Groovy Dogs Just Wanna Hv Fun

Groovin' in the UK - Days 10, 11, 12

2011-02-23T15:40:00.022+08:00

Humans indulged in yet another scrumptious English breakfast and I said my goodbyes to the Westie duo at Scotland Lodge Farm. Judging by their grayish coats, they must have last taken a shower a couple of months ago … lucky fellas. I would like to get into the hippie mode as well but Ms Owner would kick up a fuss if I missed my weekly bath.
Back to civilization and traffic, London city roads were rather narrow and laden with a myriad of road signs telling you where to go and what to do. Red double-decker buses and black cabs greeted us, amongst the hustle bustle of tourists and immigrants congregating in the city. We stayed in Cleveland Hotel at Bayswater, which was conveniently located near Hyde Park and Bayswater eateries. Cool hotel with comfy beds and modern amenities. First stop, the infamous Hyde Park … now this is what I call a park! Never ending grassland, bushes and trees aplenty to leave my mark on. There were dog walkers, dogs walking their owners and dogs walking on their own, sweet. Have never met this many even tempered dogs in my life, Back home, with my feisty demeanour, I would have got into minor skirmishes with a number of dogs at the park but none of that here. I was cool with the local dogs throughout the trip which left my owners slightly stunned. Must be the weather, environment, attitude and the K9 friendly facilities … goes a long way in cultivating good habits.
Hyde Park is linked to Kensington Park , which is linked to St James’s Park, which meant that one could spend the whole day exploring the area, meeting up with fellow K9s and playing ball. I was game but my owners couldn’t keep up with me and decided to call it day.
Okay, okay, one more final sprint and I will let you guys take a breather ... promise.
Day 2 in London and I had my first experience of commuting on public transport via the underground Tube. Not a common sight but they do allow dogs on trains, humans have to pay while dogs get to ride for free … excellent! I took it all in stride and hardly batted an eyelid to take up my seat amongst London’s working class. The commuters smiled and smirked to see a JRT sharing the compartment but I wasn’t too bothered … I’ve more important things in mind, places to go and sights to see.
Got off at Knightsbridge and my owners made a beeline for Harrods, place of worship for shopaholics. Mr Owners and I wasn’t keen on meeting any gods today so we stayed outside to watch the Londoners go about their daily business. Put on my best behavior trick and attracted a number of locals who were resting on the sidewalk benches and they wasted no time chatting and taking photos with me. Must say, I am blending nicely into the British culture … ahem.
Took the tube to Westminster and we ran into a sea of tourists snapping photos of Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, London Eye on Southbank and cruising on the River Thames. So many people and things going on that is was a little overwhelming, even for a JRT.
There were street buskers, anti-capitalism protesters and immigrants from every corner of the globe … little wonder they call it the melting pot of the world. The protestors looked like an interesting lot but it was a sit down protest, which appeared too static for my liking.
Walked to St James’ Park for a spot of lazing in the sun and frisbee catching. Caught a glimpse of Buckingham Palace but the hoard of tourists hogging the palace guards meant that photo taking opportunities were limited. Guess the royal Corgis will have to wait for my next trip for the pleasure of having tea with this JRT.
At Covent Garden, owners shopped for souveniers and indulged in ice cream whilst I took a power nap to recharge my batteries.
Walked through London city center towards Chinatown and bumped into a pet mouse owned by some pub goers. Had me going for awhile, but I soon sniffed out the battery operated vermin. Met a couple of tourists who very glad to see me as they were missing their own JRT back home. Plenty of pubs and theatres in the city centre and the locals do hang out at these places a lot.

Final stop for the day was Portobello Road in the cool and colourful suburb of Nottinghill, where the arty-farty community hang out. How’s this for a grunge-hippie wannabe pup?
They love their pubs in this city. During the weekends, when the pubs are bursting at the seams, the humans are unperturbed and will shuffle along to the pavement to continue drinking. At the Portobello Gold restaurant, I barely had time to catch forty-winks when a cute short legged female JRT tip toed into the pub area. We played bitey face under the pub stools while my owners had their beer, groovy!
Day 3 in London, time to pack our bags and head home. Before that, we visited the world famous Camden market. Bustling day market with variety of stalls selling food, crafts and knick knacks.
A river ran through the market and they had a canal system which continues to operate under the old method of flooding and draining, for tug boats to get through the higher parts of the stream … all very interesting and I wrecked my brain trying to figure this system out. Yup, I tend to do that a lot more nowadays, thinking deep thoughts ... owners say that it is old age catching up with me.
Out on the main road, shops were uniquely decorated with loud frontages and odd designs to attract customers.
At Heathrow airport, the animal customs officer allowed me to check in later, closer to flight time as they are very particular about animal comfort and didn’t want pets to stay cooped up for long periods of time in crates, how thoughtful. With a couple of hours to burn, my owners showed that they were an enterprising lot by sniffing out a local pub just beside the airport for a last sip of the local ale.

Other than the runaround by local customs, I made it through UK and Malaysia borders fairly smoothly. Great to be back home where the weather’s predictable and you can walk around comfortably in barefoot, not having to tip toe on cold pavements. That said, the weather in UK despite being on the cold side is certainly more conducive for agility or any dog sport. You could go on for longer periods without having to pant, heave and drink as much.

Grand event, invaluable lessons and a lifetime of memories and experiences to savour. I will sorely miss these bits:
· Running till my heart’s content at the gigantic Hyde, Kensington and St James’ Parks in central London,
· Catching the London underground tube to get around, beats walking plus I get to be carried around like a lapdog.
· Meeting new friends at B&Bs, making myself at home by scampering in and out of the garden, kitchen and living room as I pleased.
· Watching the ducks waddle by at the streams and brooks running through towns and villages.
· Snoozing at the local pubs after a full day of exploring the countryside.
· Fact that the English absolutely love animals and their pets, particularly dogs.

Can't wait to rummage through my souvenir collection …

Groovin' in the UK - Days 7, 8, 9

2011-01-21T15:55:00.021+08:00

WAC 2010 is over and time to bid farewell to my English friend, Mungo of York Cottage. We had enough time for one final frantic round of play and invented a new game called ‘Synchronised Ball-snapping’, whereby a 2 dog team has to perform identical moves and catch a ball at the same time… may just turn out to be next dogsports craze.

Not sure when we’ll ever get to meet again and I’m already missing Mungo. I had a ball of a time at his backyard. Hope that I can save enough dog kibble on the side to cash in for another trip to UK somewhere down the road …

We continued with our self drive holiday down south passing the ruins of Nunney Castle and Glastonbury Abbey on our way to Dartmoor National Park. We fed the swans at the lake, had afternoon tea and scones at Glastonbury, mystical town associated with the legend of King Arthur and historical place of worship. Also had time to put my herding skills to good use by ushering 4 ducks into the moat surrounding Nunney Castle.

All very British, I must say … but I am still waiting to down a pint of ale at the local pub to make my UK experience complete.

Glastonbury Abbey … here humans have to pay an admission fee whilst dogs enter for free, how cool is that? I love this place!

Dartmoor National Park was like going back to the untamed, barren and rugged terrain of rural England, where wild horses still roam the land. A quick romp up Bowerman’s Nose hill offered grand views of the area. My ears were flapping in the windy conditions at the top … this JRT looked very much at home in the rough and rugged landscape. They say JRTs originate from UK and I may have just discovered my roots.

Not that KL mamak stalls and kopitiams do not sit well with me, but this is truly different … you can tell by that tranquil look in my eyes. Back in KL, I have only one look … that ‘where’s my ball?’ look!

Far from the crowd, the Forest Inn accommodation in the park was basic and came with a hearty English breakfast. Very dog friendly as well as we bumped into a number of dogs at the bar and beer garden who dropped in after their evening walks from farms nearby. Owners had hearty meals for dinner and breakfast .. again.

Next morning was spent wandering in a stream and forest just beside the inn. For a moment, I was tempted to soak myself in the stream as I would normally do at home, but one paw into the freezing cold water jolted me to my senses. I need one of them diving suits to swim in this weather … custom made diving suit for my next vacation, check.

Had time for another short trek up Hound Tor (large rock formations dotting the national park) which looked like a dog’s head from certain angles. There were 3 other K9s who were running free and having a grand time. 2 smaller ones were already doing their own version of rock climbing and they were very sure footed fellas! They then trotted away with their owners and disappeared in the wide expanse of Dartmoor. Such a gigantic backyard to explore … these guys don’t know how lucky they are.

Played ball with owners and had a blast sprinting in the open land. Could have carried on for the whole day but we had to get moving, next stop Exeter. So much space, so little time …

Had lunch at Exeter canal with a cool alfresco setting and dogs lounging around. Sun was out, so I took time out to work on my tan. Licked ice cream at the grounds of peaceful Exeter Cathedral.

Last stop for the day is Lulworth, lovely seaside village with a cove and coastal walks to explore. Took a hike up the hill towards Durdle Door rock formation. Blustery winds and great seaside views greeted us at the top … wind was so strong that I grew Spock-like pointy ears. Thought we had better retreat lest we wished to be blown of the cliff. Went for a runabout at the calmer and scenic cove area.

We stayed at the Old Barn B&B watched by 2 resident Scottish Terriers, who weren’t used to having K9 visitors around. Had dinner at Castle Inn Pub which displayed an unusual signboard reading, ‘Dogs Welcome! (and their humans too!)’. Needless to say, had our vote for Most Dog Friendly Pub. Pub had so many dogs in it that we almost stepped on one in the dark. In a cold British night, there’s nothing like sneaking into the local pub and snuggling amongst the comfy seats for a short snooze in the dark surroundings, while the humans gorged down their meals.

Next day, we drove to Kingston Lacy and Pamphill villages to view the stately row of beech trees lining the road and the colourful, calming bluebells which carpeted the forest. Mr Owner made me pose with the flowers once again, not my idea of fun but anything to keep him entertained.

Made it to Salisbury town, site of the infamous Stonehenge attraction. Overpriced and overhyped, we caught a glimpse of the rock placements from the roadside.

The town was quite happening with many shops and eateries to explore. Salisbury Cathedral was a stately sight and dogs were allowed in the grounds. Spotted ducks waddling in the Avon river, spotted dogs walking their owners through the busy streets and found an inviting water bowl at the entrance to the local pet shop … ahhh, the best things in life are free.

Stayed at Scotland Lodge Farm which had a horse stable and 2 cheeky Westies on guard. I got along fine with them which is unusual knowing how I am with other terriers, maybe it’s the weather that’s keeping me cool.

Final stop, city of London.

Team Malaysia at IFCS WAC 2010 UK - Final day

2010-11-25T13:23:00.012+08:00

Jumping Individual, Team Relay and Agility Biathlon was scheduled for Day 3, the final day of competition. Another fast challenging jumpers course with tight sequences mixed with long straights. From the opening tunnel, I ran around the 2nd hurdle and jumped the wrong side which got us eliminated, mainly due to late handling cue from Mr Owner or perhaps I was a little over exuberant … would like to think it was more of the former. We went on to complete the run in a decent time of 35s.Agility Biathlon was the final event and I missed all 3 contacts plus incurred a refusal for running pass the Aframe … hee hee, payback time for making a JRT work on his vacation. Surprisingly, we recorded our best result with 11th placing due to a number of teams being eliminated on the demanding course. The tunnel trap and obstacle discrimination between Aframe and tunnel proved to be many team’s undoing.

We were spectators for the 3 Dog Team events which combined the results from team agility, jumpers and relay events. Team relay was new to us and proved fun and exciting to watch as 3 teams from each nation lined up to run a prescribed course of 12 obstacles each – 1st and 3rd relay teams run the same route while 2nd relay team runs a different one. Baton is passed at the starting exchange area and next team can only start when arriving team has baton in hand and dog under control. Time for some showboating as certain teams marched in with elbows crossed and dogs heeling smartly at the side. Certainly one of the more colourful events at the championships.I only made one contact throughout the event … which goes to show that you can’t stop a good JRT from jumping off any obstacle or height.

In summary, out of 25 dogs in the Mini class, I managed to place as follows:
Agility Individual - 13th
Agility Biathlon - 11th
Jumping Individual - E
Jumping Biathlon - E
Snooker - 18th
Gamblers - 22nd

Not great but not too bad either for a one-eyed Jack. Could have sneaked into the top 10 if we had nailed the Jumpers events but slip-second hesitation and miscues cost us. Appeared a little tentative off the blocks and didn’t dig in as much as compared to my usual sprints at home, so times were below my best … not sure it if was a combination of the cold weather or softer equestrian surface or perhaps a plain case of competition nerves. Well, when in doubt, blame it on the handler!

Nevertheless, to be competitive in future WACs, prospective Malaysian teams will have to work hard on perfecting their running contacts, right angle weave pole entries and sharp turns off the hurdles. Ability to handle dogs from behind and at a distance is a definite advantage.Our only regret was not having enough time to chat and exchange notes with the rest of the world teams. With 300 runs scheduled per day, it meant that teams were running from 8am till 6pm and by evening, most teams were too tired, hungry and mostly looking forward to a good rest. During competition, teams were also preoccupied in discussing tactics and running strategies as well as warming up their dogs. There was also the language barrier for non-English speaking teams. But we did catch up and took photos with members of Team Japan, New Zealand, USA, Australia and Netherlands. I also found time to play ball with a couple of Team Italy’s handlers in the paddocks.Closing ceremony saw all teams marching into the arena and Team Russia dominating the podium, winning 14 out of 25 gold medals being contested. Great Britain, Canada and USA followed suit with 3 to 4 wins each. Japan did well with 2 gold medals and 1 bronze taking 5th place. Team New Zealand scored the biggest upset of the tournament when Chelsea won the maxi jumpers with a UK host dog, Mission the Border Collie. Teams Russia, Japan and Canada had the leanest and swiftest Border Collies at the championships, and were a real delight to see live.

Event closed with handing over of the IFCS flag to the host nation for WAC 2012, the USA. Seems too far away for most of us but if you dream and train hard enough, you never know where it will take you.No bragging rights to bring home with me except for the dubious honour of being the only mutt to have my face featured in the show program together with all the humans … the rest of the dogs only had their names mentioned. Not sure if it was intended or the printers have mistaken me for a human. I tend to get that a lot (being mistaken for human), so perhaps it was not so unusual after all.

At the Plume of Feathers Inn, we had beer and an oversized pizza for dinner to drown our sorrows … for dogs, also known as post-trial blues.

