I need protection!

Remember my post about me giving lottery numbers to HC and friends? Well, HC has been buying the number (9569) since then. And guess what, yesterday (Sunday) the number 9659 came out instead! What is worse is that, she also accidentally bought 9659 on Saturday only!!!!

Oh dear... I am so sure HC will 'kok' my head when she comes home later tonight...
How? How?


Suddenly, I remembered seeing this poster recently













That gives me an idea! Maybe I can get a helmet to protect my head tonight!



Something like this will go nicely...















Anyone has one to lend me??

Tug of war

I love to play tug of war.

When Jack is in a good mood, he will play with me















Playing with Tommy















arrrghhh.... whose stronger?















Scuba joining in the fun

Hey.... not fair! Two against one!!!<

Maybe I can get a better grip here

I gave up. Can't fight with the two bigger dogs.

Scuba cheating... he is using his paws

The Aftermath

The poor tug toy was split into three sections.

The other culprit escaped sentence by pretending he need to pee urgently.

Begging

Herbie posted about his talent in begging. Unfortunately, I am unable to follow his recommended steps as I am way too short to put my head on humans' lap. But I do get my way by resting my two front paws on humans. It worked very well for weak willed humans like Auntie R. In fact, Auntie R is so kind that sometimes she will take a chicken wing on the pretext of eating, when she is actually plotting to feed the dogs secretly. I loved her especially when it comes to dinner time. Alas, no begging antics ever work for my HC. She scolds when she caught us begging. The rest of the humans don't really want to feed us cos my HC doesn't like it. She will use the excuse that Jack is allergic to some food. But I am NOT!!! Not fair right??

Besides putting our front paws on humans' lap during dinner time, Jack and I also tend to guard the kitchen at Auntie V's house. Whenever we see the kitchen door ajar, we will rush in, hoping to find some food, any food... we don't mind even if it belongs to the cats.

Jack guarding the kitchen door.














Here's a picture of me lying near to the kitchen door. Actually, my nose was touching the door, but RAFV came and disturbed me. Can you see his paws?















However, we only dare to beg at Auntie V's place. At home, we cannot even stare at HC if she is eating. So unfair, we cannot even stare!!

This is a pic of me, lying on my bed feeling dejected after I was scolded by HC for staring when she is eating.

Good news for Beer Drinkers!

Dogs living in US are really fortunate! Happy Tail Ale are beer brewed just for dogs. I am drooling as I read... hmmm... I wonder if I can persuade HC to get it shipped to Singapore?

Well, actually I have not really tasted 'human' beer. But, I have tried white wine before and I loved it. In fact, HC got to physically stopped me from drinking more. It was a human party, and as a joke, HC's friend poured some wine on our drinking bowl. Jack and a few of my canine friends turned their nose away from the wine, but not me. In fact, I am as much of a "garbage collector" as Herbie is.

Anyone going to US? Can help me to get two cartons back????? please........

Limping Duo

HC has been limping for a week now after her accident on her step machine. Our old man, Jack decided to follow suit yesterday evening. He started limping on the right front leg, which I highly suspect is a ploy to get HC to sayang him. But his ploy backfired this time...

A while back, HC had some vouchers which I won in a photo competition in Straits Times. There was absolutely nothing in the petshop worth buying and she had no choice but to get this Solid Gold's Aloe-Bi Liniment as a last resort. It contains Yucca, Aloe Vera, Biotin, Comfrey & Jojoba, and it said that it is good to soothe painful joints from arthritis, hip dysplasia and soft tissue swellings.

Anyways, HC applied the ointment on Jack, which he absolutely detests. In addition, he was made to swallow 1/2 tablet of painkillers. hehehehe....

By this morning, Jack is walking very well. Wonder if the ointment & painkillers really works or yesterday's limping was just a ploy for attention?

An (almost romantic) encounter

We dogs have quite a boring life. We don't get to go out as often as humans cos there are alot of places that don't allow dogs. But I am lucky cos HC will tell me stories of her encounters. Here's what happened to her today..

She was queueing to pay in a busy supermarket, when the person in front of her whispered to the cashier auntie. The auntie said quite loudly, "ha? don't want so many apples? You got not enough cash? No nets meh? So difficult for me to void transaction, you know? I got to explain to supervisor... " and off she goes grumbling away. The person in front of HC was really embarassed and kept apologising. HC felt bad, and offered to pay for the shortage.

Doesn't this sound like a scene from a romantic movie?

