Danny's New Year dinner

Hello! Hello! It's New Year's Eve and I'm sure a whole bunch of you have wild party plans tonight. As for me, my plan is to sleep my way into the new year.

The year has been filled with a number of firsts - first (and last) sibling's wedding, first time in a recording studio, first time singing solo at a wedding (needed 2 beers and a wine before I could get on stage), and of course, Danny's my first schnauzer. Along with him came the first grooming session and the first visit to a pet cafe.

Yes, I don't know about you, but Danny's ending his year quite pleased and round. He's now a not-so-mini schnauzer, tipping the scales at 9.5kg. It really didn't help that I brought him to Bark Angel for a post-Christmas-early-New-Year dinner.

Danny recognised Bryan straight away and was straining on the leash to get to him. Hubby held on to him while I headed to the counter to check out the doggie menu:

I actually turned to hubby and asked, "So what do you think he will like?" Hubby's face said it all. I was asking about a dog that happily eats tissue paper right out of the box.

I ended up ordering a grilled boneless chicken with honey. It came with a choice of two sides. The chef recommended the mashed potatoes and egg, but I took one look at Danny's round furry butt and picked a double helping of vegetables instead.

Then came the wait. We had to keep Danny entertained cos he kept wanting to explore. One of the staff came over and said it was okay to let him off the leash. I told him that if I did that, there wouldn't be much of a shop left. You see, they have a section where they sell shampoos and other doggie items, and Danny was showing a lot of interest in the smaller items that would fit between his teeth.

After a bit, the scent of Danny's dinner came wafting through the kitchen door. It smelt really good even by human standards!

And whenever there's food, Danny will suddenly turn into the world's best dog. He sat and waited patiently, never once taking his eyes off the bowl.

And then when I placed the bowl down...

He polished off the chicken first and then went on to the veg. The carrots and tomatoes didn't bother him, but it was his first encounter with broccoli and he seemed a little fazed by it. He initially picked up a piece and then after mouthing it for a bit, he dropped it on the floor. Only when everything else was gone did he give it another go.

I guess if you've never had it before, broccoli is a strange vegetable.

Have a wonderful new year all!

Problem solved!

Danny is a good boy on walks, thanks to Lance from Shiloh Dog School. Danny will sit immediately and wait when you offer him food or a toy, thanks to Angela from PuppyLove. He does not mind having his food taken away from him while he is eating (heck, you can shove your whole hand in there and he will step away). And you can wiggle his toes as much as you please.

But despite having two trainers (who have both seperately labelled him as a naughty, stubborn dog) with two very different training methods, Danny still loves grabbing and chewing on things.

Angela's solution was to ignore him when he grabs something. The idea is that Danny wants attention so when he doesn't get it by being naughty, he'll stop. Problem: When he doesn't get attention, he's more than happy to entertain himself by ripping up whatever he grabbed.

Lance's solution was to say "leave" in a firm tone and smack him upside the chin if he still goes for it. Problem: Danny's a masochist. Plus, it only works when he is put on a leash and watched like a hawk. Once he's loose, you'll have to catch him to smack him, and he relishes the chase.

We were really at out wits' ends. Then, suddenly, in the middle of the night, I hit on the solution. You see, with both trainers, it was about giving him the option of being naughty or good. However, Danny kept opting for naughty.

So I decided to forget about options. Having a mouth is a privilege...

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The first time it went on, it worked like a charm. He shot about the living and dining areas heading for his usual favourites. He tried to grab cushions, floor cloths, dad's shoes, but to no avail. He eventually lay down on the floor and glared up at us.

One frustrated dog? Totally. One happy owner? You bet!

The muzzle fixed 95% of the problem. Why 95%? Well, when he realised that he couldn't bite anything, he shot upstairs, jumped on my bed and sat there waiting for me. When I appeared, he immediately jumped off and headed back down. I think that was the doggy version of "You ain't the boss of me".

