Pinoy Dog-Lover

A fellow dog-lover approached me with a plea for help: her elderly dog, Cocoa, has been missing since March 8. He was wearing a colorful dog tag bearing his name, his owners’ address and their phone number. The owner of Cocoa (koh-koh) shares that through their own investigation, they were able to discern that a vehicle was spotted stealing dogs from homeowners.

Weeks after the dog’s disappearance, somebody spotted Cocoa being sold in a pet shop near their village. A friend of the owner posed as a customer to check it out, but unfortunately, he’s been told that Cocoa had already been sold to another buyer for Php10,000.

To make matters worse, the 6-year-old Black Pomeranian has a heart condition: he has an enlarged heart, and needs specific care.

Should you see Cocoa, kindly contact the owner at 0917-847-1989 or bring him to his veterinarian at St. Joseph Veterinary, 185 Aguirre Avenue, BF Homes, Parañaque (red gate). Cocoa was last seen at F. Cruz St., Ph. 3 BF Homes, Parañaque (street of PCJ Parish). The owners offer a reward for his return.

* Photos provided by Cocoa’s owners.

Come and meet the newest member of our family, Kubrick!

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. Read the rest of this entry »

In order for me to easily access new updates, I’m subscribed to a number of news sites. I check these as soon as I get online. Imagine my surprise when I saw this disturbing story from the Mail Online:

Gang of children – some as young as TEN – caught slowly roasting puppies over bonfire

According to the story, the adorable puppies in the photo above were almost burned alive by a gang of children as young as 10 to 12 years old. Read the rest of this entry »

This was Whitey, an aspin and Labrador Retriever mix. She was my sister’s favorite.

Whitey passed away yesterday. We don’t really know why, but nothing can describe my sister’s reaction except for “devastated.” Read the rest of this entry »

Yay! This is one of the best news I got this year. Frankly, it hasn’t been a very good holiday—it could have been better, for my health at least. I’ve also received one of the worse news a dog-lover would hear from her doctor: my asthma has resurfaced I have to keep an inhaler with me at all times, and Shantee can’t sleep on my pillow anymore (where her fur is too close to my face).

I’m so happy to hear that Iams Home 4 the Holidays exceeded their 1 million adoption mark. As of writing, 1,088,506 pets have been adopted I am strongly opposed to euthanasia, and I can’t help but be happy that more than a million pets are saved from this and found themselves a place to call home.

Congratulations to all those who have been part of this campaign. Hope you guys have another great adoption year in 2008!

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? Read the rest of this entry »

The Philippine Animal Welfare Society (PAWS) will be having a fund-raiser, Pose for PAWS, this coming Sunday, 14 December 2008, at B3, Bonifacio High Street in Taguig.

Registration fee is Php500. All proceeds shall be donated to the PAWS Animal Shelter in Quezon City. Humans get to pose for photos with their pets while at the same time helping the shelter animals. Pick-up points for the photos will be announced soon (sorry, I don’t have the info for pick-up points yet).

Shantee and I might go… She just loves having her photo taken

Every time I visit a new province, I make sure that I’m able to take photos of the native dogs in the area. For some reason, capturing the dogs in their natural environment somehow shows me a glimpse of a province’s culture in one simple photograph.

Life in Batanes is slow and relaxing. The people, called Ivatans, are very friendly. If you’re not from around there, you can expect that they’ll give you a welcoming smile as you pass by. This friendliness, it seems, is a trait that even their dogs share. Read the rest of this entry »

Even in poverty, we still cannot help but have dogs. They’re our loyal best friends, unconditionally keeping us company even when food is so scarce that it’s not even enough to feed us.

I have traveled even to far-flung provinces here in the Philippines, and I have seen how dogs enriched the lives of even the most underprivileged in the places I visit.

As I have said before, this blog aims to bring relevant dog-related issues and news to Filipinos not just in the Philippines, but all around the world as well. In this light, I urge my US-based readers to also take a look into this holiday project Banfield, The Pet Hospital, is having. Read the rest of this entry »

Ever since I got back from my trip in Batanes, I’ve been sick on and off lately. My back got wet during the crazy long boat ride when we hopped from one island to another—that’s probably why I got colds after. And because of stress, my long-dormant asthma started acting up again

But thanks to my younger sister Joyce, we were able to continue Shantee’s FURminator regimen. She started Shantee with the FURminator deShedding Dog Treats (separate post on this soon, Shantee simply adores the treats!), and began using the deShedding Shampoo and deShedding Solution in place of her usual Alpo 2-in-1 Shampoo and Conditioner for her weekly baths. Read the rest of this entry »