Pinoy Dog-Lover

Do dogs grieve? I honestly think they do.

When I lost Sheero, our human family wasn’t the only one who grieved over her passing. Coal, our black Labrador Retriever, was closest to her. We heard him howling every night for about a week after Sheero’s passing—his way of showing how much he missed her.

But what about when dogs lose their human friends? (more…)

Before the family transferred to our new home in Antipolo, I’ve lived along Katipunan Avenue all my life (the C5 Katipunan Extension, to be more precise). Our street (or more appropriately, highway) was always busy with cars going to and from Ateneo, Miriam, or UP, or simply passing by since it’s rather a major highway. You rarely get to see birds there (with all the pollution, it’s not surprising), though a number of cats loiter by the trash bins and a “gang” of dogs congregate after midnight on a vacant lot right across our house. From what I know, almost every single one of our previous neighbors owned a dog, but I do know for sure that we were the only ones who owned thirteen of them

I guess that’s why it wasn’t so surprising that strays considered our house a sanctuary. We’ve adopted stray cats, stray dogs, and heck, we even fed the Maya birds who liked hanging out on our Atis tree (unlike our neighbors and passersby, we got to see birds everyday). I don’t know, I guess our family just loves animals, and we just couldn’t resist taking them in. (more…)

One of the things I like about having a lot of dogs is being able to see how they interact with their dog pack fellows. It helps me understand my pets better, and in the process, learn how to be a better pet owner and their “pack leader.”

I’ve long noticed that my dogs have community and a hierarchy of their own. They have a pack leader (old Spike) and a “queen” (Tootie). But one of my favorites in watching their behavior is how they forge friendships with one another.

Little Shantee and big black Coal

That’s Shantee and Coal in the picture. Coal is big Black Labrador Retriever, while Shantee is a Tiny Shih Tzu. Though Shantee is sometimes scared of Coal’s size (she’s just way too small), she considers him her “big brother.” (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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. (more…)

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…

(more…)

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.