.: Sugar the Beagle :.

Leave No One Behind!

2010-05-03T01:28:00.005+08:00

This is an extremely heartwarming video I'll like to share.

Even though this video said that the dog who was knocked down lived, another website stated that the victim died. If the latter is true, it must have been a really painful way for the dog to die.

Rane said that even dogs were more humane and compassionate than humans are, given the fact that none of the cars stopped to help and one of the cars even ran over the dog a second time! This is how ugly human beings can be.

Aren't our (dogs) lives worth anything at all? I think no one should be left behind; human or animals alike.

Furmily: Creamie & Crunchie

2010-04-06T00:01:00.007+08:00

Rane was walking me (Sugar) around the estate one night when we came across a cage on a large field. When we approached the cage, we saw a pair of skinny rabbits with no food or water source. Rane was secretly hoping that someone had left them there temporarily and would pick them up in due time, thus we continued our walk. Even though it's our cherished walk time, Rane paid little attention to me as she couldn't stop thinking of the two rabbits.

While walking back home, Rane decided to make a detour and check if the rabbits were still there. Much to her expectations, no one came forward to 'claim' the rabbits. Feeling worried for their welfare, she decided to bring them home, much to her parents' dismay (as Rane's parents felt that there were too many animals at home). It was a long walk home asRane had great difficulties handling me with one hand and carrying the cage with another.

Creamie

Rane had initially named the white rabbit 'Milky' and the brown rabbit 'Honey' but Rane's mother felt that the names sounded too feminine for boys, thus Rane renamed them 'Creamie' and 'Crunchie'. However, Rane's mum always forget that their names were 'Creamie' and 'Crunchie', and decided to call them'Whitish' and 'Brownish' instead.

Worried for their health, Rane brought both the rabbits to the vet and they were deemed to be malnourished and underweight. On top of that, they were infested with mites. The vet estimated Creamie to be 4 to 5 years old, while Crunchie was less than a year old. That was in 2007.

Crunchie

Today, after receiving lots of Tender Loving Care (TLC), the boys blossomed into handsome rabbits; they were no longer the scrawny rabbits with matted fur. They enjoy each other's company, with Creamie being the more dominant rabbit. They share most of their lives together; from the same litter box, to the same food bowl, to the same water bowl and the same living area.

Unwilling Water Dogs

2010-04-04T16:00:00.001+08:00

My doctor has been encouraging me to lose weight for umpteen times. In a bid to make me lose fats without putting much pressure on my joints (as I have slight arthritis with weak knees plus slight hip dysplasia), the humans have signed us (Posh and I) up for a membership with dog club just to use their swimming facilities. This is on top of a diet that we are undergoing.

Losing fats with lesser food intake? This doesn't seem to make much sense. Since I am starting to burn fats, aren't I suppose to eat more or at least the same? I tried looking pitiful, I tried begging for more food but they didn't work. Sighs. The humans seem to mean it this time. The doctor has made my life more miserable than ever.

And did I mention, I or rather We (Posh and I) HATE swimming. The cold water gets into our ears, our eyes and our noses. It smelled weird too. The humans kept dragging and throwing us into the water despite strong resistance and protest. They said that since they've paid so much for our membership and entrance fees, we should make full use of it! However, we weren't the ones who requested for swimming sessions in the first place! Just look at the pictures taken during our swim and you'll know how miserable we felt being forced to swim.

The following are photos of Sugar (me)

The following are pictures of Posh

See how pitiful/pathetic we look after our swim? We are all wet and ugly *sobs*

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle

I'll be Here for You

2010-03-26T22:28:00.010+08:00

In Life, we may not always see eye to eye. At times, we may even head in different directions.

However, when life doesn't treat you fairly, please remember that my shoulder is always here for you to cry on.

That's what family and friends are for.

We're Back~~~

2010-03-19T22:16:00.003+08:00

Hey hey,

We're back!!! On a whole, the past few months have been great for us. We've been eating well and putting on a little weight. *sheepish grins*

However, there were certain hiccups along the way. The doctor officially declared me overweight and suggested putting me on a diet.

On top of that, I sprained one of my toes and was hopping on three paws. My humans were baffled as to how it happened. Two x-rays were taken and it was discovered that I have a slight hip dysplasia. The doctor has since prescribed me glucosamine and strongly recommended swimming in a bid to strengthen my thigh muscles and hopefully, to shed some fats/weight.

The doctor also mentioned that if I maintain or continue to to put on weight, I will have a good chance of developing arthritis in my knee joints and/or worsening condition of my hip displasia.

Did I mention that my humans did not celebrate my birthday this year as they were too busy? Rane promised to make it up for me and I'm still waiting. Sighs.

Oh well, in life there are ups and downs right?

Here's a picture of the impatient us with packets of treats. How are we to loose weight with such great temptations? =P

Same Same But Different

2009-10-03T12:15:00.000+08:00

When both Posh and I are brought out together, most people (especially non-dog owners) will have problems telling us apart.

Being the more playful and mischievous dog among us, Posh tend to get scolded more often than I do. Initially, when Posh first came to live with us, Rane and her family often chided me when Posh misbehaved, simply because they mistook me for Posh! It doesn't help that Posh often reacted to the name "Sugar" too! I was often made the ~~scape-goat~~ scape-dog!

(Rane: Posh always assume that Sugar has better privileges than she does, thus when we call for Sugar, Posh will react and come to us even though she knows her name is Posh.)

Luckily, Rane and her family took a pretty short period of time to recognise us and before long, they could easily differentiate Posh and I.

Differences

Here are a few ways to tell who is Posh and who is Sugar.

Left: Posh Right: Sugar

In both pictures above, Posh is featured on the left side of this picture, while I am featured on the right. The most distinctive feature that tells us apart is our size; Posh has slighter shorter legs and a smaller bone frame, while I have longer legs and a larger bone frame.

If you notice, Posh has a large white patch on her scruff, while I have what my owners call "a skunk stripe". They often poke-fun at me, saying I not only look like a skunk with that stripe, I smell like a skunk too !!! How hurting can that be!

While both Posh and I have floppy ears, Posh's ears are significantly bigger than mine.

Posh

While I have a skunkie stripe, Posh has an "exclamation mark" on the right side of her body, near her spine. That reminds me of Bolt.

Left: Posh Right: Sugar

Left: Sugar Right: Posh

Both Posh and I are tri-coloured, however Posh's shade of brown is darker while mine's lighter.

Posh

In terms of personality, we are a world apart. Posh is always up to mischief and is forever on the hunt for food (on the sly of course). She won't even spare the green beans that Rane has sprouted for the hamster, not to mention the capsicum that Rane has deliberately purchased for the rabbits!

PoshPosh

Sugar

Unlike Posh, I rarely steal food. I will usually wait for someone to feed me treats. As the humans claim that too much treats are unhealthy for us, they do not feed us treats all the time. Thus Posh will get really impatient at times and decide to bite the cover off the treat box by herself.

Similarities

Despite our differences, Posh and I share certain similarities.

Sugar

Posh

Both Posh and I really fancy eating treats. We will do any tricks just for it (as long as we know how to).

Sugar

Posh

As hounds, we love sniffing anything and everything; from the ground to the air, from the pole to the fire hydrant. You name it, we smell it!

Left: Posh Right: Sugar

Both of us really hate posing for pictures. We can't understand why the humans must force us to look at the camera lens. The camera lens neither smell nor taste good!

Left: Sugar Right: Posh

Both of us really really love eating ice-cream. The non-lactose ones of course! We adore it especially on hot sunny days.

That's all for today! I'll tell you more on how to tell us apart in time to come. Stay Tune!

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle
(on behalf of Posh and herself)

Bookss

2009-08-31T23:44:00.000+08:00

These are some of the "animal books" that Rane found while sorting out her stuff.

After spending so much money and time on books, I don't seem to feel better taken care of.

These humans should just spend the excess money and time on us!

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle

My Name is Sam

2009-08-28T23:55:00.001+08:00

The author, Chris Benton, has given her permission to reprint this story and permission for you to use and pass it on to everyone. Her recommendation is that every person who takes an obedience class, adopts a dog or gets a puppy, should have a copy of this story.

After I was discharged from the Navy, Jim and I moved back to Detroit to use our GI bill benefits to get some schooling. Jim was going for a degree in Electronics and I, after much debating, decided to get mine in Computer Science.

One of the classes that was a requirement was Speech. Like many people, I had no fondness for getting up in front of people for any reason, let alone to be the center of attention as I stuttered my way through some unfamiliar subject. But I couldn't get out of the requirement, and so I found myself in my last semester before graduation with Speech as one of my classes.

On the first day of class our professor explained to us that he was going to leave the subject matter of our talks up to us, but he was going to provide the motivation of the speech. After agonizing over a subject matter, I decided on the topic of spaying and neutering pets. My goal was to try to persuade my classmates to neuter their pets. So I started researching the topic. There was plenty of material, articles that told of the millions of dogs and cats that were euthanized every year, of supposedly beloved pets that were turned in to various animal control facilities for the lamest of reasons, or worse, dropped off far from home, bewildered and scared. Death was usually a blessing.

The final speech was looming closer, but I felt well prepared. My notes were full of facts and statistics that I felt sure would motivate even the most naive of pet owners to succumb to my plea. A couple of days before our speeches were due, I had the bright idea of going to the local branch of the Humane Society and borrowing a puppy to use as a sort of a visual aid. I called the Humane Society and explained what I wanted. They were very happy to accommodate me. I made arrangements to pick up a puppy the day before my speech. When I went to pick up the puppy I was feeling very confident. I could quote all the statistics and numbers without ever looking at my notes. The puppy, I felt, would add the final emotional touch.

When I arrived at the Humane Society I was met by a young guy named Ron. He explained that he was the public relations person for the Humane Society. He was very excited about my speech and asked if I would like a tour of the facilities before I picked up the puppy. I enthusiastically agreed. We started out in the reception area, which was the general public's initial encounter with the Humane Society.

The lobby was full, mostly with people dropping off various animals that they no longer wanted. Ron explained to me that this branch of the Humane Society took in about fifty animals a day and adopted out only about twenty. As we stood there I heard snatches of conversation: "I can't keep him, he digs holes in my garden." "They are such cute puppies, I know you will have no trouble finding homes for them." "She is wild, I can't control her." I heard one of Humane Society's volunteer explain to the lady with the litter of puppies that the Society was filled with puppies and that these puppies, being black, would immediately be put to sleep.Black puppies, she explained, had little chance of being adopted. The woman who brought the puppies in just shrugged, "I can't help it," she whined. "They are getting too big. I don't have room for them." We left the reception area. Ron led me into the staging area where all the incoming animals were evaluated for adoptability. Over half never even made it to the adoption center. There were just too many. Not only were people bringing in their own animals, but strays were also dropped off. By law the Humane Society had to hold a stray for three days. If the animal was not claimed by then, it was euthanized, since there was no background information on the animal. There were already too many animals that had a known history eagerly provided by their soon to be ex-owners.

As we went through the different areas, I felt more and more depressed. No amount of statistics, could take the place of seeing the reality of what this throwaway attitude did to the living, breathing animal. It was overwhelming. Finally Ron stopped in front of a closed door. "That's it," he said, "except for this." I read the sign on the door. "Euthanasia Area." "Do you want to see one?" he asked. Before I could decline, he interjected, "You really should. You can't tell the whole story unless you experience the end." I reluctantly agreed. "Good." He said, "I already cleared it and Peggy is expecting you." He knocked firmly on the door. A middle-aged woman in a white lab coat opened it immediately. "Here's the girl I was telling you about," Ron explained. Peggy looked me over. "Well, I'll leave you here with Peggy and meet you in the reception area in about fifteen minutes. I'll have the puppy ready."

With that Ron departed, leaving me standing in front of the stern-looking Peggy. Peggy motioned me in.

As I walked into the room, I gave an audible gasp. The room was small and spartan. There were a couple of cages on the wall and a cabinet with syringes and vials of a clear liquid. In the middle of the room was an examining table with a rubber mat on top. There were two doors other than the one I had entered. Both were closed. One said to incinerator room, and the other had no sign, but I could hear various animals' noises coming from behind the closed door. In the back of the room, near the door that was marked incinerator were the objects that caused my distress: two wheelbarrows, filled with the bodies of dead kittens and puppies. I stared in horror. Nothing had prepared me for this. I felt my legs grow weak and my breathing become rapid and shallow. I wanted to run from that room, screaming. Peggy seemed not to notice my state of shock. She started talking about the euthanasia process, but I wasn't hearing her. I could not tear my gaze away from the wheelbarrows and those dozens of pathetic little bodies.

Finally, Peggy seemed to notice that I was not paying attention to her. "Are you listening?" she asked irritably. "I'm only going to go through this once." I tore my gaze from the back of the room and looked at her. I opened my mouth to say something, but nothing would come out, so I nodded. She told me that behind the unmarked door were the animals that were scheduled for euthanasia that day. She picked up a chart that was hanging from the wall. "One fifty-three is next," she said as she looked at the chart. "I'll go get him." She laid down the chart on the examining table and started for the unmarked door. Before she got to the door she stopped and turned around. "You aren't going to get hysterical, are you?" she asked, "Because that will only upset the animals." I shook my head. I had not said a word since I walked into that room. I still felt unsure if I would be able to without breaking down into tears. As Peggy opened the unmarked door I peered into the room beyond.

It was a small room, but the walls were lined and stacked with cages. It looked like they were all occupied. Peggy opened the door of one of the lower cages and removed the occupant. From what I could see it looked like a medium-sized dog. She attached a leash and ushered the dog into the room in which I stood. As Peggy brought the dog into the room I could see that the dog was no more than a puppy, maybe five or six months old. The pup looked to be a cross between a Lab and a German shepherd. He was mostly black, with a small amount of tan above his eyes and on his feet.He was very excited and bouncing up and down, trying to sniff everything in this new environment. Peggy lifted the pup onto the table. She had a card in her hand, which she laid on the table next to me. I read the card. It said that number one fifty-three was a mixed Shepherd, six months old. He was surrendered two days ago by a family. Reason of surrender was given as "jumps on children." At the bottom was a note that said "Name: Sam." Peggy was quick and efficient, from lots of practice, I guessed. She lay one fifty-three down on his side and tied a rubber tourniquet around his front leg. She turned to fill the syringe from the vial of clear liquid.

