Greet Kubrick and leave a birthday wish in the comments area below. You never know what you might get if you do

Two (2) winners will get an Awesome-Pawsome Doggie Bag each, but one very lucky dog will win the Grand Awesome-Pawsome Doggie Bag

Each Awesome-Pawsome Doggie Bag contains:

• Two (2) Php 200 gift certificates from Doodles Paw Couture
• One (1) customized circle pet tag from Will Wag for Tags
• One (1) Php 1,000 gift certificate from Bow & Wow
• One (1) 3kg Alpo Dry Dog Food
• One (1) can of Alpo Chop House
• One (1) can of Alpo Beef
• One (1) can of Alpo Puppy Chicken Rice
• One (1) 170g Beggin’ Strips Bacon & Cheese Flavor
• Two (2) 85g Beggin’ Strips Bacon

The Grand Awesome-Pawsome Doggie Bag winner will get:

• One (1) Php 200 gift certificates from Doodles Paw Couture
• One (1) Customized Pet Outfit designed specially for your pooch by Doodles Paw Couture worth Php 2,500
• One (1) customized circle pet tag from Will Wag for Tags
• One (1) Php 1,000 gift certificate from Bow & Wow
• Two (2) 3kg Alpo Dry Dog Food
• Two (2) cans of Alpo Chop House
• Two (2) cans of Alpo Beef
• Two (2) cans of Alpo Puppy Chicken Rice
• Two (2) 170g Beggin‘ Strips Bacon & Cheese Flavor
• Two (2) 85g Beggin’ Strips Bacon

Do you want your dog to be one of the lucky 3?

Click here to find out how to join Sorry, deadline for joining the raffle has already expired!

Guess what? Three doggies can also win one set of these consolation prizes:

• One (1) 3kg Alpo Dry Dog Food
• One (1) 85g Beggin’ Strips Bacon

Aqua Toy squeaks, squawks and pretty much just lays there whenever Kubrick feels the need to chew and play. The poor thing has already turned an ugly shade of very dark brown from its original color of yellow. Kubrick barked and whined, but no, Aqua Toy needs to take a bath!

Kubrick is very possessive of this dog toy, a gift originally meant for Shantee from my friend Nina. I guess it was his only “friend” when he first came here and Shantee thought it best to just ignore him so he’d eventually disappear. My Shih Tzus are long past the stage of getting-to-know-you, but Kubrick still hangs on to Aqua Toy.

This isn’t the first time Aqua Toy took a bath — the first one being the aftermath of Ondoy, when my husband and I thought it unhygienic and unhealthy for Kubrick to chew on a dog toy that was recently drenched in flood water. Kubrick was so happy when he got Aqua Toy back, it was like a one-sided gleeful reunion between two old friends. I’m pretty sure he’ll react the same when Aqua Toy emerges clean and yellow from the hanger tomorrow

Shantee and Kubrick! by kutitots, on Flickr

Our other dogs, especially my two boys Harry and Choknat, hate traveling. They get dizzy even for just a very short ride. Shantee doesn’t get dizzy at all—she’s so used to traveling. Kubrick threw up at least once going and leaving Tagaytay—it’s his first long trip and he got all excited, and you know as well as I do that anybody can get dizzy moving around so much inside the car. Anyway, I’ll talk more about traveling with pets on different post, because this one is not about that.

Marc, Shantee, Kubrick and I would like to extend our warmest and deepest thank you’s to Sonya Garcia and her staff at Sonya’s Garden for their hospitality and kindness. Never before had my dogs felt like VIPs—Very Important Pooches—and we cannot help but feel a bit overwhelmed by the VIP treatment they’ve given us.

Shantee wants to doze off by kutitots, on Flickr

Yes, folks, Sonya’s Garden is as dog-friendly as they come. It’s probably one of the most—if not the most—friendliest establishments to dogs we’ve ever gone to. While some are tolerable and designate pets to open areas, at Sonya’s, dogs aren’t just allowed in the gardens—they can go just about anywhere, even sleep in the cottages. You see, Miss Sonya is a dog-lover. She went out of her way to make us feel welcome—she even offered to give my dogs free grooming and assured us that she has dog food in case we run out.