The muzzle is only reserved for times when he is acting up. I also hope that he'll eventually find other avenues of fun and it'll break his habit. I chose the cage muzzle so that he can still pant, bark and even drink water. It's also only on him when we're around and even then for a max of 30 minutes.

Hopefully it works cos I'm all out of ideas!

Termite

Recently, it became quite appearant to the family that we have a major termite problem. We started finding damage to wooden parts of the house, such as doors....

... and door frames

The good news is that we've found the source of the problem. It turns out that one single termite, albeit a rather large, hairy one, is responsible for the destruction. Here he is trying to get into the house.

Don't be fooled. That happy, friendly face is just a trick.

"I will chew your house from under you!"

Footnote: This species is that it doesn't just go for wood; it also attacks, cushions, socks, shoes, rugs and all types of food.

A different dog every month

Danny is our very first schnauzer ever. While we are still grappling with his hyperactivity and high doggie IQ (after chasing him around for the umpteened time this morning, Dad declared that next time we pick a stupid dog), look-wise, it's been like have a different dog every couple of months or so.

Don't believe me?

April: When he first came back from the pet shop.

May: The naughty was already kicking in...

June: On the way back from his first puppy class

July: On his way back from his last puppy class

August: Looking for something to grab

September: Danny's usual spot when we are not around to watch him.

October: Hairy little bugger

November: One freshly groomed puppy!

Maybe after the next grooming, I'll come back with a poodle.

Danny Gets Groomed

If you've been following this blog, you'll probably realise that Danny has been getting shaggier and messier with each post. I initially booked an appointment with Bark & Bubbles at Bukit Merah. This meant bundling our friend in the car for a 25 minute drive but I didn't mind because the place got quite good reviews.

But shortly after, I discovered that a new grooming salon was opening within a 10-minute walk from my house. During one of his walks, I popped over to Bark Angel while it was still being renovated and managed to speak to the main groomer, Bryan. Danny and him hit it off right off the bat. Bryan also came across as the nice, gentle sort, so I booked an appointment.

Yesterday was D-day.

"Yes, I know. I look like a mess."

The great thing about Bark Angel is that it is a pet cafe cum grooming salon. My plan was to be present throughout the grooming session, (mainly because the very naughty dog was going for his first grooming and I wasn't sure how he would behave) so having a cafe where I could lounge was brilliant.

The decor is nice an cosy, with sofas, magazines and even a Nintendo Wii! The place is equipped with wi-fi so next time I'm bring my laptop. The cafe serves a range of drinks and some simple sandwiches for humans, but for dogs, the menu includes chicken rice balls and grilled boneless chicken as well as side dishes. *Drool!*

Very importantly, it doesn't smell of dog.

Danny lost no time in making himself comfy.

I settled down to a nice breakfast of kaya toast and fizzy Ribena...

...while Danny got his haircut. I went ahead with a full grooming as his fur was getting a little matted in some parts. Bryan discussed his cut with us and we eventually decided on a terrier-like cut for his face, and a good trim for the rest.

(Yes, I know he is a Schnauzer, but the beard is really impractical. When he drinks water, he drips all over the floor, and then his chin fur gets matted cos the water makes it clump together.)

Getting sheared.

Danny giving Bryan some lurve...

"Check it out. I'm getting my paws done!"

"Don't I look neater already?"

After watching him for a bit, hubby and I hit the Nintemdo Wii so we missed the bathing and nail trimming. But eventually, Danny emerged. We couldn't recognise him.

What I like was that Danny was never left alone at any point. He was also dried with a hair dryer instead of being chucked into drying cage and left alone.

Despite having two other dogs waiting, Bryan still took the time to do a great job. I was initially told that the grooming would take about 1.5 hours, but because of his matted fur, it took a total of 2.5 hours in the end.

Mom still likes him to be messy and shaggy. She was trying her best to convince me not to "waste my money on grooming". She thinks that dogs shouldn't look all prissy and neat, and that now he looks like a Dandy, not a Danny.

But she's outnumbered. Rhoda, Dad, hubby and I all think he looks so much better and a heck of a lot cuter! Dad said that he never realise that Danny had so much white fur.