Team Malaysia at IFCS WAC 2010 UK

2010-09-28T22:27:00.017+08:00

Day 1 of WAC 2010 competition and we marched into the ring with flag bearers in alphabetical order, very much like the opening ceremony of the Olympics, which was cool. Inevitably I thought it was race, pulled and tugged on the leash in an attempt to overtake the other nations marching ahead of us, but was disappointed when I noticed that there was no finish line in sight.

Many teams had sponsors for their tracksuits and gear, hence they looked very professional and coordinated in team colours. My owners wore Team Malaysia Groovy T-shirts as well but the weather wasn’t suited for Tees, so our gear was snugly hidden under our jackets and sweaters. As a result, we looked more like tourists who have stumbled upon a countryside show.

Lots of dogs on parade including Papillons, Corgis, JRTs, Westies, Shelties, Poodles, Whippets, Teruveans, Mixys and bus loads of Border Collies. They looked like lean, mean running machines.We were up for Snookers and Agility Individual events. Handlers were divided into 2 groups and was a real experience for Mr Owner to walk the course with 50 other handlers at the same time. All of a sudden, the competition became real, tense and urgent and Mr Owner had to be on his toes so as not to walk into other participants. Teams were discussing tactics, strategies and running lines … and some even had stop watches to time their runs during the course familiarization, intense!

Without doubt, the team’s presence does help to calm nerves, allow colleagues to gather their thoughts and discuss alternatives. Something that Team Malaysia could have done with but we were running solo. Thankfully, Mr Owner had the opportunity to catch some teams running beforehand as he noticed a couple of jumps which he had planned to take from the wrong side … must be the adrenalin plus confusion of walking the course with 50 handlers at the same time. Last thing you want to do at the world championships is forget and run the wrong course sequence. Agility can be a high pressure sport … for humans, haha.Fairly cold day and dogs were benched in the horse stables in the adjoining building. We didn’t book a stable so I had to make do with camping along the stable corridors in my crate. The wind blowing through the corridors didn’t help. Felt chilly and Ms Owner had to buy a fleece coat plus blanket from the trade stands to give me added cover. The benching arrangement was far from ideal and charging teams for benching dogs appeared a tad too commercialised for me.

Other than that, the whole event was well organized and professionally handled by UK Agility Club right from the collecting, warm up and agility rings to stewardship, ring set up and judging. They had a fool proof 5 point collecting system in place – 1 station for gathering the next 5 teams in line, 1 for the warm up ring, 1 after the warm up ring, 1 for handling over treats/ toys and final 1 at the entry to the main ring, impressive. Phew, getting into the WAC agility ring is even tougher than getting through UK Customs! This allowed the event to run smoothly without delays as they had close to 100 dogs running in 3 separate events in each day of competition, which meant up to 300 runs per day.

Complicated and challenging Snookers course was laid out by Janet Gaunt (USA Judge) with 3 separate obstacle combinations thrown in. We decided to be greedy and go for the 7-7-5 opening combo but I took the 3 point jump in between a difficult pull through, which meant that we had to make an impromptu switch to a 3-7-7 opening. We made the 3-7-7 combo but ran out of time in the closing period to miss out on the 6 and 7 point obstacles, finishing with 34 points out of a maximum of 51 and placing 18th. Not too bad, considering we had to take a revised route and almost ran into each other twice … that close to elimination but a swift recovery saved us. Most intricate Snooker course we have ever encountered and were relieved to have completed it.

Individual Agility course set by Wim Bekendam (Netherlands Judge) was fast and laden with traps. Most dogs were very swift, could turn on a dime around hurdles and had very reliable running contacts but tend to get sucked into the tunnel traps, which resulted in a number of eliminations. I missed 2 contacts and finished with a time of 42s which was good enough for 13th place, out of 25 mini dogs. Will gladly take the mid-table finish but still have much work to do on the running contacts.

Canadian agility guru, Susan Garret and her 2 Border Collies, Feature and Encore, gave a crisp and controlled display to take 1st and 3rd spots respectively in the Maxi class. Team Japan ran a number of very fast BCs as well. Team Russia were most impressive with capable dogs across all classes from Toy up to Maxi and they dominated the competition. Right angled entries into weave poles at full speed! … I desperately need to figure that out.

End of Day 1 and took time out at The Plough’s Inn for a short nap while the humans gorged themselves in yet another feast at the local pub.Day 2 saw Jumping Biathlon and Gamblers being run. Netherlands Judge laid out a fast, tricky course with 4 tunnels thrown in for good measure. The tunnel traps and tight mid-sequence again lead to the elimination of many teams. Was running well till the 12th obstacle/jump when Mr Owner hesitated momentarily and leaned the wrong way which caused me to run across his path, quickly regrouped for the correct jump but took my eye off him and back-jumped over the same hurdle which meant elimination. We went on to complete the run in a time of 37s. Our favourite event but slight miscue cost us … there goes our goal for a top 10 finish.

Could tell that some teams have trained frequently on specific jump sequences as the handler and dog seemed to go into auto-pilot mode when approaching these sequences, which speaks volumes of their training methods.Gamblers course was an interesting variant with a 3 point and 15 point gamble bonus located at opposite ends of the ring, plus a tricky pull back into the open tunnel for the closing sequence. We spent too much time at the other end, rushed back for the closing sequence, clipped a bar and the gamble was lost. 21 points accumulated which meant a lowly 22nd place. Tough closing sequence saw few teams making the gamble.In between all the action, we slipped away for a half-day trip to the Lock Keeper pub in Keynsham which boasted a swell beer garden overlooking the Avon river … the perfect spot for winding down. As the Brits love the sun, pubs with beer gardens are much sought after. Many brought their dogs along to partake in their favourite past time … baking in the sun with beer in hand.Managed to fit in frisbee sessions at the delightful Queen Victoria park in the ancient Roman town of Bath. Dogs stomping freely in spacious green fields are the norm in this country and my owners felt very much at ease having me tag along in the various parks and pubs. On the other hand, frisbee dogs aren’t as common and I stopped many locals in their tracks with my airborne antics. With my purple fleece vest on, I looked the part of a flying brinjal.

I love the green, green grass …

Groovy goes to UK - May 2010

2010-09-17T21:13:00.011+08:00

Maiden trip overseas with my owners and they were overly excited and concerned at the same time … worried that they may have missed out on my paperwork which means I could end up in jail aka. quarantine, but all was well in the end. On day of departure, I checked into MASkargo Animal Hotel and was taken aback to discover a couple of live crocodiles held in wooden crates in the weigh-in area. More than relieved to find out that the crocs were not on the same flight and were being delivered to Johor instead.

After 20 hours (4 hrs check in + 12 hrs flight + 4 hrs clearance) in the crate and airplane cargo, I laid paws on foreign soil. Think I had minor toe and tail cramps on release, hence needed some serious stretching and zoomies to help regain my senses. By then, there were a number of humans waiting at the Heathrow Animal Reception Centre to collect their pets and was quite a scene to see the over-the-top greetings extended by the dogs when reunited with their humans … big hugs and sloppy face licks were the order of the day! Cats gave their usual unbothered and bewildered look upon checking out.

Nose went into overdrive as I worked out my bearings and surroundings. Shivered a little as it was chilly on arrival, so Ms Owner put a sweater and scarf on me. Large furry K9s will adore the weather, whereas short haired ones will need time to acclimatise. We expected moderate spring conditions but the chilly tail end of winter persisted throughout the week.
First impressions … I could have done with a beanie over my frozen nose.

First couple of days was spent driving through the English countryside, cobblestoned towns and villages in Costwold, Gloucestershire. Green farmland and yellow fields of rape seed flowers peppered the flat country with occasional hills on the wayside. At smaller towns with little traffic, you can spot locals walking their dogs offleash and it all seemed very natural for them. Dogs offleash in the town center … and they don’t even bother to stop and sniff at the red telephone booths, I’m impressed.
You could tell that the English love their pets, dogs in particular. No funny stares from funny people, instead you will be greeted with a smile and a welcoming pat on the head. Popular comment, ‘I have a Jack just like that!’

We stayed at Limes B&B in Stow on the Wold which has my vote for best English garden and breakfast. The English breakfast for humans was a feast and could keep one going for a couple of days, no kidding! I was too preoccupied with checking out the well kept garden and gnomes. Was terribly tempted to start digging away at the well manicured grounds but I managed to keep myself sane and orderly, somehow. We fitted in a couple of short walks at Chipping Camden Dover Hill and Broadway Towers nearby, but the wind chill meant that we couldn’t stay outdoors for long. Bumped into plenty of sheep and cows along the way but owners didn’t allow me to display my hidden talent for herding livestock, so it remains a hidden talent to date. We also ran into a minor hailstorm in between … it’s true what they say about the English weather. On competition days, we stayed at York Cottage in Langford, which was 20 minutes drive from the Hand Equestrian Arena in Clevedon, site of the World Agility Championships. I met my best English friend at York B&B, Mungo a 3 yr old male Border Collie with wonderful temperament despite his grungy looks. Like me, he enjoys playing ball … only downside is that the human has to do the fetching most of the time. We played bitey face and tuggy fur under the breakfast table, then ran out to the garden to play ball, chased birds and trotted back indoors to warm up. We got along like bacon and eggs and pretty soon, Mungo was knocking on my bedroom door in the mornings calling out for me to resume play … those Border Collies are truly smart chaps! Has my vote for most comfortable B&B room and most dog friendly as well. I have missed Mungo ever since. Stomping all over from garden to backyard to kitchen to dining room as and when you please … without having to wipe your paws at the entrance, groovy!

Team practice sessions went smoothly, were well organized and on time. Vet checks and height measurements were taken and I wondered what all the fuss was all about. Vet noticed my clouded right eye and Mr Owner mentioned that I have been running like that for a number of years now, so it wasn’t such a big handicap. Organisers, UK Agility, had an appointed official to show us around the arena and benching areas, which was nice.

The indoor surface was a mix of sand and vaseline, (much like the brown padding material in old school pin up boards) which was soft and easy on our paws. Certainly different from grass and carpet surface, which we were more accustomed to. Team Japan was scheduled to run before us and we snapped photos with Maxi team of Naoko and Kirin, a tall, slim and swift Border Collie. Each team was allotted a 30 minute session For full teams with 12 dogs, that meant less than 8 minutes for each class, which wasn’t much to play with.

For Team Malaysia with only 1 dog, me, myself and I, this meant we had the whole ring to ourselves and even had time for play in between. I managed decent enough contacts during practice, pity I couldn’t emulate it during the competition. UK Judge, Bob Griffin, took time off to chat with us after our session and he was impressed with my bag of tricks. Think he noticed my inconsistent contacts though, oops. Russian team arrived late for practice as they were driven to the wrong venue, so they wasted no time in warming up their dogs. They ran very swift dogs who could hit the contacts hard … certainly looked like the team to beat. Those dogs are fast, too fast!Gala Dinner was held in the evening for the humans to welcome teams and sponsors. Owners were seated with Team New Zealand who were also first timers and exchanged notes on agility; a couple of them owned up to 7 or 11 dogs in their farms! Owners also caught up with Cathy Slot, team captain for Australia, whose team had a swell team table décor set up, kangaroo toy mascots and all. However, they lost out to Team Netherlands with their loud bright orange gear and garlands which won over the judge to snatch the Best Decorated Team Table award. I stayed home at Mungo’s place, snugly hidden amongst the puffy quilt and pillows … big day ahead.

IFCS WAC 2010 … The Land Torpedo is armed and almost ready

2010-04-01T13:10:00.004+08:00

The Malaysia Agility Team Tshirts are printed and my face is on it naturally, being the solo dog representing the country in the World Agility Championships in UK. Well, it is more of a bum shot rather than a portrait, with me running helter-skelter in search of my tennis ball. I would have used a full frontal pic but Mr Owner has his own unorthodox ideas on Tshirt designs.

Pretty cool design with some weird Pirate Dog logo attached to the sleeves, right sleeve with my name, left sleeve for Mr & Ms Owners. Actually it is a cutout of my head after some major touch ups by Mr Owner … he must have gotten carried away as I can hardly recognize myself other than the floppy ears, but it is pretty groovy! Comes in limited edition Man and Lady tees as well … Men get the black V neck soft cotton T, Ladies have the grey round neck baby T.Why only 1 team? Well, agility is still a fairly new sport here and we do not have a large number of participants, plus the costs of flying to UK isn’t cheap. As a result, there wasn’t much of a selection process, but my owners figured that being the only dog with MACH. titles from 2 major agility schools, PetnYou and Penang Dog Agility Association, does count for something. Speed is my main asset but my contacts aren’t so hot, so Mr Owner has me working on running contacts throughout the weekends. The lack of readily available agility facilities to practice on is a bummer but we make do with what we have. We hope to nail the contacts in 1.5 months time, nevertheless Mr Owner is more confident of a decent showing in Jumpers class.

6 events will be run over 3 days from May 14 - 16 2010 in the Hand Equestrian Arena, Somerset, UK comprising of Agility, Jumpers, Snookers, Gamblers, Biathlon (Agility + Jumpers) and Team (3 dogs) events. I don't have a team so will be running in the 5 individual events. Would have been even better with a full team, maybe next time. There will be 4 classes; Toy, Small, Midi & Maxi and I am slotted to appear in Mini. Running surface is a mix of sand and vaseline normally used by the horses, not sure how well it works for dogs though.
The Malaysia agility team Tshirts are printed, my bum is on it, my bags are packed … err not quite, Mr & Ms Owners have their work cut out trying to pick out the most appropriate and fashionable spring wear from my limited wardrobe collection. I suggested to go bare but owners are wary that it may get a little chilly at night/ early mornings… nevertheless, I do get to run naked in WAC 2010, sweet!

Also can’t wait to leave my mark at the famous Hyde and Kensington parks in central London. Just need a final clearance from the official vet on some Nippy virus and I’m good to go. Woo Hoo!

Happy Chinese New Year

2010-02-23T18:13:00.005+08:00

Happy New Year guys n gals! As the Chinese say, may 2010 bring you fabulous luck, bountiful wealth and excellent health to you and your family. In conjunction with the Year of the Tiger, wear red, lots of red, to bring out the beast in you.

They say it will be a good year for the brave and those who are not afraid of taking challenges head on. So far a start, here is my first photoshoot with a lifesize elephant ...

