My Baby is Growing Up!

Finally, I have time for an update. Its been over a month since my last entry.

My baby is growing up into a fine gal. She is going to be 6 months old this coming saturday. Like any mummy, I am brimming with pride for her as I watch her grow day by day from a little furby into a fine, well-boned young girle. Till date, she has dropped 9 baby teeth, which I kept them securely in a container. I remember when she dropped her first tooth, my hubby was so excited. From then onwards, we were vigilantly screening our floor for her teeth whenever we walk or mop the floor, as we do not want to miss out on any of her dropped baby teeth. An obvious sign of having another dropped teeth would be the traces of blood seen on the toy she had been chewing on.

She is also getting smarter, more obedient and more affectionate as she grows up. Me and my hubby love her more and more with each passing moment. To us, she has a sweet and independent character. She loves to shower us with endless kisses on our faces, hands, arms, legs..literally wherever she can get her lips on. The first thing she does when she wakes up each morning is kiss me, followed by her daddy. She would not make any noise to wake us up. When we are both at work, she would be at home on her own, never throwing any tantrums when we leave the house each morning. Then when we are back from work, she would be overjoyed, jumping up and down, nudging us with a toy in her little mouth to play fetch with her. She is fast in learning a new thing and good in responding to a command.

What amazes us recently is that she knows the right place to do her business in two different places that we have been to. The first place is our friends' house, where they have two poodles. The second place is the pet shop, where she has been going to for grooming. (The pet shop owner also owns two doggies that roams about freely in the shop.) On the occasions where we went to these two places, my gal was able to find the right designated potty areas(that was meant for their dogs), to do her business. Our friends and the pet shop owner were also amazed that she knew the right place to do her business even when she was at a different place.

Naturally, as her daddy and mummy, we were extremely proud of her. She is indeed a beautiful addition to our little family.

Rossi's First SKC Dog Show

Yesterday, we went to the SKC Dog Show with Rossi. It was our, as well as Rossi's very first SKC Dog Show.

It was exciting for us to see so many doggies and their owners gathering at one big place. There were stalls selling various stuff and we bought a herbal spray and frisbee for our gal. There were also Doggie competitions going on. We were especially drawn to the agility competitions. It was our very first time seeing doggies going through the agility obstacles and it was so cool. Someday, we also hope Rossi would have the opportunity to join the agility competition and have some fun with it.

There were many doggies of various sizes and outlooks. We saw quite a number of toy doggies dressed up in cute clothing and some were wearing little shoes. They were all so cute! Then there were also those gigantic doggies, whose sizes intimidated us abit and our gal was abit nervous when they were near. We also saw 2 other Papillons around there and were quite excited about it. We managed to have a short chat with a nice couple with an adorable 3mths old male old Papillon. As the Papillon community locally seemed rather small, we seldom get to see them often. So far, we have only seen 3 other adult Papillons during the occasions we took Rossi out for walks. (Though Rossi is a mere 4mths old, she looked bigger in size than the adult Papillons we saw. Probably my gal is just big boned? Or she eats too much and thus, grows bigger? Well, we aren't too sure.)

Coincidentally, my hubby also bumped into his ex school mate and girlfriend at there. They had lost contact since the secondary days and reunited at the Dog Show. Then amazingly, they also owned a female Papillon! But their Papillon was still at the pet shop and currently, they were waiting to bring her home. (It was actually his girlfriend who noticed Rossi and stopped in her tracks, then from here, my hubby saw his ex school mate. That's how they saw each other again. ) The guys did a quick catching up on the old times, while we, the gals, chatted about our furkids. Contact numbers were exchanged and we would arrange to meet up again. What a small small world!

It was an interesting and eye-opening experience. We look forward to attend more shows like this in future.

My Darling Rossi Gal

Time flies. It's been quite a while since my last update. I was very occupied caring for my girl. Till date, she has been in our little family for over a month and she is going to be 4 mths of age on this coming monday.

Admittedly, it is tough work taking care of her. Daily, we would clean her living area, clean her paws+body, settle her meals and play with her. On alternate days, we would give her a dry bath and brush her. She sheds alot of fur, as she is starting to lose her puppy coat, thus regular brushing is required. Everyday, we also have to wake up early for her sake. Though its tough work caring for her, she is a great joy to us and we love her very much.

She can be so naughty at times. Sometimes, we get so frustrated with her till we wanna smack her buttocks! But there are times when she is so terribly sweet that she melts our hearts.

Every night, she would go to bed quietly when we switch off the lights and prompt her to sleep. (She do not like to be cuddled to sleep, unless she is very tired.Usually, she would fall asleep in her little home, while I stay somewhere near outside her home.) In the morning when she wakes up, she would wait pateintly for us to awake before reaching out her little paws for us to carry her. She never try to wake us up by barking or whining or any noise as what some other doggies might do. Another amazing thing about her is, she is not scared of the thunder. When thunder comes, she would just go to her bed in her cage and nestle there silently. However, she is terrified of water. Whenever it is bath time, she would complain non-stop all the way and she would even try to escape from us.

