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

I had a short but yet very meaningful skype conversation with my sister today because it was my first "typed conversation" with my nephew Matt. My nephews (Luc and Matt) just turned 3 years old a few weeks back. So far, my family and I had some video call session on Skype with them. Today Matt had to stay home with his mum because he is sick. I could not go on video call, hence I typed out what I wanted to say and my sister helped to convey my messages to Matt. Below is an extract of the conversation with my sis and Matt :). Enjoy!

Sis: Matthew at home sick today. He said he wants to say hello to Aunty Lyssa and kong kong - could not go on video call :(
Sis: hi from matttttt (matt type this with my instructions)
Me : HELOOOOOOOOO.Big kiss from Auntie Lyssa
Sis: he says he does not  like kisses...hahaha
Me : haha...blow kiss ma
Sis: no kiss (from matt)
Me : then HUGSSSSS la
Me : big bear hugs - then I gave him one icon of a bear hug
Sis: yes please (from matt)
Me : (hug)(hug)(hug)(hug)(hug)(hug) - gave Matt 6 more icons of bear hugs
Me : many many hugsss to throw away his flu
Sis: he likes the bears
Sis: he's saying they are giving cuddles and imitating the hand motion...LOL
Me : hahaha...so cuteeee
Me : tell him Auntie Lyssa will give him one bear when he comes to Msia
Sis: ;( Matt wants me to give you this face - It is a "crying" icon
Sis: I like a little bear said Matt
Sis: (hug) Now he wants the bear to cuddle you - gave me an icon of a bear hug

Isn't he just adorable? Hahaha. However, I am not too sure why he wanted to give the crying icon to me.

DJ is a mini schnauzer and some will call this kind of breed the “old man” dog because of its long moustache and eyebrows. Although DJ is just a puppy now, but my little one is a grumpy, long-winded old man at times. It is hilarious when seeing him “grumble” about something. Few examples below:-

Scene 1: After we come back home from work, he would want us to carry him so he can “complain” to us. He would make noises like soft whines and it can continue for a bit. And when I pass him to my hubby to hold him, he will continue to do his whining. As if telling us “Why you leave me alone for so long? I am so lonely you know? I am also very hungry you know…etc”…hahaha

Scene 2: DJ knows how to climb up the staircase already (knew it since the 2nd week we brought him back) but do not know how to climb back down. Hence, we have to block the staircase entrance with boxes when we are not around. However, there were many times that our little DJ finds his way through the boxes and ends up being stuck upstairs till we come back home. To avoid this from happening, we are now teaching him how to climb back down whenever he wants to. And boy, when we coax him down (without a treat), he WILL come down eventually..but not without grumbling while he does it. He will let out a soft growl and look at me and continue growling as he climb downstairs. As if telling me “Why force me to climb down when you know I do not like climbing downstairs? Why? Why? Why?”…hahahaha

That’s my little DJ for you :P

I have a friend whose mum passed away yesterday morning. Her mum was only 50+. Worst thing was it happened during her family trip overseas (after a very long time of not having one) and to top it all, it happened on the 2nd day of CNY. Normally they will not travel during CNY because her parents insisted they stay in Malaysia. This year though, they decided to change the tradition of staying in Malaysia because they could not celebrate CNY as her grandmother passed away not too long ago.

Her mum was a healthy lady. She had headache spells in the hotel and collapse into unconsciousness. Doctor said she had stroke and brain hemorrhage. Was in the hospital the whole of CNY when she finally passed away. It is a SAD SAD moment as she was so close to her mum. I have never met her mum but I recalled her mum commented that I was so cute like a little girl after seeing my photo and even wanted my friend to introduce me to her cousin. I even joked saying to my friend "Ask your mum whether she wants a god-daughter or not since she seems so fond of me". And now, I will never have the chance to meet this person.

Life is so short and unpredictable. Love the ones you have now with all your heart so you would not have any regrets when one leaves you. It is afterall the Cycle of Life.

Lets pray for her and her family to be able to go through these harsh times

Chinese New Year came on 14th Feb 2010 and left us yesterday. It is not in a joyful tone when I say that this year was one of my most tiring CNY ever. As I grow older, CNY became less and less exciting to me. When I was younger, I would get all psyched up by the thought of CNY. It was not only because it was the school holidays and the collection of angpaws. It was also the thought of meeting up with my cousins on eve and first day of CNY, traveling for visits to relative and friends' houses, eating all those delicious cookies and home cooked food, etc. I recall playing with my cousins the whole night of CNY eve till about midnight before going home and waking up in the morning to see them again for our vegetarian breakfast. Running around all sweaty and playing with firecrackers was the highlight of the eve.

