A blog of a proud dog owner Pinoy Dog-Lover

Sorry for the lack of updates. My family (both humans and dogs) just transferred to a new home here in lower Antipolo in Rizal. It’s been quite stressful for all of us—even the dogs. I think Shantee’s the only one who didn’t find it stressful at all, just another great adventure.

I’ve had dogs for as long as I could remember, and I always knew that huge changes like moving can be very stressful for them—especially when our dogs were used to having a run of the house. Read the rest of this entry »

Apologizing is one of the things some of us humans have a hard time doing, especially if you’ve got a lot of pride. Others find it very difficult to acknowledge their mistakes, but some also find it easy to say “I’m sorry” even if they don’t really mean it. Before the dogs in our pack increased to 10, I’ve wondered if dogs are like us when it comes to apologizing.

You know what? I think they do and can apologize. Read the rest of this entry »

When we first got Shantee, Marc and I searched the Web for information on Shih Tzus—particularly Imperial Shih Tzus (or Princess type, as they call it locally). Yeah, I know. We should have searched info first before getting one But Shantee was so adorable, we couldn’t resist buying here right then and there.

Anyway, there were a lot of things we found out about Shih Tzus. It’s not advisable to feed them food with yeast (it can make their coat fall off). There are arguments between breeders about the acceptability of Imperial Shih Tzus (some say they’re undersized runts, while others prize their small size). But the best thing we found out was that Shih Tzus are great with kids, but not very small children (they tend to get jealous of newborns).

We never really thought how true this was until we actually saw her with kids. She just loved them. Read the rest of this entry »

Do you remember the TV commercial where a series of kids were asked to have the “Marshmallow Test,” which tested the kids’ response to delayed gratification? I think it was some kind of a milk commercial.

Ever tried doing something like that with your dog?

We did last year. Only Spike and Sheero passed (that’s Sheero waiting patiently for a piece of pizza on the picture).

Having a lot of dogs, there are canine behaviors that you can’t help but notice in a dog pack—it’s easier to compare their personalities when you know all of them. It’s so easy to see who the alpha dog is, but tests like this “Marshmallow Test” really helped us know more about our dogs. Read the rest of this entry »

That’s Peter the Hamster on the foreground.

If you’re an avid fan of the TV series, Supernatural, you’d know about the Yellow-Eyed Demon. Well, we have our own White-Furred Demon: Sheero!

Although Sheero and I have been trying to schedule a regular “walk-the-Sheero” task (in our desperate attempt to get fit), Sheero’s still neglecting her job. She’s a hunter, and yet, she seems to be “hunting” the wrong sort of rodent in our house. Admittedly, I haven’t seen any rats scurrying around the house for the past few months, but she’s been focusing her attention where she shouldn’t: Marc’s hamsters.

The hamsters consider Sheero a menace now. I don’t think she’d like to eat them, after all, she did catch the rats and just killed them (and “offered” them to me when she felt like it). She’s severely drawn to the hamsters, and from what it looks like, she just wants to play with them (which, obviously, can kill the hamster).

Marc has been accusing Sheero of killing and eating (oh, how horrible!) his hamster, whereas I honestly think it got away. I know my dog. She won’t hide her “crime,” she’d actually brag about it and show me how she killed the “rat.”

What do you think? Do you think Sheero ate Abe-ster?

I think it wouldn’t come as a surprise if I say that Sheero is a spoiled dog. She’s famous in the Philippine blogosphere for a dog in her own right (well, in my opinion at least!), and anybody who met her has seen how Marc and I pamper her with attention (she was even a bit miffed when the BoB gang ignored her during a podcast session at our house. Anyway, being a “home dog,” Sheero really enjoys taking walks and going out. She’s very sociable, you know.

Sheero night-jogging at the Ateneo de Manila University campus

Except for a recent trip to Marc’s family’s house in Marikina last month, Sheero hadn’t been able to go out much. I’ve been very busy with design work ever since my husband resigned from his call center “day” job. Today was a very rare instance: I was actually awake in the morning. With all the work I needed to do for the day, I decided to take a walk going to a nearby store to get me some liver spread and corned beef before I tackled the pile of work ahead of me.

