Don't Know Why But I Like You

This is the tiniest of the lot and the one I'd like to bring home when weaned. It's skinny, has poor eyesight and wobbles on its feet. The other day it fell into the drain and yelped super loudly when I rescued it. It was still screaming when I returned it to the mother.

We Have Each Other

At least they have each other and are most contented when mama is around. Mama = milk = survival. When there were still 7 of them I used to put food near mama and puppies but that only drew the attention of the other dogs. To protect them poor mama carried them one by one to another secluded place across the street. I didn't realise what she was doing and thought that she had abandoned her pups. They were yelping on top of their voices all morning and when I went to check on them during lunch I found one lonely pup crying miserably for its mother. I thought someone had taken the pups home (and left this one behind) and as a result mama abandoned them. So I put it in a box with some towel and tried feeding it milk. It couldn't drink properly and kept whimpering/yelping for mom when it wasn't sleeping. I decided to bring it home and let Coco be stand-in mom. As I was about to leave the office its mother found me and was I relieved to see her! She didn't give up looking for her baby even though I kept it in my room for half a day. She's a great mom. For mothers who dump their babies (sometimes still alive) in garbage bins - please learn from this dog!

Life Is Miserable

One of the puppies - no home, no loving owner, not enough food.....life is miserable indeed.

I Am Full - At Long Last!

This is a stray female at my workplace which gave birth to 9 puppies about a month ago. Very sadly, I only see 4 puppies now. I have been feeding it for the past month but the other dogs will get her food as soon as my back is turned. It's Saturday today so I decided to cook a BIG meal for all the dogs (they were surviving on bread and sardines which barely filled their stomachs). It looked so delicious I was tempted to drink the soup (chicken feet/butt)....no, I didn't. When I arrived all the dogs were nowhere to be found except for this mama dog and her pups. I gave her all the food and went to check on her puppies. When I came back she had finished everything and not even a tiny bone was left for her friends. Or enemies, rather.

Footwork

Mimi cleaning her foot.

Stray Dogs

The other day my colleagues and I were drooling, oohing and aahing about the maid who inherited 12 million from her rich owner. Didn't read the details but she sure is lucky - don't you wish it's you. What would I do if I had 12 million? I would open a shelter for homeless animals. Thanks to Coco I became more aware of the stray dogs at my workplace (after ignoring them for the past half year) and finally did what I was trying hard not to do all the time - feed them. Puppies appeared and I became particularly fond of one which came running each time I whistled. One by one they were captured, hopefully, into new homes. Who knows, some might end up in a pot. Sad but true. My little favorite was the last to be captured because it knew how to run away when strangers approached. It was finally caught but not before giving the fellow a long jog around the building in the rain. The man seemed suspiciously persistant and I felt uneasy when he took hold of a stick. I couldn't do much except tell him you better take good care of the dog and not eat it!! Coco and the likes are having a good life but strays lead very, very miserable lives.

Great Inovation

Very useful device for picking up dog shit. Step 1 - cover excrement with sufficient tissue. Step 2 - pick it up with the device. Step 3 - flush it. Step 4 - clean up what's left on the floor. Any useful device for mopping up urine?

Go To Sleep!

The best time of any day is when this dog sleeps.

Snout

Schnauzer's snout....... : )

Send Me The Pillow

I bought new pillows for my hamsters and as usual Momokuai is always the one to tear it apart. That's one thing she has in common with the dog.

Dreaming Of Shangri-la

OK...we will wait for our shangri-la....zzzz....

Poor Dears

A dog is so consuming that Mi, An and Mokuai have been rather neglected. Their daily routine consists of sleeping 12 hours during the day, stirring when the sun goes down. Stretching and yawning and then preening themselves like an emperor's consort for at least another hour before jogging till dawn on their wheels. That is so boring but for the moment that will have to suffice. Till the day when I can get them a bigger playground, with lots of tunnels! Hang on there hamsters!

Lao Bak Giu

Did I hear you call me "Old Man Dog???" I am female and barely a year old....

Old Man Dog

This is Coco's favourite toy and she knows it by name. When we have time (rare, rare, rare) we'll play hide and seek with her. We will hide her octopus and then ask her where's your octopus Coco? Then she'll start searching for it and looking very pathetic at the same time. Schnauzers have a kind of pathetic look about them and the nickname for it in Chinese is "lao bak giu" or "old man dog".

