The eyes that melt steel

That's the face I get every meal before she gets the "Ok" command..

*sigh*

And I wonder who is training who now...

Morning Rituals

I've no idea why she does that to my blanket..

Been some time...

Been quite some time I last posted anything. Well, I did write regularly, but those are thoughts so deep and dark that they're better off not shared.

On a lighter note, I bought Teh Pao a new bed before the GST hit, and I guess she loves it.

Trying out her new bed on the first night it arrived.

Well, that bed was well received for only two nights and then it is back to the good old days of her sneaking up to mine and adversely possessed my bed.

*sigh*

What is in a name..

"...which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet"

Mixed breed, pure breed, are they not dogs too?

** Was lectured by some people about the lifestyle Teh Pao enjoyed compared to their expensive, store bought dogs which was fed on leftovers and low quality commercial dog food. =/

What strange society we live in!

Of heaven, earth, and hell.

It's almost three in the morning, woke up from a nightmare, first and the worst in 2015.

It came with the setting of the future, Teh Pao looks frail in her old age, suffering from some sort of sickness, hospitalized in the vet and pain management no longer works. I brought her home, trying to make her comfortable in the last few days of her moment, took her out for her favourite car rides, visiting playgrounds with lots of slide towers, eating our food off our plates which usually a no no at home, preparations where made where friends, family and neighbours whom she adores came to bid her farewell, including her favourite vet who occasionally called her a fatty boom boom in our jokes came , and then it is time for her to bid farewell.

I woke up with tears strimming down my cheek, heart broken, thinking I've lost this smart, mischievous, little companion of mine, just to broke into hysterical laugh to realise that was a dream, and this faithful dog of mine is sleeping soundly, safely with her favourite soft toy tugging along.

If this nightmare is a person, I would tell her what a fucking bitch she is.

We've been through thicks and thins together over this short few years. Teh Pao is no doubt an imperfect dog, one that pulls on leash when walked by strangers, constantly challenging and pushing boundaries with visitors, a glutton, sometimes got herself into little troubles by sneaking into neighbours' houses to say hi.. She has been around during my darkest days, offerings more than just being a companion, she was also the anchor for me to seek and search that compassion which I had buried deep down inside long time ago. We've grew to understand each other, our needs, our limits, and we've also learn new things from each others, and the opportunities that arise during the learning processes. She is the benefactor of my recklessness, for picking up a young pup on a cold rainy evening; I'm the benefactor of her presence, from the day she opened her eyes and began that first little step, that first bark, and of course those stinky poops and pees, not forgetting the destructive behaviours for a young pup, rebellious juvenile, and later emerged as this smart feller who goes around wooing the hearts of many in this family and neighbourhood. I've learn so much through this process of being a dog owner, a first time, unprepared, teenager and now an adult, I've learn to give and take, to forgive, to recognise the contribution and efforts of another despite the end results are failures, to control and channel this hot temper of mine to physical workouts, and to learn to interact with people around, drew closer to younger brother, and to know people from different walks of life.

I'm just glad this dog of mine, this little dog with little ambition but a huge heart would continue to stay healthy, happy, and safe, It breaks my heart to think of the possibilities in future, what if she did get sick and suffer from tremendous amount of pain that pain management no longer works, am I willing to break my own heart and let her go, setting her free from the sufferings, or am I going to cling upon that selfishness of mine just to keep her around for a little while more so that I can continue to seek comfort from her? I suppose many pet owners dreaded that day when we all have to make a decision, but it is no doubt a question what nobody can avoid.

Rambutan season

Food Lover and her birthday

This is a belated post.

Teh Pao turned 4 on November the Fifth, so we had a simple celebration.

She got a new rope toy as present.

Bought her a black chicken as lunch.

Since it is quite a small bird, Teh Pao got the whole thing for 1 meal.

Pork hand for dinner.

Teh Pao even got boiled, shredded chicken as supper. 

The Pao's Maintenance: October 2014

This is an ongoing effort to keep track of pet finance.

