Visitors

Dazzle's got a visitor! Enzo visited Dazzle yesterday. We all suddenly realised how BIG Enzo was and how much of a puppy Dazzle still is.

Having never seen a dog of another breed, Dazzle was visibly shaken (no kidding! She was really SHAKING!!) when Enzo came to the house. Enzo was gentle, but still, is very big compared to Dazzle.

Enzo somehow took comfort and felt very at home especially when he was chewing Dazzle's bone. Dazzle could only look on, no complains against the big dog.


Dazzle wasn't too keen on playing with Enzo especially when he started smelling her butt! This calls for some bonding exercise. What better way to bond that to do it over food?
That's exactly what Dennis did.


After that, they did cosy up. At least, Dazzle didn't mind having Enzo around so much but this comfort is broken once Enzo gets too excited. I'm sure Enzo had lots of fun looking down on Dazzle.

Almost 11pm. Both dogs were punctured. I'm sure they can be best of friends when Dazzle grows a bit bigger.

Yawn...

6.30am, 2009 January 17, SATURDAY!!

Yes finally, its the long awaited weekend!! We were so looking forward to having a longer night's sleep to recuperate.

Our dear Timesucker a.k.a. AlarmClock woke us up at the usual 6.30am. ARGH!! It was frustrating but from so many sources on the internet, we know that dogs are creatures of habit.

BUT... Dazzle has to know what is weekday and what is weekend right? Well, maybe not today but some day she will. She will learn that there are 2 days in a week that no amount of calling will get her breakfast at 6.30am.

Today, Enzo is coming over to meet Dazzle for the first time!! We're going to give Dazzle a good shower so that she can be at her best during the first meeting.

By the way, this photo was from last night. Being barely tall enough, Dazzle never fails to try her best to share our dinner. We didn't let her have it of course. Its for her own good. Oh and this photo was taken just AFTER she had her dinner.

A long long time...

The start of this week was understanably traumatic for Dazzle. We were away at work for a good 10 hours a day while she was in a cage but after 3 days, she has more or less gotten used to it.

Needless to say, she will go nuclear when she sees us at the end of the day. Dazzle has been a really smart and sweet puppy and didn't really give us any trouble as long as we give her the attention and love she seeks.

Yesterday evening, we had dinner AFTER Dazzle had hers. BUT, she still gave us the dirty look when we finally sat down for dinner without inviting her to the table. No way we are feeding her with our food.

This is Dazzle being distracted by her chewy stick while getting combed.

She simply gave up struggling after a while.

We had a really great time with Dazzle every night. She doesn't really like to be brushed and combed but we didn't really give her a choice.

So far, we have been "accident free" for 2 days. Good girl Dazzle!

Oh by the way, it has been just 1 week since Dazzle joined our little family but it felt like we've known each other for a long long time...

Power up!

Dazzle's been a really active girl today. She did whimper a little early this morning accompanied by a single soft bark at 1.30am. We did as we're told, we slept.

When we finally woke up at 6.30am, Dazzle was still whimpering. She seemed more energetic today. Totally ready to burst out of her cage. We let her out, gave her her first meal of the day and she charged around like a bullet.

She entertained us (or rather we entertained her) for 2 hours and we prepared to go out, to give her a feel of what is to come in the following days when we both have to go to work.

By this time, she has more or less tired herself out and was ready to "recharge" in her cage. We're really glad she likes her cage with Dino inside. She always walks in whenever she's tired.

When we came home at 1pm, that was when we heard her first real barks. She was quiet. Really quiet when she was alone. But when we entered the house and not immediately going to her, she tried hard to catch our attending by whimpering and calling and finally, barking.

Today, we had a ball of a time with Dazzle. Apart from getting BUA by me twice for urinating under the dining table and in the kitchen, she's been a real sweetie.

Sunshine after the storm

10th Jan 2009 - Day 03

3AM: I couldn't sleep well. So far, no whimpering or for that matter, no sound was coming from Dazzle. I took a peek at the cage in the living room and was pleasantly surprised to see Dazzle standing straight up, immediately spotting me.

I was so so glad, so so relieved that Dazzle has lived through a very bad day in her new home. At 3.15am, i was clearing Dazzle's shit but i was happy. Can you believe that? Happy clearing dog shit at 3.15am!

After cleaning Dazzle's cage, i gave her a hug and went back to sleep. Not long after, Dazzle was whimpering a bit but it wasn't long before she quietened and let me have my sleep.

We woke up at 6.30am and was greeted by an enthusiastic Dazzle eager to jump out of her cage and play. She cuddled and in her own way told her how much she missed us.

This time, we fed her conservatively and made sure that her kibbles had been soaked for a good 10mins before feeding her.

So far so good. Dazzle is back to her old self and is really a time sucker. Unknowingly, we have spent more 10 hours with her today and she finally went back to her cage to sleep with her soft toy Dino and let me off to update this blog.

Gloomy day

Day 2 was traumatic for Dazzle and us. After one whole night of whimpering and crying, she looked listless and wasn't too keen on doing anything but to be let out of her cage.

