Animal Kingdom

Where I lived, there are many different kind of animals.

Snakes
I have heard sightings of snakes around our estate. Once, the cleaner saw two huge snakes (not sure if it is python cos HC refused to let me go to say hi). The police were called, and I heard 4-5 gunshots. I think the policemen need to improve his aiming skills, what a waste of bullets.
Since the incident, HC is very careful when she lets me go offleash to play ball. If I ventured further to the 'forest', she will call me back.

Roosters & family
There used to be an entire clan of roosters, mother hens and little chicks. HC complained that the mother hens seems to be giving birth very often as there were always tiny chicks every few months. The clan were very lucky cos they are not cooped up the entire day. I heard free range chickens are tasty.....mmmmm.....

HC keeps complaining about them cos
1. some neigbours throw rice, biscuits, bread all over the floor to feed them
2. Bird Flu (after all, the government did say that birds are supposed to be cooped up)
3. Stupid chickens keep jumping up on cars and motorbikes, and their claws scratch HC's then new car.
4. The Roosters keep crowing ALL day. I thought they are supposed to only crow at first sight of light? Are they stupid or what?

I liked the clan cos I loved chasing them. And when I am chasing, I give a low growl as if I wanna eat them. I specially loved to chase the fatter mother hen cos she will shriek and attempt to run /fly away.. heehehe (actually, i only love to chase, if I had really wanted to eat, I would have killed them long ago). However, one fine day, the Rooster cannot take it anymore and wanted to challenge me. Unfortunately, HC dragged me away. However, this particular Rooster still remembers me, and a few times, he actually ran to where I am and wanted to poke me with his sharp bead. I am very sure he is targetting me, cos he totally ignored Jack. HC panicked and quickly pulled us away.. and bloody rooster actually followed a good distance.

Anyway, the clan was almost wiped out recently cos there were a few complaints. Now, only two Roosters are left. Guess it is to stop them from breeding.
p.s. Realised that the roosters are not so stupid after all. Cos HC saw the two roosters waiting by one of the neighbour's door during feeding time. And when the lady comes out with a bowl of rice, they will start following her.

Cats
There are about 6-7 cats in the estate. They are quite alright except for one silly fat cat, who actually climbed up to our 3rd storey apartment and sat outside the door. Jack smelled her and was barking nonstop. He hates (and also scared of) cats. If the cat is right infront of him, he will actually shrieked hysterically. Alot of uncles and aunties have heard it, and they were amused that Jack is so scared of cats, and not of bigger dogs. However, if he thinks the cat is defenceless, he will try to bite it. That's what happened to Pepper, scuba's feline sibling, when Auntie S carried Pepper. Jack thought Pepper cannot defend himself, and actually jumped up and wanted to bite pepper's leg. Auntie S released Pepper and Jack ran away screaming ... hiak hiak hiak.. he deserved it!
oops.... side tracked too much ...
Anyway, I loved one of the cats here. She is very beautiful and elegant. A few times, she actually came out of her house when she heard me playing ball in the field. She will sit and just looked at me playing. Once, I decided to stop playing and go over to say hi. HC expected her to hiss and swipe her claws at me. But surprise, surprise, we actually said hi by putting our nose together. But of course, sometimes, the terrier blood in me will decide to chase her to the forest.

The sad news is that I have not seen her for a long while. The last time I saw, was her photo on a Lost Advertisement by the lamp post. I wonder if it was because I chased her to the forest and she got lost????

Cutesy Name

Why do humans like to change our names to something cutesy? I mean, look here, we are mature males (my group of friends are mostly males), and I usually cringed when I hear cute-cute names on them. For example:
Joey (that's me) - jojo, joey-baby, joey-sweetie, joey-kun
Scuba - Scoop-scoop, Scupi
Tommy - bunny (rofl, tommy is a bunny???)
Rafv - Raf-fi-fi, lala (rofl even harder)
Herbie - e-bi-bi, e-ba-dy (hiak hiak)
by the way, I realised Jaffe has a different surname from his humans parents (Fun-Graham).. cos I hear his mummy called him .. Jaffe-YEO.. all the time!

