Visitor

Prior to Christmas 08, we had a visitor stay over for a weekend while his owners were away having fun in Singapore. This visitor was none other than Groovy, the hyper JRT with endless energy and incredibly long-lasting stamina! It was his 2^nd sleepover with us so he is no stranger to our home and is good friends with Axle and Cami.

Compared to his usual active lifestyle, it was definitely a change of pace for Groovy. Needless to say, there were no exciting outings to pubs and restaurants but more resort like with plenty of R&R. The Cairn resort is a place to relax and rejuvenate with plenty of sleep, good eats, and scheduled playtime.

One good thing about our Cairns is that they are not picky eaters (except after Cami’s heat then we need to keep switching kibbles on her and add in dollops of wet food to get her to eat). Hence, it’s each dog to him/herself when it comes to food. Groovy, whom is normally a light weight when it comes to eating, tends to have a better appetite whenever he checks into the Cairn resort. Could it be that his food somehow tastes better here or that he fears the circling Cairn vultures?

Where's the food???

The (3) doggieteers begging for their dinner

Yummy...

Cami: Are you done yet?

Axle & Cami checking to make sure there is no food wasted in view of the slumping economy

Cami: You need to lick up everything. Let me show you how it's done...

Did I already mention that sleeping is the way of life in the Cairn resort? It sure didn’t take long for Groovy to get accustomed to the resort culture.

Groovy: Somehow the resort pillow is more comfortable...

Snoozing under the teak bench

And of course, what is a dog’s life without playtime…fortunately, our garden now has grass suitable for running, unlike Groovy’s first visit when our garden was overgrown with weed.

Frisbee maniacs

Testimonial

Groovy: So far so good...I think I will be back for more Cairn company. I even had time to take some handsome self portraits...

New Addition...Here comes trouble!

After a long wait...the day finally came.


Hhmm..anything in that giganto tummy?

We have a new family member, baby Nicolas, born on Oct. 17th 2008 after a long labor (that is another story). So far, both Axle and Cami have been very well behaved. Once in a while, Cami hovers around Nicolas' cot, trying to get a peek and wagging her tail with glee whenever she catches a glimpse of him. She also acts as his personal body guard , letting out barks whenever she hears or sees anything suspicious. Axle so far has been indifferent with the baby around, being his normal cool self.

Cami: I see something in the playpen!



Keeping watch...



The key thing for us is to still pay attention to the furkids whenever possible so that they don't feel left out. Need to keep to their usual routine as much as possible with daily walks and scratches.


Axle: Is it time to play yet?

Another year, another birthday

Goodness gracious; time does fly pass quickly. I remember starting this blog last year and writing about Cami's 3rd birthday mini-celebration at home with the family. Since then, we have reached an agreement to combine Axle's birthday together with Cami's since we really do not know when his actual DOB is.


Can't you just say the 'OK' word???

Anyhow, this year called for another eventful birthday bash that was celebrated together with our Pet-N-U pals over our usual Sunday morning training. Baked the first doggie cake which I labeled as: Carrot ala Bacon Bits Dog Cake (that's a mouthful) which was later nicknamed as 'Agility Cake' as everyone started to use the cake to tempt their dogs during agility training. Made fresh the night before, the cake was enjoyed by the dogs and some of the humans as well!


Photo session. Cami and her birthday cake


Testing the dogs' will power


Angel asking for more


Russell looking on


Groovy tempted by the bacon flavor


Brandy performing a trick for a taste

There were some leftovers which we later brought home for Axle to enjoy. The balance in the fridge are for our funny Cairns to enjoy later through the week.


Not forgetting the big boy Axle

Wishing a very Happy Birthday to our little Cairns...cherishing every moment we have with them.

Faces

Here are some different faces of Axle & Cami for your enjoyment. The fine work of a DSLR Canon 450D.





Axle




Cami

Now everyone can be a pro...

Dog Olympic Day

The last dog event was organized by Puppy.com at Bandar Utama Park in conjunction of their annual doggie olympics which mainly consisted of numerous games, schutzhund trials, and a rare agility dog trials!




Random Photos

It has been a long while since an agility trial was held by this organization which was found to be a waste considering they have the best looking agility equipment around Malaysia. Although there was only one class for each maxi and mini, it was definitely a good start in promoting agility games in the country. Needless to say, a group of us from Pet-N-U decided to participate (us crazy people seem to join close to every agility event) including Cami. We figured that Axle's food was running out and he seems to love ProPlan so we were rooting for some bag(s) of doggie food prizes. The outcome of the agility trials were a little bit of a letdown as the course was quite extraordinary. Unlike the normal smooth paths in conventional courses, this time it seemed like a maze to both dogs and handlers. There were many confused handlers who were looking around in vain for the next obstacle while running their dogs midway during the course. This resulted in many faults and eliminations due to dogs running around, wrong sequence, etc. Luckily, the rules does not call for an immediate elimination if a wrong sequence is taken otherwise those prizes will need to be saved for Puppy.com's next event!