As I reached my teens, CNY was also quite exciting even though there were no more running around and playing with firecrackers. At this age, I look forward to meeting up with my cousins and friends for a good chitchat and lots of laughter. This was also the time I would get to see my brother and sister longer than I normally do and the family time I had with them were also precious.

And now I am all "grown up". A working woman means lesser holiday during CNY and hence lesser time with family and friends. A wife means I not only have my own family to think about but also obliged to think about my husbands' family. Cousins and friends have also begun their "new" lives with their husbands or wives and rarely have time to meet up anymore. This year I got to meet up with some of my cousins because my parents cancelled one of our out-of-state visits. The meet-up lasted only about an hour and they had to leave for family matters. Meeting up with friends have long been a history in my social life. New Year eve dinner is not as lively as it used to be. Vegetarian breakfast on the first day is even worse..too quiet.

CNY to me now is stressful and nothing else. How I wished that during the limited holidays I have, I can choose on what I want to do instead of needing to consider so many other factors around me. If I cannot have what I had when I was younger, then I would prefer to just stay home with my family and have a very good rest before I start with my hectic working life.

I can’t wait for DJ’s last vaccination in mid-March. Currently he still needs 2 more vaccination before he is able to go out into the public or even interact with any animals. The full vaccination is supposed to boost his immune system to the maximum. For the meantime, we have to just spend the weekend in the house with him. Hence, we have limited activities that can really tire him out.

Apparently my hubby found out that there is an association full of dog owners that meet up every Saturday for hiking activities at Bukit Gasing with their dogs (small or big dogs). This would be one activity we will try out. I like hiking so would not be a problem for me (plus I really do need the exercise..hehe). My hubby on the other hand who dislikes hiking is now willing to hike because of DJ. WooHoo!! Usually if I suggest on going for a hike, he will give excuses like “tired”, “next time”, “don’t feel like it”, “lets go for a movie instead”, etc. So I should really thank DJ for this change..hehe. But we still have to see how things go when we really do join the group :)

I will be going back to my hometown this coming CNY with DJ. It is just too bad the vet discourages DJ to have any close contact with my parents’ pet dog. Would really love to see him play and interact with PoPo (3 year old Pomeranian).

FYI, it is not a BABY. Phew...now that I got that cleared out, I would like to announce to the whole world that the new addition to my family is D.J!!...our puppy.
After a few weeks of contemplating whether we should get a puppy, we finally got one after doing some research. DJ is of a miniature Schnauzer breed.
He was just a few days shy from 2.5 months when we brought him back home last weekend. I visited his breeder twice before deciding to get her miniature Schnauzer.
My hubby could not stop saying "Look at him dear, he is sooooo small la". Then I would look lovingly at DJ and then at my hubby and say "Ya lor...he is so cute and small"

We did not know what to expect from him when we brought him home. First thing we did was to make sure he is comfortable in our house and with us. Introduced him to his own "house" too. Today is the 5th day he is with us. Got very comfortable with us to an extend my hubby said he may be too attached to us :P. Followed us around the house wherever we walked. I was cooking dinner in the kitchen yesterday. Whenever I walked to the fridge to get something, he will get up from his resting position and follow me around to see what was I doing. At night, we try to wear him out so that he will be extremely tired and have a good 8 hours sleep at night. Our problem is not about us having the time or energy to do it. Our main problem is that he gets tired and takes naps after every 10-20 minutes of playtime...haha. We usually try to force him to wake up when he nap for more than 15 minutes. Most of the time it works but sometimes he sleeps like a log. It was really funny how we tried finding ways to wake him up from his nap.

DJ has started his whining and howling when he is left alone (out of our sight). Training him on this will be my biggest challenge. Second challenge will be teaching him it is not right to gnaw/bite on human's skin. So far he is doing fairly well on his pee-ing and pooping. 90% of the time he pees on the designated area and 50% of the time he poo at his designated area. I think it is a job well done for him at such a young age :).

Anyway, here is a photo of our new family member, DJ :)



p/s It is confirmed that DJ is one healthy puppy :). Had his first visit (by us) to the vet for a general health check up. The only comment from the doctor was that DJ was a little under weight but it is something we do not need to worry about. Reminded us to give him his vitamin daily and to monitor his appetite.