Before

After

Oh yeah, I discovered one bad thing about getting your dog neutered...Bryan thought he was a girl! We spent the rest of the afternoon calling him Danielle.

A method to his madness

It is a known fact that Dannys are expert grabbers. Mainly opportunistic by nature, they are constantly on the look out for interesting artifacts unguarded by their owners. However, once something piques their curiosity, they will endeavour to reach it at all costs.

This recent footage unveils a Danny in action, providing rare insight into the grabbing strategies of these curiously annoying creatures.

Target in sight

First attempt - unsuccessful
Second attempt - would have been successful if it wasn't for owner

Leave ... like real

One of the things we are trying to teach Danny is the command "Leave". One of the main things that makes him a naughty little fuzziod is his habit of grabbing things he knooooows he shouldn't, and promptly chomping on them.

The command is to be given when he's about to grab something and he should stop. Unfortunately, the command only works when you're watching him like a hawk and really quick with your hands. If not ...

Which is why I didn't bring him along to my friend's birthday party in Pasir Ris over the weekend. I was all prepared to but then I started having visions of him grabbing and chewing stuff he shouldn't, like the birthday cake or the food table or the BBQ pit.

Oh Danny, if only you knew the fun you could have if you were good...

Was blind but now I see...

After five ungroomed months, Danny was starting to look quite poofy. While it was fun stroking and playing with him, his vision was starting to get quite limited.

He wasn't exactly running into walls but he was peering between fur for a view of the world, and eventually, even Lance commented that he couldn't see.

After a long hard search, I made an appointment with Bark and Bubbles for a grooming session but since it's in end-November, Rhoda decided that being blind for another month wasn't in his best interest. So, during bath time one day, she whipped up a pair of scissors and ...

Paranoid Owner

[Caution: Long post.]

Oh yay, oh yay! I am sooo relieved!!!

I never realised how much Chassard's biting incident affected me until I took Danny to the vet for his op. At the clinic, he sniffed a Shettie and started growling. Hubby took him to one side, but when a Westie came out of the clinic, he growled and started lunging. Later, even in his drugged out hazy state, he sniffed and then growled fiercely at a Corgi who was minding his own business.

Every other dog was so well behaved and everyone at the vet was staring at him. I started having flashbacks of when Chassard would fight with the neighbours' dogs and people would come knocking on our door with a list of complaints. The vet's assistant said that maybe Danny wasn't well socialised when very young.

I felt like a terrible owner, especially since I read up on dog aggression and knew the importance of socialisation. For that reason alone, I had sent him for puppy class just so he could mix. I knew at 9 months, the window for socialisation had long closed (ideal is up to 16 weeks). I felt that maybe I hadn't done enough, that I should have brought him to the dog run, took him on dog play dates, blah, blah.

I don't like comparing having a dog to being a mom cos I think parenting is 100 times more demanding and sacrificial, but I had a micro-experience of how it's like when the school calls and says your kid was bullying other kids in the playground.

When we hit home, I called Lance, Danny's trainer, and asked if he could bring along one or two well-behaved dogs for his next lesson so I could get his advice on the situation. For the whole week, I tried not to think about it. Whenever I did, I would start wondering whether he would attack the trainer's dog.

The problem with me is that the more I think about something, the worse it becomes. I pictured Danny becoming a violent, vicious dog that had to be locked in a cage and fed with a stick.

Well, his training session is just over. Lance brought along his golden retreiver which has got to be the best dog in the world. And Danny? Danny didn't make one single growl. Instead he kept sniffing the big dog all over and wanted to play.

Lance said his socialisation skills were fine. The problem was that we were pulling on the leash which caused him to instinctively pull in return and growl. For the meet and greet, it should be loose leash, no tension if not, they would sense anxiety. The idea is for Danny to be relaxed to do his doggie stuff.