Joanna & Odie

Fawn & Groovy

Chan & Kimi

Amanda & Pacco

Melissa & Amber

Lawrence & Cami

Hannah

60-Weave Pole Challenge



Long story short, we and our doggie pals managed to haul back some prizes including some from games such as Simon Says, Fastest Recall, 60 pole weave, and hurdle race. Cami took 2nd place in the agility trials, 2nd in 60 pole weave, and 2nd in hurdle race. Looks like the curse of #2 is getting serious and we need to find a way to break this curse...However, we were generally quite pleased with her performance and needless to say, proud of her achievement especially in the weave pole and hurdle races since she is quite a mini size dog competing against many other stronger and bigger opponents. Way to go mini-cam!

Agility Winners

Shiny Throphy & Medals

Group taking a break

As usual, all winnings will benefit big-bro Axle who waited patiently at home for the good news.

Axle: Excellent...

Hide-a-way Bag (out-dated post)

As we will be traveling to Singapore over the Wesak weekend, we had the tough task of figuring out how to settle the dogs' well being while we are away. After much thought, we figured that Cami can probably board with a friend while Axle, who is more independent and tough can be sent for boarding. As we have not boarded our dogs in Malaysia before, we are a bit cautious as Axle can get a little out of hand sometimes especially during his walks. However, after checking the facility at our vet and considering that Dr. Edmund has been exposed to Axle before, we felt somewhat comfortable and decided that Axle should be fine there.

For Cami, Groovy's owners were kind to agree to take care of her. Hopefully, there will be no regrets after her stay! As Groovy lives in an apartment and gets carried in and out of the apartment building in a bag, we had to train Cami to do the same. Groovy's mum loaned us a bag to practice with Cami over the week. The aim is to have Cami sit still in the bag with a towel covered over her head while she gets transported in and out of the apartment. Now, mind you that the only time we stuffed Cami in a bag was when we first had her around 9-10 weeks and we carried her in a little handbag in a shopping mall back in the States. Some people noticed her but I think the majority did not as the handbag was black in color and she kinda blended in with the bag. She could have passed off as a a little stuffed toy dog at that time.

The results ...


Looking comfy...


Hard work hiding away


Didn't do too bad, ei?

For some exciting stories on how Cami spent her holidays at Groovy's, you can check out his website...

Petworld @Mid Valley

Firstly, many apologies for going MIA for nearly half a year. Maybe it's the slow internet connection that hampered on-going thoughts of updating the blog or maybe it was just plain laziness! :P

Anyhow, I'll start updating from the most recent event which was the Mid-Valley show known as Petworld, held two weekends ago at one of Malaysia's major shopping mall. Surprising isn't it? Finally an indoor venue for dog lovers to bring their dogs and enjoy the air-conditioning while visiting the many booths selling/promoting pet related items. The main attraction was of course the obedience and agility trials conducted by Pet-n-U. In the morning throughout the early noon, OB trials were held followed by agility in mid-afternoon. OB trials consisted of many classes ranging from Pre-Novice to Open while agility trials involved Jumpers to Novice class. Still waiting for an Open class for agility so that spectators can witness how difficult a course could be and the teamwork required between handler and dog to complete the course with the least amount of faults.

Intermediate Obedience - Broad Jump
Surprisingly large crowd

Dog Fancy Dress

Of course Cami did not miss this chance to compete in the Elementary and Novice class, trying to achieve some clean runs to be a step closer in winning Pet-n-U's M.A.D. (Malaysian Agility Dog) title. Alas, she got disqualified for both runs in Elementary as she kept jumping the wrong sequence (a possible handler error there...?) whereby she got an immediate 'peeeppp' from the judge. However, she did us proud by taking the 2nd spot in Novice, behind Archer (Min Schnauzer) and ahead of Groovy (JRT).

See any similarities in jumping style? Top: Cami; Bottom: Groovy

Novice Agility Price Giving (clockwise): 1st (Archer), 2nd (Cami), 3rd (Groovy)

Got a nice little trophy to add to her collection and not forgetting a bag of Eukanuba to feed her for the next month. What did Axle get? Well, he didn't go to the show due to his lack of social skills but he did get himself a freebie bag of Happy Dog food so that will keep him well fed for the next month as well. Now, better hope that the next trial is coming soon before their food runs out...

Cami: Do I need to share my goodies with bro again???
Axle: Huhuhuhu....