Well, I said it was ALMOST a romantic encounter because the person in front of HC is a girl! Not a handsome, tall, rich (but happened to have no cash on that day for some silly reason) man. And the place is a local supermarket in the heartland, not a upmarket one like Jason's.

Damn...... HC is really unlucky recently. First, she sprained her ankle, then her car got knocked for no reason, and now her supermarket encounter is not like those we saw on movies.

I wanted to tell HC that it is ok... and that I thought I saw a faint halo above her head today.... hehehehe...

What a Sunday!

What an eventful day ....
It started off on a good note, when all of us slept till 12 noon. Had a late breakfast, and more snoozing until in the afternoon when Auntie V askes us over to have dim sum. Yes, we dogs get to eat too.... char siew bao (just the bao, no char siew though).
After the sumptous dim sum, we went over to The Animal Resort. At first, I thought we had to go dog training again and was not too pleased. But I was pleasantly surprised to know that HC was only there to meet a friend cos she can get some dog treats at a good deal. She spent more than a hundred dollars on them.

We bought 6 packets of roo treats, one blinker and two small tennis treat ball. So happy...















But things started going downhill after that....

While we were on the way back to the car, HC suddenly saw 3 huge dogs in the property next to Animal Resort. They saw us and started barking. HC continued to walk us back to the car, while keeping her eyes on the dogs. Then she saw one of them running towards us. She quickened her pace, at the same time fumbling with the car keys. It was made more difficult cos she was holding our leash on one hand and the other hand holding the box of treats. Luckily, she managed to open the car door with the remote. She panicked when she heard the barking coming closer. In her hurry, she threw the box of treats to the ground, and with her free hands, grabbed us and throw us into the car seat. Yhew... that was a close call! Thank god the treats are still intact.

After that we went to the park for my usual ball playing. Met Tommy there and decided to have a quick dinner. On the way home, HC was driving on the right side of the road. All of a sudden, WHAM! Our car shook and HC screamed. She quickly pulled over and went to see the damage..















There were scratches on the left front side as well as the side mirror. HC was so angry that she started scolding. In the end, she realised that one stupid car driver (A) drove out of a bus stop into left lane without looking out for oncoming traffic. Another stupid car driver (B) in a panic to avoid collison swerved to our lane. Both of them are to blame! A for driving out without looking, and B for swerving to our lane. Damn ASSSSSSSSS..........

@#!$#!@!% stupid drivers!!!!!

Anyone won lottery yesterday?

If you had won lottery esp the number 2806 yesterday, I am gonna give you a flying kick! Because of your lucky numbers, HC and four other humans did not strike lottery! If their set of 4 numbers were picked, they would have been $45,000 richer! And because they did not win, I will not get the promised gucci collar and treats! Grrrrrrr.....

What happen is this - last Sat, the humans were having dinner at Scuba's house. I saw Scuba's treat ball lying around and started playing with it cos it still have 2-3 pieces of lamb trails inside.
The humans were all saying how good I am with the treat ball. After a while, one of the human had a bright idea! They decided to fold tiny pieces of paper written with numbers ranging from 0 to 9 on it. After which, they threw the 10 folded papers and more treats inside the treat ball. Than, I started rolling the ball aggressively. Each time something rolls out, I heard screaming, "Joey... wait... don't eat the paper!". They will then read the number out and threw it back inside the ball. This continues till 4 numbers were selected. I felt like a pet mice in a ball, the only difference is I am OUTSIDE the ball.

The funny thing is that at the end of the session, only 6 papers were found inside the treat ball. There were supposed to be 10! The humans started to look around the house but couldn't find any. HC said maybe I had eaten the balance four papers in my anxiety to eat whatever that drops out of the treat ball. Cos you see, Jack was trailing very close to me when I was rolling the ball and I was afraid he would eat the treats.

After a long while, HC suddenly said that they should also buy the numbers of the missing 4 papers. But alas, Auntie S had already threw the balance 6 papers away and they are unable to check the numbers. HC said she will monitor my poo the next few days to see if the papers (with writings intact) will show up. ... hehehe...

Anyway.. I am so sad the numbers I picked didn't showed up in the lottery. Darn........sorry guys....

