Thursday, December 21, 2006

What the Fart?!!!

I noticed that whenever Axel heard a farting sound ...either natural (ehem, ehem) or otherwise, he would turn around and sniff his butt.

So to make sure, I conducted an experiment using a nearly empty easy squeeze sweetener bottle. See what I concluded:

(Note: The sound seemed to lag in the video. I wondered why...any tips?)

Monday, October 30, 2006

Beauty and the Beast


During the Hari Raya holidays, I brought Axel back to my hometown. It was a 1.5 hours drive. Initially Axel was making so much noise in his carrier but after realising that it's futile, he basically shut his mouth and slept.

My niece was back as well and she was so "smittened" by Axel. The last time she saw him was in February 06 and Axel has grown so much since then. Initially she was a bit scared of the "beast" but after realising that she was under no threat at all, she became more daring..even grabbing Axel's tail. However when Axel got excited, he would chase her and she would run around screaming. So I was very much around them all the time (almost) to ensure neither the beauty nor the beast would get hurt.

The trip was really a big change to Axel. At least he got to go for walks with me holding a huge stick. Oh....the stick was not for Axel. It was for the stray dogs around my parents' house. There was one day when I brought him out for a walk and bumped into a stray dog. The stray dog was growling and tried to get close to Axel. I quickly picked Axel up and slowly moved away. After that incident, I made sure I brought along that huge stick whenever I took him out.

Anyway, Axel is now back in the safety of my apartment. In a few days time, I will have to send him to "Marie France Bodyline" again. I will be going for a long break overseas and Gan's mom is so kind to look after Axel for me. She actually misses Axel too. Although Axel is a "beast" but this "beast" certainly has a way to get to your heart. :-)

Friday, September 29, 2006

Recent Pics






Saturday, September 16, 2006

Marie France Bodyline


Since I started my new job 2 months ago, I have lost the convenience to update Axel's blog. My new company is rather strict about our internet access. What doesn't help is that at home, I am only using dialup which made uploading pics to be really a pain. I know I know...it's about time I switch to broadband but that is another whole set of story altogether.

Anyway for the past few months when I needed to travel overseas, I have put Axel up with Gan's mom. They have this house which provided Axel ample of space to exercise. Besides that, Axel would get a lot of attention there too! Each time I send Axel to them, Gan's mom would comment on how fat Axel was. Then when I collect Axel back, he has indeed looked fitter. That is why I now think of Gan's mom as the slimming consultant, and the house as Marie France Bodyline (this is a very well known slimming center in Malaysia).

Take a look at Axel doing the "Stairmaster" in "Marie France Bodyline":


Sunday, August 06, 2006

Graduation

Axel's "graduation ceremony" was held on the 30th July 2006. He received a canine good citizen medal, a certificate and a packet of ProPlan dog food for adult dog. The "ceremony" was delayed for about 1.5 hours, but Axel was not really bothered by that. He was basically very happy to meet up his old friends. It was us, the owners who became very agitated by the delay. Below are some of the pictures taken that day.

Axel frolicking on the grass. He usually only frolics on my apartment's broken marble floor.

Axel's classmates. From left: Bruno the schnauzer, Axel the pug, Mandarin the labrador and Zippy the lab/retriever.

"Wow...who is that hot huchimama?!!!"

The medal

Axel and his medal

Wednesday, July 12, 2006

Expressions

Some recent pics of Axel with a few of his many expressions.

This is the "Is that food I see?" expression


This is the "Oh..it's not food. It's a ball" expression.


This is the "Throw the ball! Throw the ball!" expression.


This is the "Nye nye nye nye nye..I got the ball" expression.


This is the "I'm bored!" expression.

Thursday, June 15, 2006

Moment of Truth

After attending 10 classes for the puppy obedience program, the moment of truth came on the 11th June 06. This day was the day when our puppies were "judged" on their level of obedience. Reflecting back to that day, it was more stressful to me than to Axel!


A few minutes before the examiners start calling each of us into the tennis court, they told us that we were not allowed to touch or give treats to our puppies during the exam. I felt as if my jaw fell to the ground. We have been training them with treats! I was so worried that without treats, Axel would ignore me totally!

