Everybody's on a DIET from now on

Since the health scare, I've made some conclusions. Ruki needs to lose at least 4 inches of his waistline. Riko needs to appreciate her meals more. Brownie needs to put on weight... lots of it. And I need to eat well - more veges, less meat and coffee.

So this week, we decided to do this.
1. I will go cold turkey on my coffee intake and bring lunch to work.
2. Have mental note to not think of nasi lemak. I had sinned last week at Uncle Lim's.
3. The kids will have homecooked meals.

Weekend menu

breakfast
beef tenderloin cubes
chicken liver
rice with a bit of pearl barley
Pumpkin, carrots, potatoes, guava
sardines
dash of extra virgin coconut oil

dinner
beef shanks
chicken feet
chicken gizzard and liver
rice with mashed pumpkin
carrots, potatoes, brocoli
sardines
dash of extra virgin coconut oil

Riko's first reaction - I think she thought I was going to poison her.


And...Ruki...he would eat anything. Even chopped guava and brocolli....as long as he can get to the meaty bits.


So far, Riko seems to want to have a cup of her regular kibbles once we get home. Ruki seems to be is always hungry. To be honest, I can't tell. He gets his nightly spoon of greek yogurt before bedtime. No extra kibbles.

I will be on stool-monitoring duty. So far, they seem to have smaller poo. I don't think Ruki did his morning poo. Plus, I thought that home-cooking would be a daunting task. In a way, it's comforting to know what they are eating. So far so good.

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The day my girl drank from the toilet bowl

Yesterday afternoon, I heard the sound of slurping of water coming from the guest bathroom.

It was my sweet girl. Since when did she start this?


Syntea is also on tumblr.

Angry Dog

For a couple of months, I noticed that my sweet girl is developing a temperamental side.

It started with barking at anything that passes by our gate...well, she has been doing this from young. One second she's chewing her breakfast in the kitchen, the next second she's by the gate barking at something. So, I didn't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary. I thought she was one very alert dog.

Then, it moved on to barking and lunging at dogs while we are walking. I don't notice anything out-of-the-ordinary again...because she is light-weight enough to hold back.

Then, came lunging at motorbikes when we are walking by the road. Then, lunging at people on bicycles.

Two weeks ago...whille she was walking off leash in the park, she ran up to a group of teenagers and growled at them. In that incident, the boys startled and ran for their lives. One of them even climbed up the roof of a nearby parked car!

Ok, I see a trend now. Not good....unprovoked growling attacks!

I noticed this same behaviour in another dog (12-year old female beagle) who is barky at any male dog (Haruki) that comes too close to her. Needless to say, my boy is smitten with any girl dog. The owner tells me that she was bitten when she was young...so, she doesn't like anyone getting too close to her. Now, she just tolerates Ruki when he tries to get close.

I'm not sure about my girl though... Perhaps, she was not well-socialized during her formative years. She didn't go to dog school and all. When she is at dog get-togethers, she prefers to stay close to me while her brother is out there mingling with the dog crowd (a.k.a. smelling butts).

I call this barking behaviour .... the small dog syndrome. My friends call it bad parenting.

Syntea is also on tumblr.

The new norm

By doctor's order, Haruki should be on house arrest for at least a week. But, my boy was already giving the sorry face by Day 2.



So, yesterday we went for a short walk in the park. Let me say, a day in "dog years" must be damn long because he made sure he smelled every bush in the park. Thankfully, after getting off jail time and spending a day sleeping...his appetite is back to normal. Normal means waiting patiently on the kitchen floor as his meal is being prepared, wanting "seconds" and finishing up his sister's leftovers.

Ever since the health scare which had my boy spending the whole night staring out to nothing, I have developed some acute paranoia. I've started to check to see whether he is still breathing in his sleep.



And, I guess someone is feeling a bit privileged. There has been some attention on him with the visitors coming on the weekend bearing treats. For the past week, the air-conditioner is turned on for him. This was what I found when I turned on the bedroom lights last night.


Syntea is also on tumblr.