But the best thing we love about Sonya’s is the fact that they treat their furry guests the same way they do human guests. We reserved a cottage and informed the staff we would be bringing the dogs along way ahead of time (about a month before our vacation dates). So you can understand that we would feel on the defensive when this other guest (who obviously hated dogs) complained loudly about how our dogs’ barking “disturbed” them. Their cottage is directly below ours, and this guy angrily yakked to the staff how they’re going to sleep when my dogs start to play and “make noise.”

Kubrick at the huge window of cottage lobby

First of all, my dogs were actually well-behaved and unusually quiet while in the cottage, doing nothing more than but sleep (the place was so relaxing that even the dogs couldn’t help themselves and doze off). This guy only heard Shantee bark when she thought we were leaving them in the cottage to eat at the dinning area. Other than occasional short barks whenever they want water or food, or they get surprised by fruits falling on the roof, that’s it. Their behavior was far from being disruptive, they behaved well for the simple reason that they know they were not in their territory. Unless, of course, if you hated dogs—barking of any kind will irritate you.

I was prepared to argue that my dogs were well-behaved and that I have informed the staff one month before of my pets. I would not easily agree to transfer to another cottage just because that guy apparently didn’t like dogs and failed to inform the staff his preference ahead of time. It explicitly states in the website that Sonya’s Garden is a farm (with free-roaming animals of its own) and that pets are allowed in the cottages. If he preferred not to be near guests with pets, he should have said so ahead of time, right?

My husband and I readied ourselves for a staff to come calling our cottage to negotiate. But none came. As it turned out, Miss Sonya already resolved the issue: she transferred the complaining guests to a different cottage. She seemed apologetic for those guests, and told us that there really are just people who don’t like animals. She kept us company during breakfast, and seemed particularly charmed by friendly Kubrick, much to attention-whore-diva Shantee’s annoyance

There weren’t that many guests on our second day, and that evening when we had our dinner, we basically had the dining area to our own except for a mom and her kids who adored Kubrick and Shantee. The staff seemed more relaxed, the absence of the aggressive guest evident (he and his companion were scheduled to check out after breakfast). Our server lady chatted with us a bit, and we learned that Miss Sonya prefers dog-lovers, that she had a belief that dog-lovers are more compassionate. We felt flattered, though we felt the same.

Marc and I also have preference for people who can find it in themselves to care for animals. It’s not easy extending love and compassion to a creature, and it takes more effort than usual unlike caring for a fellow human being. They do not communicate the way we do. Reaching out to bridge that gap must come from us, being blessed with a bigger brain, and that takes effort. Not many would bother bridging that gap, and for that, we feel those who do have a little more compassion to spare.

You will see that unselfish love for animals at Sonya’s Garden. Not only humans are welcome guests, but your dogs will be too. For a dog-lover like us, Sonya’s Garden goes beyond its famed “country living” and relaxed atmosphere—it’s a home away from home where even the furry members of your family are graciously welcomed with arms wide open.

For more photos, you can visit my Flickr photo set or watch the slideshow below:

Kubrick is named after the default WordPress theme, Kubrick! It’s a really nerdy way of naming our new pup, but my husband wanted to name him with something that’s related to web design and development We thought of naming him after the WordPress founder, Matt, but then we remembered that Matt Mullenweg will probably return to Manila next year for another WordCamp. It’s going to be quite awkward naming a dog after a person you’ll most likely meet again, so we just settled for “Kubrick,” the name of the popular default theme of our favorite blogging platform.

Before Kubrick came along, we had 8 dogs (so yep, Kubrick’s the 9th!). It’s not that we’re trying to keep our dog number to 9, considering that one of them recently left us so suddenly. The reason for our getting another small Shih Tzu is Shantee’s increasing lack of social skills when around other dogs.

You see, Shantee is a very sociable dog—but only to humans. She loves having her photo taken (she had a knack for posing like a “dog model” whenever she sees cameras around) and particularly enjoys the company of children. But the problem is, she isn’t well-adjusted when it comes to socializing with her fellow canines. And to think she lives with 7 other dogs under the same roof!

Shantee is separated from the main dog pack. She’s way too tiny to play with them—the last time we tried to let her blend in with the others she almost got hurt from their excited “stampede”—so we had to keep her separated, which is probably the reason why she doesn’t know how to socialize with other dogs. Members of our dog pack are aspins and Labradors (you can just imagine how tiny Shantee compares to them, her entire body is probably just as big as our Labradors’ heads). Because of this, the only other animal she probably knew and played with was my sister’s white hamster named Peter.