2010 could turn out to be an eventful year as my owners are planning a trip overseas n if everything goes well, I may just get to tag along. Here's to beer n fish n chips!

Officially a one-eyed Jack

2010-01-27T00:41:00.008+08:00

It’s true, after the vet ‘murdered’ my right eye, I’m now officially a one-eyed Jack. About 3 years ago, cataracts began to develop in my right eye and the condition has since deteriorated to clinical signs of glaucoma, which made it very irritating for me. On rare occasions, I will bump into furniture on my immediate right if I swung my head too fast. Almost a year ago, I could no longer see through the lense as the cataracts were fully developed.

Things got worse when I received a bad cut in the same eyeball whilst playing in some thick shrubs. Since I no longer have use of my right eye, Ms Vet suggested to kill the nerves to get rid of the irritation and pain once and for all. And she stabbed me with a needle in the eye, then proceeded to sew my eyelid onto my brows (to cover the eye) so that the ulcer may heal, ouch.

So here I am with a sewed bloodied eyelid where my right eyeball used to be, taking up to 1½ months break from agility, running and all manner of active sports, which left me bored to death. JRT semi-retired from active duty at the age of 6 … what will my fellow rival terriers think! In addition, I had to wear that idiotic E-collar for up to 3 weeks. The only activity left for me during the recuperation period was Obedience sport which had Mr Owner sniggering with glee, what opportune timing … for him. Well, OB sport is better than no sport. Mr Owner put me through the advanced OB - Intermediate & Open exercises and when he ran out of things to do, he even had a go at the unheard of Utility exercises … yet to be introduced in this part of the world. I must have spent a great deal of time trying to make sense of the exercises and to date, am still figuring them out:Send Away
This exercise don’t make sense cause why would any dog willingly go to the corner of the room or field and sit there by himself. I’ve seen kids on TV being sent to the classroom corner as punishment … sure as punishment maybe, but not as an exercise.
Retrieve the Dumbbell
Retrieving a dumbbell also doesn’t quite gel with me. A dumbbell cannot bounce, cannot roll, cannot be ripped open and more frustratingly, I’m not even allowed to nibble on it … in other words, you cannot play with a dumbbell after you’ve fetched it, so why bother in the first place. The humans got one thing right though … by calling it a dumbbell, ha ha.

Directed Send & Jump
This is a toughie, being asked to go to a square (marked by 4 cones) on the field and then take a specific jump on the return. I must have spent hours trying to figure out which cone to go to and where to sit - inside or outside, behind or in front of the square? They should have just place a water hydrant at the spot … that would really simplify things.
Scenting

For this, a dog has to use his most sensitive part, his nose, to sniff out his owner’s towel. Just to confuse everyone, the humans will sneakily place 10 towels on the floor for the dog to ponder on. Sure, we do enjoy sniffing … but sniffing butts and sniffing towels are worlds apart. It is way too hygienic to be sniffing at towels.
Stand for Examination
This one tops it all, imagine being asked to stand still whilst being stripped search in public, just like in the airport security checks. With all that heavy petting and groping, it can get rather personal … even for a dog. Suffice to say, the ones doing the frisking (Mr Judge) appear to enjoy it more than the one being frisked.

Other than the irritation and rare bump, my eye condition hasn’t affected me as much cause I was already operating on single vision mode since the cataract days. During the same period, I received 2 agility titles, MAD from PetnYou and MACH from PAAPP, plus another GD title … pretty decent return for a one-eyed dog, I reckon. Got a couple of 3rd placing in OB Novice trials as well, which was a bonus.Ms Owner thinks that JRTs have the most expressive eyes and you can just about read a JRT’s soul if you look closely into their eyes, all their moods and emotions laid bare. Guess, now she’ll will have to look harder into my left eye cause the right one isn’t what is used to be. But she needn’t try too hard, cause I’m always in the mood for play … any place, any time.

Stitches were removed just last week and I’m all ready to take on the world again, watch the space …

So you think you can Dance?

2009-10-29T14:23:00.007+08:00

Heelwork to music, Musical freestyle, Dog dancing ... whatever you call it, I personally prefer Freestyling coz that means anything goes and your owner cannot fault you on it. My fav freestyle move is the 'Jumping Jacks' (above pic).

This I do a lot and involves hopping on and off your owner like a Energizer Bunny. Owners don't like this as this throws them off guard and messes up the dance routine, big time! We then have to go into impromptu mode, relying on creative moves, tricks and more jumps ... which is my intention all along. Well, there can only be 1 leading man on the dance floor.

At times, when I am not myself, I may actually dance in rhytmn with my owners. Yes, I can actually synchronize and move in tandem with the humans, executing the 'Both' (above pic) and 'Twirl' and 'Who's the boss?' (below pics) with swift precision.

There are times I don't read their body language very well and try to improvise ... above pic has me trying out a new 'Jitterbug' step. And if I don't really get what they are doing, I just stand there and laugh out loud at their incoherent steps. Hey, what happened to the routine we were going through for the last couple of weeks ... (below pic)

On more formal occassions like during public performances, it can be thin line between a well orchestrated dance routine and an overly animated JRT running circles around his owner ... I kind of like the latter.

Groovin' by the Beach

2009-08-31T14:40:00.011+08:00

After a long hiatus, I was back at my fav holiday destination - Ruby’s Resort at Cherating beach, Kuantan. Miles of endless sandy beach minus the crowd, absolute bliss …

Furbie, the resident cat, was there to greet us in her usual slothful manner … think if she was anymore relaxed, she would go into a coma. Total contrast to us city dogs … we just about went bananas when we caught a glimpse of the long stretch of sand and sea. There aren’t many parks in the city where we can run off leash, so when our owners let us off to runabout, we really RAN about! Milo the GR in particular, pranced around and made haste like an escape convict … lost his bearings and sprinted the opposite direction back to the chalet accommodation, funny GR that.Junior the Silky Terrier was all excited to try out his new dance steps and asked us to join in but we were less than impressed. Put it this way, dancing with a soggy Silky is like grooving to a wet mop. Besides we had better things to do, like:Digging in soft sand. This I like cause you don’t need much effort to dig up the loose sand and if you dig in hard enough, you can hurl a whole chunk of sand onto the person/ dog who is standing behind you, awesome! And after you’ve finished, you have a nice cool burrow on the beach to laze in. Russell the Cocker and I must have spent hours trying to perfect the art of excavating.
Catching frisbees. This is my choice sport at the beach cause nothing looks cooler than an airborne dog snatching a flying disc. Didn’t get to do a lot of this as I had a bodyguard (Angel the Border Collie) and a shadow (Russell the JRT) hovering around me at all times, which hampered my movements.OB exercises by the beach. Not in my list of recommended beach pursuits but I did a few retrieving exercises just to please Mr Owner. He has gotten hooked on the dumbbell retrieving routine, so I desperately need to find him other avenues where he can release his creative juices … help.Posing with best buddies. Russell the Cocker Spaniel made the trip and it was a case of long time no see. Was good to catch up with him. He was his usual independent self, swimming, digging and looking for sticks and stones to retrieve all day long. Best swimmer by a mile.
Surfing the waves. Most radical dog sport ever. Waves were milder this time, so balancing on the board was a walk in the park for regulars like me. Rookies Jr, Russell and Kimi the Terriers had a go. Jr pretty much nailed the balancing act cause he doesn’t fancy getting wet. Kimi got washed out by the waves and Russell decided that walking on water was cooler than surfing. Best Surfer award is mine, ha ha.Beach soccer. This sport was actually for the humans but they must have got confused, as we noticed rugby and heelwork to music moves mixed in as well … chaos ensued and our humans soon degenerated to football hooligans. I tried to step in to bring things to order but they pretty much ignored me, just like in the real matches. While our owners struggled to make a decent pass, Milo the GR decided he had better get in the act. He was fairly good at keeping possession of the ball with his mouth, so he takes the Most Valuable Player award.Releasing baby turtles. Turtle sanctuary was just beside the resort and for a small donation, we got to release baby turtles into the South China Sea, sweet! Was a race from sand to sea as our owners lined up the turtles for the flag off. They were gone within seconds … very fast for newborns.Tug-o-war. Brand new sport pitting dogs in the pulling stakes. Russell the JRT showed his mettle as he dug deep to drag his opponents across the line. He even managed to tug Milo the GR and Angel the Collie over, which goes to show that he is as strong and stubborn as a mule. No surprise really as he has had plenty of practice dragging the trolley around our training grounds. Finally, a sport he can excel in … Tug-o-war champ hands down.Savouring local fare. Come night time, our owners sneaked off to the nearby town of Kemamam to sample the famous stuffed crab and seafood delicacies. Dogs weren’t invited and had to guard the chalets. For the next trip, we will be forming a union with the motto, ‘No work while at the beach”.
Agility and Heelwork to music. In between all that, we also found time to entertain the guests and staff of Ruby’s Resort with Heelwork to music moves and agility runs at the resort grounds … and they enjoyed the show.Hunting for crabs. The JRTs fav past time. Shadow, Russell and Kimi specialised in this and were rather successful in their crab hunt. No photos published as the end result was considered too gory for all crustacean lovers out there.

Heaps of activities with no time to rest must have left me feeling a little drained on the 1st night, but soon bounced back to my usual self the morning after. Just remembered that we missed out on the Quad-biking and kayaking activities, but we have that penned down in our ‘to do’ list for the next trip. Hope it’s sooner than later …

Sloppy agility trials at Malaysia Dog Day 2009

2009-07-13T16:30:00.003+08:00

Recent puppy agility trials at Chin Woo stadium were disappointing and shoddily run. I won’t even try to list down all the slip-ups made by the organisers/ officials as there were too many on the day. Let’s just go straight to areas for improvement:

1. Agility trials on slippery parquet flooring is a big no, no. When conducting trials indoors, flooring should be carpeted for the safety and well being of dogs. Making dogs look awkward and foolish with all that slipping and sliding in the ring, is in total contradiction with the dog sport of agility and not what dog lovers wish to see, especially in an event called Malaysia Dog Day.

Me mate, Amber the GR, slipped and fell badly during the trials and didn’t want to do anymore after that.

Telling the participants at the very last minute to ‘withdraw, if you think it is unsafe’ or ‘run slowly, if you think it is too slippery’ is terribly naïve and unprofessional, given that the participants had already paid RM30 upfront as entry fees. When some trialers wanted to withdraw and asked for a refund, the organizers said no. All this commotion in front of the trial judge reflects very poorly on the organisers. 2. Officials and organisers should be well versed with the trial rules as posted on the website … interpreting rules as one goes along does nothing for the credibility of the trials. Calls for all type of faults (ie. wrong weave pole entry, missed weave pole, missed/ incomplete obstacles) must be made and must be consistent and fair. Officials should not have to be reminded by the trialers on which faults to call.

Their complicated scoring system encompassing 20 faults, 10 faults and 5 faults made matters worse and at times, the judge was also confused as to what faults and how many faults to call. Based on home video recordings, clearly the judge missed many calls for wrong entry into weave poles, missed weave poles, wrong sequence and incomplete performance obstacles. The final published results did not jive with the home video evidence for certain classes.

4. Trial courses should be designed by the trial judge and not by the organisers so as independence is maintained.

At the start of Jumpers for Beginners class, organisers laid out a course which bore no semblance to a Jumpers class and included 3 stops at the pause table and a mini weave pole sequence, which caused further confusion amongst the trialers. After prompting by the trialers, the organisers realized their mistake and had to rebuild the course from scratch.

When the Standard Agility course was laid out, organizers must have got a little excited and included 3 sequences of weaving poles and 4 sequences of contact obstacles. In addition, how they managed to cram 20 obstacles in that small ring is beyond belief.

5. Trials should commence on time and not 3 hours behind schedule, which meant that competing dogs had to wait a good 4-5 hours in the cramped hall conditions. Poor time management added to the dogs’ and handlers’ frustration on the day.

6. If organisers are going to charge RM30 entry fees and call the event a Trial, then the competition should be conducted in a professional manner, in a proper arena and officiated by persons who are well versed in the sport.

Let’s try to give the right impression of dog agility sport … fast, fun, skillful and exciting to watch. Slow pace, heeling, sliding on slippery flooring, missed or incomplete performance of obstacles due to inappropriate flooring … just doesn’t quite cut it.

Despite the inappropriate surface and inconsistent judging calls, PetnYou Dog Squad defied the odds with Kimi and I winning both the Mini Jumpers and Mini Agility classes respectively. Cami took 3rd spot in Mini Jumpers and Caca managed 2nd place in Maxi Jumpers, but the inconsistent calls denied him a placing in Maxi Agility.

What a poor advert for the sport … puppy people always getting into puppy mischief.

Life is like a box of tissues … My 1st OB medal.

2009-06-25T22:32:00.006+08:00

MKA Obedience trials was held last Sunday and the turnout was encouraging with more than 40 teams registered; 25 in PreNovice, 11 in Novice and 4 in Open class.

Guess what? I’ve finally won a medal in OB trials … 3rd place to be exact in the MKA Novice class, pawsome. After years of heeling by Mr Owner’s left leg, I’ve finally struck bronze! All those years trying to figure out why dogs are made to heel on their owners’ left, when there is a whole lot of space on the right, front, and back …and to date, I still haven’t figured it out … Why do we have to heel on your left?!!

Mr Owner told me not to get carried away with the win as my fortune was largely due to other teams’ misfortune. The event started late, dragged on for too long and by the time Novice class commenced, it was already 2pm under the hot midday sun. Naturally, most dogs wilted in the heat, started lagging and committed fundamental errors. eg. moving during the stand, sit and down stay tests. That we had to heel 2x – on lead and off leash made the exercises even more difficult to bear. Certainly seemed longer than the Open and Intermediate heeling routines.

When it came to my turn, Mr Owner mentioned that I wasn’t any better with my awkward heeling moves reminiscent of Heelwork to Music and a snake sliding across the grass. In fact, I was trying to figure out why we had to heel in the sun, and instead tried to shift my bearings towards the shady trees but Mr Owner kept telling me not to be funny. Mr Owner got a tad exasperated midway through the heeling exercise and mixed up his left and right turns, so it wasn’t entirely my fault. Still we soldiered on and completed the routine, somehow.

Actually my heeling score (34/50) was the lowest amongst all the teams, but more than half the teams were eliminated due to their fidgety stay exercises. My saving grace was a solid Recall and Stay routines, which gave me perfect scores (50/50) and allowed me to steal 3rd place overall. Mr Owner was rather surprised to see me on the podium and rather pleased as well.

