Kess is 13 and it shows...

Kess turned 13 last month. See how she has aged. In her earlier photos, her brown and black coat is distinct, and her muscles are strong and defined. Now, her coat has turned whiter, her neck sags and her hind legs muscles have turned soft.

But you know what hasn't changed in her thirteen years? Kess' nature is still as sweet as ever. She is still our shadow, trailing us around the house as we go about our chores and she still loves to EAT, scavenging for food on the kitchen floor, on our walks, in the garden... Typical beagle!

Following birthday tradition in our household, Kess got a special treat on her birthday. This year Kess and Mia got roasted meatballs and bread served on a bed of regular kibbles.

But that's not all, grandpa had sent some money for treats for his two favorite beagles, so as result, the birthday celebration extended beyond the actual day with some yummy venison treats. Kess wasn't happy that she had to wait whilst her photo was taken with the treat so close yet so far...

But she was one happy beagle when she finally got her venison tendon treat!

To top off the awesome celebration, Aunty E was visiting us and decided to make a treat for the hot summer days - frozen yoghurt, peanut butter and bananas doggie ice cream. Needless to say, Kess and Mia thought it was Christmas and birthday rolled into one! All it took Kess was one gulp to gobble the icy treat.

After that, it was time for play as Mia and her went for a round of doggie sumo wrestling. Happy Birthday my sweet girl!

 

How Much Is the Doggie in the Window?

Do you know the song:
"How much is that doggie in the window?
The one with the waggly tail
How much is that doggie in the window?
I do hope that doggie's for sale"

Well, my human was walking down the street one day and this is what she saw - It was the cutest beagle figurine in the shop window of a luggage store.

When she got home, this is what she saw - one the cutest beagles on the block waiting for her human to come home. Now, whilst my human loves her two beagles, she would have loved to add the beagle figurine from the shop window to our home. Unfortunately, that little one was not for sale...

 

 

Happy and Sad

You know how humans say the weather affects their mood? Well, check out how the weather affects these two beagles:

 

Sunny day - Happy faces

 

 

Rainy day - sad faces

 

 

Beagle Dreaming

I wonder what Kess is dreaming about...Is she chasing and barking at the squirrels? Who knows... Sweet dreams Kess!

Kess' Mama

Multiplicity

How many beagles can you spot?

 

Sleeping Beauty

It's been a cold first winter for this beagle. The cold weather has its advantages. I get to go on nice long walks with my humans to explore Hong Kong's country parks and other famous tourist places like the Peak.

However, it also means a change in the way I sleep. This is how I sleep:

during the day...


...and during the night


By the pictures, you would have thought that I'm in the Artic instead of Hong Kong. But don't forget that this beagle has spent 9 1/2 years in all-year-round tropical Malaysia where I used to be able to sleep on the bare floor!


Yawn! Looking at all these sleeping photos makes me sleepy...Time for some ZZZs, with the blanket, of course :-)

Best buddies and a new winter outfit

Happy New Year everyone! It's been a busy year end for my humans and me. My humans' family came over to spend Christmas with us and all the humans had fun shopping, eating and sightseeing. What about this beagle? Well, I had fun hanging out with Cutie A, my little buddy.



On a separate note, I mentioned earlier that this beagle is experiencing her first cold season. I've started growing more fur on my belly as my body adjusts to the cooler temperatures. My humans also got me a fleece blanket for my bed and I now get to sleep in my human's bedroom because it's warmer. Well, we experienced a spell of cold weather, down to the low teens (Celcius). I know that compared to my blogging pals who live on the higher latitudes, this is mild weather but for this beagle who's lived her entire life in the tropics, it's pretty cold. So, I've started to pull back to go home whenever we start going for our walks. My humans finally decide to get me a coat, not knowing if I would actually wear it. Back in Malaysia, they used to tease me by putting on an old t-shirt and I would wiggle my way out of the t-shirt. They were pleasantly surprised that I did not try to get this coat off.

Now I can enjoy my long walks even in the cold :-)

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!

If dogs could read...

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

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....

Kess & Her Mama

From the desk of Kess' Mama:



"My goal in life is to be as good of a person my dog already thinks I am."
~Author Unknown

Deep in thought...

What is this beagle thinking? Tell us what you think...

A good-natured beagle

From the desk of Kess' Mama:

It's been 8 years since Kess joined our family. Despite the heartaches this beagle has given us, especially in the earlier years with her escapades and destruction to our property and garden, I have to say that our beagle is one good-natured canine. As long as she is with her pack (aka, us, her humans), she is contented.