My husband and I didn’t want her spending the rest of her life panicking every time she sees another dog—Shantee likes traveling a lot, and meeting other dogs is something that cannot be avoided. Besides, we didn’t want her growing up anti-social—she needed a friend. And that’s where Kubrick came along.

Shantee is still not happy having Kubrick around, but she’s slowly warming up to him. She doesn’t know how to play with other dogs yet, hopefully Kubrick can teach her that (he’s a very playful pup). Shantee is still just a year old, she’s still young, and we are hoping she’s still young enough to have her aversion to other dogs corrected.

Birthday greetings to our special girl: Shantee! She turns one year old today

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.

Our old property was L-shaped, so we had a really long driveway. We had two gates as well, one where guests knock and the other one near our house. We had so many dogs that we really didn’t need a doorbell They hung out in the garden after the second gate, so the driveway was pretty much were we parked our cars without any dog claiming them as their territory (ie. no pee!).

Since the dogs couldn’t get to the driveway, that’s where my dad’s feline adoptees ate and had siesta They didn’t really hung out there much, so we didn’t have to worry about their pee or poo since they usually turned up during feeding time anyway. We didn’t name the cats, because Dad said if we named them we might get attached and just have our hearts broken since the cats only came and went as they pleased. The cats visited the driveway until the day we moved away.

But before the cats, I can recall we provided shelter and food for one sickly dog, and adopted lost pooches.

The dog in the photo was Lala. Was because she passed away about two years ago due to old age. She was a bit old already when she sought shelter from our home, and it also seemed like she was abused too by her previous owner. She was always on the defensive during her first month with us, and it took us a while before she allowed us to pet her. My dad was her favorite; he was the only one who could give her baths.

Lala was the only adopted dog who permanently stayed with us, maybe because she had nowhere else to go and that she just grew to love our family. But before her, there were two others who went back to their owners.

The first one didn’t stay long with us. I always thought somebody owned him, and he just happened to stray from home. He cried outside our first gate one rainy evening. He had a few scabs, so Dad made him a make-shift dog house in the driveway—we were afraid our dogs might pick up whatever disease the dog had, but we didn’t want him to get wet from the rain either. We gave him food so he could be stronger (he looked really weak).

My mom wasn’t too hot about the idea of adopting the dog, but she let the dog stay since like me and my Dad, she also thought that the dog had a home. True enough, he left us after staying for only about a week. I was on my way out to take a walk and he went outside with me. He gave me a look that seemed to say “Thank you!” and went about his way. After that, we never saw him again. We only hope he found his way home to his family.

The second dog who strayed to our home was beautiful Japanese Spitz. She didn’t have a collar on her, so we figured she was another lost pooch away from home. We had no idea where she came from, so we just took her in. There was no dog pound in our area, and no way we would leave the dog with the police (we were afraid that bringing her there would make it even more impossible to find her family). Good thing she was really sweet, she just gave my mom goo-goo eyes and after that, Mom just couldn’t say no taking her in

This dog was really smart. We didn’t know her name, so we called her different names every day But one time I was in the living room watching television and chewing bubblegum my sister gave me. The dog suddenly started barking like mad, pawing on my unopened strips of gum. I kept asking what she wanted, but the dog was going crazy. When I asked, “Bubbles? You want bubbles?” the dog got excited. From there, I put two and two together and realized that “Bubbles” must be her name. True enough, she answered to “Bubbles” whenever we called her.

She stayed with us for a few months until finally her owner came. One of our carpenters told his neighbor about our story of finding the white dog and how we are looking for her owner. As it turned out, they were missing one. The dog’s owner was so surprised we were calling her dog Bubbles, and told us that Bubbles was the name of the dog’s mother

I highly doubt that we’ll experience having pooches begging to be taken in ever again in our new neighborhood. We’re now living in a gated executive village, where expensive dog breeds have microchip identifications, leather collars, and sure to belong to a family. Any stray here won’t get pass the only entrance and exit to our village without a neighbor or a security guard noticing. Besides, our new property is only half as big as our old one, so we really don’t have much space for more canine residents.

