Quick update this weekend, as the weather is too perfect not to be rolling under the blanket.

Here’s some pics taken over the past week.

Enjoy.

Tomorrow, my little Angel will be 3 months old.It’s been a crazy few weeks. Waking up early, rushing back from work, cleaning poop, wiping up pee, getting my toes and fingers bitten and all the things you’d expect from a growing puppy. Today, she also reached up and bit my family jewels. A first and last, I hope.

She’s a smart girl, already mastered sit and fetch. And we spend a lot of time playing with all her toys and chasing each other around the house. I think i’m overcompensating for not spending enough time with her while at work. I’m starting to learn her temperament – she hates it when I’m watching TV or playing xbox (see pic below), she likes to sit by our feet at the couch, we just gotta give her the attention. She loves to fetch but not too many times in a row and only THAT particular toy. She hates to shower but loves to lick soap bubbles. She loves her cough mixture (just like daddy), but she hates us applying ointment on her little bald patch on her side. When she’s happy she’s run around in circles then sit. When she’s throwing a tantrum, she’ll yelp once then run away. Sometimes, she’s too human.

Next up, I gotta teach her the down command, so hopefully she won’t chomp on my jewels again.Here’s a few pics of her taken last week, since she’s growing up so fast.

Here’s to many more good years ahead. Happy 3rd month girl! You’ll be a woman soon.

Took my little girl to the vet today, and was a little shocked that in 7 days, that little pup put on 33% of her body weight – from 1.8kg to 2.4kg.

In seven days!

33%!

I still can’t get over it. She puts on weight as fast as I do!Anyway, she’s better already since her bad cough last week thanks to a heady concoction of antibiotics, cough mixture and lots of tender loving care. And strangely enough, just like her daddy, she loves cough mixture and laps it up without any struggling.I digress. Yesterday we noticed a little skin rash thing and had to take her in for a check-up. It’s nothing serious, looks like a scab but since there’s no mites and my little girl is not scratching or chewing it, it’s probably some bacterial infection/irritation thing. (I can tell my knowledge of medical terms must have impressed you). Now, on top of waking earlier in the morning to prepare her food and to induce pooping, I now have to clean her rash, dry it and apply cream for her. *sigh* Did I tell you she takes after her daddy?

In the 8 days that we had her, she’s starting to develop an irritating habit. She loves to bite my toes. In fact, anywhere she can get her puny little milk teeth on, with lots of growling too. I was worried that one night I might wake up and find her jaws around my neck, so for the past few days I’ve been putting her back in her play pen whenever she starts to bite, but to no avail. I’ve considered applying citronella-based insect repellent on my hands and feet, either that or selling her and buying a tamagotchi instead. In the end, I did the most rational thing and asked the vet for advice.

According to her, I might be reinforcing the wrong thing by first letting her nibble and secondly, I should have a designated “time out” area where I can throw her into whenever she’s being a naughty brat. The point is to deprive her of the attention that she’s trying to get. Also, I’m supposed to constantly reassure, praise her and give her treats when she’s doing the right thing – even the most mundane like sitting still (which I’ve yet to experience from her), drinking water or sleeping. The purpose of this is to constantly remind that dog the good things that she’s doing and based on the canine instinct that they want to please their pack leaders, she would in time be conditioned do more of these.This “time-out” area, affectionately known as the “Sin Bin” has to a place that feels like a punishment, somewhere she won’t want to normally go and somewhere we can keep an eye on her yet she can’t reach us. So the kitchen toilet is out of the question since I’m training her to take a crap and piss there. Her play pen is out too cos’ she spends a lot of time there in the day. Her crate is out too cos she’s in it when she’s in our room before she’s properly toilet-trained.

Seriously, the only place I can think of is my oven.

Gosh, enough dog for today. I need to shower and sleep.

I’ve always been a believer of getting pets from breeders rather than from pet stores. This really stemmed from my early formative years when I used to hang out at Holland Village after school, and I’d always wander to the pet shop for some look-see. I remember always feeling a little pang in my chest when I looked into the cages and there is a sad face staring back at me. And similarly to how I’ve always wondered what bakeries do with unsold bread at the end of the day, I’ve wondered what will happen to these animals if they’re not sold.Fast forward many years. As a greater awareness of economics sunk in, I can’t help but questioned why a pet store can sell a pet for thousands of dollars while some breeders are willing to even give a pet for free depending on their assessment of your ability and commitment to keeping a pet. How can anyone deserve to make a substantially handsome profit from selling an animal?

