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 :-)

Fenced Down

This beagle is turning 9 next month. I suppose I'm considered a senior citizen, although in some countries, you have to be 60 to be eligible for senior citizen's discount - I'm 6 months in doggie years, or about 3 human years short of that. My humans certainly think I'm a senior canine. Since last year, they've started restricting my climbing up and down the stairs of our double-storey house during the day due to concerns about my hip. In my youth, I've climbed 7 foot fences, which also means, I've had to jump off 7 foot fences. No wonder, my vet recommended that I take glucosamine!

My human mum's home office is in one of the rooms upstairs. This means that she goes up and down quite a few times during the day. Naturally, this beagle, whom she calls "Her Little Shadow" tends to follow her. Well, since they've put up the darn doggie fence, I'm now fenced down during the day and am only allowed to go up during bedtime. However, this wily beagle sometimes outsmarts them. Since this is a mobile fence, made up of two doggie fences hooked together, my humans sometimes forget to put the fence by the stairs in the morning. So, right after they have the breakfast, I anticipate when they'll be going upstairs to get ready for work, and quickly run up the stairs before they can blink. Hah!


So, every morning, it's a battle of wits - my human's forgetful memory vs. this beagle's determination. At some stage during the day, my human will remember to put up the fence. This is what you see when that happens...

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 Beagle That Should Have Been Named "Socks"

We all know beagles have white paws, which resembles socks.



But, that's not the only reason my humans should have named this beagle "Socks" instead of Kess. They just cannot figure out my socks fetish. Whenever I see socks, I just have to grab it in my mouth and take it with me. I don't chew it or anything like that, I just like to grab it and when I'm done, I just leave it lying around. I especially like worn socks. Since my human likes to leave his socks in his shoes, that is my prime target. Of course, after all that beagle slobber, the socks has to go to the wash, even if it's a fresh pair. Speaking of fresh pair, I'm not a fussy beagle, socks fresh from the wash waiting to be put away in the cupboard is fair game, in my humble opinion. Of course, after I'm done with them, the socks need to be laundered again!

Anyway, my humans have given up on trying to cure me from my socks fetish. So, they figured, if you can't beat them, join them...No, they haven't developed a need to grab socks in their mouths....Instead, they've just turned their old socks into a toy for me. Stuff some old socks in another sock, and have a game of tug of war with their favourite beagle.

"Is that the best you can do? I can beat you lying down..."

"That's more like it! Now we can have a good game of tug of war."

"Hey...where did you go? Is the game over? Sore loser..."

"Socks in a sock" also make a good game of fetch as it does have good flying mobility. Do be careful if you're flinging it in the house! Anyway, I reckon my humans are quite lucky that my taste in toys are not expensive. I don't need fancy Kong toys. Just give me socks any day!

A birthday feast fit for Kess the Beagle

There is a saying that the way to a man's heart is through his stomach. The same is true for a beagle. My humans, knowing this beagle's heart, decided that the best birthday treat for my eighth birthday is food, food and more food.

Note: this post comprises of lots of pictures of food. So, my fellow dog bloggers, proceed at your own risk if you haven't eaten. This beagle will not be responsible for any damage to computer keyboards as a result of excessive drool!

To kick off the celebration on Thursday, instead of my usual 1/2 cup of Innova kibbles for breakfast, I had a hard-boiled egg, with half a yolk. Mum said yolks are high in calorie, so she removed half.


Unfortunately, mum had a project due on that day and could not make the special home-made dog treat for dinner . But she made up for it the next day with a homemade beef burger pattie. Mum says it is unbelievably simple and can be combined with the makings of a human dinner and muttered something about killing two birds with one stone (I don't think she meant it literally!).

Kess' birthday dog burger pattie recipe:
300 - 500 gm lean minced beef
1 egg, beaten
1 slice of bread, crumbed
1/4 to 1/2 cup milk

Preheat the oven to about 375 degree fahrenheit (190 degree celcius).

Mix the ingredients above. Use a tablespoon to scoop a large portion of the mixed minced beef. Flatten to a pattie. Repeat for as many as you wish to give your dog.

Kess' mama's meatball recipe
For human dinner, season the balance of the minced beef with salt, pepper and herbs. Scoop into meatballs/patties, as desired.

Lay the doggie home-made treat and the meatball for human dinner on a lightly-oiled tray. Bake for about 20 minutes. Let it cool before serving this healthy and delicious treat to your very excited dog. This beagle had her beef pattie served on a bed of sliced raw carrots and a slice of freshly-baked wholemeal baguette.

For humans, cook some pasta and serve with a classic tomato sauce.

The results:



Dessert was also very healthy - an apple, de-seeded. Apparently, an apple a day keeps the doctor (our in this beagle's case - the VET) away.


Burrrppp..this is one happy beagle! What a great way to turn eight years old.


A birthday quiz - Which did Kess eat first?:
1) Beef pattie
2) Wholemeal baguette
3) Carrots

Leave a comment or select your answer in the poll posted on the top left corner of my blog.

Lost and Found

We had a lil' excitement over the 2 days Hari Raya (Muslims celebrate the end of fasting during Ramadhan month) holidays last week. On Thursday evening, Mrs. T, a dog lover (who adopted 2 street dogs) was chasing after a dog who appeared to be lost. This dog was seen wandering around for a few days. She enlisted the help of my human dad. So, he went on his bike and tried to catch the lil' lost dog. It took about 30 minutes before they finally managed to corner the dog. With the help of another neighbour, Mr. C, they coaxed the frightened dog from her hiding place behind a commercial garbage bin.

Mrs T agreed to temporarily keep the dog whilst the owner is being located. Mr. C, who owns a pet shop donated some kibbles for the dog. Dad took photographs of the dog and printed posters. When dad went over to Mrs. T's home to photograph the dog, the shy Girl Dog immediately hid under the car. So, dad had to crawl on all fours to photograph her.

In the end, we managed to locate Girl Dog's owner from her red dog DBKL (KL municipal)licence tag on Monday (Due to the Raya holidays and the weekend, DBKL was closed). Mrs T's friend went to the DBKL office on Monday and was able to track the owner's address from the licence form. It really is so important to have a tag. Girl Dog may have been reunited with her owners a lot earlier if she had a tag. Read my earlier post on this. As it turns out, Girl Dog actually lives near my gramps place, just on the next street. Which also means, she had to cross over the very busy main road which I used when I went off to visit gramps on my own. Read about my adventure here . Girl Dog, whose name is Missy was happily reunited with her humans. So, there was a happy ending to this Lost and Found story.

Remember to always wear your tag!

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 :-)