Raw Food Diet

As some of you may know, we are on BARF diet for more than three years. Despite some disadvantages - such as chipped tooth, I still think it is a great diet. Why??
For one, Jack's skin condition has improved tremendously. When HC first adopted him, she had to bring him to the vet almost every month to have a steriod shot to stop him from scratching. Once, it got so bad, that he accidentally scratch his cornea, which requires an emergency surgery. His inner eyelid were in fact stitched together to allow cornea to heal (I think... can't remember the specifics cos it is so long ago). All I remember was that he was partially blind for almost two weeks. Anyways, now he no longer need steriods (steriod known to shorten life span of dogs). In fact, he hardly ever has allergic reactions. A lot of people who has known him in the past were surprised by his overall improved skin and muscle tone. His godma even said that Jack looks like a 'puppy' now.

As for me, I have no major health problems, has good skin (except for rashes which is due to the wet grass), good clean teeth (except for one tooth less.... hehe), and is still very active at almost 5 years of age. In fact, I have more energy than a lot of dogs younger than me.

Recently, HC happened to see some old friends. One of them commented that his dog - a beagle had a persistent ear infection. After BARF, the ear infection cleared up. Another one, a JRT reported better skin and more active. Except she has lost too much weight and owner is now increasing food intake to balance it.

So for those who are still on kibbles, please consider giving fresh food to your dog either raw or cooked. With kibbles, you never know what goes in the manufacturing process. And kibbles have a long shelf life.... so what do you think was added to preserve the so-called freshness?

Oops.. there goes my chance to endorse some pet food! Maybe I can endorse some toys instead? Anyone?????


I can swim faster than a HUSKY!!!! hehe




















Exercise cum good diet keeps me healthy

Post-Surgery Trauma

It had been three days since my surgery, and I am still in trauma over it! Just this morning, I thought I was feeling better, and went to find my chew toys in my toy box. When I found it, I immediately bite it hard.. and ahhhhhhh... I jumped backwards, shrieking in pain. I quickly ran back to HC and sat on her lap. She comforted me with kind words, but I can hear the almost silent sniggering from her!

HC called the clinic asking if she need to get my stitches removed cos she saw some black stuff where my wound is. The nurse was unsure if stitches was made as some of their vets preferred to leave the wound open (OPEN??? GAPING HOLE????) . But in any case, the nurse said the stitches can dissolved on its own. So no need to visit the clinic again. Yhew... thank god for THAT. I absolutely hate VETS.

Back to the pain topic, HC was laughing at 2a.m. the night before. Why? Because I woke her up with my scratching (yes, dogs love to do that in the middle of the night when we had enough sleep, and we love to make noises to keep everyone else awake) . Than all of a sudden, I yelped cos I accidently hit my right mouth with my paw. In my confusion, I associated the pain with the bed, and refused to sleep on it.

(HC : Joey is very stupid. He thinks it is the bed that causes the pain and refused to sleep on it. When I checked on him, he looks really scared with the tails tucked, and walked around my bed, waiting for an invitation to jump up.... rofl)

Surgery

I am ALIVE!

This morning I was given two doses of rescue remedy to soothe my nervousness before the trip to the vet. Along the way, I kept telling myself I had to be brave. But when the nurse led me to the treatment room by the leash, I started to panic. I held on to the ground with all my mighty strength (some humans have seen how strong I can be despite my small size when they played tug with me). I heard some humans sniggering in the reception area when I was practically dragged against my wishes. As I held on despite the embarrassment, I shaked my head so that the collar came loose. Immediately, I ran back to HC thinking that she might save me. Alas, instead of bringing me home, she told the nurse, "you better carry him. It will be easier on you."

(HC : When the nurse was carrying Joey to the room, I can see his pupils dilated, and looked panicky... hehe... I was trying hard not to say the words - "Bye, see you". I think he will freaked out if he hear these words)

After a long long wait (about 2-3 hours) the vet is finally able to do the operation on me. I was so nervous as the metal table was cold and hard. I think there were some humans holding me down when the vet injected me with something. Ouch... but after a while, my eyes felt heavy....

When I woke, there is a funny sensation in my mouth, and I felt really really groggy and drifted in and out of consciousness. I realised I was in a crate.. oh boy.. I haven't been in one after I reached about 7 months of age.

By mid afternoon, the nurse came over and carried me out. I was again panicky as I thought I was about to undergo another surgery. But when the door opens, I was so ecstatic to see HC. I licked her all the way, even on the drive home.

When I reached home, instead of being happy to see me, Jack growled at me and sniffed me from top to toe for a full minute. He only stopped when HC warned him to be nice to me... HUMPH....

I am still feeling a bit groggy, and hungry. HC made a very delicious porridge consisting of lamb, chicken, vegetables and egg. Yummy.... but she only fed me a little whereas Jack got a full bowl. Look, whose the one who had suffered earlier?? ME!!

