Scenes from Taiwan

Godpa's back! He was at the door today at 5.30am waiting for it to be opened. I wasn't sure at first so I sniffed intensely through the gap. When I saw him I totally forgot my door manners and rushed through the gates. He was glad to see me too and we played for a while before he started to unpack the luggage. He even took me out for a walk to revise my obedience training and made my morning meal. Later on, we napped together so he could catch up on his missed sleep.

Godpa wanted to show me many things about Taiwan. But I'm more interested in dog stuff so he told me about the big pet store in Dream Mall, Kaohsiung. Puppy mills and pet stores are not establishments that we like, but this store is rather impressive. They give the puppies so much space to romp and even cute beds to sleep in. Dogs are very much welcomed in Taiwan, from the Taiwan specials (mongrels) that roam the town streets to the little pooches in bags and prams. Godpa even saw dogs sitting in a food court of Shinkong Mitsukoshi department store in Taipei. In Singapore, probably the only public place where dogs can be found dining with their owners is some HDB coffeeshop.

Other than the big pet shop, godpa also came across a more typical small one around the Liuhe night market in Kaohsiung. The cages are cramped and godpa says it seemed warm with all the bright lights. Sigh.

Well, on a brighter and more colourful note, the dogs in Taiwan are indeed well loved. Godpa caught sight of this proud owner and his golden retriever. I told godpa he must get me that cool looking bandana the next time he visits Taiwan.

Godpa may be caught in typhoon

Godpa just informed me that he may not be back on Monday night! He says there's this big typhoon called Jangmi that spans 280km in radius and currently has hit Taiwan. He'll be able to confirm his flight only tomorrow. So far some flights were cancelled from Taipei. I hope he comes back soon. He says he misses me, and I miss him too.

Obedience school break!

It's time for a school break! Godpa's going away on a vacation in Taiwan and we'll be missing next week's obedience class. He's kind of nervous because that's the class preparing us for the exam. He's also worried I may forget my learnings after a week without my daily trainings.

My Down-stay is solid now, a full 5 minutes without flinching even when classmates are barking or moving about. Yesterday I was asked to do off leash with godpa and the results were very good actually, so godpa need not fret. I promise I'll run through the lessons in my head while I laze around at home :)

Godpa's packed his luggage and all ready for the flight today, how I wish I could be smuggled in with him to visit all the nice Taiwanese dogs. Hmm, I pretty much whine during car rides so getting cooped up in a plane will probably be worse. Bye bye godpa, I will miss you, see you on 29 Sep! Oh ya, I may grow a little chubbier with the extra dinner meals your parents feed me :P

Day at the beach

This is my second visit to East Coast Park but this time I went out with godpa and his family. Godpa remembers the first excursion there before I was obedience trained. I was a havoc girl then, pulling ahead on the leash, lunging and barking at almost anything. Today I was a polite girl, well, mostly anyway. Some joggers came too close and I gave them a few warning barks. Some dogs got the same treatment too, especially a JRT that was equally a chilli padi like me.

It's interesting what humans do for recreation such as balancing themselves on a tiny board while holding onto a rope that spins around a lagoon. The objective seems to be avoid falling into the water, which I could easily do by walking around the lagoon.For me, recreation is seeing and smelling the ocean, hearing the rustle of trees and waves lapping, and feeling the wind across my fur and the warm sand between my paws. Best of all, it's free. Back home, I get a good bath and soon it's time to retire.

The moon and TV dinner

I wonder what is the human fascination with the full moon? Isn't this something canines like me would howl about? There are lanterns, shows, and cakes to celebrate the Mooncake Festival (or is it Mid-Autumn Festival?). And why is there a myth about a lady flying to the moon who keeps a rabbit there? Why doesn't she keep a dog instead? Aren't there dogs on the moon?

Godpa says I ask too many questions and should focus on training more. I did quite well last Saturday in class and was praised again. For my reward Uncle Leon gave me a chicken drumstick for dinner!

Pool side babe

Godpa caught me by the pool side yesterday afternoon trying to look for some beefy top dog, but it wasn't my idea. Maybe his parents were trying to match make me like those desparate parents at Hong Lim park.

Godpa says he's leaving for Taiwan next Sunday. I'm going to miss running round in circles and jumping up to greet him, and the body massages which are so soothing. He might come across some pet shops there and try to get me some toys :)

Wind beneath my wings

Godpa took this semi-silhouette photo of me making me look kind of emo. Obviously I'm no emo dog coz I love my life.

Sure, obedience training is tough, especially when the secret training aid is used which makes me pay full attention to godpa. He's a tall guy in case you haven't noticed so I've got to strain my neck looking up at him every now and then.

Other than training, life's a breeze and guess where I love to feel the breeze after coming home from training.

Rain rain go away

It's so nice to see sunshine again when I can go on walks and get to sit in the garden with the family. Godpa couldn't join in coz he had a human gathering to attend to, he says it's a potluck where people bring food to share with each other. How I wish he'd bring me too.

It's been 5 months with godpa's family, things have been great and I was recently weighed in at 4 kg. Good food, two walks a day, and lots of sleep :) It's a dog's life.

Wet and wild

It's been raining cats and dogs (hmm) these few days, but godpa finally made time to bring me to the dogrun this afternoon. The field was wet though I didn't mind and got myself all wet and dirty. Only met one 6 year old male chihuahua who came with 2 human kids. I wonder where the parents were. He was chubby and yet wanted to woo me. I spurned him in my usual chilli padi style. The rest of the time was spent chasing and barking at joggers and cyclists along the fence. Godpa let me ventilate as much as I wanted since I rarely bark.

After leaving the run, godpa tried to let me practice the obedience routines. He thought it would be great since there were so many distractions. I didn't like the idea and barked at most of the joggers and cyclists going past. Later on, we came upon a beautiful cat in the park who was pretty cool about seeing me. I don't really trust cats, so godpa made me walk past the kitty a few times. It went quite well initially but I got anxious with so many things going on around the park. I let out a burst of barks that godpa tried to correct, and unfortunately I was so wild that I bit godpa's ankle. Godpa didn't mind it coz he knew I did it accidentally. He knows I didn't use full strength or otherwise it wouldn't just be teeth marks.

Back at Uncle Leon's home, I got a good bath and they got to enjoy home cooked barley water. Uncle Leon's mum is so nice, though some times I'm not sure why she talks to me so much.

Good girl!

I'm mid way through training with godpa now! The trainer told us next week is an important lesson and all students are to be punctual. I wonder what he was doing showing a bunch of metal chain to the class? Godpa refused to tell me as he says it's a secret training aid. Argh, the suspense is killing me.

It's time to share some videos of me trotting away in class. This is the shorter clip of my training with godpa. We started doing recalls.

This is a longer clip and you can see how unruly I can be sometimes. Godpa saw some doggy owners flinch when I pounced on their little ones. I'm one hot chilli padi but I don't bear grudges, hopefully the humans understand that. Anyway they should thank me for providing great distractions every week :)

The last one is with Uncle Leon after class ended. You can see Uncle Leon's not too familiar with handling me. He keeps telling godpa to be firm, but it's easier said than done especially when I'm such a cute adorable girl.