Some of you must be wondering what edamame has got to do with my dog, DJ. Well, I came up with the equation below:



Just two days ago, AK and I were eating our favourite edamame at home while watching some TV. For those who do not know edamame well, you can read this topic (Edamame) You are NOT supposed to eat the skin of edamame. Only eat the peas inside it. Of course our greedy DJ just stared at us eating the edamame hoping that he can get some of it.

We threw the edamame skin on some old newspaper to be thrown later. After finishing all of the edamame, we decided to take a bath. One BIG mistake was we did not throw the skin yet and went for bath. And what do you know; our little “innocent” DJ ate a few of the skin!! AK caught him munching some and he stopped and he started acting like he was caught red-handed (which he did!!..haha)

Anyway, we hoped that he would be ok after that. But for the past two nights, he vomited out the edamame skin in the middle of the night. Serve him right!! (opsss…I am not suppose to say that)

Moral of the story: Listen to your parents…hahaha

One of these happened last night and I realised I never shared this with you. So here it is!
Few of DJ's weird/cute/funny/amusing antics before/during/after his sleep:

1. Legs twitching
2. Body twitching
3. Sleep barking (soft barks) - Like he was dreaming or having a nightmare
4. Snoring
5. Grumbling noises
6. Sudden jump from sleep and run to another spot and sleep right away at that spot
7. Sudden wake from sleep and look into "space" and snarl/bark (loudly)
8. "Chiap-chiap" sound (the sound of the tounge moving in the mouth just like when human does it)
9. Sighing right before his sleep (like he had a very long tiring day)

That's my old man DJ for you!!

DJ: Am I Cute or What? :P

I know there has not been much news on DJ’s training classes since I started posting about it. NOPE..it is not because I gave up and did not want to continue. Many things happened in between. When DJ seemed prepared for the exam, other dogs in his class did not seem to be ready. Hence, the trainer gave some extra classes for everyone. While this was going on, DJ kind of sprained his front legs at home and had to miss 2-3 classes. During one of the sessions, exam was held for his classmates.

The trainer was nice enough to put me into another class after DJ fully healed. And the BIG day arrived TODAY….his exam day. I had no doubt he could pass the exam. However, he has his weird moods some days where he even will refuse to walk or do anything the whole day. I prayed hard this would not happen today because I am just too tired to bring him for more classes so that he will pass his exam.

His exam was supposed to start at 10.30am. I was there at 10.15am, to give him some time to get used to the surroundings and also towards other dogs. Due to some misunderstanding of the organizer, the exam only started at around 11.15am. This is not too good for the dogs as most dogs were already feeling tired when the exam started. And this is not good for DJ because during this hour, he found his LOVE interest (a mixed Rottweiler and a Pinscher). Hence when the exam started, he was just looking at her and whenever she moves, he wants to go near her. This was certainly a drawback during the exam.

Although DJ was not able to give me his full concentration today and had some mistakes done during the exam, he still passed :). He did came in last though with a total of 61 points and the highest of the list was a 3 year old shih tzu with marks more than 80 (fyi, his love interest had 66 points). I was a little disappointed with his performance today…but well, he is just a dog and want to have fun..in this case, he wanted to spend time with his new found lady friend :). GOOD WORK DJ! You will get to meet your girlfriend next week at GRADUATION!!!

All getting prepared for the exam


DJ looses his concentration because of his love interest :P


Exam's over and DJ gets to lovey-dovey with his "gf"

At a Chinese Hawker Center Taman Desa, KL.

As usual, me and hubby with DJ in my arms walked into the open hawker center after DJ's training session. We normally would find a table at the side so that we would not be making anyone uncomfortable with DJ around (lots of people who brings their dog there chooses the side tables). Today was a little different because instead of having breakfast there, we had our lunch. Hence the place was quite packed. As we were approaching the best located table....

Men next door: Eh! Don't sit so near OK??!! (he said it in cantonese but just as rude)...(staring at us as if DJ was a disease)

I was really unhappy about that. This guy could have tell us politely to leave as he was not comfortable with a dog being so near him. He was plain rude. Even after we moved further away from him, he stared at us and moved even further.

