Bryan had his basic obedience exam today. We were the fifth pair to take the test. He did everything more or less correctly, but got dinged on things like hesitating before he did the automatic sit, and not sitting neatly in front of me on the recall. He also got distracted during the down-stay test and lost marks there. He really could have scored a lot higher than he did. He’s shown that he can do everything perfectly; it’s a question of whether he wants to. Here are some photos that K took of him and me during the exam. I’m toying with the idea of moving up to intermediate class after this, but we have a lot on our …
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Saturday Morning Snapshot: Urban dog.
Most dogs in Singapore are apartment dogs and only get to enjoy a romp in the park occasionally. Luckily for Bryan, we have a park right next to our house and he gets to visit it pretty often. I took him this morning after going through his obedience routine. He’s always super hyped-up when we walk up the hill, and sometimes forgets his manners, like when I took this photo of him. His basic obedience exam is tomorrow. He will be tested for heeling on- and off-leash, automatic sit, stand for examination, sit-stay, down-stay and recall. Of these, his biggest problem is stand-for-examination, which Patrick says is quite common. He will stand as long as we tickle his belly but …
Bryan gets neutered.
K took Bryan to the vet today to be neutered. I made the appointment some weeks ago because the B-boy is at the right age for the procedure, and delaying too long would nullify some of the benefits of neutering. So in he went to the clinic bright and early this morning. While he was there – and this is why I love our vet at Animal Recovery Centre (Greendale) after years of apathetic veterinary care – he was examined and found to have a couple of puppy teeth that were still securely embedded in his gum. The vet recommended removing them because they would affect the development of his permanent teeth, so K okayed the extraction and Bryan came …
No more raw for now.
The raw feeding thing hasn’t gone as well as I hoped it would. After a spectacular start the first night, it gradually went downhill and ended with a bout of explosive diarrhoea this morning. Poor Bryan. We thought he was just whining for attention last night in his crate; it turned out he really had to go. And go he did. The first order of business (pun fully intended) this morning was to give him a bath and to clean and disinfect the crate, which looked like a bomb had gone off inside. K had taken him downstairs twice between 3am and 5am (he was working late) and Bryan refused to poop, and then the next thing we know, we …
A new puppy?
SGDogMart delivered Bryan’s new Varikennel crate last night. I have to give them a big shout-out, because they provided fantastic service. Not only did they do same-day delivery when their usual delivery schedule is Fridays to Sundays, they also waived the delivery fee of $10 AND they gave us a small discount. Props to them. Do check them out if you need stuff for your dogs. They’re still a very young website, but I’m sure their product range will grow in time. I came home to find photographic evidence that a new puppy had moved into the new crate. Alison thought it would be fun to play in the crate since it was brand new and sparkling clean. I told …
