Driving Miss Riko

The trip to daycare is becoming a daily ritual now. Car door opens, Riko pops in...no issues. However, my boy takes his own sweet time. He wonders about....lies down...stands around looking about...does everything except get into the car. He gets the most coaxing in the morning. But once in the car, I think my boy has the most fun. His head automatically bobs outside the window, where he gets busy looking out for curious-looking targets to bark at. Meanwhile, my girl climbs to the front seat and is contented just looking at me driving.

I think she's very much a night dog. Here, she looks like she's getting over a hangover a.k.a. zombie face ....from all the late-night barking! :D

Photo taken on 28 April 2010

Busy weekend for the kids

On weekends, the kids get to go for walks twice a day. By nightfall, they are dog-tired and I wonder how am I going to squeeze into my bed. o.O

The Curious Incident of my Dog in the Night

This is becoming a usual night scene at my home now.
Boy lounges indoors and retires to the bedroom at around 10.30. Meanwhile, girl stands guard outside the gate till I go to bed. She barks at any movement on the street. If I do get her to come in, she darts outside when she hears something...anything..Sometimes, she just runs out barking for unknown reasons. I assume that she felt something strange and needed to investigate.

It's interesting how her character is developing. She's a very inquisitive girl.

Photo of Mariko on 12 December 2009
(yeah...I know...I know... I don't have some up-to-date photos of Mariko. I will replace it once I get the right shot. Been trying to get her on night patrol, but each time I get near, she'll come over for a hug)

A blast from the past

I was looking through some old photos to print out and I came across my boy's photo at 2 months. This was his vet visit for his second vaccination.

Aaww... cutie pie..he looked so tiny then. Nowadays, I think he needs to lose a few pounds. He actually eats quite little. So, I think he needs to exercise a bit more to look fit.


Photo of Haruki taken on 18 October 2008

A wonderful morning

Today was my first day on dog time. I got up early and took the kids out for walks.

We changed up Ruki's normal route and when we got home, he wanted more. So, we did an extra 2 roads around the neighbourhood. I swear he had a biggest grin plastered on his face the whole time. Riko also took a longer route. About halfway through the walk, she kept looking up and smiling at me as if to say, "thanks momma for taking me on this awesome walk."

It warms my heart when they are so happy. Just reminds me that the simple little things are really the best for a happy life. It was amazing morning indeed.

Someone needs to go to dog school

I picked up yet another book about training dogs yesterday. Cesar Milan. A lot of controversy about his teaching methods ...so, I was procrastinating getting any of his books. But, they were on sale...so I finally got one.

Now, I have read a couple of dog books but this is the first one which is keeping it simple and real for me.

He says..

when I interacting with dogs, train your mind to relate to them in the below order:
1. Animal
2. Dog <-- very cute ones
3. Breed <-- labrador
4. Name <--Haruki/ Mariko

His 3-part fulfillment formula is..
1. Exercise (the walk)
2. Discipline (rules, boundaries and limitations)
3. Affection

in that order...

I know, I know.... people have to me so...but OMG...the DOG WHISPERER is telling me that I have everything in reverse order!!

Looks like the person who needs training is ME.
I really think I should start before it's too late. Seriously.

Not-so-Old Yeller

Mariko has become rather "barky" lately. At first, it was just the random extra barks when she is with her brother outside. Then, she started to stay back by the gate barking into the darkness. Now, the faintest sound in the night makes her head bob up from her sleep for a bark. Each time this happens, my boy has this WTF look on his face....hahaha... Nowadays, he just sleeps through the racket. Unfortunately, I can't.

The kids are up around six every morning...barking inside the house. So, I crawl out of bed to open the door for them. They dash out as if the house on fire. I stagger back into bed. My boy returns in 5 minutes but the girl is still outside, barking continuously at some dog/ cat/ rat/ squirrel/ mongoose/ ghost. On good days, she stops after a while. On bad days, she goes on non-stop and I'm yelling for her from my bed to come inside.

I am now trying to be on dog time. In bed by 10pm and up at 6 am.

Sometimes I wonder where they came from

While Mariko seems to be taking centrestage lately, my boy is pretty happy being laid back in his ways. They are so different growing up which makes it interesting these days. Since my boy first took his walk outdoors, his nose has been eternally stuck to the ground... excitably sniffing away. He's hardly aware of anything around him when he's on the scent. My girl, on the other hand, isn't into sniffing (thank goodness). Rather, she is happy looking left, right and behind as she is walking. So, Haruki's more like a smelling boy and Mariko's more a visual girl. Sometimes, I swear my boy is half human by the way he sleeps, snores and sighs. Riko's half-lamb-half-deer with her skip-walking and her gisele-like glides when chasing/ being chased.

Drama Queen 2.0

OMG! I heard my girl from a few houses down..coming back from our walk this morning. It wasn't some lady-like whimpering as I imagined...it was more like continuous bark-bark-YEOOOOWL....bark-bark-YEEOOOWL...I wonder how long did that go on...We were gone at least 15 minutes. A few weeks ago, my neighbour told me she was "crying" when we left...but wow.. I didn't think it was like so dramatic....with eye boogle and all!!

HAHAHAHAHA....silly gurl...

Drama Queen

It seems that each time I'm out walking my boy, mocha girl gets upset.

When she was younger, she will basically throw a physical tantrum - throwing things on the ground and making a mess. Nowadays, she cries out as if nobody loves her anymore...

Apparently, today she was so upset.... she whined all the way from the gate (after seeing us off) to the house to seek some attention. She came in, stopped whining for a few seconds (scared) when she saw grand-dad watching tv. Then, trotted back outside to continue whining..hahahaha..

So, grand-dad called out for her to come back into the house. She runs in to get her "attention". Such a drama queen.

Like always, she waits by the gate for us to come back. She gets so excited when she sees us because it's her turn to go walking.

Who did this!

It seems that for the past three weeks, this are the first words I utter every morning. Without fail. It could be toilet-paper strewn all over the floor or someone snitching food from the table or someone bringing a pot of plant from the garden into the house or digging into my work bag or my slippers simply going missing. Yesterday, there was poo on the carpet. Yes, my poor girl slipped up after a long while.

:(

Everyday, there's a different crisis.
This morning, it was this.





She looks so cute when she's remorseful. :D


Photos on 7 April 2010

That is your side of the bed

Since the night she first slept on my bed, she never left... oO

Mariko on 3 April 2010