Jack, hasn't got alot of cute names except for Jack-Kun, which is not quite cute, simply because, well...... he is just NOT cute! hiak hiak hiak

Open House

This morning, HC drove me to Mandai Training Village. However, I am surprised to see so many new dogs and humans today. HC than told me that it is an 'Open House' for SCDF Volunteer Search & Rescue Dogs. Meaning, that SCDF is doing a recruitment drive for new volunteer dogs.

Not long after we stepped in, I was tied by the side with other dogs and the humans all left to see demo. I patiently sit and wait ... however, the humans only came back after an hour! Not only I had to endure the heat, but alot of new dogs were also barking non stop. I am having a migraine! I can't blame the new dogs as they are not familiar with this place.. and it is scary to be left alone. I tried to tell them it is useless to bark and to save their energy, but they didnt heed my advice.

And then I saw a familiar face - Alfie, another female JRT who frequents Bishan Dog Run. She is happy to see me and started lying belly up to 'seduce' me... but I am too tired and having a migraine to be interested.

After the demo, I saw the new dogs went for their test. I think they were tested on their play drive. Some are not able to show their play drive, perhaps, too distracted by new environment. HC told me that it is better to have dogs with HIGH play drive and focus, cos in a disastrous area, there will be alot of distractions.

I overhead the Captain telling the new dogs handlers that he will inform them of the result within a few days. Good Luck to all of them!

On the way home, HC received an 'emergency' call. Seems like Alfie's mummy ran out of petrol and the car stalled.. hehehe.. she must have used up all her petrol cos she got lost on the way to Mandai. HC than drove to a petrol kiosk to get petrol, than help Alfie's mummy to fill it up. I was relieved when everything is over, and HC drove me home. Quick... having a migraine .. I need to sleeeeppppp....

Jack is on medical leave

Just when we all were worrying about Chewie's condition (the humans, for some reason were very angry and I heard lots of swearing and cursing), Jack had to go on medical leave and add to HC's worries.

Yesterday, we were napping the entire day while HC is at work. When she got back home, we were as usual very happy and bouncing about. It was then that I realised that Jack is not using his front right leg. Within half hour, we were whisked off to the vet.

After some checking by the vet, it was suspected that his arthritis is acting up, and he was given a shot of cartrophven. I can see the vet looking through Jack's medical records which is a few pages long (hehehe). The bad news is that barely six months ago, Jack had the same limping problem. HC now has to monitor to see if the limping/aching comes more frequently, and if it did, an X-ray and alternative treatment may be needed.

Let's pray for Jack's and Chewie's speedy recovery.

Name Analysis

Herbie got his name analysed. So here's mine...

Joey:
You have a strong, independent, adventurous pet who is filled with wanderlust.
Not quite true that I am independent. One of my weakness in SAR is that I always look to HC for guidance, and gets a bit unsure if she is not around. And I definitely am not filled with wanderlust, even off leash, I usually will turn around and make sure HC is nearby
Your pet has a highly developed sixth sense, especially when it comes to home and family. This animal is very tenacious and intensely loyal. Your pet is certainly never dull.
True true. I may be friendly to people, but once they stepped near my home, I will bark like crazy.
You may find this animal has a dualistic nature being very communicative one minute and sullen the next. Your pet is obedient, learns quickly, and can be a bit standoffish.
True too. I can be sullen when I had too much sleep and not enough play time. Yes, I am obedient, learns quickly if I want to, and am standoffish towards some dogs. You won't see me playing much with dogs in general. Must have learnt it from Jack.

Here's Jack's analysis:
You have a strong, independent, adventurous pet who is filled with wanderlust. Your pet has a real need for adventure and has very little fear, so keep an eye on this one!
(ROFL) Jack is never adventurous. He is such a homebody that after awhile in the park, he will be sitting by the door to go home! No fear??? ROFL... you have not seen the way he scream when Pepper the cat comes near. But I must say Jack is very independent, sometimes, offleash, he will wander a bit further away.

