A blog of a proud dog owner Pinoy Dog-Lover

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.

Pardon the grainy image, I forgot to turn on the Night Mode of my camera phone

This is James, our house guest for the weekend. Since we couldn’t go with them for a weekend at the beach (I was sick), Marc and I became the dog-sitters for Abe’s dog.

You know something? Our house guest is abnormally clean. My sister and even my dad were all marveling at how clean he was. It’s like cleanliness that you’d never thought possible in a dog. Harry and Choknat were also amazed when they couldn’t find fleas on him! But then again, James is a city dog. I highly doubt there’s soil for him to play with at Abe’s place
Our house guest is obviously spoiled to the tenth power—he just had to check out our bed the first thing he got there—but he’s annoyingly cute. Sheero doesn’t like sharing the house with him, but they’re getting along somehow. You see, Sheero is his mom. I think she won’t be as annoyed as she is with him if he refrained from trying to hump her all the time. Hehe.

Finally. I was already scaring the wits out of me on the possibility of the End of Days occurring soon. I thought the weather has totally gone insane.

Marc’s going to kill me when he sees this photo…

But Sheero was thirsty, and she wanted cold water. Imagine if you had fur all over like her. Wouldn’t it be nice to have refreshing drink at least once in a while? Besides, it’s not every day that you see a dog drink from a glass!

I’ve gotten married last November, and from what I have seen for the past months, my dogs didn’t like it a bit. Well, maybe except for Sheero, who loved my husband, Marc. The other two, Harry and Choknat, hated the new setup—and they hated Marc.

As much as Marc loved dogs, he didn’t like having them inside the house—or at least inside the bedroom on the bed. My dogs were used to that (they used to sleep beside me). I actually felt them getting sad on my wedding day (seeing them watch me from the gate was pretty heart-breaking). Somehow, they knew that that day would change their lives.

Lucky for them, my husband and I live in the same house as my parents (our house is separated, but there are shared areas as well). I still got to be with them at least twice a day. But before they actually allowed that kind of setup (without whining and annoying the heck out of my dad), I made sure the transition wasn’t abrupt. I have known long before that there are dogs who don’t do well with abrupt changes. I don’t know if mine were, but from what I see, they seemed fine.

I’m guessing my dogs adjusted well due to these two reasons:

1. The transition period was long. Marc was frequently visiting our home even before we got married, and stayed there for long hours. The dogs were used to seeing him. Aside from that, I didn’t transfer my computer room (where my dogs and I spent most of our time) immediately after getting married. Marc and I used that room for about a week or two before slowing transferring the equipment to our new home.
2. They’re family. I think this was the biggest factor. Harry and Choknat are brothers, and they know it (I’ve seen these two stick up for one another). Sheero is their mom. I observed them from afar and saw how these three pooches amused themselves in my absense. They can play and enjoy one another’s company even without me. They don’t get bored.

Anybody out there who had the same experience with their pooches? Knowing about these little things can make a huge difference in your pet’s behavior you know!

I’ve been sick for the past few days—I know I should be working right now instead of surfing, but I just can’t help it
It’s been a while since I last visited the Dog Whispherer’s blog. I have never seen an episode of it (I don’t think it’s available in our territory), but I really like the way Cesar Milan rehabilitate extremely difficult dogs. He makes use of the “power of the pack” very effectively (knowing that the “pack” method is actually used made me realize that I wasn’t insane for having some level of control over our dogs).

There really is truth in that method. Having 13 dogs howling all at the same time gives noise an entirely new meaning, and I happen to be the only other human here at home other than my dad who can tell them to shut up. My sister and our household help, Marilyn, both tried before—but the dogs weren’t listening. From what I observed, the dogs seemed to know when a human is of authority (hey cool, they think I have authority hehe). Or maybe there’s just something in the voice or tone that tells them that they should obey. I sometimes don’t know how I do it too, to tell you frankly.

I guess the simplest explanation is that my dogs respect me. They know their place, and for some weird reason, they understand my moods as well. And in return, I also respect and understand them. It’s not enough to say that you “know” your dog by the cute thing they do. Because just like in human relationships, there should be respect and understanding.

It’s in the nature of canines to form “packs“—it’s part of their nature. If you only have one dog at home, this behavior isn’t noticeable for the simple reason that there aren’t any other dogs for you to compare their “ranking” (although dogs are known to make their human family their “pack”).

Since we have 13 dogs, it’s easy to see how the ranking in our pets’ pack is. Spike, being our eldest dog, is the alpha male. The alpha female is Tootie. Recently, Choknat has been showing some signs of becoming the next alpha male due to Spike’s old age.

But the most amusing thing about our dog pack are the little “communities” they have within their community. Each member of our family (me, my dad, my mom, and my sister), have about three favorite dogs each. And with this, they form their own little communities and establish their territories depending on where me and my family like to hang out. Sheero, Choknat and Harry will fight tooth and nail to protect “their” computer room.

This “pack mentality” is actually what some dog trainers take advantage of in order to have the dogs follow their commands. I’ve been practicing that a bit, but I might have to work on it more—Sheero is still being a difficult spoiled brat.

If your dog is more than just a household appliance (ie. burglar alarm), you will notice that they also have their own personalities—just like humans. We’ve got 13 dogs in the house, but we know the personality of each and every one of them (I’ve actually made a write-up for each of them on my old site, but it’s down now).

I spend night and day with my three favorite dogs (I work from home), so it’s quite unavoidable for us to “get close.” I can’t find any better way as the very first dog-related post than to introduce my favorite trio. Here goes…

Meet my three little dogs: Sheero, Choknat, and Harry.

Sheero is the little princess, my number one baby. And she knows it. Bratty as she may be sometimes, Sheero would probably be our most “sociable” dog—she likes going to parties, HUMAN parties.

Choknat is a lot less sociable, a bit shy. He’s very sweet when he feels like it, but he does have his snooty moods. He doesn’t forgive easily.

Harry is very “childish” in human terms. He thinks he’s still a pup, and hasn’t really gotten over the chewing stage. He’s playful too, and quite possessive about his toys. And since he’s childish, he forgives easily unlike his brother Choknat. Harry and his brother are opposites, actually.

Like people, I don’t think these brief descriptions are enough to encompass my dogs’ personalities. But as you can see, each of them has certain qualities other than physical stuff that can distinguish them from one another.

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