Axel the Pug

fishdiary resurrection

2007-10-15T09:04:00.000+08:00

With the result of the poll and careful consideration, I have decided to merge Axel's blog to my personal blog. So for latest stories on Axel, please head to my other blog fishdiary resurrection and click the "Axel the pug" label on the side bar.

"Merging" Axel's blog to my personal blog

2007-10-11T12:59:00.000+08:00

Hi guys,

As some of you know, I have another personal blog titled "fishdiary resurrection". I find it hard sometimes to maintain 2 blogs.

So I am thinking whether I should "merge" Axel's blog to my personal blog. What this means is that I will stop updating Axel's news in "Axel the Pug" blog but will instead post them in my personal blog. I will still leave "Axel the Pug" as it is.

Do tell me what you think... I have prepared a poll on the side bar. Hope to get your feedback so that I know what I should do.

Thanks

Alex & Axel

Collage

2007-09-25T23:08:00.001+08:00

The Duel

2007-08-28T23:35:00.000+08:00

The duel between Axel and his toy wheel.

Toy Wheel: Hey flat face!!!

Axel: Oh...wait till I chew on you!!!

The duel begins....

Violence is never the solution...

(poor teddy got in the way)

Note: No animals or toys were hurt in the making of this post.

Baby Pictures

2007-08-18T13:48:00.000+08:00

I was going through the pictures I have on my laptop and saw Axel's baby pics. He looked so cute...how nice if he could remain a puppy forever (hehe...don't think I am supposed to say things like that!).

Anyway, here are some of them:

Bathing & Grooming Ritual

2007-08-05T15:18:00.000+08:00

Axel gets his bath and grooming every week.... well, almost every week. ;-) He doesn't like them and everytime he sees me bringing out his bathing "kit", he would run far far away from me. I would have to resort to playing hide and seek to get him into the bathroom. This trick works almost everytime! For those times it didn't, I would chase him down. A pretty good workout for me.

I always start off the bathing ritual with cleaning the fold under his nose with a small towel. Then I would wet him with the shower and apply the shampoo onto his body. He usually would be still throughout the process except sometimes to drink from the shower itself. After shampooing, I would leave him for a while and at this time, he would shake the water and bubbles off his body rigorously onto my whole bathroom and of course, me! Then it's rinsing off time and semi-drying with the big towel.

When I opened the bathroom's door, he would dash out to where I placed my hair dryer and would sit there waiting for me. The drying ritual is usually not easy as he would get impatient and started to struggle. I have to shout at him a few times to get him to settle down.

Then comes the hardest part of the whole process.... nail cutting! Again, he would be running away upon seeing his grooming kit in place.

Nail cutting is really difficult cos I would hold him like a baby, his paw in one hand and the clipper in another. He would be struggling for a while and when he gets tired, he would give in.... and so I thought. His hind legs would still be kicking my hand when I start to clip. Last time, I always drew blood when clipping his nails...but after a while, I am getting more skillful in that. Well...worse come to worse, I have the antiseptic powder ready to stop the bleeding, hehehe.

After the nails, I would clean his ears. Most of the time, he enjoys getting his ears clean. Like us, digging into the ears can be rather pleasurable at times, eh?? The last of the ritual is to trim his whiskers with a small scissors.... and of course, a treat!

So after all are done, I have this sparkling dog which will last for....mm...3 days before he starts to smell again...

Licking Machine

2007-08-01T22:50:00.000+08:00

Axel is really driving me crazy with his constant licking of his paws and the floor. My whole floor is full with patches of his saliva..... Naughty naughty boy!!

Pug Protest

2007-07-14T00:29:00.000+08:00

Ever wondered how a pug protests? This is how Axel does it:

Back from Vacation

2007-07-09T06:59:00.000+08:00

I finally got Axel back from his "vacation" yesterday. We always referred him going to Gan's home as a "vacation" cos he gets so much freedom and attention there. He sort of has his own fan base over there. Gan's mom and sister always refer to him as "handsome boy". ;-)

Sad Event

2007-07-05T19:34:00.000+08:00

I just read a very sad news from a fellow pug blogger last night. Their pug passed away 2 days ago due to Urinary Tract Infection (UTI). Although I do not know them personally, I have followed their journey together from their blog.

It is such a sad event. As a pet lover myself, I could imagine the kind of pain they are going through. Upon reading their blog, I thought to myself on how I would be if Axel is no longer around ...and a big amount of pain just hit me like a big wave. If that happened to me by just imagining, I am sure Nicejellybean and Coolboy would be experiencing worse and my heart went out to them.

Nicejellybean and Coolboy, if you are reading this...I am very very sorry to hear about Donut. I am sure Donut is in a better place now, and hope that you guys will be able to recover soon.

