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Bougainvillea in late afternoon light

On July 12, 2013

We visited the Gardens by the Bay in the late afternoon. Very lucky because there was a very short stretch of time where the plants were bathed in dancing light. I have always loved the interplay between light and shadow, though I am too lazy to go out of my way to capture it. :P

I have never liked the bougainvillea. It is a very common roadside plant, often in its many gaudy colours. Deep bright fuchsia horrors. I was never fond of fuchsia. And because it is by the roadside, it is inevitably dusty and tattered, sometimes dry and twiggy.

But see it in a different light, pink veins lining the delicate paper-like petals. These I quite admire.

I even wrote bad poetry for it, titled “Bougainvillae”

Had to power up my dusty OmmWriter to find the haiku within! :P Donna had one for Ku too! You should go see it on Ku’s blog at Haiku by Ku! ;)

Park stools and fitness corners are great for doggy parkour :)

By weliveinaflat

On July 11, 2013

In Training

Been some time since the last post on doggy parkour. Here’s Donna perched on a wall. She wants to get down already.

What else has she been up on lately? Artificial tree trunk stone stools, now these are pretty good for canine urban agility challenge.

These come in rows of three to five stools, so she has been slowly hopping from one stool to the next. The most she achieved was three consecutive stools so far :P

It really does test her agility to stand and sit on these stones, given the size of their surfaces and their distance apart. So I don’t really push her to do it when she doesn’t want to.

One day, in the same park, I saw this tiny kitten jumping up and down that tiny ledge along the wall fencing the police station. It’s definitely more agile than Donna! :P

And in the last couple of days, inspired by zeke’s adventures, we went to another nearby fitness corner in an attempt to train Donna to “jump” over these bars. As you can see, she much prefers to put her paws on the bars to help herself over rather than jump over. – –

We went leash-free for a few minutes and she cleared the bar without touching it.

I’m starting to get more comfortable with her being off the leash for few minutes at a time because we have been practising with her to “walk with me” at home and also in the small little secluded park downstairs (usually free of people and dogs). And when she gets into training mode, she can sometimes be quite focused. That is when I am more comfortable letting her off-leash for a few minutes at a time, never more because one never knows when something may suddenly spook her or draw her excitement.

She doesn’t have a strong recall or heel yet, so I’m always paranoid about her running away because she has been spooked or running to scare small children or dogs that happen on us before I can stop her. And when she is restless/distracted, then we just go for a nice, relaxing leashed walk instead.

If doggy parkour is new to you, you can read more about Urban Agility Challenge for Dogs here.

Note: It is illegal for the dog to be off leash in public areas in our country. I will not be responsible if local readers let your dog(s) off leash at your own risk/discretion. I generally don’t so why am I incriminating myself by blogging about this? :P

Food tactics we tried to prevent separation anxiety

By weliveinaflat

On July 10, 2013

In Training

It was one day some months before, I told Mr P that we have to get a Kong.

“A what?”

“A Kong.”

“And what is that?”

“It is a rubber food dispensing toy.”

“Then say so.”

That evening, he returned from work and said he spoke with all his friends who had dogs. And nobody, nobody knew what a Kong was.

Wow.

I’ve been reading all those blogs and webpages about how to prevent separation anxiety in dogs, and how to keep dogs busy and mentally active, yada, yada. And basically everybody praised the Kong to the skies when it comes to a good tool to use when dealing with separation anxiety or just for leaving the dog at home alone . It almost seemed to me that every dog should be born with one. :P Yes, a little overly dramatic there.

But anyway, if you are visiting even a dog blog as new and unknown as ours, then you must be very knowledgeable about dogs and stuff people talk online about dogs already. So please be patient while I splatter my blog with some pictures of the regular Kong. :P

Basically, food goes in and comes out through this end:

Yup, Donna knows how to work it. Sniff, sniff and then a huge disgusted snort. Because it’s empty. :P She only bothers with it when there’s food.

The Kong only appears when we are going out of the house. We fill it with her regular canned food and kibble mix and freeze it over night.

You can see the scratches from her teeth. We got the black Extreme Kong for power chewers in the first weeks of Donna joining our little family. But she is less destructive than when she first came, so I do think a regular red one will work fine for her as well.

We started using it as a means to lift her mood when she sees us stepping out of the house. The logic, as I have learnt from others, is thus: If she were to equate us leaving the house with food in the Kong, that would make us leaving the house a good thing, rather than something to be scared or worried about. We mainly wanted to deter and prevent her developing separation anxiety, especially since we do see a future where both of us will be out of the house for long hours at work.

At first, it worked pretty well.