Mr Owner said I was lucky. My take on this: ‘Life is like a box of tissues, eventually the bottom sheet will come up tops’ … loosely translated, ‘Every dog has his day’. JRTs aren’t born to heel nicely, so any win at the OB trials will have to come from hope … hoping in hope that the more capable teams have an off day.

Now I can place what little OB skills I’ve acquired over 5 years to the bottom of my toy chest. May have spoken too soon, Mr Owner is now looking for the dumbbell for the retrieving exercise …

All that waiting (I waited for 5 hours from 9am to 2 pm) just to take part in an exercise which lasted less than 5 minutes … wonder if it was all worth it? I think there were moments when I almost passed out from all that lack of activity. My owners must have fallen asleep with all that waiting, hence why there are no photos of my OB exploits.

Thank god I brought along my skateboard to try out some new moves on the slightly sloping pathways in the park. My first time riding the board without any help from my owners, radical. Look ma, no hands!

Also had time to play ball with the 3 lovely sisters, Amber, Chloe and Faith …sure beats OB heeling exercises anytime.

Goes to show that OB trialers are a patient lot. Hats off to them! Congrats to me mates, Chloe and Amber the GRs, for winning 2nd and 3rd placings in PreNovice class. Pacco came very close to winning but got unstuck in the Stay routines.

Like I said, ‘Life is like a box of tissues …

Mid Valley Dog Sports Show, 3 - 5 July 2009

2009-06-16T00:15:00.011+08:00

Why are we laughing?

Cause the main event in the K9 calender will feature again at Malaysia's premier shopping mall - The Mid Valley Megamall, as part of the Pet World Malaysia 2009 show. Prime location plus air conditioned comfort for me and me mates. Featuring a variety of pet products and exhibition booths, enticing doggie games, challenging OB and Agility trials, plus a grooming competition. Cat, rabbit, fish displays and competitions will also be running at the same time at adjoining halls, so there's lots to do.

Includes the absorbing PetnYou Dog Agility and Obedience Trials over the weekend of 4 - 5 July. OB trials encompass Pre-novice, Novice, Intermediate and Open levels. Agility trials will be running Basic Jumpers, Jumpers With Weaves, Novice, Gamblers and Snooker edition. New Toy class will feature in agility trials to give an opportunity for small breeds to excel. The trials will be held in the Mid Valley Exhibition Centre main hall, so conditions are ideal to bring out your dog's best performance. The competition should be stirring and designed to showcase your dog's innate abilities and prowess. Based on prior year’s experience, spectator interest is expected to huge and the atmosphere will be stimulating.

'Last year's Mid Valley Dog Show was huge!'

In addition, the K9 Games are open to all dogs and no registration nor fees are required. Just turn up during the games slot to have fun. We look forward to your continued participation in the coming trials and games, which will go a long way in promoting dog sports and as well as the integration of dogs in our society.

Show program for Mid Valley Dog Sports Show, 4 & 5 July 2009:

9.00 - 9.30 am Registration for Obedience Trials
9.00 am - 1.00 pm Registration for Agility Trials

9.45 am - 2.15 pm
4th Obedience Trials (Saturday - 4 July)
• Pre Novice class
• Novice class
• Intermediate class

5th Obedience Trials (Sunday - 5 July)
• Pre Novice class
• Novice class
• Open class
(Note: Pre Novice and Novice classes will be running simultaneously in 2 separate rings from 9.45am onwards)

2.15 - 2.45 pm
PetnYou Dog Squad Dog sports demos - Frisbee, Tricks, Heelwork to music, Flyball
TigerLand K9 Academy demos - Schutzhund, Protection dog

2.45 - 4.00 pm
K9 Games (Saturday - 4 July)
• David & Goliath - Smallest & Biggest Dogs
• Most Adorable Pup
• Obstacle Race
• The Longest Tail
• Best Dressed - Fancy Dress Ball

K9 Games (Sunday - 5 July)
• Most Adorable Pup
• Best Coat - Short & Long Coat
• OBgility Race
• Best Smile/ Grin
• Best Dressed - Most Fashionable

Results and prize presentation for Obedience Trials

4.00 - 7.45 pm
8th Agility Trials (Saturday - 4 July)
• Basic Jumpers - Toy, Mini, Maxi
• Jumpers With Weaves - Toy, Mini, Maxi
• Novice - Mini, Maxi
• Gamblers

9th Agility Trials (Sunday - 5 July)
• Basic Jumpers - Toy, Mini, Maxi
• Jumpers With Weaves - Toy, Mini, Maxi
• Novice - Mini, Maxi
• Snooker

Results and prize presentation for Agility Trials

Trials entry form cab be found at link below and the final date for submission is by 30 June 2009. For further details, go to http://www.petnyou.com.my/?q=node/2375

Useful links:
Trials Entry Form - http://www.petnyou.com.my/files/A%20entryform_0.doc
Judges’ Profile http://www.petnyou.com.my/?q=node/2378
OB Trial rules http://www.petnyou.com.my/index.php?q=node/208
Agility Trial rules http://www.petnyou.com.my/index.php?q=node/205
How to get into Mid Valley mall http://www.petnyou.com.my/index.php?q=node/1024

Time to fine tune your Clean runs, Heeling patterns and Gaming skills …

I CAN"T WAIT !!!

Watching paint dry

2009-05-23T14:59:00.004+08:00

Been off the blogger boil for quite awhile as Mr Owner is too preoccupied with maintaining another site, but I managed to sneak in this post. What hv I been up to? Not much, here's Cami and I watching paint dry ...
Very poor paint job, I must say haha! Not quite, actually its our owners trying to be funny by hanging out our fav frisbees to dry on the training school walls ... humans are truly weird creatures. Naturally we had to be vigilant as there are a lot of other dogs out there who would give up their kibble just to get a hold of our frisbees and chew on them. So we sat and waited and waited and waited ... Cami even prayed for divine intervention so that she could have her disc back.

JRTs aren't known for their patience and after staring aimlessly for a couple of minutes, I knew that I had to get this done on my own accord as this is seriously eating into my precious playtime. After much thought, I tried the 'Cliffhanger' approach of rock climbing up the wall but the surface didn't have enough holds to get into spidey mode.

Had to rethink my strategy and after much deliberation, I did what any friendly neighbourhood JRT would do in such a situation ... hop and jump like mad and hope for the best to knock off the darn frisbee from the wall!

So there you have it, a jumping jack bouncing of the school walls ... all in want of a frisbee. It was quite a scene and the humans had a grand time being amused by my antics. But I had the last laugh and in 1 deft jumping motion, managed to unhinge the disc from the nail. Will now think thrice about sharing my toys with anymore humans.

What about Cami, well she's still waiting by the wall ... hoping for Humpty Frisbee to fall ...

Splish, splash, I was having a bath!

2009-01-25T16:24:00.008+08:00

Let me introduce you one of the most extreme dog sports I’ve ever indulged in … Big Splash! Quite similar to Dock Diving except there’s no dock to dive from and no pool to dive into. All you need is some rain and a waterlogged field, and you are set to go. When it comes to water sports, Msian dogs have to be fairly creative … just to make up for the lack of dog friendly swimming pools or lakes to paddle in.Just like agility, there are a few categories to excel at:

FROGGER: Simplest of the lot, basically involves sprinting across the wet field and the fastest over 50 m wins. Just have to be careful when sprinting like the wind on a slippery and sliding surface. Skimming or hopping works best, hence the name. Careful at the finish line … does take a little longer to come to a full stop.SKIDMARKS: Extension of the Frogger game, K9 who is able to skid n slide the longest distance across mud and puddle before coming to a full stop takes the title. Very much like driving a car and drifting around corners … involves fine application of momentum and brake pads to dog-ski across the water.THE HEADBUTT: For the adrenalin junkies, dog has to dive head first into puddle to create the most memorable back-thrust of H20. You know you have succeeded when the audience can’t even see your head and shoulders. Helmets and goggles are optional.BIG CURL: A combo of all the above, whereby dog who creates the biggest, longest and most impressive wave-like splash takes this coveted title. Just about the closest thing you get to surfing, minus the beach.I love this Game!

Entertaining Cami

2009-01-20T23:01:00.009+08:00

Cami came visiting last weekend and I was all eager to show her the new dog friendly outlets in town. Prior to that, we played frisbee at the park and I got a telling off by Ms Owner for performing too many dunks … in the mud puddles. Major clean up effort was required afterwards.For brunch, we tried the Fogal Deli & Restaurant in Plaza Damas (refer to my previous post for a review). Cami just loves attention from humans and she absolutely adores kids. So she plonked herself in front of the entrance and proceeded to greet each and every customer who stepped out from the shop. One kid even received a Cami’s special … a kiss on the lips. I am only sociable when my toys are up for grabs, otherwise I’ld rather just go into stakeout mode and keep an eye on the drain and floor cracks for rats and roaches.Well she did teach me a new move which came in very handy at cafes … ‘How to beg for leftovers’.

With soothing tiles on the corridor, we easily adjusted into lounging mode. Just the ideal place for sausage, eggs and bacon breakfast and waking up to a lazy weekend.At night, I brought her to my favourite hangout … Sid’s Pub in TTDI. I have rated this pub as 4 paws for being a truly dog friendly outlet. We managed to get the popular window seat at the entrance corner where you can catch all the action on the inside and outside.Cami immediately placed herself in front of the entrance in an attempt to steal some free belly rubs from the patrons. Then she tried out the leather pub benches and finally settled for the best seat in the house … the window sill. Despite all the noise and chatter, she succumbed into deep sleep for a good hour or so. You could be easily fooled into thinking that the resident black cat was snoozing on the ledge. A customer quipped that she must have had one too many drinks. She must have felt very much at home.Whilst she is very sociable with humans, K9s be prepared … don’t be fooled by her innocent, demure looks. She’s all terrier and like me, very possessive of her frisbee. Before the weekend was over, she got into a couple of scraps at the training field with fellow JRTs, Russell and Mei Mei. Russell for trying to steal her frisbee and Mei Mei for hogging the open tunnel. Being a real busybody, I also got into the act, and attempted to referee both wrestling matches. However, I got too excited and almost turned it into a threesome tag team match. Russell, being, truly thick skinned, was hardly bothered. Mei Mei, being an amateur wrestler, walked away with a cut on her ear. We both got a real dressing down from my owners for being such ruffians.
Was neat having her in the house … someone furry to fool around with finally. This visit, she certainly warmed up to my attention and I had a grand time chasing her around the apartment, playing bitey face, nippy snout and scruffy neck. Not very ladylike and fairly rough according to Mr Owner, but we like it that way. We even did it under the coffee table and lounge sofa … play wrestle, that is.

Certainly a far cry from entertaining myself with the resident stiffy chew bone, oddly shaped toy balls and fast exhausted owners.

Dog friendly outlets - Groovy reviews

2009-01-13T17:16:00.005+08:00

‘Star’ newspaper recently featured 6 F&B outlets as being pet/ dog friendly. This is certainly news to me as such publicized outlets are a rarity in this country. I took the opportunity to visit some of these outlets during the recent holiday season to verify their authenticity … that’s me, self appointed, independent F&B dog critic.

Palate Palate, Changkat Bukit Bintang
Trendy fine dining outlet popular amongst the KL socialites, hence can be rather pricey. Despite the detailed write-up on catering to dogs and even serving doggie biscuits, this outlet is only dog friendly on Sunday afternoons. Not sure if ½ a day in a week qualifies as dog friendly, but guess it is better than none. My vote: 1 paw, great looking café to lounge in but slightly misleading as a dog friendly establishment. By the way, I didn’t get in as my gullible owners didn’t read the ‘Sunday afternoons only’ fine print.

Market Place Restaurant, Jln Yap Kwan Seng
Fine dining fusion outlet with dog friendly staff and management. Plays chill out tunes catering to the lounge crowd. Limited menu and pricey. Cool multi-level club décor on the inside but dogs have to be seated outside. Basic al-fresco set up with a small shabby garden and BBQ pit … perhaps, still undergoing outdoor renovations. My vote: 2 paws, great views of KLLC twin towers at night but limited options for K9 loungers.

Boathouse Restaurant, TTDI
Fine dining fusion outlet and can be heavy on the wallet. Dark, quiet and romantic setting suited for couples. Wifi available with a resident ShihTzu in the house. Dogs are allowed inside on less crowded days. My vote: 2 paws, dog friendly but nothing exciting going on really.

Rumours , Sri Hartamas

Been here when it was still known as Flagz, now refurbished with classier setup. Still new, appears rather empty and quiet and dogs have to be seated outside. Haven’t tried this new set up, so will reserve my vote till later.

Fogal Cafe & Deli, Plaza Damas

Neat looking deli set up serving Aussie sausages, breakfast and grilled meat. Airy and sizeable outlet with outside seating in front and at the back as well. Dogs allowed inside on less crowded days. Staff is friendly with good service. My vote: 3 paws, sweet smell of grilled sausages wafting through the corridor + cool tiles to laze on = neat place to hang around at.

Sid’s Pub, TTDI
UK pub setting serving traditional pub fare from pies and burgers to Indian dishes. Prices are reasonable, hence very popular and crowded especially on weekends. Plays alternative and rock music, mostly drowned out by human chatter. Dogs are allowed in the pub, including the bar area and have actually bumped into a number of dogs hanging about with their owners. My vote: 4 paws, staff and patrons are dog friendly, plus they are not too fussed about us relaxing on the benches and stools. Best seat in the house is on the window sills in the front … pretending to be a cat. Easily, one of my fav joints.

Festive reminder: Don’t drink and play …

WalkADog at Dataran Merdeka - 9 Nov

2008-12-16T23:11:00.000+08:00

The Spastics Children’s Association, Selangor Social Welfare Council and over 30 welfare based NGOs held the 15th Annual Charity Walk-Jog-WheelAThon at Dataran Merdeka. Main objective of the recreational fund raising event is to provide an opportunity for NGOs to work for a common cause and show support to the disabled by walking and jogging with them. PetnYou was invited to participate via the Save-A-Stray Organisation. Support is paramount on this occasion, not only in participation but to pave way for an annual WalkADog event whereby dogs and owners can have a day of fun and make a statement for dogs and their place in our lives and community.

