As many of you know, my blog friend MaxDog in South Africa and his family have had some devastating news: Max has an inoperable tumour in his liver and he has come home from the vets to spend time with his family. It is a very tough time for them but Max is a fighter and we are all fighting for him too and keeping him in our thoughts.

Max’s ‘Mom’ realised that she didn’t have many nice photos of her and Max together and is capturing those precious moments now – but she reminded us all to “seize the moment” and get more ‘ Together Pictures ‘ with our humans. I am very lucky because I have a maniac camera human who has to take a million pictures of every small thing every day – so I have quite a few pictures with my humans already!

So this post is dedicated to Max - here are some ‘Together’ pictures of me and my special human, Hsin-Yi:

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The first time we met…

(4 weeks - look, my brothers are trying to climb into Hsin-Yi’s lap too! I was the first of all the puppies in my litter to get my very own human and I think they were all jealous!)

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The last time Hsin-Yi could pick me up…

(9 weeks – 10kg/22lbs)

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Graduating from puppy class!

(16 weeks)

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Helping in the garden…

(4 months)

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On Hsin-Yi’s 30th birthday…

(5 months – Hsin-Yi waited 30yrs for her dream of having a dog!)

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All grown up now!

(14 months)

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Sharing a hug…

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Having a nap together…

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Winning our 1st ‘doggie dancing’ trophy…

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Enjoying a girlie moment together…

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Exploring the ‘City of Sails’ …

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…or just ‘hanging out’…

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Maybe a spot of modelling…

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…and a TV appearance or two…

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…but quiet cuddles at home too!

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Being a lap dog…

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Posing for Christmas photos…

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Doing the ’beach babe’ thing…

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And sharing a joke!

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But most of all, those special, quiet moments together…

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And here is Hsin-Yi’s favourite photo of us together:

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I hope you will join us  and post some ‘Together Pictures’ of you and your human – in honour of Max…and if you haven’t got many, as Max’s ’Mom’ said – seize the moment and get some more now!  

* For all those whose humans say that there is no-one to take the photos - Hsin-Yi says “Use the self-timer!” A lot of our photos are taken with self-timer and the mad rush to run back into the right spot always gets a natural smile!

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* Hsin-Yi is going away tomorrow to attend a conference with Dr. Ian Dunbar back in Auckland and she will be away until next week – so I won’t have anyone to help me visit your blogs – sorry! I will catch up with you all when she gets back.

And guess what? Instead of kennels, I will be going to stay with a pet sitter this time, as Paul works such long hours and is on-call on weekends, so I would be alone for too long at home…but this lady lives on a big farm where I can run free and she has a Great Dane too so I will have a friend to play with! In fact, I already had an overnight ”trial stay” a few weeks ago to make sure that I was happy with the arrangement and I loved playing with Harley the Great Dane – so I will tell you all about that when I get back!

I also still have lots of ‘catch-up posts’ to do, like telling you about my “doggie dancing camp”, my visit to Nudgee Beach and the latest tricks I’m learning - I always seem to be having adventures faster than I can post about them!

* Thinking of my friend, Max Dog in South Africa and his family, at this difficult time – wishing them happiness, peace and love in their time together.

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Can you believe it – twice in the last few days, the Postman Human stopped by our house and said he had a package for ME!

Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers

How exciting! The first package was from my blog friends, Max & JD, who live in a faraway place  called England. Their humans had been travelling to another faraway place called Egypt and they had got a little present for me from there…a personalised bandana!

See? The bandana has my name on it written in ‘hieroglyphics‘ which are special writing pictures used by humans living in Egypt a long time ago…how cool is that?!

Well, as some of you know, I have a LOT of bandanas - my humans love to put bandanas on me when we go out walking – and this new one is a great addition to my collection! I couldn’t wait to try it on…and then I had an idea! Remember that clicker training game “Fun with a Box”? Well, I could do my own version: ‘Fun with a Bandana’!

Starting with the traditional look…

Then how about a bit of rustic ‘peasant style’?

Or I could do a cute retro Minnie Mouse look:

Or how about an elegant corsage?

Then there is the hot pink miniskirt… (oh, la! la! )

…or maybe a bit of Ascot flair - work those accessories, dahling!

Not forgetting (Hsin-Yi’s favourite!) – the evil Emperor from ‘Star Wars’ (er, pink version!) !

"The force is strong in you, young Jedi...but do not underestimate the power of the PINK Side"

Kasha the Dainty Dane

And as if that wasn’t all exciting enough, I then had another package from my blog friend, Kasha the Dainty Dane, who lives in a faraway place called Chicago.

This was a little thank you for me helping her to set up her blog…you’re very welcome, Kasha!

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Ooh, I love opening presents…

What beautiful wrapping paper!

Yay! A tug toy! I LOVE tug toys!

This is me doing my “Happy Dance”: When I’m happy and excited – like when my humans come home - I always have to grab something in my mouth and do a little “prancing walk” around the room…do you do this too?

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Nothing like a good game of tug! Grrrrrrr!

Of course, I still have to remember my manners even when I’m playing tug – like I must always immediately let go when my humans say “Give” – I learnt this from when I was a baby puppy, otherwise they just won’t play with me anymore and it is no fun. I also learnt that I must never put my teeth (even accidentally!) on their skin – if I did, the tug would “go dead” and my humans won’t play with me anymore…so now I’m really careful when I’m grabbing the tug toy.

Some people think that we doggies must never win a tug game otherwise we might get a bit bossy but it’s no fun if we lose all the time! My humans let me win sometimes – as long as I will always let go when they tell me to. And they always end the game when it’s still really exciting, so I know that they are the boss and they decide when to start and stop. 

