My very first award - Daily Blogger Award

It's been 3 months since I ventured into the exciting world of blogging. I've made new friends. both of the 4-legged and 2-legged variety from all over the world. It really is great fun. To top it off, my good buddy, Sweet Jasmine has just awarded my blog a Daily Blogger Award. Woo hoo! I get to make friends, have fun and get rewarded with an award. It's a doggie's life indeed. Thanks Sweet Jasmine.

The Daily Blogger Award is given out to a blog that has at least 3 blogs per week. Now, this is incentive to keep blogging regularly. And now, to share this awards to my pals who are daily bloggers too (at least in the last 2 weeks)... Lorenza; River; Mona & The Mommy; Agatha & Archie; Booker.

Keep blogging everyone!

Doggie-robics by Kess, the Beagle

Bet you’ve never heard of doggie-robics...Well, it's aerobics for dogs. I never took lessons, but as it turns out, I seem to be a natural. Come and join me for a special Kess doggie-robics workout... Turn on the music and let's groove!

Let’s start with head movement. Look up and reach to the sky. Next, let’s do the side stretch - move your body all the way until you touch your tail. While you're at it, might as well do some grooming.

Time to exercise the paws...Lift your left paw and scratch (eer...I mean stretch)

Now, lift your right paw and stretch again.

Finish off with the back paw boogie woogie move... That's it for today folks. Hope you enjoyed the workout as much as I did.

Name Tag May Prevent Heartache

Mum & I came across this notice when we went for our walk. For dog lovers, losing a dog is traumatic as the dog is very much part of the family. As you know, I like to go on little adventures when my humans are not home. Read about it on Sit, Look Left, Look Right, OK and Rainy Day Adventures. So, my humans worry all the time about me getting lost.

Let me also share with you a story about another lost dog. A few years ago, we rescued a Daschund which was wondering around the suburb. We were out in the garden, enjoying a lazy evening when we saw a Chocolate-coloured Daschund roaming the street. My humans thought that it was Kit, a dog that lived on the next street. So, dad decided to get hold of Kit and return him to his human. Of course, Kit ran away and dad had to chase him. Since dad had longer legs, he managed to out-run Kit and caught hold of him. When we brought Kit back to his human, we discovered the real Kit in his house. So, the Daschund we thought was Kit, wasn't Kit after all! (Pretty confusing, huh?)

What do we do next? The Daschund had no tag. We were fairly certain that there were no other Daschunds living nearby coz we know all the dogs around our street (we walk around the neighbourhood a lot). My humans made some "Found Dog" signs and posted it around the neighbourhood. That night, "Kit who wasn't Kit" spent the night with us. He was a jealous chap and used to nudge his way forward to get attention from my humans. I didn't like him one bit but for the sake of my humans tolerated him. Plus, he kept peeing all over the front porch (coz he's a boy dog), so my humans had to keep cleaning it. (I've been trained to pee in the garden).

We continued to ask around. Finally, a neighbour saw a Lost Dog sign in the park and figured that our found dog and the lost dog could be one and the same. It was! That night, there was a happy reunion between "Kit who wasn't Kit" and his human. Turned out that the Daschund lived about 4 kms away and would have crossed the very busy 4-lane road (the same one I used to go to gramps' house) to get to where we lived. This little wanderer Daschund loves to roam around (sounds like me!) and it wasn't the first time he went missing.

Anyway, after that incident, my humans immediately got me a name tag and inscribed their phone numbers. They figured that if I ever go on my adventures (despite the precautions taken to prevent me from climbing out of our house), at least if some kind soul found me, they would be able to contact my humans. Of course, it doesn't prevent me from being stolen or kept for themselves. But, you know, there are enough good people in this world who would do the right thing. So humans, get a tag for your doggies. Better to be safe than sorry.