Extreme Makeover

2007-06-30T20:02:00.000+08:00

No no no....it's not the extreme makeover for Axel or for myself. I guess without Axel around, I just got too bored and decided to do an extreme makeover of "Axel the Pug" blog. Hope you guys like this better. I certainly do.....

Pugless Syndrome

2007-06-28T00:55:00.000+08:00

Gan's mom and sister missed Axel and asked me to bring him over to their place for a week or two. So last weekend I brought him there and left him with them. I will only be collecting him back at the end of this week.

My apartment seems to be so "cold" without him. Usually when I sit on my couch in front of the TV, he would be there lying at my feet. When he got bored lying there, he would go and get his favourite toy (a rubber wheel) and nudge me to play fetch. If I get up to go anywhere, he would without fail tail me around.

It's just not the same when he is away. Feels kinda strange...is this what you call as the "pugless" syndrome?

Celebrity Look-A-Like

2007-06-06T06:49:00.000+08:00

Recently I checked out this pug blog titled "A day in the life of our Pugs" by Manda Girl. You can find the link in my Favourite Pug Blogs.

In one of her postings called "Celebrity Look-A-Like", Manda Girl found celebrity look-a-like for her pugs, Meimei and Miko. When reading this blog, I immediately knew who Axel's Celebrity Look-A-Like is. See below and let me know whether you agree.......;-)

Axel's celebrity look-a-like is Wallace Shawn! More information of Wallace Shawn -> (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wallace_Shawn)

Let sleeping dogs lie

2007-05-11T06:40:00.000+08:00

There hasn't been any action taken by my apartment's management since they posted a notice forbidding us from keeping pets in our units. Although I still hear dogs barking from other units, the frequency of that is less nowadays. I guess other owners must have either took heed of the notice and relocated their pooches, or they have taught their dogs to quiet down.

Life is as usual for Axel and me. Let the sleeping dogs lie.....

Wallpaper

2007-03-31T23:26:00.000+08:00

Nightmare came true

2007-03-18T08:33:00.000+08:00

In Malaysia, there is a rule against keeping pets in apartments or condominiums. Some apartments are stricter while some just keep one eye shut. So far, there wasn't any notice issued regarding this from my apartment's management.... until a few days ago. I have always fear this ever since I got Axel. I thought as long as I keep him quiet, it would be okay. Too bad that not all owners realise that. I guess there must be some dogs which made too much noise and caused some neighbours to complain...hence the management had to take such action. My nightmare just came true!!

I do not know what to do. I guess I will just have to wait and see how far the management will enforce this. Worst come to worst, I may send Axel away for a while and get him back when the dust settles. Whatever it is, I can't bear thinking about losing him. Sometimes stupid rules like this really made me hate living in this country!

Furby

2007-02-28T09:02:00.000+08:00

Last night I went through some of my old stuff and found my classic Furby. I got this from a friend when I was in Boston about 7 years ago. It was really a cool toy during that time. For more info on Furby, please check out http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Furby.

I put in some new batteries and was so happy that it still worked! So I let Axel played with it for a while before putting Furby back to where it belonged.... the archive box along with my wonderful memories of my Boston trip.

Axel had fun figuring out what Furby was. It looked like a toy to him...but this toy could move and speak.

I am so relaxed...

2007-02-01T08:57:00.000+08:00

Recently I came across a National Geographic series titled "Dog Whisperer". This show was about how a dog psychologist, Cesar Millan came to the rescue for dog owners with "unbalanced" pooches. He always used the term "unbalanced" to describe problematic dogs. It was just so incredible seeing how he dealt with all these dogs. As a dog owner, there were lots of advices and tips on how to "balance" your dog too! I searched the net and found his website -> http://www.dogpsychologycenter.com

I remembered one of the advice he gave was to always keep your dog in a relaxed mood. Lets have a look at Axel's relaxing moments:

What the Fart?!!!

2006-12-21T16:45:00.000+08:00

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?)

Beauty and the Beast

2006-10-30T00:45:00.000+08:00

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. :-)

Recent Pics

2006-09-29T20:31:00.000+08:00

Marie France Bodyline

2006-09-16T08:54:00.000+08:00

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":

Graduation

2006-08-06T13:38:00.000+08:00

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

Expressions

2006-07-12T08:58:00.000+08:00

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.

Moment of Truth

2006-06-15T08:23:00.000+08:00

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.

Killing Nemo

2006-06-07T12:37:00.000+08:00

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.

FIFA World Cup Fever

2006-05-27T17:50:00.000+08:00

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

6 months old

2006-05-08T09:24:00.000+08:00

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.

Plastic Kennel

2006-04-20T14:20:00.000+08:00

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.

Even the pug can do it

2006-04-03T13:07:00.000+08:00

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.

First Day At School

2006-03-12T18:37:00.000+08:00

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!

