Holidays n Xmas parties

It’s Xmas time, my owners r on holidays, which means I get to tag along on most of deir makan-minum/ party sessions … groovy! Here’s a pic of me with Frosty d Snowman at d Fork n Spoon café at Sunway Damansara. Genuine dog friendly establishment, d mgmt do welcome dogs especially dis little girl of deirs n dey even hv handles on d walls to hang our leashes on, nice. My personal fav is d humungous water bowl for guest dogs, large enuf for me to sit in n cool down. Met a Husky there n he gv me d usual evil eye dat Huskies so often do, so I told him to keep to his side of d café. Casual dining place with a mix of Asian n Western dishes at very affordable prices. Plays easy listening n down tempo tunes, relaxing n highly recommended for hanging out with ur owners - 4 paws up. Wonderful Xmas tree and snowman adds to d holiday mood.
On Xmas day, v tried out a new bistro at Changkat Bukit Bintang called The Magnificent Fish & Chips Shop. Serves English pub food specialising in all things fishy at usual pub prices. Staff r fine with dogs, place is frequented by expats n backpackers. Décor is sweet, black n white tiles lay d floor, furniture is a mixed of Oriental influences n d entrance arch is way too cool … dunno wat it says tho’. Met a feline or 2 prowling at d premises so canines will hv to exercise some restraint. Alternative n rock r on d playlist. Recommended for those who enjoy pub grub n beer, with a little partying on d side - 3 paws up.

For dinner, v popped by at The Talk in trendy Bangsar. Serves Japanese cuisine n portions r decent. Plays lounge n nu jazz music which creates a rather cool club atmosphere. Lighting is dim, décor is arty farty n hs d most interesting floor tiles I’ve ever seen, patterned in myriad shapes n sizes, sweet. Recommended for chilling out n watching d babes go by - 3 paws up.

Also hd time to go to a wedding party, a traditional Chinese tea ceremony actually to welcome d newly weds into d family. Not so keen on dis as I hd to put on formal attire including a bow-tie … sheesh, d person who invented dis piece of attire must hv hd a lot of free time on his hands! Just can’t understand why n wat d bow-tie is for, other den to make u feel n look like a stiffy stuffy chicken. Humans do dress up in d strangest manner, all in d name of vanity.

At d tea ceremony, some1 commented dat I looked like a waiter … huh, at least I took d effort to dress up n not just turn up in jeans n Tshirt, which happens a lot amongst d humans in dis country. But let’s not even get into d fashion stakes now. Also hd to b on my best behavior n not fool around too much. Managed to get some play time in between with a few kids so it turned out to b not too bad after all. Nevertheless, am gonna bury dat bow-tie where my owners cant find it.

Merry Xmas … n do watch out for dat hangover from excessive partying.

SWDC Dogsports - Schutzhund, Agility n ... Musical freestyling, anyone?

Held over 2 days n PetnYou Dog Squad was invited to partake in d agility trials on Sat evening. Angel, Pacco, Cami, Archer n I made d trip n v were geared up as it has bn awhile since our last Carnival trials in Sept. Location in Serdang Baru school was a little secluded but d grounds, weather n trophies were just great! As it was held in conjunction with Schutzhund trials, there were a fair number of large GSDs n Malinois present. Dey looked like a no nonsense lot, so I hd to b on my best behaviour … no clowning around. Also bumped into my old time buddies - TJ d GSD n Baron d Lab, long time no c.

Course layout for Jumpers n Novice classes were very basic n simple, which is fair enuf given dat dis is d 1st SWDC trials. Think dat Malaysian dogs hv progressed in d sport n cn handle more challenging courses going forward … even d Thai judge commented dat our dogs r ahead of Thai in d agility stakes. For dis trial, both runs will count n an average of d 2 runs is taken in determining team standings.

Was interesting to c d big working dogs having a go at agility n u just dun wanna get in deir way ven dey r steamrolling around d course. Thank god, I didn’t hv to run against dese giants but Angel n Pacco will b, so I did pray hard for my 2 lady frens. Don d huge black Alsatian brought down d tyre jump twice n Hannah d Malinois smashed thru d weave poles in record time. There was even a rare Poodle in d maxi class.

In Jumpers class, Angel n Cami breezed thru d course to capture d maxi n mini titles. Pacco did well in her 1st run but den decided to go on a walkabout in d 2nd, so she just missed out.
In Novice mini class, d organisers introduced a lower contact point for d contact obstacles n v only found out on d day itself, so there wasn’t much v cld do bout adjusting 2 d shorter contacts. I cld already foresee my ‘Faults meter’ hitting d upper limits as I wld barely just make d normal contacts … what more a shortened 1. So v decided to go with speed n my over enthusiasm also caused me to overshoot a couple of obstacles … ended up with 4 faults on 1st run n 3 faults on d 2nd. Time was swift but way too many faults meant dat I hd to settle for runners-up. Archer won d class with some nice clean runs, which goes to show dat slow n steady does win d race. Cami took 3rd spot to complete d Dog Squad’s dominance in d mini class, sweet!

