Those Regular Days

Mario and Doggy's Household Activities

Feeding Time: Lunch and Dinner

Bathing Time: 1 -2 times a week

Exercise, Training & Play Time: DAILY. Weekdays (depends on my schedule; at least 10-minutes outside the house or an hour inside) Weekends (depends also on schedule; at least 15 minutes outside the house or 1 hour 30 minutes inside) Time is flexible.
Treats: Daily (during training sessions).

Grooming Time: Daily brushing.

Yes, I'm OC. Weeee.

Mario's Collar Collection (As Of June 2007)

Here's Mario's collar collection. I constantly try to expand it. The luxury designs are experimental and I try to work on more during my leisure time. I want to create my own luxury or party "collars" made exclusively for my canine babies (because the ones sold in shops are too expensive). Doggy has her separate collection. :)

Some of the collars here, particularly the conventional ones, were acquired through a particular petshop (as specified).

CONVENTIONAL
(the practical ones - he uses these around the house or for walking)

This is a black jeweled collar.
Doggy and Mario have matching collars of the same design and color, and they use it as their pambahay collar. What I like about this design is it's thin and comfortable. It would definitely not cause any bald patches on their skin. It's strong enough and perfect for everyday use by an aspin!

(This is the collar Mario wore while he was still in the shelter, the month before he finally went home with me.)

This is a gorgeous classic DAB PET collar. Mario uses this one for his walks with Doggy around the village. They've got other colors for this design, but I prefer the royal blue one with the gold metal. The dazzling blue stone you see is an add-on I personally attached to make Mario's collar look unique and original.


Mario has a third collar, but he's wearing it as of the moment. It's designed like a leopard's fur (not made out of one), and I think it looks really sassy. Here's the pic!

LUXURY
(the fun part - for special occasions or when playing dress-up)



I call it...um...the Aquamarine Heart Necklace...something. I was thinking of a banana when I made this. Hey, Animal Planet was on, I couldn't help it. Those monkeys devoured the banana and made it look so yummy. Hahaha. It matches Mario's royal blue collar, that's why I made it this way.



A lacey party collar design called Deep Ocean and it's measured exclusively for Mario. I know, it's blue again. But the multi-colored ribbon was so cute that I wanted to see Mario wear it. So this came up. Hehehe.

If you want to see Doggy's girlash collection, visit her blog. It's still under construction, but once it's updated, you'll see the designs there. :)

Here's a preview:



I went to Tiendesitas a week ago to buy different treats and leashes for the duo. (I drool at the variety of treats they have there.) I saw a lot of amazing collar designs and the...doggy clothes! Ohmigash! (I'll save those for December.) Next time I go there I'm going to canvass for the perfect bed for Doggy (when I've graduated, maybe). I'm thinking of covering the whole floor of her doghouse, but either the bed's too small or too big. I can't find one with the appropriate size, something that would totally cover her doghouse. Maybe I'll find one there. Most dogs I see there were (super cute) toy dogs.

I swear I'll bring Mario and Doggy there when I get my own car.

Mario's First Week

Days 1 - 3 (June 18, 19, 20)

I was able to adopt Mario a day earlier. (I was supposed to adopt him June 19.) I finally succumbed to the excitement of making Mario part of my family, and of course, having a new member in my animal barkada comprised of me, Doggy Black, my campbell dwarf hamsters Sushi, Sashimi, and Champy (Whole name: Champorado), and the wild birds feeding and hanging out in our garden (my relationship with them is very platonic).

Pictures of our Main Garden

My grandmother's got one heck of a green thumb. She could bring a wilting plant back to life if she wanted to. I'm secretly hoping I've acquired some of her green thumb genes because I want to maintain a garden just like hers, only with more flowers and vegetables, when I get a place of my own! ^_^

Training and Play Area.
This is basically how it looks like if you stand near the doghouse.

Main Lounge and Second Training Area.
There's another black table set further down towards the garage.
Mario loves to climb on that wooden sofa you see right there, while Doggy loves to hide under it.

Poop Area.
Butterflies and dragonflies love to graze this part of the garden.

