Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?

For several weeks now An An has been behaving weirdly. And loudly. She seems to be having some kind of obsessive compulsive disorder. Instead of entering her igloo through the door she would go to the back, lift it up with her snout and drag out her blanket. Then she will stuff it in her pouch and bring it into the igloo using the door. Then she will go out again, lift the back of the igloo with her snout, drag out her blanket and repeat the whole process endlessly. Since it looked like an exhausting disorder sometimes I turn her house upside down to stop the ruckus. The next morning I found her sleeping inside the toilet with her blanket.

Pet Food Store Vs Video Rental Store

A pet's bad habit is more tolerable than a pet food store owner who sucks. I met 2 kinds of people today (again). Let me deal with the sucker first - a pet store owner who's pride and arrogance has puffed him up so much that......he's not worth describing. Except that he not only sells dog food, he's also got dog eyes. The other person I met is the complete opposite. A very nice young lady operating a video rental store who offered to replace a faulty video cd I rented a week ago. She was sincerely nice and apologetic about the whole thing and although money is important to everyone, her eyes didn't sparkle with dollar signs. Why do you run a business? A very successful businessman gave me a tip - it's not so much to earn money, it is to provide a service. If you can provide a service a customer needs, you can laugh all the way to the bank. Hmmmm, must remember that when I retire from this job.

Totoro

My totoro handphone holder was mauled by Coco and now looks pathetic with only one eye. I thought I would clean it up so I threw it in the washing machine. The cardboard inside became soggy and I had to remove all of it. It now looks as limp as an old sock.

Pied Piper

When I bought this schnauzer, I didn't know that it was originally bred for (of all things) catching rats. Sometimes I catch her putting her paws at the edge of the table where the hamsters are kept and I have visions of coming home one day to over-turned cages and 3 (God forbid) dead hamsters. 3 fighting hamsters and one rat-catcher. What on earth possessed me? But I am happy to read that the schnauzer had been the subject (or part subject) of famous artists - Rembrandt, Sir Joshua Reynold, Albrecht Durer. Its accomplishment as a brave and loyal working dog and guard dog fills my heart with hope. I see a glimmer of light at the end of the tunnel. I envision the day when Coco will trot obediently by my side, carrying my bag of grocery. We reach the door and she wipes her paws before entering and deposits the bag in the kitchen. Perhaps she can learn to use the washing machine, mop the floor, clean the toilet........ach, what time is it? Why am I dreaming??

Dog Eyes

I had an encounter with 2 people yesterday which made me think of a chinese saying about a dog. The direct translation is "dog eyes look down on people" meaning that a dog can sniff out your (financial) status. If you're well-to-do, it will pass you by. If you're not well-to-do, it will bark and growl at you and if he's with a pack, he'll most likely sink his teeth in as well. I have seen it happen in my neighborhood and we will always shake our heads and say, "Tsk,tsk,tsk....dog eyes really look down on people!" So, what has all this got to do with the 2 people I encountered yesterday? The first one was my superior, a lady of high ranking who dropped by to inspect my workplace. She was rolling her eyes all the time, calling people stupid and looking down her nose at everybody else's efforts. Meaning to say that SHE would have done things better. Really dog eyes. The second one was an ex-superior who professes to be a friend. He thinks that your life is meaningless because you don't live where he lives or you don't travel like he does and in case you did travel, your travels aren't as interesting as his. The conversation is a monologue of I, me and myself. When he's had enough of that, it becomes a tirade of accusing questions which can be summed up in a sentence - you're a failure and you haven't lived because you're not doing the things I'm doing. Tsk, tsk, tsk....not only has he dog eyes but also pigeon eyes! Ah, that's another saying about pigeons. When someone has pigeon eyes it's the same as having dog eyes. I believe that we do the things we do because we want happiness and inner peace. If travelling helps, by all means travel. If having 3 hamsters and a dog helps - who are you to judge?

