Goodbye 2011...Hello 2012

2011...What a year this has been! My humans have been so busy this past few months that this blog has been neglected. Still, we're finally making some time to reflect on this momentous year.

January - Kicked off the year with an outing to BU Park with fellow beagle blogger Sapphire and her humans.


February and March - Nothing terribly exciting in the life of this beagle...the usual walks, barking at squirrels, cats, monkeys, postman...you get the picture.


April - This beagle turns 9! For my birthday treat, I had a lip-smacking yummy meal of liver on rice (hey...I'm a "Chinese" dog, so rice is one of my favourite food.) My humans torture me by making me sit whilst they photograph me...


May - My humans prepare me for our move to HK and start getting me used to the crate which I will travel from Malaysia to HK.

Meanwhile, this beagle continues to get into trouble when left home alone. Shredded paper bag...dead plants...


June - The big move to HK. My humans go first to settle things. Meanwhile, this beagle was spoilt to bits by gramps. I join my humans two weeks later. Happy reunion with my humans!

This was a month of many firsts...My first:
- Plane ride - can't say I liked it very much. Hated being crated and separated from my humans.
- Lift ride (my humans live in an apartment and are very thankful that this beagle loves the lifts. Otherwise, it would be a very long walk on the stairs as we live above 20 storeys high.)
- Stay in an apartment- we've always lived in a house with a garden so it was quite an adjustment figuring out pee schedules and the like. This beagle misses barking at the creatures that visit our garden back in Malaysia. Without these stimulus, I spend my days snoozing more than I used to back in Malaysia. To make up for it, my humans take me for longer walks where I get to socialize with fellow canines, like fellow beagle, Molly.

- Taxi ride...to the vet, of all places!
- Bath in a tub - my humans had to get me a bath mat to prevent me from slipping. Back in Malaysia, I used to have a bath on the front porch - a much bigger, non-slippery floor. I miss the space!



July - Still adjusting to living in an apartment...Couple of misses with pee accidents at home and a bad case of separation anxiety whenever I'm left at home. On the positive side, this beagle had her first outing to Sai Kung, a lovely fishing village in the New Territories as we check out DBDogsDayz for a future stay.


August - Still suffering from separation anxiety. My humans are at their wits end trying to figure out a solution for this problem. Unlike back home, we don't have any family here, so we're on our own...To make things worse, a nasty tabby attacked us as my humans and I were walking through a narrow path to go home after a walk. The cat actually scratched my ear and my human had to clean up the wound. Thankfully it wasn't too deep. As a result, I try to avoid the cat whenever I meet it on the walks, preferring to stay as far away as possible.

September - This was a good month. My human's families came to visit and there was a happy reunion. My humans also got me my own patch of grass at our balcony so I can happily go pee anytime. Aah...the simple pleasures of life.

October - My humans hire a helper so that I won't be left home alone when my humans go out or go to boarding when they travel. Everyone is happy! My humans have started travelling for work and they are relieved that I am well taken care of at home. The weather starts getting cooler and this beagle experiences her first autumn.

November - We get a car finally and this beagle gets to go on more outings. My first trip on our car was to the Aberdeen Country Park, which is now our favourite hiking spot when my humans are not travelling for work.


December - The cold of winter arrives early this year in HK. For a beagle who has lived her entire life in sunny Malaysia, it's a big change. My humans notice that I have more fur on my belly as my body adapts to the cold. I get fleece blankets on my bed and get to sleep in my human's room at night as it's warmer :-). My human's family spends Christmas here and we all have a festive time! Merry Christmas everyone (a little belated, but better than late than never, right?). Hope you had a wonderful 2011 and here's wishing everyone a terrific 2012!

Dead Grass = Success...

It's a strange title for a post but it'll make sense shortly. If you remember, I wrote about my very own patch of grass a few months back. Back then, it was a lovely patch of green grass that looked like this...



A perfect place for a beagle to snooze. My humans reckon that they've supplied me with enough doggie beds and carpets around the house for catching forty winks and would prefer for me to use my patch of grass for peeing instead. Well, they got their wish and my little garden patch now looks like this...


