Meet the parents session

Wah the post like very over due liao..

Its finally the day where tui meets its parent-in-laws!

Insert many smiling faces

I was rather surprise and almost choke on my breakfast when my dad says he wants to visit the shelter with me. woahhhh...

so i took the chance and ask mummy along. she was nervous and scared upon hearing it but wasnt reluctant. 

and so... everyone in VA sort of counted down with me to this special day.

I was praying for good weather.. it feels like an super important day for me which i hope it wont ruin any impression of them of packwalk and shelter. 

mummy kept asking me alot of SASQ prior to the day like:

"will the dogs know that i was bitten last time, then they remember me and will bite me again??" - siao ah! i told her: you go out kena beaten by guyA, u walk on the streets 10 years later who the hell knows u are being beaten before and beat u??? 

then she ask.... 

if i go there get bitten and attack by the dogs wad would u do? 

me (with a poker face): send u to hospital -_-
Seriously mummy, #LASTWARNING.

and so we had breakfast tgt den cabbed over, man.. we are super early.. reached like 8am. which is also a gd thing cause i get to slowly intro them to all the dogs..

Block 2 furkids are all locked up, except for the white dog in the first kennel.. after roughly intro-ing the block 2 dogs, i brought them over to block 4, jiahui saw mummy's sibeh stressed face and gave her a welcome and comforting hug hahaha. i guess that helped quite abit. intro-ed bb sasha peanut n bahgeh.. 

after that showed them the ex-LOL kennel and legendary Guinness who broke records. 

Went back to block 2 and i went into the kennel to play with tui and yen while both of them stand outside the kennel 

All the "Ar Buay Koon Ki Lai" face

Yenyen ~

After seeing how i how and interact with the 2 fatties, i let them out and !!!!!!

My lao bu squat down to cuddle them!! my eyes going to drop out already i tell you. didnt expect her to do that- like so fast!! 

Although the dogs look super unwillingly...haha

Yenyen face really like a not happy

Give some face leh, my mummy first time hug big mongrels, u both should be honoured

papa also played with them.. then, the bangala need to wash the other kennels so bo bian must release the monster nicole and the rest.. so i asked them to wait outside the fence, let nicole they all run finish alr den come in..

while i was alone inside, tonic came out to pee.. yenyen suddenly went over to check out, the next minute she was attacking tonic who was caught unprepared. the moment it screamed, the other dogs ran over to attack it as well. Yenyen was literally biting and pulling tonic's fur :(( The scene was really traumatising and unforgettable... seeing tonic's helpless face. Meanwhile i ran to grab the dustpan and chase the bullies away. 

They retreated, with tonic's fur still in yenyen's mouth. wtf. 

Poor tonic slowly limped back to its kennel. sighh... this is life, humans or not, the weaker ones will always get outcasted and bullied, just like how meimei was traumatised last time...

wah lao haven even say until packwalk and im reaching somerset alr. i sure am long winded. continue another time! zzz.

*******

After the drama, we led the dogs out to the car park, gave mummy yenyen and tui to papa. And roughly taught them how to handle the dogs. I was rather worried that my mum dont know how to handle the dog, and her speed super slow. Luckily theres hongwee behind so he help me to 'look after' my mum during the packwalk.

Finally a pic with smiling faces

And I realised I nv take any pictures with them :(

My mummy face from the start all very tak glam

Fatty + fatty :X

 My handsome bf specially wore tie to meet his mother-in-law

 Mummy got a "army face", AHAHHAHAHAH
But i must credit her for walking Yenyen quite nicely :)

The long long route to Halus with a Tek Gor infront...

The weather turned for the better, windy, not raining and no scorching hot sun. Fengyi,Ruiling, Papa, Mama and me reached Halus first. And we thought the others were just behind (not far away) from us. After resting for 10 - 15 mins we started wondering where are they, cause normally our speed not so slow one.

