Ideal weight for my dog

We've got 3 dogs and my inlaws have got 5. They are all from the Labrador family but this batch was fathered by a Lab of questionable bloodline, so they are no longer pure Labs. Still, they are all adorable and loyal dogs.

Now, the issue of the weight of my dogs has been bugging me because each time bro in law and his wife come round, they say "Your dogs are thin, especially Benjie. He's all bones!" Then when mom in law comes by, she says the same thing. I suspect she's just repeating what she heard from them since she's not that much of an animal lover and has precious little time to spend with the dogs anyway. She wouldn't know any of their habits.

True, Benjie is on the lean side. Queenie is a real food hog and she is the biggest, while Bonnie has the slightest build but for her petite size, she looks quite filled out. Benjie is tall and gangly, with a straight arrow tail. His appetite used to be really poor when he first came to us (all 3 were first raised by bro in law by the way). My maid and I had to persuade him to finish his food, and even hand feed him. But the last 2 months has seen a marked improvement in his appetite and he always finishes his food now, even ahead of greedy Queenie.

Back to the thin part. With all those thin remarks, I did some reading on the net and the general consensus out there is that Labs should not be overweight. When patting a Lab, you should be able to see his last 2 ribs and definitely when stroking the dog, be able to feel his ribs without having to press down hard to feel for them. That puts my dogs in the acceptable weight category. My inlaws dogs on the other hand would be fat! Waddling walk, and no ribs to be felt. I know. I checked.

I wonder how many people use Hill's Science Plan dog biscuits for their dogs. My 3 were raised on them, but Benjie just hates it. So I've switched to Fides (Belgium) and Top Ration (US). I intend to try Propac next.

Of dogs, birds and fish

Having a house with garden meant that we could have dogs (and other animals). Back in BU, we did not want to subject any dog to having to live his days out on a hot, small and tiled front yard. I don't know how so many people in terraced houses could keep large breed dogs - it's cruel.

So, here in Ipoh we have 3 furry companions. But this also means a lot more work - feeding, bathing, training. The kids love having the dogs, but I only let them play together when I am there to watch them. Can't ever tell with animals, can you? Not long after moving in, one of our black females must have managed to slip out the gate as I was driving out, because when I returned, the kids and my maid were franctic - saying that there were only 2 dogs left.

It was rainy that morning as I drove out to search for our missing dog. I circled the neigbourhood twice before I spotted a black, furry canine with a curly tail. As I pulled up next to her, yep that's my dog. But she ran off when I wound my window down and called out her name! Ditching the car, I got down, with my umbrella and went after her. But the more I called, the farther she ran. Scared of the umbrella? Didn't recognise me? I put the brollie down. That did the trick. She ran towards me, happy. Now, do I put her in the car? She probably wouldn't get in. So I walked home with her, in the rain. Then..I walked back out to get my car.

The birds - it was like the attack of the kamikaze-birds! They would crash into our large glass windows. Daily, we would pick up at least 6 bird carcasses. It got quite gross, and I was becoming a nervous wreck each time I heard a loud thud against the glass. This went on for about a month, before the birds decided to redraw their flight path - phew!

Then we got the koi into our pond. Things went swimmingly with the first batch of koi. But then a larger batch of koi got put into the pond and this is when the fish suicides started. They just vaulted out of the pond. We saved 5 the first time it happened. But sadly, the second time it happened, 7 koi died. But happily, that was the end of the fishy troubles.