The exam was broken into 2 sessions. First session was individual puppy evaluation. They were tested on walking with you and stopping upon command. Then there was the recall exercise as well where you get the puppy to stay at its place, then running to you upon command. The second session was conducted in a group where the puppies were evaluated on sit stay, down stay and some aspects of the canine good citizen program.


Surprisingly, Axel did well in all of them...even without treats! He scored the highest point in his class - 92 out of 100. I can't help but to be proud of him. Anyway I am looking forward to enrol him to the next level's class. I find these classes to be very beneficial for our dogs and for ourselves too!

(Axel and his classmate, Zippy)

The Recall exercise video is as below. Take note that there is a lag in the audio.


Wednesday, June 07, 2006

Killing Nemo

On the 7th June 2006, everyone's favourite cartoon character Nemo was found maimed and murdered.

Initial investigation led to one suspect.

(Axel: Not me! I am innocent!!)

A CCTV managed to catch the suspect in action.





Saturday, May 27, 2006

FIFA World Cup Fever


Axel got the FIFA World Cup fever too. Maybe he will grow up to be a famous footballer one day.... hmm.....


Monday, May 08, 2006

6 months old

Axel will be 6 months old in 3 days time (11th May 2006). How time flies! I could still remember how small he was when he first came into my life. Now, he has doubled his size and his personality.

I read somewhere that 1 human year is equal to 7 dog years. Then again, there is another belief that this is not very accurate since dogs reach adulthood within the first couple of years. So a canine expert came out with a new formula which claimed to be a bit more accurate.

The formula is: 10.5 dog years per human year for the first 2 years, then 4 dog years per human year for each year after. So based on this formula, Axel is 5.25 human years old.

I have made a short movie of his "month to month" progression from the day I laid eyes on him until now.


Thursday, April 20, 2006

Plastic Kennel


Bought Axel a plastic kennel yesterday. The kennel was a bargain buy. Retail price was RM202 but this pet store in Taman Megah was having a sale. So the price was reduced to RM138 and along with my membership accumulated points, I got it for only RM117!

I tried fitting the kennel and the metal cage(which Axel treats as his toilet) in my kitchen using the playpen as fencing. After a few re-arrangements, I finally managed to fit them in. Axel was crazy for the kennel...but for the wrong reasons. He saw it as his big chew toy. So he was chewing at the opening, the roof and anywhere else which he could clam his jaw on. As the kennel was heavy but not heavy enough, Axel was pushing it here and there, sometimes blocking the entrance of the metal cage. Not being able to get into his toilet would gave him the reason to do his "business" outside.. and being a reasonable "daddy", how could I punish him for that, right? Axel wouldn't even sleep in the kennel, preferring to doze off on the kitchen tiles instead.


So finally I gave up. I moved the kennel to my living room, and left a big area in the playpen for the metal cage. At least now Axel has a big area to move about and he can continue to sleep on the kitchen tiles. I used to just lock him up in the metal cage where he slept, pee'ed and poo'ed. I slowly developed this conscience that he might not be comfortable sleeping on the metal gaps; and the fact that he started to get smelly a day after his bath all the time.

The kennel now serves as his playing area instead of sleeping area. Looking at the bright side, I now have a large place to store his toys.

Kennel = RM117
Extra playpen = RM42
Reason to procrastinate from my studies* = priceless

*Note: I am actually taking leave from work to study for my exams.


Monday, April 03, 2006

Even the pug can do it

Yesterday was Axel's 4th Puppy Obedience class. "We" have learned how to heel, sit, stand, turnaround, turn right and turn left so far. I used "We" because I too, have to learn how to give the right instructions in order for Axel to understand.

Axel has not been doing well in class. The instructor commented that he has never seen such a hyper pug before ... as Axel couldn't sit still at all. He was either jumping up and down my legs or tugging the leash by his teeth. At one point when he actually followed the instruction, Arthur (I finally got his name right) the instructor said "see... even the pug can do it". That didn't sound flattering at all! My "son" is a dunce!!