Mario sat on my lap inside the taxi which was destined for home.

Doggy Black looked surprised when I entered the gate with Mario, and she started barking.

Ever since Whitie' s death last year, Doggy got used to having the areas all to herself. My family was worried Mario and Doggy would fight, so what I did was to try something.

I introduced the two of them by tying Doggy at the opposite end of the wooden sofa and held Mario by the collar. I asked my brother to stand near Doggy, just in case. Since I know Doggy's crazy about doggy treats, I took out her favorite milk biscuits and showed it to her.

She instantly gazed up at the treat in pure excitement. This consists of jumping up and down, literally, walking with her hind legs to reach the treat, sniffing my hand in an attempt to snatch the treat away from me, and of course, doing ALL the tricks she had learned in quick, consecutive succession when I haven't even started yet. She's funny (but still, no treats unless I tell her to actually do it, nyaw.)

With Mario beside me, we moved one step closer to Doggy. If she growled or barked, I didn't give her a biscuit. If she behaved around Mario or kept quiet, I'll give her the treat and praise her. (She's trained with some of the basics commands like sit, stay, chin on hand, up, lie down, and come.) We did this over and over until Mario's practically beside her. (Ah, and everytime Mario stepped forward, I also give him a treat. He was reluctant to accept the treat at first but he ended up liking it. =) )

When Doggy started sniffing Mario without growling or barking, I took that as a sign that she's curious. So I released her and Mario, and let them run around the garden. I let them be and establish themselves.

Since my grandma doesn't like the dogs roaming inside the house (she's in to glass decoratives), plus my mother has never forgotten the time she was bitten by a streetdog, the dogs have their own places outdoors.

Mario's staying where Whitie used to stay near the maid's quarters. Supposedly, he's going to sleep inside the maid's quarters, but the maids aren't used to him yet so my grandma decided to let him sleep outside for the meantime until he's trained to only make poopy and peepee on the grass.

Mario's place has a huge roof, thus, rain won't be a problem. I'm planning to build him his own doghouse before the cold season arrives, like Doggy's, sometime this year. Grandma also wants to expand Doggy's house, so we'll probably do that this year too. :)

He wouldn't stop barking and howling during the first night; he only stopped at around 4 am the next day (Day 2). Doggy joined his barks and howls, and the two had an all-night duet.

I thought it will take him a long time to adjust, thinking he's probably going through some canine emo because he's in a different environment. I mean, after years of living in the shelter and then finding himself in a place where he's accompanied by only one dog, and not twenty or so others....I figured it must be hard for him.

I interpreted his following me around everywhere I go, refusing to let me out of his sight, and peeping at the windows whenever I go inside to get some water, as part of his separation anxiety.

But Mario surprised me the next night (Day 2), because when everybody retreated inside the house to sleep he barked for a few minutes but remained quiet for the rest of the night.

He started showing signs of improvement yesterday. He'll still follow me everywhere but this time he would take the initiative to explore the outdoors on his own.

It's funny because when I looked up from my book (Night by Elie Weasel), I saw both Mario and Doggy running towards me with purple flowers on one ear. Seriously! This happened to Doggy often. I didn't expect it would happen to Mario too. I think they were sniffing a flower bush and some flowers got stuck on their fur. It's during moments like these that I wish I was holding a camera.

As of today, Doggy and Mario are getting along well. I took them for a short exercise beyond the gates this morning. :D

Doggy is still possessive of her doghouse, but Mario found a way around it so he wouldn't have to risk being chased by Doggy again. Hehehehe.

Mario loves being around people, and when he sees a person, he automatically gravitates towards him/her. He loves being showered with attention. (Naku! Dalawa na ang papansin bahay, hehehe!). He likes standing on the wooden sofa to take a peek inside the house.

There are still habits he needs to learn and unlearn, but so far he's adjusting well.

Mario had his first home-bath yesterday. I noticed his fur was stiff and he's got this strong distinct smell. I bought him his own shampoo/conditioner and other grooming materials, including a towel. His fur has this white dust that I hope would eventually disappear. I took out this nasty tick clinging to his neck (yikes!), and praying he didn't have more, I checked everywhere for other skin parasites. To my relief, there were none.