One by one they came as Fred was teaching some of them along the way. And a few of them went to pick up ALL's dogs. Finally saw some of the dogs that they have been talking about. I only remembered Cookie, because it had a super "cool" appearance with Marvin. -_____-"

Pls tilt ur head cos i dunno how to rotate video.

Marvin cycled all the way from Sengkang to Farmway to listen to Fred' training, and he did not plan to walk anydogs. But some how, he was given Cookie and he ji tao tie cookie on his ankle and cycled to Halus. FAINT!!!

Had intensive training that day haha. Yuanzhi became the demo model for the day together with her Tux.
We were taught how to introduce one dog to a pack of dogs.

Spot the airing armpit pose again!!! ANOTHER ONE INTO MY COLLECTION.

 Instead of just bringing the dog into the pack, we can use another (most balanced) dog, introduce it to the new dog, den bring both of them back into the pack. Baby was also used as the demo dog, I bet shes totally tired out by the end of the session.
Its a good exposure for my parents to see how dogs growl and swear, how we should control them and the situation.
After that was practical session to practice on loose leash walking. I walked cookie and it smells like miumiu (Lol, random). After that Minghui ask us to change to more challenging dog, so i took peanut instead. This one really challenging, challenging until im the last one to reach back the shelter (resting point) as it kept pulling, once it pull, we have to stop and dont let it get what it wants (which is to faster go back to its pack - baby and sasha).

That's Fred in the vest!

Look at hongwee's face ....

Huiyi and ALL dogs

Baby, Sasha and Joy

 Fred also demo-ed loose leash walking on baby and peanut and it really works. So I guess we need ton of more practices, its not impossible, just that we need alot of training and patience to work on it.

On the way back I walked peanut, was given some guidance during the walk..

It was a long day for everyone, didnt go to pet movers again :(

Papa and mama buay steady, reach shelter never wait for me then go back already... I guess their energy are totally drained out liao.

The pup is so cute but i cant stand my face. T_____T

Just nice gentle paw had their flea market and theres 2 very cute puppies ~.~ one of them look like little handsome.. Their T shirts are very cute too! "I LOVE YOU SO MUTTS" , the electric blue tee wasnt on sale that day..

After that Nikki, Lynn, Me, Chris-toe-pher and hongwee went to eat popeyes.

Visited ah mah and ah max after that.

* I want to thank my papa and mama for making the effort to understand your daughter more. By sacrificing their sleeping time, free time and most importantly conquering your own fear for dogs because you trust me, even thou its a short (not really short la hor) 4-5 hours, I believe it will leave a deep impression and wonderful experience in you all. And!!!!! that you all have seen my boyfriend and accept him ~.~ 
Thank you very very much Muackkkkssss*

Ok that it, byebye.

What I Hate Most About Being a Volunteer

Looking at the title, what are the things that u think i'd hate most?

The picking of shit?

The sweat and time spent?

The fact that im not paid?

Or the bruises and wounds inflicted?

 

"what do u exactly hate?"

Pic credited to hongwee

None of the above.

I hate the part when we had to bid goodbye to the dogs, especially those that we have developed feelings for and been with us for quite sometime.

When meimei, yenyen and nicole were said to go for fostering/home stay, my heart sank.

And this session, the greatest and saddest news i received was that Tui have a very high chance of being adopted by an indian family.

Tui, seeing yenyen outside wants to go out too..

 Even Nicole felt left out when the others were outside, she keep pacing up and down.

You know, even thou there are sooooo many dogs in the shelter, he is,
and will always be my number1 boyfriend there.
The bond that we've built together, like when i call out to him, he will come over and snuggle beside me, the time when i can just go back to shelter during holidays and just sit in the kennel beside him, stroking his fat body, the times when i taught him how to sit and paw, the time when he allow me to give him belly rub even thou he had nv lie on his back before (as far as I have been there), and the trust i had in him when i put my face right infront of his and he will not hurt me...