This was a high profile occasion for me as dogs have never been permitted on the hallowed grounds of Dataran Merdeka (‘Independence Square’), a historical landmark and tourist attraction. Rumours were that the DBKL municipal officers will have a heightened presence, just waiting to pounce on misbehaving dogs and irresponsible owners. Needless to say, all participating dogs had to be at their best behavior on the day.

Hence, we polished our licenses, cleaned out the ear wax and combed our hair for we needed to impress. There were approx 50 dogs present and invitation was only limited to trained dogs. We were given oversized white singlets with ‘Save A Stray’ messages, making the smaller amongst us looking like the wet market fishmonger.

However, a couple of uninvited guests slipped through the organizer’s net and there was an unfortunate incident whereby a S’tzu got bitten by a huge mixed breed who wasn’t about to let go. Thank goodness Mr Owner learnt a new move on how to pry open stubborn jaws – Sneak up from behind and squeeze them balls! … Ouch, even I felt that from a distance away.

The immaculate Selangor Club Padang was off limits to dogs. Pity cause it looked like a perfect pitch, just ideal for play and running free. Access to the main stage was also limited to the demo dogs. Quite a lot of fuss over dogs but Malaysian owners only have themselves to blame as pet hygiene at public arenas hasn’t always been a top priority. Glad to say that the Walkadog event faired well in that most owners did clean up after their dogs.

Roads around Dataran Merdeka were closed to facilitate the walkathon and we felt privileged to be strolling beside the old High Court buildings. We flagged off at 8am, escorting a group of kids on wheelchairs and with a walking handicap. Lotus the MinPin hitched a ride with one of the kids whereas most of us walked beside the spirited kids. Many kids had a go at walking our dogs on leash and the more energetic dogs appeared to be giving them a hand by tugging their wheelchairs across the finish line.

My owners decided to hang around at the back and I struggled to ‘keep up’ with their tortoise pace. My mates, Russell, Kimi, Cami and Sissy were already way in front and you know how I just can’t stand coming in last at the races. So I kept tugging and pulling to get my humans going, but they were on slow-mo as they were escorting a couple of kids. So I was heaving and wheezing from start till finish from all that tugging on the leash … and at the finish line, I could just spot my mates sniggering at me for bringing up the rear end, sheesh.

Besides WalkADog, the Dog Squad also had the rare opportunity of performing live on stage in the heart of KL city. With the world’s tallest flag pole as the backdrop, we kicked off with the dog parade cum fashion show. Was a fairly sizeable crowd and they were highly enthusiastic about the dog demos, more so the kids. Kimi, Cami, Sissy and I were in charge of the dog sports. Generous cheers and applause greeted our frisbee catches, dance grooves, agility runs and OB moves. There was a real buzz in the air and the kids and adults were definitely in the mood … perhaps it was equally rare for them to be amused by a pack of dogs with talent. The Chinese newspapers even commented that we won over the audience hearts with our performance!

Judging from the public’s response, the organizers are quietly confident that WalkaDog would feature again next year, which is great news. However, we may not be so keen as the DBKL officials, who were waiting at every corner for us to make a mistake, were overzealous in protecting the square from K9s and asked us to move along after our demos ended … spoilsports.

Still it was worth it, just being at KL’s famed historical landmark and city centre … the walkabout and performances were a bonus, the kids’ response … priceless. A piece of canine history was created at Independence Square today and was really cool just being there.

My fav cartoon characters

2008-11-24T15:22:00.000+08:00

Dropped by at NZX mall in Ara Damansara last weekend and guess who I bumped into?

Met the Lion King. Like him coz he looks like the real deal – The Boss. I always dream of the day when I takeover the top dog mantle at my neighbourhood park, then I'll get to order everyone around ... ha ha. Also saw his personal advisor, the wise old monkey who was harping away in the background.

Took photos with Bruce the Shark of ‘Finding Nemo’ fame. Like him coz he’s got huge jaws and massive teeth, which will certainly come in handy in keeping the larger and meaner dogs at bay. If I had jaws like that, I'll certainly be the top dog at my park!

Bumped into Pluto as well, Goofy’s best friend. He seemed larger than life and was contented with laying on the ground just taking in the sun. He looked more like a Goofy than a Pluto to me ...
Met the High School Musical … sign.

In the pet friendly mall, I caught up with the Toy Soldiers and tried my very best to assume a similar steadfast stance - Attention! Now, I just have to grow a moustache to fit right in ... am working hard at it but only seem to be successful in producing mere whiskers.

Also said hi to Spiderman, who was lounging around at a corner. He appeared a little overweight. Wonder if he needs a caped canine crusader as back up … Spiderdog anyone?

After all that mingling with the rich and famous, I popped into the cool ‘Fullhouse’ lifestyle store cum café recommended by Amber the GR. Very nice and caught a couple of Huskies having a cuppa at the side.

These famed cartoon characters will be hanging around at the NZX mall till Xmas, so catch them while you can. NZX is the only pet friendly open mall in the country, so that's really cool. Let's hope it stays that way ... we can all do our bit by keeping it spic n span.

SPCA KL Tower World Animal Day - 2 Nov

2008-11-10T22:28:00.003+08:00

SPCA held the WAD celebrations at the KL Tower, one of the main tourist attractions in town, and guess what … pets were invited along, dogs included! What a novelty it was for us to be allowed at this well featured landmark. SPCA was looking for guest performers to spice up the event and attract public attention. There were a variety of acts lined up comprising of singers, bands, hip hop and Brazilian dancers, cheerleaders, dog agility and OB demo by the puppy people, and a Canadian DJ hosting the event. Mr Owner signed me up as well and I got a personal invite under the billing of ‘Groovy the Dancing Dog’. SPCA also asked for interesting animal photos for the photo exhibition on the same day and they selected one of Mr Owner’s shot of me in a suspended mid-air balletic pose. They put up a poster sized print of the shot at the main entrance with Mr Owner’s name at the bottom, which was cool. By the way, I'm not into the girly ballet stuff, just me trying to head my football into the next field (top left pic).There were a few interesting stalls on display and even the Star Wars folks turned up to add to the festive mode. Not too sure what to make of the bloke in the kinky red rubber helmet, totally weird man.'Hey, what happened to all the good guys?!!'

Timing was slightly odd running from 12 - 6pm under the blazing sun, The weather was an organizer’s nightmare, hot sweltering afternoon followed by rain in the evening. Just managed to slot in my dancing demo before the rain fell. By then, it was like a sauna and most people hid under the canopies or decided to head home.
As usual, the pounding music from the huge speaker systems got me overexcited and I thought we were at a rave dance concert. Spent too much time putting my paws up in the air, prodding Mr Owner’s bum and getting into a trance, instead of moving in rhythm with him. But I somehow still managed to pull through the more demanding and trickier sections and it ended up being a passable performance. Mr Owner said that if I keep on jumping up to prod him, he will tie my legs to his for the next performance … now that would be a real act!
I like this photo. They say that a picture says a thousand words ... just goes to show that not all have a warped sense of insecurity in the company of dogs. The young lady above even gave me a hug and a peck afterwards, sweet!Yet again, pet hygiene was an issue as the organizers didn’t allocate a predetermined spot as the doggie loo. Even then, owners should have the common sense to bring their dogs to the grass every couple of hours to do their business. Noted several ‘pools’ at the main area which were conveniently covered with paper and not properly cleaned up. In the extreme humid conditions, the stench soon became noticeable and lucky for all, the rain came and camouflaged much of the smell. I wouldn’t blame KL Tower if they had second thoughts about inviting dogs again for future events.
The crowd pretty much dwindled after the rain. The dog demos by the puppy people was conducted at the car park area. Yet again, they decided to hold agility demos on unforgiving tarmac surface which doesn’t bode well for the dogs’ paws. Pity the demo dogs but the puppy people never learn. Wonder how these humans would feel if asked to run bare feet and jump hurdles on a hot tarmac surface …

My name is Groovy, I’m a compulsive Gambler

2008-11-03T21:21:00.002+08:00

Notched up another title from PAA Penang after recording my 3rd qualifying run in the Gamblers 1 class … the Gamblers Dog agility title. Sweet, now I can add a new set of initials to my name card: Groovy, M.A.CH., G.D. Other than making my name seem longer than usual, the titles don’t actually come with any privileges or freebies. With a title such as Gamblers Dog, was hoping that I would be awarded a VIP membership in the popular Genting Highlands Casino, but guess I’m still on the waiting list for that one.PAA held marathon agility trials over 3 days from 25 - 27 Oct at the excellent Sri Pinang school field which was just perfect for dog sports. The school grounds was huge with a healthy carpet of grass, surrounded by large towering trees and an impressive colonial style building. There was plenty of space for me to play and runabout. There was so much space that I could even lie in the middle of the grounds while the humans laid out the course. Soon attracted the unwanted attention of the resident guard dog, Jojo the Boston Terrier, who came over to secure his territory. Normally I would have obliged with a couple of my wrestle mania moves but have heard how tough Boston Terriers can be, so I decided to back down. Besides I had more important things to do, like searching for my lost ball.It turned out to be a fruitful event, with Kofi the Curly Coated Retriever achieving his Gamblers title during the same weekend. Also got to see an Akita, St Bernard and Rottweiler in action doing jumpers agility, which was intimidating and exciting at the same time. The Rottie was quick and he took the jumpers class in 19secs. The Akita and St. needed more coaxing and the handlers actually ran with a finger licking KFC drumstick in hand to entice them along!PAA also held the first Open agility class and I recorded a clean run over 2 sessions. Personally felt that the course wasn’t demanding enough, bearing in mind that the Open class is the penultimate class for agility sport. Was expecting to see more side switches, crossovers, U-turns and traps but it turned out to be relatively straightforward courses. Perhaps, we have become too accustomed to the smaller rings and tighter layouts in KL.On the other hand, the Gamblers 2 class was pretty tough with 6 weave poles, a tunnel and U-turn thrown into the closing sequence. I lost the plot on this one and kept running back to Mr Owner while he frantically wave me away to take the obstacles on the outer side. Now, that’s challenging and will have to work on it to have any chance of making the gamble.
In between, I also had time to check out the beaches and soak by the seaside, after some frantic frisbee catching. Bumped into Quinssie and Amber the GRs from Penang and they were having a grand time swimming in the sea. Now, if only KL had a beach, I’ld open my very own surf school.

I love the sunsets in Penang Isle.

New handler, old groove

2008-10-14T14:52:00.003+08:00

MKA ran their 1st official agility trials last weekend … took some time in coming but better late than never. However, MKA being MKA, decided to limit participation to members only. As I was never officially certified as a pure bred JRT, my owners never bothered to be part of the kennel association.
'My impersonation of a Meerkat'

However, Mr Owner came up with an ingenuous plan to ‘smuggle’ me into the trials. The MKA rules are very much based on dog conformation shows ie. anyone can handle any dog as long as he/she is a member. Hence, he appointed a fellow trainer (Mr Chan) who happened to be a MKA member to run me in the trials. I think he is just being plain lazy or perhaps, he is finding it more difficult to keep up with me in the agility ring. Yup, Mr Owner is one sneaky fella.'Sneaky dog takes after sneaky human.'

So Mr Chan had to run 2 JRTs for the event, his own JRT - Kimi and me. We put in a last minute training session the evening before just to give him a feel of my antics at the weave poles, and Mr Owner pretty much left Mr Chan to fend for himself. Poor Mr Chan, he doesn’t know what he is getting himself into.
Event was held in USJ Summit shopping centre and ring size was fine for jumpers but crammed for standard agility. Hence, the Indonesian judge could place not more than 14 obstacles in the ring. Based on my experience, small rings and closely stacked obstacles are a speedster’s nightmare and I was already counting the number of faults that I will eventually chalk up … I sniggered while Mr Owner fretted. Advantage to the slow and steady, close heeling dogs.

On the other hand, MKA decided to go with the outdated scoring format of adding 5 secs per fault (ie. placing determined by time) and this gave the advantage back to the faster dogs, as faults incurred do not automatically send you to the bottom of the pecking order.Being MKA’s 1st agility trials, judge was fairly lenient and didn’t make any elimination calls but opted for the easy 1 fault/ error/ obstacle. This suited me just fine as I proceeded to chalk up the faults as predicted but with the scoring format and my relentless pace, I still manage to take top spot. Notched up to 3 faults in both my runs much too Mr Owner’s frustration, nevertheless he still had to force a smile as Mr Chan did manage to run me to 1st place … I love this game!

However, it wasn’t plain sailing all the way bearing in mind that Mr Chan had to run 2 JRTs one after the other, twice. With our punishing pace, screeching turns and pivots, Mr Chan was huffing and puffing to keep up with us 2. Come the 2nd run, he had to ask for a timeout just to catch his breath before proceeding further. The judge was kind enough to oblige.Faults aside, it was a neat effort by Mr Chan considering he only had 1 practice session and was my 1st time running with a new human. In fact, I prefer Mr Chan cause he didn’t reprimand or make me reperform the obstacles which I faulted on, sweet.

My mates also had a good day at the trials. Kimi took 2nd spot in standard agility and won the jumpers class, while Amber the GR captured 3rd and 1st spots in both classes for maxi dogs.

With the agility trials being held in a busy shopping centre, there was no shortage of distractions to test our focus and attention. Plenty of noise, lights, movement, a DJ playing music in between runs and a voluble MC urging the teams on with remarks like, 'Don't miss the hole!’ (he was referring to tyre jump) and 'Yes, Yeesss, Yeeeessss!' (with each successful negotiation of an obstacle).

Obedience trials was held the next day and the mood couldn’t be anymore different with the audience being told to keep noise to a minimum and to stay 1 feet away from the ring. The DJ and MC were placed on silence mode as well. Despite the safeguards, a couple of petty OB handlers still found time to complain about people tapping on the signboards and other dogs being a nuisance by being too close to their dogs. Heard that a heated argument took place between a trialer and a casual observer as a result. Personally feel that these trialers are a spoilt lot. The main objective in a trial is for the dog to perform on field despite the distractions. If your dog can only perform in an area with minimal noise and movement, then for goodness sake, do stay away from trials in a shopping centre or any public arena for that matter.

As the saying goes, 'If you can't stand the heat, then stay out of the kitchen.'

'We even had time to perform tricks during the agility trials.'

Wonder what the OB trialers would have made of the agility trials the day before. Hah, the weird and wonderful world of dog trials … never a dull moment.