I don’t miss the hustle and bustle of the city (I love living in the suburbs), but I will certainly miss the satisfying feeling of helping lost animals by taking them in and caring for them.

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.

Our new Antipolo home isn’t actually that far from our old house in Blue Ridge, Quezon City, so we could afford to go back and forth moving our things. But on the night that we were to sleep in our new home, we had to find a way to transport all our dogs to the new house in the car. Dad decided that we should bring the dogs in pairs. Harry and Choknat were the first to go.

Dad woke me up as early as 7am to prepare my dogs. We didn’t have a transport cage, so it was all up to me to keep the two under control—and ended up running to our new home stinking in Harry’s puke when we got there I made a mistake and let Harry cry and shift around at the back of our really old SUV. So there. Like their late mom Sheero, Harry and Choknat have motion sickness. Choknat, being more reserved, just stayed close to my feet during the ride so I was able to put my hand over his eyes to calm him down and prevent him from getting dizzy. But Harry? Well, he certainly relieved his stress on me

The car ride was just the tip of the iceberg. It was a good thing these two were together (Harry and Choknat), so they adjusted pretty well (the brothers are inseparable—you can’t leave one without the other), but we had to endure an entire night of them whining. Which, I think, was normal. They were in a foreign place. Besides, they haven’t stepped on grass until now (our old house’s garden had very, very little grass and made of mostly concrete flooring and potted plants)—it was totally unfamiliar to them. They were city dogs plucked from urban living

Our male dogs already “marked” our garden. The boys, Harry and Choknat, including old Spike (the one on the picture above), sprayed their pee all over the garden marking their territories. My family and I spent as much time as we could with them so they would feel secure and realize that this was our new home. Our patience paid off. Just a few days after our move, our dogs were quite well-adjusted already. They seem to be enjoying suburban living as much as we do!

Shantee and Peter met a LOT new “friends,” though I don’t think Shantee liked the alligator at all. Hehe. We have more behind-the-scenes photos with Shantee’s new animal friends, but posting them before the feature could ruin the surprise So for now, we’ll just show you a few snapshots of Shantee’s first ever (and probably the last) trip to Manila Zoo.

Normally, pets aren’t allowed within Manila Zoo. And with good reason—doing so could turn nasty for your pet and the zoo animal. You don’t know how the animals would react to each other, and that’s a risk that the zoo doesn’t want to take. Bringing Shantee and the other pet animals was a special case—Rated K had to get a permission from the zoo and reserve an entire area for their event.

To be honest, Marc and I only let Shantee mingle with the pets brought in for the event. We only took pictures with the zoo animals we passed by on the way to the reserved venue.

Ok, I’ll have to admit that we were worried Shantee would pick up illness from the other animals—they weren’t really well taken-care of. The state of the animals in Manila Zoo is a far cry from those healthy animals in Zoobic. And yes, this may sound really snobby, but Marc and I also didn’t want Shantee get her paws dirty. There weren’t any trash on the ground, but the walkways were quite dusty. I would be the one carrying Shantee during the blessing, and I didn’t want getting dirt on me.

As an animal-lover, mingling with animals is always a treat. But I was torn between pity and fascination when I looked at some of the animals at Manila Zoo—I wanted to take home some of the monkeys and bring them to the vet or something. It’s the same pity that strengthened my resolve to work even harder so I’d become rich enough to have the resources to rescue and rehabilitate sickly and abused animals. That’s actually one of the reasons why we have so many dogs here at home—some of our dogs just showed up at our doorstep one day seeking shelter and food.

My experience last Thursday was the perfect example of “bittersweet”—a mixture of happiness and sadness. It was a sad thing seeing the zoo animals needing more care than they seem to be receiving, but meeting fellow animal-lovers and their pets was an incredible experience—you can just see the love emanating between the handlers and their pets. And that, is a rare moment that I’d love to see again and again

Many thanks to the Rated K crew for giving our pets a moment in the spotlight and bringing together this wonderful group of people!

I made some captions and uploaded photos of my dogs. Here, take a look!

moar funny pictures

moar funny pictures

moar funny pictures

moar funny pictures

Shantee, Harry, Choknat, the spirit of Sheero and I are hoping they’d be featured on the I Has A Hotdog homepage. They would LOVE to be internet stars!