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 »
Ever since I started working full-time on the web design company my husband and I own, I’ve been so used to having my dogs with me at our home office. Harry stayed under my desk (it was like having a furry rug under my feet), and Choknat under the printer’s table. Sheero used to like curling up on the dog mat I bought for them—there wasn’t too much room under my desk, so she just let Harry and Choknat stay there. She was already happy just having me on her line of sight.
Shantee used to be satisfied to curl up just under the desk (she’s so small it didn’t matter if there wasn’t much room), but now she insists on sleeping on my lap while I worked. 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.
For the past month, my family had been looking at houses all over Quezon City. Ever since we’ve finalized our decision to move, we’ve been “hunting” for the perfect house. It was only last week when we finally decided on which home to get. It had been difficult looking for the best house that would fit our family.
We had quite some special requirements. For one, we can’t have a two-story house. My mom can’t climb stairs anymore. Most of the brand-new houses we’ve seen had second floors, and out of our budget. So we had to settle for a well-maintained second-hand home. That’s why we brought Shantee along in our trips.
I don’t really know where I heard or read it, but they say that dogs have “sixth sense,” which means they can sense supernatural things that we can’t detect. You may or may not believe in it, but you can’t blame us for making sure After all, we’d be living in that house, and if it’s haunted, I don’t think we’d be able to sleep soundly for the rest of our lives. Read the rest of this entry »
Last January 11 to 13, Marc and I joined a few Pinoy travel bloggers on a trip to Boracay. Marc and I have long wanted to go there for a vacation, but our work schedules just seemed to never allow us to. Besides, we didn’t want to spend for a trip we really won’t enjoy (it’s not very relaxing when you’re thinking about work even if you’re at the beach). But luckily, we were able to get spots on the Boracay trip sponsored by Microtel Inns & Suites, in partnership with South East Asian Airlines (SEAIR) and Zuzuni Boutique Hotel and Restaurant.
We had fun, but it wouldn’t have been as much as fun if we were able to bring Shantee along.
That’s actually one of the downsides of going on luxury vacations—you just can’t bring your furry friend along. It’s possible, but it isn’t easy. Read the rest of this entry »
Although there are a lot of public service announcements and reminders on TV about the use of fireworks this coming New Year’s Eve, a lot of Filipinos still insist on keeping up with the tradition of welcoming the new year with a bang. Even our family does—at least just this year—since this is going to be the last new year celebration we’ll have in our house. We’re moving, remember?
Fireworks are pretty, and LOUD. And they have to be, since tradition says that the loud noise will scare away evil spirits and bad luck for a prosperous New Year. But the thing is, loud noise not only scare evil spirits and bad luck, but our canine friends as well.
Dogs are a whole lot more sensitive than us humans. A loud bang from a labintador may be tolerable noise for us, but for dogs, that’s like the beginning of World War III. For them, the noise is magnified—you can just imagine how scary it is for our pets come New Year’s Eve. 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 »
Our family always had a lot of dogs—every member of our family just love them—so it’s pretty obvious that we’ve already lost some pets over the years. Most of them passed away due to old age, so losing them hadn’t been so difficult. The passing was imminent. Somehow, I had a feeling they would be leaving us soon—I had time to prepare myself for the coming loss.
Losing Sheero was different, very different. Aside from the fact that she was my absolute favorite, her passing came as a surprise. She was getting well (we had even expected to take her home after a few more days at the vet), but suddenly had a heart attack that lead to a coma which she didn’t survive. I think how she passed away was a huge factor on why it was doubly hard for me—I just didn’t expect it. I never had the chance to prepare myself for the loss.
I’ve been coping with my loss, though I still feel a bit of sadness every now and then. But the first few days of losing Sheero was unbearable—I never thought I’d stop crying. As I have said in my blog, another factor that made the pain worse was because there wasn’t anybody else to share my pain with except for my family. True, we’ve gotten a lot of condolences from friends and acquaintances—heck, even Sheero’s “fans” emailed us their condolences. But the thing is, I still had this thought at the back of my mind that they really didn’t understand my pain. Read the rest of this entry »
We do now. But I have to admit that we didn’t before. Our pets’ names mostly pertained to the animal’s physical characteristics—I think the corniest one ever was “Brownie” for a brown dog, while her black-colored companion we called “Blackie.” My dad remembered being so embarrassed giving the dogs’ names when he brought them to the vet. Since then, he asked me and my sister to think of better names for our pets—he was the one who usually brought the animals to the vet anyway.
Some of our pets still have funny names. But at least they’re thought-off. Take Kutonbol for an example. She was the only white dog among her batch of Sheero’s litter, and the only one who had took on most of her askal father’s characteristics. She was white as a cotton ball, but as “askal-ish” as you can think of. So we gave her a name that represented just both those qualities: an askaled version of “cotton ball.” Read the rest of this entry »
After all, we’d be living in that house, and if it’s haunted, I don’t think we’d be able to sleep soundly for the rest of our lives. 