I dont know if how many of you had found the special one in the kennel, some may have 2 or 3 favourites, some have none. And even thou logically, I should be the happiest person because he had found a good home, and that he does not have to slp on the cold concrete floor anymore, there will always be a selfish part of me hoping that he will remained 'mine'.

There are so many more occassions which I want to spend with him :(( but all these will not happen if the adoption is successful.

Sighh. ya, so this is the part which i hate most about volunteering. U love them so much, but u cant have them all by yourself and let them stay by urside. Worse is, the chances of seeing them ever again is very very slim:( you dunno what kind of life they will lead in the future, and you wonder if they will remember you.. Sighh..
Crap. enuf of emo-ness.
I guess volunteering here also teaches me to be strong emotionally, and that I should see things from a different angle. Well, Im still learning.

Some pic to lighten the atmosphere here:

A uber cute pic taken by hongwee, Look at fatty yenyen, she seldom does that...

And when she does, its sooo cute.. I bet she cant even see the dogs opposite.

*************************************************************************

Last Sat:

We had our first ever proper dog training lesson conducted by Paris lynne's dog trainer- Fred.

A reward-based trainer whom focuses on positive training methods.

He heard about Guinness's case and was interested to share/teach us some pointers.
Thank was very nice of him. Everyone was excited about the training session and the theme for the day was BLUE.

And we look like smurfs.

It started at 830am and i think everyone is zombiefied.

 Spot me :P

Can I pass off as yuanzhi's class mate?

Professional photographer bert took the pics from different angles sia..

The whole session was rather interesting and time past very fast without us realising. He started out asking who are the fans of Cesar, and everyone raised up our hands. LOL.

As Fred said, we might have heard of some of the theories, and if we havent, its up to us if we want to accept and believe in it or not. And also alot of classical conditioning, operant conditioning....
When I was there, my brain keep working non-stop while he talks, I was imagining how I can apply the theories to our situation, and also reflecting on the things that I have done, and shouldnt do. Woah, it sure kills more brain cells than me attending school lessons.

Some things that are worth thinking and reflecting:

• Dogs learnt through association
• With regards to the saying "Dogs dont live in the past, they live in the present and future".
  Fred had his arguments to it - Dogs DO live in the past, because its their past that makes them who they are now, E.g. If they were abused previously, they became weary and fearful of humans. Same goes for the problem of food aggression as the dog may had a tough time fighting for food with the rest of the pack before it was rescued. Minghui and I had came up with the interpretation of the sentence:
  *Quoted from Minghui one hor* ahem,
  Animals dont live in the past, they dont live in the future too.
  Dont live in future = They dont plan what to eat tommorow, go where and chill or play what kind of games.
  Dont live in past =  they wont think "i used to be cute and chubby last time, now im lanky and my coats look terrible" or "last time my owner used to buy me XXX treats, I wished that i have owners like that now"
  The dogs have their past, and their past brings them to the present, but they dont go back and reminiscence about it.
  And my point of view? - Dogs do remember their past e.g. abused cases etc, but we humans need to step up, look forward so as to brin them out of the current situation and stop dwelling on their past. If we cant move on and keep pitying them, finding excuses for all their aggression problems etc, they can never move on.
• Being a packleader, those who are Cesar's fan will be familiar until rot of this pack leader theory. I have been trained to think in that way too. Some points that Fred brought up is that sometimes, we cannot always think in the perspective of a pack leader. E.g. When we go for a walk, should we let the dogs pee and smell as and when they like? I used to think: Im the pack leader so if I say no, you cannot smell, thus i will pull the dog away. But should that really be the way? They rarely get to come out for walk, so perhaps we can loosen up our rules and let them smell the grass? Not excessively thou, if not we will never reach our destination.
• Another thing that enlightened me, and might enlighten you too:
  Did your dog ever fail you when you command it to do certain tricks? E.g. You have taught it how to paw and sit, and you try it from a distance say, across the room and the dog refuse to do it. Then, you get fustrated thinking that: "Wah lao,I taught you so many times already! Why I infront of you, you do, den across the room you never do."
  You know why? Because the dog learn by forming picture. So when you taught it to paw, it listened to the command and capture the picture of you infront, so if one part of it is missing, most likely it wont follow the command. Which equates to the fact that,the dog DID NOT LEARN to sit and paw when you are across the room. So, before you blame your dog for being stupid or disobedient, think twice.
•  Does your dog barks at people who walk past your corridoor? Sometimes the humans might unknowingly be the cause of the problem. E.g. The first time this new neighbour walk past your door and saw your dog, he look down (direct eye contact to a unfamiliar dog is a form of challenge and threaten) and think "what a cute dog" without any expression. The dog? Wth, is this guy trying to challenge me? 2nd time he walk past, and he look again, the dog? Wtf this guy really want to challenge me !, 3rd time? The dog buay lun already, so it growl or give a quick bark. The guy will cua tio and faster walk away. The guy just want to go home!!
  4th time?  The dog learnt that by barking, it can chase its "enemy" away, so everytime the guy walk past, it barks. The more/faster the guy moves out of its sight, the more he is encouraging that behavior.
•  Lastly, he taught us the method for pack walk, we dont pop nor thug the leash when the dog pulls, instead, we will just remain rooted to the same spot, once the dog gave in and comes closer, then we proceed. This is the same theory minghui taught when we are at the pool. It is applicable during swimming lessons as the distance is very short, we can practice it one by one, but its hard for packwalk. By the time everyone finish practicing it, it will be 2-3 pm... Lol. Needa modify that.

