Max's Encounter With Rescued Dogs

My dogs rarely have the opportunity to socialise with other dogs. They do get the chance to see stray dogs on the roads; and domesticated dogs in houses, while we go for walks, but not to the point of close proximity.
There were two occasions when I brought back stray dogs for temporary shelter. As expected, Jon had snubbed them, but Max was ever curious and eager to make friends. It was ironic that these two dogs were female, and not yet spayed. However, Max was already neutered. So, the only attraction he had of these two dogs were purely of "friendship" basis.
The puppy in the first video had just been brought in on the day I found her. Before I picked her up, she was seen to be friendly to other adult dogs, but was chased away by the alpha male. So, the nervousness she is displaying in the video is not of her fear of Max. It's more of the anxiety of being in a new environment. The entrance of the cage being blocked by Max did not help in alleviating her fear, as she was seeking to come out. Max just stood there watching her pace along the width of the cage.

Wonder what is the unspoken language between a curious dog and a fearful dog.

I always tease Max that no matter how many dogs I keep here, he will always be the at the lowest of the pecking order. He is just so naive, gentle - albeit mischievous - accommodating, curious and friendly.
In the second video, it also features a female puppy. She was a playful dog. She was already well-socialised with other dogs on the streets. See how she dominates Max? Max remained submissive until the girl gave him three consecutive play-bites on the neck. He just couldn't take it anymore and confronted her. There is always a limit to what one can tolerate, I guess.

"I am a gentlemen, so you can do whatever you want to me"

Dogs' odd eating habits

I realise that whenever a dog is having a delicious meal of meat / bone that is mixed with rice, it will take the piece of meat / bone away from the food source, walk a few feet, and finish off that food.


If there are more than one piece, the dog will repeat this process. It is not like they are resting on their chest to slowly take in the food. Instead, they are still standing - and that don't seem to be a relaxing way to eat a meal. One of my dogs - Jon - was rescued from the streets when he was two. He is now 6 years old, and he eats at the same spot without leaving his food unattended.


Max, on the other hand, was two months old when I found him. He is now two years old, and is so domesticated that he has not learnt how to growl and display biting behaviours. The following three videos highlights Max' eating behaviour, and his fear of Jon when the latter is wandering near his food container after he had finished his own meal. In case you are not aware, Jon is the alpha male, and will bully Max if I dont't intervene.

Max had taken a liver into the cage. Food is unattended, and Jon is lurking near it.

Max is afraid to continue eating his own meal, but still takes the risk. That's because I am behind telling Jon not to do anything funny.

Max is more interested in eating the crumbs that have fallen through the base of the cage, than to eat the main meal.

Update on Teri's Pups - Week 4

This female pup is the smallest of the lot. And the most daring. By the way, the container was clean.

Update on Teri's Pups- Week 3

The puppies are growing tremendously fast every week. They move faster too, and I have to be really quick in handling them. It is not possible to clean the cage they are in without putting them in a box. As soon as I open the gate, they rush out simultaneously, and even after dropping to the floor, they just continue on.

The pups are beginning to feed on soft kibbles even after having had their milk. I wonder if Teri is producing enough milk for them. It must be very taxing for Teri because she weighs a mere 8 kg. She looks malnourished as a result of feeding her babies. It is not noticeable due to her long fur. However, the spine can be felt easily. Otherwise, she is full of energy.

I always joke about her when she resists going into the cage when I send her back in after walking with her. I say that she doesn't love her children, and that she prefer to be outside than to attend to them.

This is the biggest sibling, and he hasn't had enough

Feasting on kibbles

Feels good to empty the bladder after a satisfying meal.

Doesn't it look like a hamster?

Pupppies' eyes are open

These three are the biggest of the lot. This guy must be squinting at what I was holding, and decided that it was best to scamper away.

Sleeping after having fed by mummy

Update on Teri and puppies

This is the smallest pup, and the only one with a single color. The rest have white & brown

Practising at a young age to display puppy-look effectively when it is older

Teri at full alert of other dogs in the vet. She even snapped at an Alsation.

Rescuing Alpha

In my recent post, Canine Brotherhood, I mentioned that there were three dogs which are always together. I have taken Teri off the streets. She had just recently given birth to six pups.

Recently, me and a friend went to the same area I rescued Teri to look for Alpha. As it was the mating season, we were not surprised to see six other dogs together with her. One of the six male dogs was the third "buddy" of Teri and Alpha, GR. It became quickly clear which were the top competitors to consummate this year's round of the mating ritual. It was GR and the one in the picture below.  

In fact GR - even though much larger in size than the other dog - was not even close in being the alpha male. This other dog was more determined; he was the one more frequently trying to mount Alpha, while fending off GR. GR did not manage to even manage one attempt. GR and him will frequently square off with each other. Surprisingly, the fight was just baring of teeth and growling. Anyway, Golden Retriever are not aggressive? They are one of the most compassionate breeds. At one point, these two dogs were standing on their two feet with their front paws on each other. Just like how bears behave. They were merely growling at each other.

