Number 3

Ever since meeting cousin Tango, I've been thinking about number 3. Wishful thinking...even though I know, it's gonna be a black boy. Name has already been picked for him. Don't panic. I'm not ready to walk 12 legs and pick up triple amount of poo.

..but, it does make the family complete. Hmmm... I'd better not wish too hard. That's how Mariko came about the last time.

I know my boy wants nothing to do with a new kid on the block. He was irritated by Tango's presence and went about snarling and nipping him.

My girl is definitely game for it because she's dying to have a playmate. Her brother only likes to eat and sleep most of the time. She might re-think it if she knew that she will no longer be the baby of the house....until number 3 grows to full-size.

I wonder what happened to my gentle boy. He was definitely smitten when my girl first came. He even let her chew on his cheeks. He's still very gentle and allow her to chew on his cheeks in the morning. But, I think he knows better than me that to add another one means less sleep, more annoyance and longer waiting time before food ...because the little ones can't get their acts together at dinner time.

Sunday photos - Let sleeping dogs lie

One of my favourite things to do on weekends is to check on the kids when they are sleeping. They have the cutest and most serene expressions on their faces.

On rare days...they sleep close together. I'm waiting for the day my boy lets his sister cuddle with him while he's sleeping. Right now, he still thinks she's annoying.

My boy's position under the dinner table when guests come over.

Sleeping areas are often strategically chosen....like at the doorway, busy pathways, bottom of the stairs...

...to make sure, they don't miss out on anything while they take a nap.

Sleeping positions vary...

...sometimes, un-lady like.

Somehow, they find comfort in aligning themselves to the nearest wall.

This is my favourite sleeping torpedo boy.

The only time Riko didn't sleep well was when she had to be boarded at the vet for a night. When she came home, she just fell on the floor and slept for hours.

Needless to say, she had a spat of special treatment after spending a night in a dingy cell when her ovaries were removed.

I never intended for Riko to sleep on the bed. At 9 weeks, she climbed on the bed on the first day she was let into the bedroom. She never left.

My boy prefers the floor. Mother's guilt found me buying him a bed too...which he sleeps on for like 5 minutes. I think he treats it like a throne rather than a bed.

Back to school, my Terrible Two

ok, don't laugh.

I'm going to do some serious disciplining with the kids. Their command-taking has never been good in the first place...yes, due to my poor reinforcement on them.

It has now come to a point when....
come = sit or stand still wherever they are with a "what?" look on their faces
sit = sitting for a second then sliding into down position
stay = follow me
fetch = stare at me with the "you get it" look
leave it = grab it, fling it in front of momma or run away with it

the only effective command is "down"....and that's because they are about to receive their treats or waiting for dinner.

So, I need to re-start tomorrow because if they behave, they will get to go for pet therapy gathering in 2 weeks. I don't want them behaving like total hooligans. I might end up needing some therapy myself!

Dreaming today

If this was mine, I will have really happy kids.
Imagine watching the boy swim in the pool with such a spectacular view.
Imagine the off-leash running and scenting trails my kids will be doing everyday.
I won't see them until dinner time...and after dinner, they probably be knocked out cold. What a life!

But, imagine how much walking I have to do picking poo! Well, exercise is always good.

Introducing Do-Re-Mi

My tri-color lab search is over with a four-month old labrarot boy. Well, too bad he's not mine too. It's cousin Tango who is such a sweetie. My terrible two at that age were always acting like monkeys. As usual, it was near impossible to get a great shot of all three being still and saying cheese to the camera.


This was what was happening behind the scenes. And, they are very good at doing this.

Mariko makes her stand

And so, I'm back from my vacation and realized my sweet girl is all grown up. I swear she had grown a bit. :D

Mariko has never been an easy walker.

I can still remember her very first walk. She was all leashed-up and ready to go .... but no, she refused to budge. She just sat in the front of our gate. Unlike her brother, he was out the door with nose-to-ground the moment the gates opened for the first time. She didn't get the concept of the leash. She probably finds it undignified to be led around or that we should take the car instead.

In the early days, she stuck close to my legs. But, as she saw more and more of what was over the fence, she became more and more courageous.

Nowadays, she literally springs and gallops the whole way. It has been impossible to keep her at my heels because she speed walks. One would think that the walking difficulty is proportionate to the size of the dog. Nope, not here. My boy heels better because he's big and walks slower...well, that is when he's not tugging about the grass. My girl, on the other hand, is a springy lamb!

To make things worse, she gets excited at any moving objects - especially cats wondering around the neighbourhood. When it comes to dogs behind gates, she charges forward with her barky attitude.

She knows her walking trail by heart. So well, that when I changed routes, she knows and insists on take the "right" way. One good thing is she isn't picky with where I take her. Somehow, this week... something changed.

We walked our usual trail and were on our way home. We turned into our road and was heading towards home when she stopped dead on her tracks. All four paws rooted to the ground. You would think it's easier to get a 50-pounder up on her feet. Nope, she didn't budge. So, I thought she had a memory loss or something and forgot where she was. I dragged her back home the first time.

The next day, the same thing happened after we turned the corner into our street. What's with her? It turns out that she didn't have a memory loss. Rather, I had a light bulb moment. She didn't want to go home yet!

Since that fateful first time, she'd be happily trotting the first ten steps after the corner home. Then, stops dead on her tracks once she recognised that this is the road home. I still get amused by her doing this every night!

If I pulled her towards home, she will not budge an inch. If I pulled away from our gate, she continues to side-step away from our gate. So now, I have to put in an extra block or two for her.

(Must get a photo or video of her in action!)