All this time I was standing at the head of the table. I could see the moment that one fifty-three went from a curious puppy to a terrified puppy. He did not like being held down and he started to struggle. It was then that I finally found my voice. I bent over the struggling puppy and whispered, "Sam. Your name is Sam." At the sound of his name Sam quit struggling. He wagged his tail tentatively and his soft pink tongue darted out and licked my hand. And that is how he spent his last moment. I watched his eyes fade from hopefulness to nothingness. It was over very quickly. I had never even seen Peggy give the lethal shot. The tears could not be contained any longer. I kept my head down so as not to embarrass myself in front of the stoic Peggy. My tears fell onto the still body on the table. "Now you know," Peggy said softly. Then she turned away. "Ron will be waiting for you."

I left the room. Although it seemed like it had been hours, only fifteen minutes had gone by since Ron had left me at the door. I made my way back to the reception area. True to his word, Ron had the puppy all ready to go. After giving me some instructions about what to feed the puppy, he handed the carrying cage over to me and wished me good luck on my speech. That night I went home and spent many hours playing with the orphan puppy. I went to bed that night but I could not sleep. After a while I got up and looked at my speech notes with their numbers and statistics. Without a second thought, I tore them up and threw them away. I went back to bed. Sometime during the night I finally fell asleep.

The next morning I arrived at my Speech class with Puppy Doe. When my turn came, I held the puppy in my arms, I took a deep breath, and I told the class about the life and death of Sam. When I finished my speech I became aware that I was crying. I apologized to the class and took my seat. After class the teacher handed out a critique with our grades. I got an "A." His comments said "Very moving and persuasive."

Two days later, on the last day of class, one of my classmates came up to me. She was an older lady that I had never spoken to in class. She stopped me on our way out of the classroom. "I want you to know that I adopted the puppy you brought to class," she said. "His name is Sam."

by Chris Benton

I read this story off a local forum and I strongly recommend everyone to spare a little time to read it; it is worth every single bit of your time.

Meanwhile, I strongly urge everyone to consider adopting an animal from a shelter.

Regards,
Rane

The following are some adoption websites (within Singapore):

Dogs
Animal Lovers League
Action for Singapore Dogs
Dog People
Doggie Rescue Shelter
Jing Jing Dogs
Project JK

Cats
Cat Welfare Society

Rabbits
House Rabbit Society Singapore

All/Others
Hardware Zone
Noah's Ark
Pets.com.sg
Singapore Pets Channel
SPCA

Little Gui Lin

2009-08-23T01:30:00.004+08:00

Hey Paw Pals,

How have you guys/girls been?

Nothing much have been going on in our lives in the past couple of months (that we didn't blog), except for the fact that I vomited blood so many times that I had to be sent in to the ER. After many blood tests, scans and pain, the doctor could not conclude what exactly was wrong with me. Thankfully, I recovered after a few rounds of medication and was brought to my usual walks.

The following are (backdated) pictures taken when Rane brought us for a walk at Xiao Guilin, a disused quarry which was transformed into a park.

Rane always complain that it's tough to get us looking at the camera. It makes me wonder why is she still trying so hard when she knows that we are not keen in posing for the camera at all!

We are more interested in posing for kids than cameras.

Rane was so busy taking pictures of us, she forgot to take pictures of the scenery! This is the only picture that has part of a quarry in the background.

Both Posh and I are very attracted by the pigeons.

Our attention was caught by the MRT, which had just passed behind us.

As the park is located within residential areas, HDB apartments can be spotted in the background. Unlike most countries, public housing in Singapore are not only meant for individuals who require financial assistance. About 85% of Singaporeans live in these apartments/flats which are built by the government.

Both of us trying to act loving.

Regards,

Sugar

Good Food!

2009-04-01T00:00:00.013+08:00

I'm always behind time. This time, I'm blogging about an outing that I went 3 Saturdays ago.

Posing for a picture because Rane insisted on taking a photo.

The ever-so-excited Posh.

Rane decided to bring us to this new place call K9 Campus. It comprises of a grooming salon, a dog school, a dog hotel, a dog bakery and a cafe (that is dog friendly!)

Posh can't resist the 'free smells' at the cafe.

We were lucky to get a slice of free cake each from a doggy who was celebrating his birthday.

However, I don'tcan cakes, pastries and biscuits. Rane says I'm a fussy dog.

Meanwhile, Posh was enjoying every single bit of it.

And she left some remnants of the cake on my head!

Lots of it in fact! What a messy eater she was.

The birthday boy! We are sorry we didn't catch your name. Neither do we know how old you are. Nonetheless, we'll still like to wish you a nice and wonderful barkday. Happy Birthday!

A close up of the cake.

Rane decided that Posh should not be eating two slices of cake.

Thus, she coaxed me into eating by baby feeding me. How could I not obliged?

The very greedy Posh.

Posh is willing to do anything for food.

Rane says Posh is such an easy victim for a dog-nap to take place.

As usual, Rane wanted both of us to pose for a picture.

We got bored indoors and Rane decided to let us out for a short run.

When the human food came, Posh couldn't stop smelling and staring at it!

How greedy can she be!

I decided to check out the garbage bag but was scolded instead! The human will never understand our love for trash. As the saying goes 'one man's meat is another man's poison'.

Then came out food. I was so hungry I forgot to ask for the name of this dish. I only tasted rice, vegetable and mutton.

Rane was ensuring that the temperature of food was just nice for us, just so that we will not be scalded.

And as usual, we had to pose with the food before we can eat.

Permission granted to eat!

We attracted the attention of other (human) patrons as we ate our meal. They couldn't stop commenting on how fast Posh gobbled her meal and how well mannered I was to eat demurely.

While I was halfway through the meal, Posh has already finished hers.

I had to double check that Posh finished every single bit of her food.

This collie just wouldn't spare Posh's butt!

A gorgeous husky.

An awesome sheltie.

All good thing comes to an end.

I can't wait for the next outing.

Dearest Rane, when will you ever be free to bring us out again!?!?!

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle

Brownie's1st Birthday

2009-03-12T02:22:00.007+08:00

3 Saturdays ago, Brownie (our classmate/friend) invited us to her 1st barkday pawty at her favourite cafe, Urban Pooch.

Oh boy, we were so excited about it. It's our first time attending a barkday pawty!

Rane said we must post a nice picture for the camera.

She made us look as if we were looking at the camera lens by placing our food right below the camera. How mean can she be!

Mage ordered lamb meat balls & chicken shepherd's pie for both Posh & I to share. For the first time after her surgery, Posh got to eat delicious food outside her 'special diet'.

The birthday girl waiting for her yummylicious lunch in great anticipation.

Poor me was made to stay before the food and pose for a picture while everyone else was chomping away.

Poor Brownie was placed in the playpen after she stole my food. I didn't mind sharing my food, really. After all, she was the birthday girl!

Evidence of the stolen food.

The silly bowl kept moving as I licked up the food and I had to walk while eating. After a while, I saw Brownie staring at me! Woops!

Rane placed me on the chair and I was stuck there for a good 10 minutes because I didn't have the guts to jump down.

After lunch, we were all made to pose for a picture.

With many unsuccessful attempts.

When all of us finally looked at one direction, it was the wrong direction! We weren't keen in looking at the camera.

All of us refuse to cooperate, making the humans look like monkeys as they tried hard to get our attention.

Posh was so bored that she leaned her head on me.

After 4 cameras, 6 people and 43 shots (that's not including the number of photos taken by other fur-parents), this was the most successful picture taken by us.

Silly Rane and Mage forgot to take a picture of Brownie blowing out the candle.

Brownie waited impatiently while her mummy divided the cake among the 6 of us.

Brownie was really please with her mummy's choice of Strawberry Cheese Cake.

And so were we.

Choco decided that cheese cake was not to her liking and guess who benefitted from it?

Brownie was looking forward to unwrap her barkday presents.

All of us started to chill after all the fun, food and joy.

Posh (on the right) and I (on the left) just before we leave the place.

Dear Brownie,

Thank you Brownie for your invitation to your barkday pawty. We really enjoy it loads. Meanwhile, I hope you had an enjoyable and wonderful birthday celebration.

Happy 1st Birthday~

Loves,
Sugar & Posh

Wordy Updates on Our Tummy

2009-02-15T11:59:00.001+08:00

Dear All,

We are sorry for the lack of updates for the past two weeks. Since the start of this year, the dogs took turns to fall sick and it doesn’t help when I’m not feeling that well either. The vet detected the existence of bacteria from both Sugar’s and Posh’s poo sample and it makes me wonder if the bacteria were spread among the dogs (and maybe even me) to fall ill.

I guess I have to stop the dogs from interacting too much with each other, share water bowls, share food bowls (both of them have their own food bowls, but they always have this impression that the other dog is having a better deal of the meal) and toys, so as to end the vicious cycle of them suffering from diarrhoea episodes. I too, have to pay more attention to personal hygiene, especially after handling them but this proves to be a challenge because as long as I’m at home, I touch and kiss them ever so often and in return, they will shower me with their love in the form of slobbers and saliva.

Ever since Posh had her diarrhoea, she was prescribed two different kinds of antibiotics for two times a day. It’s been a challenge to not miss a single dose. Each morning, I have to feed her medication and food (as antibiotics are acidic and not recommended to be fed on an empty stomach) before I rush off to work. I am thankful that my parents for helping me when I woke up a tad too late to medicate and feed Posh.

I was really glad when her course of antibiotics ended. However, my happiness was short lived. Posh started having diarrhoea the very next day after her course of antibiotics ended. I decided to monitor her condition as on most days, it was a ‘one time off’ thing.

But things took for a bad turn. Posh diarrhoeaed a total of 6 times yesterday and off we go to the vet. What a ‘nice’ way to celebrate Valentines Day. The vet could not identify the exact cause of her diarrhoea.

There are three possible reasons.

Posh’s stomach could not function optimally as the previous courses of antibiotics had killed both the good bacteria (that aids digestion etc) and bad bacteria in her guts.
It could be the bad bacteria (that Posh probably picked up from licking off the ground and rubbish from the trash bin).
The surgery had taken a toll on Posh’s digestive system.

The vet has decided to not prescribe another course of antibiotics, just in case it was the lack of good bacteria that caused the problem. Moreover, too much antibiotics do more harm than good to her body. Instead, the vet prescribed antacid, charcoal, probiotics, enzymes and another medication (to stop diarrhoea).

We left the vet $163.90 poorer, and two paper bags filled with medicine and prescribed diet (both canned food and kibbles.)

I fed all of Posh’s medication except for the one that stops diarrhoea as she did not diarrhoea after we left the vet’s clinic. I did not want to feed her too much anti-diarrhoea medicine just in case she got constipated and at the same time I was half hoping that she will pass out all the bad stuff that was causing the diarrhoea.

Meanwhile, it is a good sign that Posh is still active, bright and alert. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Sugar will not be affected, if Posh’s episode of diarrhoea is related to bad bacteria. I really want to break the vicious cycle of my dogs taking turns to diarrhoea.

I am so sick of queueing up at the vet, collecting the dogs’ poo samples, feeding medicine, monitoring their conditions, checking their progress and making sure they are fine. I want to spend my time pampering my dogs with treats, bringing them out for long walks, swimming with them in the sea and playing with them just like any other dog owners would. I want my dogs to be happy and healthy, not gloomy and sick.

Sighs. On top of that, the amount of money we spent on the dogs’ medication since December last year is scary; it’s a four figure sum! I have yet to calculate the exact ‘damage’ done to our pockets.

I am so thankful that my parents helped me to pay most of the bills, otherwise I will have a hard time coping with the expenses all by myself. At times, I really wish that my dog’s hospital bills can be deducted via my Medisave (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Medisave) account.

Love,

A Very Tired Rane

On behalf of Sugar & Posh

Wordy Updates on Our Tummy

2009-02-15T11:59:00.000+08:00

Dear All,

There are three possible reasons.

Posh’s stomach could not function optimally as the previous courses of antibiotics had killed both the good bacteria (that aids digestion etc) and bad bacteria in her guts.
It could be the bad bacteria (that Posh probably picked up from licking off the ground and rubbish from the trash bin).
The surgery had taken a toll on Posh’s digestive system.

We left the vet $163.90 poorer, and two paper bags filled with medicine and prescribed diet (both canned food and kibbles.)

Love,

A Very Tired Rane

On behalf of Sugar & Posh

My Miserable 3rd Birthday

2009-02-01T23:59:00.000+08:00

Remember how I would like to celebrate my 3rd Birthday, as mentioned on my Resolution in Year 2009?

It's gone down the drain. The worse thing is, almost everyone forgot about it. Rane only know that it was my birthday after realising that it's the month of February now. Then she guiltily sang me a birthday song.

A very sad me.

To think she started borrowing books and surfing websites since last year, to search for recipes on baking a birthday cake and cookies for my birthday pawty. All thanks to Posh; she kept all of us so worried and busy, we didn't have time to plan nor carry out a birthday pawty.

Sighs.

Luckily Rane decided to make up for it by promising to bring me out (alone without Posh of course) for a nice meal and a long walk. I secretly hope she'll bring me to the beach though.

Sweet Licks,
The Sad Birthday Girl
Sugar

Sugar's and Posh's Progress

2009-02-01T12:23:00.004+08:00

Dear All,

It's me, Sugar the Beagle again. Though I'm still under medication, I have more or less recovered. I no longer vomit nor diarrhoea excessively.

Posh's wound has also healed nicely. No secondary infections (as yet). She still has to be monitored closely.

As Posh hasn't been consuming any food since she was admitted to the hospital, food has to be slowly reintroduced, starting from semi solid food.

We had to purchase canned food that was prescribed by the doctor and mashed it up with water so that it will be easier for Posh to digest. Initially, we fed her 4 to 5 teeny tiny meals a day, with each meal consisting 2 spoonfuls of food.

This is Posh's expensive canned food. I love eating it just as much! I kinda wish I was sick too.

Posh was recommended to eat (only) half a can of food each day. However, that was insufficient for ever so ~~greedy~~ hungry beagle. She started whining/barking/howling each time somebody eats or enters the kitchen. She was such an annoying dog!

From there, her meal portion was slowly increased. To date, she is eating almost 1 canned food. Posh currently weighs slightly over 10kg (approximately 22 pounds). Both Rane and the vet felt that Posh is too skinny for her size.

Now, there's some bad news. Posh has an attack of diarrhoea. It was so bad, we had to clear up after her 8 times! Rane will be bringing her to the vet later in the afternoon. We'll keep everyone updated about her condition.

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle

The Mystery

2009-01-23T15:45:00.001+08:00

Dear Readers,

I'm sorry for the late post; I started typing this post on 17th Jan, but only managed to complete it today. I am such a slow blogger. Sighs.

