Our New Addition To The Family

After the failed attempts at adopting another dog, I came across this rescue group, Wish Animal Rescue, on FB. While going through their website, I saw this profile of a dog who tugged at my heart strings. Named Rocky, he was rescued from Kalgoorlie pound by this group after his owner's marriage breakdown. I made arrangements with his fosterer to view him. She suggested Lake Gwelup as I wanted to bring Ton Ton along for a compatibility test. Like I did with Bronson, I made connection with Rocky via distant Reiki. I wasn't expecting much but to my surprise, I got this feeling that Rocky wants to come home with me. We met up for the 1st time on the 6th.

The fosterer told me that his rescue was pretty dramatic. After the marriage breakdown, the wife (perhaps out of spite) dumped him in the pound. 2 weeks later, the husband went to the pound wanting to retrieve him but wasn't willing to pay the 100 odd dollars for his release. He went back later that night with a mate, broke in, trashed the place, beat up a worker in attempts to get Rocky back. Of course, he was charged for it. That was when Wish stepped in to rescue him. His name was actually Junior but somehow he was accidentally renamed Rocky. The fosterer has been calling him Basil in the 2.5 weeks she had had him. It seemed that he had been kept outside most of his life for his elbows & underbelly were rough & hairless, most likely due to lying on hot concrete for extended periods of time. He was also very filthy when he was 1st rescued. 

Perhaps it was the park & not a shelter (where the energy may not be so good), Ton Ton was quite inquisitive with Basil. While they didn't play, they did calmly sniffed each other. Basil went straight to hubs for scratches & cuddles. After that, he came to me for hugs & licked my face. We knew then that he's the right 1. 

But before I could bring him home, the volunteers with Wish needed to do a yard check. So I made arrangements for that to happen the next week. The lady took some pictures of my yard (to make sure that it's secure) & sent them to the fosterer & the founder of the group. They okayed it & I was told I could bring Basil home anytime. I had a day off last Friday so I decided that it would be perfect since we would have the entire weekend to see how he goes at home. Becoz he's had so many names, we decided to keep him as Basil since he's already responding to it.

The adoption process was pretty straight forward. I was handed Basil along with his vaccination card. In the card, it was stated that his year of birth is 2001 which makes him 14 years old. (On their website they had him down as 13.) It's great coz at this age, he should be living out his days in a home where he is loved. He's good in the car except that he kept climbing back & forth from the front to the back of the car. He didn't disturb me while I was driving apart from that which is a good thing. He was a bit unsure but settled in nicely when we got home. 

1 week later, he's pretty well adjusted to his new life with us. He's very savvy. I only had to show him once where he's supposed to sleep & he got it. When I let him out into the yard on the 1st day, he wanted to mark but now, he knew to just empty his bladder in 1 spot while half squatting. He still marks when we go on walks but I must say I'm really amazed.

Lake Gwelup on the day I brought him home.

He took to the lounge chair while indoors almost immediately.

He's such a sweetheart.

My 2 gorgeous boys.

Thursday Night Home Alone

Not really home alone. Only that hubs will be home much later. He's gone to Crown for a buffet dinner sponsored by his company. In fact, he just called me, informing me that he could only eat 3 plates of food compared to his colleagues who were already on their 6th. He suggested going with me some day. Erm... better don't waste the money. It's $80 per pax & I'm absolutely positive I won't be able to eat much. His boss told him that the hotel is nice for a staycation & hubs wanted to do it with me some day. That, I'll be interested in. We used to do lots of staycation in Sg for anniversaries & birthdays. But WA is big & we're still in the early stages of discovering its beauty. His boss suggested walking around, exploring the hotel & casino after the dinner. So basically, he rang to tell me that he'll be home late. That's alright. It's nice to have a little me time.