A lot of humans think that it is bad for us doggies to play tug – some even have silly ideas about it making us dominant - but as long as we are taught these important rules for playing, then it is a great game which most doggies LOVE playing and is a fantastic way for us to bond with our humans.

And guess what? There was also a present for Hsin-Yi in the box: special cards with our names and pictures on them! Isn’t it gorgeous! We love it! Personalised bandana…and now personalised stationary too!

Whew! And then as if all that wasn’t enough excitement, I also found out that I had got 2nd place at Niamh’s ‘Train Your Dog Photo Contest’ and the Reader’s Choice Award in the MangoMinster ‘Hard-Working Group’!

Congratulations to all the other winners and thank you to Niamh and Mango for hosting such fun competitions!

* Voting has started for the Hard-Working Group over at Mango Minster – head over and check out the entries! (including ME hard at work modelling)

* Also – don’t forget voting for Tucker’s Sit-Stay competition - I’m entry #18! Voting closes 6th Feb!

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My new home, Brisbane, is a nice city but it is not as dog-friendly as Auckland. There are lots of places were dogs are not allowed or not welcome, and what’s more, can you believe that “dog parks” here are just small, fenced areas in the corners of the main park?!

What? You call that a dog park?? That’s like a dog prison yard! There’s hardly any space to stretch your legs – especially for a big dog like me – one gallop and I’m practically crashing into the fence on the other side!

Besides, in all the parks we visited, we saw hardly anybody using the rest of the park around us – it was all empty – which made it seem even MORE unfair that us doggies are squished into these small corners…

Back in New Zealand, if a park was a “dog park”, that meant we doggies could run free in the WHOLE park. If humans didn’t like being with dogs, there were lots of other parks which were not dog parks where they could jog or cycle or walk, without being bothered by dogs running around them.

See? Now THIS is what I call a dog park – all 20 hectares of it, with ponds to wade in, rabbit holes to sniff, woods to explore, hills to climp and lots of space to run free!

Me at Waiatarua Reserve, Auckland

We had about 5 parks like this within 10 minutes drive of our home – I guess we were really spoilt in Auckland and didn’t realise how lucky we were!

My human, Hsin-Yi, says that lots of other countries have these small, fenced dog parks like here in Brisbane, especially in the faraway place called America – but she really doesn’t like them. Not just because they are so small either. She did an article for one of her dog magazines on “dog parks” last year and she found lots of reasons why such small, fenced dog parks are a bad idea:

• putting a lot of us doggies who are strangers into a confined area is just asking for trouble. Especially if our humans are just standing around, gossiping, because then we feel ‘braver’ with our pack behind us and so we are more likely to become bullies or pick a fight with other doggies.
• humans in these fenced, small dog parks usually just stand around or sit around gossiping, which is unhealthy for both the humans and their doggies. We saw a LOT of fat dogs in these parks! (And fat humans!) It is much more natural – and safe – and healthy – for us to keep moving – walking, exploring, passing things – just like we would as a pack on a ‘hunt’ in the wild.
• these parks are only really suitable for young playful doggies (usually under 2) who are still puppies really – most adult dogs do not like to be crowded into such small spaces with other strange dogs and again, it is not the natural way we would go for a walk.
• even sociable puppies and dogs can have a bad experience in the dog park if another irresponsible human brings an aggressive, out-of-control dog and many pups have had their temperaments “ruined” because of an attack in a small dog park.
• entering these small, enclosed parks is very stressful – again, it is not the natural way we would meet other strange doggies in a big open space, where we can decide what personal space we are comfortable with and curve around each other…oh no, Hsin-Yi was horrified when we tried to go into one dog park and the doggies already in it came rushing up to the fence, barking really aggressively (and their humans didn’t try to stop them!) and then we had to enter through a narrow gate where they all rushed up straight to my face and I was still restrained on my leash…it all made me feel very uncomfortable and wary, especially because I have been attacked twice before and had to go to the vet to get stitches.  Really! The other owners should control their dogs and not let them rush up to new dogs coming in through the narrow gates but of course, lots of humans don’t understand dogs at all and think that we should all be instant best friends doing group hugs like in a Disney movie!

So anyway, my humans have been trying to find a real, proper dog park for me but we were getting very depressed because we went to SO many parks in Brisbane and they were all the same! All small, fenced things with badly-behaved doggies and ignorant owners!

And then finally we heard about a park which runs alongside a small river called Kedron Brook and we were so happy when we got there because we saw this!

Yay! A REAL, unfenced, PROPER dog park!! The Kedron Brook Dog Off-Leash Area runs for a long way next to the water (on one side of the brook only - north side) so us doggies can REALLY run and stretch our legs and sniff and explore. 

It also means that everyone keeps walking – so we do meet other doggies as we pass each other and we may play a bit but then we hurry to keep up with our pack, so our encounters are short and sweet and safe!

And then when we have met several times, with good, short, positive experiences each time, then we can have a longer play together and everything will be fine because we know each other better now and trust each other. This is the correct way to introduce us doggies and let us make friends! 

Because there aren’t any other dog parks like this in Brisbane, everyone wants to come here and lots of humans come from very far away to bring their doggies here – so it was a bit crowded!

Hsin-Yi says walking along the park was like walking on a dog multi-lane highway! We never saw this many doggies in a park back in Auckland because there were always so many nice, open reserves there to choose from that everybody didn’t have to all cram into the same park.

