Dental Apparatus

Ever since our diet has less RMBs (raw meaty bones) due to our little dental accidents, HC is worried about the state of our dental health. She feels that our teeth does not look as good as before despite the bi-monthly recreational bones.

The other day at the dog show, she bought this special toothbrush, 3-in-1 where the front, back and top teeth can be brush at the same time.

Weird-looking toothbrush














However, we don't like this toothbrush as we had to open our mouth real wide, which proved to be a real challenge to HC. Jack, who usually tolerants toothbrushing, started to growl a little nowadays. (of course, HC reprimanded him)

So she alternate this with our regular toothbrush -

Look, our Mickey Mouse toothbrush!















HC has more scary dental apparatus!















The smaller sharp apparatus is for her to dig out stuck tendons and meat pieces in-between our teeth. This is especially useful after our bi-monthly mutton bones.
The bigger one claims to remove tooth stain, which doesn't work, of course.

I think HC is obsessed with our dental health! Can someone please talk some sense to her?

Shopping trip

Last Sunday, we went for a shopping trip at a dog show.

We bought :
- 6 packets of all natural Roo treats,
- a large packet of lamb ears,
- two tubs of raw dehydrated food (see below for more info),

and some stuff that are really a waste of money in my opinion: a special toothbrush (we hate it - will blog about it another day), breath freshenner (definitely for Jack, cos I have wonderful breath), toothpaste (what for?)

We are fed on raw food diet for the last 3-4 years, however, HC decided to get two different kinds of pre-prepared human-grade raw dehydrated food. One is a complete turkey meal because fresh raw turkey meat is not readily available here. It is also more like an 'emergency' meal for us in case HC runs out of our meat supply.(how irresponsible!)

The other tub of dehydrated food is meat-free, grain-free and is more like a base supplement to our regular raw meat. She will alternate this with our normal vegetable bland.

See how excited I am about the human-grade, raw dehydrated food?

Special Ability

We have a new neighbour, a mongrel by the name of Sparker.

I heard he grew up in a nursing home, but for some reason, one of the staff (also HC's ground floor neighbour) decided to bring him home. HC saw him first and find him good mannered as he never barks and allows HC to pat him. But she changed her mind much later when she saw how he bit the head of another of our neighbour - a much bigger sized Lab. What is worse is that Sparker is never leashed. Many a times, they closed their windows and main door, and just leave him to roam outside. (This is really inconsiderate, knowing how aggressive Sparker can be)

HC was pretty worried as we definitely had to pass by his area on our way up. More so, cos my dear brother - Jack is very unfriendly and she is sure he will growl at Sparker. And HC is very very worried that Sparker will pick a fight with Jack. And knowing how small size and old Jack is, HC doubt he will survive. So she is mentally prepared to grab Sparker and kill him if he attacks Jack.

The inevitable happens.....

One day, we were walking down the steps when HC was shocked to see Sparker roaming outside. She decided not to turn back home as Sparker had already spotted us and walking towards our direction. She relax our leash and was prepared to fight if Sparker shows aggression. True enough, my dear brother growl and snarl at Sparker.....

And guess what...

Sparker, upon hearing Jack's growl, actually flatten his ears, avert his eyes, head bow and slowly move away from Jack. hahahahaha... HC and I are so amazed at his reaction and HC broke out in laughter.

Jack, despite being small in size and old, somehow has this special ability to command respect. Some of our dog group - esp the bigger and more domineering ones give way to Jack all the time. They usually avert their eyes when Jack comes near. Once, 2-3 of them were play bitting, Jack walked over and growled at them. Immediately, they stopped playing and all laid down immediately.

I am truly truly amazed at Jack. I wonder how he did it. How come I don't have such respect!!!! Someone please tell me...

Don't ya mess with me!

Club Membership

Finally I have a club membership with pool facilities like the humans!

Today, HC and Auntie W (Tommy's mum) decided to check out a new mega (air-conditioned) pet store. It's a fantastic place for me, cos HC off-leashed me in the store. I was so busy sniffing around the boxes of raw hides, pet food and toys. Then, the staff at the store started feeding me treats! and the amazing thing was that HC didn't really stopped me cos usually she doesn't wants us to eat commercial treats.