In the meantime, Alpha was running, sitting, putting her tail down. As the sun was setting, me and my friend decided to accomplish our mission quickly. And it was because of us that this alpha male successfully overcame Alpha's resistance. Initially, when I put the collar on her, she freaked out and ran away. We thought that she would never come back. Luck was on our side as she still came over hesitantly when we called for her. But once the leash was attached, Alpha went berserk. She stood up, and this caused her to forget to defend her back. With a blink of an eye, this alpha male mounted on her.

Truth to tell, that was my first encounter witnessing a complete process of dogs mating. I was both awed and emabarrassed - because people were gawking at us. As if it was to give us all the spotlight, this incident happened to occur under a lighted street lamp. My friend, though, had already seen this process many times.

The two dogs were subsequently locked to each other at the back. I was fortunate to bring my friend along, as she had advised me on the do's and dont's while copulation was in process. If I was on my own, I would have forced the two dogs away, which will risk injuring them and myself getting bitten.

While we were waiting, I noticed GR was looking from afar with a forlorn look. Finally the dogs were separated after 30 minutes. This alpha dog still had not had enough of Alpha while my friend carried her into the car. He kept obstructing her from moving Alpha. I told him to get lost and take a nap.

We quicly drove off to the vet before it closed. She was so exhausted that the car seat cover was wet with her saliva. Alpha was checked in, and was told by the vet she would be spayed in three days.

I went to see Alpha yesterday. She has been spayed. I was not surprised that she looked depressed. She had been a roaming dog , and now is caged in. I took her for a walk before I left.

A question for animal rescuers.

The question is: "What is your role as an animal rescuer?" This question came about after I came across three incidents, and they made me wonder if the rescuers like me  - particularly in Malaysia - are saving animals the right way. The first one was this:

Last week I helped a fellow dog rescuer to put up an adoption advertisement on http://www.petfinder.com.my/ for two female dogs she had rescued. Two days later, I got a missed call from a landline telephone, and immediately followed by a sms which read "I am interested to view the dogs, Sally and Brownie - Mak". This sms and the previous call are related, as you will later know.

I then called the handphone number and this Mak asked to see the dogs. He said these dogs will be taken in as guard dogs for a factory. He asked how old they were. Did Mr Chia call me earlier? (which explains the missed call). He said Mr Chia asked him to "look into it". I concluded that Mr Chia was the boss. The instruction for someone to "look into it" made me put out a red flag. I then mentioned something which immediately put him off. It was said in a matter-of-fact way. I said that the dogs are spayed. "Oh, then I don't want to view them. We actually want them to mate with a male dog that we have here. He is kind of unique in its color composition. We thought we could breed some puppies out of them".

Another incident is actually related to this dog rescuer. She has been doing it regularly - including vaccination, spaying / neutering - but the issue is that if she can't find homes for these dogs, she releases them back to their original habitat. She acknowledges that the only danger the dogs face are the dog catchers. But at least there is less reproduction of dogs.

The third example involves all animal rescuers. After looking at Petfinder and some websites of the dog rescuers, I see that - in a desperation to get the dogs adopted - puppies below ages of 5 months old are advertised as ready to be adopted even before they are  vaccinated and spayed/neutered. However, my concern is the spaying / neutering because sterilization keeps new strays off the streets. These individuals will say that they follow up with the owners to make sure the dogs are sterilized once they reach a suitable age ie 5 months and above. I would like to know how successful are these rescuers in achieving this objective.

I understand the rescuers' noble intentions of giving homes to the dogs. They will say that even if they can't get the owners to sterilize the dogs, at least they have a home. What if the owners decide to give up on the dog? I experienced such a scenario. Nacho -one of five pups I found two years ago - was adopted by a middle-class family from Kuantan (300 km from Kuala Lumpur). It was fated that I happened to be at PAWS on the day the family came to look for a pet dog. They took a liking to Nacho, who was 4 months old at that time. And it was a coincidence that I would be going to Kuantan for a business trip in two weeks. I told them of my trip, and asked if I could drop by to see Nacho. They didn't mind, and in two weeks, I got to see Nacho. In addition, I forged a new friendship with this family. However, three months later I got a call from them that they were going to drive down to PAWS to return Nacho. He has been too mischievous and uncontrollable in the house, and has destroyed everything in sight. To cut to the chase, this is one of many examples of owners returning a dog. Out of these quantity, how many actually return the dog back to where they adopted it from. In my case, it was to PAWS - a distance of 300km. And it was plain fortunate that the family and I know each other that they took the initiative to inform me. For the record, Nacho was already neutered before he was adopted. And that was because animal shelters have a strict policy of sterilizing dogs and cats before they are adopted.

I would really like to receive comments from all animal rescuers on your role as an animal rescuer. What are your objectives? Do you release puppies for adoption before they are sterilized? Also, do you release adult cats and dogs back to the streets after all the medical attention were given to them?