So I got to meet lots of new doggies and do lots of bum-sniffing…

There was a really big handsome boy who was a Ridgeback-Malamute-cross:

And a dainty little Italian Greyhound:

A friendly Staffie…

…a Lab playing hide-an-seek…

…and a cute little black Mini-Schnauzer who reminded me of my blog friends, Max & JD, Oskar, Sasha and most of all, Gus!

But my favourite new friend was a brown doggie who came racing up to me and jumped up, inviting me to play!

My humans were so happy to see us running around together because it is SOOOOO hard to find playmates for me. Because I am such a confident, big doggie, most other dogs seem to get really scared when they see me – a lot of them just roll over to show their tummies and freeze – and some of them even yelp and cry and run away if I try to do a play bow! Sheesh! I haven’t even touched you!

Plus I like to play REALLY rough too – galloping and wrestling everywhere. Sorry, that “gentle giant” label doesn’t really fit me! Ever since I was a puppy, my humans have been trying to teach me to play gently but this is the way I like to play! So I need a really confident, sociable doggie, who is not afraid of a bit of rough-housing, to play with me. (And it’s not always the size – my best playmate was my BFF Ombre the Schnauzer who was only 1/4 the size of me but he played REALLY rough and bounced off anything to come back for more! ) That’s why I hardly ever find a good playmate when I go to the dog park and this makes my humans very sad.

But that day, I did!

And we had a grrrrrrrrreat time!

Well, after all that running around, it was time for a cooling dip in the brook…

My humans tried to get me to swim (sheesh – they’re ALWAYS trying to get me to swim!) but even though I waded out, the water never really got deep enough for me because I am really tall and have very long legs…

Still, it was nice to cool off in the water…

And then to have the lovely cool breeze dry my coat afterwards…

What a great place and I’m so happy to have found a proper dog park at last!

Kedron Brook Dog Off-leash Area:

- on the north side of the brook, the area between Montrose St and Gympie/Lutwyche Rd (red shaded area)

Kedron Brook Dog Off-leash Area Map

Thank you f0r all the lovely comments about Lemon in the last post – they are really appreciated. I’m terribly sorry – I’m still so busy with ’settling-in’ stuff and have just been away the whole weekend with Honey at a “dog dancing camp” on the Gold Coast (with no internet access!) – so I have not had time to visit any of your blogs. Will do my best to come and visit as soon as I can.  ~ Hsin-Yi

Even though I have already done lots of training and am generally well-behaved, my human, Hsin-Yi, likes to continue taking me to training classes regularly – just as something for us to spend time working on together as a team and to remind me of my manners and keep me on my toes!

So she has been looking for a training class for us to join in Brisbane and she found some very nice classes at the Animal Training Centre run by the Queensland RSPCA. These are good because they welcome all types of doggies and are not very competitive ( not like some Obedience clubs!) – because Hsin-Yi doesn’t really care about winning ribbons or putting letters after my name (- sometimes humans can get very nasty when they care a lot about those things and then it is not very nice to be around them). She just wants to do stuff with me for fun. And rather than paying money to another dog trainer, this way the money paper for our classes would be going to help the RSPCA.

Now, a lot of people think my human is crazy to keep taking me to training because I already know a lot of advanced stuff and she can already control me very well – they think training classes is only for dogs with problems…but Hsin-Yi thinks that it is always good to keep learning and challenging our brains. She says it is like Human Pups learning to read: they don’t just stop going to school after they learn their ABC’s – they keep reading new books and magazines and newspapers, etc …

Also, many humans think of doing training with us doggies as a BIG CHORE – like something yucky that has to be got over with as quickly as possible. But actually, it is much better to think of it as part of life with us doggies – just like grooming and cuddling and taking walks – training is just another way to spend time with us. All through our lives. Not just once.

Just like you would not read a Human Pup ONE book once – instead, it is a nice way to enjoy spending time together with Human Pups by reading them a book at bedtime every day. So it is the same with training us doggies. It is a nice way to spend time with us. We love doing training with our humans and it makes us trust them more and listen to them more, so we become better behaved and can go more places and get involved in more things.

When Hsin-Yi called and asked about joining, the RSPCA trainers told her that new doggies are not allowed to join the advanced classes unless they have done the basic ones first…but Hsin-Yi explained that we have already done lots and lots of training so in the end, they were nice and said that we could join the Intermediate class, which is at 9am on Sun mornings.

Well, actually, I already know how to do all the things in this class too but Hsin-Yi says it is always good to go over things again – even the basics!  – and to practise in different places and with new distractions like new dogs. (Hmm…I don’t know…I still think it’s a bit boring… )

Well, anyway, so we started with practising having all the different parts of our bodies handled by a stranger… (easy! )

And then we did some Sits… (even easier!)

And then we went into a big field to practise some Heeling and Sitting beside our humans… (yawn…)

We also got to practise walking over steps – ‘coz some doggies that have never been socialised to stairs can get really scared if they have to go on them…(OK, this was a bit more interesting!)

And then we practised some Down Stays…(OK, I got to do a Sit Stay  and Stand Stay instead, to make it a bit harder and more interesting for me. Also, the other doggies kept their leashes on and their humans only walked a few steps away but Hsin-Yi took my leash off and walked far away to test me more…but I was really good – I never broke my Stay! )

And then the last thing we practised was the Recall: to go to our humans when called. Well, this is easy too but I was a bit slow – I trotted slowly over to Hsin-Yi instead of zooming over like the other smaller dogs. Well – you know us giant breeds – why do something quickly when you can do it slowly? (And why stand up when you can lie down?)