Walkabout on World Animal Day in Bangsar

2008-10-09T16:58:00.003+08:00

Okay, we finally get a day dedicated to us animals which must be something to shout about as I don’t ever recall there being a World Human Day, 1 – 0 to the animals yeah! ... we should seriously lobby for a World Dog Day as well.
Organised by Furry Farm, we get to walkabout in the upmarket and trendy Bangsar neighbourhood. Bangsar Village shopping centre was kind enough to allow us to use their entrance area as the start and finish line. Wasn’t really a big deal for me as I regularly leave my paw prints on the Bangsar sidewalk every other week with the suburb being so close to my home. The sports complex here used to be my regular playground but my owners have found a more convenient and larger field to play at in PJ, so I mostly go to Bangsar for coffee and snacks instead. Malaysians still have a lot to learn about hygiene and picking up after their dogs. There wasn’t a dedicated doggie area/toilet, so most humans allowed their dogs to do their business as when they felt like it, right beside the shopping centre and all over the pavement and plants. During the walk, also noticed leftovers on the road which were not cleaned up by the humans. Well, don’t complain if we don’t we don’t get invited back the next time around. Little wonder that dogs always get a bad image when in public places. Humans, please do your part … if dogs had hands, we wouldn’t have to rely on humans to pick up after us.
Still, was good fun parading on the streets of Bangsar. Onlookers thought that we were some hardcore Rights Action group out to create unrest and I was just waiting for the riot squad to appear to quell our march, but nothing exciting happened … just a regular stroll through the neighbourhood. Perhaps we should have had house or trance music blasting by the side to add a festive mood to the occasion, but don’t think that the public is quite ready to see dogs dancing in the streets yet. More walkabouts in public streets, sure … but only for responsible dog owners.

1st title on my 5th birthday at most scenic grounds

2008-09-04T22:28:00.002+08:00

Last weekend, we headed to Ms Owner’s hometown in Ipoh to participate in the combined Ipoh Schutzhund and PAA Agility trials. Venue for the trials was the Iskandar Polo Club grounds near Tambun town. Resident horses in the paddocks and stables stared at us as we drove in. The field was huge with a healthy carpet of grass. At the far end, a serene lake and rolling limestone hills formed a charming backdrop. I was impressed and already looking forward to running in such a sublime setting!

Huge grounds to explore and plenty of smells to figure out. First stop was the paddocks where several horses were sunning themselves. When you are standing next to Mr Horse, you feel really small. After awhile, you’ll develop a stiff neck from staring at him for too long. Wished I had legs like that … long, lean and muscular. Then I’ll be able to take part in the greyhound races at the track. Mr Owner mentioned that he was born in the Year of the Horse but he doesn’t look anything like these handsome fellas.
You can always count on Russell the JRT to create some ruckus … he broke free from his master, headed straight for the paddocks and went into play mode with the horses. Had our owners worried sick as he was weaving and hanging around Mr Horse’s hind legs. I told them not to sweat as the worst thing that could happen is for Mr Horse to kick some sense into him. Fortunately, the horses were well trained and conditioned, even in the presence of dogs, and didn’t pay much attention to him.

The lake and limestone hills area was a real treat. We sat on the park bench and posed for mandatory holiday photos … it seemed like one of those farmstay resorts (dog friendly) you see in the Travel & Adventure channel, nice. Lake was very inviting and I dragged my owner to have a dip at the lake edge. The water babies, Scruffy and Ginger the Mixy, couldn’t wait anymore and jumped in for a short doggie paddle. How we wished we had such an environment in the big city … it would be the perfect playground.
Time to earn some kibble at the agility ring. For once, we didn’t have to put up with crammed and stuffy indoor halls or smallish outdoor rings. With no restrictions to size, the courses were well spread out which is suited for fast and large dogs as well. No worries bout having to slam on the brake pads too much. Mr Owner only had to watch my inconsistent contacts at the dogwalk, which was a 50-50 thingy.

Needed 1 more clean run in Novice class to gain the Malaysian Agility Champion title from PAA, hence Mr Owner and I played it safe by running the more conservative line so as not to miss any entry or obstacle. Made the contacts, only just, got the clean run and now I get to add the following abbreviation to my dog tag:

Groovy, M.A.CH. … cool eh.

My training mate, Kimi the JRT, also did well by coming in 2nd in his first Novice agility trial … and he is just a year old! Congrats to Ginger on her 1st ever win at Jumpers. Pacco gave us a near heart attack in her first run in Jumpers by zooming out of the ring just to say hi to me and my owners. She did much better in the second run and took 3rd spot. Seems like her run is more controlled and focused this time around, so her short rehab stint must be working.

Schutzhund trials were on at the same time and there was the customary fireworks as part of the stay with distraction exercise. I don’t enjoy sudden loud noises and fretted for the Schutzhund dogs. But all is well once my ball is in sight as I tend to block out and forget all the commotion when in play mode. Ran a good qualifying Gamblers course with a score of 40 points, which made it 2 wins out of 2.Time to celebrate and we headed downtown to a crowded coffee shop serving ‘snowflake beer’ for humans, which happens to be the closest thing to freezing ice cold beer … ideal for our hot tropical weather. Shared the same birthday as Mr Chan on 31 August, which also happens to be Merdeka (Independence) Day. Regular cake shops were already closed, so we had to make do with a moon cake and 1 candle. Was a little anxious when Mr Chan lifted me up so that we could blow off the candle and cut the cake together. Dogs don’t really know how to blow so I stuck out my tongue just to please him.
Night ended up with Merdeka Day fireworks ... how appropriate, a number of milestones were achieved on that day.

Making waves at Kpg Pertak

2008-09-03T01:05:00.002+08:00

Half day trip to d cool n chilly Kampung Pertak stream, which ranks high on our all time list of fav hangouts n places to be seen at. Max d Lab joined us n he happens to be 1 of my best buddies cause he is a big fella n shows no interest in my toys (reminds me a lot of Bank the GR). Hence, I feel pretty comfortable with him around. He just lumbers around n does his own thing at his own pace, sweet.
Piper n Dookie, mother n son team, also tagged along. Typical JRTs who r obsessed with balls, sticks n enjoy d splish splash.
Here's Pacco who prefers to keep her paws dry. Has found a way to maneuver around d stream without getting wet by jumping from boulder to boulder. I tried out some of her moves with varying degree of success, but I need longer legs ... in the meantime, will hv to stick to my trusty lifevest for added buoyancy.
Lifevests were d order of d day. Venus wore a pink polka dotted one .. I wouldn't be caught dead in one of those but I guess it works for the ladies. MinPins, Lotus n Empress hd yellow n blue spacesuits.
Pacco obviously didn't read d washing instructions n put d vest to clean in d washing machine, hence why she looks like a stuffed dumpling in d above pic ... u can tell she isnt impressed with d post-wash fit. Russell d JRT also hd a similar blue vest. Has a strange obsession for my toys. Here he is chewing up my ball n enjoying every second of it ... if he continues in this manner, I will soon be chewing on his ass!Here's Max d Lab scaring d living daylights out of Ginger d Mixy! Ginger's reaction appears a little overdramatic ... I did mention that Max is a big fella.

Meanwhile Piper n Dookie r busy chasing sticks. Dookie has a new interpretation of the popular human pastime of 'pole dancing'. I'm impressed but would hv personally preferred to see the ladies handling the 'pole'.
My ball is finally free from Russell's grasp n it is time to make waves. In the jungle, I'm a hunter ... ball + water = 1 happy dog!

We tried our paws at d surfboard but our owners got carried away by attempting to fit way too many dogs onto it. Ever get that sinking feeling ... Dog overboard!

'Okay, who's d smarty pants who put our balls there?'

Towards the end, Ayako n Jiro got d doggie spa treatment. Shampoo, towel dry n you're good to go.

The Coolest Flyball Box in town

2008-08-20T23:45:00.000+08:00

Kimi the JRT’s owner, Mr Chan, was busy a couple weeks ago working on a new toy/gadget for dogs and he revealed it at the recent Dogathon event - a spanking brand new flyball box, fully sourced and made locally. Had many humans fooled into thinking it was the latest home theatre speakers from Bose … honestly, it looked that good!

Varnished wood panels, steel contact face with a delightful curve and carpeted as well, this baby is designed to attract all manner of mutts to the fast and furious world of flyball sport. Kimi and I had a go at it and I’m impressed! Tremendous grip, neat ball popping action with looks to match. Perhaps now, with the curved contact plate, the ‘swimmers turn’ maybe a reality for some of us.
Other team members didn’t have enough time to practice on the new box, so we stuck to the old dame for the flyball demo at Dogathon. This 3 year old homemade flyball box was the 1st in the country (courtesy of Jojo and Russell’s owners) and is still working fine, despite looking a little worn at the edges.

If we can get another 4-dog relay team together, then with 2 boxes and 2 racing lanes side by side, the next flyball race should be a real treat.

Good news, Junior the AST has worked out how to step and release the ball from the box at our last session. Now, he just has to fine tune his return over hurdles with ball in mouth. The regular tennis ball seems oversized for his tiny jaws … perhaps a squash ball would be a better fit.

Dogathon 2008

2008-08-13T15:33:00.006+08:00

Most popular K9 event in town with main event being the Dogathon Race, whereby dogs have to drag their owners in a 2.5km run across the spacious UPM campus grounds in Serdang. Also featuring the highly popular Master Hunt in which dogs have to negotiate a maze to rescue their hapless owners at the other end. Dogs really have to work for this game, for your owner will be continuously yelling your name out loud till you locate them, which can be rather embarrassing in public. My 5th outing at this annual event and after coming in 2nd - 5th in previous races and hunts, we finally hit the big time and took top spots for both in the small breed category. Me mate, Pacco, also came 2nd and 3rd in the same events for large breed, so the gods must be smiling on us.

Unlike previous years, Ms Owner didn’t put in much training for the race. So it was left to me once again to push, tug and pull her across the finish line. Perhaps it was the sight of the water bowl at the finish line which gave me an added boost. Perhaps it was because there were less teams participating this year due to the early morning drizzle. Doesn’t matter really, as I can finally hang up my marathon shoes and retire in peace. Let’s just stick to dog sports and leave the tiresome marathons to humans.

Also nice to see Agility trials being included as 1 of the featured events and the PetnYou gang were proud to run it as part of Dogathon. PetnYou 5th Agility trials saw 27 dogs making up a total of 38 entries, the highest number to date. Jumpers class was popular and saw 21 teams running which bodes well for the sport. Courses set by Penang judges for Novice, Elementary and Jumpers classes were well designed and challenging.

Clean runs were hard to come by in Novice and Elementary. Perhaps we were distracted or overworked by the many enticing dog demos and games on offer that morning. Nevertheless, the trials were conducted in a fun and friendly fashion and you could tell that the trialers and crowd had an enjoyable morning at the agility ring. I didn’t do too well, got an elimination, knocked down a pole, missed the Aframe contact and ended up 3rd in Novice class, only just.

The 5th Agility trials saw a number of notable teams/ achievements:
Tiniest agility dog - Siao Q the Miniature Pinscher standing at barely 8” and taking on 12-16” hurdles with tremendous jumping action.
Youngest handler - Jason n Russell the JRT who managed a clean run and 8th position in Jumpers mini class.
Newbie - Toffee the Poodle winning the Jumpers maxi class in a time of 21.3s
Newbie - Kimi the JRT winning the Elementary mini class in a time of 36.7s
Veteran - Cami the Cairn Terrier extending her winning runs in Novice class to 2 in a row, for trials within the Klang Valley.
Veteran - Odie the Fox Terrier producing steady and consistent runs to take 2nd place in all 3 classes.

To kick off the Dogathon, PetnYou Dog Squad were on show at the main ring, featuring the dog sports of frisbee, flyball, tricks and heelwork to music. The demos were very well received by the crowd, particularly frisbee and flyball as these activities are a rarity in this country. The organizers must have been impressed and they asked for an encore performance later in the day to keep the public entertained, sweet! Mr Owner wasn’t sure whether the Dog Squad were up to it cause we were also slotted to run in the agility trials, but we didn’t let the public down. We also had a special guest along in our demos, Hannah the hyper-Malinois who gave an energetic display of frisbee catching, flyball racing and advanced heeling exercises.

With a fairly large main ring, Cami, Junior, Hannah and I had more space to work with, and our flying leaps, hang time and frisbee catches really got the crowd going. For flyball, we actually had a complete 4/5 dog relay team (Kimi, Angel, Hannah, Pacco plus me), which made it a more impressive demo as we raced down the lanes one after the other. Hannah went a little berserk upon seeing so many frisbees and balls on the field.

Nice work by the Dogathon committee with their impressive props and décor to go with the ‘Astronaut’ theme. Initially wondered what these weird fellas were hanging around for? Heard the humans mentioning they were aliens and robots from another time and place. They didn’t do much except stand around without any expression … but they were really good at staying still. Cami also had a go at the space theme by putting on a TV antennae, which had me in stitches ... didn't want to make her feel bad, so I told her it was so, so her, ha ha!

Dogathon 2008 made it into The Malaysia Book of Records, being the single largest gathering of dogs with > 600 dogs present at the park. Was a swell day for dog sports, games and activities and the Dog Squad is certainly delighted to be associated with such an event.

Most silly agility course ever

2008-07-24T22:06:00.003+08:00

Me mates and I were actually looking forward to the Dog Olympic agility trials in June as the puppy people had a nice set of imported equipment and it has been 2 years since they last organized their very 1st trials … wonder what took them so long? Sad to say, things haven’t improved much and the trials was quite a let down.

When the public is charged entrance fees to partake in official trials, one would expect the organizers to conduct the trials in a professional manner. The organizers must not only be independent but must also be seen to be independent at all times. Here’s what happened on that day:

1. The course was designed by the organizer who also had a hand in judging the trials, despite the presence of an appointed judge from Thailand.

The organisers should have exercised better judgment by leaving the design of the course to the appointed judge. With the organisers setting the course and also having a hand in the judging process, the integrity of the trials is called into question. Certainly begs the question, 'Why invite an overseas judge in the first place?'

More ever, with 2 judges (1 official judge and 1 from the organizer) in the ring, there was confusion as to whom the scribe was taking instructions from? How does the scribe keep track of 2 officials at the same time and how will the scribe know that the 2 judges are calling for the same fault or different ones?