That's right, there is a patch in the centre that's brown and dead due to the potent PH of this beagle's pee. Despite their best efforts to mitigate the effects of dog pee on grass by watering it after each pee, nature takes its course!


Of course, my humans have trained me so well that I automatically run to my food bowl, waiting to be be rewarded for peeing on the grass (that's how they got me to pee there in the first place :-)). Although, I have noticed that the treats are getting smaller each time...Sneaky humans!

Anyway, my humans reckon that having brown grass is worth the price. When we're not having typhoons or strong winds, they leave the glass door open so that I can go and pee anytime I want to. It also came in handy during the time when I had a runny tummy. I was glad I didn't have to wait to go downstairs coz I don't think I could have waited! So, all in all, humans and beagle are happy with our dead grass!

If dogs could read...

I wonder which genius posted this sign at a local playground in Malaysia?
Kess' Mama

My Very Own Patch of Grass

After much delay, my humans have finally got me my very own garden patch of grass. Can't really call it a garden when what it actualy is, is a 3 by 4 ft plastic box filled with pebbles, soil and grass. So, I thought a patch of grass is more appropriate. I have to say though, it's quite a lovely patch of grass. Our neighbours are all quite impressed that we actually got real grass. Some of them got synthetic grass for their canines. My humans thought that the real thing would suit our needs better since this beagle is used to real grass back in Malaysia. My humans are grateful to the manager at our apartment who helped them source for the custom-built box and grass supplier. Otherwise, this would not have been possible. My little patch of grass is placed at our balcony. My humans did not let me out to the balcony for 1 week after the grass was planted so that the grass can take root properly. Finally, in the second week, they decided to introduce me to the grass patch. As always, this beagle is cautious when it comes to exploring new things and I gingerly climb onto the box and sniff.

I check out the Hong Kong view from the patch of grass:

I have a snooze on the patch of grass:

I did everything but pee on the patch of grass, which was why my humans got it for me in the first place! After a few days of failure, my humans thought of an idea. When they took me down to pee, they took a leaf that I had peed on and brought it back up to transfer the pee scent onto the grass. So the next morning, they opened the glass door to the balcony, fed me breakfast so that I would have to a full bladder, and stood in the cold balcony, encouraging me to pee. (The things our humans do for us...). Their perseverance pays off!

I still don't use the grassy patch on a regular basis, preferring to go downstairs instead. So my humans still have to take me downstairs for my night pee before bedtime. However, they now don't have to take me downstairs first thing in the morning. Instead, they open the balcony door and leave the option to me to pee there whilst they have breakfast. Sometimes, I'll pee on the grass and sometimes I just wait until my morning walk. Hey, it's a beagle's choice after all :-)

Family time

Now that my humans are with me again, I'm fine. No more diarrhea or vomitting. This beagle's appetite is back to normal and my tail is up again. In fact, I've had a pretty fantastic time over the last 3 weeks. We had both sets of families over in HK for a visit. My humans and I have been in HK for 3 months. Whilst we've made new friends, both humans and canines, it is wonderful to be reunited with our families, even if it's only for a few short weeks.

I've been busy hanging out with gramps whilst he catches up with the newspaper...


I've been posing for pictures for Aunty Evie...


With all the family here, my humans have also been going out more than normal. Initially, my humans thought that they would have to engage the services of a dog-sitter when they go out for dinners with their folks. One night, they were waiting for the dog-sitter before they went out for dinner but she did not turn up. Despite calls and text messages, the dog-sitter did not respond. So, my humans decided to give me special treats for dinner, a chewable treat and then hid small bits of liver treats all over the house. They left the TV on for some background noise and left quietly, hoping for the best. Well, this beagle surprised them...I was extremely well-behaved and everyhing was fine when they got back from dinner. Everyone was happy and all was well for 3 weeks.

However, this beagle recently decided that it was no longer fun being left alone and went back to my old habit of whining, shredding boxes and scratching doors.