I heard Hsin-Yi asking the Trainer Lady for tips on how to get me to move faster…Really! Doesn’t she understand the giant breed philosophy in life, by now? You can’t expect us to zoom around like a small cracker dog!  We’ll do it but at a much more dignified, stately pace, thank you.

Actually, I think I could have been faster but it was just so hot that I was exhausted from all the panting. Even though the class is early in the morning, the sun is already very strong at that time and even in the shade, it was really hot! My humans tried to keep me cool by putting a wet towel on me… (hmm…not my best look…)

…and they also got me a “cooling bandana” (you can see me wearing it in the pictures – it’s the dark blue thing around my neck) but that got warm very quickly, coz it’s so little against the rest of my body. Really! I would need to wear 6 cooling bandanas around my body, I think, to really feel cooler!

(Hsin-Yi has just heard about a “cool coat”  made especially for doggies so she is going to get one for me.)

But don’t worry- when we got home, my humans gave me something that really cooled me down: my very 1st ice lolly!

It was just some fruit juice mixed with water, then frozen in a plastic takeaway container but it was YUMMY!

In fact, I went into a sort of trance licking it…!   Mmm-mm!

Have you had ice lollies? What flavours do you like?

It was a year ago today that we lost Lemon.

It sounds trite but I still can’t believe that she is gone. Sometimes I whip around, convinced I hear the tinkling of her bell in the distance…other times, I’m sure I see her little face peeking in through the glass doors from the garden…just like how she used to drive me crazy, playing that game, asking to be let in when she was perfectly capable of coming in through her own cat door not 2 metres away…exasperating minx!

It’s funny – people always ask about Honey and think only of Honey, because she is the more “famous” of the pair – but for us, Lemon was always the other precious half of the whole, just as special, just as important. It was always Honey AND Lemon.

From the moment she came into our lives - jumping out of her cardboard box from the Auckland SPCA and strutting around our house (all 900 grams of her!) like she owned the place – Lemon fascinated, challenged, exasperated and delighted us. Like the archetypal “naughty tortie”, her inquisitiveness knew no bounds, her mischief knew no master.

It was Paul who wanted the kitten – the cat he had waited his whole life to have, just like Honey was the dog I had waited my whole life for. Lemon was the cat I never especially wanted – and the cat that wormed her way into my heart.  I have always been more of a dog person than a cat person but Lemon showed me all the wonders and delights of the feline species.

So in her memory, I have made a special video capturing some of the many wonderful, magical moments… I know many dogs and cats have amazing friendships but I think there really is something magical about the bond Honey & Lemon shared (- perhaps best seen in the sequence where Honey grabs Lemon’s entire head with her jaws!) … It is a bit long but I hope you will take the time to watch it, when you have a moment.

I actually made this video shortly after Lemon died but it is only recently that I have been able to view it without welling up with tears. Many people have asked us when we’re going to get Honey another “kitty sister” - part of me feels like I could never have another cat, that there could never be another…Don’t they say ‘first love’ is the deepest? Perhaps it is the same with pets. But Paul thinks that far from being disloyal, letting another homeless kitten into our hearts is the best tribute to Lemon. A year may seem a long time but the pain is still there, still raw under the surface – but we are now, finally, beginning to  feel that we are ready, perhaps – that we miss a cat in our home and it is time to let another walk in Lemon’s paw prints.

Hsin-Yi

Honey and Lemon shared the same birthday – they came into our lives together, grew up together, played together, shared adventures together – and should have grown old together…but we lost Lemon to a mystery infection while she was staying at the pet hotel in Jan 2009. She was only 5yrs old. For such a tiny cat, she has left a huge hole in our hearts – and an empty space by Honey’s side. She was the night to Honey’s day, the spice to Honey’s sweetness, the devil minx to Honey’s placid simpleness – and she was a cat in a million.

Most of my doggie blog friends will know that there are some great competitions on at the moment – if you haven’t heard about them yet, don’t worry – there’s still time to join in!

And although my human, Hsin-Yi, is (still!) too busy with Settling-In and Catching-Up-With-Work  to help me do much blog stuff, I have been working hard, training for these competitions! But I’m having a bit of trouble deciding which entries to submit…

First, of course, there is Mango Minster 2010 - the Greatest Dog Show in Doggie Blogland – created by my great friend, Mango the Mastiff. It has been really difficult to decide which category I fit in in: Cat Dogs, Hound Dogs, Herding Dogs, Sporty Dogs, Non-Sporty Dogs, Cracker Dog Insane Terriers or Hard-Working Dogs…in the end, with a bit of advice from Mango, I decided on Hard-Working Dogs. But which picture shows me at my Hardworking best??

OK, if any of you know my human, you’ll know what hard work it is living with her – that Camera Machine thing never stops! From the moment I came to live with them as an 8-week old pup, I’ve been modelling 24hrs non-stop…and as if that’s not bad enough – not only do I have to pose for photos but I have to take them too!

But anyway, here’s a picture which I think really shows me hard at work modelling – and it was hard work, I tell you, because I had to stand there in that pose – in the cold water - until all the ripples had disappeared so Hsin-Yi could get the perfect mirror image…

So what do you think, eh? Do you think this is good enough to be my Mango Minster entry? 

(The deadline is midnight EST (USA) on Wednesday, January 27th – that’s tomorrow! - and strictly no late entries!)

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Next there is Niamh’s Train Your Dog Photo Contest - which is looking for a picture of you and your human doing some training together. It can be basic obedience skills, tricks, any dog sport etc or any activity you like to do together – and the photo needs to be taken between Jan 1 and 31, 2010.

