It's in the ear!

Remember the doggie quiz on Tuesday? Good try everyone!

Q: What does a dog have to do with a book?
A: They both have ears!

Yes, it's in the ear, or to be more specific, dog-eared. Dog ear on a beagle, or any other dog is exactly what it is - an organ used for hearing and balance.

But, on a book, or to be more specific, a well-read book, "dog-eared" refers to the book corners worn or battered with use.


I do apologize I couldn't post a picture of a more "worn" book. My human is a book worm (no, she's not a worm - she just loves to read) and takes good care of her books. Her New York State Frommer's travel guide is the closest book with dog-eared corners. I suppose after travelling with my humans for 9400 miles on the plane from KL to New York City, followed by a 1000-mile road trip from NYC to Finger Lakes, Niagara and Adirondacks last summer, the book can be considered to be in pretty good shape. My humans definitely used the book extensively - referring to it for places to stay, eat and visit!

I must confess though that I couldn't see the resemblance between my beagle ears and the ears on the corner of the book. However, I suppose that whoever coined the word "dog-eared" must be referring to the more pointy ears of a dog like Benjy, my mixed pedigree buddy.

There is definitely some resemblance there! I hope you enjoyed that little quiz.

A doggie quiz...

What does this...


...have to do with this?


Send me your guesses...Hint - It's part of the dog series.

Stay tuned for the answer on Thursday!

Dog-Tired

Have you ever had one of those days when you come home from work or play (for humans and canines) and all you want to do is flop down on the bed and fall asleep? Well, in that case, you are feeling dog-tired. (Thanks Martha Basset for your phrase contribution). The definition of dog-tired is drained of energy or effectiveness; extremely tired; completely exhausted. Unfortunately, my research on the origin of this phrase yielded zero results. So, I had to come out with my own beagle theory based on my own observation and life experience.

I reckon the human who came up with this phrase probably had a dog, perhaps even a beagle, that may have just looked like me. Anyway, the human must have observed a day in the life of his dog and saw this...

A tree climbing dog


A tree destroying dog


A sprinting dog


A rock climbing dog


He then saw the after effects of all that activity...


And came up with the phrase "Dog-tired". It is so true. Just look at the face of your dog after these activities and you can see the "tired look". So, it really is a pretty straightforward dog phrase without any need to go back to Old England like our last phrase "Hair of the Dog that Bit You".

I found this quirky quote on the phrase. Enjoy!

“Growl all day ...



and you'll feel dog tired all night.”

Hair of the Dog that Bit You

Today's phrase was contributed by Essex and Deacon, the Key West Collies, who are barking mad about doggie words too! They even provided me with the Wikepedia reference for the information. Thanks fellas. I'm always happy to learn a new phrase.

If you've been following the dog series, you'll know that dog phrases can have rather strange origins and sometimes bizzare reflections on the canine world. The phrase "Hair of the Dog that Bit You" or its shorter version "Hair of the Dog" is a classic example.

This phrase, like many others (e.g. Raining cats and dogs) have its origins in old England. For some strange inexplicable reason, it was believed that you could treat a rabid dog bite by placing the hair of that dog in the bite wound. I certainly wouldn't recommend that treatment! But back in those times, there were many old wives tales. Anyway, this phrase soon became a metaphor for hangover treatment. If you've had too much to drink the night before and suffer from a hangover, have some more alcohol the next morning to cure the hangover. Hmm...

This concept of solving a problem with more of the problem surprisingly isn't limited to old England. It extends to Hungary, Mexico, Central America, Poland, Russia (just to name a few). So, obviously, it is a popular concept. Now, I don't know if it works or not. It seems to me it's just a good excuse by some who love their drink to drink some more. What do you think?

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.