I took Sheero along. As I have said, it’s been a while since she had a walk (she usually just ran around our garden for exercise). Here are some things I’d like to share with you when walking a spoiled brat of a dog…

Read the rest of this entry »

Apart from barking at my husband, Marc, Choknat has a new hobby:

He’s now a Bonsai hobbyist!

The Bonsai was a present from my aunt (she wanted us to get into the Bonsai hobby), but Choknat took it upon himself to take care of this plant. He trims it regularly (he doesn’t eat the leaves, he actually spits them out after removing from the little branches), and even tries to “water” it with his pee. Choknat still has a lot to learn in gardening (like, you water plants with water, not pee), but he’s getting there. He actually loves the plant so much that whenever he’s beside it and his brother Harry (or any of our other dogs) tries to get near his precious, he gets really pissed and growls at him.

Weird dog.

“Boholian” is a term my friends (Aileen, Abe, Marc M., Sharm, Sasha, Rico, and Chris) and I came up with while on a five-day trip to Bohol and Cebu. It can be non-existent currency, or simply an endearment for anything Boholano (yeah, that’s the correct term).

We didn’t meet too many canines during our trip (just a few wide-eyed primates), but we did make friends with a couple friendly dogs at the Dimaluan Beach Resort in Bohol.

This uberly-friendly guy joined us for a couple of beers while hanging out by the beach (no, he wasn’t a beer drinker). Abe chastised him for being too friendly—his friendliness might get him stolen:

This pretty Labrador was the first dog we saw upon checking in at the resort:

We saw her wet and covered in sand, then climbed up the stairs to meet up with a Japanese Spitz. A few minutes later, we saw them go down and head to the beach! Our room had a spectacular view of the Bohol beach, and Marc was able to capture the dogs playing in the surf (apparently, these dogs play on the surf each and every afternoon and particularly liked low-tides) on video. Any chance of getting a copy of that shot, Marc?
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It’s been almost a month since my last post. Sorry about that. I’ve been extremely busy with my other blogs, design work and the recently concluded Philippine Blog Awards. I haven’t got much free time—or rather, fun blog time—till now. I still got a lot to do, but at least I’m able to relax a bit.

Anyway, I’ve been meaning to blog about Sheero’s hunting tendencies ever since Marc, my husband, started blogging about the rats scurrying in our house.

Sheero is a great hunter, considering her size. She can even catch those little mice that run really fast (rats are easy, they’re slower), cockroaches, and even poor lizards. Actually, that’s the main reason why Marc lets her in our little house (Harry and Choknat aren’t allowed because in Marc’s opinion, they’re useless and will just occupy space). She religiously guards the rats’ entry every night.

I used to think that maybe Sheero can catch mice unlike our other dogs because she was a reincarnated cat Well, aside from the fact that I don’t really believe in that, I think her breed is a more plausible explanation.

Sheero is half Japanese Spitz, but we were never able to confirm what her other half is. We just assumed she’s half Shi Tzu due to her fur. But her hunting skill makes me think otherwise. The Terrier breed is popular for being hunters (I saw in Animal Planet a sport especially for Terriers where the little pooches chase a mouse in an underground maze). So yeah, maybe Sheero is half Terrier! Well, anyway, it doesn’t matter what her breed is and where that hunting skill came from. The point is, she can hunt and our home had been rodent-free since she started doing her “job.”

One thing my husband and I regret is not being able to bring Sheero with us at Puerto Galera—she would have loved it. Perhaps, just like this dog:

Ahh. Talk about the life: this mutt is having a vacation every single day. He sleeps on the sea shore (the dogs in Puerto Galera seem to particularly prefer sleeping on the shore, close enough to hear the waves but far enough not to get swept away into the sea), while enjoying the smell of grilling pork chops and kebab.

This dog on the picture is owned by a massage therapist servicing a lady nearby. The dogs in Puerto Galera are owned by the vendors and bar owners. We saw one “guarding” the guy grilling the porks and kebab. Another accompanied his ice cream vendor master, waiting patiently while she tried to sell ice drops.