Kess & Mia

For eleven years, I have been the sole beagle in our household. Well, all that has changed. Meet Mia - the latest beagle addition to our family! I have to say I am a little weary about having a very active beagle pup in my home, but my humans have been pretty good to make sure that both beagles get along. They did research before Mia arrived to find out what's the best way to introduce a young pup to an old dame. They got new supplies for the pup so that I don't have to share with the newcomer.

Mia arrived on a sunny summer day. She wasn't happy being in a crate - I know the feeling, Mia.

 

My humans kept me at home whilst they took Mia for a short walk to let her adjust to the new surroundings. After a while, Mia and I met at a nearby playground where we proceeded to sniff each other out in typical doggie fashion. The meeting went well and we walked home together.

 

 

It's only been a week but Mia has totally adjusted to being in our family. She is a very affectionate  beagle pup with tonnes of energy. My humans have to make sure that she doesn't disturb me too much. Despite having her own bed, she likes to use mine. Let's just say the first few nights were pretty restless for humans and beagles. It's improving and Mia is now happy to stay on her bed and I don't mind if she's close by.

Mia has lots of play time and loves to play with her duckie toy.  My humans call her speedy Gonzales because she runs like the wind!

 

 

 Last weekend, Mia had her first bath since arriving. Unlike me, she loves the water and would chase after the water when my humans water the plant with the hose. But like me, she is not too crazy about bath time either.

 

 Mia is also very clever. She only had one training session with my humans and she quickly learn how to sit for treats. We beagles will do anything for food.

All in all, we are all happy to have Mia in our family. She really is a sweet, fun and loving pup. Welcome to our family, Mia!

 

The Bone from Christmas

My humans got me a two-in-one Christmas gift - A Chew N Kleen Knot Bone. You can tell from its name that it serves dual purpose - not only is it for a beagle's enjoyment, it cleans my teeth at the same time!


Naturally, before I was able to indulge in my doggie treat, I had to sit and wait until my humans gave the "OK" command.


So on Christmas evening, whilst my humans were pigging out on mum's homemade chinese barbeque pork (char siu) and Aunty Pat's fried calamari...




...this beagle was busy trying to "unknot" my bone.


This continued to Boxing Day...


On December 27th...At this stage, this beagle was not making a lot of progress. I hate to admit it but my mouth just isn't big enough for this bone. My human took pity on me and decided to "unknot" one end to help me out. My goal was to get to the yummy chicken strip sandwiched between the hide.


On December 28th... I was only halfway through.


On December 29th... I was still at it.


On December 31st... Gnawing this knotted bone sure is tiring!


I hope your Christmas treats kept you as busy as mine did! Happy 2011 everyone!

The Dogma of Kess' Mama

My Kiwi beagle pals, Cookie and Cinnamon tagged me to show where I sleep. Now, if you've read my post "Let sleeping dogs lie", you'll know this beagle sleeps anywhere and everywhere. In fact, my name should be "Kess ZZZs" coz I love to snooze.

My humans have this weird "dogma" (principle, tenet or arrogrant declaration of opinion) about where their beloved beagle sleeps at night. Firstly, I am not allowed to sleep on their bed. Instead, they provide me with my very own beds, which is comfy, but hey, its' not the same as their bed!

Bed #1 - is my kennel on the porch. My kennel also has a top, but for photography purposes, mum took it out so that I can be seen clearly.
You can tell from my expression that it's not my favourite bed. I much rather be in the house than on the porch. Unfortunately, it's my regular bed. Here's why:

Kess: "Mum, Why can't I sleep indoors every night?"
Mum: "Kess, you know that dad and I travel regularly. When you go to gramps' home when we're away, dogs are not allowed into their house. So, you have to get used to being outdoors at night."
Kess: "But, it's not fair..."
Mum: "I'm sorry Kess, but surely it's better to be able to roam freely in gramps' garden than being boarded at a kennel."

I guess that's true. this beagle would be miserable being boarded in a kennel. Besides, it's fun staying over at gramps because they feed me all sorts of cool treats. I even get to enjoy afternoon tea when they have their tea. At home, I only get breakfast and dinner.

Bed #2 - is my couch cum day bed cum rainy nights bed.

My humans provided this bed for me in the living room so that I wouldn't go on the couch. In the earlier years, they had to train me to stay off their couch. It took a while but their efforts paid off. I love my own little couch and haven't had any urge to climb on the human couch.

On rainy or festive nights (i.e. firework nights), I get to sleep indoors. This is when my couch cum day bed gets converted to a night bed. My humans will bring my bed to a little corner on the stairs outside their room. Sometimes, on out nights, I have to wake them up by pounding on the front door in the wee hours in the morning when it starts raining at 2 am so that I can come in. To avoid having their sweet dreams turn into a nightmare, my humans have taken to sky-gazing every night before they go to bed to see if it will rain that night. It the skies are red, it's in night for me. Woo hoo!

