Do you own a spoiled dog? Well, I do. Actually, all of our dogs are spoiled, in my opinion. All of them sleep inside the house. Harry gets a slice of loaf bread whenever he wants one from my sister, and Choknat even has his own Bonsai tree. Shantee has enough dog clothes to merit her own closet. My late Sheero has her own shrine in our garden. But none of them have Designer dog beds (Shantee has a dog pillow though, and all of the other dogs like sleeping on the sofa or on padded chairs).

If you’re a Filipino born in the ‘80s, you’re probably familiar with the TV commercial of Salem bed mattress for humans. There was this elephant in the commercial stomping on the mattress to prove that it’s really sturdy (the Salem elephant passed away already, by the way). Sorry, that was off-topic—but I just couldn’t help but remember that elephant when reviewing the Mammoth dog bed site… It’s like a dog version of that commercial (there’s an elephant on their advertising materials too!) Ah. Don’t mind me!

Well, moving on… Back to the review

I have actually seen a lot of dog beds from grooming salons, but they’re quite expensive. I can honestly say that I can create those myself using my mom’s scrap textiles and foam—kind of like the same way that it’s easy to create a pillow for a human. But the thing is, it won’t be orthopedic and the foam will eventually shrink through time and usage.

Same thing with dog beds. You can make one on your own, or buy a cheap one, but it’s not going to last (I’m actually preparing to make a new pillow for Shantee in case hers shrink and get too worn out). The Designer dog beds that Mammoth sells were made to last from non-balling high memory furniture upholstery fiber fill, which makes sure that the bed bounces back after every use. They also assure that their beds’ covers don’t shrink when washed, which is a good thing since you will eventually have to wash it so it won’t stink

The Designer dog beds sold at pet shops here are very expensive—especially for those large breeds like Coal, Scout and Crunchie who are Labrador Retrievers. The ones that Mammoth offers are actually half the price of those I see at local pet shops for large breeds. You’ll also have the convenience of ordering online, and having the dog bed delivered straight to your doorstep.

But like any other outside-the-Philippines online store, the only thing I have a problem with this is the shipping costs. It really is expensive getting products delivered across the globe. BUT, there’s still a “work-around.” If you got relatives in the US who are visiting the Philippines soon, you can always ask them to receive the delivery for you and just bring it here when they travel. The only risk there is when they have a lot of baggage and adding your dog bed will make them exceed their luggage weight limit.

I’ve slept on an orthopedic bed already (of course, the one I slept on was for humans not dogs!), and I have never slept as comfortably as I did on that bed. If you got some extra cash to spare, why not let your dog experience such comfort too? I would get each and every one of my dogs if only I had a lot of money! For now, all other dogs will have to just sleep on the coach and padded chairs and Shantee on her little home-made golden dog pillow

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!

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.

We brought Shantee along in every one of our trips. I think we’ve visited more than 20 houses before we made our final choice. And in all those visits, I can honestly say I’ve seen Shantee behave differently in about two or three occasions. And when I say differently, I meant her freaking out and being uneasy. It was like she couldn’t wait to get out of the place, and that’s when we figure there could have been something more in the house that our eyes can’t see.

There are instances when Shantee seemed more relaxed than most, sometimes even peeing and pooping in the gardens I dunno, but I got the feeling that maybe she was feeling “good vibes” there. Anyway, Shantee was thick enough to pee and poop in the garden of the house we bought (so I guess the place is ok hehe).

I’m not really the type to believe in ghosts (I’m a very practical person), nor do I get into the whole “new age” thing, but most often than not, I do follow my gut feeling. Sometimes you feel something just isn’t right in a place, you know? And I suppose dogs, being more sensitive than humans (their sense of smell, hearing and sight are way sensitive than ours), can sense those too. In all my years as a dog owner, my dogs have always found ways to tell me when something isn’t right. Even my parents and sister have learned to trust them too, which is probably the reason why my dad didn’t protest when I asked if Marc and I could bring Shantee along in our trips. I even saw him observing Shantee’s reaction when we went inside the spooky house. As soon as we got inside the car, Dad said “we’re not getting this one.”

I know some people would find this silly. After all, if you don’t really believe in ghosts or bad vibes, it just seems like a simple case of paranoia. But sometimes, there are things that even the most practical person can’t explain.

I suppose it all just boils down to whether or not you trust your dog’s senses. There are just some things that we can’t feel that a dog can (unless, of course, you’re some kind of a psychic), and it’s really up to you whether or not to head their warning.

My dad Marc wanted to go to the Mall of Asia early, he had a meeting with a client, so my mommy Gail decided that I should have my first ever flea bath and grooming session while waiting for him. I nearly threw up during the trip up the carpark (the spiral driveway made me so dizzy), and I really, really hated the man who cleaned my ears and soaked me in the bath! I was already in a bad mood, my mom didn’t make me wear my bling-bling. Good thing she bought me a fashionable denim shirt, or I’d be in a terrible, terrible mood.

My mom picked me up (my dad still in a meeting) with her friend Juned, who told the nice lady at Animal House they don’t have clothes for fishies (he’s a fish-lover), on their way to the Taste Asia party at SM Hypermarket. He also carried Tita Aileen‘s hamsters (it took every inch of my willpower not to nip at them!).

I felt like a real celebrity at the party! I even got a printed name tag, while my mom’s was only handwritten. People even asked for my autograph, can you believe that? I don’t know how to write, so I just gave them fans my paw print instead of signing my name. Tito Mike thinks I’m “so cutie,” while the other Tito Mike kept touching my fur (or was it my tail?). I wanted to play with the kid with Tita Dine, but Tito Chris was holding my leash. I also met Tito Jayvee, who wanted me to meet Hondo, and Tita Sharm. Tita Noemi took my picture (I looked like an evil dog with glowing eyes! Rawr!), and I wanted to nip off Tita Lauren‘s hand again (I smelled cats!).

I spent the rest of the evening eating barbecue (I had an entire barbecue all to myself!), while listening to Tito Eugene, Tita Sasha, Tito Rico and my mom and dad chat about something called blogging, and avoiding that evil, evil Guitarchic‘s clutches (I suspect that she’s a hamster-lover. Grrrr…).

I wanted to take home barbecue, but there were still humans to feed when we left. Taste Asia definitely beats eating dried dog food all day!

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?

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.