The Belated Birthday Outing

The 2nd birthday in canine terms is quite a milestone simply because after the age of 2, a puppy is supposedly no longer a puppy.  Works out to be something like the age of 18 (in Western culture) or 21 (in Eastern culture) in general.  Because the hubby was out of town on her actual birthdate, we postponed Belle’s birthday celebration to a couple of days ago.  We had the grandest plan to bring the girls out swimming, and then bathing them after the swim.  Only that we didn’t factor in the weird weather conditions of late.  There were thunderstorms heard as we were just preparing to go out.  And in no time, the rain started pouring.  Disappointed (believe me, we were disappointed), we went back to sleep.  All 4 of us.

The weather improved by noon, but we were somewhat not in the mood to bring them for a swim anymore.  And so I drove off, with no fixed destination in mind when suddenly, I thought of visiting Lorong Halus Wetland.  We talked about visiting a long time back, but that conversation came to naught.

There is nothing really interesting about the Wetland, but we walked a little further, and saw an interesting bridge structure that connected the wetland to Punggol Promenade.  And that was about the time I realised I forgot to bring a proper camera.  No DSLR, no P&S.  So I had to rely on my iphone to serve as a camera.  And based on the quality of the pictures, I conclude that an iphone will never, ever take over the role of a proper camera.  Note to self: revert to the habit of always bringing a P&S around with you.

It didn’t matter where we were – the furkids were just glad to be with us, out of the house, exploring new territory.  Because it was mid-week, right smack in the afternoon, the park was almost deserted save for some workers and a pair of elderly lovebirds.  And a lunatic who growled at the furkids and scared the hell out of them.

It was the perfect place to try get a decent shot of the two furkids, except that Paris decided she wanted to be camera-shy again.  No amount of coaxing or scolding could make the both of them look into the camera, at the same time.  We gave up.  Whatever.  It was their walk, not ours.  And it was about the same time that we noticed that the girls were panting rather heavily, a sign that they need some water to cool down.  Fortunately, the car was parked close by.  The hubby brought Paris along with him to fetch the water while I explored the area with the birthday girl.

If you think Belle looks rather slight for a 2-year old puppy, you are right.  She is on the small side, and after the recent visit to the vet, we are intending to keep her this small, to put pressure off her bad hip.  She was being her curious self, looking and sniffing all around, on leash (park regulations) while we waited for water to come.

I used to pride on Sugar’s instincts (not that I am responsible for her having them) because no matter where she was, she could sense either the hubby or I were nearby.  And she would suddenly stop whatever she was doing, and look in the direction.  This is where the two younger kids fail – Paris couldn’t locate me when I was calling her from a level atop, and Belle didn’t know that the hubby and Paris were crossing the bridge, nearing us as we waited nearby.  Sugar would have sensed them long time ago, the moment they stepped on the bridge.  Perhaps they are too young and too distracted to listen to their instincts.  You know, I just call them dumb.

After the water-drinking, we walked quite a bit more at the promenade before deciding to call it a day.  You see, while we remembered to bring water for the furkids, we forgot to bring water for ourselves.

The furkids were bushed when we got home.  We too, actually.  I want to return to the wetland at night.  I’m rather certain it’s a prettier sight, and I will be armed with my DSLR this time.  Maybe even bring along my tripod.

96/250

Doggies Checked

This annual visit to the vet’s is long overdue, in part due to a shortage of proheart injections throughout the world last year.  The girls were on oral heartworm tablets for a while but we really hate giving oral pills because we tend to forget.  The tablets ran out last month, and so the visit is in order.

I like to track their weights on my blog, so here’s for the record.

Paris – 32.5kg

Belle – 21.8kg

As usual, the hubby preferred sitting outside of the clinic with one of the girls while I sat inside with the other girl.  Belle was with me (since she is the calmer dog) and her weight didn’t surprise me at all.  But oh Paris, I genuinely gasped in surprise as she stood on the weighing scale.  She’s over 30kg!  For many, many years, Sugar and Paris’ weights were kept under 25kg.  I don’t know what happened to account for the sharp increase.  The vet assured that Paris is a good weight for her big muscular frame, so we should not worry unduly.  Still, I’m going to make her diet a bit – her vaccination costs $60 more because of the 10kg weight difference.

Belle, on the other hand, does not have a very good hip.  In particular, the right hip.  We were told it’s not a cause for much worry at the moment, but we could start her on glucosamine and fish oil supplements now to lubricate the joints.

Other than that, both girls are in the pink of health.  Especially Paris.

The girls used to not feel very good after their annual vaccinations, every time.  I’ve noticed today that Paris is a lot quieter the whole day.  But that Belle, nothing stops this energiser bunny… not even some puking, some diarrhea and blood in stools.  Back to monitoring her.  This cycle repeats itself once every few weeks it’s getting really tiresome.  I might send her in for checks soon.

77/250

Paris’ Prayer

I’ve always maintained that Paris is the prettiest of all my furkids.  The problem is, she isn’t very… cordial in front of the camera lenses.  Might have been as a result of me pointing the camera at her too often when she was a tiny puppy.  She never had much patience or tolerance in that respect.