And now, I would like to tag the dynamic duos: Agatha and Archie, Maggie and Mitch , and Cocoa and Barley

~

My friend, Happy passed this award to me. Thanks Happy!


There are some rules for passing on this award:

1. Post it on your blog and link to the person who gave it to you
2. List 7 things you love
3. List 7 blogs you love
4. Email or comment on those blogs to let them know you've given them an award

I love:
1)FOOD, glorious food, in all shapes and sizes
2)Tummy rubs - in fact my favourite trick is to sit right in front of mum when she's on the couch to get her attention and then flop down for a tummy rub
3)Playing with my humans - fetch and "get me out of the T-shirt" are my favourite games
4)Long walks - especially when we go hiking in the hills
5)Sleep - lots of it
6)Car rides - love the air conditioning in the car!
7)Chasing squirrels and cats and postmen and delivery men....

I also love:
1) Cookie and Cinnamon
2) Laney
3) Khyra
4) Key West Collies
5) Joey
6) Fred
7) Martha & Bailey

Now, I know that some of you may already have this award but I just wanted you guys to know that I love your blogs!

P.S. Update on the Pulau Ketam abandoned dogs. Todate, about 30 dogs have been rescued.Read more about it on Malaysia Central.

Exercise Tip - Running With a Bike

Remember my earlier post on the Dog Whisperer in May? Well, I thought I'll share with you an exercise tip from Cesar Millan which my humans have tried out on me. If you've watched the Dog Whisperer series, you'll see that a recurring them e in rehabilitating dogs is exercise. As the daily walk is paramount, Cesar introduces some tools such as skates and bicyles (for the human, not the dog) to add intensity and variety to the walk with the dog.

We tried out the bicyle tip so that I could get a good run during our weekend walks. In Malaysia, there are very few parks which allows dogs. Certainly, there are no dedicated dog parks where we can run freely. So, my humans decided to give this a go. Mum, who is on foot, gets the leash first as we get the "poo and pee" business out the way. Towards the end of the walk, dad, who is on the bike takes over.

Initially, my humas were apprehensive as they weren't sure how I would react to the bike. So, they found a quiet road to test it out. I admit, I didn't take to it like duck to water at first. I tried to go as far as possible from the wheels. But, after a couple of times, I got used to it and began to enjoy the run. I wasn't the only one who enjoyed it as my neighbours were quite amused (and impressed) at the sight of dad on the bike and me running beside him. I guess they don't see many beagles doing that.

The only problem with this is that poor mum has to walk back home by herself as dad & I speed off. But, she doesn't mind coz she loves me :-)

Sit, Look Left, Look Right, OK!

Safety is paramount. So, road rules are very important for suburban doggies. My humans always makes me sit and stay before we cross a major road. They then look left, look right, and left again to ensure the road is clear before releasing me with the "OK" command. Initially, they tried to follow this rule at every road crossing, but because there were so many little roads, I would have ended up sitting every 5 minutes or so! So, now, it applies to major roads only.

The picture that mum took of me and dad, whilst not planned, shows me looking to the left, and dad looking to the right which fits in perfectly with look left and right before crossing! Aahh...it's one of those Kodak moments!

Back to the road, let me tell you about a little adventure of mine. As you can see from the picture, this is a 4-lane road. Buses use this route and the road is busy during peak hours in the mornings and evenings. A couple of years ago, I decided to visit grandma and grandpa who live about 5km from our home. To get there, we have to cross this road. Now, mum & dad walk me to their place very often so I know the route by my "pee markings". So, one rainy afternoon, when mum & dad were at work, I wanted some company and climbed over the fence to make my way to gramps' home, which included crossing this busy road by myself. I arrived at gramps' home wet, but safe. They were pretty surprised to see me, to say the least. Until today, when we share this story, people are amazed that I made it without being injured in an accident or getting lost or dog-napped. Mum & dad are so thankful that God and His angels had their eye on me the whole journey. It was a lovely adventure for me, but I think I almost gave mum, dad, grandpa and grandma a heart attack! Pups, don't try this at home...

Leader of the Pack - Part 2

I had such great feedback from Xsara and Snout Beagle (who also shared a post on clicker training) when I wrote the post on Leader of the Pack a few weeks back. They presented alternative views on this matter which I felt were reasonable and made a lot of sense. So, with their permission, I would like to share it so that we can all learn from each other's experience.

Barby: "When I first took Xsara to the doggy pre-school, the instructors there also followed these principles, but it didn't work for us. I worked with Xsara a lot, and she still behaved badly. Until I started clicker training, teaching tricks and agility and forgot about leadership - only then we became a team. And I have to say that with positive reinforcement her behavior improved 100%. Dogs were bred to work with their people. Give them some work and they'll forget about everything else. Just make sure that the work you're giving them is interesting enough - if it's not, then you have to make it more interesting for the dog. It's hard work, much harder than remembering to enter the door first and feed the dog last and so on. But it's really worth it."