Jazz went straight into the garage upon returning home with me on Sat & wasn't driven till Monday. We headed to the shelter on Sun but either the dog didn't like Ton or Ton didn't like the other dog. There was 1 dog I was really interested in. Using distant reiki, I "spoke" to him prior to the viewing. However, I got the message that he's happy where he is & isn't really interested in going home with me. On the day itself, the volunteer informed me that he was returned after being adopted, reason being that he reacted to other dogs in the park. I went to his kennel to see him but I couldn't get a response from him. He just wasn't interested. Another dog the volunteers were suggesting was in foster & wouldn't be back till Monday. So we left without having successfully adopted 1. It's alright. We need to make sure we get a perfect match. The right 1 will come.

Hubs drove Eba to work on Monday. It was also when I realised that I forgot to transfer my e-tag which will allow me into my workplace car park. I ended up getting a visitor's ticket to gain entry & swapping it for a staff ticket at the end of the day. The plan was for me to transfer it when hubs drove home with Eba. But he got home late as the mechanic had problems getting the distributor but finally got it fixed after 6 pm. He was told to drive his car home to "work the distributor" so that it doesn't die again. Eba was left at the warehouse overnight. Hubs then suggested that I follow him to work on Tuesday morning before driving Eba to work. So that was what transpired & Jazz sat in the garage for another day.

I get crazy ideas from TV shows all the time. When we were chasing Masterchef, I used their mystery box ingredients to create dishes of my own. Chasing TBL, I got the idea of doing a mini Ironman. The contestants ran 1 km, cycled 5 km, kayak unknown distance, then ran the final distance to the end point. I went online to find out more about Ironman races. Naturally, I won't be able to do a full Ironman which involves 4 km swim, 180 km cycle & 42 km run. But I can aim to do the sprint version of the Ironman which involves 750 m swim, 20 km cycle & 5 km run. I can swim but I'm not very good at it. If I have to swim in the open sea, I'll probably drown. So there's no way I can take part in the race. But I can certainly make use of the distances as a challenge to myself in the gym. Copying TBL, I swapped the swim for rowing.

So on Wed, I did a 1.5 km row (doubled it as rowing is easier than swimming), 10 km cycle & 2.5 km jog. 500 m into the cycling, my thighs were burning. But I just kept going, forcing myself to complete at least half of 20 km. I finally did after 25 mins which I later found out was terrible timing. A cyclist friend can cycle 18 km in 30 mins but of course, he's been doing it for a few years. It's definitely something to aim for. By the time I got to the treadmill, I was pretty worn. Even without the other exercises, I haven't jogged 5 km yet. I had just completed 2.5 km in 20 mins & promptly took a tumble on the treadmill. Yeah, I know, I'm so clumsy. I actually missed a step, had my right foot on the side unmoving panel & my left foot still on the moving treadmill. Yep, ended up with a big bruise on my right knee & shin but otherwise unharmed. I got back up & went to carry some weights before heading home. When I told hubs what had happened, he had the cheek to laugh at me some more. Bleah!

Here we are, Thursday night. I resumed my normal gym routine before heading home since hubs is having good food at Crown. I reckon I'll do the Ironman training once a week with remaining gym days doing my routine. Hopefully in a few month's time, I'll be able to report that I successfully completed my 1st Sprint Ironman in the gym.

Prophetic Dream?

During the Reiki class, my teacher asked us to pay attention to changes in sleep patterns & dreams. Reiki can enhance your dormant psychic abilities & make its presence known through dreams. We dream everytime we sleep. We just don't remember. But when you wake up at the right time, you will.

I had a night full of nightmares a few weeks ago. I only remembered 2 of them. I was being chased by a gigantic crocodile along a HDB corridor. It was not the new HDBs that have been popping up recently. It was a long corridor that I remember from my childhood days. By now, that HDB flat must be over 30 years old. It was rapidly gaining on me. I ducked into a stranger's flat, slammed the wooden door shut & laid belly down on the floor. I then put my finger to my lips, signalling the owner to keep quiet. I could hear the crocodile crawl past.

I woke up & I drifted back to sleep. Then, I was trying to use 1 of those single unit stove plus oven. But to my horror, parts began to fall off the top of the oven onto the racks. Water started pouring into the oven from apparently nowhere since there wasn't even an overturned pot of water on the stove top.