Envious Dog

Coco now refuses to eat dry food so I have changed her diet to rice + meat and now it's just meat because the rice sticks to her whiskers and I am too tired to pick them out one by one. She loathes the dry pellets and prefers to starve each time I put them in front of her but she'll swallow anything I feed the hamsters. That includes all the maize and nuts that they eat. It's just envy. Once in a while, Mi, An and Mokuai eat dry dog food. Still a lot left. It must be very unpalatable because even starved stray dogs refuse to eat them.

No More House

I have confiscated my hamsters' igloos to give them more space in their new fish-tank homes. Why do they need to live in a house within a house anyway. They can no longer hide and in future I can see more of their cute little tummies. I love it when they sleep on their backs. Even the dog sleeps on her back and understands urut-urut (massage). When I say "urut-urut?" she'll roll over and let me massage her tummy. What a win-win situation. She gets massaged while I get tickled. If only my hamsters will let me do that.....

Oil Country

I drove to a neighboring oil-rich country with friends and family and it was most enjoyable. There was so much fun and laughter. It isn't a big place and living there can be pretty boring but it is clean and tidy and virtually crime-free. A neat place. And that dome probably has real gold in it. I am sure of it.

Another Weekend Trip

I went for another weekend trip in June and this time I left Mimi, AnAn and Mokuai on their own. I made sure they had lots of food and enough water and left with a slightly heavy heart but experts say it's ok for a couple of days. When I came home they looked slightly groggy but after fresh shavings, fresh food, fresh water and clean homes plus lots of soothing words, they went jogging on their wheels like nothing ever happened.

So Busy!

Life has been so busy and before you know it, July is here. Half of 2010 is gone. No time to blog, no time to aim my camera at my hamsters and dog. These wheels, which have been lying dormant since I bought hamster balls, are now put to good use again. Balls are now tattered and almost unusable while cages have been exchanged with fish tanks which are easier to clean and big enough for a wheel to go in. I hope they're happier.......

Craftiness Personified

A dog (or this dog) is like a crafty toddler. When you are around she will feign innocence and sleep quietly at your feet but when your back is turned for as brief as 2 minutes, she becomes a toddler who savours everything with her mouth. That will include toilet paper, low-lying vcds, things in the dustbin, curtains and if possible, hamsters.

Come Out And Play...Please?

My name is Coco....what's yours? Want to come out and play.........? That seems to be on the dog's mind. May has become June and life with 3 hamsters and 1 dog has been nothing but busy!

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?

Arch Enemies

I made a few more attempts to put the 3 hamsters together in the hope that they will live amicably together like old times. It was not to be. After sniffing each other out one of them will pounce. After all the horror stories on the net about hamsters killing each other, I decided not to take any more chances.

Up, Up And Away

These cd racks sure come in useful. Now, let me just get on that chair and then I can go up the table and explore some more.......

Kitty Cat Makeover

I used to be Kitty Cat but thanks to Momokuai's makeover I now look like this. My pink and yellow hearts have been torn to shreds and my eyes..... she is still trying to get all the cotton out of my ear.

Kitty Cat Pillow

This isn't a pillow originally but a magnet. The size seemed right so I bought 2, one for AnAn and one for Momokuai because I was too lazy to lug out the sewing machine just to sew 2 small pillows. Since Mimi still has the pillow that I sewed for her I didn't buy her one. Now that they live separate lives, there's got to be 3 of everything. Momokuai bit off the magnet almost as soon as she got it and one of kitty cat's eyes...hmmm...the threads are hanging loose. I think they still prefer my hand-sewn pillows because this one is a bit hard and bouncy. Hamsters prefer pliable possessions that they can stuff into their mouths especially in emergency situations. Such as when their igloos/maze has been lifted and moved away for cleaning. Then after looking lost and bewildered for a few seconds they will stuff their blankets into their pouches, followed by their pillows and if that is not possible (usually not) they will carry it in their mouths and run around looking for their lost homes. That is a heart-rending sight but clean it I must.

More Evil Deeds

Another one of Momokuai's evil deeds are these bites that she gave me once. When she's bored with life on the porch she will try to climb up my pants when I feed her or clean her digs. She will climb up my knee when I am squatting, up my tummy and onto my shoulders, grabbing every inch of clothing as hard as she can. On my shoulders she will survey the world for a short time and then she will climb down my back. To stop her from leaping to her death I will put my palms behind my back to catch her, bring her to the front where she will climb up my arms to repeat the whole cycle again. Only that time I don't know what possessed her to peck me. For that evil deed she was flung off to the floor. It was a reflex action.

