What the heck, is there nowhere else in the country to go for a walk? Why did Mother taking us to Labrador Boardwalk AGAIN!?

She was trying to find a way to get to that little spit of land she saw from the boardwalk. Well she found it and it’s across the bridge at the Marina @ Keppel Bay. It’s nice and green and quiet! We got to wander around on a long leash! And we met alot of nice people including this group of women and their kids – they loved ME!

Yea you also sucked up to the two girls who were jogging. *rolls eyes* Good thing Mother scheduled a massage for us after the 2 hour walk with Pawsitive Sensations! Auntie Z found that my mid back and right hind leg was ache-y!

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It’s been raining cats and dogs (heehee) and Mumsy decided not to take us to agility practice on Sunday because the ground would be soppin’ wet!

Yea her rationale was that she wouldn’t be able to run and it might be dangerous for all of us with all that mud. I think she just doesn’t want to shower us after.

Mumsy took us to Labrador Boardwalk which is by the sea. She took daddy and daddy’s big camera along coz she suddenly has this thing for photography. That’s fine by me coz I’m pweettty and love taking pictures!

I just like the treats I get from sitting still!

I have always known Mother to have a weird sense of humour. Today she thought it would be hilarious to distract me from any lingering itchiness from my testicular surgery by getting me to run after a ball. Oh the irony.

I LOVE BALLS!

You may not want to proclaim that so loudly, Juliet.

Mumsy makes ball chasing fun! She fills the ball with treats and when I catch it and bring it back, I GETS ‘EM.

Yes. Mother, in her bid to distract me and get us to be more toy oriented, has been dissecting little tennis balls and putting food in the hole.

Then she draws eyes above the opening so it looks like a smiley face! So cute! I love balls! WHEEEEE!

These are the balls Mother is using. They are small and cost her less than S$10 for a pack of 3! (There is one missing from the picture, yes. How observant.)

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Sort of.

Well we kinda did!

No we were only outside! By the giant logo globe thing!

Close enough!

We were at (the outside of) Universal Studios!

Mother took us to Sentosa for a swim then decided to explore parts of Sentosa by foot.

And of course she took lotsa pictures of meeeee!

Of us you mean.

You just happen to be there.

Uh huh.

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This is one of my favourite toys! And I think Mother’s favourite too. Of course, her reasons are different from mine. I love it coz it throws out treats now and then! Mother loves it coz she says it keeps me very occupied and she can go do something else instead of trying to entertain me 24/7. She says I get bored easily (which is true) and this toy keeps me busy for a bit while I’m playing with it and for a little bit after that too coz I’m usually tired from knocking and chasing it around for so long. Great workout!

I can just about hear your mums going “What great invention is this and where can I get it?!?” It’s called the Dog Pyramid because it is sort of triangular with a wider base which is weighted, making it much much harder to get the treats out than those other toys which you just roll and everything comes out. It was created by Nina Ottoson. I have a love-hate relationship with that woman. She makes great toys that always involve treats but I have to really use my brain! When she makes out that just dispense treats every second she will top my list of favourite people. 

Mother: *AHEM*

Er.. after Mother of course.

The downside to this brilliant invention is that it is made of plastic. And is heavy by dog toy standards. These 2 combined with the force of my muzzle smacking it across the room can break things. Like glass cabinets. And Mother’s toe. Ok I didn’t break her toe but she’s yelped in pain several times when that slowpoke didn’t manage to get out of the way in time. I slam it against walls, doors, etc. It can get quite noisy if played on wooden floors but should be much quieter on carpet.

Mother got it from Haute Hound but here’s a listing of other places you can find it online.

Here’s me on a night Mother had something else to do than to pander to my every need.

Whee! What a great week! Many interesting events. Let me give you a run down.

Over the weekend, my pals Ruthie, Reyla, Enzo & Wally celebrated their first birthday at K9 Kulture! We had a fabulous time of course. Me especially so! I was like a moth to Ruthie’s flame. Mother kept slapping her hand to her forehead when I chased her down and tried to show her my moves. She mumbled something about it being a good thing Ruthie wore some pants but not that I knew how to do it anyway. It? What’s It? 

Here are pictures from that day!

Mother decided to buy a whole duck from the market on Sunday. She got a big bag of hearts, livers and gizzards from 8 ducks for free! She says she’s so going back to this butcher. Instead of having to pay for 

livers and other “spare parts”, she can get it for free! Here was my dinner that night. Not for the faint hearted. I’ve decided I don’t like duck as much as other meats tho’. It doesn’t seem to have any smell! 

Mother told me that after she had chopped off the duck’s head, neck and a wing, it quacked. She and Auntie M, our helper stopped and Auntie M asked “Did you hear that?” And Mother was like.. “YEA! FREAKY!” So apparently this duck’s soul is still flying around. Either that or Mother has gone a little quacky!

Mother and Father took half the day off on Monday to run some errands then took me to the Botanical Gardens! I prefer the place when it’s not so crowded. We usually go on a

 Sunday when there are alot of people and dogs all around! Mother put my on a long leash and let me run around. I showed her tho’! I followed wherever she went and listened to her directions and she rewarded me by running through the fields! I love running! I don’t think Mother does tho’. She says she’s allergic to running – her thighs itch and all that.

