Dog Squad goes to Charity Fun Fair

15 July 2007 Ti-Ratana Charity Fair at La Salle Brickfields

'Learning d pose stay'

It’s d 5th Ti-Ratana Charity Fun Fair - packed affair with lotsa people, food n games stalls, lion dances, clowns n even d Equestrian Club horses turned up to give out charity rides. We get to tag along as d PetnYou Dog Squad was also invited to entertain d public n help raise funds 4 d orphanage n senior citizens home, nice.

'I'll pretend I'm not feeling well so that I cn skip d demos'

'Lion at agility'

B4 v cld settle down, d pounding drums n clashing cymbals of d Ti-Ratana lion dance team put us on red alert. Junior d Silky in particular got really worked up by d sight of 2 guys dressed up in a lion suit n prancing about. If only he knew bout dis b4hand, he wld hv put on his cheeky dinosaur suit n joined d procession.

Well known public crusader, Datuk Michael Chong, also graced d event to lend support. With so many humans n kids around, v were under a little pressure to behave n perform on d day. As usual, it got fairly hot come performance time n most of us preferred staying in d shade. Bank d GR got things started by retrieving a scroll n delivering d list of our performances to d MC, he got to b on stage 4 dis whilst d rest of us watched from d field. Thankfully his salivating problem wasn’t apparent n d scroll was delivered in 1 piece n still dry. Wasn’t always like dat during practice n v feared dat d scroll wld turn into paper-mache, but Bank did us proud by holding his drool till he was off stage.

'Ok, ok ... I'll let go if u let go first'

Next in line were d frisbee dogs n Junior, Cami n I were on show. Cami put on a number of reliable catches n Junior managed a couple, not bad 4 a first timer. I on d other hand decided to improvise by hanging onto my frisbee whilst my owner tried to shake me off by swinging d disc about in mid-air … but I held on like a stubborn mule! The crowd hd a good laugh, now who says only APBTs hv tremendous bite. Caught 1 frisbee after dat n decided to take a break with d audience under deir dining tables.

My heelwork to music demo was on n again missed a few twists n cues from my dance partner. Not too bad n completed d 3 minute routine to d tune of ‘Johnny’s Mambo’ by Michael Lloyd & Le Disc from d Dirty Dancing soundtrack. Nice upbeat n swaying music with plenty of brass. Crowd enjoyed d ‘Hop onto Back’ n ‘Hop onto Feet’ moves. 'Lion dancer wannabe'
8 of our agility teams den raced through a fast n packed intermediate jumpers course of 20 obstacles. Russell n Bank provided some comic relief by running 4 d nearest tent or stalls 4 cover, but dey recovered to finish deir runs eventually. Our handlers must hv also bn feeling d heat coz most of dem forgot d sequence of jumps n tunnels, so v hd to cope with deir ‘Oops, where’s d next obstacle?’ looks n pretend like v cld read d course notwithstanding. Audience didnt really mind n were more engrossed by d sight of us dogs running n jumping helter-skelter over d obstacles.

Angel d BCollie performed her helicopter jumps as part of her set of tricks. D High Jumper was d final act which Pacco glided effortlessly over 26" n den decided d rest wasn’t worth attempting as there weren’t any prizes at stake. Sissy got over 28” n said dat’s high enough 4 today. MC placed me under d spotlight by asking me to hv a go at 31”. My owner wasn’t too sure about whether I was able to jump d height as d event was d domain of d large n long legged dogs. Well, I’m a small n long legged mutt …. n must say dat I surprised most people (owner included) by clearing d bar with a couple of massive leaps, groovy!

V decided to sign off by performing d group down stay with all of us lying close to each other n neatly in a row for dat perfect family photo, but v didn’t do too well in d heat. Well, back to d training grounds den. 'Pacco's trick of d day: Count Dracula impersonation'

'Anyone seen Cami around?' Crowd seemed well entertained by d variety of acts n v received a lot of intense petting n brushing from passerbys, kids wanted to take photos n play with us n there were a fair number of praise going around 4 d Dog Squad. V appeared quite settled n relaxed mostly. A foreigner even commented dat he was pleasantly surprised to c a group of dogs being so calm n collected at a public event, nice one guys! Ha ha, he hasn’t seen wat v actually get up to at our training grounds in YMCA.

After all dat heavy petting, I really need a vacation.

'I'm gonna be a jockey someday'