Rice Belongs To Food Bowl (Not Pillow)

The reason Momokuai didn't bring her pillow to her new maze-house is because it is no longer the pillow that it used to be. When Momokuai was still her old self, she bit a nice hole in the middle of her pillow, took out all the rice inside and transferred all of it neatly to her food bowl. She has been ignoring the very sorry-looking pillow since then. I keep throwing it at her to remind her of her bad deeds.

The Maze

To make up for running over Momokuai's foot, I built her a simple maze. Well, it does look a bit slipshod and flimsy, to say the least, but I must inform that the maze was built while I was suffering greatly from a bad flu. Feverish and my nose stuffy and running at the same time, I cut and glued the boards together. So sick was I that I forgot to make the doors. Didn't have any choice but to cut two holes at the sides. It made my maze looked pitiful. At least, Momokuai didn't object to it. She brought her blanket inside. I made sure that there were lots of narrow corners for her to rest her head. And her poor swollen foot.

Gone Are Those Days

Life has been topsy turvy since I last blogged. My hamsters have turned against each other. Gone are the days when they could eat together, snooze on top of one another, playfully wrestle together. Gone, gone, gone. Now, they only want to draw blood. They live in 3 separate places and that means 3x of cleaning and washing for me. The other day Momokuai's foot got caught in the door - all my fault. I didn't see her when I pushed the sliding door open. I saw her shaking her foot repeatedly and knew that she must've been in great pain. It was shake-shake-shake and lick, shake-shake-shake and lick. Then I saw bleeding and the following days/nights she wasn't her usual self. She hid her head quietly in a corner and slept throught the whole day and night. I am so, so, so sorry. I'd do anything to have her back to her usual furniture-destroying self.

She Loves Pillows

Several days ago I saw AnAn and Momokuai tugging at the pillow, one at each end. Both were trying to grab it from the other. To avoid another stomach-biting episode between the two, I threw in another pillow. "Nah, nah, nah!" I said. "Don't fight over it, both of you can have one each." So they went back to sleep, 2 hamsters and 2 pillows while Mimi slept outside, pillowless, under the tunnel. After a short while I saw Mimi sneaking into the igloo and drag out both pillows to her sleeping spot. One after the other she dragged them out with her mouth while the other 2 slept on unaware. How did she know about the new pillow? She was sleeping soundly under the tunnel when I put it inside the igloo.

God To My Hamsters

While Mimi snuggles up to AnAn, Momokuai sleeps in isolation. Oh, so sad. The black spot on AnAn's stomach is a bitemark about to heal. Now there are several more. So sad, so sad. It's like 2 of your children fighting - your heart goes out to both. There's no favoritism and instead of spanking Momokuai, all I want to do is comfort her. But being a hamster who doesn't understand a human, she runs away and refuses to let me touch her. Instead of letting me wipe her wounds, she licks them herself. At that instant, I thought to myself, is that how God feels about us when we hurt each other? It's not so much He getting angry with us but rather aching for us and longing to take us in His arms and wanting to wipe away our hurt. And most of us won't let Him.

Unbreak My Heart!

I thought all was well when I saw Momokuai and AnAn sleeping together yesterday morning. Perhaps they have decided to end their bloody (literally, I mean) feud after all. Night fell and I let them roam freely in the house for a change. While I was busy trimming the flowers I bought, I heard scuffling noises and huffing and puffing and I turned to see Momokuai and AnAn transformed into a furry ball. Each was biting the other and I had to make some effort to prise them apart. My heart ached so much to see each wet and bleeding. I don't know what triggered this feud after months of living peacefully together. A couple of things I noticed. First, Momokuai is always the attacker and second, she doesn't attack Mimi, her mother. She's an alpha hamster?? I read that hamsters can bite each other to death so that means Momokuai will have to be isolated. For good. Unbreak my heart...... :(

Nothing Can Stop Me

When she's finished, she struggles with all her might to get out. So it went on. And on.

By Hook Or By Crook I Will!

With cheeks puffed up and her head twice the usual size Momokuai tries to get inside her hamster ball. I thought she would give up, unload her food and try again but no. Stubborn hamster managed to get in, cheeks and all ,for a spin.

The Terrorist

That is the amount of food a hamster can hoard in its pouch. Lately Momokuai has been hoarding food like there's going to be a famine. She refuses to unload it in her igloo, like she usually does, and runs around frantically looking for another spot to dump her loot. Sometimes in her toilet, once in my toilet and another time behind the sewing machine. She has also been terrorising AnAn everyday, chasing after her and not stopping until she has dug her fangs in or until I send her to isolation. What has AnAn done to deserve this? She stole Momokuai's food? She bit her?