Max - Bull Terrier Mix

I am Max also known as Black Pig, Piggy, Bulldozer, Karaoke-King and Biter! I came to live with my present owners on 1 December 2009 along with my nemisis Sam.  I don't hate him but I don't understand why he's always picking a fight with me.  He knows that he can't win because I am heavier and stronger than him & I bite real hard but he still picks a fight whenever he has the chance.

When I was with my previous owners, I was kept outside their backyard in very dim light with little food.  I was always hungry and also my eyesight wasn't good, so they deemed me as partially blind.  Who the hell can see clearly when the blinds are always down during the day and the light is so dim in the night????  My owners didn't really care much about me, they were more loving towards Sam probably because I had skin problems.  I feel itchy all over and there are open sores on my tail and body which the owners didn't really bother. I know they put Sam up for adoption but not me...they intended to put me down.  Thankfully, my new owners saw me and saw how cute and pitiful I was that they decided to adopt me and Sam!  That's how I came to live with them.  This is me now.....

lying down inside the house. When I first came to live with my new owners, I was very happy because they kept me inside the house and let me out to do my business whenever I needed.  I also learned to climb the stairs which I never did before.  They were also very kind to me by allowing me to do my business upstairs whenever I wanted to.  Inside the house were 2 other dogs..Casey and Tyson.  Tyson doesn't bother me but Casey loves me to bits.  She's always licking my face and cleaning my ears.  She doesn't fight with me and is always protecting me against Sam. Calu their old dog lives outside but he's also fine with me.

My skin condition improved for some time but then the problems came back.  I started gaining weight even though I was fed just right everyday(here I am fed daily without me wondering when my next meal is coming). My belly started sagging downwards and soon I looked like a pot-belly pig. I also had red rings on my skin and my fur was falling off.  My mummy was very concerned and took me to a vet who ran some blood tests and checked me out.  The result was I had Cushion disease!! I also had catarats (who wouldn't when you're old...I'm 12years of age now).  I was put on daily medication and given a bath every week. As the months went by, my skin improved and I no longer felt itchy, had scaly skin nor open sores and my fur grew back.  Mummy said I have to be on medication for the rest of my life to control the disease. I don't mind as long as I don't feel itchy.

There are 2 favorite hobbies that I have....SLEEPING and EATING!!!  When I'm not eating, I'm sleeping.  Mummy lets me into the house during the day but I have to go back to the kitchen and backyard during the night.  I hate going to the kitchen to sleep though mummy puts a carpet for me to sleep on and I also have the backyard to do my business whenever I feel like it.  I share my bedroom with 3 other dogs...Casey who sleeps and roams with me both during the day and night, Lucky who has his own bed and playpen which he stays in as mummy fears he will be trampled by me though it's more like she's afraid of his urinating habit.  He urinates everywhere!!!!! Also there is Angel who is kept inside the gigantic cage during the night or whenever mummy & daddy goes out cos she's horrendously rambunctious and will disturb every one of us.  Now that Hari Raya Puasa is coming and those uneducated brats keep releasing fireworks and fire crackers, mummy will turn on the radio at night to calm us down. I have gotten used to sleeping in the kitchen now so it's not too bad for me though I would prefer to sleep inside the house.  Everyday after dinner, I have to go back to my bedroom...sigh....but during the day, this is what I like to do.....

SLEEP!!!!! Mummy also has a light on timer in my bedroom which comes on from 1930hrs to 0600hrs every night so I can see where I walk. This also helps for Casey so that she won't bang into me and vice versa.

Dinner time is always the best cos mummy always gives me a big bowl of rice and dog canned food and vitamins. If mummy is late, I will always do this to her.......hehehehehe

Mummy where's my food???? My bowl is empty!!!! See how lazy I am....hahahaha...actually I injured my paw and have difficulty getting up so mummy brought my food right up to me!!!! I luv mummy!!!!!

Now I have one bad habit too just like Sam...but I don't claw the doors....I bite my way through.  Mummy was so angry with me that she installed stainless steel grilles to prevent me from destroying her sliding glass doors.  But I was not deterred..I tried to bite the grilles apart and sadly I lost one of my canine tooth!!!!! Mummy laughed at me.....grrrrrrr.  I just want to go inside the house during a thunderstorm...I don't like to be in the kitchen.  The house is more comfortable!!!!!  Anyway, there was one time that I managed to open the grilles but mummy came home just in time before I could pried open the sliding door.  So now mummy puts a padlock on the grilles!!!!

Daddy says I'm a lousy karaoke-singer just because I bark every morning at 0900hrs and wake him up!! But I just want to go to the garden to do this.....

I love rolling on the concrete ground when the sun is very hot as it helps me to scratch my back which I can't reach due to my massive size and short pudgy legs.  Mummy is always sneaking to video me so I have to be careful....I didn't know when this was taken......hmmph...can't I have some privacy?????

On the whole, life is actually very good for me now.  Gone are the days when Sam will sneak up and attack me, wondering when I'm gonna be fed, I have lots of love and care and also my disease is kept under control....what more can I ask for?????????