So, we're back to square one. My humans have submitted their application for a helper and hopes that once she joins us next month, we won't have an issue with my separation anxiety anymore and my humans have more flexibility in going out.

Stress affects dogs too...

From the desk of Kess' mama:

Kess has been suffering from stress-related ailments. Our beagle went to boarding for a week as both J and I were away for work. When she came back, she had no appetite and refused to eat her breakfast. which if you've been following this blog, will know it's unusual for this greedy beagle. In all her 9 years +, the only other time she refused to eat was after her surgery when we spayed her. Even after drinking water, she would vomit. It took 3-4 days after her return before she was back to normal. When we were in Malaysia, she had gone to boarding before and there were no issues. I suspect she's not fully recovered from the move or from being crated! She feels insecure because she's out of her comfort zone as clearly evidenced by her tucked down tail. Usually, her tail will be up in the air like a wavy flag.

Recently, we had to board her for 1 night at a nearby boarding place. When she came back, she had a runny tummy. In fact, when we woke up this morning, she discovered she had a poop accident in the house...we spent quite some time cleaning up her trail of runny poop! Usually, Kess is very good with regards to controlling her bowel until we take her out in the morning once we wake up. On hindsight, there were a few other times when she had a runny tummy, after a stress trigger event.

We've decided to hire a full-time helper to provide more stability for Kess. Hopefully, things will improve once we get full-time help and she won't need to go for boarding when we travel. It'll also give us flexibility to go out without worrying about her separation anxiety.

Cat attack

The phrase "Fighting like cats and dogs" has new meaning for this beagle. My humans and I were walking back home after our long evening walk yesterday. We took a short cut home and saw a stray cat sitting in the middle of the pavement. Now, we were just minding our own business, walking by the side to pass this cat. I was very well behaved and did not even try to sniff at the cat.

As we were passing by, the cat suddenly lunged at us, hissing and swiping its claws. We immediately retreated. I was terrified! My human quickly grabbed a fallen palm leaf on the ground and using that as a "shield", managed to get the cat to move to the side. We then quickly walked pass, with my humans keeping an eye out to make sure the cat did not come after us. Once we were safely away from the cat, my humans examined me and found that my ear was bleeding. The cat had managed to swipe my ear. Luckily my humans had a pack of wet wipes in their doggie bag, so they did their best to clean up the blood and stop the bleeding. When we got home, they used some mild antiseptic solution to clean it further. Thankfully, my rabies jab is up to date...Anyway, here I am recovering from the unprovoked attack. The wound didn't look so bad after the blood was wiped off.


This morning, my human recounted the story of the cat attack to some of the regular dog-walkers during our walk. It turns out that this nasty cat has tried to attack other dogs that have walked past as well. Looks like we have to be more careful if we encounter the cat again.

Cats and this beagle just don't get along. I got swiped on my cheek by a cat before when I was on border patrol. However, that was perhaps understandable since it was a confrontational situation. This time, it was totally unprovoked. I think I'm going to stay clear of cats from now on...

Separation anxiety

Beagles are pack animals. We don't like being alone. Now back home in Malaysia, I didn't like being left home alone. I've climbed over 7-foot fences, killed plants and dug the garden when left in the garden. During the rainy season, when left indoors, I would scratch the grill, shoe cabinet, shred paper bags....you get the picture...

My humans used to accept it in their stride. Sure, they got frustrated from time to time. But they knew that it's part and parcel of having a dog. Then of course, my humans had a network of family and friends whom they could rely on to keep an eye on me. We had the best neighbors, Aunty C and family absolutely adored me and I was equally at home at their place as I was at my own. Aunty C would usually bring me over to her place when my humans went out. If my humans had to travel, I would usually go over to gramps homes on both sides of the family.