I do ask myself: "When the puppies are ready for adoption at ages 5 months above - with so much competition to be adopted - will people still be interested in them, or more inclined to get a younger pup? I would then let a chance pass by for these pups." " Am I only providing half of the solution by returning adult dogs back to the streets - even after they are sterilized? I am stopping reproduction, but they are still exposed to roadkill and dog cathers."

Teaching Chance to walk on-leash

Chance has pulled through from the parvovirus. She is back to her playful, submissive behaviour. She is still waiting to be adopted. Anyhow, I shall wait until after this upcoming long holidays for enquiries about her before putting her into an animal shelter. In the meantime, for the past three visits, I have been conditioning her to accept the leash and collar; and ultimately to obediently walk on-leash. This will give the potential adopter a head start in getting her to walk on-leash.

In my first post about Chance, I mentioned that she likes to go into submissive belly-up posture. Well, on the first training day, she did exactly that when I pulled her with the leash. So I deferred this step, and just let the leash twist around her body, with the intention of letting her feel the presence of it. Initially, she was eager to follow me, and didn't mind the leash being around her. 

 



After awhile, Chance began to roll over when I looked back at her. I ignored her and continued to walk. Being the kind who is sticky to me, she had no choice but to follow me. I worked on this first phase of the process for remaining of the walk for the day.

 

On our next meeting, I repeated the previous step for a while before proceeding to hold the leash. She again rolled over. I dropped the leash and walked on. She followed. I picked up the leash again. I repeated this step whenever she rolled over, until she was willing to walk while I held the leash.

It was natural for her now to call the shots. This time she stood her ground - sometimes she sat down - and resisted from moving. I pulled her, but realised it was not effective and correct to do so, so I dropped the leash and walked away. This time she did not follow me until I was quite far ahead. On ocassions when I see cars approaching, I have to squat down and call her over. I will again hold the leash and proceed to walk. She will again resist. This process repeated several times for the remaining of our walk.

On the third visit, she was more obliging to walk beside me, though occasionally - but not as frequent - she resisted from moving. I was confident she would fully cooperate in future. One of her favorite place - and mine - for us to relax is at a gazebo at a nearby park. This was the first place I brought her to while waiting for the vet to open. For ten minutes, she gets a to enjoy a belly rub.

Female Dog up for Adoption

The objective of this post will be more as an advertisement. An advertisement for a female mongrel dog I rescued yesterday. There is a story behind this well-intended advertisement.

There are many strays in this Puchong area. I hope to feature them in my blog soon. However, I saw this white puppy-size dog sniffing around. Not far away, there were a pack of strays, and this dog approached them, while displaying a submissive position. These dogs ignored it. It must be new to the neighbourhood and hence turned away. Guess it's not easy to join the club.

I called for this dog's attention. To my surprise - unlike other strays - it did not run away, but actually came to me. As I took my first stem towards it, it went into submission by turning over on its back. That was when I knew it was a female. I fed her some kibbles which I keep in my car. Her appetite was voracious.

I decided to take her to the vet for a full check-up, and vaccination. She is in good condition, and on Monday will be vaccinated. The vet said she could be about 6 months old.

I realised, while waiting for the vet to open his clinic, that she was very sticky to me. I was pacing up and down the road, and she followed me. And in between stops, she rested and tried to sleep. But as soon as I took a few steps away, she awakes and follows me. Can I conclude that she can be trained easily because of her willingness to be submissive?

I hope someone in Malaysia, while having an intention of adopting a dog, is reading this. Please email me for enquiries, or leave a  comment enquiring for details.

I am friendly. Rub my belly if you want.

Trying to befriend the other dogs, but was snubbed.

Nacho

The story of Nacho had been one of full of adventure and misadventure. Rescued in March 2009; sent to shelter; adopted in June; returned back to shelter in September; had low white blood count and treated at vet for a month; sent back to shelter after recovery; adopted again in March 2010.
Being so attached to him, I traced (yes it was not right) the address of the adopter to Jalan Gasing. Whenever I pass by the place - at least 5 times - Nacho is not to be seen. Had my doubts whether he is still there.
So today, I took time off to distribute flyers of my pet sitting services in that area. As I approached the mailbox of this house, I was hoping for a bark. What I heard when I inserted the flyer into the mailbox was a rushing dog growling. I was not taken aback, but very happy to hear the sound. As I scanned for a four-legged animal between the railings of the gate, there he is looking at me! He looked so trim. Not the overweight pup. I whispered "Nacho", "Nacho". He seemed to recognise the name and jumped at the gate.
Then the maid came out and called his name. Couldn't catch the name. I proceeded to talk to the maid explaining briefly the services I provide to pet owners. As I walked away to look at him - probably for the last time - Nacho was still looking at me. He was motionless and rooted to the ground. And he was puzzled. He must be wondering why I am here, calling his old name. I realise immediately it was not fair to him to confuse him this way.
I decided today will be the last time I will "stalk" Nacho. Partly because I am relieved that he is still there, and well taken of by a good family. I know they are good - at least from their demographic description.
Nacho, I wish you well.
FYI, the profile picture of me and the dog - the dog is Nacho. No...was Nacho.