Well, my human hasn’t had time to do much training with me lately because she has been so busy with the Moving and Settling-In thing but last weekend, we managed to get some photos while I was at this new training class I’ve just started at the Brisbane RSPCA (tell you more about it in a future post!) – but again, it’s really hard to decide on the best picture!

Should I go for this – which shows my human using clicker training to help me practise my dancing…

…or this, which shows my happy focus & attention at the end of an Obedience Recall?

The deadline for this competition is midnight Jan 31, 2010 so there’s still a bit of time for you to enter if you haven’t yet! (Go to Niamh’s site for more details on how to enter)

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OK, next there is Tucker’s Sit Stay Contest where doggies have to show their best ‘Sit Stay’ although it doesn’t have to be a traditional one! It can show the funny things you sit on or the strange ways you plant your bottom down…

Deadline for this is Jan 30th midnight (EST – USA) – again, go to Tucker’s site for more info. 

Well, at least this time, there wasn’t any debate about the best photo:

THIS is my best Sit Stay!

* CAUTION: Young Pups – do not try this at home. This is an advanced Sit Stay formation only to be attempted by very experienced Bum Manipulators.

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And last but not least, there is Biggie the Kuvasz’s fantastic Dog Pile Competition.

Well, you’ve seen my entry for that on my previous post (Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary) and you might have though that was impressive but – wow! – you won’t believe some of the entries that have been coming in since!! I think the best one so far is El’bow the Mastiff in Belgium – check out his dog pile: http://elbouwii.blogspot.com/2010/01/our-late-wordless-wednesday.html (scroll to the bottom) – you really have to see it to believe it!!

But special mention must also go to my Pairs Routine dancing buddy, Bodie the Border Terrier, back in NZ – check out his blog for an entry which shows that small dogs can take on the big guys too! http://smallbrowndogs.blogspot.com/2010/01/competition-entry.html

Here is my (now looking pathetic) entry again:

The deadline for the Dog Pile contest is Feb 1st, 2010 so that’s still loads of time to get your entry in! Go to Biggie’s site for more details.

These competitions are great fun and a wonderful way to join in and make friends in the doggie blog world, especially if you’re a newbie – it doesn’t matter if you haven’t got the perfect entry – it’s all about just joining in the fun!

So if you haven’t entered any of these contests yet – what are you waiting for??

My new home, Brisbane, is a “river city”, not a “harbour city” like Auckland, and so although it is near the edge of Australia, it is not right beside the sea and so there aren’t many beaches that are close by.

Back in Auckland, my humans could take me to a beach in just 10mins from our home in the car machine and most beaches there are dog-friendly…

Running on the beach at Mission Bay, Auckland...

…but here, although there are some beaches close to Brisbane, they don’t allow dogs to run free on them and so my humans have been looking to find a good dog beach for me.

They heard that there are some beaches which allow doggies to run free on the Sunshine Coast - so 2 weeks ago, when they had not started their Work thing yet, they took me to try and find a beach there for me to run and stretch my legs.

We had to drive for a long time in the car machine until we reached a place called Caloundra which is a little town beside the sea. It was lunch time when we got there and my humans were hoping to take me to an outdoor cafe for lunch. But the cafes were all very busy with LOTS of people and there was not much space around the tables for a giant doggie like me…see, you can’t really tuck me under a chair or a table, like you can with many other doggies!

So then my humans decided to get some ‘fish & chips’ and maybe have a picnic with me on a beach…but even though the name of that place is the “Sunshine Coast”, it was not sunny at all! It was very rainy and grey and windy – so my humans just sat and had their fish & chips in the car machine…

It smelled really yummy and when they finished, I got to have some leftovers…mmm, potato wedges and deep-fried garlic prawns and calamari! YUM!

Then we started looking for a beach…but all the beaches around Caloundra did not allow dogs to run free on them or only after 4pm (and it was still only 2:30pm!) - so my humans decided to drive up north more. On the way, we saw some more beaches but they all only allowed dogs after 4pm…and then finally, as we passed an area called Buddina (on Pacific Boulevard), we found this!

YAY! At last! A proper dog beach!

It didn’t look very welcoming though…the waves were very strong and big and it was still quite grey and windy…

But anyway it was so nice to have all the freedom and space!

(*My humans have fiddled with the computer machine software to make the photos in this post look warmer and brighter – it was actually a very GREY day!)

And guess what? The first dog I met on the beach was another Great Dane!

He was a bit stiff and unfriendly, though…and then suddenly, he got grumpy and lunged at me, showing his teeth!

And then he stuck out his tongue at me! How rude!

Ho! I’m not going to take that lying down, you rude doggie! Didn’t your human teach you any manners? …Take THAT! I gave him a good bash on the head with my paws.  Thhhhhft! Tongue back to you!

Then Hsin-Yi got mad and told me off for being rude to another doggie and called me away. Not fair! He was rude to me first!

The other Dane’s human explained that he was not very good with other dogs and didn’t know how to play with them…but anyway, it was just a lot of noise and nobody got hurt.

So we continued walking down the beach, to see if we could find friendlier doggies. There were not many doggies about and the next dog we met was a bit strange – he was completely obsessed with one thing: DIGGING!

He just kept digging and barking and digging and barking non-stop. I tried to go over to say hello but just got a big gump of sand in my face so I gave up! His human told us that every day when she brings him to the beach, that is all he wants to do – just keep digging holes, until he wears himself out!

Well, since there were no doggies to play with me, my humans decided to let me play my FAVOURITE game in the whole wide world: Chase the Tennis Ball!

The sand was different from the sand I was used to on the beaches back in Auckland (which is a black, ‘volcanic’ sand) – this was a yellow, soft, fluffy kind of sand which was very difficult to run in…and it goes flying everywhere, all over your face!