Anyway, I know many of you are concern abou't Sugar and Posh's condition and is anxious to know how they are. In general, Posh seems to recover pretty well while Sugar's diarrhoea seems to be getting worse.

I just realised that I did not mention Sugar's condition in the previous posts.

On Sunday, when we discharged Posh from the clinic for a night, we brought Sugar to see the doctor too. The doctor diagnosed that Sugar was most probably suffering from gastritis, and we were instructed to monitor her condition, just in case it deteriorates and that could possibly mean that there are other reasons being her throwing up.

We brought her home and fed her with medicine. All else looks fine until .................... she started having diarrhoea on It's been a 'on off' thing and we're monitoring her condition while feeding her with charcoal. Recently, Sugar's been releasing quite a lot of gas too (farting). I hope that is an indication of recovery.

However, I decided to bring her to the doctor yesterday after she diarrhoeaed continuously thrice. The doctor poked Sugar's anus with a thermometer and took it out with traces of her feaces. Sugar's temperature was within normal range and after checking the feaces under the microscope, the doctor found the presence of a bacteria (I can't remember the name of the bacteria).

The bacteria is present in contamined water or soil and Sugar probably picked it up when she licked off the ground (without our notice) or from the sea water when we brought her out for swimming.

I started feeding her medication last night but she still continued to diarrhoea more frequently today. We're (still) monitoring her condition and hopefully it improves in due time.

Back to Posh.

For days, we've been guessing what could Posh have possibly consumed that upset digestive system so much. We had guessed squeaker toys as she had puked some rubber like items while she was hospitalised. After the ultrasound scan report mentioned that cloth or tissue like material was detected, we guessed soft toys as Posh is very fond of gnawing soft toys, even after the thread breaks. At times, she'll chew on the fibre and will only stop if we caught notice of it.

Make a guess what Posh swallowed?

The packet of stomach content stank so much that we could smell it through 3 plastic bags and 1 container.

Least did we expect Posh to swallow ............................

YARN

WOOL

My family and I do not have the slightest idea where did Posh get the yarn from, because nobody in the family knits. Even though we have a few balls of yarn, they are well kept in a container beyond the reach of dogs.

The one and only ball of yarn that was not kept in the container, was thrown into the bin by my mum last year. Since Posh has this bad habit of raiding the bin, we highly suspect that she stole it from the bin and slurp it down, imagining she was eating spaghetti.

The original colour of the wool was not brown. The colour was 'dyed' by Posh's GI tract.

We were told by the veterinarian that the ball of yarn was lodged at the back of her tongue (towards the opening of Posh's throat), all the way through her oesophagus, duodenum, illeum and colon. The tension of the wool pulling was so strong that Posh's intestine were held together, like an accordian. In order to remove the wool, the doctor had to made 4 separte incisions on 4 different areas of Posh's small intestine. Posh's vet also commented that if surgery was delayed, gangrene would have occured in Posh's digestive tract. Phew! How lucky Posh was admidst the unluckiness.

It looks more like a pile of poo. It smells like one too.

Another picture of the yarn stuck in Posh's GI tract (gastrointestinal tract). From the colour difference of the yarn, one can likely guess which part of the yarn was stuck at which part of the GI tract. The bottom part of the yarn where it looks like feaces is in the midst of being form, is probably taken out from the colon. And that probably explains why it stinks!

Posh was shaved further for the surgery.

The first two days after her surgery, Posh was pretty listless. By the third day, when Posh started to feel better, she jumped around excitedly appoint seeing us. We were so worried that her stitches would 'burst'!

Posh was discharged 4 days after her surgery, after the staff at the clinic ensured that Posh could drink and eat without vomiting.

The very long incision.

Posh was made to wear the elizabethan collar, until her surgery wound recovers fully. Just in case she decides to chew on her wound when it itches. The last thing we would want is to have her internal organs spilling all over the ground. Gross!

Posh was also instructed to have cage rest, so that she doesn't overly exert herself. Being a typical beagle, she started to whine/bark/howl after some time. The little bout of energy simply refuses to be caged up!

Posh's first review is due today in the evening. I will update on her progress in due time.

When will she ever learn?

Regards,
Rane
(Owner of Sugar & Posh)

Foreign Object

2009-01-13T19:48:00.007+08:00

Dear All,

I am very sorry for the delayed updates as I fell quite ill myself and I was too sick to blog, amidst all the time spent rushing between vets and checking constantly on the dogs.

Firstly, I will like to thank River for blogging on for us and for helping us to post it on DWB News. With that, many kind visitors dropped by Sugar's blog to give us words of encouragement.

Thank you all, for those words were (and still are) really heartening and brought much warmth to our hearts (my family and I). To many, these are mere plain words, but to us these are words that help us through trying times like this.

Without further a do, I'll continue to blog on Posh's condition.

Monday, 12th January 2009

We sent Posh to a hospital for an x-ray and ultrasound scan yesterday. The x-ray failed to detect any irregularities in the digestive system but that doesn't mean that Posh's gastrointestinal tract is 'free' of foreign object, reason being x-rays are mainly used to detect objects with metal contents, such as paper clips, knives and bones.

Thus, the doctor suggested that we do an ultra-sound scan and if it fails to detect any abnormalities, a barium study/swallow will be carried out.

Posh feeling nausea and about to puke.

We are thankful that through the ultra-sound scan, the doctor was able to detect a cloth or tissue paper like object stuck between the stomach and the beginning of the small intestine. With this information, Posh need not go through the pain of swallowing the liquid (a contrast medium needed for the barium study), especially since she has been vomiting non-stop since we brought her home the night before. This also means that we'll be able to save a whooping $400++.

With that information, we were able to proceed to Posh's regular doctor and discuss our options.

Her belly was shave down for the ultra sound scan.

While we carried her to the car, Posh vomited once. We were so afraid that she'll start vomiting on passing pedastrians. On the way back to the clinic (where Posh's regular vet works at), Posh vomited another three times or so. Each time she vomits, the puke seems to stink more than the previous one. It stank so much that it smelt like poo. That was why Mage was so disgusted when Posh vomited on him.

After we sent Posh back to her regular vet, the doctor told us that judging from the ultra-sound scan's report, Posh will have to undergo surgery and that surgery may be a complicated one and will most probably require more time. Therefore, the surgery was scheduled at night, after consultation hours are over at 10pm (and that is if all consults are completed by then.)

Before I left the clinic, I told the doctor in charge of Posh's surgery to inform me once the surgery is completed, regardless of how late it may be.

Tuesday, 13th January 2009

12.00am
I kept checking my handphone and made sure that my phone was on and it wasn't switch to silent mode. I was worried about Posh's surgery.

2.08am
I was woken up by the vet's phone call. I had dozed off while waiting for the phone call.

Posh's surgery was a success! Hooray!

The foreign object which was stuck in Posh's GI tract was also retrieved!

Though I was worried about Posh's condition, I did not visit her after her surgery, as the veterinary clinic is closed every Tuesday.

I'll update on what the foreign object is in my next post.

Posted by
Rane
(Human of Sugar and Posh)

Sick Dogs

2009-01-12T02:30:00.005+08:00

For the whole of Friday, Saturday and in the wee hours of Sunday, my entire family has been worried about Posh's condition. It doesn't help when Posh still continues to suffer from chronic vomiting, despite being hospitalised and medicated.

Sugar on the weighing scale.

She has successfully shed off another 1.1kg.
Another 2.7kg to go before she hits the ideal weight

For the past 72 hours, we've been told loads of reasons and possibilities that may contribute to her condition. We have to remain sane so as to make decisions with the minimal knowledge we have of veterinary medicine.

Every single decision is crucial; it's a matter of life and death. We can't afford to make any harsh or rush decision that leads to any mistakes or sufferings, will be bore by Posh. Posh's life is in our hands.

It doesn't help when Sugar falls ill during this trying period of time. She started vomiting on Sunday afternoon and didn't stop until the 6th time. By then, I was worried sick that I sent her in to the veterinarian.

Sugar waiting at the vet.

The veterinary clinic was packed like it always was on a typical Sunday. I arrived at 3.30pm and I saw the veterinarian only 3 hours later. I was supposed to leave the clinic at 5pm for an important class that starts at 6pm, but I decided that my furries' life are more important than my lessons.

Sugar stretch her neck long at the sight of ...

This Jrt

Moreover, I simply don't feel at ease without being present at the time of consultation, even though my boyfriend, Mage was around to help out. I guess that was mainly because I wanted to discuss with the doctor regarding Posh; the procedures to be carried out, the treatment plan and the risks involved.

I really do not want to make a decision that will make me feel guilty for the rest of my life. Moreover, I needed to be assured in person that Sugar is doing fine in general, which she is. I do not want to go through the same emotional roller coaster with Sugar, the same way I did with Posh. And I'm thankful that the suspected cause of her vomiting is Gastritis. The best thing was, Sugar never puked the 7th time.

While at the clinic, we accompanied Posh for a short moment while waiting for Sugar's turn to see the doctor. The sight of her looking so weak and listless while lying in the cage helplessly, makes my heart break. I'll never forget the expression which she cast on me; it's an expression that no words can fully describe. Miserable was the word I thought of.

Posh looking Miserable

I used to be mad at how greedy Posh was; from the way she tags us when we walk around preparing food (for both human and animals) to the way she stares pitifully and paw us for food while we're having our meals. Now, I really miss the 'little beggar'. I'd rather have a healthy greedy dog, than a sickly dog who pukes at every single thing that goes down her throat, be it food or water.

We lay the car seats with pee pads and floor boards with cardboards, just in case Posh vomits.

After Sugar's consultation, we discharged Posh for the night, just so that we can bring her in early to the hospital early Monday morning for x-rays to be done. I was taught briefly on what to watch out for while Posh was on the IV drip at home. I was also taught how to handle it if the liquid stops dripping, and how to increase or decrease the speed of IV drip, just in case any of the above mentioned happens after we return home.

Having to bring Posh home with an IV drip on, was a sorry sight. It caught the attention of many other pet owners and strangers while we walked out of the clinic, towards the car. Some were frowning while many were whispering, probably 'discussing' about what happened to Posh and how serious a state she was in.

As expected, Posh vomited during the car ride.

Soon after we reached home, Posh started to poo twice with some blood. The same 'foreign object' that she vomited out earlier the day at the clinic, was also spotted in the poo. I really wondered what was the foreign object that she had ingested.

Just a few hours ago, Posh vomited another two times. She threw up so many times over the past few days, I've lost count of the total number of times she has puked. Shortly after, she started shivering. She shivered so hard that her body trembled from head to toe. Her breathing deepened as well.

After calling up the veterinarian, we decided to give her a little time for the 'shivering' to go off. Meanwhile, we covered her with a towel and kept checking that she was alright. We were to send her straight to the emergency clinic, only if her condition worsens. Otherwise, we do not want to stress her unnecessarily with the car ride to the emergency clinic, especially when Posh gets car sick easily.

Posh with her IV drip in the car.

Even though it's 3.30am Singapore time right now, I still try my best to stay awake, just so that I can check on Posh every now and then. Luckily, her condition seems to 'stabilised'. She no longer shivers. Each time she closes her eyes to sleep, I quickly jump in to check that she's still alive and breathing. I think I'm getting a little overly anxious but I just wanted to be sure.

I guess I should also go get some sleep, so that I can remain clear minded. I can't afford to get myself worn out so fast, so easily. This is going to be a long battle. I've got to get myself on the recovery road too, as I'm down with a bad bout of flu, along with nose and throat infection.

This certainly isn't the best way to start the year. Therefore, we should all aim to be in the pink of health for the coming months and months. Keep your fingers and paws crossed for us. I'll update you guys on the results of the x-rays and the diagnosis when they are out.

Posted (once again) by
Rane
(human of Sugar and Posh)

Hospitalised

2009-01-11T01:19:00.007+08:00

Posh Dearest has been hospitalised since Friday evening and she has been on IV drip since. This was what happened.

Friday 9th January 2009

3.15pm

I received a phone call from my mum informing me that Posh has vomited four times since noon.

3.25pm

My father called me on my mobile and asked me to return home asap to take a look at Posh as she has vomited yet another time.

3.35pm

In between this period of time, Posh puked yet another two times. Posh looked really lethargic and started lying on her side in her pee tray. She neither lifted her head when my father entered the door nor did she walk towards my parents to beg for food when they were eating. She didn't even respond when they called her name. This was very unlike her and my parents were scared stiff. My father asked if I could bring her to the vet, but the clinic was closed for the afternoon for surgeries.

Posh lay on her pee tray and refused to come out of it even after coaxing her. I guess she was either too weak or she was afraid she will not make it back to the pee tray in time to puke.

4.00pm

I dropped by the supermarket to buy a bottle of Heinz Baby Food's Apple Juice to increase her glucose level and to hydrate her. She refused to drink water that my mum gave her.

4.20pm

Posh puked that very little bit of Apple Juice I fed her (approximately 3 tablespoonful). In fact, she puked 3 times.

4.45pm

Looking at how weak and tired she was, I carried her to the small little mattress that she usually lie on. There, I realised that a small part of the mattress was stained with puke. Sighs.

Posh lying on her small mattress after we changed the cover.

5.20pm

Once again, I fed her with Apple Juice but she vomited it out on two separate occasions, just 15 minutes after consuming it.

6.45pm
I've counting down for 6.45pm since 3 o'clock. Time always seem to pass much slower when you're anxious and/or worried.

7.05pm
We finally reached the vet clinic after Posh vomited twice in the car.
She has vomited a total of 15 times before seeing the doctor, and she vomited another 2 -3 times after she got admitted to hospital.

Sorry for the blurred picture. Posh was a little unsettled in the consultation room.

Posh's details @ her 'ward'.

Being the typical beagle, Posh couldn't stop sniffing an 'un-sniffed' area.

Posh, wondering why she was caged up in an unfamiliar place.

Posh with IV drip.

Posh was wearing the e collar as she looked like she will potentially remove the IV drip by herself.

Posh was smart to puke by the corners and sides, just so that the middle of the cage where she lies in, remains clean.

Posh was still vomiting when I visited her on yesterday (10 January 2009). Though the frequency of her vomiting has reduced significantly, but it was still a cause for worry.

I spoke to the vet and she mentioned that there could be few possibilities behind her vomit, which I'll blog about it in my next post.

It really pains me to see her suffering so much; from a greedy and restless dog, she became a listless dog who hasn't stop vomiting since 2 days ago. I really hope that it's nothing serious.

