In Loving Memory Of Mick Valentino Tyson (31 Oct 1998 - 30 Oct 2011)

My heart just shattered into a thousand pieces when you took your last breath. Even though I was prepared to let you go but I just can't accept it now that you are gone. You have been with me for the last 13 years, from Sin Ming to Yishun to Woodlands to Marsiling and lastly to Johor Bahru.

Flashback to 31 October 1998 - I was looking for another dog to love when my beautiful princess Mandy passed away 2 weeks ago from urinal tract sickness.  Didn't want to buy a dog, preferred to rescue and adopt one.  Went to Yishun Fishing Pond to take a look at a pack of stray dogs who lived there with an old couple manning the fishing pond.  Not many puppies around but just as I was about to leave, I saw you shuffling under a generator. Approached you and picked you up..you were the fluffiest and had the most cutest face I ever saw.  Wanted to take you home immediately but John wanted to check out another site first, so I left you there & you went back under the generator. Saw a couple of other puppies at another site but none had that look in your eyes and in the end, John & I both agreed that you were the ONE! Approached the fishing pond owner & told him we would like to take you home, old man said no problem but I had to give him 1kg of sugar as a good luck token.  So once again, left you there while we rushed out to the nearest sundries shop to get sugar.  By the time we reached back there, it was already dark but I knew where you were....handed the 1kg of sugar to the old man & carried you out from under the generator & brought you home that very night.

You were covered in grease and smelled of diesel. Gave you a bath & you were so brave.....slept with you beside me that very night.  As time went by & you grew bigger, I used to carry you around when I went to work at a bike shop & you would bark when you heard the sound of a 2-stroke engine being revved but you loved the thunderous sound of a 4-stroke engine!!! You made everyone at the shop laughed when you made sounds that sounded like a chicken & when you barked & attacked your own reflection in the mirror. Remember the time when you bit an Ang Mo Lady's ear at the beach when you cuddled you?? She laughed it off and said that you reminded her of Mike Tyson who bit another boxer's ear during a fight...So that was how your name became Tyson.  I added in Mick & Valentino to your name cos my 2 favorite Motogp riders were Mick Doohand and Valentino Rossi.

As years went by & you grew bigger and more handsome each day, along came your teething period.  All my lower cabinet doors in the kitchen were chewed off by you as well as the storeroom door.  Then one day, you had an accident that changed your character forever, you tried to pull the shoe lace of one of John's shoes and the entire shoe rack fell on you!! You defecated and ran away in fright and from that day, you had problems with all the flooring in the house.  You thought there were quicksands everywhere & had trouble trying to walk across tiled floors. But it did stop your teething period permanently. 

You grew into a super handsome boy that made you look like a STAR wherever you went.  We shifted from house to house but you were never left behind.....you accompanied us throughout every where. Then we brought home Calu who was about to be euthanized & you accepted him without any fuss. Later came along 7 puppies belonging to Calu whom we later sent out to various foster homes as we couldn't cope with so many of you in a 3-room flat.  Then in 2007, we brought Casey home and she was much more horrible than you in terms of her teething problems and her rambunctiousness.  But you never made any fuss and accepted her too.

Fastforward to 2007 until 2011 - we relocated to Johor and you, Calu & Casey came along too.  For once in your life, you could go out to the garden on your own and smell the surroundings and bark as much as you wanted.  You gave Calu a earful each time he ran past you after doing his business and poor Calu always flipped his ears back to avoid your "scoldings". Though you never really played with Calu or Casey cos you were a little anti-social, you had no problems having them around. Then in 2008. we added Max & Sam into the house followed by Lucky and lately Angel.  By then this time round, you were already in your prime.....so we had to keep you inside the house where you'll be safe. When Calu passed on in 2009, he was about your age and we were very worried for you as you started showing signs of aging.  You became more grumpy and disoriented.  But your appetite was humongous!! We gave you all the food that you could eat to make you happy. Then one day in mid 2011, you collapsed outside in the garden and we though we lost you...but luckily it was just ear mites that caused you to fall.  We had that treated and you were good as new.  