Now that we're in Hong Kong, away from family and neighbours, my humans are faced with the predicament of having to deal with this beagle's separation anxiety. The first few times they went out, they put me in my crate, with a special bone treat. They even left the radio on so that there would be sounds at home. When they came home, they would find this beagle in a state of anxiety, wet from water spillage from the water bottle on the crate door because I had been "bouncing" my crate, as if I was trying to move the crate closer to the door. Looks like I never did adjust to being in a crate.
Because we live in a rented apartment, they don't dare to let me roam freely in the house due to fear of damage to the property. What they've resorted to doing now is getting in helpers cum dog-sitters when they want to go out. So each time they go out, they always have to watch the time coz they have to be home by a certain time. They've also tried a doggie day care once when they ouldn't get someone to come in. But they know that this beagle is more comfortable at home. It's been pretty challenging for my humans as it means they can't be spontaneous. They are now considering a full time helper, which is very common in HK so that there will be someone home with me whenever they go out. The trade off is loss of privacy. It's a real dilemma and they're still trying to find the best solution for our family.

A Beagle's First Outing in Sai Kung

My last trip to the vet doesn't count as a proper outing. So, this beagle was quite excited to actually go on a proper outing. We live on HK island - highly populated and densely built up. On my first outing, my humans and I went over to the mainland, past Kowloon, to a beautiful place called Sai Kung, a country park in the New Territories, about an hour's drive from HK island.


Since we don't have a car yet, my humans hired a van to take us there. As always, this beagle loves a car ride and took in the city sights, which gradually changed to countryside as we travelled away from the island.


The main purpose of our trip to Sai Kung was actually to visit a dog boarding place there. Since my humans had to travel for work, they had to find a place for me to stay when they are away. Now, there are boarding places on HK island, but most of them require the dogs to be in a kennel of some sort. But at DBDogsDayz in Sai Kung, the dogs are allowed to roam free in a home environment, with a back garden (which is a real treat in HK) and indoor air conditioned room to chill out in. The owner, Andrew requires a pre-boarding visit to ensure that the dogs can adjust to living with other dogs, which my humans thought was a good idea.

On the day of our visit, DBDogsDayz was at full capacity. Initially, I was a little apprehensive entering into the garden with a pack of 20 canines - large and small. But, after the customary butt sniffing, I finally settled down in a corner, whilst my humans chatted with Andrew. All went well with the pack.



After the visit, we headed into Sai Kung town. My humans had a dim sum brunch at a seafood restaurant by the pier, whilst this beagle sat patiently by the table (In Malaysia, it is rare for restaurants to allow dogs. In HK, some restaurants allow dogs at their outdoor seating area).


I tell you the seafood doesn't get any fresher than this.


After a very delicious lunch (unfortunately, there were no dim sum treats for this beagle, although my human did give me a liver treat for sitting so patiently), we took a walk by the pier and checked out the vendors selling fresh seafood from their boats.


All in all, it was a pretty good outing indeed, as can be seen by my happy face.


Note from Kess' Mama: Whilst it has been challenging adjusting to living in such a busy city, it really is lovely to be able to go to the country side with Kess and take her openly to a town or a pier. In Malaysia, we would not have been able to do so because dogs just wouldn't have been allowed. At the Sai Kung pier, people were walking their dogs, enjoying time together on a weekend. It's such a treat for us to be able to experience this with Kess.

A taxi ride and a visit to the vet...already???

First, the ride...
This beagle had my first taxi ride in Hong Kong yesterday. Now, in Malaysia, dogs are not allowed in taxis. Not so in HK. Animals are allowed in taxis with a surcharge payment of 5 HKD (around 60 US cents). I suppose in a country where most of its residents rely on public transportation, it makes sense that taxis carry canine passengers as well. However, not all taxi drivers like to carry canine passengers as mum and I found out when we tried to hail a taxi. Although the taxis had the "For Hire" sign, some did not stop for us. However, the fourth taxi driver that did not stop for us was a really nice chap. Mum and him were happily chatting about the plant on his dashboard in the limited Malaysian cantonese that mum could speak.

Meanwhile, I wasn't pleased that mum didn't allow me to get on the seat. She said that it's not our car and other passengers may not appreciate sitting on dog fur. So, she made me sit on the floor. Naturally, I tried to get onto the seat. So mum gave me the sit command and as reward for good behavior, I got to eat doggie treats. So that kept me happy throughout the journey.

