Healing Holes

 The scabs on Tagar's wounds have fallen off, leaving great hairless holes in her face. She's healing well, aided with lots off hugs from baby.

Boarding Bites

We've been away.
On a longer than usual trip back to my hometown.
We had to send the dogs for 8 days of boarding.

Our regular boarding place had a change of management and was not doing too well. Someone (trustworthy) recommended us another place so we decided to give it a try.

Let's just say we're NEVER EVER going back there again.

Tyrants Daddy was back earlier than the rest of us, and he got the tyrants back from 8 days of boarding. He told me that the dogs had marks on the face but to not worry. I asked for pictures and he said the dogs were sleeping, can't take any good ones.

But he ran out and bought antiseptic spray, and lots of treats and cans of meat. And posted a very angry status on facebook. And it sounded like he spent the weekend sitting around hugging them.

Hah!

I got back 4 days later and this is what they look like.
These wounds are healing. Makes me so sad to think what their fresh wounds would have been like.

 

Tagar's face wound. Look at the placement of her wounds - it's obviously a full face bite. From a dog with large jaws.

The boarding caretaker had the cheek to tell us the wounds were because they were fighting with each other!

 
Gamby, who is as gentle as a lamb, has one bite wound on her snout. Togo has a wound on his leg.
All three tyrants are also noticeably thinner, but they were most probably not eating out of unhappiness rather than neglect.

Oh, poor tyrants. We're so sorry we sent you guys there.

Three in a Frame

I envy those pictures of multiple doggies posing beautifully for the camera. All those pictures of four, five, even six dogs all looking marvelous in the shot.

We only have three tyrants, and its so hard to get them in a single photo together. And in the rare chance we do, these are the kind of pictures we get.

There was a cat

There was a cat
Always sneaking
Into the house

There was a cat
We saw him often
Stealing dog kibbles

There was a cat
We always say
Your luck will
Run out one day

There was a cat
There was a Gamby
Waiting inside
Beside the kibbles

There was a cat
There was a Tagar
A silent Tagar
Unseen outside

There was a cat
There was a leaping Gamby
There was a running cat
Running
Straight into the waiting jaws of Tagar

There was a cat
There was an ambush

There was a cat.

Watching Over Baby

Its household chores Monday.
Today, the tyrants are helping to watch over the baby.

 Did you say you want a kiss, baby?

 Muackkss!

Fishies

We have a little water feature in the corner. The tyrants love drinking from it, the running water probably makes it feel 'fresh'.

Unfortunately the water feature has a tendency to attract mosquito larvae. Unlike their water bowl, the feature is difficult to empty and clean daily. We can't put in chemicals to prevent the larvae either, since the tyrants insist on drinking from the water feature.

So I asked God Google and it said one way to prevent mosquito larvae in bodies of water frequented by pets is to put in fishes to eat those pesky things.

Good idea. I went out and got those small little fishes meant as fish food for a bigger pet fish. Best to try out first before buying some pretty little fishes. I got a big handful - 15 fishes for RM1.

I expected the tyrants to be excited to see the fishes. I didn't expect this...

In one afternoon, Tagar hunted and caught the fishes. All of them. ALL OF THEM.

Tagar has a very strong prey drive, and she's also a very sharp hunter. She has caught birds, squirrels, rats, cats, roaches, lizards and who knows what else. She usually catches them as game, then get all upset when they die, and leaves the bodies alone.

I thought she would do the same to the poor fishes, but no. She ATE them.
But she was nice enough to share a few with Gamby.

Gamby tried and tried and tried, but she couldn't catch any. We could see Gamby watching Tagar and then trying to copy her exact movements, but she always missed the slippery fishes. Tagar, as usual, was a magnificent hunter.

First she stood very very still, hovering over the water surface. Ears pointed, eyes focused, she doesn't move a muscle.

The fishes will start swimming out from hiding, lulled into thinking the coast is clear by the very silent and unmoving Tagar. When one of them is at the edge of the basin, Tagar suddenly leaps to life. She darts her muzzle into the water and catches the doomed fish, lightning fast.