But but but… I think age has mellowed her considerably.  She still doesn’t like it much, but she has become a lot more tolerable.  And it takes a little longer for her to get annoyed.  That has given me loads of opportunity to get some nice shots of her.

She is growing old so rapidly, right before my very eyes.

70/250

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up

Paris came to our home when she was about 9 weeks’ old and the first thing she did was to find a surrogate mother, but no I wasn’t the identified one.  Instead Sugar, who was only 1.5 years her senior, became her ‘mother’.  The puppy Paris had an annoying habit of resting her head on Sugar’s body, and while it was cute when she was a 5kg puppy, it was no longer cute when she continued her habit well into her adult years.  Sugar was often annoyed senseless.  Sometimes when she thought we weren’t looking, she would even try to kick Paris away using her legs.

That’s my evil Sugar.

Paris is now 6.5 years old and the eldest ever since Sugar passed on.  The age gap between Paris and Belle?  4.5 years.  You would think she would put Belle in her place, wouldn’t you?  But no.  In fact she defers to Belle’s preferences, follows her like a shadow (and not the other way round), and the worst of all, even lies on her little sister.

Apparently it doesn’t matter who she rests on, so long as she has a dog to rest on.  As the old adage goes, old habits die hard.

51/250

I Hate You Mummy!

This is what happens when the mummy decides to conquer the jetlag by waking up real early – she finds herself in a bored situation.  And what does she do when she is bored?  Annoy the two furkids who were barely awake.

Paris and Belle ain’t mortal enemies, but they do not like to have their faces stuck next to each other like that.  Believe me, there was quite a bit of struggling and stern ‘No’ issued before I got my iPhone ready for this shot.  Even then, they squirmed incessantly under my firm grip, risking my wrath.

Finally when I loosened my grip to let them free, they ran in opposite directions and refused to come to me for a full 5 minutes.  That is very telling, considering how affectionate they both are towards me, especially the puppy.

16/250

Weekly Photo Challenge: Family

This week’s challenge – Family.  I knew the exact picture I wanted to find to represent ‘Family’ but I just couldn’t locate it.  Might have lost it when my PC last crashed in 2008.

Found the next best picture.  Some explanation is in order – this was taken in Jan 2006 when Sugar was 1.5 years old and Paris was barely 3 months old.  The moment Paris came home with us, she identified Sugar as her mother figure – she followed her surrogate mummy everywhere and mimicked everything she did.  What happened here was, Sugar had been naughty, so she was being punished to ‘Down’ and ‘Stay’.  The puppy Paris was free to roam the house yet she chose to lie down beside Sugar.  And being a puppy, she couldn’t keep her eyes open for long.  This shot was taken when she fell asleep while accompanying Sugar in her punishment.

It was a super cute moment.  Hilariously funny too.  But I chose this picture because it sufficiently embodies the essence of a family, that is, going through thick and thin together.

My Sassy Puppy

My sassy puppy bullies everyone in the family, so much so that sometimes Paris runs off in the middle of a play-fight to hide at my feet.

And guess what the puppy does?  She comes trotting along, rests her head on my lap and ‘complains’ to me about how Paris left in the middle of a pleasant game.

And how could anyone say no to such a cute puppy?

Six and Counting II

It was Paris’ 6th birthday last Saturday, and I tried ordering from The Barkery Singapore for the very first time.  I’ve been a little busy recently and neither had the time nor energy to bake a cake for Paris myself, hence the decision to opt for a commercially-made one.  This online dog bakery is very new, having only set up this year.  I’m glad for its existence because the other well-known dog bakery available in Singapore had seriously pissed me off and I had sworn never to purchase anything from them.

I’ve had a pleasant experience dealing with The Barkery Singapore.  My only little grouse would be the slightly confusing payment process.  Other than that, the owner was very friendly and accommodating, especially when I had to push back the delivery time by an hour when I couldn’t get home in time after running some errands in town.

For the better half of the day, Paris and Belle were away for grooming.  I felt somewhat apologetic that Paris girl would be spending her birthday away from home, but the hubby’s perspective was a little more unique – that Paris was getting groomed to look pretty on her birthday.

The girls came back rather late, at 7pm and it was just in time for dinner.  Dinner that day was the meatloaf birthday cake, which was quite a beauty, by the way.

Before cutting the cake, I made Paris pose with the cake while Belle was busy drinking water in the yard.  And the battle of wits between the second furkid and I began…

 I refuse to look at the camera.

Oh, I hate the camera so. Go away!

Daddy’s walking out. Maybe I should cooperate with Mummy, otherwise he might scold me for being naughty…

With some help from the hubby, I managed to snap a rather decent shot of Paris with her birthday cake.  Well… perhaps not decent enough, because she was out of focus.

The cake was huge, by the way!  And I loved the idea of a mashed potato frosting.  The birthday girl was very happy with her 1/4 portion of the cake but the stupid puppy (who only likes her kibbles) didn’t know how to enjoy her 1/4 portion.  So that was saved and placed in the refrigerator, to be fed to the birthday girl again the following day.

