This beagle turns 9!

This beagle is 9 years old today. A year older, a year wiser, perhaps? Don't know about that, but I can confirm that this beagle has more white fur - especially on my face and brows.

So, what did this beagle do today? Well, my day started with rain - and lots of it from the wee hours in the morning. No matter, this beagle was nicely snuggled in my bed right outside my humans' bedroom (yeah...my humans have given up on letting me sleep outside). My normal morning walk was out of the question but I did get a mid-morning walk when the rain stopped. Snoozed during the day. Walked again in the evening. Dad took the day off work so it was nice to be able to walk with both my humans today.

But, being a typical beagle, my highlight of the day was dinner! Every year on my birthday, my human prepares a special dinner treat. This year, I had succulent slices of liver, served on a bed of fluffy white rice, with sprinkles of doggie kibble. Typical mum, despite it being my special day, she makes me sit and wait before allowing me to eat. I have to look elsewhere to resist the temptation!


When she finally gives me the OK, I was in such a hurry that my ears flopped in the air.


The meal was so delicious that a little fly decided to join me. See the little black dot on the top right side of my head - that's the fly...


All too soon, my birthday meal was gone. Let's see if some bits fell to the side. Nope...no such luck.


It was a pretty good birthday all in all. I wonder if I can "con"vince my human to give me another liver treat for dinner tomorrow...

The Beagle That Should Have Been Named Hoover

My humans think that I should have been named Hoover instead of Kess. Why? Well, this beagle's favorite household chore is to "vacuum" any food bits that may have dropped onto the floor from our dining table (during lunch/dinner), sofa (breakfast or snack times) and kitchen (meal preparation). My humans make it a point not to feed me when they are having their meals, so I've never learnt to beg for food when they eat. Instead, I am contented to sit at their feet whilst they enjoy their food. But, the moment they finish eating and start clearing the dishes, this beagle immediately goes into "Hoover" mode, nose to the ground, ready to slurp any tidbits left behind.



In fact, I would have been happy to lick their plates clean, thus saving them the hassle of washing the dishes. Unfortunately, my humans did not agree with this beagle's point of view... They reckon that if I want to lend a paw around the house, I should learn to operate a real "Hoover" and vacuum the fur that I shed instead! That's not going to happen anytime soon...so it looks like my human is stuck with that household chore. I'll stick to the food removal!

P.S. My humans also think that I should have been named Socks. Although they call me Kess, my given name at birth is actually something else.

"What's in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet." Juliet (Romeo and Juliet, Shakespeare)

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!

Beagle thievery???

This morning, this beagle spent time in the garden after breakfast whilst my human holed up in her home office working away on her computer. Since I had some free time on my paws, I decided to help out around the house. Now, my human has all my supplies in this little basket on the shoe rack. I was going to surprise my human by transforming my messy basket which holds an assortment of beagle supplies -leash, harness, ear cleaning medicines, tea tree oil spray, etc.


To this beagle's pleasant surprise, I found my pack of treats from Japan. Some of you may recall that my humans brought back 2 packets of Japanese doggie treats for their favourite beagle. You saw the first treat - some crispy skins.
The second was a packet of succulent bacon strips. My human typically tears up the strips of bacon into smaller bits as treats when they clean my ear.


It doesn't take a genius to guess what happened next...When it comes to food, beagles have a one-track mind - EAT IT! This was all that was left when my human finally came out.


My human says I'm a bad beagle for stealing food. But hey, this treat was mine anyway. So, how can it be thievery? Instead of waiting for measly rations of bacon strips in the future, I just claimed it all in one go. Of course, after consuming about a dozen or so bacon strips, this beagle was too full to do much else but sleep it off.


As punishment for bad behaviour, there's no dinner for me tonight!

Postscript from Kess' mama:
With beagles in the home, I've learnt my lesson. All food must be kept safely away from the sniffing nose and eagle eye of a forever hungry beagle. This breed will do anything for food, including climb up furniture!

Tutti Frutti for a Beagle

It was a weeknight errand outing for this beagle and my humans. On the way home, my humans decided to stop by Tutti Frutti, a new yoghurt ice cream parlor. Unfortunately, like most eating places in Malaysia, canines are not allowed so I had to wait in the car whilst my humans enjoyed a tub of delicious Berri Tutti Frutti in the shop. My patience was rewarded! Because I was so well-behaved and did not bark at anyone, my humans decided to save me some Tutti Frutti yoghurt ice cream for me to eat at home.

"Hurry up mum...it's my turn to have some Tutti Frutti..."

"Sigh...OK. I know the drill. I have to sit first"

"Finally...Sweet"

A treat for a beagle from Japan

My fellow bloggers will know that my humans have a travelling bug. Apart from this beagle, travelling the world is one of their passions in life. Luckily for me, they come home with treats for me, well, most of the time anyway. They recently came back from Japan with a suitcase full of delicious treats...of which only, two packets are for me. The rest, they say are for human consumption. Such piggies!

In the midst of the souvenier and delectable food stores, my humans stumbled across this lovely pet store at the Nakamise Market in Tokyo. I reckon, I've trained them well to spot pet stores. The pet store is the one on the right.



