it :

Gåmson senan-måme, pues in yite' nai i sepbla;

Kinanno' palo ni ga'lågo yan palo ni kulepbla.

Lao dumåkngas i ga'lågo, patås-ña yan ilu-ña,

sa' an ha kånno' nai i gamson, siempre måtgan i pilu-ña.

Octopus was our dinner, then we threw out the leftovers;

some was eaten by the dog, and some by the snake.

But the dog became bald, his paws and his head,

because when he eats the octopus, his hair will surely fall.

"But how do you say it, Påle? How do you say it?"

Here's the audio, complete with sing-song intonation :

NOTE

PODDONG is the Chamorro word for "fall" or "drop" and can be applied to just about any fall.

MÅTGAN means more like "falling off," like when a fruit falls off a tree when ripe, or the handle of a suitcase when it's old. So, when something is attached to something else and falls off, måtgan is the better word to use, and a dog's hair is attached to its body. But when the entire dog falls into a pit, then poddong is the word.