While feeding me, the sales staff also took the opportunity to sell HC a membership. We get 20-25% discounts off toys and food, and on top of that we get to use the swimming pool! And each member get a goody bag filled up kibbles samples (that will go to Toto, HC's dog in the office), dog shampoo and a retractable leash! wow.....

Of course, we (Tommy and I), the water boys were esctatic!

When HC threw the ball into the pool, we jumped in without hesitation. But immediately, we regretted. The pool is unlike the usual sea that we swam in, and upon jumping in, our whole head was dunked in water, and horror of horrors... we cannot get back up on land! Immediately, the humans can see how panicky we became! We splashed the water around, and at the same time tried to grab hold of the walls of the pool. HC had to phyically grabbed me by the neck and pulled me out of the pool. As for Tommy, because he was bigger, he could grab the side walls better, but he too had a hard time dragging himself out of the pool. HC said it was a funny sight as it reminds her of a scene in the horror show - The Ring where the ghost slowly crawled out of the t.v.

After that, Tommy and I freaked out and didn't want to go back into the pool.

Ball, come back here. The pool is a horrible place... come baccccckkkkkkk!!!















Don't go... come back














Grrrrr... come closer















Finally, I plucked up my courage and jumped in to save my ball
















Of course, HC had to help me get up from the pool.


Poor Tommy still trying to persuade his ball to come back to him















Can we refund our membership? We decided that we don't like the pool facilities at all!


Edited :
Well, if they get one of those pet ramps , I won't ask for a refund then!

The Walking Stocking

Yesterday, the humans had dinner at Scuba’s place. All of a sudden, Scuba’s mum felt something underneath the table. She bent down to take a look, and later stood up holding a rolled-up stockings and exclaimed loudly, "whose STOCKING is this?"

Everyone was shocked for a moment until Auntie W said it was hers, but she had kept the stocking in her bag. Amid the loud laughing, HC said, "I think Joey is the culprit! He must have stolen it from your bag!" (Ooops…. I got found out!)

If you wanna know why she said this, read here

Everyone started laughing and said that if Scuba’s dad is around, Scuba’s mum would probably hid the stocking and wait till everyone has left before kicking up a big fight with the innocent Dad. Lesson to all males, please be careful of cunning dogs....

HC said I should be called - Joey, the Jack-Retriever-Terror



















Who? I'm innocent!



Updates about lost Jacker:
We went to search for Jacker at his block as well as the nearby estates. However, I cannot really remember how Jacker smell like, as I only met him once at the beach. At that time, I was too engrossed with my ball and only gave him a obligatory hello (quick sniff at butt). I should have tried to remember his scent more! Darn!

Anyway, HC let me go offleash to sniff around, and I stopped in front of a few units and refused to move until HC came and forcefully grabbed me. I know there are dogs inside the units, but not sure if it is Jacker. Anyway, the doors and windows are locked and there is no way of knowing if it is him. (HC doubt it is Jacker though cos the barking sounds like some CHHs)

But someone up there decided to reward me for my efforts…. I found a biscuit lying on the ground! Well, I am not sure if it really is a biscuit cos I saw HC staring at me and quickly gobbled it up. After gobbling down the ‘biscuit’, I laid on my back, showing my belly as a sign of ‘I’m sorry-and-please-don’t-kill-me’ gesture to HC. Luckily, I only got a few light slaps on my muzzle.. yhew.. I got off lightly!

Jack is missing!

Ermmmm... not my grumpy brother - Jack.

Jacker (aka as Jack) is missing from home on Oct 8, 2006 at 3p.m. at Block 107, Bishan Street 12. If you found/heard of any male JRT found anywhere in Singapore, please call his owner - Marc at 97458525. Reward will be given, I promised.

The owners are really upset now as they only had Jacker for a few months cos his former owner wanted to abandon him. You can read more about his sad story here .

I really hope he can be reunited with his owners soon.....

This is how he look like













HC : I will probably bring Joey down to search for Jacker. Joey is not trained to search for dogs, but it is better then to sit and wait for miracles to happen. Jack will probably not be going cos his spine cannot take too much stairs climbing. Wish us luck!

Longest tongue

Any contest for dogs with longest tongue?






























Do I qualify?