Sam The Destroyer

Sam is a Rottweiler Mix who is about 12 years old.  He came to me 2 years ago on 1 December.  He was put up for adoption by his French owners along with Max who is a Bull Terrier Mix.  His owners had to downgrade from their landed property to a HDB flat as the government wanted the land back to upgrade Seletar Airbase.  I chanced upon him from an email sent out by my friend who stated that Sam was going to be "put down" if nobody adopted him.  I couldn't see such a beautiful dog being put down so I contacted the owners and offered to adopt him. 

The owners suggested that I came over to their house to familiarize myself with Sam before I adopt him.  I agreed and went over to meet up with him.  While there, I saw another dog, Max who was not mentioned by the owners as they thought nobody would want to adopt Max because he had skin problems and was initially thought to be partially blind.  Told the owners that if I were to adopt Sam I'll take Max too but on one condition, they send both dogs for vet checkups and send the dogs over to my house.  They agreed and so Sam & Max began their new life with me, John and my 2 other dogs....Calu, Tyson and Casey.

When Sam first came, he was rather aggressive towards John but not me.  He was also rather possessive around food. His previous owners told me that they fed him brown rice with mince meat but for a Rotti..he's rather skinny. Started feeding him dry food for the first month and noticed a huge change in him.  He started putting on weight and was also less aggressive towards John.  However with my other dogs, it was a different matter.  He tried to impose himself on the other dogs but was unsuccessful  He got into a fight with Casey my little princess and Calu came to her rescue!! After that he didn't dare mess with either Calu or Casey. Though with Max, it was a different situation.  He has been living all his life with Max but still growls and picks a fight with Max if the opportunity arises so I had to separate them.  Tyson my oldest dog couldn't care less with any dogs.  He's a loner & doesn't like to mix.

Another bad habit I found out about Sam is that he's very frighten of loud sounds like thunder and fireworks/fire crackers.  Whenever there is thunder or fireworks, he will want to fight with the thunder, he will charge like a crazy bull, barking his head off and he won't stop barking until I bring him into the house.  If I don't bring him in, he will claw my door down, topple everything and try to enter the house through the window.  For a dog so clumsy, he sure can balance himself on the ledge!!!!  I had my sliding glass door completely clawed out from the slider...(thankfully I placed a water container outside if not my entire door would have fallen and shattered to pieces), my inner sliding door smashed all because he wanted to get into the house during a thunderstorm!!! In the end I had to arrange a contractor to install stainless steel grilles and gate to protect my glass doors and front wooden door.  My front door has all the marks of his clawing that looks like a monster tried to get in!!!!

Despite all the items that he has destroyed during his stay with me, he's actually a very sweet boy..so I was very upset and depressed when one fine day, he just kept toppling over onto his side and started having seizures.  I brought him to the vet, he prescribed some medications and I took him home.  That very evening, he started vomiting violently and kept losing his balance.  He was also very disoriented and very quiet.  Not even the thunder could get him up.  Brought him back to the vet the very next day as he was vomiting whatever food he ate...all were undigested food. They hospitalized him for 3 days, put him on a drip and monitored him.  No medication was given, his blood test was fine but there was a lot of food inside his tummy.  They told him he didn't collapse nor vomit during his stay there so I had to take him home. All they told me was he was suffering from "old dog encephalitis". Took him home, but his condition didn't improve.  Checked up on the internet for some solution to treat his sickness and decided to put him on antibiotics, painkillers and anti-vomit medications.  After a week of medication and very careful monitoring and care, he started to show signs of improvement.  He could eat without vomiting his food, didn't collapse much and also was more lively.  Decided to continue with his medication just to be sure.  Then had another problem, he eats well but doesn't poop!!! Thought it was the antibiotics causing him not to poop, I decided to stop his medications and it worked for about 2 days.  I then decided to stop all medications and just let nature takes it's course.  It worked!!!! He didn't collapse, got his orientation back, was more lively and was eating well. Though he now poops everyday but in a very small amount, am satisfied cos he didn't show any signs of his illness!! He's eating more now..feeding him rice with dog canned food along with his multivitamins. He's back to his old self now..driving me up the wall with his constant clawing and barking..but I rather have them than him falling sick!!!

What caused his illness? I was very baffled until just 3 days ago, I chanced upon a rat running around my house and trapped the rat.  I then traced the rat's route and found out that the rat had made a home in my porch.  There were lots of rat urine and feces that I had to clear.  Out of curiosity, I checked the internet about rat urine and feces and found out that if an infected rat was digested by any animals, they actually will have the same symptoms as what Sam had!!!! So there's only 1 possibility.....Sam must have eaten an infected rat!!!! Now Sam is one dog that eats anything..I once caught him eating a bird feathers and all!!!! Now I have rat traps everywhere in my garden and porch and I also cleared and cleaned out everything where Sam sleeps to prevent another mishap from happening again.

I am really glad that I got Sam started on antibiotics and painkillers to kill off whatever poison or viral infection that he had...so my guess now is he's not suffering from "old dog encephalitis" cos he's recovered fully from his ordeal and I hope he stays that way!!!!  I hate to lose him cos he's by nature a very sweet and lovable dog....more like a gentle giant.....lol