Money Spent in October 2014

Food and Treats: RM40.00

Veterinary and Medicine: RM70.00

Accessories and Miscellaneous: N/A

TOTAL = RM110.00

Food and Treats

Last month I didn't spend much on food. Trying to clear freezer for routine cleaning, and also because I been hoarding from mum's kitchen ( she bought 15 chickens!), Teh Pao is the sole beneficiary of the meat trims and organs from all the poultry and beef. I just need to get some red meat from local stores and butcher to make up the muscle meat. By time I'm writing this, we've just finish the green tripe which I bought monthssss ago from hometown, have lots of bone in meal mainly chicken carcass/ feet, cow kidneys, some wildboar trims and lots of bishop nose ( from mum's chicken). I bought a pair of pig ears that comes with the rest of the head for RM5, which includes the snout and quite a lot of meat. I also bought an entire pork hand ( comes with huge chunk of muscle meat attached) mainly for Teh Pao's birthday. Didn't buy any store bought treats, I been dehydrating the pig ears and snout as chews.

Veterinary and Medicine

October wasn't very kind to us, first Teh Pao suffered from head injury which leads to minor infection, a walk in vet visit and some antibiotics cost me RM48. When I started to rejoice on the recovery, her allergy flared up so badly that we have another walk in to the vet and that trip cost RM22 with 2 strips of Prednisolone, lucky for me, vet waived the consultation for this trip and charges only for the drugs.

Halloween Hound

Buhbye October, we won't miss you. 

Farewell October, I won't miss you

Last day of October, what a relieve.

October this year had never been kind to me nor Teh Pao. First I had some mishap ( from falling off stairs at home, to being knocked down by car), while Teh Pao suffered from regular allergy, then on separate occasion her allergy flared up so badly that this is seriously the first time her anus was all red from licking and vulva swelled up. I had to grab her and rush, literally, to our vet immediately without formal appointment ( my vets go on appointment basis, and yes, without appointment means we had to wait).

After the allergy episode, Teh Pao somehow got herself a punctured wound on her head. According to witnesses, some kids from nearby neighbourhood did that because they didn't like Teh Pao barking while they "hang out" around this few houses.

It started off with a really minor and small punctured wound, but the horror came after 2 days, blood oozing, and it smelled, took Teh Pao for another vet visit and there is small fragment of broken metal in the wound itself!! I was pretty upsad, because initially I thought that was one off case, until another mutt living few doors away suffered from similar injury. I filed a report to the Residence Association, Community Policing and some concerned neighbours went around to spread words within neighbourhood to alert everyone. Well, some are just concern and worried of possible break- in, since those kids came from low cost housing area which is not too far away from here ( there were histories of them sniffing gums and committing petty theft), while others are way more concern about the well being of Teh Pao ( yes! yes! I know! people knew Teh Pao better than they knew me, I'm just Teh Pao's owner).

So after some "procedure" at the vet and more drugs, Teh Pao came home with a 2cm diameter wound. I had to clean that wound twice a day, before and after work. Oh, that was almost 10 days ago, now it has healed, leaving a bald spot on her head. On the bright side, she don't seem to feel pain throughout the course of healing, which was a relieve, and her popularity within the neighbourhood is so remarkable that she got home made treats and food from well wishing neighbours. ** Hey! Nobody knew my name except " Teh Pao's Owner". I'm jealous now. lol**

Anyway, her birthday is coming soon, I think I should get something nice for this spoilt, rotten dog of mine.

Vet visits

" That is one long creepy door ahead...."

" Can we leave now?"

3 empty envelops filled with happiness

These photo were taken more than a week ago.

Happiness is something simple, straight forward; human intellectual develop as we age, I think, we should sometimes learn from our furry friends, to slow down the pace, and look around, appreciate little things done, and most importantly, enjoy life.

Water disruption, total blackout and starvation

Okay, so the title is misleading, it sounded as if hurricane Sandy hit Malaysia, but no, there were no hurricane, just some thunder storm, thunder and lightning playing orchestra and accident happened, so we, as in This House suffered total blackout because the main circuit was damaged ( while our neighbourssssss sit tightly at home enjoying some hot chocolate and their TV show).