Posted by
Rane
(Sugar and Posh's Human)

Goodbye 2008, Hello 2009

2008-12-31T11:24:00.013+08:00

Year 2008

As a new year approaches, it's time to look at what we have been through in the past year.

Highlights of 2008

Posh joined our big furmily.
Xiao Xin (pronounced as see-ao sin), the roboskii joined our big furmily.
Goldlion the cat who was picked up and treated by Rane, is now adopted by Mage. Though we do not live together, I'll still take it that he's joined our big furmily too.
I joined the SKC Obedience Trial for the 1st time.

Best of 2008

It's the first time I've received Christmas cards from fellow fur-bloggers all over the world!
I've met the most number of fur-bloggers!
I never knew so many people/furries read my blog (I almost wanted to give up blogging for a period of time!)
Posh & I went swimming for the first time at the beach.
Posh & I went visiting the most number of parks ever.
Posh & I dined out at dog cafes the most number of time ever.
Mage bought us a machine to produce treats w/o preservatives, colourings & artificial flavouring. We love these home made treats better than any commercially produced ones!

Saddest of 2008

This year, we mourned the most number of deaths in the furmily ever. I hope this will never happen again in the following years.

We lost our dearest Tehxi.
We lost Herbie, the roboski we rescued and reared.
We lost 2 feather friends, Winter and Baby shortly after rescuing them.

Things I wished never happened in 2008

I injured my hind leg and was limpin g for a period of time.
Posh suffered immense pain when a metal bar thats 0.5cm in diameter pierced through the web of her front paw.
Posh ~~the problematic beagle~~ bit her front paw excessively till an infection occured.
I was officially declared by the veterinarian that I was 5kg overweight! Since then, my food and treats intake were reduced. However I lost only 2.5kg, which means I've got another 2.5kg more to go. It didn't help when people start commenting on how fat I was. Goodbye yummy goodies. =(
Someone forced Rane to give up both Posh & I, but Rane (with the support of her immediate family) insisted on keeping us. We're kind of safe at the moment. Keep your paws crossed for us.

Year 2009

It's the time of the year for New Year Resolutions and things to look forward to.

Things I Aim/Wish for

Lose my remaining 2.5kg of excess fats/weight.
Score well for my next Obedience Trial.
Have Posh to stay with us.
Get along well with Posh. (We have a love-hate relationship =D)
Maintain a cordial relationship with the rest of the furries.
Eat out more often at Dog Cafes.
Celebrate my 3rd birthday with a pawty.
Be showered with more Tender Loving Care.
Be fed more treats.
Be fed more chicken and duck in my meals (I LOVE poultry).
Get Rane to bake me home made cookies (I'm very fussy you see.)
Roll in the sand more often @ the beach(my favourite).
More swims in the sea.
More walks! No amount is ever too much!
Have a roof over our furry heads.
To have Rane with us all the time (she almost wanted to leave us with her family members when she got a vacancy in an Australian university this year. Thank goodness we melted her heart and changed her mind for now.)

With that, I'll like to wish all furries and human a joyous and fruitful year ahead.

Happy New Year!

Sweet Licks,
Sugar the Beagle

Merry Christmas

2008-12-25T14:37:00.006+08:00

Dear Furries and Humans,

We'll like to wish all furries and humans a

MERRY CHRISTMAS

& a

HAPPY NEW YEAR~

Love,
Sugar & Posh

P.S. This Christmas, we'll like to highlight the importance of sharing our joy and happiness. Currently, many charity organisations (for both humans and animals) are having a tough time as donations and help are limited due to the economy recession. Do extend your help this festive season. Any help (regardless of donating or volunteering) is greatly appreciated by the recipients.

Lastly, have a warm and blessed Christmas, my friends ~

Rub a Tub Tub

2008-12-18T08:00:00.005+08:00

Rub a Tub Tub, Posh Posh in a Tub

One day, Posh decided to get in the blue tub that Rane's mum uses to hold washed linens before hanging them up.

She made herself comfortable in it.

And soon ... She FELL ASLEEP in IT!!!

Sometimes I really wonder if I have a beagle as my sister, or a cat as my sister.

Rub a Tub Tub, Sugar in a Tub

Though I was clearly disgusted by the cat behaviour displayed by that beagle, I decided to find myself a tub too!

I mean, if Posh can have a tub of her own, shouldn't I have one too?

I decided to choose this tub made of China. You know, those porcelain kind that the Chinese Imperial Family used to use? It's classy, it's spacious and it definately cost more than that blue plastic tub that Posh has declared hers.

I deserve better because I'm the Princess at home.

I Rule!

---------------------------------------------------

On a sidenote, someone wanted me to post a picture of Piyo (my other bunny sibling) with a vacuum cleaner. I still have yet to understand why they love the vacuum cleaner so much.

Spokes-fur deal anyone?

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Fur & Vacuum

2008-12-10T00:00:00.000+08:00

Somehow, there's this thing between the furries and the vacuum cleaner in my house.

First it's Crunchie the Bunny.

Then, it's Posh the (Kitty) Beagle.

My humans did not make the furries pose with the vacuum cleaner. The furries just seek comfort in lying in between/by it.

Anyone knows of any vacuum cleaner company who's keen to hire them as Spokesman ... No, I mean Spokes-Fur? We'll gladly oblige for some dog food/treats, or better still, human food!

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Dining Out

2008-12-04T02:45:00.024+08:00

Oh my, I can't believe that I haven't been updating the blog in the whole of November! Okay, I shall make up for it by updating more frequently this month. I'll go blog visiting too, give us a little time ya!

Two Saturdays ago, Posh and I were happy and excited when Rane dressed herself up before leaving home; we had thought that she was gonna bring us out. But boy, we were so wrong. Rane was going for music lessons and we couldn't tag along. Posh was SO disappointed, she couldn't stop whining pitifully as we sent Rane to the door.

Rane & Mage ordered Beef with Brown Rice and Chicken Macroni with Herbs for us. In the end, they mixed both the dishes together, just so that we can have a taste of both.

Feeling guilty & a little sad to leave us behind, Rane and Mage decided to come back for us in the evening, just to bring us out for dinner. You can't imagine how touched I was. I bet it must have been Posh's whining. I have decided to learn how to whine as miserably like her!

Rane made us pose for a picture before giving us permission to eat. Look at how greedy Posh is! She couldn't stop licking and drooling!

Us, savouring every single bit of the food!

As food were served in plastic containers, the containers couldn't stop moving each time we licked from them.

In the end, we went in rounds just to have our dinner.

Even under the chair!

Poor Posh had a hard time 'picking' the cherry tomatoes that were stuck firmly to the bottom of the container.

The careless me had dropped so much food on the ground, I had to lick them up bit by bit.

I didn't even realised that I've dropped an elbow macroni. In the end, Posh benefited from my loss!

Look at all the spots on the floor, they are left behind by our drool~
*embarassed*

Posh the greedy pooch, ate up all the food that I deemed un-delicious. I've decided to term her 'My Personal Trash Bin'.

A nice sunset, though this picture doesn't justify it.
All thanks to Rane's lousy camera.

After our dinner, it started drizzling. That was when all the snails came crawling out from the ground. On the way to the toilet, Rane has to walk pass several grass patches and pavements. During which, my clumsy human crushed and killed several snails without noticing them previously! It scared the wits out of her!

Seeing how scared she was, I couldn't help but giggled. Hehs.

This is a video that shows us eating in circles, round and round each other.

Important Notice

Rane is helping us (Posh & I) with the Christmas cards for DWB (Dogs with Blog) exchange. We've gotten our first batch of xmas cards printed and greetings written. All that's left is to mail them out. Our printer has run out of ink and we're waiting to purchase a new cartridge before printing the second batch of xmas cards. We've decided to work on the snail mail first, as it takes a longer time to reach our recipients, thus e-cards will be sent out at a later date. Kindly give us a little time to sort them out.

We'll also like to inform you that we will also gladly receive e-cards, though we didn't indicate so previously. Sorry for the inconveniences caused, if any.

For friends (humans and fur/feathers/scales alike) who have missed out the deadline and will still like to receive a christmas cards from us, please email us your residential address (for snail mail) or email address (for e-cards). We are more than happy to send you a card this Christmas, irregardless of whether you are a member of DWB. We promise not to use your address for any other purposes.

Love,
Sugar the Beagle

Dogs Used as Live Bait

2008-10-26T20:13:00.011+08:00

Rane and I were surfing through a pet forum when we came across a thread titled 'Petition to Stop Using Dogs as Live Baits".

I've heard of how rabbits are being used as baits in dog racing competitions, but Dogs as Live Baits? That's the first time I've heard of it. I clicked on it and this was what I saw.

The Above Picture is taken from The Sun

Please help to sign the petition if you will like to save these poor dogs from being live baits.

Please click on this link to read more about the Dogs Used as Shark Baits.

Abstract of the article "Stray dogs are being skewered on hooks and dragged behind boats as live shark baits ............"

Rane's Words

Though the start of the petition is a good move, it will do little to eradicate the problem of sharks being endangered, and dogs being cruelly used as live baits. I personally feel the root of the problem is people's love for eating sharks. When there's no demand for sharks fin, meat and/or cartilage, no one will bother to hunt for sharks as to supply for the growing market.

Although the solution sounds like a simple approach, it'll take a long time for people to stop consuming sharks, especially when Shark Fins Soup is termed to be a Delicacy by Asians.

I'm a Chinese who is born and brought up in Singapore. Since young, I have been to wedding dinners and other functions that serve 6 to 10 course dinner comprising of various chinese dishes. During dinner, most guests will look out particularly for the shark fins soup. It seems to be the highlight of every dinner. If the shark fins were added to the soup in small portions, people will start criticising on how stingy the chef was.

It seems to me that people are more concerned about how good a deal they are getting. Since shark fins soup is usually one of the more expensive dishes in the whole course of meal, people take it that by having more shark fins in the soup, you are getting a better deal. At times, it makes me wonder if these people truly enjoyed having shark fins soup or were they more concerned about the monetary value of the shark fins itself.

I have to admit that shark fins soup taste delicious, But in my personal opinion, it isn't the taste of the shark fin itself that taste awesome. It's a combination of the chef's culinary skills on top of other ingredients, such as chicken and pork bones, dried scallops and that is used to prepare the broth. To be honest, even if the chef were to substitute the shark fins with rice vermicelli, I would have found the soup equally delicious.

At times, I even detest the taste of the shark fins itself because it wasn't prepared properly and the shark fins ended tasting fishy; with a slight foul smell (like those of an unfresh fish). Ironically, I have read that shark fins itself is tasteless.

To be frank, I didn't know the extent of cruelty when people hunt for sharks and what the impact of declining sharks has on our environment. Worst of all, I didn't know that sharks are getting endangered until I started watching a documentary film on television.

I was utterly disgusted when I saw how these fishermen cruelly chopped off the fins of the sharks while they are still alive, before throwing their bodies back into the sea. When being thrown into the sea, these sharks are still alive and struggling to live. I felt really sick upon seeing how bloody the ship was stained and how that part of the ocean started turning red as those people started 'dumping' countless of shark bodies back into the water.

Since then, I've told myself to avoid eating shark fins soup so long as it's within my capable means. Needless to say, shark fins soup is going to be off my list of dinner menu when my big day comes.

Some Interesting Facts

Why the Huge Popularity of Shark Fins Soup?
Apparently, shark fin as an ingredient dates back to the second century BC in southern China. Traditionally, it was the wealthier classes that could afford shark fin and it became associated with privilege and social rank, a symbol of extravagance and wealth. However, as the buying power of people in Asia has increased exponentially, the demand for shark fins has likewise grown.

Wasteful Nature of the Finning Industry
Once the shark is landed, the fins are hacked off (often while the shark is still alive) and the rest of the animal discarded overboard. This means that 95%-99% of the shark is wasted. As a result of increased levels of industrial shark finning, poor coastal communities in the developing world that rely on shark meat for their protein are reporting serious declines in shark catches.

Sharks without Fins Can't Survive
Usually, the shark is caught, and while it is still alive, its fins are chopped off by fishermen. The poor shark is then thrown back into the sea. Without its fins, it cannot survive. It either bleeds to death or drowns, as sharks cannot swim without their fins and need to swim forwards to get oxygen.

Endangered
A study in the northwest Atlantic ocean revealed that shark populations have declined by more than 50% in the last 15 years. Some species, particularly hammerhead sharks, have declined by an alarming 89%. Scientists believe this is reflective of a worldwide trend.

The above information is extracted from the following websites:
Shark Savers
Wild Singapore
Sharks in Hot Water (abc.net)

Ashes to Ashes, Dust to Dust

2008-10-05T19:45:00.009+08:00

3rd October 2008, Friday

Rane noticed that my bunny sister, Tehxi (pronounced as Tei-See, which means milk tea) hasn't been eating for a day. This was very unlike her, as eating was her favourite past time. She can never resist the temptation of food and that probably explained her size.

Feeling worried, Rane sent her to our family doctor (veterinarian) even though Rane herself was sick that day.

The doctor felt around Tehxi's stomach and did not detect any lumps., which may be signs of accumulated furball. Unlike dogs and cats, bunnies/rabbits aren't able to vomit, thus furball tends to accumulate in their digestive system. If it isn't passed out, it may lead to an extremely dangerous condition known as GI stasis.

Rane has accepted the veterinarian's suggestion of force feeding Tehxi with semi solid food, in hope that it will

The veterinarian did not encourage x-ray as there is a low chance of deteching any signs of obstructions in Tehxi's digestive system, since furball will probably not show up on the x-ray. Moreover, Tehxi has to undergo anaesethesia in order to have an x-ray taken. This will further aggravate her condition.

As surgery was invasive, the veterinarian will only proceed with it when Tehxi's condition further worsens, when she still hasn't eaten by her own initiative from the 3rd or 4th day onwards.

Tehxi returned home and Rane nursed her the entire day. Tehxi even had the privileged of sleeping on my mattress. Afraid that the mattress will be permenantly given to Tehxi, I squeezed myself into the teeny tiny available space.

Me staring hard at Tehxi.

I tried to pretend that I was falling asleep, just so that Rane will not chase me away for 'disturbing' Tehxi's rest.

I was clearly looking unhappy, and Tehxi turned around to comfort me by saying that she just needed to rest for a little while as she wasn't feeling well.

I felt a little embarass by my previous act, thus I decided to give up my mattress for Tehxi, who needed it more than more.