5 Little Pigs

HC bought 5 little pigs home!


Here they are....















ooooohhh.. so cute.. they even have ribbons on them.

I like this one best.. she's the cutest















HC said they are actually edible and bought for the forthcoming Mooncake Festival.
She said since I had never tasted them since birth, she will allow Jack and I to share one with her.

I was going, "what???? eat this sweet little thing??"
NOOOOOOOO.......

Well, I almost couldn't bare to eat her. ALMOST...














It smelled heavenly. But to our disappointment, HC cut the piggy into three parts - NOT EQUALLY. She took the biggest portion, and left Jack and I the smaller one. Sigh....
And, it tasted as good as it looks.

Do we have to wait another year before we get to eat it again?

Let me post the cute piggies pictures on my blog.
Serious blogger at work.

How to be a good host?

The humans were having a coffee chat at Scuba's house (again), and Scuba's mum was saying that Scuba's a bad host.

You see, at about 9.30 p.m. every night, he will try to find a way to go to bed, regardless whether there are humans & dogs over at his place. Sometimes, he will stand by the bedroom door, asking to go to bed.

Other times, he will do this if his bed is in the living room.

Scuba : You guys are too noisy and the lights too bright!!














Scuba's mum finally decided that Scuba need to learn how to be a better host, and forcefully carried him up to join in the conversation.

Scuba: Do I really have to join in? *yawns*

On a separate note, PEPPER - Scuba's grouchy feline sibling decided to prepare himself for the forthcoming Deepavali holidays by applying an orange dot on his forehead.

Oh.. Happy Children's Day!

Birthday Celebrations - Bailey

Yesterday was Bailey's first birthday. His parents were very happy that hehad finally 'grown up' and had decorated the park with balloons and birthday banner. Bailey's mum even spent 3 hours baking his birthday cakes. What a lucky dog!

There were food for dogs and humans, and of course, Bailey - the drink was being served too! Too bad HC declined to have a cup of Bailey as she cannot hold her drink well. She should have taken it and let me drink!

Well, we didn't exactly joined the party as HC knew that there was at least 1 dog there that I may not be able to get along with. This dog will growl and snatch away my ball and if I am in a bad mood, I may fight back. The worse thing is this dog's owner is not able to control him. And HC secretly made a pact with me that should I have to fight for the ball (my own ball, mind you), she will not stopped me. Instead, she will probably helped me to pin the dog down. hehehehe.. that's what a leader is for, isn't it.

But I think I wouldn't fight yesterday over the ball because with the galore of food, who cares about balls??? But then again, HC is worried that either I fight over food or I start barking at the humans to feed me. (nonsense, I must say..... )

Anyway, Bailey's parents are really nice and give us a goody bag each.















Beautiful bowls! We have already started using one this morning!
I probably can't use the bag cos I cannot bend my arms to carry it. I will let HC have the bag then.

Feed Me

Thanks to my previous post as well as readers' comments that I must let HC know I am hungry, she finally took notice and commented to her friends that I've lost weight again, and my ribs are showing.

Despite her recent increase in my food intake, I am still losing weight, perhaps due to my high exercise level. So last night, she fed us a slice of bread each to Jack and I. Of course, we had to work for it - such as shake paw, roll over, nose nose (Jack knows how to balance the food on his nose until HC 'releases' him), speak (usually I whine instead).

Tough work for a slice of bread, I must say.

I think if I had a wish, I would like to be like my other friends where they get fed readily by their humans without doing any silly tricks.

HC said that she will go supermarket tonight to buy more meat for us.. YAY!!!

What I ate a week ago.

A week ago, Auntie V celebrated her 3rd year anniversary with Scuba, and invited the humans for a steamboat dinner.

What the humans had for dinner.... they were so greedy that they only remembered to take a picture when they were almost done.















So what did we dogs do when the humans were eating?

We were busy begging... and when I did not get what I begged for... I ate this
.
.
.
.
.















Well, not exactly this. But a similar one in green color.

HC bought two of these balls for me and brought the green one over to Auntie V's home for me to play. When they were busy having steamboat, I decided that I am too hungry and ate up the entire green one. The humans didn't notice it, but Tommy (the GR) did. He kept barking to tell the humans that I was eating something I shouldn't, but they ignored it thinking he was barking cos he wanna play with my ball.

