More Fireworks

A second round of fireworks are keeping me up again! The Mommas say it's another New Year celebration for a different group of Chinese people. They are the 'Hokkien' people. The story is that there was a war going on, and the people had to spend the real Chinese New Year hiding in a sugar cane plantation! So after the war was over, they came out and celebrated Chinese New Year 9 days after the actual celebration. Well, that's the Mommas version. They aren't too reliable. All I know is lots of sugar cane and fireworks are involved.

Thank goodness for the crate. You can't drag me out when the fireworks go off, even if you dangle a chicken liver in front of me!

Hiding under Momma-2's chair when the madness starts again!

Lots of Licks,
Summer

Success!

I have achieved success. Let it be known, that I, Summer, have conquered the wired securing not 24 hours upon its completion! It was most unexpected, let me tell you. Instead of squeezing through the opening below.... I climbed OVER it! Ingenious, I know. Thank you, thank you, I live off applauses!

All my handiwork! I used it as leverage while I haul myself over with my amazing

upper-doggie-body strength

Now don't judge, I don't do it because I hate my home. I quite like it actually. It's those cats. Peh! I'm helping the neighbours with pest control. Quite frankly, I deserve a treat for my effort.

But the success was very short lived. Puppy, my neighbour/sister alerted Momma-2. What a snitch! Momma-2 said she was calling for me over the fence, but in all honesty I didn't hear her! My on-again off-again deafness must be acting up.

Imagine my surprise when I saw her at the neighbours! "Oh, what are you doing here? What a pleasant surprise" said I non-chalantly. She greeted me pleasantly enough although she was carrying me rather uncomfortably on the way back home and she muttered some not too pleasant things.

So I'm back to square one. Tied up again. Will they never understand I am doing this for the good of mankind?!

Feeling tired after the adventure. And trying to look repentant! Two birds with one stone.

Lots of licks,

Summer

P/s Momma-1 said she wants to say a word or two! Keep it short, momma.

I am at my wits end. I'll remove the pots, and if she still manages to get into her mischief then I really don't know what to do anymore. I'd love for her to be an inside dog, and she will be once I can call a place my own but it's not my house and therefore not my rules. I've even tried forbidding her from touching the fence, but I honestly think she forgets everything, even who she is, when she sees a cat! It is most disappointing to see how quickly she overcomes the fence after so much work putting it up.

Securing the Yard is Hard Work

It's no secret that I, Summer, am a renegade escape artiste. Many a times the mommas have tried to "retain" me within the small confined space of the yard. But I'm no lap dog. I need to explore. Taste the air of freedom! Smell the crumbs on the other side! Chase the cats and then turn tail when they start hissing at me!

Yet the people never learn. Momma-1 came back with a huge roll of wire. HAH! Like that would stop me. She says it's a metal securing, so there's no way I can chew through that one. But you can bet that I will try. Oh how I will try.

What's left of the old securing

It was a two day job, as Momma-1 had to haul loads of pots, tear down the old fence, secure the new wire fence which from her grunts and her moans is a lot harder then it looks, and finally haul the pots back.

The new securing is up!

I did what I could, by making sure the pots were thoroughly sniffed for evidence.

"Hmm... What do we have here?"

"Smells like homemade fertilizer... *sniff* With a hint of cat poop!"

But don't rest on your laurels just yet, cats. I'll be back!

But first a nap.

Lots Of Licks,

Summer

CNY is Here!

For the past couple of days, the Mommas have been very very busy. They were running around shoving things into the oven and dragging out delicious smelling cookies. Of course, I was armed with my exceptionally sharp palate in order to make sure they were edible.

A load of peanut cookies

But it wasn't all rainbows and cookies. They took to putting up some red dangly stuff on the ceiling, to which I protested loudly at first, but soon learned they were harmless so I let it go. A girl's gotta pick her battles! Then they put these red little paper envelopes called 'ang pows' on what used to be the Christmas tree. To top it all off, they gave the house a thorough cleaning, and SOMEHOW decided that I needed a thorough cleaning too! Ugh.

Turns out, they were getting ready for Chinese New Year! The Mommas get all teary eyed and nostalgic, because Momma-1 brought me home around CNY last year. I was greeted to my new home by loads of crackers and fireworks. This year was no different! Fireworks and loud booming noises galore during Chinese New Year Eve. The Mommas were relived I'm not the barky type when the noise pollution began. I just run into my crate and cower in there until it all stops! The Mommas just laugh at me when I do that. They can be so mean!