However, little did I expect that the very first time Tehxi and I shared a mattress, would be the very last time too.

Tehxi didn't make it through the night. She passed away in the wee hours of 4th October 2008 at 1.36am. Even though Rane and her sisters were full of tears, I believe Mage was the saddest of them all. Tehxi actually passed away on Mage's birthday.

Even though everyone in the family was really upset over the Tehxi's death, she was thankful that Tehxi died a natural death; (we were glad that) we did not come to a point whereby we have to decide between allowing Tehxi to suffer immense pain or to euthanise her.

May we meet again Tehxi, wherever death will bring us to.

Tehxi died peacefully in Mage's arms.
He carried her for 2 whole hours, while waiting for the person from the crematorium to pick Tehxi up.

A video (dated August 2008) of Tehxi eating her favourite vegetables.

Rane's Words

Initially, I prayed and hoped that Tehxi will survive through this episode with some miracles. As time passes by and her condition got more serious, I only prayed that she will hang on long enough to see Mage for the very last time.

Even though Tehxi spent most of her time with me, she has this special bond with Mage as she was Mage's chosen bunny. When Mage first gotten Tehxi, he had some commitments and wasn't able to care for her. I agreed to put her up at my place for 3 months. What was supposed to be a short term stay resulted in a long term stay as I've grown attached to Tehxi; too attached to let her leave.

In the end, she stayed in my house for good. Despite that, Tehxi always got that extra bit of attention from Mage each time he visited and Tehxi really enjoyed that, right up till that very day she was about to leave.

Mage took 20 odd minutes to travel to my place from the very moment I rang him up. During which, we carried Tehxi out from her cage and let her rest on the floor. Within minutes, she flipped to her side. That was a very bad sign. Based on past experiences, rabbits only lay on their side when in deep sleep, or awaiting death.

I quickly held her up and carried her in my arms. By then, Tehxi's breathings were no longer heavy. Instead, she took slow and light breaths. There were many times I had to stare at her hard to see that her nose twitched slightly with every breath she took. I kept encouraging her to hold on for a little longer as Mage is on his way to see her. I assured our love for her, each time family and I patted her head.

As I continued to whisper sweet nothings into her ears, I could sense that she was losing warmth, even though she was still alive. I knew that it was time for her to leave, but she just hung on. Even as I continued to rub her ears, they felt really cold as I kissed them.

In between all these, Tehxi kicked hard a few times, as if she was struggling to keep herself alive for the very while more. Each time she kicked, she lost control of her bladder and she seemed to feel apologetic about it. There were many times I was tempted to ask her to leave peacefully and not worry about us but I decided against it, as I felt that she really wanted to take a good look at Mage for the very last time. I couldn't stop telling her how much brave a girl she was for putting up such a fierce fight. The emotional roller coast I went through at that time wasy beyond words.

After what seemed like eternal, I heard the doorbell rang. Mage has finally arrived. I handed Tehxi over to Mage. After a very short while, Tehxi seems to lose any signs of life. She has passed away peacefully in the arms of Mage, just as she was waiting for.

A picture of Tehxi when we first gotten her. She was so small, she could barely fit into the butter container.

See how much she has grown over the years? From a puny underweight baby, to a chubby overweight bunny.

Side Note

As Tehxi started struggling after she flipped to her side, Sugar was staring at the window with fear in her eyes. She started backing backwards with her eyes still fixed on the window, or rather the space outside the window. My father wondered what happened and urged Sugar to walk towards the window, but she stubbornly refused to, even as my father dragged her there. The moment my father let go of her, she ran off immediately and hid under the chair, still looking scared.

It was only a long while after Tehxi passed away (approximately 15 minutes to half an hour), did Sugar started behaving normally.

We (my family and I) believe that Sugar could see what we couldn't; that someone or something was here to bring Tehxi away from us.

About Birds, About Life

2008-09-02T00:43:00.004+08:00

The Mynah

The Story

Rane came home one day and told me she has taken pictures of a beautiful bird. As she uploaded the pictures to the computer, I was surprised to see that the beautiful bird was none other than a Mynah.

Why would a Mynah that is commonly seen off the street be her favourite bird? I pressed further and this was what she said "the most beautiful (and admirable) thing about the bird is it's sheer determination to live against the odds".

I took a closer look at the pictures and realised that the Mynah is injured in it's right wing.

The first time Rane saw the mynah, she was worried about the mynah's condition and was contemplating whether to bring it to the vet. At that point in time, the bird was standing in the middle of the road. Within seconds, a car was approaching it in the opposition direction and Rane feared for the mynah's life, as the two were less than a meter apart (approximately 3.28 feet) .

She fastened her footsteps in hope of saving the mynah, since it had mobility problems. Before she could do so, the mynah hopped away at a fast speed! So fast, that Rane couldn't catch up with it!

That happened less than a week after Winter passed away.

In the end, Rane decided against it as she felt that birds do not survive well in our house. For some unknown reasons, no birds have survived for more than 3 months while living in our house. Even when a few were domesticated birds who are in good health conditions.

Since then, she had been wondering if the decision she had made that day was a wise one. Each time she walks on the road where she last saw the mynah, she will keep a look out for it and when she failed to do so, she will be overwhelmed with a sense of guilt.

A few months later, as Rane was walking on the same road, she spotted the mynah again!!!

This time, the mynah was around it's friend and it seemed to be a happy bird with their company. As Rane happened to bring her camera out that day, she hurriedly snapped pictures of it~

The following are pictures of the mynah.

The Mynah standing at the pavement. Note it's right wing.

A right view of The Mynah.

Close up of the injured and swollen wing.

Rane suspects The Mynah fractured it's wings when the bone regrew, it did so at an awkward angle.

Lesson Learnt

The bird worked hard at making full use of it's legs to compensate for it's loss of wings. It didn't give up by living in despair. The mynah would have died if it did so.

Rane added that the best thing about us, animals is that we rarely mull over our losses. Instead we learn to overcome them. That is how it works in the animal kingdom; everyone strives hard to live. This is survival.

If we have to endorse a product, it must be Nike. As their tagline goes "Never say Die".

Rane's Words

Dear Mynah,

It's been almost two months since I've last seen you. I wonder how have you been.

If you are still alive, please take good care of yourself.

As long as you are still living well, I hope not to see you again because on both occasions when I spotted you, you were in a public area with much human movement and roaming stray cats. That will put you at a great disadvantage.

If you are in physical pain and ever need treatment, I do hope that you'll be able to find me and/or vice versa, so that I can send you to the doctor.

I hope you'll understand why I didn't bring you for medical treatment the very day I found you.

The main reason being, I didn't want to hold you in captivity since you have been a stray/wild from the day you were born. The immense stress of being caged up and away from your flock will do you little good, as it did to Winter. I believe that could be a contributing factor as to why Winter didn't survive for long.

In the end, Winter died a miserable bird. I could sense, see and feel his misery.

So please, keep yourself safe and sound. If you really must die, please die a happy bird.

I'll always remember you as the brave and courageous bird.

Missing you,
Rane

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Cute Little Noisy Peacock

On a happier note, I've uploaded a video of a stray baby peacock clucking away at Sentosa.

Rane was so obsessed with it's cuteness that she 'stalked' the peacock wherever it went!

Posh & Poo

2008-08-24T00:36:00.003+08:00

Both Posh and I are trained to pee and poo in the playpen, just so that we can have the freedom of doing our businesses at our own leisure, instead of designated time of the day.

At the same time, the playpen also doubles up as our punishment grounds. When we do something wrong (or rather something that displeases the humans), we will be confined to the playpen and ignored all the time. I call it the Ice Palace.

While 'serving our time' we were given benefits like access to water. Posh decided to take 'revenge' one day by pooing into the water bowl. No, you did not hear me wrong. She POOED in her water bowl! How disgusting can she be!!!

Warning!!! Please do not scroll down if you've got a a low threshold for disgusting images.

Posh really thinks that she's a human and that her water bowl is the toilet bowl.

That very silly girl did not realise that her water bowl does not have a flushing system!

National Dog Walk

2008-08-08T16:37:00.008+08:00

It's been a while since I last blogged about my life. Sorry friends if I've not visited your blog for some time. You're not forgotten. Give us a little time and we'll drop by your blog.

For the past week, Rane was kept busy caring for the strays and herself (she was still recovering from her flu) that she didn't have much time to help me with the blog.Now that she has a little time to spare, I've gotten her to transfer some pictures of us at the Charity Dog Walk that Rane has signed up for both Posh and I.

We went for the dog event last Sunday but we missed the walk itself as Rane ended her class late. However, we still went for the carnival and had fun in the dog run.

There were so many humans and dogs joining the event, that the car park was filled to the max and I really meant it because every single space was taken up; ~~whether or not it was legal.~~

We only took pictures in the dog run itself because it was so crowded at the booths that both Rane and Mage had to prevent Posh and I from poking our noses into other people's/dog's butts.

Rane made us run after her because she thinks we need the excercise to keep fit; she's been complaining that I was a tad too fat. Moreover, she thinks it'll be good physiotherapy for my knee since my last injury.

It was here that she realised that Posh seems to run a little 'funnily'.

Rane's Words

When Posh walks, it seems as though she's trotting. She looks exactly like how dogs are depicted in cartoon, walking lightly behind their owners. Initially I brushed it off thinking it's just her 'style' of walking.

However, when I brought her to this very big field to run (as in really run), I noticed that she tilts on one side. If I rememebered correctly, she tend to put on more weight on her right side. I also noticed that she had very poor stamina and pant very badly in the midst of running. Even though Sugar is overweight and is much fatter in comparison to Posh, Sugar still managed to run much faster for a longer period of time.

I wonder if it could be due to poor muscle development, since she was kept in a cage that was way too small for her and was never let out except during bath time. (The cage measured 3 feet by 2 feet.)

I'll continue to monitor her at the moment. Meanwhile, I'll try to arrange slow walks instead of the initial plans of jogging. (Usually we'll have interrupted walks.) Hope that she'll be fine after some building up of her muscles. I certainly hope that it's not some hidden problems like hip or elbow dysplasia.

I ran and ran and ran for a long long time.

All because Rane wanted to take a nice photo of me in mid-air whilst running.
However this was the nicest shot, because of the lousy camera and lousy photography skills.

I got sick of running and decided to go visiting. And I made myself comfortable on someone elses picnic mat.

However, Rane thought that it was pretty rude of me and chased me off. Thus I decided to make more new friends.

Rane and Mage got sick of me poking my nose into butts (both humans and animals) that they decided to put me on a down-stay near the competition area. She asked me when will I start being such a coach potato and be more pro-active by joining agility classes.

I kept quiet and looked away.

Posh decided to be funny and closed her eyes when being asked to pose for a picture.

Thus I decided that I should make a funny face too.

After all that sniffing, running, posing and exploring. I felt so tired that I decided to catch forty winks on the car, even though it was a short 20 minutes drive.

The pictures do not justify how much effort the organisation had put in and definately do not reflect the fun we had. We had taken very few photos because that silly owner of mine (Rane), did not charge the battery pack for the camera before leaving. Sighs. How silly can she be!

Charity Walk

2008-08-01T15:03:00.005+08:00

Rane has signed up for the National Dog Walk 2008 for us. Posh and I will be there in the evening at 4pm, just in time for the walk itself because Rane has lessons earlier in the day. Never mind that we will probably not get any free goodie bags; the goodie bags weren't the reason why we signed up for the dog walk. I just hope that Rane will recover before Sunday; she's down with influenza and is on 3 days medical leave.

Back to the main topic. Though it cost $10 per dog, we think that it's worth it, because all funds raised will go to Noah's Ark. Noah's Ark does rescue work with animals, regardless of breeds and species.

Here's an article on Noah's Ark.

To know more about Noah's Ark, you can visit the following website:

Noah's Ark (Blog)
Noah's Ark Cares
Noah's Ark Natural Animal Sanctuary (NANAS)

Even a young girl like Adreanna is doing her bit for the charity walk.

If you have yet to sign up for the dog walk, it's not too late yet. You can register on the day itself on 3rd August 2008, Sunday at West Coast Dog Run.

Details are as follow.

More information on the Dog Walk.

National Dog Walk 2008

In Aid of Noah's Ark CARES

National Dog Walk 2008

Date : 3 August (Sunday) 2008

Time : 8am to 7pm

Venue : West Coast Park, Dog Run, Car Park 1

Cost : $10 per dog and receive a goody

bag worth more than $50.

* All proceeds will be donated to Noah's Ark CARES

Paws for a Cause

Show your support for little Andreana Tang, 8 yrs old, as she attemtps to walk 1.5km with puppy Prince to raise funds for Noah's Ark - Project Industrial Dogs.

Andreana donated her piggy bank savings of $8.20 to Prince to kick start our Project Industrial Dogs. She made a card for Prince too! Her cards says "Dear God, please bless Noah's Ark with all your might and love them."

Catch Lady and puppy Prince as they make their guest appearance at the NDW 2008, 2pm to 5pm only.

Have your photograph taken with them for $10 per pic. All proceeds will be donated to Project Industrial Dogs.

Mike Ellery and Larry Lai do their part for charity!

Catch Mike Ellery and Larry Lai as they host tele-match games for dogs and their owners.There will also be live entertainment, photography booths, games for dogs, agility demo and competitions. So come on down and spend the day with us!

Noah's Ark CARES

42 Cairnhill Road

# 02 - 01
Singapore 229661

Email Us :

info@noahsarkcares.com

For regular updates on our animal rescue work, please visit our blog http://noahsarkcares.blogspot.com

Noah's Ark CARES Website : www.noahsarkcares.com

To be on our mailing list or unsubscribe, please email us at info@noahsarkcares.com

Friend or Foe

2008-07-18T19:20:00.004+08:00

Remember Rane was commenting on how Posh and I can't get along, and how Posh always bullies me?

Now Posh & I get along pretty well, but barely for a minute or two.

Usually Posh will browse around and check that no one else is looking at her, just like how she did above.

When she's sure no one is watching, she will behave as if she's lying on the floor, but in actual fact, she's finding a chance to nip/bite/snap me.

I always try to remain calm and try to ignore her, but who in the sane mind will succumb himself/herself to tortures?

And even when I try to get away, Posh will still continue to 'attack' me.

Please tell me that I'm not going to spend the rest of my life with such a bully!

Rane's Words

I really have no idea how to handle the dogs. Day and night, they are just chasing after each other, nipping and pawing. When the situation gets worse, Posh will attempt to bite Sugar at her neck.

