.::. Chikey turns one .::.

It wasn't too long ago when we brought Chikey home. He was that little puppy, very loving and extremely playful and insecure when we were out. Before we know it, he's already one-year-old and officially an 'adult'.

Didn't have much of a celebration but the friends gathered for dinner and Chikey's best friend came to join him. I baked Chikey a little carrot cake with cream cheese and he happily gobbled it up.



Here's Chikey, having to stay down before he gets the signal to eat.



And here's Rugby, Chikey's best friend.



Chikey is all big and handsome now.



Sometimes, Chinook comes by and I try to bring them for a walk together.



Other days, he's faithfully waiting at the door for either of us to be back.



Oh, he has a fat butt. Chinook sits very gracefully with his butt just touching the floor while Chikey sprawls on the floor.



I iron the husband's clothes every Sunday and he usually stays with me and guards the door.



And someday, when the weather's fine, he gets his favorite walks. If he's lucky, Rugby comes to join him.



That pretty much sums up the life of Chikey. Other times, he's comfortably curled up on his bed.





And this is him on his birthday present that daddy got him.

.::. Loves of my Life .::.

This is the husband and the dogs the previous Sunday when his family came over for dinner. =) We used to have dinner together every Sunday, and I watched the nephews grow up throughout the years.  How time flies..



Time flies and Chinook is now such a big boy.  I still remember how excited I was when the husband drove me to the pet farm to pick a puppy for my birthday, how Chinook stepped shit all over me the first morning he was home, how I spent hours just looking at him and see him sleep.  He was so tiny then.  I didn’t realize how much he meant to me, till I cried when I had to leave him with the husband while I left for Sweden.  It wasn’t that long ago that I did not even like dogs, yet the husband brought me to dog shows frequent enough to make me fall in love with dogs.  I used to tell him (like what my parents say) that I might as well bring up a human than a dog.  Now, perhaps I might rather bring up a dog than a human.

We got Chikey because the FIL was too attached to Chinook and we couldn't bear to bring him over.  I missed having a dog around.  Chikey is the exact type of dachshund that I liked all along.  Years ago, dachshunds were rare and expensive and we settle for Chinook because there weren't any long-haired ones within budget.  Chikey is really cute and smart but really naughty!













They make me happy.

.::. Chikey .::.

We've got a new member at home, and his name is Chikey.  He's Chinook's little brother.



Here he is.

Have been feeling that our home missed something - Chinook.  I missed having Chinook around so much, yet we've decided not to bring him over and let him keep the FIL company since they've grown so attached.  Chinook was my birthday present and it was the husband who made me fall in love with dogs after bringing me to many dog shows.  He grew up with dogs and love them.  I still remember him driving me to Pasir Ris pet farm one weekend, telling me that I can choose a puppy.  I was so happy then.

We know many neighbors with dogs here, and one of them knows a breeder who imports dogs from Taiwan.  He helped me to find out if they had Dachshunds and there was a black and tan long-hair one which is 7 months old.  The price was negotiable due to the puppy's age.  A few of us went down on Sunday to see the dog, but was held up as the neighbor's car auto-locked after he started the engine and closed the doors.  We wasted a few hours as his spare remote did not work with the key inside the car and engine running.  A mechanic finally managed to open the car and we rushed down to Pasir Ris from Holland Village.

To our dismay, the dog was sold just before we arrived.  We saw the cute puppy and its owners when we arrived.  The shop had a 7-weeks old red long-hair puppies which we could come back for in 2 weeks time. After visiting a few more shops, I almost thought that we would be going back without a puppy.  Yet at the last shop, we found Chikey.  He was so cute and my heart raced when I carried him. The price was even cheaper than the previous puppy although he is only 3.5 months old as he's locally bred.  And so, we brought him home.

He was so obedient and quiet on the first 2 days we had him.  The neighbors even thought that there might be something wrong with him, and we brought him for a checkup just-in-case.  Yet from the second day onwards, it was mayhem.  He broke out of the toilet the first 2 days and made himself comfortable.  We got a fence the third day and he still managed to break out.  He's whining so much whenever we leave him home.  He's still not toilet trained and it's still a long way to go.  He must be a lot smarter than Chinook, because Chinook never ever managed to break out - he just stayed in there and start getting excited when we get back.



Here he is on the first night at home.  He simply lay there even when we woke up and stared at us.



Here's me with Chikey.



Chikey watching TV with me.



And here's Chikey falling asleep on me.



And here's Chikey sleeping like a human.

I keep calling Chikey Chinook at times.

But yes, we would like to have a dog settled in before a baby comes.  It'll be nice to have our kids grow up with dogs.  I hate it when kids squirm and scream when they're around dogs.  I hate it even more when people tell me that you should not have dogs when you have kids as they are 'dirty' and 'not good for children'.  These people do not realize how much joy dogs can bring into your life and are missing out on quite abit.

.::. My little boy .::.

Was at the husband's place for a gathering last weekend and snapped some pictures of my little boy who is not so little now.  Can't believe he's already turning 5!



The husband with the dog.



He's super hyper when there are people around, can't get him to stay still.  I was talking to Vanessa, this little girl who is very excited about being my flower girl.  I was asking her about what color she would like her dress and flowers to be, and chinook chose to pounce on her then.  The poor girl was so shocked she jumped back in terror.



I really seldom have pictures with chinook!



He soon got tired and lay on the sofa with the husband and I.



Look at that lazy boy.



He's totally enjoying himself.



Sometimes I forget how much I love my little boy.

.::. The Countdown .::.

The husband and I hosted a BBQ at his place on NYE.

We practically spent the whole afternoon preparing food and marinating them.

Spot the drumsticks?

He was supposed to choose another packet of frozen chicken wings, I entrusted that task to him and went to choose other stuff.  I mean, you can't go wrong with frozen wings right?  To my horror, the chicken wings turned out to be chicken drumsticks when I opened it to thaw.

Men.

Lateness.  It was supposed to start at 7pm, yet he's starting the fire alone at 730pm.

Because we had pork chop and sweet potato, we boiled them and gave Chinook a sumptuous dinner to welcome the new year.  Look at his greedy face.

Waiting patiently for his food.

And he finished up in no time.

With Wynne and Con.  Wynne is traveling for the next 3 months!  To North America and Middle East.  I want too.

Our family.  =)

The dog must have been happy.

A group picture.

To a good 2012.

.::. World Animal Day 2011 .::.

It was World Animal Day a few weeks back and SPCA had an event at East Coast Park. Of course, we brought Chinook along.

Here is the happy dog who loves car rides. Open the car door and he'll help himself in.

And then he starts running around the backseat, to and fro. Look at his muscle tone.

We finally reached our designation and the dog dashed out of the car.

I find this hilarious. Who would do such things along a very crowded beach?

The shy dog. People approaches him and he runs away or pretend they didn't exist.

There are dogs all around.

And then, a couple with a dachshund approached us. He's Kushi and as shy as Chinook, even more so! Another terrier came to join in the crowd.

Kushi.

The friendly couple who was amazed by Chinook's size. Kushi look so small in comparison.

The dog is happy.

Another group of short legs - Corgis.

Towards the end, it was the agility race. Border Collies are such smart dogs!

These 2 dogs were HUGE. They reach your waist.

Here's Chinook tired after all the action and looking at the other dogs race.

The agility course. I wonder if Chinook can ever complete it.

It was a nice day by the beach and we went back as the sun set.