Watchdog

Beagles are hunting dogs. That's in our nature. But beagles also make good watchdogs. Don't be fooled by our medium size and gentle faces. When the situation calls for it, we will protect our humans and our territory. Woe behold any stranger, man or beast who infringes our property.

Beagles are attentive...


We will bark, and believe me, beagles have deep barks which belie our size.

We will bark in the car...


We will bark at the squirrel in the tree...


We especially get upset at the monkeys in our backlane...



And the naughty monkey who boldly strolls on the wire in front of our house


As you can see, between the junk mail delivery guys, the mailman, cats, squirrels and monkeys, this beagle is a very busy watchdog.

After all that hard work...


~
Thor passed this wonderful award to me. I am so proud to be a member of the international bloggers community and would like to share this award with other worthy bloggers!


The rules:
1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Copy the image, rules and questionnaire.
3. Post in your blog.
4. Answer the four questions.
5. Pick 7 friends to share with.
6. Come back to BLoGGiSTaiNFoCoRNeR at http://bloggistame.blogspot.com/ and leave the URL of your post in order for your blog to be added to the master list.
7. Have fun.

Questions and answers:
1. The person who tagged you? Thor
2. His or her site title and URL? Thor's World.
3.Date you were tagged? May 16, 2009
4. Persons you tagged? Penny, Poppy and Patches, Tuffy and the Dog WOods Pack, Sapphire, Jazz and Dixie, Amber Mae, Biggie Z, Dughallmor Beagles

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.

Dog Eat Dog

This is a disturbing post simply because it's more than just an idiom. This is an actual event happening in a small fishing village in Malaysia just as I write this post. The idiom "Dog eat dog world" signifies a world in which people fight for themselves only and will hurt other people. It means that you must first watch out for your own interests, because other people will be watching out for theirs.

The story on the plight of a group of 300+ stray dogs in Pulau Ketam that were shipped to another uninhabited island without food or fresh water source first broke earlier this week by Malaysia Central. The villagers of this small fishing village claimed that the stray dogs were becoming a problem - defeceating everywhere and even attacking children. Their solution was to capture these dogs and ship them to a nearby uninhabited mangrove island, left to die because there are no sources of food or fresh water.

The main press, including the Star newspaper later picked up this story. See "Plight of the swamp dogs", "Rescue Group Swings into action", and "Dog runs deeper into the island on seeing rescuers". Animal activist Sabrina Yeap who went to the island to rescue the dogs said that some of the dogs have died of starvation while others drowned in their attempt to swim back to Pulau Ketam. It was also reported that the surviving dogs had resorted to eating the carcasses of their dead counterparts. I guess these dogs did what they needed do to survive.

It is a sad day indeed to see how cruel humans can be.

The way to this beagle's heart

Heard of the saying "The way to a man's heart is through his stomach?"? Well, I'm no man, but I can tell you, the way to this beagle's heart is definitely through her stomach. If you've missed my last 2 birthday updates, I just celebrated my 7th birthday yesterday! I had a great time - hiking in the hills, going to a restaurant and having a romp in the park. But, my dearest and fondest birthday wish was for a super duper yummylicious dinner treat. So, this underdog applied some beagle doggedness and negotiated with top dog, mum for a special treat.

So, what did I get for dinner? My regular bowl of Innova large bite kibbles? Or...a yummy hot dog with cheese oozing from it?








You must first understand my human's philosophy about feeding their beloved canine. They believe that it's best and easiest to feed me dog food, namely dry kibbles for convenience. They do supplement my kibbles with selective plain human food, namely boiled meat in soup, bread or rice, but only when they have to go out, kind of like a bribe so that I don't pine too much when they leave (because I'm too busy eating...It works all the time too!) Of course, we mustn't forget the healthy stuff like carrots, apples and all types of fruits. But that's it! They get upset when I get fed with stuff like prawn crackers and cookies (by the grandparents of course!) But, I have to say, that since we've started blogging, my humans have relaxed their dog food philosophy, thanks to you guys out there! So, what's this beagle to do but try to take advantage of this situation? After all, 7 is a lucky number, and it is my 7th birthday and 1 human year is 7 doggie years...

Jackpot! I got both.


But first, the hot dog (naturally)


When that's gone, it's time to chomp down the kibbles


With my most pathetic Oliver Twist face, "Please mum, may I have some more?"


Am I going to be a lucky dog? (Aunt Ev got these special dog chocs from Australia - they're actually carob coz chocolates are bad for dogs)


Oh my dawg! Jackpot twice in 1 night - Vanilla ice cream with a carob topping!


Someone pinch me before the ice cream melts...


Let the smacking lips do the talking...


This beagle is one contented canine. I am so glad that my humans' puppy love for one runt of the litter beagle pup has stood the test of 6 going on 7 years. One thing for sure, this adult beagle is leading a jolly good dog's life!

P.S. I did it. I managed to use all the phrases from the Dog Series in these 3 birthday posts! Phew...it was a challenge.

...and what a day it was!