Sugar will sometimes attempt to 'fight back'. But being the fatter and clumsier dog, Sugar usually loses the fight and gets bullied instead.

I used to love Sugar's ears a lot and kiss them endlessly. Now I hardly want to touch them unnecessarily, because her ears smell of Posh's saliva . Most importantly, the fur on ear stiffens after Posh's saliva dries up.

I really do hope that they will get along well soon. I am sick of them knocking over my furnitures and other belongings. Most importantly, I don't want them to injure themselves. (Sugar became a Tripod after one of their 'fights' and Posh also injured her paw. I'll post what happened to Posh at a later time.)

Meanwhile, I'll place Posh in the playpen at night, when everyone's sleeping and nobody's monitoring them. During the day, I'll let the two of them out, but when Posh starts to bully Sugar (and sometimes us) by nipping or biting us, we'll send her back to her playpen.

I'm feeling very helpless now. Sighs.

System Down

2008-07-12T23:44:00.018+08:00

It's been ages since I last blogged. All thanks to Rane's lousy computer which never fails to breakdown each time I am ready to blog. The very impatient me has decided to lend a paw and help solve the problem. Ever since I poked my nose into this problem, it's been working fine.

I think I should consider working part-time as a system engineer, along side with Mage.

I was trying very hard to see what's wrong,
but there are just too many cables blocking my view.

So I had to poke my head right in, squint my eyes
and sniff with my nose before diagnosing the problem.

After finding the root of my problem,
I instructed my human assistant, Mage to help me solve it.

Sighs. If only I had hands like humans, then I can do
everything by myself without relying on others.

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Rane's friend showed her this video clip the other day about on Christian, the lion. It was so touching, I've decided to share with you guys on my blog.

Christian the Lion on YouTube.

** And the man who held a stick in the background was George Adamson, a man who devoted most of his life to working, saving and helping lions.

This shows that animals are not just 'any other living things'. We know how to reciprocate and be grateful to our caregivers. Just look at how a lion whose nature is wild and fierce, can even be tamed by humans through lots of love, care and concern.

Why can't some people be nicer to us, animals (especially domesticated ones)? Why must our fate be in the hands of humans, who determine our fate of lives without sparing a thought on how we would feel? Why are there people who just take joy in abusing and demeaning our lives? Why?

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Before I end this post, I would like to share with you an article which Rane and I read online a few years ago written by Jims Willis. It's written in year 2001, titled How Could You?

I strongly encourage anyone who is rearing or intending to rear pets (of any kind) to read before getting one on impulse, because you never know how much hurt/harm/damage you are doing to a life.

HOW COULD YOU? By Jim Willis, 2001

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend.

Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" -- but then you'd relent and roll me over for a bellyrub. My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together.

I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs" you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" -- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy.

Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love."

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch -- because your touch was now so infrequent -- and I would've defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway.

There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers."

You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you that you had changed your mind -- that this was all a bad dream... or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me.

When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited. I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room.

A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dog speak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself -- a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place.

And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was directed at you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of you. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

A Note from the Author: If "How Could You?" brought tears to your eyes as you read it, as it did to mine as I wrote it, it is because it is the composite story of the millions of formerly "owned" pets who die each year in American & Canadian animal shelters.

Anyone is welcome to distribute the essay for a non-commercial purpose, as long as it is properly attributed with the copyright notice.

Please use it to help educate, on your websites, in newsletters, on animal shelter and vet office bulletin boards. Tell the public that the decision to add a pet to the family is an important one for life, that animals deserve our love and sensible care, that finding another appropriate home for your animal is your responsibility and any local humane society or animal welfare league can offer you good advice, and that all life is precious. Please do your part to stop the killing, and encourage all spay & neuter campaigns in order to prevent unwanted animals.

Jim Willis

It's the nth time Rane and I have been reading this story and each time we do so, we never fail to get upset and tear. Maybe, the greatest strength and weakness of a dog is his pledging loyalty and entrusting the whole of his life to his 'best friend'

How Could You?

2008-07-12T23:43:00.000+08:00

HOW COULD YOU? By Jim Willis, 2001

When I was a puppy, I entertained you with my antics and made you laugh. You called me your child, and despite a number of chewed shoes and a couple of murdered throw pillows, I became your best friend.

Whenever I was "bad," you'd shake your finger at me and ask "How could you?" -- but then you'd relent and roll me over for a bellyrub. My housebreaking took a little longer than expected, because you were terribly busy, but we worked on that together.

I remember those nights of nuzzling you in bed and listening to your confidences and secret dreams, and I believed that life could not be any more perfect. We went for long walks and runs in the park, car rides, stops for ice cream (I only got the cone because "ice cream is bad for dogs" you said), and I took long naps in the sun waiting for you to come home at the end of the day.

Gradually, you began spending more time at work and on your career, and more time searching for a human mate. I waited for you patiently, comforted you through heartbreaks and disappointments, never chided you about bad decisions, and romped with glee at your homecomings, and when you fell in love.

She, now your wife, is not a "dog person" -- still I welcomed her into our home, tried to show her affection, and obeyed her. I was happy because you were happy.

Then the human babies came along and I shared your excitement. I was fascinated by their pinkness, how they smelled, and I wanted to mother them, too. Only she and you worried that I might hurt them, and I spent most of my time banished to another room, or to a dog crate. Oh, how I wanted to love them, but I became a "prisoner of love."

As they began to grow, I became their friend. They clung to my fur and pulled themselves up on wobbly legs, poked fingers in my eyes, investigated my ears, and gave me kisses on my nose. I loved everything about them and their touch -- because your touch was now so infrequent -- and I would've defended them with my life if need be. I would sneak into their beds and listen to their worries and secret dreams, and together we waited for the sound of your car in the driveway.

There had been a time, when others asked you if you had a dog, that you produced a photo of me from your wallet and told them stories about me. These past few years, you just answered "yes" and changed the subject. I had gone from being "your dog" to "just a dog," and you resented every expenditure on my behalf.

Now, you have a new career opportunity in another city, and you and they will be moving to an apartment that does not allow pets. You've made the right decision for your "family," but there was a time when I was your only family.

I was excited about the car ride until we arrived at the animal shelter. It smelled of dogs and cats, of fear, of hopelessness. You filled out the paperwork and said "I know you will find a good home for her." They shrugged and gave you a pained look. They understand the realities facing a middle-aged dog, even one with "papers."

You had to pry your son's fingers loose from my collar as he screamed "No, Daddy! Please don't let them take my dog!" And I worried for him, and what lessons you had just taught him about friendship and loyalty, about love and responsibility, and about respect for all life.

You gave me a good-bye pat on the head, avoided my eyes, and politely refused to take my collar and leash with you. You had a deadline to meet and now I have one, too. After you left, the two nice ladies said you probably knew about your upcoming move months ago and made no attempt to find me another good home. They shook their heads and asked "How could you?"

They are as attentive to us here in the shelter as their busy schedules allow. They feed us, of course, but I lost my appetite days ago. At first, whenever anyone passed my pen, I rushed to the front, hoping it was you that you had changed your mind -- that this was all a bad dream... or I hoped it would at least be someone who cared, anyone who might save me.

When I realized I could not compete with the frolicking for attention of happy puppies, oblivious to their own fate, I retreated to a far corner and waited. I heard her footsteps as she came for me at the end of the day, and I padded along the aisle after her to a separate room.

A blissfully quiet room. She placed me on the table and rubbed my ears, and told me not to worry. My heart pounded in anticipation of what was to come, but there was also a sense of relief. The prisoner of love had run out of days. As is my nature, I was more concerned about her. The burden which she bears weighs heavily on her, and I know that, the same way I knew your every mood.

She gently placed a tourniquet around my foreleg as a tear ran down her cheek. I licked her hand in the same way I used to comfort you so many years ago. She expertly slid the hypodermic needle into my vein. As I felt the sting and the cool liquid coursing through my body, I lay down sleepily, looked into her kind eyes and murmured "How could you?"

Perhaps because she understood my dog speak, she said "I'm so sorry." She hugged me, and hurriedly explained it was her job to make sure I went to a better place, where I wouldn't be ignored or abused or abandoned, or have to fend for myself -- a place of love and light so very different from this earthly place.

And with my last bit of energy, I tried to convey to her with a thump of my tail that my "How could you?" was not directed at her. It was directed at you, My Beloved Master, I was thinking of you. I will think of you and wait for you forever. May everyone in your life continue to show you so much loyalty.

A Note from the Author: If "How Could You?" brought tears to your eyes as you read it, as it did to mine as I wrote it, it is because it is the composite story of the millions of formerly "owned" pets who die each year in American & Canadian animal shelters.

Anyone is welcome to distribute the essay for a non-commercial purpose, as long as it is properly attributed with the copyright notice.

Please use it to help educate, on your websites, in newsletters, on animal shelter and vet office bulletin boards. Tell the public that the decision to add a pet to the family is an important one for life, that animals deserve our love and sensible care, that finding another appropriate home for your animal is your responsibility and any local humane society or animal welfare league can offer you good advice, and that all life is precious. Please do your part to stop the killing, and encourage all spay & neuter campaigns in order to prevent unwanted animals.

Jim Willis

Tripod Stand

2008-06-22T19:04:00.007+08:00

Just before Rane left for vacation on Friday, my right hind leg got injured. I have no idea how I hurt myself. I guess it must have happened when Posh and I were being rough with each other.

No one noticed it, especially when I still moved around reasonably fast. Not until I hobbled towards Mage on three legs.

A video of me hobbling on 3 legs.
Since then, they started calling me Tripod Stand.

Rane and Mage rushed me to the veterinary clinic the very moment it was opened for the evening sessions. The doctor was surprised to see Rane, as she has just been to the clinic during the afternoon session (Rane brought Posh to the doctor for a checkup; all thanks to her swallowing the durian seed.)

After some pulling and stretching of my joints, the doctor concluded that I have loose joints and is probably suffering from a 'slipping kneecap' condition known as luxating patella in medical terms. However, I could also be suffering from an injured/torn ligament.

The only way to confirm the doctor's suspicions is an x-ray, but even an x-ray will do little help to the treatment as surgery is the only way out. Even a surgery does not mean regaining 100% use of my limb as I am overweight, and that will hinder the recovery of my surgical wound.

Thus the doctor decided to give me some painkillers to stop the pain temporarily, and a week's time for my joints to recover by itself.

She also suggested separating Posh from me, so that my injuries will not be aggravated/worsened when we play rough. (This happens every other minute). So off Posh goes into her play pen, while I rule the household yet again. Hehs.

Meanwhile, Rane still left for her vacation that very night. I wished she would stay behind for my sake, but she didn't. She chose her vacation over me. Sighs.

--------------------------------------------------------

It's been almost two weeks since I injured myself. I am happy to announce that I am a Tripod Stand no more. I can now walk as per normal, however Rane is considering sending me for alternative/complementary medicine like TCM (Traditional Chinese Medicine) and/or nutritional supplements like glucosamine (which the doctor encourages.)

Any advises?

Silly Posh

2008-06-11T00:31:00.002+08:00

Silly Posh swallowed a durian seed! Rane's mum decided to feed the silly pooch a little durian. Being a greedy pooch, Posh bit her hand and Rane's mum instinctively let go of the durian seed. In that split second, Posh 'snatched' and gobbled the seed.

Now Rane is worried like nuts. She can't decide whether to induce vomiting or to take a 'wait and see' approach, since Posh is active and isn't displaying signs of stomach discomfort/pains.

Rane has sent an email to our family doctor (veterinarian) who has yet to get a reply, since they are closed for the day.

She sure hopes that Posh will poo the seed out first thing in the morning!

Posh, the New Dog

2008-05-20T12:55:00.010+08:00

Posh the Beagle

The New Dog
Couple of days ago, Rane told me I am going to have a new furmily member. I didn't really think much of it, as Rane often brings home unwanted rabbits and hamsters. However, I got a rude shock yesterday when I saw my new sibling; it's furry and four-legged, but it's neither a hamster nor a rabbit. It's a DOG!!!

After much difficulties and troubles, Rane finally brought the new dog home. Not only was there a miscommunication in timing, and difficulty in searching for an ideal crate, Rane also injured her middle finger while closing the car door (resulting in blood clots), and sprained her ankle while opening the car door. How clumsy can she be! All for the sake of the new ~~dumb~~ dog. *Frowns*

Posh is her name
Like me, the new dog is a tri-coloured female beagle too. She was named Posh by her previous owner. Rane doesn't intend to rename her as she felt that Posh may be confused and may have troubles trying to identify herself.

No one knows exactly when Posh's birthday is but estimates that she's approximately two years of age. Rane is considering choosing a date to fix as Posh's birthday, so that Posh will not be deprived of presents and birthday celebrations.

A Little More about Posh
Rane was initially reluctant to take in another Beagle, since our furmily is rather huge, and is taking up every single big of our tiny house. However, she feels that both Rane, herself and I contributed a little to the existence of Posh.

This was what happened.

2 years ago, when Rane's relative came visiting, I was being put up at Rane's house temporarily as Mage (whom I was supposed to stay with) was away. Impressed at how discipline I was, and the range of tricks that I could perform at a tender age (I was then 5 months old), Rane's relative went straight for a beagle hunt the following week at pet farms, which proved to be a bad decision.

Not only was Posh extremely underage when she was sold (even though the breeder claimed that Posh was 2 months old, our suspicions that Posh was much younger were confirmed when the vet verified so), she wasn't in the most ideal state either.

Posh's Previous Home
Posh's family didn't take too well to her as they were either afraid of her or had little time for her. As a result, she wasn't housebroken, and wasn't paper trained. Her running space cum crate/home cum 'toilet' was an (approximately) 3 feet x 3 feet fenced area in the balcony.

Heading to her New Home
A few days before, Posh's owners told her that she would be given away, and that she has to behave herself. Since that day, Posh hardly ate her dinner, even till last night. She probably understands what her owners meant, and was feeling pretty down about it.

Posh's New Home
Ever since Posh stepped ~~foot~~ paw into our house, I've been feeling uneasy, and somewhat threatened. Even though Posh took the first step to make friends with me, and made the effort to play with me, I just didn't like her in my house.

It's not just me, even Guni the angora bunny has been unhappy with her presence too. Whenever Posh went poking her nose into Guni's cage and attempted to sniff her, Guni would thump her feet hard in anger and glare fiercely at Posh.

Tehxi, the other bunny also looks at Posh warily each time Posh passes by her cage. Other times, Tehxi will be on all four as if she's ready to charge at Posh .

