It felt like only yesterday....

...Little Mariko came home. I'm glad the kids get along swell. Riko idolizes her big brother. Ruki tolerates her being at his face and following his every move.

then...



now...my dogs in formation

Something smells

For the past week, it seems there is some kind of windfall of soup bones at day care. It might well be due to Grandma striking a little win from a lottery. So, the kids have been having giant bones to gnaw on during the day. Mariko seem to have an obsession to them. She decided to take one back from daycare on Monday. As it turns out, most nights this week, she has been gnawing a bone on the ride home. The car ride had been blissful until the car started to reek like the meat section of the supermarket.


So yesterday, I threw the bones out of the dogmobile into the garden for her prolonged enjoyment. All was well again when I went to bed.

You see, my bedroom is temperature-controlled for my boy. He prefers to sleep in near artic conditions. Apparently, the kids smuggled a bone in the bedroom. By the time I went to bed, I thought I had walked into a meat-packaging factory!

..except...the only bodies lying around were my kids!


After a trilogy of fart, poo and reeky odours.... I am desparate to see green pastures, fluffy clouds and blue skies by year end.

The ugly truth about being off-leash

Some weeks after my sprained ankle incident, I found out that grand dad has been taking my boy off-leash to a patch of grass next to the main road. I'm resolved to trying to stay positive about the whole idea. I'm also intrigued about knowing how it's done .... how you wake the boy from scent trance when it's time to go.

With my ankle still on recovery mode, I've mustered the courage to do some off-leash with the boy this week after dinner. On the first try-out, we went to the park down the road. Ruki went on his sniffing frenzy the moment he jumped out of the car. I was yelling at him every few minutes to stay close while walking my girl on leash. Now, every walk is not complete without a poo. So as Ruki started to squat down, I noticed his leash dangling at his behind. We rushed over to pull the leash from under but.. Too late...I got piping hot poo on my hand!! Yucks! We left the park hurriedly and I drove home with one hand on the steering wheel!

I had a feeling Ruki didn't get enough as it felt kind of rushed the first time. Like a pit (poo) stop. So, the next night...we were back again. This time, I'm trying to be calm about the whole thing...no dangling leash. Ruki was freely sniffing away. I was still calling him to stay close like every other second. When he reached the end of the path, he decided to climb up a hillside and disappeared into the darkness. Since I was in no condition to climb, Riko and I ran back to the car. As I was bundling the girl into the car, I heard running sounds coming from the darkness. It was Ruki racing down the road. Thank goodness! Immediately, I summoned him into the car. He did his last sniff and jumped up the car.

TOO SCARY...so far it's been sniff zombie, runaway boy, frantic "come here" shouts, zero recall and poo-in-the-hand.

One good thing is the prompt departure from daycare. They get harnessed-up before leaving daycare. So the dilly-dally Boy gets promptly into the car before he knows he's going off-leash in a while.

The not-so graceful side of Miss Riko

Last night...like every other night, I have my usual pep talk with my girl to let her know how good and how naughty she has been during the day. She takes in my lectures with such grace, patience and understanding...she could sit with me the whole night listening. Well...I think she enjoys head-and-neck scratch and belly rub more than anything else. So as she was enjoying herself yesterday...there was a sudden **poot** sound midway through our session. It startled the poor girl to her feet staring at her bum with a "what-was-that?" look in her face.

Hmmm...looks like someone had a bit too much of ginger and vinegar-cured meat from the table last night.

The curious case of Mariko Leong

For the past few weeks, Riko has been eating erratically again. On slow days, she spends breakfast hovering over her bowl trying swat flies, rather than eating. When she does eat, she's always chewing and looking at what's going on outside at the same time. On really slow days, we always end up having to hand-feed her. Sometimes she eats..sometimes, she doesn't even open her mouth for a kibble like a kid being forced to take some bitter medicine. As soon as you start to serve a lesser portion (to reduce wastage), she suddenly does a rare chomping down of her meal unassisted and going for second helpings. Hallelujah!

She likes her kibbles more than real meats. For that, I've attribute it to her not-so strong set of teeth. Then, I am proven wrong when I watch her take down a giant bone. She is weird.