So how did HC found out?

Well, today, exactly one week later, I started to poo out (3x) funny greenish stuff with little spikes. At first the spikes looked like worms and she was horrified. But she 'poked' around my poo and was sorta relieved to find out they were not worms. And it took her half a day, and after confirmation with Auntie V that the ball was nowhere to be found at her home that she realised I ate up the entire ball.


Tommy, the only dog who realised that I was eating something that I shouldn't have...














Joey to Tommy: Stop telling on me, will ya??

(P.S. You readers are lucky that HC forgot to take a picture of the "ball-poo". Otherwise, you will lose your appetite!!)

Jack's No. 1 Fan

Jack is starting a fan club. And right now, there is only 1 member (hehehe)

She is HC's little niece - just passed her one-year birthday celebration. She started calling Jack when she is about 10 months, and up till now, Jack is the only name that she will call readily. She doesn't even want to call her own daddy and mummy.
















Jack usually dislikes children, but surprisingly, he does not get angry if this little girl slap him lightly. In fact, I caught Jack kissing her a couple of times. But what he really really likes to do is to sniff at her diapers!















Immediately after this shot was taken. the little girl moved towards Jack and wanted to plant a kiss on him. Alas, she missed his head and ended up kissing the couch. heheheh

Me? I usually ran away when she comes near me. Cos she kicked me a couple of times!!!!

Jack and I are tagged

We are tagged by Huskee and Scuba - to list 5 things that make a true doggie friend.

As you noticed, we were tagged a couple of days ago, but waited till now to post this. You see, Jack and I were pondering what to list and realised sadly that both of us are not a true doggie friend to anyone.

Nevertheless, here's the 5 things :
1. Be generous with food, toys, bed and all material stuff. As you can see from my past posts, I do not share toys, food, bed, HC.... In fact, I am vey materialistic and loves to pamper myself with lots of balls and an expensive bedroom set. Unluckily for me, I have a poor HC. (Do you think Paris Hilton want to swop her CHH with a JRT?)
Oh.. just the other day, I 'kidnapped' a piece of meat that Herbie's MM is holding - meant for Herbie.

2. Loved all breeds of dogs, regardless of their pedigree. Mmmmmm... actually, Jack and I do not enjoy other dogs' company. I prefer to play with human, and Jack prefers to be left alone.

3. Do not bark at my doggie friends. Jack failed badly in this aspect. He barks at ALL his friends, even in their own home. As for me, I will bark and nip my friends if they come too near to my balls, or paw my head.

4. Welcome friends to our home. Ok... we are not doing so badly here. We don't really care if any of my friends sleep over, as long as we get fed first. (hiak hiak hiak). Oh... HC caught Jack once slowly picking his toys from his toy box one at a time and hid the toys in the bedroom (doggie friend was in living room where the toy box is)

5. Be nice to doggie friends if they need a car ride. We are ok as long as our friends don't push us off the seat (like Herbie), or use his tail to swing at our face (like Scuba). Actually, we prefer friends like Tommy who sit very still esp after some scolding from Jack.


As you can see, Jack and I have a long way to go before we can be anyone's true doggie friend. So out of shame, we are not going to tag any dogs.

My Xmas wish

I want my own bedroom set!

I WANT! I WANT! I WANT!











Isn't it cool????? Imagine having my own human-looking bed, a toy box and a wardrobe (ok.. I know my clothes are all old and dirty from my romp at the park.. but if I have a proper wardrobe, I will surely take care not to dirty my clothes. My 'wardrobe' now is actually HC's car boot) .

oooohhhh.... I wish .... I wish.... I wish......
And, it is ONLY U$249.97!!!! What a good deal, right? Emmm.... by the way, I am not too good with money, how much is it really? in terms of chickens - 10? 20? 30?????

Any nice uncles and aunties wanna sponsor?

if i write to the manufacturer and offer to be a 'sleeping model'.. u guys think he will give me the set for free?

Party anyone?

There is a party for dogs!

Uncle Paul of Petartists and a cafe known as Worlds Apart are organising this event for dogs and their owners. I heard there will be plenty of activities and food/drinks will be served. It's only $10 per human, and you can stand to win prizes too!