After the bathing, I brushed his fur and noticed its texture had become more soft and smooth to the touch. (Nakaka-adik na hawakan.)

If only aspins were recognized as part of doggy shampoo commercials, puede na! (I hope you don't mind the plug-in jokes. I tend to be corny.)

Here are some photos of Mario. Only three out of twelve got developed, but I hope this will do for now. I'll take some more pics next week. :)

Days 4-7

Mario's new leash.

Mario is becoming more and more independent when it comes to exploring the garden.

Doggy and Mario love to stay beside me when I study at the lounge, and sometimes, both would fall asleep. Everyone noticed he's a very affectionate dog, including my boyfriend who said, "It's the first time I've seen a dog that affectionate especially when he looks at you."

Mario jumps and stands on his hind legs whenever I approach. Doggy had also become more comfortable with Mario. She would even follow Mario around. :)

Mario had his first training session Day 5 (Friday), and I'm happy to say he has learned the "UP' command, special thanks to the discovery that he's crazy about chewy snacks.

I also try to make sure he poops and pees on the grass.

Since it's the first time Mario joined our training, Doggy was wary of Mario at first but she eventually warmed up. :)

We'd play afterwards. Mario and Doggy's favorite game is for me to try to chase them around the garden, but I instantly lose once they start using the table as some sort of blockage, making it impossible for me to catch them because they're much faster than I am. I usually resort to bribing them with their favorite treats or distracting them with a toy.

Mario's a wonderful dog. Adopting a dog, especially an older one, is one of the greatest experience I ever had.

Rest assured everyone will still see him since I'll still be doing the best I could to help the organziation uplift animal welfare in our society. More power to PAWS!

Ah, by the way, Mario's asking me to send his love and gratitude to PAWS and PARC.

The computer's all yours Mario! What would you like to say to those nice people from PAWS who gave you special and loving treatment while you were in PARC?



Waaah. No, not that one. The other one, Mario, the other one!

Please give his buddies there a home too. Visit Me Find Home.

Good boy Mario! Mommy loves you and Doggy and Champy and Sushi and Sashimi and...!

They Call Him Mario

"Doggy! Mario! Morniiiing!"

I'd hear two barks from our garden, howling and whooping, then all of a sudden two dark blurs would be coming right at me as I close the front door. They're my very own dynamic duo, the kurdapyo and kurdapya of the outdoors: Doggy and Mario.

Doggy would wag her tail, jiggling her small round body in excitement, almost the same way ducks do. Beside her, Mario would position himself near my leg and rub his cheeks against it to show how much he had missed me. I'll give them their daily dosage of hugs and we'll chase each other in the garden to play for a few minutes.

While Doggy goes off on her own to do her thing, Mario would faithfully stay and stand beside me. I would usually look down at him and say, "Mario, go join Doggy and play! I'll wait here." He made his answer clear by gazing right back and staying put.

I'll take the initiative. "Come on, let's join her."

I'd walk towards Doggy and that's the only time Mario would move, sticking to me as if there exists a north-south magnetic force between us. He'll attempt to start a game, leaping and jumping backwards when I step towards him then trotting forward for a tender pat on the head. He'll repeat this over and over, urging me to play with him, until I could actually feel the calories burning.

This is how I spend my mornings, during or after a good cup of coffee, ever since Mario arrived.

This blog serves as Mario's up-to-date diary about the upcoming changes in his life as part of our household, his daily experiences, and other endeavors as observed by his forever guardian - who tries her hardest matching up to the unconditional love and loyalty Mario's giving her - yours truly.

Mario has another friend in Doggy Black, a small hyperactive aspin given to us by my uncle. They look almost the same, minus the orange fur. I still have to ask permission from the internet cafe owner to bring Doggy along so I could take pictures of her using their webcam. Teehee. To view her blog, visit: Canine Tales.


Mario and I posing in the PARC Office. :)