This is a curious, loving pet who's a real 'people' animal. Your pet may appear slow at first, but always manages to get his/her catch. This animal is also very protective of home and family.
AGAIN, ROFL.. Jack is a 'people' animal??? I am sure alot of aunties and uncles had heard him growled at them before. Just the other day, he almost nipped Uncle C when he, being his usual irritating self, tried to disturb him with Scuba's tail. hehehe.
oh but.. Jack is very very protective of home and family. He actually bit a garang guni man who came into the house before.

Ermmm... conclusion, I don't think the name analysis work

Neighbour

As you are know, we lived in a tiny shoebox-sized apartment. We have been lucky in the sense that we lived in a mostly quiet neighbourhood (except for a few foreign workers in the next block, but they were generally well behaved except for a few hysterical laughter and 'faked' vomitting every morning...).
****** Joey, you shouldn't be writing this..... Please note that the following post is deleted to avoid spoiling good neighbourly relations in case we got 'found' out! ********** Edited by HC, 31st March 2006*********

Why Jack is no longer FAT

Most of you may not have seen how fat Jack used to be. Well, he is now 4.1kg and he used to be about 7 to 8 kg! I have pictures to show for it..

Doesn't he look like a pig?













Another fat picture with his CHH cousin - Willy

Side note : this CHH has been humping me since I was a puppy. Damn disgusting boy..










So, why the drastic drop in weight for Jack? That's because he started limping after an agility session. HC sent him to our regular vet, and from x-ray, he was diagnosed as having arthritis and spondylsis (degenerative spine) as well. However, HC thinks it might be more than that, and sent him for a second opinion. Thank god she did, cos the vet did a 'drawer' test (whereby Jack was on GA cos the vet did a painful test by moving hs two joints like a drawer)and diagnosed that Jack had torn his ligament. HC then decided to opt for surgery as prolong injury may aggravate his arthritis condition.

Picture of Jack with a cast leg on day 2 of surgery. See the dried blood stain above the cast?













Jack sleeping on HC's huge bean bag.













Jack happily chewing the rawhide despite the cast.













Day 3, where he is well enough to move a little bit. But he was not allowed to move much and was confined to a small room for the next THREE months (OMG.. I dun think I can take confinement for more than 3 hours!)














Jack finding a good position to sleep due to the cast



























Jack finally healed after a three long months of inactivity. What was worse was that he needs to go on a diet. He was given half portion of kibbles (we weren't on raw food at that tme).To make up for his hunger, he was given steamed vegetables instead.

So now, Jack needs to maintain his weight as there is a higher chance of him to tear his ligament if he puts on any weight(even on the good leg). And no agility for him !

A leaner and happier Jack

We are not MBT

To the ignorant humans out there, Jack & I are not a MBT (mini bull terrier). Worse still, is that someone asks if Jack is a "mini" pit bull??? I mean, pit bulls are gorgeous dogs but we definitely different in terms of looks and size!(in fact, HC loved their look and would have got 1 if not for the fact that they are banned)

Picture of a gorgeous pit bull


Do you seriously think Jack looks like one? But I have to admit, he sometimes behave like one cos he is anti-social, and does not like the company of other dogs.














And the MBT story is one that we hear ALLLLL the time, especially if Scuba is next to us. Many a times, we walked pass humans and I can hear them saying.. "that is the father (pointing to Scuba) and the two sons (pointing to us)".

"Family" picture

I'd rather be with you.

I think dogs are the most loyal living thing in this world. Much more compared to humans. Much as we love going out to park to romp, we rather stay at home to be with our human companion.

This is what we do when our human companion is not with us at the park.

Herbie's M and MM went out to have dinner at a fancy restaurant, and didn't want to bring him along. Look at how sad Herbie is...