Being chased is a very common dream. It signifies that you're running away from something in real life. I wonder if the 2nd dream is trying to show me how afraid I was of having my goal or life falling apart. Not so sure about the water though.

Just few days ago after graduation, I had this dream about Ton Ton. It started off freaking me out. His nose fell off. I picked it up for further examination. It was crusty & hard. I quickly looked at Ton Ton to check how he is. To my surprise, he still has a nose. His nose is moist & healthy looking. He looks absolutely good & happy. It is my hope that all illnesses & diseases will now fall away from him, leaving a healthy Ton Ton.

STO Done

Ton Ton's STO was arranged for yesterday evening at 6 pm. As I was still working at 6 pm, hubs brought Ah Ton to the vet by himself. He was sharing with me that he didn't use a leash & instead, carried him throughout the whole process. The moment he stepped into the vet's, Ton Ton started shaking like a leaf. I laughed. This is so like him. I told hubs, "Of course lah. Everytime he goes there, he gets poked & cut." Haha.

It was a less than 5 mins job that even I can do. But I was advised against it by my dog owning colleagues. They reasoned that it will give the vet a chance to examine him. Fair enough. So I left it to the vet. Upon reaching home, I had a look at his now healed surgical wounds. Looks pretty good though slightly crusty. His fur is totally matted from the sweater he had to wear & I haven't got the chance to go to the pet shop for de-matting comb.

I'll do it next weekend & give him a shower. Then it's time to really start planning for our Sept camping trip. We'll go better prepared this time. We bought a 25L esky with 2.5L water jug for $15 at a garage sale. Heh. Good buy coz just the esky alone costs $43 in Coles. The portable stove that runs on gas canister is now back on the shelf in Bunnings & we bought the round grill plate to go along with it. No more eating combat ration taste alike. Ton Ton also can have fresh meat rather than dodgy pet food whose ingredients origins are fuzzy. So looking forward to it!

All Clear

I heard back from the vet on Saturday. The biopsy result for the mole came back as a melanocytoma which is just a fancy name for a mole. She did tell me to watch out for more growing moles as melanocytomas do have a tendency to turn into melanoma (malignant cancer). So it's all good with Ton for now.

Since I'm on a post about Mr Ton, I'll write about his latest antics. We went to our friend's birthday party on Sat night. They had recently moved into their new place on a giant lot complete with swimming pool & space for a granny flat in the future. So Ton Ton was wandering about & I took my eyes off him for a short while. The next time I saw him, he was right next to the pool. I yelled at him & proceeded to walk over. He did what I feared. He ran across the width of the pool (they had a pool blanket on). He was damn lucky the blanket didn't give way & cause him to fall into the water. Then, naturally, he went around giving other guests the puppy eyes, hoping they would feed him. & I had already fed him prior to leaving home. That's my Tonz. Have food, will follow.

After these health scares, a friend from Sg, who used to be Ton Ton's groomer asked me to seriously consider learning Reiki. It was something she mentioned before when I was still in Sg. At that time, the course was held in mid May & I was to fly over on 2nd May. Now, I'm just few days away from the course. Hubs was skeptical. Who wouldn't be? Even I am not 100% convinced. But if it really works, then $600 is well worth the investment. Usui Reiki is divided into R1 & R2. In R2, the practitioner will learn to project the healing energy over long distances & direct contact with the subject is no longer required. Apparently, your extra sensory skills will be enhanced, possibly allowing you to communicate with animals. That is what my friend can do.

Ton had the cyst (not the mole on his back) on his left shoulder even before we left Sg. I only told her that I found a lump on Ton Ton but I wasn't sure if I should be worried about it. When she texted me back, she told me that she had communicated with him & at the same time sent Reiki energy to him. He had asked to be Reiki-ed on his chest which made me laugh becoz he absolutely loves being touched there. She then told me where the lump was & even identified another cyst that I had no idea existed. I looked for it where she said it was & true enough, it was there. Explanations? I do believe that there are things in this world that are beyond our comprehension. If I can tap into these gifts, imagine what I can achieve. The kind of healing I can bring to others.

