have you seen the beagle?: April 2009

April 28, 2009

Home Coming

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We arrived home yesterday afternoon from Cavite City. Coming home with us are Lexie and Nala. Lexie Grey is a two-month old female American Pitbull Terrier, while Nala is a three-month old female yellow Labrador Retriever. Nala will be staying with us until June just to make sure she gets her necessary vaccines and rabies shots before she leaves and stays with our mother for good.

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Nala was shy at first (the whole afternoon actually). She wasn't mingling with the others that much and she was obviously nervous (infact, she didn't eat that night). She was just beside Ivy most of the time, sitting down by her feet or getting herself wet, just like her daddy.

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Lexie became a member of the pack right from the moment she walked out of the vari-kennel to greet the other dogs. She is what we would call a people-person, or in their case, a dog-dog. She didn't hesitate to start play-biting (being the pup that she is) with Chuck and Beka -- even Lucas. She was running, jumping and playing non stop.

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The dogs were great together, we didn't have a lot of trouble except for maybe Nala's wound on her tongue and Chuck's hormones. hahaha! It's going to be fun!

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April 22, 2009

Our Dogs' Misery over their Pedigree

Pedigree is considered by most dog owners and fanciers as important as the dog itself. For knowing the lineage of a dog, one can prove that it is pure bred. Dogs are also given certificates of their pedigrees which highlights sires and dams with recognition and merits from conformation competition or dog shows, within the blood line of your dog. This can give the owner ideas of their new puppy's potential when it grows up. But really, is pedigree that important?

We stumbled upon this documentary from BBC regarding this topic and it was really an eye opener for us. Please do take time to watch this video.

Documentary - BBC - Pedigree Dogs Exposed

April 21, 2009

Worry-Me-Chuckie

Chuck Bass visited the vet today. He wasn't normal since yesterday. I thought it was because of the new dog (Beka) but it seemed to be more than that. We noticed that he was salivating more than usual and that there's a bit of blood with the saliva. He didn't touch his food at all which is an impossible feat. And for the first time, he was just lying on his bed when i went down in the morning on the way to the office, he should be walking me towards the car but he wasn't. I left the office early to have enough time to bring Chuck to the nearest clinic, luckily one was just about 5 minutes drive from home, which was not our usual vet (Dr. Ken Lao) but they'll have to do. Once i got to the clinic, the doctor already left so i had the assistant call her back. After about 10 minutes of waiting and a pee-session, she (Dr. Cabrera) finally arrived. She took Chuck to the table and did a series of physical check up. At least I know now that chuck weighs 9kg. She asked me to leave chuck for about an hour as she will do a few blood and stool exams on chuck, and since i live close to the clinic, she would just let me know once i can pick Chuck up. I walked Lucas around the block while waiting for the text from the vet. Once i got the text, i immediately headed home with Luc and then drove back to get Chuck. Chuck seemed to be okay except that he has a high level of White Blood Cells, which means he could be having an infection -- or he's stressed because of Beka's arrival. but since there was some blood, and other symptoms, it was better to be safe than sorry so Chuck was given antibiotics to take for 20 days. He was also given vitamins and a hydration supplement to substitute dextrose. If it was up to me, i'd say he's just missing his mommy.

Here's a few photos of Chuck and his bandaged forearm where the doctor drew his blood. He was such a good boy that he didn't even touch the bandage. Here's hoping Chuck gets well soon.

Chuck with Beka watching over him.

Spa Session

April 19, 2009 -- Today is THE day for Lucas. For the first time in 3 years, he is going to a spa. Well, it's the usual wash and brush, ear cleaning, nail cutting, teeth brushing thing -- the usual for most dogs at least, but not for Lucas. One thing you should know about labrador retrievers is that it is recommended to give them a bath only twice a year. Their coat produces natural oils which frequent bathing will wash away, reducing the waterproofing and shine of their coat. We're making an exception this time, it's time to give Lucas a day he will remember.

I took him to the dog spa at around 9:00 in the morning. I left knowing he'll be in good hands and will be coming back for him once i get a text that he's done. So during the wait, i had a short photo session with the beagles, Chuck and Beka.

Okay, who has the longer tongue!?

At around 2:00 in the afternoon, i pickup up Lucas and brought him back home. I couldn't believe the shine his coat had after the spa. They somehow brushed off all his loose hair (which we couldn't) which is all good. Ofcourse, vintage Lucas, once he was off and running in the yard, the first thing he did was -- mark.

And to top off Lucas Day, we gave him a nice pool to cool down in and get himself wet. He loves it.

I wonder when the next Spa Session will be?

April 17, 2009

The Anticipation of Lexie Grey

This month of April is an eventful month for me and Ivy. It's the first time we've been away from each other for so long and also this month we are taking in three puppies (though one, Lucas' puppy female yellow lab, will only stay with us until she gets her complete vaccines and then she's off to mama in the Wildberry Gardens in Lorega). You've already met one of the three pups, the five month old female beagle named Beka, in our earlier post.

Our much anticipated (and planned) adoption is this cute and wonderful female blue APBT. Yup, that's the American Pit Bull Terrier to you. She was born on February 28, 2009 and will be joining our family on the 27th of April. The breeder was thoughtful enough to make this short video clip of the puppy for us and we'd like to share it with you. Please don't get confused about the name at the start of the video -- ladies and gentlemen, it's our pleasure to introduce to you, Lexie Grey.

Another clip of Lexie and her siblings from the litter of Maxium X Blinq.

April 16, 2009

Welcome to the family, Beka

Please join me, ivy, lucas and chuck, on welcoming the newest member of our pack, Beka.

Beka is the first pick from the litter of Olympic Gold's Easy Winnin' (sire) and Ella of St. Andrews (dam). She was born on November 13, 2008. She's a tricolour coated beagle, quite different from Chuck who has a Brown/Tan/White coat.

The welcome party included me and Chuck Bass. Lucas had to sit this one out as he was too excited to meet Beka and she was still not comfortable with the territory. I'll do it the day after when Beka's more confident and Lucas is more relaxed.

Beagles are known to smell their new territory -- er okay, i guess that's what Chuck is up to.

Brown and Black Beagles. It sure is a sight to see those white tipped tails pointing straight up as they go prancing along.

Ofcourse most of welcoming party that night was spent playing Tag.

Here's Beka sizing up Chuck. She's a pretty active pup, a lot more active than Chuck when we got him at 6 months old. Chuck was pretty excited having a playmate not 3x larger than him.

Beka is a pretty little girl, isn't she?

After a long while, here they are comfortably sniffing each other out.

They sure make a good pair! But Chuck has a long wait ahead of him, she's just 5 months old after all.

For 3 days or more, Beka will be spending the whole day and night outside the house with Chuck to accompany her. That will give her enough time to establish a poo/pee place in the yard and once she does, she can then stay and sleep inside the house with Chuck.