Let her out we did, at 7.30am, and we immediately wanted to feed her. Give her breakfast. We want her to accustom to the new routines and timings but in our haste and excitement over feeding her for the first time, we overfed Dazzle and we didn't soak her kibbles long enough.

Dazzle didn't feel well. She's sick on her 2nd day at her new home. It broke our heart.

After throwing up, we decided that it was time to see the vet. Initially, we wanted to bring her to get her 2nd vaccination but i guess that will have to wait.

After surviving the car ride and getting a jab of antibiotics at the vet, Dazzle knocked out for the rest of the day. We were so very worried that she wasn't going to wake up. She lost interest in everything, and even decided to skip her dinner. Worst of all, she wasn't drinking. Lilian tried her best to feed her some water.

This night, we slept with our door open so that we could hear Dazzle if she was calling.

Everything was quiet, but we didn't sleep well.

Finally...

7.30pm: We've finally brought Dazzle home! Dazzle was quite cool about the ride home. She trembled a little during the start of the car ride but settled down and gazed at the changing lights outside.

She got more excited when we were going up the multi storey carpark.

So, once we reached our home, Dazzle didn't roam about much. She pretty much stayed close to us but didn't really look disoriented.
Next, we introduced her to her new bone. She tookto it immediately and started pouncing on it as though the bone is an animate object and is about to take off to Mars.

We had a really great time playing with Dazzle and her new chew bone. It seemed there was no way she will let that bone out of her sight.

After a while, she's bushed. She got tired.. so did I... I did suffer from "new dog anxiety" the past few nights though. And we laid down...

Not long after, like all animals (and humans), Dazzle had to answer the call of nature. At first, we were a little worried about where she will do her businesses but thanks to Peter and Josephine's training, Dazzle simply walked into her cage and settled down at the far right corner to do her business. We gave her lots of praise of course!!

Somewhere in the midst of our "get to know each other" playtime, Dazzle got interested in the "friend" at the glass door. Like Enzo, it appears that Dazzle has the same interest. It'll be interesting when they meet..

10.30pm: Both Lilian and I were very tired and its time to get Dazzle back in her cage and introduced her to her new friend Dino. Hopefully, Dino can provide her with some comfort in this new home of hers. In time, she will realise that this home will be her safe haven. She probably doesn't know that yet.

Before we go to bed, we put Dino into Dazzle's cage to give her some comfort.

Well, she seemed to like Dino. She didn't really bite it but just placed it at one corner and snuggled up with it.

So, we decided that its time to go and take our showers. It was not more than 10mins into our shower, when we heard Dazzle whining. It was a very low but very very sad whine.. and it got louder and louder.

Dazzle continued to whine into the night. We felt really really sad and almost did act against all advises to bring her out and give her comfort but we resisted.

Good night Dazzle. Hope you can fit into this new home soon.

About bonds...

Dear Dazzle,

Bonding begins with discipline. Understand?

Eve of homecoming

We've been busy.

Finally got the cage that we ordered 2 days ago. Just managed to set it up in the living room. Lilian gave it a thorough cleaning using a newly purchased bottle of Dettol to make sure that everything is clean when Dazzle comes home.

As a matter of fact, she's mopping the floors now while i'm blogging and trying to look very busy... haha...

Besides the cage, we've also got a pack of food (compliments of Dazzle's breeder Peter!) and the other stuffs. Lilian insisted on getting a nice glass water bottle for Dazzle that's why she has a new bottle of Perrier while i get to drink from the tap...

I think we are more or less prepared to welcome Dazzle home tomorrow evening. Hope she likes her new home.

Eye power

This was taken on last Saturday at the breeder's home. Her shiny jet black coat made her look really smart and very adorable.

Look at how she look at people...

Here's a preview. 2 things we can tell from this photo:

1. We need a camera with better dynamic range to capture the jet black face of Dazzle

2. I am really clueless about how to carry her.

I'm sure I'll be an expert at carrying her soon...

Introduction

OK here goes... This first blog of my life is dedicated to documenting and sharing the addition of a new baby puppy to our family.

There were 2 big decisions Lilian and I had to overcome:

First, we had to decide between a male salt and pepper or a black female mini schnauzer. This wasn't so hard a decision to make. We quickly took to the black female that the breeders called Glory.

Now, the second challenge: finding THE right name for her.

After many many nights of brain squeeze and many many debates with many many people, we finally managed to decide on a suitable name for her.

She has a pair of very expressive eyes that seem to see thru our souls. We finally decided to name her Dazzle.

Well, she still doesn't know she's now called Dazzle though. We have yet to bring her home. We are taking these few days to prepare her new home and her homecoming. We are so worried that she will have a hard time adjusting to new people and new environment.

Anyway, we are very very excited and very much looking forward to bringing her home tomorrow night.

We are just keeping our fingers crossed that we will get the cage that we ordered 2 days ago by tonight.

Test Message...

Test Test test.....