Rabbit Or Dog?

At the end of our whole day list on Monday, we (my colleagues, surgeon & me) were chatting about our furry friends. My surgeon has a poodle & he was sharing with us the antics of his poodle. They had recently moved & the poodle climbed over a wall, fell over the other side but the fall was broken by a tree & he had to go get the poodle back. My colleague, her GS is notorious. Digging up her garden, destroying fruit trees, chewing up 3 pairs of glasses, chewing up everybody's knickers, pulling so hard on the leash that her arm nearly got torn from the socket. You name it, her GS did it. She was showing us a photo of her GS that her daughter sent her coz she was contemplating giving her GS away to the police force & her daughter wanted to showcase the cutie side of her GS to prevent that from happening. 

Naturally, I also whipped out my mobile & showed them the most recent picture of Ton. It was a cold morning & he was curled up into a ball on the sofa. The surgeon stared at it for a long moment before asking, "Are you sure that's not a rabbit?" Lol. Perhaps you can be the judge.

Dog or rabbit?

Ah Ton's Diet

We've always been taught a kibble diet is the best for our dogs. They're nutritionally balanced & fortified with all the vitamins & minarals they need. These are little nuggets baked to rock hard so they have teeth cleaning properties. Supposedly, they chip the calcified plague off. Ton Ton started being picky with his kibbles early on, probably when he was 1 year plus. Like all other dogs, he would get very excited at meal times, only to sniff at the kibbles & walk away. We were taught (by books on dog training) to remove the food 20 mins after setting it down. Starve them a few days & they will learn to eat what's been served.

I couldn't do it & gave in after 5 days. A friend who's a groomer & very into natural health for dogs inteoduced me to BARF which stands for biologically appropriate raw food. Chinese culture says eating raw meat will make the dog blood thirsty & aggressive. My parents were totally against it. For a period of time, I gave him home cooked food instead. Not scraps. But measured & rotated menu.

The rationale behind the BARF diet is that dogs are descendants of wolves. Wolves have always hunted & ate raw animals. Cooking also destroys most if not all of the vitamins & minerals in the food. Lastly, you know exactly what you're feeding your dog. Companies producing kibbles have been exposed to use rotten road kills, unedible animal parts & fillers like corn which dogs do not need. But what had me sold is the fact that when you turn any commercial dog food or treats over, it'll say, "Not fit for human consumption." If it's not fit for our consumption, then why is it fit for my dog?

Feeding raw is expensive. Way more than kibbles ever will, especially if, like my groomer friend, feeds only organic or at worse, free range meat to her 3 dogs & 1 cat. It's also difficult to get it nutritionally balanced. I recently bought a book on canine nutrition. Very few vets will promote feeding a BARF diet. Pet shops tried to psycho my dad that eating raw food is detrimental to their health. (If everyone feeds raw, they'll be out of business you see.) I believe what I've read & learnt becoz it tallies with what I've learnt regarding human health.

Ton Ton's diet now consists on 120g of muscle meat, 1 section of chicken neck (to fulfill the raw meaty bone need), a piece of offal & the occasional recreation bone for teeth cleaning. His supplements include organic green superfood powder, ground tumeric (for anti inflammation properties & hence cancer prevention), organic chia seeds (for omega 3), krill oil with glucosamine (for joints) & organic unrefined virgin coconut oil (for anti bacterial, anti fungal & anti viral properties). I also give him a little drizzle of TA30+ Jarrah honey occasionally. What I've yet to add is milk thistle which detoxifies the body & is good for cancer prevention.

So the dog eats better than me right? A lot of thought & effort goes into his food preparation. If I buy a whole chicken or duck, I have to spend the time deboning it. Then I have to rotate the meat so he gets the best of everything & is more balanced. I hope everything I've done will help him achieve health & longevity. He's not just a dog. He's my best friend.