Alarm Clock

2006-02-20T12:43:00.000+08:00

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.

Happy Dog Year!

2006-02-05T20:56:00.000+08:00

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?

Adorable or vomit blood*?

2006-01-25T13:41:00.000+08:00

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)

Nice & Clean

2006-01-23T07:46:00.000+08:00

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.

Mmm...so comfortable

2006-01-19T10:59:00.001+08:00

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:

9 weeks old

2006-01-18T08:23:00.000+08:00

Axel was born on the 11th Nov 2005. 11th Nov actually coincides with my best friends at Uni, Manida & Florence's birthdays. It is also the birthday of USM PPB (Persatuan Pelajar Buddhist). The name that was given to him by the breeder was "Chrysler" which is quite cool also.... but hehe, I still prefer Axel. As of today, Axel is about 9 weeks old. He has been staying with me for more than 2 weeks now.

He is getting used to the fact that he will be left alone from morning till evening; and I am getting used to getting back and be presented with his mess to clean up. He is paper trained though...it's the shredding and dragging the newspapers around that are causing the mess.

A pic of his cage + playpen is as below. They are placed in my kitchen taking almost half of the space. I got this inspiration from a Singaporean site on rearing dogs in Singapore. The information there is very useful for apartment living dog owners. I am planning to let him have the custody of the whole kitchen later on by taking out the play pen. Well... shall see how well can he behave before doing that.

So far, he is able to understand the "Sit" and "Down" command. He usually will obey these commands when he wants to get out of the play pen or when he is hungry. I will let him out to the living room every morning before I feed him and whenever I am home in the evening. He is always so eager to make use of his "stored up whole day" energy. Most time, he is clever enough to run back to his play pen to pee and poo; but other times he tend to just forget and do them on my marble floor. On catching him in this act, I would of course chased him back to his play pen... although the success rate of that is not always high.

Axel will be getting his 2nd vaccination jab this Saturday. Am planning to send him to the breeder for grooming first before we go to the vet. I do send his pictures to the breeder now and then. The breeder actually mentioned to me that if ever I changed my mind about keeping him, she is more than willing to take him back...with full refund. That actually convince me that she is really a pug lover, not someone who is just out to get some extra bucks.

The very beginning

2006-01-17T16:35:00.000+08:00

I have been wanting to keep a dog for a very long time but as I was renting previously, it was not possible at all for me. Then when I finally moved to my own place, an apartment, I was a bit reluctant knowing that "by law", dogs should not be kept in apartments/condos.

Anyway I was very much in control in this sense...started to keep hamsters as a substitute until my "evil" friend Nancy got her silky terrier puppy named Dino and introduced me to him. At that juncture, it just got too tough for me to control myself anymore. So I started to read more about different breeds and their temperaments; and also surveyed around on how many apartment dwellers who actually rear dogs. I found out that there were quite a number of people living in my apartment block who have dogs as pets; as I could hear them (the dogs...not the owners!) barking or whining at times. I was told that as long as your neighbours do not complain, the management will usually close one eye.

On reading up on the different breed of dogs, I came across the pug. Aside from them being oh so cute, I started to like them a lot for the following reasons (from websites):

1) non barkers
2) doesn't grow too big
3) doesn't need extensive exercise
4) of course other important characteristics such as friendly, intelligent, bla, bla, bla...

As an apartment dweller, I guess the 1st 3 factors above are really important for me. So off I went searching for places to get pugs. Initially I thought of getting one from the pet shop but during that time, no pugs were available. Tried calling some newspaper advertisements and found that they are mostly dog brokers instead of breeders. So I really had no idea where to get one.

Then one day (Christmas eve 2005 to be exact), I went to this shop selling pet supplies in SS2. I walked in and could not find any puppies on display. So I asked a girl there on whether they sell puppies. She told me that the shop does not sell puppies but they have contact to some breeders. She then asked me which breed I was interested in. I told her "pug" and I could see her eyes lightened up immediately. She informed me that she has some pug puppies for sale, and that she is a home breeder, not a commercial breeder. She seemed to know a lot about pugs which put me at ease. So I made an appointment for her to bring the puppies over to the shop the next day.

The next day (Christmas day), I saw the puppies (2 males, 2 females) and immediately knew Axel(he wasn't named that yet) was the one for me. He was so playful but at the same time, not the dominant one. So I made my booking and the breeder said I can only collect it a week later as he was too young. The breeder really struck me as someone very nice and loving towards her dogs, and I knew she could be counted on for advices even after I have gotten Axel. Following are the pictures of Axel when I first laid my eyes on him.

So a week later (a day before New Year eve), I collected Axel and we started our lives together. I tell you, I was so terribly worried that his whines would wake up the neighbors. It was very much an adjusting time for me; as much as for him. I guess slowly he settled down; and I settled down too...