Mario's Paw-tho Shoot!

My pooches, hamsters, the wild insects and birds - all of them - always bring a smile to my face. I'm sure numerous guardians could relate; it's as if they know about our feelings - those fleeting, heavy blocks lying dormant inside our hearts until awakened by some external factors. Bad days turn good, sorrow turns to joy, and even anger - a feeling I'm always experiencing - turns to serenity. These are irreplaceable gifts our animal friends give us thanks to their unconditional love.

Ms. Liza came over to take some pictures of Mario, Doggy and I in his new home. She told me wonderful - if not heartbreaking - stories of Mario when he was still a shelter dog. (I confess I feel envious of how advanced the state of Animal Welfare is in the US.) Here are some picture perfect memories of Mario, taken by Ms. Liza in our home....

What is it, Mario sweetie? What do you want to say?

Believe what, my beloved poopie-pants?

Haha! Good one, Mario. ;)

Enjoy!

Mario taking a walk.

Strut your stuff, Mario!

Blooming Mario. Hehehe.

Mario sniffing real pots...(no to drug abuse).

Mario surrounded by nature!

Mario: "Mommy, where are you? I know you're in there!"

Mario: "There you are, mommy! Come back here!"

Mario in philosophical thought.

Focus, Mario, Focus!

Mario: Oh? What's this thingimajig?


Mario: Mommy! There's a ghost over there!

Mario: This thingimajig's long!

Waiting for Chewy Snacks

Yay! Mommy, let's play!


Home Sweet Home

Mario's Barkada
(Mario, Doggy, and Mommy)

Mario's Top 5 Favorite Things

Old habits die hard, but it's not impossible - like Mario's shelter behavior for instance. He has improved a whole lot since his arrival here at home. Old and odd habits such as gobbling up his food at record speed and barking meticulously at night - probably the result of adjusting to the big difference of living conditions between a shelter and a family home - are finally disappearing.

The first time I filled up Mario's new bowl with my special fried rice (mixed with carrots and cabbage) and pt in some yummy sliced meat, Mario devoured the food so quickly it stunned me. "Mario! Wag patay gutom! Slow down! Ma-empacho ka!"

Even Doggy Black, who left her own bowl to make sure Mario's in his proper place, would stay and watch Mario's method of eating. She looked rather curious and fascinated by how fast he consumed the food, taking off to finish her meal only when Mario was finished with his own.

Ms. Liza explained all the shelter dogs and cats behaved this way because they were competing for food, considering the limited resources the shelter had; if they left their food unguarded inside the dog run, some other dog will surely take it.

To think he had to live like that for three years.

I don't know how many times my heart broke for Mario, and I don't really want to count anymore. Like any mother, you just want your babies to be happy.

It took a few more days before he finally realized there's more than enough food at home, and for the possible event that Doggy steals a particular food from his bowl, then I'll give him more.

He started showing signs of improvment last Friday (the day before my birthday).

Lunchtime arrived.

I filled up their bowls.

As usual, Doggy ignored the food and continued to play with me while Mario dashed off and ate up a bit of his share before coming back. He had finally left food in his bowl, hesitant at the beginning, but eventually gave in and joined us. He'd go back for a bite or two, but he'll always leave it behind to play.

Last Monday, I paid Tiendesitas another visit, intending to purchase some new stuff for my pooches. My hamsters have more than enough toys, food, treats and sand for their sandbaths, therefore I put off shopping for their needs until next week. Mario's relatively new to the household so he's the priority in my shopping list for now.

I'll hand the keyboard over to you, Mario! Tell them all about your favorites, hehehe!

Everyone knows Mario loves to take a walk! He's always excited when he knows it's time for our morning exercise! Whenever I bring out the leash, he'll run towards the gate, stands up, and puts his front paws on the door in an attempt to open it.

My "natural" cooked food as much as possible! All our previous family dogs led healthy long lives, and we noticed it's probably because of their diet. I also stopped by the grocery to buy some vegetables. (Nope, I'm not vegetarian.) They're fed the wet and dry commercialized food once or twice a week only.

My preferred brands are Pet One and Hill's Science Diet for wet food. Sometimes, I give them ALPO, but recently I'm a bit hesitant with the "hearty" one. Both Mario and Doggy like the beef chunks with the gravy. For dry food, Doggy likes Lamb and Beef Vitality while Mario prefers Pet One.

Mario's diet is also another concern. Since I noticed the shelter dogs were fed dry Pedigree Dog Food, I figured he's used to that so he has a different diet from Doggy.

Half of his bowl is filled with dog food, while the other half is filled with natural food. Moreover, like I do with the hamsters, their meals come in a variety of toppings and flavors depending on the availability. This is done in order to avoid getting tired of the same meal over and over again. My hamsters hate being fed the same food everyday! (That's why I created a menu timetable for them.) Even would get tired of the same meal! Plug-in: Hamster guardians out there, buy the mixed seed gourmet, and you have the option of adding some bird seeds, sunflower seeds, wheat germs, or oats. Control the intake of sunflower seeds because it could make your hamster obese and prone to diabetes. I highly recommend Vitakraft or Delikate.)

Mario's favorite food is definitely the fried rice topping with pork - any kind of pork meat. He only eats carrots when it's sliced into itty-bitty pieces and the shreds are mixed with the rice. I noticed he consumes the fried rice first before gobbling up the dry food.



As for the treats, he's crazy for SLEEKY'S CHEWY SNACKS (Beef and Chicken) and rawhides.

SLEEKY'S CHEWY SNACKS
(Mario's Ultimate Favorite Treat)

RAWHIDES
(Another one of Mario's favorite treats)

Play, for Mario, consists of our chasing game, grooming, and training sessions.

I remember the time when I overheard Ms. Anna mention at the shelter office that Mario's coat needs to be combed. A few days after, I purchased a brush for Mario. When I arrived the following week, Mario was taken out of the dog run and into the office. He let me stroke him and the moment I pulled out the brush, he jumped backwards! The poor thing was totally scared and was utterly reluctant to come near me. I was like, "Whyyyy??"

But then again, Mario wasn't used to being groomed. He probably thought the brush was something dangerous. I'm just happy he's no longer scared of the brush. He loves being groomed, to the point where he starts making this attention-grabbing whine sound whenever I brush Doggy's fur first.

Ms. Liza also shared this story about Mario playing with a rock inside the shelter, trying to move it around from one paw to another. It was probably a small-time game he improvised to kill his boredom. I think it was Ms. Liza who took pity and gave him a toy. When she presented the toy, Mario got scared of it. He didn't know what a toy was!

Ms. Liza felt heartbroken that a certain shelter dog didn't even know what toys are and seemed contented playing with his ever-so-familiar rocks (those familiar little "play things" quite abundant in the dog run). No wonder he refused to touch the rubber balls I bought him! He's no longer scared of the balls, seeing as he sees those things everyday, but Doggy ended up claiming all the rubber balls including the ones meant for Mario. After hearing from Ms. Liza Mario's "games" while he was at the shelter, on the same day, I rushed to Whiskas and Pawprints in Katipunan to buy other types of toys.

Hopefully one of these days, Mario will come to understand that these toys are to be played with, and aren't out there to hurt him.

Mario would also like to send his love and gratitude to all the people who had emailed him!

OOPS! Hehehe, sorry sweetie. The stage is all yours!

Rest assured everyone's messages have been read to him and has reached him. Whether he understands human language or not, I'm pretty sure Mario knows in his heart everyone's happy for him.

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...!