Conversely, I should ask why some people will spend thousands of dollars on a pet, and only choose to give it away when he/she can’t cope with it.

I guess it comes to demand and supply. But surely, someone who makes money out of selling the life of a living thing would have some form of a conscience that compels him/her to be remotely accountable for the life of an animal. Yes, it’s an animal. But it’s a life as well. Maybe that’s why the people who work in pet stores are classified as “salespeople” who believe in the law of economics – that money has no conscience. And maybe them who accept the money has none as well. As opposed to breeders who care first and foremost about the well-being of the animal. I’ve heard of breeders who don’t charge a cent for their animals, but any adoption has to go through a rigorous interview as well as visits to your house before and after you take the pet home.

My point of view was further reinforced when I went to Ericsson Pet Farm over the weekend. This is after a trip to the SPCA in the morning but all they had were big dogs which are not suited for my puny flat. When I first saw my little Angel at the pet farm, I knew I had to take her home. This was despite the strong cognitive dissonance I was feeling. But something inside me tells me that if I don’t take her back, she won’t live any much longer. And I was right.

When I went to collect her the next day, it became evident that this place is, according to website, “…a wonderful business that brings love, warmth and joy to many people in this part of the world…” It really is just a business.When we arrived the next day, we realized that our little Angel was kept right next to their sick bay which was currently housing more than 15 dogs, which likely explains the terrible cough that she’s having. One of the sales manager was swearing vulgarities at a customer and the police were called in. The sales manager who sold me the dog was trying to shove pet products to me with the usual “if-you-buy-more-you’ll-get-a-discount” line. He even assured me that my doggy has been de-wormed, and when I checked her vet card, there’s no mention whatsoever. The farm even has an insurance policy which you can buy for $200, so if anything happens to your pet in 30 days, they’ll replace it with another animal of the same value. This is extended from the usual 2 days. Clearly, they can’t be more confident of the condition of the animals they sell.

I can’t be more disappointed with a pet store than this. Yes, I’ve found a lovely little angel which I will keep and love no matter her condition, but I’ve also learnt that the people in this pet farm merely wants to make a tidy profit from pushing off live animals, regardless of their condition and regardless of how capable the buyer is of keeping it. (I’ve never once been asked whether I’m ready for a pet.)I’m not angry, though I usually would. I went beyond my urge to call and kick up a ruckus, because I’ve seen how those sales people (aka thugs) will scold, curse and swear at a customer in public; and also I know that no matter what I do, the owner and the salespeople will still sleep soundly tonight knowing that tomorrow there will be people who will buy into their “wonderful business that brings love blah”. But what I can do is to share with you, that since the law of economics dictates that demand will find equilibrium with supply, we as consumers and genuine pet-loving human beings have the power to let our money decide.

If you’re thinking of adopting a dog, maybe you should check out Action for Singapore Dogs or SPCA. Whatever it is, please reconsider before buying any animal from a pet store or worse, a pet farm.I can’t change anything that has happened, and am even glad that I’ve found a loving pet despite all that happened. But we as consumers, have the power to affect change, hopefully forcing pet trade industry in Singapore to find a balance between ethical profiteering and protecting the lives of an animal.

Took little Angel to the vet today for her first check up and to see if there’s anything serious about a cough she’s been having. Apparently, she has inflamed lymph nodes because her body is fighting an infection from a nasty cough. But it’s not that bad as she’s still very active, full of energy and eating and excreting normally. The doc put her on a prescription of antibiotics and cough mixture (which funnily, I had to get from Guardian Pharmacy), and if everything goes well, she should recover in about 10 days.

Poor little angel. I believe she caught this bug at the pet shop we got her from, and after I got past the anger of being sold a doggy that’s not 100%, I soon realized that I probably saved her. If she had stayed any longer with all the other sick dogs, the infection would have developed to TB and given the high mortality rates at these pet shops, this little 10 week old baby wouldn’t have had a good fighting chance. And if it really did happen, I think they would rather put her down than pay for x-rays, hospitalization and a potentially expensive treatment.

On the way home she fell asleep in my arms, wrapped in a warm towel with her little head snuggled on my tummy. I looked down at her and knew I did the right thing.And truly, I’m the lucky one.