Richard, aka merman, why your hair so cute one! HAHAHAHA

Many theories and methods are applicable case to case basis so we gotta play by ears.

Only a few dogs went out for walk. We were walking to Halus halfway and then U-turned back to Pet Movers.

Marvin's current fav, fat jack. "Jack or Giant, lets just settle for Jack"

yen, u really need to slim down in order to get adopted into HDB

Bah geh aka Kaeyan's first time out with us!

Chilled there like a normal day and yea. Ended quite early.

My lovely smurfs

Mudd says: Hi Five!

 The care free live they get to enjoy once or twice a week, how long more can this go on?

 Jac with my Bf

 A super nice shot takem by me. Jac and Tui and his 小鸡鸡。

Toto, special guest of the day. The Demo Dog.

 Guinness acting sweet..

huiyi why are u crying.. dont so sad, i know its sad that they are gonna get adopted.. haha

Look at tui's face, as if he is gonna snap on peanut any time to fight for the food.

"go away before i erupt"

Our shit god

Yuanzhi xiaomeimei playing with toto

 Realising our dreams..

Eh No! MINGHUI DID SOMETHING DAMN EVIL.

While Charis was bringing my bf and gang out for the potential adopters to view, and i was emo-ing focusing on them, she stand behind me and say: No reaction leh..
I was thinking: huh? no reaction? U mean i nv react to charis?
Den she took out her golden weapon again and swipe against my neck!!!Q$Q#$%#%%&%^&%^*

This picture, you dont see it like very normal. its actually very funny.

Look at her eyes: like zoning out in deep thoughts, with a little bit of hatred.

Her arms in a weird, manly position

and HER HANDS...MUST BE PLAYING WITH RANDOM GRASS...

Tsk.

No prize for guessing what she used.

PEACOCK FEATHERS FOR GODSAKE.

BLOODYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY DISGUSTING!!

Although i was 10-15 seconds late, I screamed and ran around like a ah siao! It left me with phobia and ZERO trust with her standing beside me, even when we are walking back, the minute she put her hands near her pouch, i'd twitch and look at her with suspicion.

Minghui, i hate you. You look super happy and satisfied when u saw my reaction.

You go eat shit. Haha, one day i will take my revenge!!!

Deng Cu Liao! 

The behind really nth much to write liao, so dont blame me for ending adruptly.

My fingers are cramping soon.

Merman and Mermaid...

Dreams do come through..(photoshop credit to weijie)

 Good night!