However, after a couple of months we observed that she had started to ignore the frozen Kong. And she only paid attention to it when we came back again and after she has given us her welcome home dance at that. And then pretty soon, we noticed that her tail would be tucked between her legs when she noticed that we were going out without her. (Note: We always try to leave and come back with minimal fuss so that Donna does not get overly excited.)

So nowadays, when we leave the house we serve her food in her food bowl following her mealtime ritual instead. We make her sit on her bed, maybe do some high-fives, shake-a-paw, and then wait so that she anticipates the food. And then we let her go get it just before we step out of the house. Usually she is so busy with her food, she doesn’t even come to the door with her “where are you going without me” stare. Dentastix worked fine for this too as it takes her quite a bit of time to chew through half a stick, just in case I need to return to pick up something I forgot! :P

I did try serving high value food like canned tuna and hard boiled egg in her food bowl before but those food gets her overly-excited and I still am not sure if that is a good state to leave her alone at home in. Although I may have to resort to these again since recently Donna has become less distracted by her food bowl and stops to stare as I depart the house anyway.

Perhaps I just need to rotate and ensure a good variety so that she keeps interested?

Anyway that’s our experience with leaving Donna at home by herself for now. The longest we have left her I think was for 8-9 hours with food, a lot of toys and no mishap. However, there are cases where we have left her for less and she managed to poison herself or she has “considerately” dragged out my running shoes onto the floor, rearranged some furniture.

Besides food, there are other tactics like crate-training, etc that help to keep a dog calm. But this post focuses specifically on food.

The Kong and Kong Genius Leo remain toys I use when I want to distract her, or just get her to spend some effort getting her food and exhaust some of that mental energy, while freeing me up to do other things.

If you have not tried the Kong before, but are keen to do so, there are lots of Kong recipes floating around online. The only thing I thought would be useful to touch on will be on the topic of peanut butter.

I recently tried peanut butter with some kibble in the Kong. All you need to do is spread a thin layer of it on the inside of the Kong to make it sticky then throw in some kibble or treats (whatever rocks your dog’s socks) so that it is slightly more difficult and takes more time for the dog to lick it out again. This is a good way to get the dog to learn to use the Kong before you move him on to tougher stuff like frozen Kong ;D That keeps Donna occupied even longer.

Peanut butter seems to be a popular filling for the Kong, but our supermarket shelves are laden with all sorts of peanut butter brands with added sugar and salt. Since Donna is overweight, I am not eager to use peanut butter on her either. But I did happen on a forum of *ahem* body builders (I am not a body builder :P) who recommended Adam’s Peanut Butter (Unsalted) because it does not contain added salt or sugar.

Skippy on the left; Adam’s on the right – check out the ingredients list.

I do like peanut butter so I bought these for myself and sometimes I share it with the dog muahahahahahaha!

If you are in Singapore, Adam’s Peanut Butter is very rare and are sold out really fast (omg those kiasu* body builders!!) but you can find it in selected NTUC supermarket(s). I only manage to get this jar after months of skulking around the peanut butter shelf myself. LOL.

But yes, this is probably the better choice to use if you want to feed your dog peanut butter, short of being organic or making your own. And if you do want to make your own, youdidwhatwithyourweiner has a low calorie recipe she would recommend.

If you buy your dog items online on Amazon, you can click through the advertisements below to get directly to the relevant product pages. ;)

Advertisement

References:
– Is unsalted peanut butter ok for dogs?
– Skippy peanut butter vs Adam’s peanut butter
– Adam’s peanut butter nutrition

*kiasu – afraid to lose out, and will over-react urgently to achieve the goal.

See also All other posts on Dog Food by weliveinaflat ;)

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A torture rack of toys :O

By weliveinaflat

On July 9, 2013

In Dog & You

If you visit now and then, you may have met Donna’s pink hippo and blue dog soft toys. Donna generally amuses herself with them by spreading them all over the floor or giving them love bites and shaking them into submission. So yes, the human is very much relieved that dogs do not show their love for their humans in the same way. *phew*

Over the weekend I needed something calming to do so I started mending her many grimy plush toys before washing them. So here are the cuddly toys hanging out to dry.

Blue dog: You can torture me all you like, my lips are sealed!!

Toys hanging outside on the balcony to dry

In the flat, a couple of her stuffed toys escaped the wash for her amusement.