But that’s OK – I was enjoying myself so much, I didn’t care!

Before we left the beach, Hsin-Yi found a good place to do a ’self-timer’ family photo…

After that, we went for a small walk in some trees beside the beach…

…and then my humans drove to another town further north called Mooloolaba. My humans said it had much nicer “atmosphere” than Caloundra and there was a street with lots of shops & cafes, all facing a bit of park and the sea…

We went for a walk beside the shops and cafes…Hsin-Yi really liked it because it was much more dog-friendly, especially for big doggies: the pavement was very wide, with lots of space for giant doggies like me, and the cafe tables were all spaced apart, with lots of room between them…

…and then we smelled something delicious…mmm…waffles! Hsin-Yi wanted to get some waffles and ice-cream – because she likes naughty but yummy snacks - whereas Paul is very good and healthy and always has fruit salads & nuts & natural yoghurt, etc. (Hsin-Yi says he will live longer but have a more boring life!   )

Well,  which camp do you think I decided to follow?

An extra large waffle to go, please...

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Of course, polite doggies always have to wait for their humans to eat first…

You'll save some for me? Promise?

I got lots of leftover waffles and strawberry ice-cream (not the chocolate, because chocolate is poisonous to us doggies, of course) and then my humans even bought a rapsberry sorbet just for me! For some reason, lots of humans always like to stop and stare – and even take photos – when I’m eating ice-cream…

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After that, we had a nice rest…ooh, it was good to lie down after all that walking and running on the beach!

Well, it was getting late and time to go home. It was a very long drive back and sadly, my humans decided that it was not very ‘practical’ to drive so far to take me to this dog beach every week…so we will have to just keep looking for another dog beach closer to Brisbane.

Here is a last picture of me and Hsin-Yi, with a sign that she thought was funny:

(*For my American friends, a ‘loo’ is a toilet!)

For more information about off-leash dog exercise areas (incl beaches) on the Sunshine Coast, go to: http://www.sunshinecoast.qld.gov.au/addfiles/documents/animals/fs_offleash_areas.pdf

By the way, my humans were amazed that I didn’t have an upset tummy after all the junk I ate on that day! I had: potato wedges, deep-fried garlic prawns, calamari, some dog treats, waffles, strawberry ice-cream, raspberry sorbet and a bit of sea water!

I know some of you are staring at this list and thinking, “What about your healthy raw diet??” Well, Hsin-Yi is quite relaxed about diets and she thinks that as long as your normal diet is healthy, it’s OK to have a bit of junk food sometimes, even if you get a bit of an upset tummy – as long as it is not seriously harmful to us doggies.  It is like Human Pups getting to taste jellies and lollies and sweets at parties – she says life is for living and she likes me to have lots of different experiences of different things!

But I am lucky also because I am such a big doggie and have such a huge stomach that unless I eat TONS of something, it’s not really enough to affect me. And maybe having a bit of junk food from time to time, ever since I was a puppy, means that I don’t have such a sensitive stomach anymore!

Anyway, I was not sick and I did not have runny poo or gas or anything – I just had a VERY BIG SLEEP when I got home!!!!!

My humans have started doing their Work thing now but a few weeks ago – in between all the unpacking and Settling-In stuff - they went one day to a really cool place called the Lone Pine Koala Sanctuary, which is the home of lots of Australian animals but especially, one very special animal called the koala.

Koalas look a lot like cuddly teddy bears although they are not bears at all – they are marsupials, which means that they carry their babies in a special pocket, until the babies are grown up and can look after themselves. A lot of animals in Australia are marsupials – the most famous one is the kangaroo, of course!

Koalas are very special for lots of reasons – for example, they only eat the leaves of the eucalyptus tree which are very poisonous but their stomachs can cope. The leaves are 50% water and so koalas hardly ever drink water (their name comes from the Aboriginal word for “no drink”).

Some people think that koalas get “drunk” from eating the leaves – this is not true but the leaves have very little nutrition (5% sugar only) and so don’t give much energy – which is why koalas act so lazy and sleepy, and sleep for about 19hrs a day!

Hsin-Yi thought the koalas looked like funny, little old men – and boy, did they scratch all the time! But one of the koala keepers explained that it was not because they were itchy but rather it was a kind of grooming for their soft, spongy fur which would otherwise get horrible knots and tangles.

Although koalas look very cute and cuddly, they actually have very sharp teeth and claws and can be quite grumpy!

(Hsin-Yi says: Actually, we were surprised to see a lot of koalas being carried around and cuddled by the keepers in the sanctuary and you could even get your photo taken cuddling a koala if you wanted to (for a big fee!). Apparently, ‘koala cuddling’ has been banned in NSW but is still allowed in Queensland. However, they can only be cuddled for 30mins per day max and they must get every 4th day off! The cuddling-ban in NSW is quite controversial as they have found that a koala’s temperament is determined by how they are raised – so those raised in captivity often seem to expect a cuddle!)

My humans were really lucky because they arrived just at the koalas’ feeding time and so the koalas were quite awake and lively!

Here is a sign showing what koalas do with their day…I have to say, it looks quite a lot like mine!

The koalas were also very calm and placid like me – they just sat on their branches and watched all the humans passing by…

The only time they got excited was when the keepers brought out their food…and then there was a traffic jam on the branches!

My humans also saw lots of other interesting Australian animals at the sanctuary…

There was even a park area where there were lots of friendly kangaroos and emus – and humans could walk around and feed them and stroke them.