Sigh... but I am not sure if HC will bring Jack and I cos she says that she is busy on Saturdays.....*prays hard*

Toto

This is Toto
















He is not fantastic looking and also as timid as a rat. He had his eye on the humans even when he is eating, and if they even make a movement such as taking out their camera, he immediately ran away. HC had to stand 3m away to take this lousy shot.

We met.. or rather smell him last Sunday. HC drove us to her workplace (damn far, I tell you) and fed him some food. She also brought us out to meet him. Unfortunately he went into hiding and refuse to meet us. Stupid dog!

AMD

This is a very serious post.

AMD stands for Advance Medical Directive (a.k.a. living will). In summary, it is a legal document that you sign in advance to inform the doctor treating you (in the event you become terminally ill and unconscious) that you do not want any extraordinary life-sustaining treatment to be used to prolong your life. If you wanna know more in details - look here.

Why did I blog about something so serious? Well, HC is in discussion with some people over this. After much thoughts, she decided that AMD is the way to go. This is because without a living will, how a person in coma should be treated has led to bitter family squabbles and splits as everyone's view are so different. The most famous case is that of Terri Schiavo. I think if Terri knew the heartbreak experienced by her family and friends, she would have set a living will in advance. Sometimes, when one is healthy you don't think about death. But shit does happen...

So HC decided that she will sign AMD on her next trip to the doctor. Her opinion is that she wants to have the final say (and not leave the awful and heartbreaking decision to others) and to die with dignity.

Actually, to be honest she will rather be euthanized if the quality of life is compromised. But then euthanasia is illegal here and in many other countries.

But lucky for us dogs, euthanasia is not illegal. However, that said, I do not agree with how some people/authorities use that as a way to kill dogs who still deserved a second chance in life.

HC had serious thoughts about euthanization when Jack was first diagnosed with some health problems. She promised Jack that she will euthanized him if no treatments were available and he suffers from prolong pain unnecessarily. But of course luckily, Jack is doing well now as his condition is manageable.

So, touch wood, if any one of us is suffering and no longer has the drive to live, HC will say her good-bye to us and let us go with dignity. She promised that the going will be painless and we will be in her arms when that happens. And most importantly, she told us to wait for her in doggy heaven - 'till we meet again.

A final say, should anyone of you human had to make a decision to euthanized your dog.. dun be guilty. Your dog is probably waiting for you over the rainbow.

His name is .......

Finally... the stray dog has a name.
Not Hercules, not tyson, not hero as suggested in the earlier post.

Since he is a true blue Singaporean, HC decided his name should be ---------
-
-
-
-

TOTO!!!!!!

(arrghhh.. what a obiang name!)

HC said that with this new name, she hopes TOTO will bless her to win the $1 million toto draw. If she wins that money, she promised to take care of him for life. Yes... for his entire lifetime.

So.... Toto, if you want to have someone to love you and take care of you for life, start praying, okay??

Not so lucky

Some readers commented that HC is lucky to have dogs in her workplace, but she said it is more sad then lucky. Because there were so many skinny looking strays around, and it is not possible to save them all. She has seen/heard of strays esp puppies being run over by trains (yes.. trains), trucks, cars, and also being picked up by AVA officers. And sometimes, only the fittest strays survived.

Back in her previous working location in the east, there were a litter of puppies born in the workshop. HC sorta adopted 1 of them. He is black all over, with a tiny clump of white fur in the chest. HC used to share her lunch with him daily. When HC decided to quit the job, she was worried about the dog as it is not possible for her to adopt him. Just a week before she left the office, he had an accident and was knocked down by a forklift in the early morning. A worker just put him inside a gunny sack and left him in a deserted area. HC forced the worker to bring her to the site just to make sure he is truly dead and not struggling. I don't know if it is fate that he passes on when she is leaving.

As HC is feeding this current stray with dog food, she heard her colleagues commenting that the dog is lucky. Lucky to be a stray???? I seriously don't think so. I think my friends and I are the truly lucky ones - we get a roof over our head, eat the best food, clothed in disney themed costumes (well, some of us), and has endless amount of toys to play with.

Darn, I am feeling really teary now...
Can someone pass me the tissue? sniff sniff...