Posh is behaving everything like a country bumpkin; she's curious about all the things around h er. Even the terrapin crawling around her tub, and vegetables that are fresh from the fridge amuses her!

Thus I have decided that the problem lies with Posh, and not us.

Rane's Words

The Very Sore Sugar
Before bringing Posh home yesterday, we allowed both Posh and Sugar to meet at a neutral ground. However, Sugar was clearly unhappy that Mage was handling Posh instead of her, and whined sadly.

Things became worse when we brought Posh home. Sugar has been really upset about it; she probably feels that Posh is intruding her space cum privacy, and snatching the love and attention of her loved ones.

From the very moment we brought Posh home, Sugar hardly wags her tail nor she smile. (It's hard to describe how dogs exactly smile, but I believe dog owners can easily identify when their dogs are smiling or frowning, though to amateurs, it may seem as though they are displaying the same expression.) This was very unlike her.

She no longer shows interest in her toys, and she doesn't trot around the house happily as she used too. The worse thing is she doesn't even beg! Not that we like her to beg, but she's displaying a behaviour that is very unlike her. All she does all day long is to sit near us, and watch Posh's every move in a resigned manner.

Anyone has any idea as to how to improve their relationship and cheer that poor little Sugar up?

Any suggestion of any kind is welcomed.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Updates of Boy Boy and Ah Pui

On hindsight, both Boy Boy and Ah Pui are already adopted by the same person, but it's not the someone that we had mentioned previously. Thus this will probably be the last update we have on the both of them, as we personally do not know their new owners.

Sorry about the over-sized pictures, but we are having problems trying to edit them.

A video of Ah Pui climbing up the bed.

At the new owner's house.

The two of them.

Boy Boy.

Ah Pui.

The Price of Loving Animals I

2008-05-16T20:29:00.007+08:00

Last night, I heard Rane lamenting "I feel like fainting, just looking at my to-do list for the little furries." Thus, I've decided to take a peek at her organiser and this was what I saw.

Bunnies
Clean, wash and sterilise the bunnies' cage and clear the shit. (x4 Bunnies)
Cut bunnies' nails. (X4 x3)
Book an appointment with the groomer for the bunny (Guni).
Send the bunny (Guni) for grooming.
Comb the bunnie's to get rid of matted fur. (x4)
Check the bunnies' teeth to ensure they are not overgrown. (x4)

Hamster
Clean, wash and sterilise the hamster cage.
Play with the hamster more often to familiarise ourselves with each other.

Terrapin
Bring the terrapin (Edge) for sunbath.

Cat
Research on quality cat food.
Stock up on cat food.

Dogs
Shop for a new crate for the (new) dog
Bring the (new) dog back home.
Train the (new) dog to ensure she understands commands.
(Problem when you are getting an adult dog who's not trained at all.)
Ensure the (new) dog is housebroken.
Socialise the (new) dog.
Arrange for the (new) dog to be sterilised.
Register the (new) dog with the authorities.
Ensure the 2 dogs get along. *faints*
Book an appointment with the vet to vaccinate both dogs.
Bring both dogs for vaccination.
Clean the dogs' ears to rid them of infection.
Bathe both dogs.
Place an order for a water dome.

Poor Rane. She's almost always occupied with our matters, and/or thinking of us that she hardly has time for herself. Even when her friends ask her out at times, she's gotta place us in first priority, especially if any one of us is sick and needs medication. It'll be worse if any of us (animals) require her constant attention, like Winter who's incapable of feeding himself, requires medication daily, and soils his bottom often.

Such is the life of an animal lover, I guess. It comes at a price.

日本の名前

2008-05-12T00:40:00.005+08:00

I have been tagged by my fellow beagle friend, Kess to do some Japanese homework.

Instructions are as follow:

Add your name on the list and simply spell out your name using the given Japanese letter- translations below. Tag six of your friends and inform them of the tag. Have fun.

TRANSLATION:

A - ka G - ji M - rin S - ari Y - fu
B - tu H - ri N - to T - chi Z - zi

C - mi I - ki O - mo U - do

D - te J - zu P - no V - ru

E - ku K - me Q - ke W - mei

F - lu L - ta R - shi X - na

With that, I have a new Japanese name.

S - Ari
U - do
G - ji
A - ka
R - ta

Thus, it's Aridojikata. I think it sounds pretty cool, however Rane thinks it's a little too long, especially when she wants to scold me. *Mimicks Rane* "Aridojikata, Come Here!!!"

Maybe she can consider calling me Arido for short.

I've decided to tag the following friends for their Japanese names:

4 legged friends
Chinook
Mona
Furby and Twisty

2 legged friends
Prawnie
Piglet
Peng

---------------------------------------------

What a sleepy weekend. zZzZz

---------------------------------------------

Updates of Ah Pui and Boy Boy

The above is a picture of of Ah Pui (the fatter & bigger pup)
and Boy Boy (the thinner and smaller pup).

On hindsight, Ah Pui has been adopted. Thanks to Rane for her great persuasion skills and sheer determination to convince somebody. In two weeks time, Ah Pui will have a new owner and a forever home. Rest assured that he will be safe and sound, and that his owner will treat him real well. I promise. Rane will like to thank that somebody very much. =)

If that somebody is comfortable with it, I shall continue to update and blog about Ah Pui's condition, and maybe even reveal who Ah Pui's new owner is.

However, Boy Boy is still a nobody's dog. He's seeking a good owner who can shower him tender loving care. Apart from that, Boy Boy's current fosterer is facing financial difficulties as his medical bills are chalking up, even though there are individuals who made donations. Things will further worsen if Boy Boy needs a surgery when he reaches 6 months old.

Any kind souls who will like to consider adopting Boy Boy, or make a donation to his fosterer can email me for more details.

The following is a video of Boy Boy and his fosterer's dog, Baby the Golden Retriever, and Mixy, the Labrador X Border Collie.

Mission: Save Boy Boy

2008-05-06T03:00:00.004+08:00

Dear All,

Rane's friend is fostering 2 puppies, 1 of which is seriously ill and require surgeries and medications.

The following is an excerpt from Rane's friend posting on a local forum:

"2 weeks ago my friend saved 2 puppies from drowning, they had lost their mummy.. I am now taking care of them.. But unfortunately 1 of the puppy is very sick now.. I am not working so i cant afford to pay his medical bill, but i have discussed with my friend, i am very upset that i think she is not going to let this poor puppy to receive any medical treatment because the vet told me the puppy is very weak, he may die, so i feel that she doesn't want to "waste" the $ treating him.."

Click here to read more about Boy Boy's story.

Boy Boy being hospitalised.

Boy Boy with IV tubes twirling around him.

Just looking at the different between their sizes,
it's easy to see how weak Boy Boy is in comparison
to his sibling ( Ah Pui) from the same litter.

Current Status

Ah Pui
Age: Approximately 1 month plus
Gender: Boy
Breed: Singapore Dog aka Mongrel
Health: Good
Status: Up for Adoption

Boy Boy
Age: Approximately 1 month plus
Gender: Boy
Breed: Singapore Dog aka Mongrel
Health: Will be nursed to health before being put up for adoption
Status: In the midst of raising funds for treatment.

The following is a video of Boy Boy seeking treatment, whereby the doctor does a blood transfusion for him.

Visit Boy Boy at his blog.

Taken an interest in Ah Pui or Boy Boy?

Should you be keen to adopt Ah Pui or Boy Boy (after he has recovered), do send a private message to thread starter on the forum or post a comment on Boy Boy's blog. Alternatively, you can send me an email, and I'll convey the message to Ah Pui's and Boy Boy's fosterer.

Just a note of caution:
Please do not adopt a dog on the spur of moment; do consider your commitment level and capabilities to support a dog before adopting/purchasing one. A dog is for life.

For whatever conditions it may be, please do not resell Boy Boy and Ah Puis for commercial purposes.

Lastly, may Boy Boy gain a speedy recovery. I will be cheering him on.

Goodbye, Feather Friends

2008-05-06T01:33:00.004+08:00

Yesterday, Winter and a baby bird rescued by Rane's father, has passed away.

All of us are very upset about it, especially Rane. She has yet to recover from it; her mood swings are really bad. She can be happy one moment, and crying at the very next instant when she's reminded of them, Winter especially.

Neither of us are in the mood to blog in detail now. Give us a little time to get over it, and we'll update you shortly.

Goodbye Winter.

Rest in Peace Baby Bird.

We'll see you when we cross the rainbow bridge.

Furmily Month

2008-05-03T10:27:00.004+08:00

Rane has decided to declare the month of May as Furmily (Family) month. Starting from now till June, I will try to introduce the rest of my furmily, or rather the pets/animals that Rane has reared, been rearing, and still rearing.

On top of that, I will also try to blog about animals that we have fed and rescued/saved.

Do give me a little time to sort out their pictures and information before blogging.

Watch out this space ya~

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Feather Friend

2008-04-28T04:03:00.004+08:00

Our Dearest Rane has always found animals sick, injured and/or abandoned.

And guess what she's found last Sunday (27th April '08)?

Yes, it was a bird. A pigeon in fact.

That poor little thing was lying on one side of it's thigh on a grass patch when Piglet (Rane's youngest sister) first spotted it. Rane soon realised that it's right wing was injured, and was probably unable to fly.

With 20 minutes before the vet clinic closes, Rane sped to the vet. Thankfully, she was there just on before they closed. Not knowing what to name the pigeon, Mage had requested the nurse not to name the bird yet. However, the nurse needed a name to register for the bird, and decided to call it Pigeon Tan. (How silly can that be! It's like naming me Dog Tan! =X )

They had waited an hour and a half before the vet finally got to look at that poor little thing.

Initially, Rane had thought that after nursing the pigeon back to health, she can let it free. However, this was what the vet said after diagnosing.

The pigeon has fractured it's leg, and probably injured it's spine. It's claw is unable to grip onto anything, thus it can't perch on a stick/twig/branch/rod/whatever-that-is-long-and-straight. Without the ability to perch, the pigeon will not be able to fly. (And needless to say, without the ability to fly, the pigeon will definately not able to survive in the wild on it's own.) Most importantly, the vet isn't very optimistic about the pigeon's condition, as the pigeon might have sustained internal injuries (which is not oblivious to us, until other signs or symptoms are shown).

On the brighter side, the pigeon's injuries on the wings are external injuries, and the feathers will grow back. Most importantly, it's eyes are bright and it looked alert.

On the surface, the pigeon looks like any other bird.

Look at the Pigeon's claws.
It does not have the ability to control them.
The claws just 'cross' according to how we hold/carry it.

See how the claws overlap each other?

The wing with missing feathers.

This is how the pigeon looks like lying on the left thigh.

In the end, Rane decided to name the pigeon Winter, as it looks like a molted bird, preparing for winter. =)

Dog Barks

2008-04-17T04:19:00.003+08:00

Ever wondered what different pitches of dog barks mean? Watch the following to know more.

Ever heard dogs singing a birthday song?

After watching the above video, Rane has been wondering when I can bark according to the pitch and beat she wants. Sighs. It's not easy being a dog these days. *whines*

Calender - April & May '08

2008-04-11T21:36:00.004+08:00

A sample of our calenders in the month of April and May 2008.

Rane has decided to hone her photoshop cum fireworks skill, and decided to create a calender featuring us (Us = Furmily + Me).

As she has printed more than what we need, we have excess to give away. If you don't mind the poor photo quality and designing skills, we are more than willing to give it to you at no cost. Just indicate on the tag board that you are keen to have a copy and email us your mailing address, and we will mail it to you via post. Never mind that your mailing address is somewhere on the other part of the world.

Please note that the public holidays indicated on the calender is based on Singapore's public holiday. However, if you are keen to have the calender stating public holidays of your country, please inform us beforehand (with calenders starting from the month of June), and we will amend accordingly, as long as we have yet to send it for printing.

Till then.

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

New Furmily Member

2008-04-06T19:37:00.004+08:00

Recently, there was this conversation going on between Mage and Rane. Despite my efforts to eavesdrop on what they said, I couldn't catch every single word, I only hear the words "Get a new furmily member".

I am not exactly sure how the new furmily member will look like, neither do I know what species it will be, because I heard them mumbling something about 'Lop-ear bunny', then I heard 'Pudding', then 'Roboski', and lately 'pooch'! And then off they go to do some research.

Sighs.

What will be of me when the new furmily member swings by our house?

Will I still be loved?

New Banner

2008-04-02T23:54:00.005+08:00

Dear All,

With the help of Rane and Mage, I have managed to create a new banner for my blog, which allows a faster loading time, since the previous banner requires some time to load.

I have also put up a display picture of myself under personal profile and someone commented that it looks like the 'perfect passport size photo'. He also added that should dogs need Identification Cards (IC) one day, that would be the best picture to use, even though I was said to look a little sad in the picture. (I was just trying to look solemn and serious.)

* Stares at the someone *

On top of that, I have included more pictures and upload them to the photo album on the right side of my blog. The colours of the tag board is also edited to make it brighter and more lively.

Should you have any suggestions or idea to make my blog more attractive and user-friendly, you are always welcome to feedback to me.

=)

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Vivo City

2008-03-30T07:15:00.009+08:00

Not too long after Mage came back from France, we made a trip to Singapore's Largest Shopping Mall, Vivo City to get a new choke chain for me, as the current one has become rusty.

I was ecstatic to step ~~foot~~ paw into an air-conditioned shopping mall, even though pets like me are only allowed in the pet shop and the open air space just outside.

Outside Vivo City's Pet Shop.

Rane had to take countless blurred pictures like this
before she was able to take one clear picture of me.

In the end, she had to resort to using flash,
(partially because I couldn't stop fidgeting).

Mage attempting to test my new choke chain.
*Coughs Hard*

I was forced to post in front of the arcade,
so as to justify that we really went into a shopping mall!

All thanks to the flash, I had such scary eyes!
I looked like I was possessed!!!

As we were walking on the grass patch, this middle aged lady lost control of her small little white dog that resembles a Pekingnese or Japanese Chin (couldn't see really well as it was dark.) That dog ran towards me and after a sniff of greeting, I decided that the dog wasn't my cup of tea and
wanted to walk away.

Suddenly, the dog growled fiercely at me and charged towards me, and attempted to snap my ~~beak~~ snout and bite my neck!

It was all out to kill me! All this while with it's owner shouting for it, and attempting to restrain it. Apparently, the owner has little control of the dog.

The whole episode ended when Mage carried me off from the ground.

Even so, the dog was still crazily jumping at his feet, and he could still feel the sharp edge of it's teeth.