Curtain Attack

Ok...You must be wondering how I managed to tear the curtains when I was home alone. Like I said before, it was during a thunderstorm. Here's what happened. The wind blew the curtains. It looked like it was about to attack (See the simulated picture below). So, I launched a pre-attack on the curtains first. Lo and behold, it resulted in a huge tear. Anyway, the picture below is my human's replacement sheers. They now tie up the sheers when they leave me home.
I'm also permanently banned from attacking the curtains again. Hey, what am I supposed to do with the time on my paws then?

Bloggerwave

What does a dog have to with Bloggerwave? Well, I've been putting on my thinking cap on how to make money. Why do I need pocket money? Well, my humans recently had to fork out $100 to replace the sheer curtains (which I tore) in our living room. It's a long story but it has to do with my being left alone at home during a thunderstorm one evening. I feel bad about this. So, since I've started a blog, I thought that blogging is one skill I could get paid for. I considered offering my gardening services (digging, chewing plants) but I don't think humans appreciate this type of services coz my humans are always upset after I've done some gardening at home. Anyway, I've decided to join Bloggerwave, a company that targets to be Europe's biggest advertising media on blogs. I'm excited to see where this takes me.

Update - 29th Oct 08
Bloggerwave has not paid me for this post despite many months and follow-ups. Looks like this didn't take me anywhere! This is a case of bloggers beware!

Clever ChokChai Farm Dogs

When my humans lived in Bangkok, they paid a visit to ChokChai Farm. It is located at Khao Yai, a national park around 1.5 hours drive from Bangkok. ChokChai is a working farm which produces beef and milk for local consumption. The farm is also open to the public as an agro tour spot to give tourists an opportunity to experience farm life. I will introduce the Chok Chai doggies to you. If you are interested to read about the rest of Chok Chai farm animals and tour, drop by my mama's blog "Life is A Journey. Enjoy It."

First off, the working farm dog. Every farmer appreciates the role the dog plays to keep the farm going smoothly. In ChokChai, they showcased the dog (I'll call him Lassie for simplicity") herding the sheep into the truck. It started off smoothly as Lassie expertly herded the sheep towards the pen. Then, disaster! Lassie fell off the plank in the chaos of the sheep rushing up. You could hear the visitors gasping (No, I don't think it was part of the performance) as Lassie yelped in pain. Lassie had injured his paw. But, a sheep dog being a sheep dog, he got up and with a limp continued to instruct the sheep to get into the truck. Brave Lassie. (Dad didn't take a picture of the fall as he was so concerned for Lassie).

The start of the plank walk

Sheep chaos

Brave Lassie finishing the herding

Next, mama Golden Retriever feeds a bottle of milk to orphan calf...

Last, but not least, the hoops and skipping rope poodles

Bravo to the clever ChokChai Farm Dogs!

Sit, Look Left, Look Right, OK!

Safety is paramount. So, road rules are very important for suburban doggies. My humans always makes me sit and stay before we cross a major road. They then look left, look right, and left again to ensure the road is clear before releasing me with the "OK" command. Initially, they tried to follow this rule at every road crossing, but because there were so many little roads, I would have ended up sitting every 5 minutes or so! So, now, it applies to major roads only.

The picture that mum took of me and dad, whilst not planned, shows me looking to the left, and dad looking to the right which fits in perfectly with look left and right before crossing! Aahh...it's one of those Kodak moments!

Back to the road, let me tell you about a little adventure of mine. As you can see from the picture, this is a 4-lane road. Buses use this route and the road is busy during peak hours in the mornings and evenings. A couple of years ago, I decided to visit grandma and grandpa who live about 5km from our home. To get there, we have to cross this road. Now, mum & dad walk me to their place very often so I know the route by my "pee markings". So, one rainy afternoon, when mum & dad were at work, I wanted some company and climbed over the fence to make my way to gramps' home, which included crossing this busy road by myself. I arrived at gramps' home wet, but safe. They were pretty surprised to see me, to say the least. Until today, when we share this story, people are amazed that I made it without being injured in an accident or getting lost or dog-napped. Mum & dad are so thankful that God and His angels had their eye on me the whole journey. It was a lovely adventure for me, but I think I almost gave mum, dad, grandpa and grandma a heart attack! Pups, don't try this at home...