2. The course designed by the organizer was bizarre to say the least (bear in mind that agility is a fairly new sport in this country and the dog clubs have only run novice level trials to date). In my lifetime of surfing the net for agility courses worldwide, never have I come across such a silly layout. Here’s a rough sketch:
If you managed to decipher all that, then your run will look something like this:and if you think it looks bad on paper, imagine what it looked like on the open field itself!

If you look carefully (obstacles 3-4 and 11-12), teams actually had to recheck and heel to get to the next obstacle in sequence which were placed on total opposite ends of the ring. Traps were aplenty with certain obstacles barely 2 feet apart. There was even 2 sets of 12 pole weave thrown in for good measure. As a result, runs were choppy with a lot of start and stops, handlers searching for the next obstacle and weird heeling moves in between. 1 team actually executed an OB heeling pattern to get to the next obstacle in sequence!

Evidently, teams were confused by the maze and most slowed down to jogging pace to maneuver the obstacles. As a result, the runs were unexciting and confusing to watch and a poor advert for the sport.

Was a truly weird run particularly for faster dogs like me, as I had to keep coming back to Mr Owner to recheck my pace … felt like a ‘Yo-Yo’ at times. Needless to say, I ended up with too many faults and didn’t get a placing.

In fact, all teams had a fair number of faults and would have ended up being eliminated under normal rules if not for the original faults system thought up by the organizers ie. ranging from 5, 10 and 20 faults for different severity of mistakes. How was the scribe ever going to read the judges’ signals for the different faults?

The unorthodox layout left competitors wondering if they were running a Gamblers or Snookers or Rally-O course instead of Standard Agility. Many teams commented that the organizers was trying to be funny or perhaps had no clue really. One observer even quipped that it made the US ESPN Outdoor Games trials look like child’s play.

The primary criteria when designing agility courses is to promote smooth runs with equal emphasis on speed and control. As it is, teams were reduced to jogging pace in this peculiar trial and the spectators would have had a hard time trying to reconcile the fast, pacy and exciting runs seen in regular trials with this one.

3. Course layout and numbering were not placed properly leading to many queries from teams as to which direction should the next obstacle be attempted from. At times, the organizers were unsure themselves and some decisions seemed to be made at the spur of the moment.

4. Organizers were not well versed with the trial rules and when asked about faults for missing the weave poles the 2nd time around, they looked at each other. A competitor then suggested 5 faults which the organizers then readily agreed as they couldn’t figure out what else to do??!!

5. Official trial results (ie. time, faults and team placing) were not announced or released except for the 1st and 2nd placed teams, leaving competitors wondering as to how they had actually fared at the trials.

Certainly, a far cry from any resemblance of the dog sport of agility, much less an official trial… which is a shame really as we are all trying to promote the sport in this country. Teams from other clubs were even more skeptical saying the organizers set out to achieve a desired result for their own teams. Over eagerness perhaps, inexperienced maybe … I would give them the benefit of the doubt in that they are also on the learning curve. Perhaps they should stick to running their usual casual fun events until they actually get a good grip of the game.

Well, all was not lost though, as the Dog Squad also took part in the casual games and brought home plenty of prizes and medals in Simon Says, 60 Pole Weave, Hurdle Race and Fastest Recall games. In fact, the casual games offered more prizes than the agility trials and what more, they were free of charge compared to the RM30 entry fee for the trials … huh?? ... no point even trying to make any sense of this ...

Those puppy people ... always getting into puppy mischief.

Dog sports and trials in Penang Isle

2008-07-18T00:08:00.001+08:00

Prior to flexing our brawn at the PAA Agility and OB trials in Sungai Dua Penang, we popped by at Batu Ferringhi beach the day before for a quick dip and also to take in the sunset.

Check out the beach babes and hunks seen parading on the beach that weekend. Here’s Archer prancing as a Baywatch lifeguard … now who needs swimming trunks when you’ve got lots of fur to spare.
Lotus n Empress brought along their new life vests to try on and they looked really smart. Together with Russell, they had a go at swimming in the sea while Archer watched the waves breaking onto shore. Angel got into her usual herding mode and yet again mistook me for sheep. I was too preoccupied with my frisbee toy and got into a fight with Russell over it. Got punished and was sent to another part of the beach away from the rest, which suited me just fine as I could now play with my frisbee in peace. Meanwhile, Pacco took time to meet up with a couple of ‘long time’ pals of hers, the resident dogs of the beach.

The organizers, PAAPP are an energetic and ambitious band of dog lovers. Flyball races, gamblers and standard agility plus OB trials were scheduled over 2 full days. On the side, they also lined up a fancy dress competition, musical freestyle and protection dog demos.

First time that flyball races were being held in the country. As there were insufficient numbers to form relay teams, races were run in a 1-on-1 round robin format. Everyone was on the learning curve and there were naturally some confusion over the number of runs/ reruns/ heats/ races per dog. Most teams thought each race would be decided over the best of 3 runs. Appeared that each dog had to run 3x over 3 heats against each competitor, which meant up to 9 runs per race against each competing dog.

All this proved too much for most dogs and in humid conditions, many conceded midway. This soon became a test of which dog could last the longest over the never ending runs to and fro the flyball box. In the end, only Hannah the Malinos and I were left standing at the start/finish line. The rest were too tired or bored or got distracted. The number of designated runs will have to be revisited as it is way too testing on all of us (humans included) given our hot and humid weather conditions. Plus we were also slotted to take part in the agility events later on.

Nevertheless, the flyball races did prove exciting when 2 dogs were actually racing neck to neck, up and down the lanes and owners were yelling themselves hoarse to get their dogs into 5th gear across the finish line. There were a number of reruns, some came back without the ball, some missed a hurdle or two and some decided that the lane was greener on the other side. I had my fair share of reruns … being a 1 ball mutt, I kept spitting out the balls when they loaded the box with ones which weren’t my favourite. Mr Owner said I was being rude and difficult. I say, ‘Just gimme my ball. I only need 1!’

This time around, PetnYou Dog Squad scored big time and went home with car loads of trophies, medals, certificates and dog food. Congratulations to the winning teams!

My training mate, Kimi the JRT made his owner proud by coming in 3rd in OB PreNovice, 2nd in Jumpers Mini and 1st in Elementary Mini Agility, on the back of a clean run. Quite amazing, considering that he is barely a year old and this being his first time at proper Agility and OB trials. His big brother, Bank the GR, would have been pleased. Angel the BC also produced nice, clean qualifying runs to take top spots in Novice, Elementary and Gamblers Maxi Agility. She just about swept all the titles in agility for maxi dogs. Her owner decided to take the longer but safer routes on the agility courses, and this tactic worked well for them.
Despite my protests, Mr Owner had me up for OB Novice trials again and once again I produced my signature wave-like heeling pattern, somewhat like a snake sliding across the ring. Even funnier was that they left the pause table for agility in a corner of the OB ring and in the midst of the fast pace heeling exercise, I ran up and onto the pause table in anticipation of the start of agility trials. Mr Owner almost had a heart attack! Still, I did well in the rest of the stay and recall exercises and managed a creditable 4th placing in OB Novice with a qualifying score of 88, which was far better than expected. Received an OB qualifying medal for that which was nice.

Did considerably better in the running events, taking top spots in Flyball, Gamblers and Novice Mini Agility and registering clean qualifying runs as well. Been a long time since my last recorded clean run and my owners were delighted with my performance in all the dog sports being contested over the weekend.
All in all, the Dog Squad won 9 events, and came 2nd and 3rd in 4 other events, sweet! 1st spot came with huge 15kg bags of kibble and we would have struggled to fit 9 bags of that stuff into our car booths. Thankfully, the organisers have arranged so that we could collect our prizes from distribution outlets in KL.

In between events, Lotus n Empress’s owner even found time to visit an old folks home just next door to the trials venue. The home had a proper stage and audio equipment, so we gave a short, impromptu tricks and musical freestyle demo to entertain the senior citizens, cool.

Amber the GR and I also gave musical freestyle demos at the end of the day to entertain the trialers and audience. Chloe the GR also joined in for an impressive tricks routine with her sister, Amber. They certainly were a talented duo of retrievers.Following the Penang trials, Angel, Archer and I each need only 1 more clean run in Novice Agility to achieve the PAAPP Malaysian Agility Champion (MACH) title. Looking forward to their next trial in Ipoh.

Iron Dog wannabe at Cherating beach - Episode II

2008-07-05T15:02:00.002+08:00

Day 2 and the waves were back, nicely set up for some real surfing. This must rank amongst the most extreme dog sports ever. Lost count of the number of times I fell off my board, got wiped out by the surf and took in salty seawater. With my life vest on, I had nothing to loose but pride. After being knocked silly by the waves. I couldn’t really tell whether this activity was dangerous or exhilarating, so I guess I must have lost my sixth sense as well.

Towards the end of the evening, after many attempts and fine tuning on body posture and positioning, I mostly got the hang of it and could actually ride the waves for 10 - 15 meters up to the shoreline, radical dude! Still only a novice at conquering the waves though. Now if only the waves were faster but smaller.

Surfer tips: best to try this when it’s the beginning of low tide and waves are manageable. Also, unless you have a body mass of a St Bernard, if you see a large wave approaching, abort ship and swim to shore immediately … no point hanging onto the board as I can guarantee that you’ll be wiped out in no time, and you’ll still have to swim to shore.

Day 3 and the waves were really back now courtesy of the windy gusts. Mr Owner chose an inopportune time to try out canoeing and he put up a grand struggle to paddle out over the incoming waves. Sea was fairly choppy and he must have spent a good 15 minutes just to paddle out and when he managed to turn around, the waves brought him back to shore within seconds. He was soon exhausted and thought that maybe I would like to have go as well … he told me that it was a walk in the park.

He took out my fav biggie ball to tempt me to go for the ride and I fell for it hook, line and sinker. Before I knew what I was doing, I was already on the canoe and heading out to the treacherous sea. The heavy waves kept pounding on the hull, lifting the front end of the canoe a couple of feet in the air and then dropping it amidst the spray of rumbling waves. Felt like a roller coaster ride and the sensation was heightened by the low level of vision by being that close to sea level. At times, I could only see the pounding waves and the drop after that, and not much in between.

This was even harder than surfing, and I had to jump ship or got thrown off way too many times. On rare occasions, when we managed to turn around in time to catch the right wave, it was a rather invigorating ride back to shore but over in a matter of seconds. Canoeing tips: do not try this on heavy waves or windy days or after a heavy meal and always put on a life vest. Do not believe your owner when he/she says that it’s a walk in the park.

At the end of the 3rd day, I was absolutely exhausted and couldn’t wait to get into bed for much needed snooze time. Packed to leave the next morning and Ruby allowed us to autograph her wooden chalet wall, nice.

I rate this holiday as 3 1/2 paws and would recommend Ruby’s Resort in Cherating if you are looking for a tranquil and relaxing holiday beside a cool and sweeping beach setting, all within a 3 hr drive from KL. Simple, serene and just ideal for getting away from it all.

By the way, Ruby is looking out for a Lab to set up the resident Lifeguard Association. So if you are a Lab and can swim well, do send your resume to Ruby’s Resort and you may just earn yourself a permanent holiday by the beach.

Am going to miss those lovely walks by the beach …

Iron Dog wannabe at Cherating beach - Episode I

2008-07-03T00:43:00.004+08:00

Time to check out from the big city and unwind at sleepy Cherating beach in the East Coast. Was a pleasant and smooth 3 hr drive to Cherating, Kuantan. Stayed for 3 nites at Ruby’s Resort, right next to the Turtle Sanctuary and Club Med.

Simple, basic set up with cosy chalets and very sociable staff. They even had rabbits, couple of cats and terrapins roaming freely on the resort grounds … I suspect that Ruby is trying to set up a mini zoo of her own.

Fair amount of activities available ranging from paintball, ATV quad bikes, canoeing and a really long stretch of beach to run to your heart’s content. Dogs are welcomed provided there aren’t any Muslim guests around, have to be on leash whilst in the grounds and not allowed at the café area. Beach area is free for all but mostly off limits after 7 pm, as it is next to the turtle sanctuary and too much noise and activity may just affect their pilgrimage to the East Coast beaches for their egg laying ritual.

My owners plus a family of Arab tourists had the rare opportunity of releasing month old baby turtles into the sea. Was quite a sight to catch these tiny fellas scurrying and racing along the beach to break through the waves and swim away. Ms Owner picked a rather plucky one and he/she was 1st to the shoreline. Took less then a minute and they were all gone in the deep blue South China Sea. Guide mentioned that their survival rate is very, very low, so we wished them all the best in their sea endeavours.

Also bumped into my old pal, Snowboy the Maltese … long time no sea. Don’t let his soft toy looks fool you, cause beneath that fluffy cotton candy is a demon with a mean snarl. No worries, as I am one of the few who can put up with his Meanie Mouse facade.

First day at the beach and I was bouncing about and kicking my back legs with glee. Soft sand, cool breezes, waves breaking at the shoreline and if you lie down at the right spot, the waves will give you a natural belly rub … total bliss. Did I mention that I love the beach?

The ultimate beachside accessory has to be the Frisbee, never leave home without it! The coolest game to be playing by the beach and I must have spent whole mornings catching that disc. Here’s my own interpretation of ‘Kung Fu JRT’. Think I overdid it a little cause I was totally past ‘doggone tired’ at the end of my holiday.

Took time off to scout the impressive sandbank and cloud formations along the coastal line. Here we were still playing right in the middle of an approaching monsoon. Check out the clouds, seemed like the whole sky was about to fall onto us! We soon came to our senses and left just seconds before the thunderstorm broke out. It’s true what they say about the calm before the storm … and also just after. Sea was unruffled with kind waves, hence my first surfing session at Cherating turned out to be fairly mild but served as a good warm up for further sessions.

More water sports coming up in Episode 2 ...

Groovy Ink

2008-06-25T22:49:00.002+08:00

Ms Owner can be rather timid and skeptical when it comes to trying out new things. But for her recent birthday, she decided to do something entirely different, something out of her comfort zone and boy, did she go all the way for this one.
She got a tattoo of her favourite person on her back … not Mr Owner, but me! Not one of those teenie-weenie itsy-bitsy ones but a fairly sizeable portrait. Said that she needed to buck the trend and do something daring for once. Well, she only needed to look at me for inspiration cause ‘Daredevil’ is my middle name. But a tattoo of me is also good …

After sifting through a number of photos, the tattoo artist finally decided on a mugshot of smiley me with a black scarf. Personally, I would have chosen a more macho, no nonsense, no smiley face shot … after all, it is a tattoo and tattoos are meant to be rough, tough and intimidating. But I didn’t have any say in it, so I guess I’ll have to live up to the smiley face persona for the rest of my life.