Dead Sea Mud Soap

The 1st time I bought dead sea mud was 5 years ago, when Ah Ton was only 3 years old. I bought it to treat him to a home spa. Yes, my dogs have very good lives. After his shower, I rubbed dead sea mud on his entire body & left it for 15 mins. The end result was soft fur & moisturized skin despite not using conditioner on him. My hands were smooth from applying the mud on him as well. I managed to dig this photo of him from my FB. This was taken in June 2009.

There're many benefits to dead sea mud, such as improving blood circulation, hydrating the skin & anti aging properties. Therefore, I chose to make dead sea mud soap out of so many other soap recipes from my book as my 1st attempt.

As with cake baking, cold processed soap requires accurate & precise measurement of the ingredients. Apart from that, one has to take safety precautions as 1 of the ingredients is lye (aka caustic soda), which is a highly corrosive alkali used to clear choked drains & pipes. Also, once lye has been added to water, it rapidly heats up the water to steaming temperatures. Next, the oils are added to the hot lye water mixture & mixed till trace has been achieved. In view of the fact that 2 of my oils are solid (coconut oil & shea butter), I added these 2 items 1st to melt them before the temperature dropped. 

I stirred with a silicone spatula I bought from Ikea. I stirred & I stirred. I switched to a plastic whisk hoping to speed up the process. I whisked & I whisked. I think I was at it for at least an hour. My arm was absolutely aching. But the mixture refuses to thicken to a trace. In the end, I made a decision to sacrifice my $7.50 hand held electric mixer (for making cakes) from K Mart. Instead of fixing up both the whisks, I fixed up only 1 to minimise the introduction of air into the mixture. It took me another 15 mins on maximum speed to achieve trace. So that was $7.50 well sacrificed. Now it has to sit in the mould for 24 to 48 hours until it hardens enough to cut into bars & another 4 to 6 weeks to air dry before it's ready for use.

All bowls & equipments used in soap making have to be left untouched for at least 24 hours. This is to ensure that the lye has been fully neutralised by the oil so you don't get chemical burns while trying to wash the items. Oh, I need to get a replacement for my electric mixer. I'm so eyeing the bench top planetary action mixer complete with whisk, hook & paddle so I can start making bread as well. It has always been my dream to own a KitchenAid but I'm just gonna settle for Kambrook at less than a quarter of the price. Perhaps coming or next pay day. 

Developing Hobbies

Ah Ton is in need of a shower. His last shower was 4 weeks ago. I shower him way less often in SG but the heat & humidity masks the smell. Here, the air is cold & fresh, accentuating his stench. In his defence, he doesn't stink as badly as Puggy does. I like the way he smells but it won't be too pleasant for guests if I have any.

I wanted to write a short story of an abandoned dog trying to find its way back to its owner. But it was too close to my heart & drew too much emotions. When I was a teen, I wrote a lot of stories. I tried to pick it up again but non fiction  eludes me. I have no original ideas other than the dreams I do remember. Even then, my dreams had no endings & a story won't be complete without a good plot. I might work on an interesting dream I had though. Right now, I'm trying to finish reading the 4 James Patterson books I borrowed from the library that due in 2 weeks.

The soap making items that I ordered online has finally arrived & I just picked the parcel up from the post office in the morning. I shall get on it 1st thing tomorrow. Hoping hard that it'll be a success as the ingredients are too expensive to foil.

While I'm keeping myself busy, hub's temporary stint at Nix's work place is coming to an end. It's as though we're back to where we started with him not wanting to eat or buy groceries becoz he's "got no money". While I've been putting in hours sufficient to sustain us for the time being, I may not be required to work everyday once I pass my probation. I'm getting lots of hours now as I'm still on orientation to learn up the work. So yeah, everything's still really uncertain at this stage & I don't feel secure as yet. Hubs has been applying for jobs but it's the same thing all over again. "Thank you for your interest in the postion of blah blah blah. Sorry, you're not successful on this account." I'll see how it goes.

The Dogs In My Life

 Puggy (Pug)

Ton Ton (Miniature Schnauzer)