After that, HC brought me to the park for a short while since I looked quite active. But I was so angry cos when the other aunties and uncles saw me.. they laughed and called me "bo-gay". Uncle M even said I barked differently cos there is 'wind' going through my teeth. @##$@$#!

I am groggy and hungry now.... sigh.... when will my next meal be?

Oh shit.. I just saw myself in the mirror! There is a huge gap that is swollen and bloodied in between my used-to-be perfect teeth.

Perfect teeth no more...

Pre-surgery Jitters

Ya.. I am feeling it now..

Last evening, HC was brushing and checking our teeth when she realised that my right largest pre-molar was split into two! She was so upset as she knew that surgical removal of the tooth is inevitable. She said that Jack had the same problem on the right largest pre-molar as well last year, but it was chipped 'nicely' and does not require surgery. But mine is different cos it is split!

Today, she brought us to the vet. True enough, the vet said I had to go through the surgery, otherwise, it may lead to infection... abscess... blah blah blah... I couldn't absorb all the technical terms as all I could think of was... SURGERY... GA... SURGERY....

Tomorrow will be a tough day for me. I had to go without food in the morning, and will be sent to the vet at 9a.m. And god knows what time will the surgery be.. I think I will shiver with fear the entire time alone at the vet...

Now, HC is having a tough time deciding how she should feed us in future. As you know, both of us are on raw food & bones, and she didn't want us to spoil our other good pre-molars... HOW???? NO BONES in future??? oh no.....

Can I bring Bunny along for the surgery??
















Oh.... evil Herbie's M actually called me 'bo-gay' (toothless) when she bade us good-bye just now. #$%^#@@@*&

MOM, is that YOU???

I was surfing the net, when I came across this picture...





















For a brief moment, I thought.."could that be MOM??"

As I read further, I realised that the dog in the picture was a Maltese and she is from US. hehe.. thank god. But I reminded myself that my parentage is unknown, and for all you know, my mom and dad could be in some awful commercial kennel made to breed over and over again!

You can read more about Hope's story here

HC have heard from some humans that it is okay to breed cos they love their dogs, they will take good care of the offsprings, and their dogs ASKED to mate! Yeah right.... guess what really happens when their dog give birth to a litter? The humans will probably keep none or one, citing reasons that their house too small, no money to feed so many dogs, and no time. In the end, the puppies were sold, and possibly ended up being neglected by some owners once they outgrew the puppyhood.

Beside dogs, other animals were bred for silly reasons. Remember Herbie's post about the four abandoned rabbits? In the end, one died, two rehomed, one other female gave birth to a litter of rabbits. Out of the litter of rabbits, only one survived. Not only that, mummy rabbit died too a couple of days later.

Enough said....

Life as a Dog

HC had just finished the highly acclaimed book - Marley & Me, with tears in her eyes. I guess all dog owners can identify with the author, the exasperation over our bad behaviors, laughter over our funny antics and as well as the sadness over our death (in future, I mean). Well, we dogs live a much shorter life than humans. But honestly, I wouldn't want to trade my life with that of a human. You see, humans work hard for a living at least half of their lives. We, dogs, with the exception of farm working dogs (never met one before in my entire life), live in bliss. We get treats before the humans leave for work. Sleeps 10-12 hours while no one's home. And, contrary to popular beliefs, not all dogs will watch over the house. Some feel that being a watch dog is way beneath them (ask Herbie and Scuba.. hehe). When the humans drag their tired body back home, we demand them to play with us (ask the long-suffering HC). In my opinion, the term, "work like a dog" should be changed to "work like a dog owner"!

Now, which human wanna trade to be a dog??

(HC : P.S. I would highly recommend another book - A dog called Perth. It is as good as Marley & Me, if not better. It is availabe at the National Libray... go borrow it!)

My paw hurts...

Herbie posted about our Sentosa trip yesterday. Oh yeah.. I had lots of fun... and PAIN!

Why pain? Well, as the waves became too strong for me to swim, HC decided to let me play ball on the pavement instead. There, HC and Uncle TCL started playing football with me. Uncle TCL even commented that the rough pavement should help to file my nails. On the way back, HC even reprimanded me for walking so slowly to the car.
She only realised it later in the evening when I yelped as she was cleaning my paws. After checking, she was horrified to see that the paw pad on my front left and back left paws were coming off, exposing the slightly raw skin beneath.

Poor me.....HC said no exercise for me the next few days until my paw heels. She is diligently applying aloe vera gel for me. I hope it works fast.