Jackie "... when we started Manners Class with Diesel at our local humane society we were introduced to clicker training. Diesel was always an easy dog, plus we adopted him after his naughty puppy stage, but the communication between us while clicker training was so clear, kind, and precise that Diesel learned behaviors and tricks amazingly fast. And he LOVED it! We both do! ... Beagles respond so well to positive training and the treats that go with it ... it's natural! In fact, if my husband or I get stressed or try to force Marvin too quickly he just shuts down. He'll do anything with you if you stay fun and cheerful, they both will. The dominating them thing doesn't work for me, that's not the type of relationship I care to have with my dogs, nor do I believe they naturally want to be my "boss". I work with the notion that we're partners. I do believe in setting bounderies of course, we all need that, and they get lots and lots of exercise."

Mum & I totally agree with Barby and Jackie on positive reinforcement and channeling doggie energies to positive and fun things. At the end of the day, our humans only want what's best for us. We haven't tried out clicker training but the principle behind it sounds logical. We haven't come across this type of training in Malaysia yet but will definitely keep my nose to the ground for any whiffs of it... It would be interesting to test it out. As for the leader of the pack principle, my human hasn't abandoned her belief in it as yet. She reckons it comes down to different leadership styles. She doesn't practice "I'm the boss and you're the slave" style...Instead, it's more of "I'm the parent and I'll set the boundaries" leadership basis. After all, our humans do all this for the love of their dogs.

Sleepless nights

My humans have not been sleeping well for the past 1.5 weeks. They keep waking up in the wee hours in the morning. It is no surprise that they wake up blearied-eye on the morning...Why, you ask? New baby? No electricity? Creaking bed? Nope, nope and nope to all of the above. If you haven't guessed by now, let me give you a hint. The reason starts with a "K" and ends with an "S". Yes, it's me, Kess, their lil' fur kid who have been waking them up.

I have to keep you in suspense a little longer as I need to give you some background first. If you've read my earlier posts, you'll know my humans are avid travellers. You'll also know that they lived in Bangkok for 18 months. When they're away, I usually stay with their mums and dads. In their households, sadly, doggies are not allowed into the house. But, I can respect that. I am blessed that they are willing to dog-sit me and I don't have to go to a boarding place. I still have the run of their gardens.

Since I'm not allowed into their houses, mum & dad have decided that when at home, I have to sleep outside so that I get used to it. It's not that I don't have a comfortable bed outside, I do.

But, if you recall, it was raining regularly a while back. And when it rains, I get to sleep inside at home. Well, I kinda got used to it. So, when the sunny days came back, I still wanted to sleep inside. But my humans, mindful of their travelling days, decided that I should sleep outside. So, when it's bed-time, they'll say "Time to go to bed, Kess." I'll reluctantly go out and get into bed. I get my usual pats and rubs and then they close the door. A couple of hours later, I decide to knock on the door to ask them to let me in. And because I was concerned they may be in dream-land and not hear my knocks, I knock VERY LOUDLY (even our neighbours can hear!).

For the first 3 days, they let me in. The first time, dad was just too groggy. The second night, mum let me in coz the wind was blowing strongly. The third night, it did rain (OK, it was just a little rain). But, it continued night after night. They soon wised up. So, the last few nights, all I got was a scolding each time. I tried at least twice a night (once around midnight, and another one at 2am). And, to avoid waking the neighbours, my humans put a little dog fence at the door so I can't get to the wooden door. I can only scratch at the grill. Anyway, last night I gave up.

The moral of the story? Humans, let your doggies in at night...hah! hah!

Post script from Kess' mama: Actually, it's this. If you reward bad behaviour, i.e "Knock on door= Can go in", you'll continue to encourage this behaviour. Yes, you may have to persevere for a while as your doggie and you learn the lesson together, but in the end, you get your fur kid to behave in the way you want her to. Having said that, I am mindful that every household have different rules for their fur kids and some fur kids sleep in and some sleep with their humans. What matters is the principle of training which can be applied to other behaviours.

Leader of the Pack

This is a follow up on my post on the Dog Whisperer. My humans are firm believers in the concept of leader of the pack and this translates to their relationship and interaction with me.

The basis for my humans' belief in the leader of the pack principle stems from the ancestory of dogs. Dogs, like our ancestor, the wolf, are primarily pack animals. In a pack, there is a natural pecking order. When humans adopt dogs, the human family becomes our pack. Humans need to take the role of leader of the pack with their dogs. Being a leader of the pack does not mean that humans should treat dogs harshly and not give affection to their dogs. What it does mean is that boundaries are set and discipline instilled by the leader of the pack, which is exactly what happens in the animal kingdom.

Actually, this is similar to the principles of raising a child where parents have to teach, lead and guide. A well-behaved child does not happen automatically. It is the result of parents exercising leadership in their household with the covering of love. Similarly, a well-behaved dog is a consequence of humans exercising leadership in their pack with the covering of love.

I plan to share how my humans adopt leader of the pack principles in training me over the next few weeks. Stay tuned.


P.S. I would love to hear your thoughts on this issue... Drop me a comment.