Momma-1 insisted that I did my level best to look festive too. She picked off a pretty little ornament and tucked it into my collar. I thought it was a nice new toy, because it swishes about and is so much fun to jump around and catch! It's like an endless game of fetch, except I don't have to give back the ball. The Mommas began to worry that I'd chew it into oblivion so they took it off after a while. *sigh* It was fun while it lasted.

Despite the fact that this time of the year is noisy, hot, and my walks have become shorter and more erratic because everyone is out most of the time, I'm still very fond of this holiday. The sound of fireworks brings me back to the day I began to share my life with my human pack.

Greeting Momma-2 at the door

And the cookies of course! Seeing as there's no such thing as free cookies in this household, I had to do a few sit stays (which occasionally melt into a down) and an assortment of tricks to get my cookies' worth. I'm practically a street performer, with what they make me do. I should take to the streets with a sign that says "Will play dead for liver treats".

Waiting patiently for my peanut cookie and a piece of egg tart

It's practically begging, really! I have a three stage step to getting what you want through begging. First the 'pretty please', followed by the 'if I could just lick it', topping it off with 'OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE, OH PLEASE!!!'. Here's a blurry illustration of the progression. Works like a charm (most of the time)!

I was even nice enough to share my bounty with Puppy, my neighbour/sister.

Yes, she is a big doggie now but she was a puppy once!

Her tale is a bit of a damper to tell, so I'll keep this story for another day. For now, we feast and indulge in the abundance of leftovers during this prosperous time of the year.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Nice to Smell You!

Hello! This is Summer reporting for doody. At this point in time, I'm an 18 month old girl, with a brindled coat, finished with a white vest and matching socks.


My people don't know what I am a mix of (they seem content with a greyhound, saluki, and border collie mix), but what they do know is that I'm inquisitive, have lots of energy, and forever nose deep in some mischief or other.

Does this look like a face of a wild child to you?

Momma-1 rescued me from the shelter where I was living for a while with a TON of other doggies when I was 6 months old. I was quite a big doggie by then, and quite frankly I wasn't the friendliest of pooches. I was wary, I didn't like new people, and I haven't changed much since then. But Momma-1 was pretty persistent and I warmed up to her after a few days! She said it's the reason she picked me. She was afraid I wouldn't ever get taken out of that shelter because nobody really likes a shy dog! Such a silly Momma, so easily fooled. When she took me to Momma-2's house, I became an absolute tyrant!

Momma-1 is still studying, so I live with Momma-2 for now. At first, I was allowed the whole backyard and porch for myself, but I have a fabulous nose for nooks and crannies and found a way to nudge to the neighbour's house where I can nudge into OTHER neighbour's houses!!! Oh the adventures I had. The thrill of the escapades! Oh, they tried to 'reinforce' the fences, but I wasn't having any of that! No one can contain me, Escapist Extrodinaire!

But people didn't like me landscaping their garden(we artist's are so misunderstood!), and Momma-2 was terrified that people would try to hurt me upon seeing a strange dog languishing in their garden. On top of that, I'm particularly wary of strangers. I'm not going to wag my tail at every Tom, Dick and Harry! I'm not aggressive, but people here seem to think that every dog bigger than a chihuahua is armed and dangerous!

In any case, I've been confined to the old ball and leash, doomed to romp in the yard only under very strict supervision. BAH! And they wonder why I'm a ruffian who can't control herself when she's excited. Momma-1 really wants me to be an inside doggie, and I don't particularly hate the idea either, but Momma-2 is a little old fashioned when it comes to doggies in the house. HOWEVER, slowly but surely, I think my stellar personality is making her change her mind. Momma-2 often sneaks me in, and Momma-1 does let me go in for short periods of time after I've taken a bath. A small matter of time before I conquer THAT domain.

Momma-1 makes up for me being holed up all the time by taking me for long jogs and hikes! Now those are a real treat.



She's really trying to make me into a perfect doggy, and I do try my best to please her sometimes. But I am a strong-willed dog and I certainly have a mind of my own. Hmm... Does that make me part Terrier then?

Lots of Licks,
Summer.