Even though the owner apologised frantically after that, I was still badly traumatised.
(This wasn't the first time I am bitten by another dog.)

Mage was worried that I may be injured and got Rane to check me.
(She was standing there watching the 'show', without any attempts to save me)
Thank goodness I was fine, otherwise I would have gotten the dog owner to compensate me for medical fees, inclusive of laser surgery to get rid of the ugly scars.

What a Bad Dog!

I wished I could board the monorail to Sentosa.
Sighs.

After that Mage and Rane decided to bring me to this pet's cafe at Mohd Sultan Road for dinner. We reached there at 9.20pm sharp and after deciding on what to eat, we placed our orders at
9.35pm. Only then did the waitress told us that their kitchen closes at 9.30pm, even though Rane was asking about a main dish earlier on (which was a strong indication of us wanting to place an order for dinner).

Rane was shocked and somewhat angry with the staff for not telling us that the kitchen closes at 9.30pm even though the cafe itself closes at 11.00pm. (Neither did the website nor the menu states so. Sighs)

Most pet owners in Singapore will know the frustration of finding a cafe/eatery/restaurant/coffeeshop that is animal/pet friendly. So imagine our frustration that day; it was 9.30pm, we were hungry, and there were no other pet cafes around that's likely to be opened.

Luckily, the Japanese restaurant next door allowed us to sit at their al fresco dining area. (Probably because Rane & I decided to use our expressive eyes to look really pitiful!)

But I still did not get my dinner, because the Japanese restaurant only served food for human consumption!!!

Sighs! Bad Luck Day.

To make me feel a little better, Rane and Mage decided to
bring me for a walk down Robertson Quay.

I really blended in well into the background in this picture,
without any digital modification nor special settings
to the camera. We only realised about it after we uploaded
the pictures to the computer.

And Rane forced me to pose for another picture.
This is the sharpest picture among all the blurred ones.

After seeing how long we struggled with taking a picture,
this among couple decided to give us a hand by getting me
to focus and looked in the direction of the camera.

Bukit Batok Park

2008-03-27T00:10:00.010+08:00

Infrequent Updates

Sincere apologies to readers who have been visiting my blog, only to realise that I have yet to post any entries in the month of March.

As Rane has lent our camera to Mage, there was no way we could transfer the pictures taken into our computer as we do not have a SD card reader. Moreover, our hard disk space is full ~~as it is cluttered with Rane’s dramas and serials, despite having a disk space of 193GB.~~ .

Since we have gotten the camera back, we have transferred all the photos we have taken in the whole of this month, thus I will be uploading them and blog about them pretty often in the next one week or so, so do check out my blog regularly ya!

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Bukit Batok Nature Park

Before I stepped paw into Bukit Batok Nature Park, I had the idea that it was a small park which I can cover within minutes. I only realised that it was much bigger than what I thought after exploring it earlier this month. I only explored one part of the park after spending a good two hours there.

No wonder troops of armies were sent to Bukit Batok Nature Park to track Mas Selamat the day before our trip. There was quite a bit of vegetation.

That aside, let me share with you my trip that day.

Bukit Batok Memorial.

And I was made to post in front of it.

A mini map of the park.

A small stream of water.

Which leads to this. The surface of the water looked
really calm, but the undercurrents seemed strong.

The water from the stream flows to this
(used to be) quarry.

Along the way, we spot some signs that are
not commonly seen.

How about feeding me for free, instead of
having to pay $500 to feed the monkeys!

Actually there were more signs along the way,
but Rane was lazy too tired to take photos of them.

The Never Never End Road.

And the Never Never End Steps.

And there's always more to come.

And the Very Very Steep Slopes.

Spot the Not!

Yes! It was a long trail of Big Ants!
I had to run fast as I was afraid the ants will start eating
me up, for I am Sugar, you see!

We also spotted some nice plants too!
Rane: I remember eating a vegetable (raw)
similar to this fern when I was in Cambodia!

The Trunk must have fought hard to survive
the La Nina effect.

The 'growths' on the tree sure gave me goosebumps.
Anyone knows what kind of parasite plant is that?
They remind me of piles (with a tinge of chlorophyll).

Pandas came to my mind the moment I saw
these Bamboo Trees.

On the way back, we spotted a worker ~~skiving~~ resting.

Find the workers who are catching forty winks!

I never knew Bukit Batok Park has such a rich history.

A very hot and exhausted me was glad to be in the car
with the air conditioner blowing straight at my face.

My first time going for a car wash, and I was scared stiff!
Half the time, I was trying to dodge the water that was
'splashing' in my direction!

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Readers of My Blog

On hindsight, my blog has more than 1000 views!

Though it has been 6 months since I started blogging,
I will consider this a breakthrough, as I thought/felt/sensed
that very few people will read my blog, since it's all about a dog (me).

Moreover, my comment box and tag board has very little movement,
thus I tend to assume that my blog is rarely visited by others.

May I urge visitors or readers of my blog to tag or comment more
often, so that I will have the motivation to update more frequently,
knowing that there are people out there reading my blog.

Yours Truly,
Sugar

Singapore Botanical Garden

2008-02-29T18:26:00.013+08:00

Rane insists that I blog on this day, February 29th, saying that this is a once in a four years chance. The humans call it the 'Leap Year'. Thus I have decided to post about my trip to the Singapore Botanical Gardens last Wednesday, in an attempt to lighten our mood (ever since Herbie's death).

Exploring Singapore Botanical Gardens

Embarking on the Journey, with Rane and Piglet.

Not long after we reached the Botanical Gardens,
I was made to do a Sit Stay.

I wonderd why, till I saw those Big Rain Drops. =(

Thank goodness the rain didn't last for long,
but there were puddles of water on the pavement.

I ended up leaving my ~~foot prints~~ paw prints
everywhere I went.

~~Stupid~~ Rane dropped her handphone without knowing it.
We ended up searching the routes we have taken to find
her handphone.

It was by chance we discovered that we had
taken a photo of it. We decided to name it
"The Act of Dropping the Handphone in Mid Air"

Rane saw this big big tree & ran excitedly towards it.
See how fast we ran! Our fours are all off the ground.

She insisted we take a photo on it.
Being a ~~coward~~ timid dog, I objected violently
& struggled very hard to resist.

This explains the weird expression of mine in this photo.

Piglet attempting to take a picture of our shadows.

Rane had wanted to go to the Swan Lake, but apparently
she doesn't know how to read the signs well, as we took
a long time to look for it.

After we have reached our destination, Rane insisted
that we take a photo with the swan.

For some weird reasons, the swan was very attracted to
me. It made some weird noises at me too!

The sun was scorching hot after the rain & I got
very thirsty after a long walk.

And I have got a very healthy body system;
Whatever goes in, comes out. Hehs =P

We spotted an eagle at the park, and Rane was thankful
she didn't bring Guni, an angora dwarf (rabibit) along to
the park as she had intended to.

I was forced to take a photo with Piglet.
Just look at how she grab onto my neck.
I thought I was suffocating!

I was also made to post amongst the bushes.

When Rane saw the gardener watering the plants,
she wished that she could use the hose to bathe me too.

I was made to pose at this lamp post.

All because it says there are dog poo bags there.

I was made to pose again, as the previous picture
has a high exposure, thus it was difficult to make out
what was printed on the dog poo box.

A final pose before we leave the Botanical Garden.

I was so tired from the trip, I dozed off in the car.

& I woke up to a camera snapping away.
That's why I didn't look very happy in the photo.

To gain a better view of the road, I slowly inch forward.

And left my beautiful butt at the back seat.

At the end of the day, Rane and I were so tired,
we fell asleep soon after.

And as the flashes went off incessantly, I got so irritated
I covered my eyes with the pillow.

Herbie the Roboski

2008-02-28T04:55:00.006+08:00

Rane wrote a mini biography of Herbie, and I will like to share it with all of you.

Rane's Words

I did a small little write up on my hamster shortly after he has passed away on 19th February 2008, at the age of 8 months old (estimated). There were no signs or symptoms of his abrupt death, thus it was hard for us to accept it, especially when he's not even a year old. We did not send him for any autopsy to be done, thus his death will always remain as a mystery.

Allow me to share his story with all of you.

Herbie's Story

My parents were feeding the strays as usual on a cold night in July 2007, when they heard a rustling sound from the drain. This sound aroused the interest of one of the stray cats. Suspecting that there could be a bat trapped in the drain or worse, a snake hiding amongst the leaves, my parents decided to investigate further.

To their surprise, they saw a small little container half filled with sunflower seeds, and on top of it, a small little hamster was trotting and jumping. He looked at my parents with his big bright beautiful eyes, curious to the surroundings.

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Despite being a beautiful baby Roboski, Herbie was an abandoned hamster.
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My mother was still commenting on how active he can still be when he was almost on the verge of death. Imagine how happy the stray cats would have been playing around with a ‘new toy’, or how he would have been drowned when it rains, since he was abandoned in a drain that was at least four feet deep.

The following night after my parents found the hamster, it was pouring heavily. “Curse that person who abandoned that poor hamster in the drain”, was what I thought to myself. How could anyone bear to abandon a defenseless hamster when he was barely a month old, leaving for him to die!

For some unknown reasons, I had the urge to name the hamster Grace, probably because I thought of God’s grace. I was very thankful that my parents had found Grace in time, and I felt comforted having him around, especially after the death of Hope (our previous hamster).

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God’s Grace
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Due to our busy schedules, we only managed to bring Grace to the vet a month later for a general checkup. It was only then did we discover that Grace was a boy! As ‘Grace’ was still very young when we found him, it was hard to tell his gender as his vital organs were not fully developed.

We had to rename him. I have always thought that he looked like Herbie, the golden retriever with his slightly fair coloured face, thus I have decided to name ‘Grace’ after Herbie.

At the same time, I thought that Herbie looked a bit like a peanut with his small thin waist and had initially wanted to name Peanut as his middle name. However, upon seeing how he rolled up like a little ball, I had the urge to name him Walnut too. After much thought about it, I have decided on Herbie Walnut, since Peanut was a tad too common.

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Herbie Walnut was his name
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Goodbye Brother

2008-02-20T22:34:00.010+08:00

Rane had wanted me to do a little write up of my furmily since I started blogging, however I was always procrastinating as I do not have very nice photos of all of them, especially Herbie our roboski.

Being a roboski, he was extremely active and was never still enough for the camera. As a result, his photos are almost always blur.

Sadly, the only picture which he never moved, was the one taken after he passed away.

I shall blog more about him on my next post, when the entire furmily is feeling better.

Herbie looks like he's sound asleep, doesn't he?

* Rane finally brought some hamster food from Mage's house, but Herbie never got to eat them. Initially she had thought that Herbie was soundly asleep in the hut. Never did she realise that Herbie will never wake up.

Rest in peace, Herbie. You will always be in our hearts.

May we meet again one day.

The following was quoted from Rane's sister, Marlow.

We are all upset, but life still has to move on.
Let the beautiful memories live in our heats.
Shadow proves the existence of the sunlight.

Dirty O Bone

2008-02-17T16:34:00.003+08:00

Remember the Bone Rane bought for me in Phuket?

I was obsessed with it and loved it to the core, till it became

Like This!!!

Mage and Rane said this was dirty and disgusting.
It was black and stuck with lots of fur!

But I thought it was still chewy and tasted delicious,
despite it shrinking a little.

One day, I saw them creeping to the dustbin
& I never saw the bone since.

I was so sore about it.

To make up for that, they got me a new bone!
This time, it's a synthetic bone which will last me
a tad longer (hopefully).

Upon seeing their sincerity to make up for it, I decided to
accept the bone.

However, Rane complained about the bone costing a
whooping $12.80.

To make up for that, I have decided to help relief her load
by earning a little 'pocket money' through the newly added
Google Ads and Google Search box on the right of my blog.

Hopefully, the advertisements will attract users, thereby
allowing me to earn my own treats.

Good Luck to Me~

Additions to Blog

2008-02-10T21:58:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends,

I have included a small section on the right side of my blog to share with you other Dlogs (Dog Blogs) which I read.

If you will like me to add a link to your blog (animals or otherwise), do drop me a message and Iit will be my pleasure to do so.

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Happy Lunar New Year

2008-02-08T01:47:00.000+08:00

Dear Friends,

I will like to wish all of you a Happy Chinese (Lunar) New Year .

May all of you celebrate this festive season with much joy and fun.

Most importantly, remember to collect lots of Ang Pao/red packets (and share with me.)

Hehs. =P

Sweet Licks,
Sugar

Above is a simple Chinese Couplet that Rane has helped me to create.
It's read from right to left as
Tian Zeng Sui Yue Ren Zeng Shou,
Chun Man Qian Kun Fu Man Men

Soil from the Sky

2008-02-06T05:44:00.003+08:00

Rane woke up on my Birthday (02 Feb) to find me sleeping soundly.

She decided to give me a tender kiss on my ~~beak~~ snout, as usual,

Only to Realise
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THIS !!!

She stared at it for a long long time,
and wondered what this unidentified object was.

It looked somewhat like dried soil, but just where did it come from?

She looked around the room, and there wasn't any traces of soil at all.
She tilted her head and looked up at the ceiling.
(She really did stare hard at the ceiling for a couple of seconds!)
There wasn't any wasp nest.

So she decided to take a closer look.

Warning: Please Do Not Scroll Down if you have just eaten,
or about to eat.

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And she saw some traces of vegetable!!!
She decided to smell it!!!

OH No!!!
Oh Shit!!!

(See those dirty green, grass look alike thingy?
It's my undigested vegetable from dinner the night before.)

MY SHIT WAS DISCOVERED !!!!!!

It must have taken Rane a lot of effort to contain her anger,
since she has just changed the bedsheets and
pillow/bolster cases 2 days ago.

I was so thankful she did not spoil my birthday
by scolding nor spanking me.

To make up for my mistakes, I have decided to suffer
a bit of embarrassment and confess my 'sins' online.

Sorry Rane!

Rane: I did not reprimand nor punish Sugar for her mistake, as she was already looking very guilty and sorry the moment I stared at her. Moreover, she has never pooed nor peed at places that she shouldn't ever since she was toilet trained, thus I believe it was entirely an 'accident'.

I guess that piece of shit was stuck to her anus (which happens once in a while), along with a strand of hair or string, as she has this thing for licking up dirt/hair on the floor. Thankfully, she is starting to quit that habit of hers, so I am not expecting such accidents to happen again. It is no fun changing bedsheets when you are only half-awake.