They also have lovely dog figurines. Did you see the beagle? Sure looks like me.


Anyway, this beagle was able to sniff that the packages contains treats that this beagle loves. So, in my excitement...


My humans said that that jumping on the treat was unacceptable behaviour for a lady beagle. Who wants to be a lady? I just want the food! Still, house rules are house rules...


Finally, after one suspenseful minute of sitting, I was rewarded for good behaviour. It took me less than 2 seconds to tear the wrapping apart.


My humans got me tasty pig ear treat, at least that's what they think they bought. My humans don't speak Japanese, and the Japanese shop owner doesn't speak English...Still, from the packaging it sure looks like a treat for a beagle, don't you think?


Gotta go, got myself a pig ear to chew on for a while...


P.S. My humans say due to my recent weight gain from my stay at the Puppy Cottage, they're rationing my treats. Not only do I get one pig ear today, I only get to open the second package at a time to be determined later. Sigh!

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.

Kess' Guide on "How to Enjoy a Bone"

When I'm good, I sometimes get a Pedigree Jumbone as a reward.



Unfortunately, this isn't available in Malaysia, so it means that it's rationed...sigh... Fortunately, my humans had stocked up on their recent trip to Bangkok, so my doggie pantry has quite a nice supply of Jumbones (how many visitors to Bangkok actually buy Jumbones instead of tom yam paste???).

So, how does a beagle enjoy a bone? Well, let me count the ways...

1) Always bite off more than you can chew...A beagle mouth may look small, but when it comes to biting off the bone, it can bite off a lot more than it looks!


2)Make sure you chew your bone, and chew it well!


3) Don't forget to keep an eye and ear out for any surprise attacks for your prized bone!


4) All is well...Let's get back to gnawing!


And that my canine friends, is how this beagle enjoys her bone!

A Dog's Breakfast

Coming off my last post on "Sick as a Dog", I thought I'll continue on the theme of eating and food - my all-time favourite hobby! This is my breakfast...


At 1/2 cup a meal, it only takes me seconds to finish my breakfast.

See what I mean???


Strangely though, the phrase "A dog's breakfast" doesn't really refer to the kibbles my humans feed me every morning. It also doesn't refer to the special "hot dog" treat I get on my birthday.


Instead the phrase "A dog's breakfast" means "something bad, a mess or a muddle". How did the human coin this term beats me...but it dates back to the 1930's. I doubt any modern day doggie logic was applied. Anyway, there is also a 2006Canadian comedy independent film called "A Dog's Breakfast" where the main character makes a mess out of everything. More recently, there was a Forbes article in June 2009 by a professor of economics called "A Dog's Breakfast. In regulatory reform, politics trumps economic logic". I guess the author didn't quite agree with President O's policies.

So once again, we have a very strange dog phrase which doesn't really match doggie reality. I think I'll stick to the plain old version of "A dog's breakfast" - food! What did you have for breakfast this morning?

"Please mum, can I have some more?"

Sick as a Dog

I sometimes wonder about how humans come up with some of these strange expressions. Now, I've been fortunate enough in my seven years on this earth to not have been very sick. From time to time, I have unexplained short wheezing-like spells. When it first happened when I was younger, my humans thought it may be caused by my pulling during walking. Apparently beagles have weak tracheas, so upon the vet's recommendation, they used a harness for my walks instead. However, it continues to occur occassionally, usually when I'm resting, with each bout lasting for a couple of minutes and then I'm fine. My humans have taken me to the vet who suspects it may be due to excessive flap or excessive tissue in my nose. They've also done research on the internet and discovered that this problem is common among beagles.

Having said that, my bouts of wheezing spells still doesn't explain this dog phrase "Sick as a Dog" which is generally understood to mean "very ill". After all, dogs are generally healthy. It's true that each dog breed has predispositions to certain health problems, but I doubt that we are "sicker" than other types of animals on this planet.

This explanation was posted on a Kid's Health website - "If you've ever been very sick, you may have used this expression. Because dogs eat just about anything they find, they often get sick. So it's fitting to describe someone who is not feeling well as being "sick as a dog."

Now this sounds fairly logical, especially if you're a beagle. My mum and dad can testify to that. They know that when they walk me, they have to be super vigilant as I have been known to be able to sniff out buried bones and food from miles aways (must be the same excessive tissues that trigger the wheezing). Before you can say "Geronimo", I would have chomped down the food, much to my humans's disgust since most of the food found on the street and parks aren't really edible from a human perspective. My list includes discarded bread, bones, rice and even a corn cob (I didn't really eat it - just carried it in my mouth). From time to time, they've tried to open my mouth to try to remove the offending food but not often successful. Hah! The beagle outsmarts them!

So, with that, I am proud to accept the award that the 2 Mighty Beans bestowed on me last month:


"When accepting this award, you must blog about the food you have stolen when your humans were not watching. If you have never stolen any food, you must have been a really good pup! You can accept this yummy tray of cookies as your reward! Next add the logo of this award to your blog (optional), then nominate at least 5 other furry blogs and let them know by leaving a message on their blogs."

Since I am so late in posting this award and quite a few of you already have this award, I am leaving this award open for any dog blogger who have not received this and would like to share their tale of stolen food.

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.