The aforementioned hi jinks.

The girls didn’t want to go to a park yesterday, so K blew up the inflatable pool for them to have an evening dip. All was relatively peaceful until a playfight began and someone splashed water onto the deck as Bryan was passing.

Crouching tiger, hidden dragon?

Bryan got all excited and started patrolling the pool, waiting for the next splash to snap at. Eventually, he started climbing on the sides, which got the kids all screamy because they didn’t want a big furball in there with them.

Bryan contemplates going for a swim.

On-leash heeling.

Waiting for the next set of instructions.

Off-leash recall.

We passed with 172 points out of 200!

I’m toying with the idea of moving up to intermediate class after this, but we have a lot on our plate for the upcoming months so I don’t know whether we’ll be able to fit it in and have the time to train him to the level required by Patrick. I guess we’ll see.

Bryan was supposed to be in a sit-stay so I could photograph him against the backdrop of the buildings, but he disobeyed. Oh well. This shot of him bounding towards me is nicer anyway.

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 the minute we stop touching him, his bum hits the ground. This also happens when he doesn’t feel like obeying, or is very tired. He really does have a lead-butt. He did well for the assessment last week, even for stand-for-examination, so hopefully he will keep it up for the real thing

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 home two testicles and three puppy teeth short.

He is very troubled by his Elizabethan collar, but he has no choice but to wear it because he has been licking his incision site. He’s also looking rather hangdog and asking for cuddles. I think the Tramadol has gotten the better of him, because he’s finally sleeping in his crate. Hopefully he can go without his collar for at least an hour or two on Sunday, because we have obedience class. Poor boy.

His last dump was at 11 this morning and he hasn’t had to go since then. I don’t know why his stomach can’t seem to take to raw. By all accounts, as a carnivore he should be eating and digesting raw meat like a pro. I don’t think he has a chicken allergy per se, since his kibble contains chicken meal, but there’s something in it that doesn’t sit right with his tummy. Perhaps adjusting to raw and coping with the after-effects of vaccination (he got his final puppy shots last Friday) is just too much for his little system to manage at the same time.

So no more raw for now. I’ll let him recover and then very slowly transition him to a better quality kibble. He deserves to eat better food than ANF Puppy. And then maybe, just maybe, we’ll dip a toe into raw feeding again.