Gamby tried (again and again) the same maneuver but she's not fast enough. Instead she keeps snorting water up her snout and then proceeds to choke and splutter all over the place. Nice of Tagar to share some fishies with Gamby, poor girl tried hard enough to catch some of her own.

And Togo? He took one look at the fishes, went 'Meh' and trotted off elsewhere to nap.

We had thought to one day install a small fish pond in the garden, with serene koi fishes swimming around in it. Well, so long to that dream now.

Face

Sometimes Tagar is so in your face.

Siblings

Sigh. Siblings!
One minute they're playing together...

 The next someone is crying...

Pruning the Plants

Another Monday, another round of household chores.
This week its time to prune the plants.

Gang Up

There is an odd number for playing. Sooner or later two of them are bound to gang up and pick on the unlucky third one.

Don't just stand there, Mummy!

Rescue me!

Vacuuming the 'Rugs'

Monday, time to attack household chores.
Let's start by vacuuming the 'rugs'.

Oh look. The 'rug' fell asleep.

Happy Friday!

Is that the weekend I smell?
Happy Friday everyone! Have a wild crazy weekend!

Race Track

"Hey kiddo...

... I am NOT a racetrack."

Plants in Pieces

One evening I came out to the porch and saw this. 

And in the garden I found this.

And in the house I found these.

'It wasn't us, Mommy!!

We've been inside being good the whole day!'

Gamby the Sleeping Guard

The hooman tyrant sleeps in peace, knowing his best friend Gamby is always beside him.
In weirdly awkward positions, but still near and comforting.

 

Thank You Gamby

Labour contractions HURT LIKE HELL.
That's a well known fact, of course. But knowing that and experiencing it are two very, very different things. 

So we were in the labour room and I was, to put it mildly, not having a good time. It was too late for an epidural and the contractions were coming fast (and very, very #%@ painfully).

I was very uncomfortable and very agitated with the pain, which despite jabbed with painkillers and inhaling lots of gas does not seem to be easing up. Plus we were getting increasingly annoyed with the attending nurse whom was trying to be a miss-know-it-all doctor. I was getting very stressed out which in turn has Daddy panicking.

As labour progressed I got more and more stressed, and that same nurse yelling at me to "Relax! Relax! You have to relax!" was so not helping. It suddenly struck me that I really need to calm down - to avoid Daddy panicking further and for a better (and hopefully faster) birth. So I thought back to the one thing that I got right the first time around, giving birth 3 years ago.

I closed my eyes and imagined Gamby's adorable face.

Three years ago when we had our first child, Gamby was just months after her surgery and was recovering beautifully. We had just gone through an emotionally trying time of being told we would lose her, watching her mewl around the house in pain, finally finding a vet who could treat her and the surgery and subsequent gradual recovery of the use of her operated leg.

So during that first long (and much less painful - thanks to epidural) labor, I closed my eyes and thought of Gamby. Thinking of her and how well she was coping kept me calm throughout. I just shut my eyes and imagined her adorable face.

So this time, I tried the same thing. I closed my eyes and tried to picture Gamby's sweet face.

But the first image that came to mind was Gamby rudely nosing me awake at 3am with her cold wet nose, hassling me to go open the door because there's a squirrel in the garden. Not cute! But it did make me laugh and helped to distract from the mounting stress.

I closed my eyes and tried again. Daddy said later that at a certain point I visibly relaxed, and things progressed smoother from then on. That point was when Gamby face filled my mind and helped me focus and keep calm right up to the birth. 

So THANK YOU Gamby, for helping Mommy through labour.
She sure got a lot of hugs when we came back from the hospital a couple of days later.

Zen Tagar

Things have been hectic with the arrival of the new human tyrant. For us, that is.
Tagar is all Zen, in her corner of solitude.
 

Go away, Mommy! You're interrupting my deep thinking.

And baby makes five

We have too many kids! We now have another little human tyrant, making it a total of three furry tyrants and two human ones.

Here's the furry tyrants doing sniff test on the newcomer.

Yawn.. Nothing's been happening