Then, the vet...
Which brings me to the purpose of this beagle's taxi ride in the first place. My humans decided that a visit to the vet is required due to a couple of pee incidents. The first happened whilst I was staying with gramps before I joined my humans. Gramps had given me a wonderful bath that evening and this beagle was so comfortable that I fell into a deep sleep. The next morning, gramps discovered that I had wet my bed during sleep. The second incident happened in HK. I was sitting in the kitchen watching my humans eat dinner. When I got up, my humans discovered a small pee puddle where I was sitting.

Their conclusion - possible case of incontinence. After all, this beagle is 9 years old. So, that's how we ended up visiting the vet at the HK SPCA. My vet, Dr. Laurie is a very nice German gentleman and immediately put me to ease. Mum told him that I did not like going on the steel table so he examined me on the floor instead. He gave me a clean bill of health on the physical examination. Then he went away to test my urine sample. Fortunately, it was clear too. No case of infection. So, he concluded as my humans did that it was urinary incontinence. He said it was a common issue among female dogs that were spayed when young. So, I'm now on Propalin syrup which mum injects into my food twice a day. I 'm supposed to take it for two weeks to see if that helps me. Chances are I may have to take it for life. Unfortunately, one of the side effects is loose stool. So my humans have been monitoring me to see if I need to "go". They are getting a lot better at reading my body language. When they see me pacing around, they now know that I need to pee/poo.

By the way, thanks for the suggestions and prayers about our situation. My humans is seriously considering gettting a patch of real grass in a box to put on our balcony. They now have to do some research on where to source for that in Hong Kong. Until then, my humans will have to take me down often to relieve myself. Meanwhile they are relying on Urine Off to get rid of the pee odor when I do have accidents (which apart from the Typhoon 3 incident, has been kept to a minimal).

Hits and misses

It's Kess' fourth day in HK. It's great having her here with us. She is adjusting well in most respects. She enjoys meeting new canine and human friends on our walks. She loves going on the lift to go down for a walk. The staff at our apartment love her. She'll perform tricks for treats for them and all parties benefit! Those are our hits...

And now for the misses...from house to apartment. Back home, we used to leave the door open for her to go to the garden to pee. But we can't do that anymore coz we don't have a garden! So, our biggest miss is Kess having pee accidents in the apartment. On her first day, she had 2 accidents. We learnt from that and adjusted our pee walks. In a day, we take her downstairs 7 times. First thing in the morning, after breakfast (which is also her long walk), mid-morning, mid-afternoon,evening (second long walk), after dinner and before bed time. The schedule worked fine for 2 days, until typhoon 3 signal hit HK today. Strong winds and showers put a halt to our pee schedule. I did take her out around noon despite the wind and rain but she was more interested to sniff than pee. After a small branch falls from a tree, I decided to head back before a bigger branch fell! Well, lo and behold, pee accident no. 3 happened in the apartment, followed by pee acccident no. 4 an hour later.

I had followed some tips on the internet about soaking some pee and transferring that to a section in the back room where we had laid newspapers where we had intended for her indoor pee place. Somehow, it's just not working...Sigh...Maybe I just need to keep at it. I'm frustrated and I'm sure she's confused too... We welcome any suggestions to help Kess live happily in our apartment.

The beagle has landed

From the desk of Kess' mama:

The long-awaited call came at midnight, "Kess has arrived. She's fine. We'll have her delivered to your home in an hour's time."

Finally, the beagle has landed. She survived the journey fairly well, with the exception of a little tantrum spell where she tore a rug we had put in her crate for her comfort.

The first thing we did when we were reunited was to take her for a walk. The pet relocation agent had let her out to stretch her legs and pee after she arrived at the airport but she needed a little reward for being such a good traveller. Here is a picture journal of her first 18 hours in Hong Kong:

Kess'first ride on the lift. She enjoyed checking out her reflection in the mirror.