Chester d Collie from MKA produced steady composed runs to take d Novice maxi title n prevent d Dog Squad from sweeping all d main prizes.
Schutzhund trials n prize ceremony was scheduled for Sunday n I was asked to perform a Musical Freestyle demo as part of d SWDC working dog demos for d closing. Wat a contrast in style n disciplines as my slot was immediately after d Schutzhund dogs hd completed deir feisty n precise demos on protection, bite work n apprehending criminals. D sound of cracking whip during dese exercises didn’t help to settle my already frazzled nerves. Mr Owner was worried dat I may not b in d mood to dance n I was a little apprehensive at d start. But den he brought out my tennis ball n all is forgotten n I was soon back into d old groove.

Dancing to d tune of Michael Buble’s ‘Save d Last Dance for Me’, v certainly added variety n colour to d proceedings. Wasn’t sure how d predominantly macho audience wld take to my prancing about to music but d kids, wives n gfs certainly enjoyed it. Guess dey must hv liked it as well as d Johor Working Dog club even invited me down south to partake in a future charity event. Well, will b prepared n put on my ear muffs d next time around at Schutzhund affairs.

Next up was Jacky d JRT demonstrating dat small dogs cn also do Schutzhund n wat an amazing fella he is! He hs d attitude, drive n bite to perform as well as d big guys n hs to b seen to b believed.

Notice dat there's hardly any agility pics of me ... yet again! Told d humans time n again dat dey hv to set deir cameras to a fast shutter speed to capture d action, but dey never listen n think dat I'm trying to b funny again, sigh. Ven d prizes were handed out, no one hd a bigger grin den team Archer n Susan as dey took home d biggest or perhaps d tallest trophy I’ve ever seen … it’s almost as tall as a large dog. D trophy I got for coming in 2nd also ranks as d biggest in my cabinet. In addition, SWDC presented me with a really neat momento for being part of the working dog demos. Hee hee, imagine a Musical Freestyle dog being part of the Protection Dog fraternity, strange but true …

Looking forward to more SWDC trials in future. Think dat d combination of Agility n Schutzhund trials is an exciting 1 n will do well in promoting dog sports in d country.

Sleepover at Cami & Axel’s

'Top - Cami, Bottom - Axel'
Whilst my humans were holidaying in Bangkok, I took d opportunity to go on a vacation of my own at Cami & Axel’s abode in Subang. Both r Cairn Terriers - Cami being overly friendly n accommodating whereas Axel is d exact opposite. He doesn’t take too kindly to other dogs n hs more enemies then frens, hence his nickname - ‘Mafia’. Strangely enuf, he and I hv an understanding n do get along pretty well notwithstanding our wrestlemania idiosyncrasies

'Errrr guys, u hv to learn to treat ur guests well n gv dem more space ... or else, time to get a bigger couch.'

Dese 2 terrier frens of mine tend to laze around n eat quite a fair bit, which is a far cry from my regular habits. In contrast, I prefer to fuss about n follow people from room to room, just to make sure dat dey dun get into trouble or hv way too much fun in my absence … busybody or people’s person, it’s a JRT trait. Hd a grand time exploring d house n garden n jumping onto d humans’ bed. Unlike my humans, Cami’s owners weren’t used to sharing beds with an excitable JRT. Hence, to prevent me from jumping on n off deir bed, I was placed on d floor with Cami n Axel … plus I hd to b leashed to a desk to prevent anymore bedroom gymnastics n sleepless nites, sheesh. Well, its their loss anyway as I was just trying to show them how to fluff their bed in order to get a good nite’s sleep.

During meal times, dese fellas do enjoy playing d Fastest Eating game a lot. Needless to say, I struggled to keep pace n ended up last in all events. After finishing deir kibble, dey’ll then proceed to a stakeout over my food bowl, just waiting for d opportunity to pounce on any leftovers. Hence, hd to be extra wary for if I were to turn away even for a sec, either Cami or Axel or both of them will be in my bowl, gobbling up d remnants … dey really do enjoy food! They even hd breakfast in d mornings.
'Here we go again!'

V soon learnt to share most things including food, toys, sofas, morning n evening walks n even sleeping space. But deir owner tended to hog d notebook which means I didn’t get my usual blogging slot … must bring my own d next time around. Did I mention dat dey enjoy snoozing a lot?

V went for our walks - 3 at a time ... d Good, d Bad & d Ugly, terriers terrorising d neighbourhood. Axel n I will b tugging n pulling to get in front, while Cami is d slow coach n always lagging behind. Just kidding, v do look pretty civilised in d photos ...

My owners eventually came back from the Land of Smiles with trendy dog gear n v were forced to wear d stuff. Sorry to drag u into d fashion parade guys, but my owners do get into their silly moods every now n then. Dey think doggy wear is cute, I think dey gv my armpits a rash. Thanks for having me around guys, hd a swell vacation ...