Did I mention the total blackout part? Yes? No? Well, basically, I reach home just in time to get trapped because when the main circuit was damaged, almost everything and anything stopped working, including the notorious Open Sesame autogate decided to die on us. There were a hell lot of raw food for Teh Pao in the freezer, but hardly anything left for the humans, Sunday evening is suppose to be our shopping day where we stock up foods for the entire week, so you got the idea. The best part was no clean water supply! But of course being a survivor, I still think it is not cool to live in a concrete cave with doors and window without clean water supply, collected rain water, and filtered, and filtered, and filtered then finally boil 'em just for shower and basic cleaning. Oh hey, at least my teenage younger brother has now found his new love other than computer games decided he too wanted to learn ultimate survival skills like this. ( I didn't tell him that was mostly common sense though hahahax!)

Anyway, Teh Pao was safe, sound, and happily hoarding my bed, sucking on my fleece blanket until I decided to dress her up in one of my T-shirt and did this.

The Pao's Maintenance: September 2014

This is an ongoing effort to keep track of pet finance.

Money spent in September 2014
Food and Treats: RM129.15 RM126.75
Veterinary and Medicine: N/A
Accessories and Miscellaneous: RM4.00

TOTAL = RM133.15 RM130.75

FOOD AND TREATS

All the expenses in previous months are mainly about food and food supplies, September is no difference from previous months.

Apart from the usual purchases of beef, carrots and green peas, I bought some green lipped mussels and free range chicken from local stores to supplement Teh Pao's food source. I've lost quite a number of my home raised chickens in the past few months mainly due to pest attack ( wild boar!!) and some I culled them because they're badly injured from fighting or too sick, and it is inhumane to load them with drugs and let them suffer any further.

I've also started to add in some boiled mussels in Teh Pao's diet in recent weeks, they're good source of anti- inflammatory for her skin issues, and Teh Pao loves these little things.

Other than that, I've also stock up quite a bit of salmon skin from a friend who sells sashimi and other seafood supplies. These made great treats when dehydrated or grilled in oven, or great comfort food during rainy nights for Her Royal Fusineness.

On the last day of September I made an impulse purchase in local pet retail, getting a bag of 1.36Kg Addiction Wild Kangaroo and Apples at the discounted price of RM45.60 ( UP: RM48.00) hence the strike out above. During Teh Pao's puppyhood, Addiction Wild Kangaroo series is one of the many dog food brands I've bought and satisfied with. Being a student who was studying in A Level I was on very tight budget, so when our vet decided to stop selling Addiction due to some delivery issues, I stopped buying.

There are still some Merrick Duck and Potato formula left from previous purchase, which was months ago. I know, I know, kibbles go terribly slow in this household, but hey, they're meant to be given on lazy- meal- day! We're finishing it soon, which is one of the reason I grab that bag of Addiction ( and it is still sitting on pet food shelves, nice and safe).

Didn't buy any commercial treat these days, made a batch of dehydrated chews and treats the other day, and resorted to boiled liver since Her Royal Fusiness decided not to take raw organs again.

ACCESSORIES AND MISCELLANEOUS

I renewed my membership card with Pet Lover Center at RM4.00. Putting this under pet finance for obvious reason.

Wordless Wednesday

Sleep mythology

This is how Her Royal Fusiness sleep on weekday...

This is how she sleeps on weekend.

I wonder why...

My work companion at home

Weekends' treat

I'm on rather tight budget this month. I quit my job, then new semester started, school fees paid, books are expensive ( second or third hand books are affordable, but Family Law books needed latest edition because case laws develop way too fast).

Instead of getting store bought treats, I search through the remaining few bags of food in freezer and found a bag of long forgotten cow trachea/ oesophagus/ ears mix, so I decided to take it and turn them into treats. 

Dehydrated cow trachea

Cow ears

Ligaments

These, as I'm writing now, trachea is ready, but I like it crunchy dried, since both the ears and ligaments will need a few more hours to go, I'll just leave most of them safe and sound in the sauna room dehydrator for now.

Took a piece out for the quality surveyor to conduct some testing.

She looks happy with my product.

Here comes the tasting part...

Well I guess she is satisfied with the product, and we're on the right track.