Toying with some less used apps and filters and serendipity found me creating a mutant of a cuddly toy bear butterfly with clothes peg feelers, that has caught a duo of evil-doer defaced teddies! Can you see it? :P

Picking cuddly toys for dogs

Avoid choking hazard
1. toy should be bigger than the dog’s head
2. toy should not be filled with small pallets or beanies
3. always mend rips or remove damaged toys to avoid dog swallowing toy stuffing
4. dog-proof by removing all loose/attached decorative details like buttons, ribbons and other small detachable pieces that can be chewed off
5. supervise the dog’s play with any cuddly toy containing a squeaker, remove damaged toys with squeaker exposed
Maximum fun!
1. small/light enough for dog to carry around
2. consider providing a variety of cuddly toys – one to carry, one to kill, one to baby
3. run second-hand toys through a wash so that any smells unattractive to the dog is removed
4. choose cuddly toys made with fleece or plush material which retain the dog’s smell and is more attractive to the dog
5. dog toys not childrens’ toys (tougher and safer materials for dogs; dependent on manufacturer)

To be honest, we don’t practise all of the above. We have bought a couple of $2 stuffed dog toys with squeakers or bells within from Daiso. But all of Donna’s cuddly toys in the photos above are hand-me-downs, regular stuffed toys from home/office spring cleaning and also $1 second-hand soft toy listings from classified ads. But I made sure to dog-proof them and only buy stuffed toys that are not filled with beanie pallets. They don’t look too shabby do they? I do confess I am particular when it comes to toys that I have to see spread across the floor everyday, so no hideous toys for me! :P

Dogs aren’t particular and they are happy to reuse toys, so good for wallet, good for earth :D

Sources:
– http://www.humanesociety.org/animals/dogs/tips/dog_toys.html
– http://www.safemadepet.com/what_is_safe.html

Phoneography Weekly: The blue wolf

By weliveinaflat

On July 8, 2013

In Photography

“Oh, grandmother, what big eyes you have!”

“All the better to see you with.”

“Oh, grandmother, what big hands you have!”

“All the better to grab you with!”

“Oh, grandmother, what a horribly big mouth you have!”

“All the better to eat you with!”

*chuckle*

Accompanying text: Excerpt from Little Red Cap, Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm

Phoneography Challenge: Macro – Donna
App: Camera+

People who are unfamiliar or have a fear of dogs may see the dog as the sum of its parts – the staring eyes, the long black claws, the gaping mouth, the sniffing nose atop the fangs, but most of all the unpredictability that comes with an unfamiliar animal.

But what I see is a lovely canine companion, fun-loving, playful but also patient and smart enough to put up with all sorts of non-dog things I make her do, like playing dead and high-five. How else could I get a dog to let me take pictures of her parts at such close range? :)

Dogwalking, Bright light, Harsh shadows

By weliveinaflat

On July 7, 2013

In Photography

Today, the Arian Ox was in the mood to explore and lead the nomadic life. She led the walk out of the park, across the overhead bridge and into an adjoining neighbourhood across the road. And then, the “pack leader” couldn’t make up her mind where to go from there.

There she is standing quietly in the big courtyard. Nevermind, let’s take you where you can wrap yourself around a tree.

You’re welcome.

Dog’s first night in new home

By weliveinaflat

On July 6, 2013

In Behaviour

We are too young a blog to be nostalgic! But if you insist Weekly Photo Challenge, here are some pictures from Donna’s first home visit.

There’s her plastic basket bed with some towels from the shelter. She did not seem too attached to that though. We were advised to let her sleep in the room with us, which has its pros and cons.

Go to sleep Donna.

Think she slept?

NO!!!

The whole night I hear her nails clattering here and there as she couldn’t sleep and kept pacing about the room. Either that or she must be clattering in her sleep. I’ve noticed that she twitches frequently and sometimes lets out little yelps in her dreams.

I could not sleep at all. So out she goes the next night. :P

I later read that dogs are not nocturnal, but unless they are crate-trained, they are likely to wake up at several points in the night and move to different beds throughout the night. Apparently they like to have a variety of sleeping places. But if they are crate-trained, they can stay asleep in their crate for the whole night. That’s also why we made sure non-crate trained Donna has several different types of beds in the living room :D so she has options. Hah!

Although on hindsight, if you do have a new dog in the house, it would not be a bad idea to keep the dog close to you at the start. Leaving it alone for long hours may lead to mischief since the dog will be naturally curious and explore its new surroundings with happy licks and nibbles here and there. We were lucky she did not deal any significant damage to herself or to the property outside the bedroom the first home stay.

What pictures I have during the first home stay showed a very bored dog.

Because you see, we were spending time with her, versus spending time taking photographs of her. So the only time we did take pictures was when she was in repose, because we needed to send some pictures back to the shelter to show we have not murdered her! :P

But the photo challenges and just keeping this blog did encourage more interest in phoneography for me, so yay more pictures to be nostalgic about in future!