Teehee. She can forget about a new rug too – I love digging at that as well!

A couple of weeks back, Ichigo and his family joined us for a swim at Club4Paws! We had the place to ourselves and we had so much fun! Funnily though, I’ve met Ichigo sooo many times before (he goes to West Coast dog run all the time too), and I’ve never played with him. But that day, we were playfighting all the way! Mother hadn’t seen me “boxing” before – she was very amused. She didn’t think I had it in me. Hmpf. I showed her! I don’t always play like a girl!! Mother says though, if you watch my tail in the videos you can see that I’m a bit more of a pansy than Ichigo. His tail almost never went down! I know that I was pissing him off at some point because the playing got more rough and growly and snappy! In both videos below, I am the noisy barky one always with my mouth open chasing Ichigo. Easy to spot eh?

Today we went to the pool again and met another West Coast dog run regular. I forget his name, we never play together. He looks like a german shepherd doberman pinscher cross. He came to the pool today with his dad and his human siblings wearing a choke chain and a leash. They never took the leash off. Instead his father dragged the pup unceremoniously into the pool (cue choking gagging sounds – when I say drag I really mean drag). Of course the pup moved his ass when he felt the pressure closing off his throat and windpipe. His lovely family then proceeded to DRAG the pup by the leash across the length of the pool. The pup is no Michael Phelps. He didn’t like and didn’t really know how to swim (like me before, just hitting the water with his paws struggling to keep his head above the water). Mother stood shocked and speechless. She knew if she said something she’d get yelled at, and her aggro day was Friday, and it had passed so we left the pool. She didn’t want to watch this dangerous method of “training” any more.

In the car, she ranted about how she didn’t understand how people can continue to argue the point that choke chains are perfectly fine if the user knows how to use it, when it’s so widely available without so much as a small “how-to” tag. Fact of the matter is, the vast majority of the people don’t know how to use it and it should not be a tool used for training by the masses. It should not be sold over the counter at all. Out of 10 random people using choke chains 9 will pull the dog to compliance by the chain, effectively strangulating the poor dog, instead of giving it a quick tug as pro-choke chain people will say is the correct method of using the chain. I don’t know why these people can’t be a little more patient. It took Mother only 4 sessions at the pool to get me swimming ON MY OWN. By the 4 session, I was moving off into the deeper end and pushing myself into the water without any hands on me, without any leash. All it took was lotsa smelly treats and Mother’s “Yay! Go Romeo! You’re the next Michael Phelps!” and her singing the Finding Nemo “Just Keep Swimming” song. I don’t even need treats now – I just get into the water by myself and swim to the other end without even getting a whiff of liver. Never once did I have to worry about being strangled while being surrounded by what I had feared.

I CAN SWIM! And while I’m not enjoying it thoroughly I no longer freeze when I’m in the pool! Mother was so proud of me when on my own accord, I got the courage to walk into the deeper part of the pool and started to paddle across. She was amused when I started offering her the swimming behaviour over and over! And even more amused when Kayla came along and I’d swim around the pool just to try and catch hold of the elusive pretty one! We’re going again to Club4Paws this Saturday at 9am! If you’re free (and up at that time of the day on a weekend), join us!

I was thiiiiiis close to hating swimming all over again last Saturday. All because of a boisterous young pup and his parents. When I’m learning how to swim, please can you NOT jump on my head, thank you very much! I don’t need help in drowning. Don’t come and splash water and paw my face when I’m chilling on the steps of the pool either. Not appreciated! As it is, I don’t really like dogs and I most certainly don’t like dogs in my face when I’m in a situation I don’t quite enjoy and have trouble running away from! Still, you are just a little pup, and you don’t know any better. Your parents however, inexcusable! They should have been more considerate and tried to teach you some manners and should have made some attempt to control you from ruining others’ swimming experience!

Mother, as she was being jumped on by the labrador pup and as she swatted him off me, being her usual self,  turned to the pup’s mum and said “Can you please stop your dog from jumping on mine?” To which pup’s mum replied “This is a public pool ok!” What exactly is the relevance of that? Did we say “please leave the pool?” No. We asked that you control your damn dog woman. “How to control! It’s a dog! How am I supposed to control it?” Well firstly, you could put a collar on your dog. Why can Mother control me and you can’t control your own pup? Mother and I put up with the pup’s nonsense since the week before last when they were also there. Mother made such amazing progress with me but when the pup came and jumped on me in the pool, I refused to swim across by myself again. She wanted to strangle someone. I was amazed she didn’t yell or call the woman stupid and ignorant. Must be because she didn’t want Kayla’s mum to think her nuts. She’s got too much balls this one.

The father of the pup clearly knew his pup was being a nuisance. He tried to stop the dog (badly) but at least he did. Mother (and I) don’t mind if the pup jumps on mum coz she’s prepared to get wet but NOT ON ME PLEASE. I’m freaked out enough as it is. I really don’t need any more help in that department. It was only when the pup jumped on another pup having its first swim, dunking the poor tot’s head under the water (with an “OEI!” yelled out by the new swimming baby’s folks) that the lab’s parents headed off. All the better. Everyone had a pleasant swimming experience after that. And I could resume chasing Kayla in the pool.

Can’t wait to swim again next week! More of that disgustingly smelly and super yummy baked chicken gizzard!!