Enjoying a liver treat (courtesy of Evie) after her journey


After checking out every nook and corner of our new home, Kess does what she usually does - groom herself. That's how we know she's totally settled down.


This morning, after breakfast, Kess checks out the Hong Kong city view from our balcony.



Kess' first experience with the muzzle, due to the cases of dog poisoining on Bowen Road...As expected she did not like it at all. In the end, we took it off because she was unable to pant in this nylon muzzle. In this balmy summer weather, we will have to look for another option. We've seen other dogs with a plastic muzzle with breathing holes. We'll have to look for that in the pet shops here. Meanwhile, we just have to be super vigilant during our walks.


Walking on Bowen Road trail, a lovely green oasis in the midst of tall Hong Kong skyscrapers.


A happy beagle after her walk!


Time for a snooze...


As Cesar Millan says, dogs really do live in the moment!

Missing Kess

From the desk of Kess' mama:

I miss my little beagle. Thankfully, we'll be reunited in a few short days. Kess has gone to the govt vet for her physical examination and all her paperwork is now in order. She is happily staying with my parents, probably being spoilt to bits! Every morning, she will wait at the stairs for my mum to wake up and take her for a walk. No doubt dad will give her a piece of bread for tea (she never gets tea time when she's with me).

J and I have been in HK for close to a week now. Apart from putting our human affairs in order and setting up home, we've been busy exploring where to take Kess for walks. We found a great trail nearby, the Bowen Road trail, a popular walkway with joggers and dogs. When I go for a walk in the morning, I see lots of dogs, some walked by their humans, others by the domestic helpers. The one downside to this lovely trail is that there is a serial killer on the loose - dog serial killer! Since 1989, there has been more than 70 cases of dog poisoning and more than 20 deaths as a result of it. The most recent case took place just before Christmas last year. The killer leaves cooked chicken, laced with powerful insecticides. Who knows what posseses a human to do such a cruel thing? The police have offered a hefty reward for information on the killer but there has been no progress so far.

Anyway, to be on the safe side, we've bought a muzzle for Kess. She'll probably hate it but this beagle is a champion sniffer and super greedy. Back home in Malaysia, I've lost track of the number of times she has picked up food from the ground before we can stop her. So, we just can't risk her being poisoned. All throughout the trail, warning signs have been posted to alert dog owners to be careful. With a bit of precaution, I'm sure Kess will enjoy walking on this trail. For starters, she'll definitely meet a lot more dogs than back in Malaysia. So she'll have an active social life.

Counting the days till she arrives....

Busy, busy, busy

As the move date draws closer, life in our household is chaotic, to say the least. My humans have been busy spring-cleaning, deciding what to bring over to Hong Kong, what to leave at home, what to recycle/give away and what to throw. Not surprisingly, our home is pretty messy at the moment, with boxes and bags scattered all over.

At the same time, my humans have been busy trying to sell the car, close accounts and the 101 things in their "when we have to move overseas to-do-list". To top it off, they also have been busy catching up with all their friends before they go, which equals quite a fair bit of farewell lunches and dinners. Me, I am quite happy to go over to our neighbour, Aunty C's home when my humans are out. I will definitely miss our awesome neighbours!

My humans have decided to send for me 1 week after they leave. In the meantime, I will stay with gramps. They figured that the 1 week will give them time to run their errands and sort out all the stuff they need to do in their "when we arrive overseas to-do-list". Then, when this beagle finally joins them, my humans, or at least mum, will be able to spend some quality time at home with me to help me settle to condo living in a new country.

Mum continues to worry how I will cope with the travel and being in a crate for long periods. Although the flight to HK is only 4 hours, pick-up to the airport, will take place 6 hours before flight time. I will spend a couple of hours at the KLIA Animal Hotel where mum has requested for me to be let out of the crate until preparation for departure takes place, approximately 2 hours before. Upon arrival at HK Airport, it will be another 4-6 hours before I can be reunited with my humans as I would have to clear Customs Inspections, get my 2nd rabies jab and get a HK microchip, which is of a different standard from my existing chip.