Last few days leading to this morning, there were signs but I couldn't make out what was going to happen.  You lessened your food intake and did more frequent trips to the bathroom and also had problems with your orientation. We thought it was due to old age but we never expected that you'll decide to leave us so suddenly this morning!!!

As I write this, my tears are flowing and my heart is aching.  I will always remember you as a handsome, cheeky boy when you were in your youth and as a grumpy, hissing, yelping boy when you aged.  All these will be beautiful memories that I will cherish and keep in my heart and mind forever.  I love you Baby Tyson!!!!

Angel

Biong biong biong......a small black creature hopped across the unlit road behind some shop houses one late night in February 2011. Late as in 2355hrs. "Stop!" I yelled at John. "What???" asked John. "I think I saw a puppy at the shop house behind us." I said.  So John made a u-turn and we went back to the shophouse.  True enough, there was a small furry puppy on it's own scavenging the rubbish bin.  We stopped and approached the pup cautiously as we didn't want to startle it.  Calling out to the pup, it turned around and started wagging it's puny tail and came bouncing up to us, licking and pawing.  It was super cute and it was so young...i believed to be around 2mths old. "We can't leave her here, she won't survive the night." I said. "There are gangster dogs around this area & they'll maul her to death." John looked at me & went "so what you intend to do?" I gave him the most pitiful look and he went "ok lar!!! we can bring her home BUT she's your responsibilty!!! Also she's very cute lar."  hahahahhaha that did it!!!! He has succumbed to both her cuteness and my pitiful look!!! That's how Angel came to live with us.  Here are some pictures of her when she first came home with us......

Brought her to the vet for vaccination & the entire clinic was fascinated with her.  Everyone was fawning over her & like all puppies, she runs rather hops all over the place!! At first glance, she looked like a German Sherperd Mix..she had the markings on her chest and her fur was super soft but now as she grew bigger...she looks more like a Mix-with-don't know-what breed.....hahahahahaha

Angel is very bubbly and has a happy-go-lucky character.  She doesn't know what is danger, what can be or cannot be eaten...she's just go with the flow.  But one thing about her is her independence and her knowledge of where to do her business.  I didn't need to train her, she just knows where to go.  She can be left alone on her own..she amuses herself with her toys which I have been buying like crazy for her.  She loves her bears which she will toss into the air and catch it, followed by thrashing the poor bear left and right!!! She decapitated her toy chicken the last time round...imagine if it was a live chicken....gracious me!!!

Now that she's grown bigger, she's become more of a hugger and 10x more rambunctious than before. She loves to hug John's legs & won't let go....kinda very loving.. When she was younger, she had a playmate - Lucky my chihuahua but now I can't put them together cos she'll smother Lucky to pieces!!! I once put Lucky and her together & she grabbed Lucky in a bear hug and poor Lucky was struggling to get away!  Am trying to mix her with my other dogs but not much success at the moment cos she too rambunctious and will pounce on them..they are old dogs so they don't like to be pounced on.  Probably later on when she matures a bit more, I'll put her with them again.

One flaw Angel has is she's very very aggressive when food is concerned.  She will growl and snap at anyone or any dog that comes near her when she has her treats or food.  This is one habit that I'm trying to train her out of it but it's not getting into her brains!!! Think I need Cesar Milan to help me out!!!

For a puppy so young, she has developed the guarding instincts.  She will chase any bikes that goes past my house, barks at strangers and sort of alert every dog including ME with her ferocious barking!!!! I always pity the postman and rubbish truck man, they always get a earful from her...hahahahahaha

At 8 months old, I guess she's still considered a puppy & hasn't developed her brains fully to understand much..she only understands "Sit", "Stop It" and won't eat medicine!!!!! Used to be able to just feed any medicine without any problem but now must trick her...lol She gets to roam the garden during the day when my other dogs are inside the house but has to go back to her cage at night as Casey and Max will be outside the house during the night.  If I don't do this, I'll never get my bed to sleep on!!!! All in all, no regrets rescuing Angel cos she doesn't give much problems except for her aggression towards people and dogs when food is concerned & also her heck-care-attitude!!!! hahahahaha.

Here are some photos of her bigger now....enjoy!

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