The other 1/2 portion I brought along to C’s home to be shared between C and L’s goldens.  And that’s 6 golden retrievers sharing the 1/2 portion.  OK, it’s no wonder Paris has been putting on weight.  It’s bad, so bad that everyone who sees her (incluing friends, groomer etc.) comments that she has put on quite a bit of weight.

Time to put her on a diet!

Six and Counting

My Paris girl turns 6 today. I’ve always thought that Sugar and Paris have a really strong affinity between them because Sugar was born on 11 May and Paris on 5 Nov. 1105, 0511… same numbers. A pity her best friend cum sister is not longer around this year to celebrate her birthday with her.

Paris is not my favourite furkid – that’s not a secret. And I’m not proud of it. Try as I might, no one can ever replace the void in my heart now. But slowly and surely, Paris is creeping to occupy a larger space of it. And she’s grown so much in the space of just 5 months as opposed to the previous 5 years. Part of the reason, I believe, is the absence of her big sister. Sugar was her everything – her physical and emotional attachment to her was much stronger than anyone could ever imagine.

Whenever I caught her in this melancholic/contemplative mood, I wondered if she was thinking about Sugar because the Paris I knew prior to 1 Jun was never contemplative. Sulky, yes, whenever she realised that I was trying to take a picture of her, but never quite like this. Is it age? Or is she hurting inside too?

Age has mellowed her down; she isn’t quite as excitable as before, but she still has an annoying habit of barking repeatedly whenever someone, anyone lingers at our door. It’s not all her fault, of course, for we have not exactly been consistent in correcting this bad habit.

Paris Girl,

Happy Birthday, darling! You’re 6 today, and I’m sorry that there is only Belle to share your happy day with you. Your whole life with us, you have never been without your beloved Jie-Jie. I know it must be really scary for you to lead a life without her but it’s ok. It’s really ok, because I think you are doing a great job as a big sister to Belle. I just wished you could be as close to her as you were to Sugar, but maybe I’m asking too much. Perhaps it takes time; perhaps it will never happen.

I changed my mind, Paris. I don’t need you to be the most well-behaved dog on earth. In the past, I had always wanted you to be more docile, and less excitable. In short, to emulate Sugar. But you are you, and you are unique. So just be yourself and continue being rambunctious and happy.

Love you,
Mummy

The Coveted Alpha Position

Paris, the eldest furkid at home now, has been humping Belle puppy very frequently of late.  I suppose Belle’s ‘puppy licence’ has expired and that Paris is feeling the need to exert her authority over the young one.

We usually don’t intervene, because this is the way in the animal kingdom, especially in a pack of dogs.  They have their own way of determining who’s the alpha to follow and unless the situation becomes ugly, we just watch on the sly.  For example, it was very obvious right from the start that my late Sugar was destined to be the omega.  She allowed Paris (who was then a puppy much smaller than she was) to hump her without any sort of resistance.  It broke my heart to witness that scene being played many many times over, but it would probably be too much to ask of my gentle Sugar to step up to be the alpha.  It was just not in her to be the leader of the pack.

History repeated itself again when Belle came into the pack.  She would, as a very young puppy, hump Sugar when Sugar was lying down.  And that docile girl just succumbed without any fuss.

Now, things are different between Paris and Belle.  Paris was formerly the alpha of the pack when there were just two of them.  With Belle’s entry into the pack, it’s inevitable that the dynamics might change.  Because Belle has shown herself to be capable of being very bitchy – she ever challenged her own sibling to a fight in front of my eyes – I was advised by L that I might wish to consider aiding Paris to become the alpha instead.  Her reasoning was that in the very least, we know Paris’ real temperament and I could control her.  Conversely, I am still not sure of Belle’s true temperament in different social settings.

I thought it made sense, and shared this thought with the hubby.  Together, we decided to ‘support’ Paris in her quest to maintain her alpha position.  So what have we done?  We split them apart when Belle attempts to hump Paris, but when the reverse happens, we keep quiet and look away.  Also, on walks, I allow Paris to walk ahead of Belle.  Very subtle but symbolic hints from us which may not be picked up by human beings, but trust me, the girls know it.

The other day before the hubby left for the States, he asked me while we were watching the girls hump each other, ‘Do you think we are going against nature by intervening?  If Belle is meant to be the alpha, maybe we should let her be.’

I thought about it hard.  And I don’t have an answer.  As of now, this quest for the coveted alpha position has not posed to be a problem because they never turn against and hurt each other.  I don’t leave things to chance so I monitor the situation, and I’ve noticed that Paris has been on the active mode in this quest.  Only strange thing is, she has been humping Belle-Belle’s head instead of the conventional position and I suspect it’s because she’s finding difficulting subduing the puppy in the conventional position.  Doesn’t that already say something, that the puppy is not ready to submit?

Oh, I don’t know.  Should I let nature take its course, or should I insist that Paris be made the alpha?