The Dog Is Driving Me Bonkers

Lunch break is only 1 hour and it takes me exactly 30 minutes to drive home and back. That gives me half an hour to rest. Rest? No, I don't rest. I steal 10 minutes from my employer by eating between 12 and 1pm so my half hour does not include lunch. Rather I come home to a jumping dog (it's joy) and then after calming her down I will survey the mess and clean up. To avoid picking shit, I follow my dog around until she looks like she's squatting and then I'll whisk out my tissue and catch her droppings. I've managed to do that rather well of late and that saves me a lot of wiping, spraying and mopping. It's crazy but here is a human waiting for her dog to shit and feeling very smug when she gets it right smack in the middle of the tissue. In my saner days, I would NEVER make the journey home during such a short lunch break. I would enjoy my lunch at the coffee shop and come back to my cool office and play zuma on my computer until it's time for work.

You Vixen You

Did I say that this is a good dog? I take that back. It is true that there are a 1001 bad things that a dog can do or as the chinese saying goes - the vixen's tail is getting longer and longer - the vixen or fox depicting all things bad for the Chinese. It's the same as saying that her true colors are finally showing. Since my apartment is as small as a dog's crate, I don't confine poor Coco to a crate, I just confine her to my apartment. When I come home what greets me will be dog toys all over the floor (plus dog excrement), cushions all askew, chewed slippers, chewed shoe cabinet, chewed couch, shreds of paper, paw prints and a non-stop jumping dog looking absolutely delighted with the make-over. Gone are the days when I can come home to quiet hamsters who peer sleepily at me from safe, enclosed cages.

Don't Sell Me The Whole Shop Please

If there's anything that gets on my nerve more, it has got to be a sales person who tries to make you buy things you don't need. That was exactly what happened when I went to the pet shop to get some toys for my new dog. The sales girl tailed me around the shop and tried to sell me every product that I so much as glanced at. She was also a non-stop chatterbox who was more concerned about my money (becoming her money) than me or the pet she sold me. The poor girl still couldn't figure out why customers are running away without buying. Thus the desperate, sure-to-fail, plea to buy, buy, buy.

I Want To Go Out And Play

Coco has kept me so busy that I have not been paying that much attention to my poor hamsters. They used to be able to play for hours in their hamster balls but these days I am so tired that they are allowed to roll around for only an hour or two before I put them back in their cages. They protest loud and long and sometimes they get so exhausted from all that bar-biting that they just lay on their sides with their eyes open - like prisoners despairing of ever escaping.

Dog Vs Hamster

A dog sleeps quietly at your feet when you're having breakfast. A hamster is no where to be seen when let loose in the house.

Intelligent Hamster

A hamster knows where to piss, needless of any training/instruction/yelling/hair-pulling, and saves you a lot of work. The (stupid) dog pisses all over the house.....:(

Hamster Vs Dog

A hamster doesn't watch over you like a hawk when you mop the floor. You don't need to mop the floor twice a day anyway when you have a hamster for a pet but a dog in the house means work, work and more work. Unless you want to live like a dog. DON'T get a dog even if they look like the cutest thing in the world in the pet shop.

A New Family Member

Our new family member - Gou Gou (which means doggie) a.k.a. Coco. Good dog, except that she isn't toilet trained and she bites everything in sight, her favorite being my bedroom slippers. She has given me so much work that I don't even have time to switch on my computer. She is absolutely besotted with me and tails me all the time.

I Don't Like My New Home!

I did a very, very impulsive thing a day after I came back from my weekend trip. I bought a dog. I had always wanted a dog but had decided against it a thousand times because it would mean a lot of work and my miniscule apartment would not be suitable for rearing one. It was totally unplanned but here am I with an 8-month old schnauzer who is a very good dog except that it shits and pisses indiscreetly and now I pick shit all day long. Because of the dog, Momokuai had to be evicted from her home and be put in a new but smaller cage. I don't think she likes her new home at all. I feel so, so sorry for her.

Didn't Know You Were Away

Life had been a whirlwind of events. Went away for a weekend and that was the first time I had ever been away from my hamsters. My friend was kind enough to look after them for me, God bless her! Like an anxious mother I felt uneasy being away from them and drove 20 km to bring them home even though it was near midnight. They slept oblivious to my hardship and didn't even seem to miss me. Well, what do you expect from these short-sighted rodents?