My humans loved it because they had never been this close to a kangaroo before!

In fact, they got this picture especially for my blog friends, Max & JD the Schnauzer Brothers - as a “Mirror Image Monday” entry!

Here is a little video of my human’s visit to the sanctuary, where you can see all these weird and wonderful creatures in action Hsin-Yi’s favourites are the fighting ‘dragons’ who fell into the water – and the very chatty cockatoo! Paul’s favourite is the koalas, especially when there was a ‘traffic jam’ on the branches and one of them hopped right over the other!

Now, you might be wondering what I was doing while my humans were running around with all these strange Aussie beasts?

This:

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Oh, but I’ve been keeping busy too. For example, here is a picture of me working hard at my entry for Biggie’s Dog Pile competition…what do you think?

I’m also working on my entries for Niamh’s Train Your Dog Photo competition and of course, Mango Minster…have you entered these great competitions yet?

The Human Pups & me at my 6th birthday party back in Auckland last year...

Remember my friend, DizzyMum, who brought her Human Pups to my birthday party back in Auckland?

Well, she and her family are actually from Brisbane and they have just moved back here!

I am so happy because it is so nice to have friends in a strange new place…

…and I love her Human Pups because they always give me lots of cuddles and play fun games with me!

And guess what? They invited me and my humans to their place for my 1st Aussie BBQ!

There were lots of meaty yummies that smelled really delicious…!

But while we were waiting for them to cook, the Human Pups played some games with me. We played football (my favourite!)…

…and then we played some Modelling ‘coz the Human Pups wanted to get some photos with me…and you know how good I am at that! Hee! Hee!  After all, I think I have the most “camera-mad” human in the world! Hsin-Yi has been using the Camera Machine on me every day from the moment I arrived home at 8 weeks!

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Here are some of the shots that Hsin-Yi got – what do you think? Don’t we look sweet together?

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Hsin-Yi was very proud of me because I was very good with the Human Pups and let them climb on me and hug me and do anything they liked.

She is always a bit worried because I don’t have any human pups of my own and when I was a puppy, none of their friends had any either - so Hsin-Yi is always worried that I might not have got enough socialisation with them.  

But she did make a big effort – like she always got nice human pups in the street to pat me and feed me treats and she took me to sit near playgrounds so I could get used to children running and screaming around me. But still, I have not had a lot of chances to play with human pups and have them touching me everywhere and hugging me and stuff, so Hsin-Yi was really pleased with how patient and tolerant I was.

Of course, it’s easy ’coz these are my favourite Human Pups and I love getting cuddles from them! They even got me a special Christmas present – a tug toy! – and Hsin-Yi said they could give me treats as long as I did something to earn them. (That’s easy! Here, do you want to shake my paw? ) 

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After we finished playing, I went back to check on the BBQ…mmm, looks like it’s almost done!

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Of course, the humans got to eat first…but I did get a lot of yummy leftovers (sorry, there is no picture ‘coz I gobbled it up too quickly! )

And then afterwards, it was time for more cuddles…But wait! What’s that over there? What do you think the little Human Girl Pup is showing me?

There’s a kitty-cat in the house!  Her name was Samantha but although I tried to be friendly and wagged my tail and gave her a play bow when I saw her, she didn’t like me at all! She hissed at me and made a scary yowly sound so I kept a respectful distance!

Much better to be getting more cuddles from the Human Pups!

Hmm...I don't like the look of this...

My new home is very different from my old one back in Auckland. 

First, it has those slippery wooden floors…although I have to say, I am getting much better and confident about walking on them now! In fact, even though my humans put down rugs for me, I sometimes prefer to just lie on the bare, wooden floor. 

My new home is also much bigger – there are lots of rooms in the top part… 

…and then there are stairs IN the house (I’ve never had those before!) which go down to a big room in the bottom part. The stairs are very narrow and steep so I find them quite difficult to go up and down. 

The big room at the bottom of the house...

Because the house is built on the side of a hill, the garden at the back is lower than the front of the house. 

So you have to go down the stairs and through the big room at the bottom of the house to get to the garden… 

…so I don’t go there much coz it’s very hard for a big dog like me to go down so many steep steps and it is probably not very good for my joints. 

But that’s OK because there is a small patch of grass at the front of the house where I can lie and sun myself… 

Sunning myself in the small garden at the front...

There are some other strange things in this new home too…like a big hole in the kitchen wall where I can see my humans - 

- and hey, it even comes with a place to rest my big heavy head when I’m tired of holding it up!  

I made sure that I found all the sunny patches in my new home very quickly… (Hsin-Yi can’t believe that I would still want to sun myself in this hot weather but actually, I am getting used to it and have stopped panting all the time – and anyway, I just LOOOOOVE the sun! )  

 And guess what? My new home comes complete with a doggie neighbour! He is a Bull Terrier and he looks very sweet – although I have only sniffed noses with him through the fence. We have not met his humans but we have heard them calling him so we think his name is Monty. 

We feel a bit sorry for him because he is left alone in the garden the whole day, often till 6pm in the evenings -  his humans must be away at work a long time – but at least when they come home, they always let him into the house with them. Many other doggies in Australia seem to be “outside dogs” and are not allowed to go into the home to be with their families at all  - and are often not even taken for walks either, because their humans think that just having a big garden is enough!  

When I first arrived in my new home, the rooms were all very empty… 

…because our things which were coming on the ship from NZ hadn’t arrived yet. So my humans had nothing to sit on, sleep on, cook or eat with! So they went to one of Hsin-Yi’s favourite places in the world, called IKEA, and bought a few things just so they could live until our things arrived. 