Any beagle's human will attest that this little hound dog very much has a mind of their own. According to her mood, Kess will be my shadow, following me every where I go in our home.

Kess lying by my work desk

Just as easily, this beagle would ignore me, despite me calling out her name. This means I'll have to search out which corner of our home she's comfortably lying in.

Despite her little idiosyncracies, she is very good-natured, winning the hearts of those who interacts with her. She single-pawedly transformed our "we don't like dogs" neighbour into a dog-loving human, who is now more than happy to dog-sit her. In fact, when we were away and Kess was staying at the Puppy Cottage, our neighbour actually went to visit her at the Cottage, bringing a loaf of bread for our bread-loving canine.

Recently, I was unable to exert myself physically, which meant that I could not take her for walks or feed her. These tasks which are usually done by me had to be taken over by J. Whilst the morning walks and feed are on schedule, her evening routine had to be delayed. Since J works late, our beagle has to wait for him to come back for her evening walk and meal. So, instead of going out for a walk at 6 pm, more often than not, she goes out at 9 pm instead. Now, I've heard about dogs that whine or bark when their routine is disrupted. Not this beagle. She happily hangs out with me, or by herself depending on her mood.

Another classic example: the other day I was busy working in my home office. I heard a door slam shut due to the wind but did not think twice about it. When I had finished for the day, I went looking for my beagle. I opened my bedroom door and there she was sitting patiently near the door entrance. She probably was in the room for an hour or so. She knew that eventually her human would come to the rescue and she waited. Not a bark or a whine from her.

How can I not love my little beagle?

Kess' Top 5 Sunny Day Activities + 1

Living in a tropical country sure is fun. In my last post, "The Creative Beagle", I talked about how thunderstorms inspire this beagle's inner creativity (a.k.a. destructive behaviour much to my humans' chagrin). Now, sunny days are a whole different story altogether. Sunny days are for indulging in:

1. Sleeping - A beagle's favourite pasttime!


2. Eating - If possible, this beagle would be snacking the whole day. Unfortunately, my humans don't agree...Sigh!


3. Stretching and scratching - A good stretch to loosen the limbs and a good scratch to ease the itch!


4. Playing - I love to play tug of war over my leash with my human.


5. Walking - Which beagle doesn't like to go for long walks on a sunny day?


There you have it - this beagle's top 5 sunny day activities. What's the "+1" you ask?

6. Posing (Mum snuck this in. It's more of mum's favourite activity rather than mine...From what I can tell, the obsession with posing and picture taking of their favourite canine is a human thing. My fellow bloggers seem to share this in common with me)

Home Improvement

My humans decided that our house needed some sprucing up for the new year. They claim that the tropical weather and a certain active beagle has taken its toll on the walls and fencing. (I have no idea where the scratches and paw marks came from mum, honest!) Since, they're not exactly in the same league as "Tim the Toolman Taylor" of the Home Improvement sitcom, they decided to hire some painters to help give our home a new look. Mum was designated chief supervisor by default since she works from home. This beagle was naturally her second-in-command. My job description:

1) Sniff out the equipment (Beagles do this best)

This vacumn cleaner looking machine is actually a high powered spraying machine to clear off the old paint, dust and grime from the exterior walls and roofs.


2) Check out the workers during their break


3) Take a break when the workers are working - Hey, it's exhausting being the second-in-command.


All in all, it took two weeks for the job to be done. Things are back to normal now. No more workers, paint cans, buckets, newspapers, ladders all over the house and garden. No one is happier than mum! No more cleaning up after the workers leave each day...

So here's a sample of the before (bright orange zest feature wall)...


...and after (subtle O'Keefe Grey colour)


Aah...home sweet home

Mirror mirror on the wall

Mirror mirror on the wall
Who's the fairest of them all?

Hard at Work

2010 - We're now on the 7th day of a brand new year. Happy New Year everyone! Don't let the title of the post mislead you. This beagle is not the one who's hard at work. In fact, this is how I spend my days...



That's right...lazing around at my mum's home office whilst she's busy doing research on the computer and doing stuff for some database. If you're wondering about my "grumps" look, mum interrupted me from my ZZZs when she tried to take a photo. You would wake up too if you had a flashy thing in front of your face!

In fact, my humans love to take pictures of me whilst I'm sleeping. Do your humans do that too?


So far, it's been a pretty uneventful start to the year. Come on mum - time to add some excitement to my canine life! I'll be coming by to catch up with everyone soon. Cheers!