She decided on a black and grey portrait, cause colour would have meant a lot of white patches on her back and she didn’t want that.
On appointment day, the assistant finished stenciling the sketch on carbon paper, which was then transferred onto her back. This gives an outline for the artist to work on. The tattooist, Joshua, worked non-stop and was quick with the drill and needle. Here’s a shot of Ms Owner trying to ignore the pain by biting on her lip and pretending to be in a ‘safe place’. No pain, no gain …There was a whole lot of drilling, piercing, prodding and scrapping which seemed to go on and on but she survived the ordeal without much ado. Mr Owner said she lost a little blood in the process but I think he’s just trying to scare us.
4 1/2 hours later, this was the end result. Groovy and very nice details, I must say. Not too cutesy … fairly rugged and individualistic representation of me. Thanks to the Black Cat artists for indulging in my owner’s whims and producing a genuine work of art. I’m impressed.
Wonder if they do tattoos for dogs as well … not for identification purposes but a real one. Heard that you would have to shave off the part being tattooed, which means having to go naked and furless! Not cool … maybe I will opt for a radical haircut with highlights instead.

My buddy, Bank … always in our hearts.

2008-06-17T23:04:00.005+08:00

Bank, 3 yo male GR with a fluffy mane and a really long tongue. He happens to be one of a handful of ‘guy’ friends that I have, and quite possibly my closest pal. JRTs don’t fancy much of dogs of the same sex and I’m no different. In fact, when I first met him when he was still a pup, I gave him the usual top dog treatment and told him to observe the hierarchy at our training grounds, that he was at the bottom of the food chain … so he had better behave.

As we trained and played together, I noticed that we shared a few things in common. He enjoys soaking in cool puddles, the mud baths and getting down and dirty. He enjoys licking people. He enjoys dog sports. He even enjoys laying under a tap of running water after each training session to cool down, just like me! And hey, I thought this fellow must be cool and started hanging out with him. I gave him some tips on agility and he gave me some on OB and pretty soon, we were best of friends. Plus, he grew into a sizeable GR and big friends are always good to have around.

When I mentioned that he enjoys licking people, I was being kind. He actually drools profusely on anyone and everyone he meets, and leaves a steady stream of saliva on their limbs or worse still, around their crotch area! What a funny guy.
Every Sunday morning just before training sessions, we would chat about the state of dog sports in this country, how we wished we had more trials to take part in and more travels to embark on. We also talked about the babes at our training school, how rough and tough they were and how we had to be on our toes all the time so as not to appear to be second best.
Bank was a lively fellow and possibly the most active retriever I have met in my life. He enjoyed play and dog sports, but our hot and humid weather meant that he could only do so for very brief periods before his tongue started to bungee drool and flip flop all over the place. But that didn’t stop him from taking up agility, learnt all obstacles in no time and was amongst the pioneer batch of large breed dogs who could run a full agility course. He went even further and was one of the talented few who can perform a send/ call through 12 pole weave on command, groovy!
His skills were varied. From anchoring the group stay to delivering the scroll for the opening ceremony, Bank had a regular role in our dog shows and demos. Also adept at OB, his natural retrieving ability came in handy when he helped deliver a rose as part of a surprise marriage proposal by a fellow dog lover, during our 3rd Dog Carnival. His flair and exuberance will be hard to emulate.
A core member of the PetnYou Dog Squad, Bank was keenly involved in dog sports, trials, charity work and demos. He was part of our Agility, Obedience and Super Weave Pole demo team and Official scroll bearer. Always affable and the only one who can actually put up with the strange and odd habits of the rest of the Dog Squad.
I lost my treasured friend last Sunday (16 June 2008). Bank left us at the tender age of 3. The Malaysian weather hasn’t been kind to him and the stifling heat took its toll on him. My owners are naturally upset and our deepest condolences go out to fellow trainer, Chan and his family, on the loss of their able dog.
Bank was the gentle giant who deftly maneuvered the weave poles with the greatest of ease. Bank was the slobbering Golden who made me laugh each time he left his ‘mark’ upon greeting unsuspecting humans. Bank was my buddy.

I try to put on a brave face but I already miss my regular Sunday morning chats with him ... wish you were here, Bank.

Cami's in da House

2008-05-28T22:31:00.002+08:00

Ms Owner told me that I had company for the long weekend, but she didn’t say who, which left me wondering … was she finally going to get me a pet cat?? … or a pet mouse? …or a rabbit? … or a seal??!!
Nothing of that sort, was Cami the Cairn Terrier and she’ll be bunking in with us, which was pretty cool as this was my first opportunity at playing host. This lady is a tiny, compact ball of fur with the most coy and innocent looks ever … if you manage to see through all the black fur. But she’s also a terrier which means don’t mess with her, as she’ll not hesitate to spring her wrestle-mania moves on any dog who is way too frisky or overdoes the butt sniffing bit. Sounds a lot like me, which is why we do get along very well.

Cami is from the suburbs of Subang, so was up to me to show her how to adjust to life in the fast lane and bright lights of KL. Lined up a jungle trek at Gasing Hill on Saturday, where we bumped into Chan and Kimi the JRT. Cami n Kimi haven’t done any trekking before, so was a real eye opener for them. We had a grand time tugging on the leash and pulling Ms Owner all over the jungle path, stream and hill … if there were sled dogs in this part of the world, we would surely be first in line to enlist.Also showed Cami how to navigate the fallen trees safely … would normally just hurdle over the logs, but since there’s a lady around, decided to gently tread over in a civilised manner. She chuckled at my demure attempt and told me to revert to my oldself.Took photos … and here Mr Owner got all artistic and decided to go for the ‘Leaning Tower of Pisa’ effect, which meant that we had to pose for a long, long time.At the hill top platform, Ms Owner then decided to test our ‘Stay and wait for the Biscuit’ release and we were just a little bewildered how a jungle trek can turn into an OB session midway. Yup, humans do have a strange preoccupation with testing our stamina for staying still, no matter what the occasion.

Also showed her my mode of transport around town, my owners’ Renault, and how to enjoy the coolest car ride but she seemed more interested in the gear stick. Shared the front passenger seat with her and as she was more rounded, she naturally took up most of the seat, leaving me with standing room only. At times, when I was too tired, I even sat on her bum but she didn’t seem to mind. I didn’t mind as well cause it was a rather cushy spot.
Took her out for dinner at the Magnificent Fish n Chips Shop in Bukit Bintang and she immediately indulged in the human pastime of people watching, as they walked by the bistro. She tends to be way too friendly with humans and proceeded to hop and greet every customer that walked in. Well, she still has a lot to learn about appearing cool and assuming when in public, especially when lounging at cafes … which I’ve got down into a fine art.

Later on, we went for a stroll along Jalan Cangkat BB and Jalan Alor, which was crowded with tourists stuffing themselves silly with hawker fare. Many were bemused as was quite a sight to see 2 terriers trampling along Jln Alor, taking in the smells as if we were also on holidays.At home, when she’s not scouring for treats, she’ll be napping or just bumming around, which is her No.1 pastime. Very low maintenance and easy to care for, says my owners. Don’t know bout the low maintenance cause she does like to eat a lot and she is always eyeing my dinner bowl, just waiting to lick up the leftovers. Also maintains a constant surveillance on the fridge, waiting for the door to be opened.In addition, she does this a lot … the ‘attention seeking belly rub’ gesture, especially when she gets into trouble. My owners are softies and easily bought and coupled with that ‘pity me’ look in her eyes, she just about gets away with anything. That said, she’s actually very well behaved at home.

Next couple of days, we had a packed schedule … went for dim sum at Damansara Jaya, shopping at Ikano Pet Safari, tea at Fork n Spoon café, agility at YMCA and runaround at BU Central Park. We bumped into Hannah d Malinois, Venus d Min Schnauzer and a couple of dogs playing at the park, so we joined in.
Like me, Cami is also fixated with her special toy, her frisbee. This really gets her going and she’ll be barking and scampering around the grounds like a maniac in pursuit of her frisbee, putting on impressive hang times to consistently snatch the disc from the air. And boy, is she consistent … I hardly noticed her missing a catch, sweet. Will not give up her frisbee for anything in the world, and even took on Hannah in a race for the disc. Even when she’s taking a breather, she’ll lie flat on the disc so as no one even gets a sniff of it … and I thought I was obsessive with my toys.Fourth and final day of her stay over and we did attempt to play with each other, but only for awhile. Her owners joined us for banana leaf rice at Bangsar and she was way too excited to see them. Thanks for the neat collar from Spore, guys.

Finally, I have the passenger seat all to myself again …

Kampung Pertak waterfalls trip

2008-05-20T22:35:00.001+08:00

Packed my surfboard n life-vest, n was all set for another trip to chilling Pertak Village waterfalls. My YMCA training mates, Shadow n Russell (JRTs) plus Lotus n Empress (Min Pins) tagged along for d ride this time.

At the falls, we were greeted by a pack of > 10 resident dogs belonging to d orang asli (indigenous people) village, laying claim to the turf. They looked pretty mean n tough, so we were very careful bout not stepping on their tails or even making any attempt to sniff their butts … even the JRTs amongst us, me included, decided to put on our best goody two shoes appearance.
At the cold stream, Shadow, Lotus n Empress needed more coaxing to get into doggie paddle mode, but they soon learnt enough strokes to get back onto the river bank on their own. I had my life-vest on so it was much easier for me to get around. Russell was a regular water baby, jumped straight in n was swimming laps around us. He swam here n there n showed off his paddling prowess. He would do very well in water sports but there’s hardly any in this part of the world, so that’s a pity.Think that swimming is best left to dogs who have large legs n big paws, even better if they are webbed. Dogs with long thin legs and nimble paws like mine, are more suited to running on dry ground … swimming isn’t exactly our forte. Nevertheless, I truly relish the splish-splash and damp cooling feeling when soaking by the river or beach. Also attempted mini dock-diving maneuvers by the side to create more splash and noise … to keep the resident dogs at bay.We were soon joined by d orang asli kids who had a ball giving us simulation rides on the surf board. Played games like ‘How many JRTs can you fit onto a surfboard?’, ‘How high can you go on a surfboard?’ Shadow in particular received special treatment and was hoisted in the air, very much like the village head procession.Meanwhile, Russell took on the kids in swimming races. He also spent a lot of time being my shadow, all keen for a race just to get a hold of my tennis ball. Everywhere I turned, he was right there beside me. He is a real character and has a fetish for toys, don’t matter what type of toy … as long as it belongs to another dog, he will want to chomp on it. Guess nobody taught him the 1st commandment in the Dog Bible, ‘Leave thy neighbour’s toys to thy neighbour.’ I tried to and must have spent a good part of the morning growling at him, but it was like talking to the washing machine. Thank goodness, I had my life-vest on or else I would have lost my ball to him permanently.With the kids keeping us occupied, our owners had an easy time stuffing themselves with snacks and cakes. Played till late noon and we had to go. Didn’t have time to check out the rougher swirling waters upstream, but we will be back again for that, no fear.

Life as a Demo Dog

2008-05-16T01:36:00.004+08:00

Been doing a fair number of demos lately, no cash or kibble involved … purely for charity and on voluntary basis (well, my owners volunteer on my behalf anyway), mostly to entertain orphans, senior citizens and the general public. Last month, we attended a Charity Fair to raise funds for Tiratana Homes and here’s what we got up to:

We dressed up in the finest outfits (clothes sponsored by Pet Fashion)
– thank goodness the clothes were sponsored as there was a massive downpour the night before, turning the fairgrounds into a minefield of sludge and mire. My type of field, immediately dived n rolled in the mud patches, n before my owners could say ‘No’, I had a new contrasting coat – white on the top and black from my chest downwards. For that, I had to take an early shower at the nearest available tap as my owners weren’t about to let me perform looking like a tapir.

By the time we were finished, our outfits were hardly recognizable and I pitied the sponsors who had to get them cleaned again.

We performed tricks n fancy movesWe entertained the publicWe had a go at agilityWe attempted OB heeling patternsWe posed for the paparazzi – yeah, think this photographer got a little carried away by asking us to pose with our best sides … funny guy.

Always look forward to such events as it means that I get to go to new places and sniff out the premises. Last weekend was a real treat and a first for the dog community as the Dog Squad took up the invitation to Maha Vihara temple grounds in Brickfields for a show.

Rare opportunity to visit a place of worship and even rarer for dogs to perform in a multi-racial community event for senior citizens and special children from various homes ... which also meant that we had to be at our best behavior. Not so keen on this part coz it means having to put on our OB hats and pretending to be well drilled OB dogs.

The huge temple grounds comprise of a complex of multi-purpose and prayer halls. We got to perform in a large hall on a proper stage with shiny wood flooring … impressive set up. However, the smooth varnished flooring proved somewhat slippery, and Cami and I struggled to get any grip when attempting jumps and more demanding moves, so we held back on the acrobatic moves. I slipped n slid a lot and would have done better if I had my skates on instead. Still, the large audience was very appreciative of our team’s efforts on stage.
After the performance, we then gathered outside for a group stay and photo session in front of an impressive white temple. Looking like well trained OB dogs, we attracted a lot of attention from the public, Sunday school kids and even the monks. Many were impressed that the bunch of us could remain mostly calm, composed and quiet whilst in the temple grounds. Perhaps we could sense that we were under scrutiny and being watched by a higher being.

We then proceeded to exercise out PR skills in public ... Bank the GR shook hands and gave hugs to the ladies. I continued to play ball with the kids. Most people just wanted to pet, carry or play with my mates and they were more then willing to oblige. The elderly folks seemed the happiest and spent a lot of time petting, brushing and shaking hands with us.

The Dog Squad also achieved a number of firsts at these events, most notably:
- Debut performances for Shadow n Kimi (JRTs) in jumpers agility, Happy (Lab) n Russell (JRT) in tricks,
- Pacco performing a complete routine of tricks plus agility run,
- OB drill team of Bank, Sissy n I performing our very first team heeling pattern exercise,
- Dog Squad being invited into temple grounds to perform for a multi-racial audience.Life as a demo dog isn't easy, but

I get to go places,

make new acquaintances,

and hopefully bring a smile to these faces.