Our neighours and their kids adore Rossi. She loves being around people too and is very friendly towards them. When she have doggie friends around, she enjoys running and playing with them. Recently, our friends have gotten a new family member, a very adorable female black poodle, named Cheezels. She is also Mocha's new playmate. They invited us over to their house and Rossi had a great time playing with Mocha. Cheezels wanted to join in the fun, but due to her tender age, it was not suitable for her to come out and play yet. Therefore, the little gal could only protest from her cage while watching them run about.

Also, during the workdays, Rossi seems to know daddy and mummy needs to work and leave her at home. Usually, hubby would go off first as he starts work earlier. I would accompany her for another half hour or so, before I go off. Rossi would either play her toys close to me or climb onto me and nestle in my lap while playing her toys. During times like this, I really hate to leave her at home for work. I know she wants mummy to stay with her. When I try to move away from her, she would bite onto my clothes or pants to stop me from leaving. I would have to dis-entangle her from me gently and leave her in her home.

Her eyes would then follow me wherever I go in the house. When my eyes fall on her, she would reach out to me with her paws, call out to me with a little sound to catch my attention. Then she would sit on the floor, wagging her tail like a good gal, while looking up to me with her innocent eyes. I got to go to work, but I could not resist her gestures. So, I would pick her up in my arms and baby her for a while before placing her back into her home. Then I would give her a couple of her favorite toys and a rawhide to play with. Slowly, I would go to my room, take my bag and leave quietly. Rossi would be watching me as I leave, quietly too.

I really miss her when I am at work everyday. How I wish I didnt have to work...but then again, if I didnt work, I would not have the ability to provide her the luxuries I want to give her. With this in mind, I would march off to work. When I am home in the evenings and during weekends, i would give her all the time I have, to compensate for her solitary daytimes. But so far,I would say my darling gal is still doing okay. When hubby and I got home from work, she would rush to reach out for us and shower us with overwhelming kisses.

All I wish for my darling gal is, for her to be healthy, happy and comfortable with her surroundings. I know she will love us unconditionally and we want to give her the best we could.

My Baby Gal is Coming to 3 Months Old!

Time Flies. My adorable, mischevous, hyper and at times, stubborn little gal will be 3 months old this coming Saturday. She has been with us for 2 weeks. More or less, she is getting accustomed to her home. We hope she will settle down comfortably in time to come.

At this time, she is still at her teething stage, so she literally bites/chews on anything she can sink her tiny teeth into. The vet has advised that this is a very common issue for her age and when her full set of teeth grows, she will drop the habit gradually. On our part, we are also trying various ways to stop her biting/chewing, while hoping at the same time, she can grow up faster and stop this habit soon.

Since Rossi came home, we realised that she has gained a bit of weight. At first, we thought it was her fur that had grown longer and fluffier, giving the impression that she has increased in bulk. However, when we carry her, we could feel her frame weighing upon us. We could easily lift her up with one arm when she first came back, because she was so small and light. Now, we could feel the strain after awhile if we only use an arm to carry her. Also, whenever I give her a tummy rub (she seems to enjoy a nice tummy rub!), I could feel a small pauch on her pinkish belly. Guess we got to give her more exercise to keep her in shape.

In the past few days, we have stopped putting her into her cage for bed. We let her sleep outside her cage, so that she feels cooler and could go to "toilet"on her own whenever she needs to do so anytime at night, without having to call out for us. When it's time for bed, we would switch off the living room lights, turn on the light stand and pass her a doggy soft toy, which we call "Mei Mei", to accompany her. It is also meant as a cue to let her know that its time for her to sleep. She seems to know this and would usually hold on to Mei Mei, chew it all over then fall asleep eventually.

When she is asleep, hubby would usually go to his study room to surf the Net, while I would go to our bedroom to watch TV. Occasionally, we would peep at her from where we are, to ensure she is sleeping well.

Although she can be so naughty at times, I still love her alot. When I am not at home with her, I would think about her and worry over her well-being. Then once I knock off from work, I would dash to the bus stop like the road runner to catch the bus home to be with her ASAP. My hubby thinks I display symptoms of separation anxiety (Anxiety resulting from not being able to see her).

Whenever hubby or I am annoyed with her for being naughty, she seems to be aware of it. She would start to become very quiet and tame like a good gal. Later, when we go over to pick her up, she would kiss us with licks here and there. We can't stay mad at her for long. (Normally, she is quite stingy with her kisses! She only gives us licks of kisses automatically in the morning when she wakes up, in the afternoon when she has her lunch and at night when we come home. Whenever we ask her to kiss us, she would just give one small peck on our faces. Sometimes, after pecking me or my hubby once, she would reluctant to do it again even when we ask her to do so repeatedly!)

Another thing about my baby gal is, she might look and feel fluffy like a little soft toy, but she doesn't like to be cuddled, nor does she like to be held for too long. Whenever we cuddle her, she would struggle to come loose with her mini paws. Then everytime we hold her to clean her up after her pee/poo or to walk about or just to sit around to watch TV, she would try to wriggle herself free from us and start protesting with her impatient little whines. Sometimes, hubby tries to imitate her whines and his act would stun her into silence!

What she really loves, is to run and jump about in the living room freely on those agile, slender limps of hers. When she got tired after all the activity, she would rest with her legs slightly apart and paws perched on the floor. After awhile, she would begin her activity all over again. In short, she is a bundle of endless energy. Playing with her is a sure-fire way to lose weight. No diet needed! (Great for Hubby!)