Poor DJ.
DJ: Am I not cute enough, sir?

I have finally found a term to describe the relationship between PoPo and DJ...a term I am very familiar with with my sister when I was younger. DJ is like the "irritating" little brother PoPo never had..hehehe.

When they first met and DJ started disturbing PoPo, we thought that perhaps they are trying to determine who the more dominant one is (since both are males). As times goes by, I realised that DJ may actually be looking up to PoPo as a big brother. Few indications:-

1. Following PoPo almost everywhere he goes
2. When at the park, DJ waits for PoPo. When PoPo reaches DJ and continues walking, he will then walk beside PoPo
3. Playing on the bed: When PoPo rests, DJ rests
4. At home: Keeps looking at PoPo to see what PoPo does. When PoPo rests, he rests. When PoPo walks, he walks. BUT when PoPo seems to be doing nothing much, DJ will then disturb him as if to invite him to play.

Luckily PoPo does growl at DJ when DJ is being too clingy or too rough with him. DJ does need someone to teach him what is right and what is wrong. But PoPo sometimes gets too lazy to bother with DJ and seems to get irritated by DJ..haha.

I was uploading some of DJ’s photos (old and new) into a website when I suddenly noticed how much he has changed in just a few months (look at pic above).

The first picture was when AK and I first met him at the breeders’ house. He was in a medium sized rattan basket with his brother (named T-Rex by his owner now). DJ was very curious with what was happening out of the basket that he tried to stand up against the basket wall to look at what was happening outside. AK was amused by him and that was when we decided to get him. (30 Jan 2010)

Second photo was taken on his first outing to a friends’ house where he played in her garden and had a blast, but was extremely tired after that. (6 Mac 2010)

And the last photo was taken recently in May when he went for his first Obedience Training Class. (28 March 2010)

See the difference? Miss his “puppy” look a little after seeing these photos together..hehe. But he turned out to be one handsome miniature schnauzer huh? :P

We are having a blast playing with our new toy, the Sony DSC HX1. It is simple enough for me to use and yet the photos turn out quite well. I am no expert in photography but this camera pushes me to be more creative in photo taking. Below are some photos taken using this camera. Keep in mind that we are not professionals and are just learning the right way of using it :)

A close up of a Golden Retriever from DJ's training

DJ at his second Obedience Training Class

A panaroma view of The Legend Water Chalet Resort in Port Dickson

A photo of me at the resort above

AK's photo at the resort

A close up photo of me (although I think I look fat here, but the photo itself is nice...hehehe)

Using the food application on this photo..nice? :P

Ahh...I love this...the SUNSET

Me and DJ looking out the balcony

AK and DJ with the Sunset

Today DJ experienced many of his “firsts”.
First Obedience Training Class
First time meeting so many dogs (previously only had a brief meet up with my parents’ dog PoPo)
First time out in the park
First time on training leash
First time at Chinese Food Court

As you can imagine, he is now out of ‘fuel’ and just resting by my side. His first class turned out better than I expected. He was quite obedient out in the park with all the distractions around him. However, he was not use to me handling him with a leash. Hence he did not really like the idea of being tied down with it.

Today’s class was mainly for DJ to learn how to Heel (walking close by me when I walk forward) and to Stop and Sit when I stop and give the Sit command. AK and I taught him how to sit at home so that was not a problem. My problem was getting him to heel. We have a lot to practice before his next class next weekend. One of the trainers did however notice something about DJ and approached me. She said that DJ showed some future potential in joining some championship competitions because most of the time during his training, he was just concentrating by looking at me (however I was concentrating on the trainer too much..haha). The trainer said that this is one of the most important traits of a dog during training. So I guess now, it is just up to me. My training method has to be good in order for DJ to unleash his full potential :)

Gambatte to the both of us!! Hehehe..








As you can see, we were both lagging behind the rest..haha. It was because DJ refused to move forward with me with the leash on him. Anyway, hope with more training, he will get used to it by next week. But doesn't he look so handsome in the first photo? :)

p/s By the way, all the photos were taken using our new camera- Sony DSC HX1




Pic courtesy of cameramoon.com and itechnews.net