Our sofa in Auckland was very old and made of wool – and that would not be nice to sit on in the hot, humid weather here – so my humans sold it and got a new one here! Hsin-Yi is really happy with it because it has washable covers – which is very good for a doggie household that gets lots of hair, mud and slobber!  

Here is a picture of us enjoying the new sofa…and see how big my new beanbag bed is??!! 

 But last weekend, our things arrived from NZ and we had lots of Mover Humans come to the house again… 

…and lots of boxes and mess everywhere… 

…of course, I had the important job of supervising again! 

(Hsin-Yi: our movers this time were wonderful: courteous, careful and efficient - they restored my faith in removal companies! The company in Auckland was called AusMove and their partner in Brisbane was called Wridgeways – I highly recommend them if anyone is moving between Australia & New Zealand!) 

 So this week, my humans are very busy again with unpacking and sorting stuff (and they are starting to do the Work thing again too – so that’s why they haven’t had much time to help me with blogging stuff!). 

 Well, one thing that hasn’t changed in my new home is my “house rules”! See, my humans have always been very strict about me following certain rules around the house – from the 1st day I arrived as a baby puppy. For example, I learnt to stay out of the kitchen, to only toilet in a special corner of the garden (NOT on the lawn!), to Sit at the front door when we have visitors and to never go out the front door or beyond the driveway unless I had permission. 

Respecting the Kitchen Rule... (my humans put down some temporary masking tape to help me learn the boundaries)

 My humans taught me these rules using commands like “Out!” and “Wait”, my toileting command (“Be Clean”) and my release word, “OK!” – (in the beginning, when I was really little and didn’t understand these commands yet, they had to guide me and use barriers like ’baby gates’ to help me learn) –  it took a lot of consistent repetition in the beginning but once I learnt these good habits, it made life very easy and I could enjoy more freedom around the house because my humans trusted me. 

For example, I can safely stay in the front garden by myself – even with the gates open… 

Here is a video showing how I “re-learned” these rules in my new home: 

A lot of people ask Hsin-Yi how she taught me these rules so well – the secret to training us doggies successfully is to be 100% consistent and to set up the situation and practise before trying to do it in the real thing. Most people fail because they don’t take time to set up and practise a situation – for example, polite manners at the front door: they only try to control us when visitors come for real and us doggies are super-excited and they get flustered and embarrassed and worried about keeping the visitors waiting…and so they let it go “just this once” but of course, we doggies learn that this means we can get away with naughty behaviour if we just push our humans long enough!  

When I was learning this rule, Hsin-Yi got Paul to knock on the door lots of times, so I would get excited and then she could practise my door manners with me – and she has also shut the door in visitors’ faces a lot of times, until I could learn to remain sitting calmly when it opened!  

This way, us doggies learn that we can never get away with it – not even once,  no matter what we try! – and after a while, we stop trying and it just becomes a good habit. In general, if you never give us doggies a chance to learn bad habits, we will never think of doing them. But give in to us even once in the beginning and we will try even harder next time! Every command that is given to us MUST be enforced – no exceptions – otherwise, it is better not to give the command at all, because it will teach us to ignore our humans. 

Respecting the Boundary Rule

You might be wondering why my humans keep the gates open in the front garden – this is because Hsin-Yi does not like dogs that patrol and rush fences, barking at people passing. It encourages aggressive-type behaviours in us doggies, which can then start extending outside the home to barking and lunging when out on walks, etc…

Of course, it is natural territorial behaviour for us doggies to bark at strangers but it is important that humans teach us what is “our territory” and that we should stop barking once we have alerted our pack leaders (our humans). Just rushing aggressively at fences is a bad behaviour to encourage. Dogs who are kept unsupervised all the time in gardens with people walking past, often learn this bad habit very quickly!  Because we doggies think people move away because we scared them off with our barking (when actually, they would have walked on past anyway) – we think we are successful and get rewarded for it – and so we start repeating this behaviour A LOT. And if our humans are not there to supervise and correct this behaviour, we think it is OK to do this. 

Us doggies will see any “barrier” as the limit of our territory and will rush to protect it (this is why we often bark & get aggressive in cars but are fine out on the street). By only having the front door as the “barrier” between me and the street, my humans teach me that my territory ends at the front door. By keeping the gate open, there is no barrier so I think that the front garden is just a continuation of the street and I don’t get territorial if someone is just walking past on the pavement. Anyway, I think even if someone just saw me behind the screen door, from the street, they would think twice about coming into our garden – gate or no gate! Hee! Hee!  

And by the way, in case you don’t think I make a very good guard dog (due to certain photos with stuffies in the past – ahem!), here is a picture of me on guard duty…believe me, it’s very hard work!  

Now you might be thinking that it’s a bit mean making me follow all these rules when I’m just settling into my new home…well, actually, having rules and routines and boundaries actually makes us doggies feel much more happy and secure. We know where we stand and what is expected of us – and this is very important to us. This is a common mistake humans make with ‘rescue doggies’ because they feel sorry for them so they spoil them in their new homes and think they should let them get away with things for a while…and then they can’t understand why their rescue doggies start developing all sorts of anxiety and behavioural problems! In fact, my humans have been surprised at how well I have taken the whole move and it is partly because I have had these familiar old rules to hang on to and give structure and routine to my new life!

Well, I have written a mammoth post again so I’d better stop but I hope you have enjoyed the tour of my new home! 

Again, I am so sorry that I have not been able to visit your blogs – hopefully, Hsin-Yi will be less busy next week after all the unpacking and sorting is finished and then she can help me do more blog stuff again!  

a family moment...