It’s not me, it’s the bed!

By weliveinaflat

On July 5, 2013

In Behaviour

When there’s two of you, you can blame each other. When there’s one of you, blame anything.

The dog that didn’t know how to sleep on her bed properly has recently shown that adult dogs can learn new tricks. ;)

She now spends her time equally between her baby cot mattress and her cushion bed and has been properly resting her head off the floor. Well, except for the times she decided she should sprawl entirely on the floor, but I digress. As I was saying, the dog has become very comfortable with her new bed, so very comfortable in fact that she thought the bed needed a bedroom…

… apparently our bedroom will do just fine. The bed is not choosy.

Unfortunately for the bed and its canine bed partner, I am.

She’s trying to look like one of the furniture while I pull the bed back out into the corridor again.

On a separate note, we have made great progress with her fear of the big black plastic tray right there beside her.

We were originally advised that she was newspaper-trained, but newspapers were not the cleanest way for elimination at home. At the time, it made sense to us to get a tray on which to lay the newspapers so that it could collect any seepage. We could also easily push the tray under the sink so that the common toilet could still be used by house guests without the yucky feeling of dog pee on the toilet floor. Unfortunately, Donna decided she had a fear of the tray. I guessed the plastic tray slipped when she used it for the first time.

She is no longer afraid of it now and readily steps into it and does her tricks on it. It took a lot of encouragement, praise and treating to get her to even walk near the tray at first. This video helped me a lot in learning how to approach counter-conditioning her reaction to the plastic tray.

And we did have to go step by step from encouraging her to come near the try to trying to place one paw, two, three, etc on the scary tray. She struggled as I encouraged her to place one paw on the plastic tray. Her paw hovered up and down as she struggled with whatever conflicting doggy emotions she had. So in the end, I tried encouraging her to place her paw on my hand which I rested on the border of the tray. It took a lot of courage from her and a lot of clapping and praising on my end to get her there.

But once she willed herself to physically go on the tray by herself (I was already on it). She realised and was assured the tray was stable and that it was not going to slip with her on it. Slip-resistant mats and non-skid foam pads under the tray helped stabilise it well to build that assurance. Positive praise and encouragement did the rest of the job in securing her confidence.

So for now, the tray is staying in the corridor so that she gets very used to it, before we move it to the toilet and test if she is comfortable to eliminate on the newspapers and pee pad laid on it.

The newspapers and pee pad set up is still not ideal. Sometimes she gets her bottom and paws all wet which means she continues to drip and smear pee on the floor outside the toilet, sometimes all the way to the living room. But one step at a time, we thought we’ll solve our current problem first before introducing other home-elimination tools, such as raised pee trays that supposedly help eliminate the problem of wet paws from pee, etc.

Do you live in a flat/apartment? Do you have a set up that works for you and your medium or large dog at home? We would love to hear your recommendations!

Note: We usually take her downstairs to do it on the grass, but toilet training for the home is still necessary for emergencies e.g. throwing up or cases where we are not able to take her down for her regular loo breaks.

As for how the bed actually got there. The dog was having the time of her life getting high on her own antics, which involved hopping around the bed, wrestling with her towel and in general trying to dig a hole in the bed. I imagine the digging pushed the bed into the room.

Drool-worthy

By weliveinaflat

On July 4, 2013

In Training

So there’s hard boiled egg in the dish. And I’m ‘waiting’, see I am ‘waiting’.

What’s going to make this waiting go faster? Hmm….

… …

There I’m desperate! D: Are you happy now? Are you?

I could never see a point for the ‘wait’ command. ‘Stay’ works well enough for us and we use it when we want her to wait or to keep to one spot. And to be frank, I couldn’t for the life of me understand how people got their dog to wait anyway when there is food right in front of their nose.

But then along the way, I sort of figured out if I get her to ‘sit-stay’ at one end of our tiny galley kitchen, and place the food at the other end of the kitchen, that could help teach her to ‘wait’. So we did that every mealtime, and the word “wait” started to creep in after she got the concept that she was supposed to sit-stay and wait for me to tell her when it is OK to go eat her food. While she waits, I usually step around her to get the fish oil from the cabinet to squirt into the food. Not sure if it starts to make sense for the dog that she is waiting for fish oil to be squirted so that her food gets a fishy taste. Haha. But she waits.

And then it finally dawned on me why people like to make their dog wait for their food! Seeing drool drip from her “puss-in-boots” face is highly amusing. It made me laugh out loud. It did.

I’m sorry if that sounds sadistic. :P