When left to their own devices, dogs wouldn't fight. Like humans, dogs like some dogs and dislike others. If they didn't like the other dog, they would simply stare at a certain distance and ignore each other. If the owner is there, however, the dog will think that he's got his pack with him and attack. Once a dog gets used to fighting, he will start thinking that every dog he meets, he should fight. (Which is also one reason why dogs need to socialise with well-mannered dogs.)

The verdict? Danny is simply too full of energy and extremely playful.

Still, to be extra certain, next session, Lance will be bringing the naughtiest of his dogs to meet Danny.

"I destroy personal property and reck people's lives, but I'm polite!"

"PS. I need a haircut."

UPDATE: For the last lesson, Lance didn't bring his dog along as he wanted to focus on other areas. But on one of his walks, Danny met a chow chow and a husky...and everything was perfect!

Back to the drawing board

The day I've been dreading has finally arrived.

For the last few months, we have been enjoying toilet-trained Danny. We could let him out all around the house and as long as we have a paper out, he'd go on it like some expert marksman. No more worrying about stepping on ;"something wet", or needing to keep bottles of vinegar handy. It was a dream come true.

And all of a sudden, literally overnight, it was back to square one. At first I thought we forgot to give him paper; then, I realised there was a huge wad on the balcony all nice and dry. He now is back to going wherever and whenever he feels like it, and even when he is confined, he will pick the spot WITHOUT paper.

Why? Well, back in puppy class, Danny's first trainer was teaching us about toilet training. It was about confining him to one area and getting him used to having the feel of paper under his feet to do his stuff. We were all happily taking notes, when she said that unfortunately, despite all efforts, when dogs hit 9-11 months, they will untoilet-train themselves. A huge sigh went up. It is sort of like they hit their teenage phase and become rebellious, wanting to test whatever they've been taught. Toilet-training will have to be restarted and once we win that battle, we would have won the war.

Danny is now a week short of 9 months. For the last week every non-papered place has been fair game. We've dusted off our toilet training notes and geared up for Round 2.

*Ding ding!*

Donations of kitchen towels and disinfectant are welcome.

Post-Op Danny

Danny's back to being all happy and sappy again. A real far cry from the sad little thing on Sunday. He's now having his movement restricted cos the vet said that running, jumping, etc., would aggravate the wound.

He's still not too used to the collar. Just yesterday, he tried to go under a chair and the collar got stuck. He just went ahead anyway and ended up dragging the chair with him.



Still, he seems to be taking it in his stride.

His mouth is wet here cos he was drinking water.

The silver lining for him is that he doesn't need to bathe for 2 weeks. So not looking forward to that!

Groggy Doggy

Sent Danny for eunuch-ization over the weekend. When I picked him up, he was seriously drugged out. He didn't even look at me when the vet's assistant handed him over. After that he totted and swayed his way to the car. It was only halfway home that it suddenly occured to him to check that he was with the right guys. He jerked his head up and took a good hard look at me. Satisfied, he settled back down to sleep.

Back home, he was the saddest-looking thing. I wonder if he knew something was missing. It was also his first time with the collar and he kept bumping into things.

All in all, it was a rough, weird sort of morning for him, and he wasn't in the mood to entertain the camera. He kept looking away and eventually, he made his feelings very known:

The rest of the afternoon was spent in La La Land. Even when he woke up, he was nice, quiet and placid.


For once, I had the best dog in the world...

A dog owner's best friend

By now, I think everyone knows Danny is one extremely hyper dog. He has been officially labelled as "very naughty" by both his trainers, and even under strict training we are just barely lowering the grade to "naughty".

Just yesterday, he snuck into my room, grabbed my brand new chiffon blouse with satin trimming right out of the bag, and dragged it into the living room for us to give chase. Thankfully he didn't do any damage save for some drool, and thankfully for him, it was on clearance.

I recently discovered a way of wearing out some of that boundless energy. And it's all thanks to this:


Yes, the humble tennis ball.

Ping pong balls only last a minute and simple dog toy balls cost a good $5 at the store. I got him a set of 3 tennis balls at Cash Converters for only $1. They've been used before but Friend Dan doesn't care.