Arthur kept saying that we should bring our dogs out more often. Apparently there are a few of Axel's classmates who were confined at home as well. The thing is.... how many parks out there allow us to bring our dogs for a walk? Worse still...I have to practically smuggle Axel in and out of my apartment. How I wish the new rule of permitting dogs to be kept in apartments will be approved soon.

At home, Axel is doing okay. It could be due to less distraction. Or it could be due to me having the rolled-up newspaper within my reach.

Sunday, March 12, 2006

First Day At School

Axel was enrolled to the Puppy.com.my's "Puppy Obedience training" and this morning was his first day at "school". As Axel had no prior direct contact with any dogs before this since I got him, I was expecting him to pull a "spiderman act"(four legs spread out flat on the ground and refusing to budge) when I put him down. I had a pleasant surprise finding out the total opposite. He was so excited to get to know new friends. He actually sniffed some large dogs like a labrador and a beagle so persistently that he freaked them out!

Axel joined the 10.30am session together with 1 silky terrier, 2 labradors, 1 beagle, 3 schnauzers and 1 I dunno what breed. I think I might have missed 1 or 2 more dogs. The session started off with the instructor introducing himself. Hmm..I can't remember his name now as I was concentrating on pulling out grass and leaves from Axel's mouth during that time! The instructor has a beautiful and excellently trained schnauzer for demonstrations.

The first lesson was to hold the leash in a correct and cooler way. Then it was to get the dogs to sit and walk with us on our left. Axel was really running forward trying to go after the butt of the dog in front of him.

It was really exciting...well I admit to me as well. I am so glad that Axel was not the last in his class. Some dogs just refused to move and the owners had to resort to playing tug of war with the dog or carrying the dog and walking the rounds with us!

Really proud of Axel when the instructor said "The pug did well".

Well..another 9 lessons to go and I am sure Axel looks forward to them as much as I do. Looking back, I think this was very much the first day at school for me too!

Monday, February 20, 2006

Alarm Clock


At 6.00am sharp everyday, my electronic alarm clock in my room would go off. At almost the same time, there would be another alarm clock making a lot of noise in the kitchen....Axel. If I could understand doggie language, I would bet that he was screaming "Move your butt out of the bed and let me out!!!". Without fail I get this wake up call everyday. He would go on and on until he finally saw me. Then he would quiet down, go to his "down" position and looked up to me with his puppy eyes. At this point, I couldn't find any reason to beat the hell out of him. Gosh this guy is good!

Axel is about 14 weeks old now. He has grown a fair bit. He got his 3rd vaccination yesterday and in 2 weeks time, he would be "free" to meet up other dogs. The vet who gave him his vaccination actually pointed that Axel has a little tummy already... but nothing to be worried about. "As long as he doesn't get too fat, it should be okay".

According to the vet, Dr Ding, a lot of pug owners like their pugs to be chubby in order to look cute. However this may pose a lot of health problems to the dog. I doubt I would want a fat dog anyway...

After his vaccination, Axel was a bit drowsy. He was not as active as his usual self. After we got home, I sat on the floor with my back leaning against the couch, reading some notes for my tuesday's exam. Axel walked up to me but I just ignored him. He slowly climbed up my lap, laid his head on one of my arms and went to sleep. Mm...it actually felt so sweet. When he woke up, he was back to his usual self.

And yes.....I got my wake up alarm again this morning...as usual.

Sunday, February 05, 2006

Happy Dog Year!

According to the chinese, this year is the year of the dog. I heard that's the reason why many people start rearing dogs. Dogs are supposed to bring luck and prosperity this year. For me, this wasn't at all the reason I got Axel.

Anyway I brought Axel back to my hometown for the Chinese New Year celebration. My nieces and nephew were back as well, and they were so excited with him. This of course means that at any possibility, they would try to play with Axel. When I finally came back to KL again with Axel, I noticed that most of the previous trainings I gave him went down the drain. Axel seemed to forget about so many things and one thing that really irritates me is his newspaper eating habit.

I bought this anti-chewing spray which was a total let down. Axel was not at all affected by it, no matter how much I sprayed. It smelled a lot like mosquito repellent though...I actually wondered whether they could be the same thing.