So, as you can see, we are really quite busy. So, this would be it for now. My next post will be from HK. Until then, take care.

P.S. The mess below was created by a beagle who didn't like to be left home alone and has nothing to do with the move...

Preparing for the Big Move - The Crate

Cinnamon and Honey guessed correctly! We are moving to Hong Kong. Exciting right? Anyone who's moved will know the challenges humans and canines face when they have to cross borders.

My humans have been busy finding out about the procedures to bring me along to Hong Kong. Based on a friend's recommendation, they settled on a Hong Kong pet moving company. So, the logistics was sorted out. Next - the paperwork. The requirements to bring a dog into Hong Kong were pretty straight forward. Unfortunately, it required a visit to the vet and a couple of jabs - vaccination and rabies. Shudder...I'll need a visit to the govt vet in Malaysia a couple of days before departure for a health check and certification of fit for travel. Definitely not looking forward to that! To top it off, I'll get another rabies jab on arrival in Hong Kong. Yikes! The good thing is, as long as my paperwork is in order, I don't have to be quarantined and can be reunited with my humans 4-6 hours after I land in Hong Kong. Hurray!

One of the key things that I needed was to get used to my travel crate. My humans know that this beagle does not like being locked in a crate. They tried crate training when I was a wee pup and I used to whine! So, that was a big headache for them. But, as you all know, this beagle has a major weakness - FOOD! My humans capitalized on that by placing liver treats strategically deep in my crate. The result?

Day 1 - This beagle had 3/4 of her body in the crate to get to the food.


Day 3 - Add my day bed and this beagle is happy to have her snooze in the crate.


My humans have added back the door to the crate now and am experimenting with closing the gate for short periods. When they first did it, I was rather anxious. I would get up, and look mournfully at my humans. Now, I'm getting used to it, which is a relief to my humans.

More to come on my big move!

P.S. Honey, My human recalls reading your comment on her phone one day and the next day, it had disappeared. Strange...

The Big Move

My humans travel very often, for work and pleasure. More often than not...actually it's all the time...this beagle stays behind when my humans go away. A few years ago, my humans moved to Bangkok for 1.5 years. I stayed back in Malaysia with gramps due to rabies concern in Thailand. Well, my humans are relocating to another country for a few years and I am finally going to join them on our "Big Move". Where are we going?

It's a busy city with a population of around 7 million people in approximately 1,000 sq kilometres. It has lots of skyscrapers, yet despite the many buildings, it does have quite a lot of parks and greenery in the fringes of the city.

From KL...


To...Take a look at this picture and guess where this beagle is moving to.


More on my big move later.

This beagle turns 9!

This beagle is 9 years old today. A year older, a year wiser, perhaps? Don't know about that, but I can confirm that this beagle has more white fur - especially on my face and brows.

So, what did this beagle do today? Well, my day started with rain - and lots of it from the wee hours in the morning. No matter, this beagle was nicely snuggled in my bed right outside my humans' bedroom (yeah...my humans have given up on letting me sleep outside). My normal morning walk was out of the question but I did get a mid-morning walk when the rain stopped. Snoozed during the day. Walked again in the evening. Dad took the day off work so it was nice to be able to walk with both my humans today.

But, being a typical beagle, my highlight of the day was dinner! Every year on my birthday, my human prepares a special dinner treat. This year, I had succulent slices of liver, served on a bed of fluffy white rice, with sprinkles of doggie kibble. Typical mum, despite it being my special day, she makes me sit and wait before allowing me to eat. I have to look elsewhere to resist the temptation!


When she finally gives me the OK, I was in such a hurry that my ears flopped in the air.


The meal was so delicious that a little fly decided to join me. See the little black dot on the top right side of my head - that's the fly...


All too soon, my birthday meal was gone. Let's see if some bits fell to the side. Nope...no such luck.


It was a pretty good birthday all in all. I wonder if I can "con"vince my human to give me another liver treat for dinner tomorrow...