Directions for use:
1) Locate a good flight of stairs.
2) Bounce ball to get Dog's attention and then pitch it down the stairs.
3) As Dog scampers after ball, prepare second ball in hand.
4) Just as Dog reaches top of stairs with ball in mouth, send second ball flying down the stairs. Dog should automatically drop first ball and chase Ball 2. (Note: If Dog does not drop Ball 1, wave Ball 2 frantically in front of Dog until Dog released Ball 1.)
5) Repeat until Dog looks like this:




6) After which, you can read the papers, have breakfast, paint your nails, etc., and not have to worry about what Dog is up to.

Variations: For owner's amusement, you may consider releasing three balls at once in different directions.

Side effect: You may experience constant background panting from Dog which you'll eventually get used to. This is normal and indicates that Dog is in operation.

Note: When panting stops, it signifies the need to repeat process. Ignoring this may result in destruction of property and personal artifacts (e.g., chiffon blouse with satin trimming).

Caution: Continuing process after Dog has reached tongue-lolling state may result in Dog producing partially digested stomach contents. This may occur without warning.

This may also result in hubby scolding you for over-stimulating Dog and being a lousy owner.

List of Sins

Whew! The last few months have been busy, busy, busy. My brother's wedding is just over, I came down with the flu twice, and now, things are seriously heating up at work. Still, I had really good fun at the wedding. (My handphone pics didn't come out well but I'll see if I can get some good shots to upload later.)

Incidentally, Danny's been having a great time too. The last few weeks can be summed up in the following list.

1) Stole my lunch off the table and ate it in front of me. Was kind enough to leave behind the mashed potatoes and fries for me though. (He just ate the chicken).

2) Chewed up dad's socks.

3) Chewed up dad's shoes.

4) Chewed up mom's slippers.

5) Grabbed a brand new carton of eggs and ran around the dining room, breaking three eggs in the process. Had eggs for tea.

6) Grabbed a whole loaf of bread off the table and ate everything save for three slices. Kept one slice hidden in a corner so he could bite it and dance in front of us when we appeared.

7) Almost managed to pull a hunk of raw beef off the kitchen counter (which was meant to be our dinner).

8) Chewed up dad's new socks.

9) Chewed up mom's new slippers.

10) Spent several afternoons redocorating the living and dining rooms with rubbish.

11) Jumped on mom's bed and got hold of her eye cushion. Tore it apart in the living room, leaving grains all over the floor and carpet.

12) Chewed up a container of cockroach bait. Thankfully the roaches got to it first.

13) Jumped on the sofa and pulled off all the cushions.

14) Grabbed documents dad brought back from work and made everyone chase him around the house for them - right in front of the trainer.

15) Took off on my leg leaving me with a long scratch and three bruises.

16) Dug holes in the garden and tracked the mud and soil all over the house.

17) Chewed up mom's friend's drawing from Bible study class.

18) Act cute and innocent when we try to smack him.

And right now mom's telling him what a good boy he is.

Fake Schnauzer?

When Danny's trainer first saw him, he asked if I was sure if he was a schnauzer. He said he looked more like a terrier mix because his snout is a bit too short. That got me wondering. I started observing other schanuzers and realised that their snouts are longer than Dan's.

Take this photo, for example,...

...And compare it with Danny. Doesn't it look like there's about 1/2 inch missing?

Well, there were a couple of times Danny fell bang on his face but I doubt that would stunt its growth. Another theory is that Danny's still a puppy and there'll be some snout growth hormone that'll kick in later. But I kinda prefer him like this. I've always liked terriers and wanted a silky but mom threw a tantrum at the pet store and demanded we bring Danny home.

He didn't come with papers, and we didn't think of asking. We just took the shop owner's word that he was in every possible dimension a schnauzer. Then again, we also took his word that he would be a nice quiet dog, (RAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Good one!) which demonstrates what suckers we are.

Anyhow, I really don't mind. Danny the fake Schnauzer - full of character, and gives me more than enough stories to keep blogging.