Rossi's Spay on Friday

My hubby and I have scheduled Rossi to go for her spay on this Friday at Namly Animal Clinic. It was a concensus between us that we would spay her in due course for health purposes. We have read up quite a bit on the pros and cons of spaying her before her first heat. For us, the pros definitely outweigh the cons. We want Rossi to live a long, healthy and happy life. We do not want to expose her to any major health risks.


One of my colleagues questioned me on why I am letting her go for spay and did not consider letting her have a litter before spaying her, as he believed in letting a dog give birth at least once before sterilization. I told him straight away that I do not want Rossi face the possible risk of major illnesses and as well as the risk of complications in child birth. I love Rossi too much to risk losing her through illness or child birth.


On the other hand, I am also aware of the risk factor present in every surgery. Though spaying is a routine procedure for the vet, it is still a major surgery, considering the risk involved and the fact that she is going under the knife. I have heard of recent case where a 6 month old doggie passed on due to some complication. It is really saddening and at the same time, worrying to hear of this. My heart goes out to this owner who had just lost her doggie, while I also worry for my gal who is going through the procedure. But this spay procedure is inevitable, as it is for her health's sake. Even if I do not let her go through the spay now, I would still have to let her go through it later in her life. If she goes through the spay young, her chance of reovery is higher, as compared to going through it at a later age.


But I have also read many successful stories of doggies having a smooth spay procedure and healing well. Still, I am worried for her. I hope my Rossi gal will have a smooth sailing spay. My hubby and I are behind her all the way.


We have also taken a week's leave to care for her after her spay. This also brought about another round of questioning from this same colleague. He asked why do I waste my leave to take care of Rossi, when I could just leave her at home to heal on her own? Needless to say, to him, Rossi is just a dog and he felt that I do not have to do so much for a mere dog. This really got on my nerves! I retorted back heatedly that Rossi is not just a dog to me and my hubby. To us, she is part of our family and when a member in our family goes through a major surgery, it is only right that we take time off to care for her. With this, he finally shut up. I could'nt imagine these words coming out from a fellow dog owner with two doggies at home!

Rossi, you are a strong gal. Daddy and Mummy will be there for you all the way! Aja Aja!!

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.