Thank you so much for your birthday wishes, my blogger pals. It's really awesome when you guys use doggie phrases in your comments!

My birthday started off with a lovely surprise last night. I got to join my humans when they went out for dinner at the Boathouse (Amber's been there too. But then again, Amber gets to go to lots of cool places). I was so excited! Now, in Malaysia, most restaurants don't allow dogs, so it is a rare treat indeed. The Boathouse provided a red doggie bowl filled with water and some doggie treats, which I finished in less than 5 seconds. Of course, trust mum to have thought about my beagle appetite. Whilst she and dad had NZ tenderloin steak and scallop spaghetti, I chomped on my special Pedigree bone treat which they bought from Bangkok.

Dad was rather nervous about how I would behave in a restaurant but apart from a few loud and deep barks at two noisy motor-cycles nearby, I reckon I was the perfect lady beagle. In fact, after I chomped down the bone and finished sniffing my surroundings (typical beagle!), I was ready for a snooze...What a great end to my pre-birthday treat!


The surprises continued today. Instead of the normal morning walk, mum detoured to a small park nearby (that's the great thing about mum working from home - she can take the time off to do things like that. Sweet!) I went off-leash, happily exploring the grounds with mum keeping a close eye coz the park isn't fenced off. However, she wasn't quick enough to stop me from rolling over a small dollop of squirrel poo. Humans just don't understand why we love sniffing, licking, eating and rolling over squirrel poo! Now ordinarily, I would be sent to the doghouse (or more likely, the bath house) for doing something like that, but since it is my birthday, I got off scott-free!

After that, we had a game of fetch - my favourite! The day is getting better and better.


Anyway, I figured since it was my birthday, I should apply beagle doggedness to my negotiation skills. After all, my humans have already done what they've never done before - take me out to a restaurant. So I figured there must be something special about turning 7 years old. Now, typically, I communicate with my humans with expressions and paw-language (yeap, I sit in front of my humans and paw them when I want something - usually it's my dinner). But I imagine if I could talk with mum, our conversation would be something like this:

Kess: "Mum, it's my birthday. I've been a good beagle. Surely, I deserve some special treats, you know...the edible super yummy finger licking kind..."
Mum: "That's why we took you out for dinner last night. You enjoyed yourself, didn't you?"
Kess: "It was super cool. We should do it more often. The thing is, you guys got to eat steak and scallops and all I got was a bone. Not that it wasn't a yummy bone. But surely, I deserve a little bit more. You know, Oorvi gets KFC and Maggie and Mitch gets ice cream..."
Mum: "Hmm...Let me think about it"

Will this underdog beagle get her fondest birthday wish for a special dinner treat? Or will mum, the top dog overrule her?

It's my day...

Remember the phrase "Every dog has its day"? Well, tomorrow is my day - that's right. It's my birthday. This beagle has lived 6 glorious years and look forward to beginning my 7th year tomorrow. To celebrate my birthday, I thought it would be fun to see how many Dog series phrases I could weave into today's and tomorrow's post.


My birthday celebration started on Sunday afternoon. After a couple of weeks of raining cats and dogs, the dog star is shining real bright these days and dog days are here again. We headed into the hills for a hike on this beautiful sunny afternoon. I am estatic coz I get to do what a beagle does best - go on a hunting mode. After all, that is what working like a dog should be - working on what we love best. My humans were grateful we didn't encounter any horses on our afternoon jaunt. They remember all too clearly my reaction to those giant 4-legged beasts. They wanted to avoid a fighting like cats and dogs scenario with me straining against my harness, barking frantically at the horses.

We did however encounter a long black snake which scared mum witless! She was happily jogging ahead of us when she saw the snake slithering in front! I wonder who was more frightened - mum or the snake (who was probably just sunning itself until we disturbed its sun-tanning session). My humans also saw red when they came across rubbish on the slopes of the hill. How could such a lovely natural spot have gone to the dogs?.

After the long walk, this beagle was grateful for the phrase "Let sleeping dogs lie" (the beagle version) as I caught some much needed ZZZs!

Stay tuned for tomorrow's post and see how I celebrated my birthday!

Working like a dog

This is going to be a short post. Mum's been "working like a dog" for the past week (weekend included) and is taking a short break from "share modification and deferred taxes" to blog. That's the nature of her work. There are times when she's free as a bird and then when there are projects due, she works hard for the money (Remember the Donna Summer song?).

Anyway, the term "working like a dog" is probably somewhat linked to the phrase "It's a dog's life", my very first "Dog Series" post. If you recall, one of the definitions which dates back to the 16th century- "a miserable, unhappy existence" refers to the terrible life of working dogs during this era.

I like to think that "working like a dog" has something to do with the fact that we dogs work hard when we put our mind to it. After all, many of us come from working dog breeds - hunters, shepherds and guards. In today's world, we are therapy dogs, sight dogs, cancer sniffers, drug sniffers, and the list goes on and on!

So, here's a tribute to dogs everywhere - we work hard and we play hard!

Kess - Busy hunting the squirrel in the tree (typical beagle!)