Now that I bought him a pee tray, he seemed to shift his taste from newspaper to the side of the tray instead. No matter how much I shouted and used the rolled up newspaper, he would go back and start chewing on that again after I turned my back. It was so frustrating! However everytime I feel that, I will remind myself of what my friend, Chris said. "Don't give up!". Chris has a shih-tzu named Coco. Coco is a very well behaved dog... and I wonder when Axel can be the same....

So in this year of the dog, will I be able to "conquer" my dog... or will my dog drive me up the wall (or off my balcony) instead?

Wednesday, January 25, 2006

Adorable or vomit blood*?

Axel has a cushion in the living room specifically for him to rest and play with when he is out from him playpen. Initially he used it for peeing. I had to slap his behind a few times before he finally got the message.

He now takes it as his landing ground when he is doing his "flight" routine at my living room. I used the word "flight" because when he is running, you see and feel as if all his legs are up on the air. Oh..and often times he land on my lap too!

I bought him a harness yesterday. He was pretty cool when I put it on him. Only when he started to run that he noticed this additional "accessory". So he was running and trying to reach the side of the harness at the same time. Looked pretty comical to me.

I attached the leash to his harness and tried to train him to walk along with me. With the magical power of treats in my hand, we managed to walk along well..although it's only for a short period of time. There were of course a few glitches here and there; such as he went on strike and lied flat on the floor refusing to budge. Nothing that the treats couldn't fix though!

Nowadays when I reached home, he would whine for me to let him out. I would usually play cool and ignore him for a while. Well... that would be after I have cleaned up his mess la. When he got calmer, I would let him out. I couldn't help but to feel like a mean daddy when dealing with Axel cos I seemed to shout at him a lot. Whenever I did that, he would go flat on the floor... and looked up to me with his puppy eyes. When I turned my back, off he went with the same mischief again. Adorable or vomit blood*??

(*vomit blood - an expression to denote frustration)

Monday, January 23, 2006

Nice & Clean

Brought Axel to the pet supplies shop in SS2(the breeders from whom we got Axel work there) for grooming last Sat. That was the 2nd time Axel went for a car ride. The first time was when we got him 3 weeks ago. He was a little confused and excited at the same time. He pee'ed and poo'ed inside his bag and I had to use a towel to cover them so that he won't step all over them.


Reached the pet supplies shop at around 11am and there were so many dogs waiting in line to be groomed. The breeders were so glad to see Axel and told us again how they did not mind to buy Axel back. Apparently Axel has this continuous fold on top of his nose which makes him rare. I told the breeders that it is too late for that. Bonding has already happened.

Had to wait for almost an hour or so before it was Axel's turn to be groomed. Met this nice lady who has a show Shih-Tzu there for grooming. She shared some of her dog keeping as well as dog showing experiences with us.

Axel was very scared and docile all the time in the shop. He basically was clinging to us. The lady said that we need to get him to socialise with other dogs so that he is less timid. She suggested that a dog's obedience class is a way to go. She attended the one at Pet Safari in Ikano Power Center and said that her Shih Tzu and her actually learned a lot of things from there.

We waited for an hour or so before it's Axel's turn. There was this poodle who was waiting for the owner to come; and she (or he??) was so craving for attention. Kept whining and barking at us to get our attention. I told her (or him??) to sit and she (or him??) actually sat and wagged her tail. I can't help but to see a poodle and think of it as a "she".

Axel got his nail clipped, his ears cleaned, his whiskers trimmed and a bath. He was very much submissive throughout the grooming session, something that we don't see at home.

After the grooming, we took him to the vet in Puchong and got him checked and vaccinated. I guess Axel was really dazed by all the happenings in a day. Dr. Agas (the vet) explained about the vaccination options that Axel could have. We went for the 9 in 1 vaccination which is RM10 more than the standard option.

Got Axel back and he came down with a mild fever. However he was acting as normal (i.e. the angelic devil characteristics) and eating fine. Dr. Agas has already told us the possibility of fever or sleeping the whole day after vaccination, so we were not overly concerned by that.

Thursday, January 19, 2006

Mmm...so comfortable

Axel is making such good use of the "little" tummy that I have. I guess it must be a really comfortable cushion for him. See what I mean: