Dumbbell

Yesterday Tiger went to school and shi fu Mr Patrick Wong decided that Tiger had to upgrade his dumbbell from

to this

As you can see, he has a crestfallen look on his face as he thinks it's training time again!  It's like "Oh oh...this can't be happening at home. "

My poor doggy is carrying a dumbbell the same size as a retriever's. We had to train Tiger to "fetch" and "hold" the dumbbell and it is quite cruel cos in order to train him to "fetch" it, we put his ear against his metal choke chain collar. If he lurches forward and bites the dumbbell, nothing happens. If he refuses at command, we have to pinch his ear against the collar and oh my, he SQUEALS like it's the end of the world. Every time that happens, I swear my heart aches more than his ear. Thankfully, Tiger is a smart boy. He learns fast and is very obedient, so I don't have to feel like a monster every Sunday.

I think he enjoys going to school though. Even before we leave the house, he gets so excited seeing us lug his school bag out of the storeroom. When he is training with me, he has this serious, laboured look on his face. But when I say "OK", he leaps for joy and runs off to find his friends. Tiger's really mischievous cos he will go round the class and make new friends, sniffing their butts and trying to kiss them. Some dogs aren't accustomed to being 'French-kissed' by another dog and they yelp to get Tiger off their backs. Maybe their owners don't kiss them enough. I can't survive one day NOT kissing Tiger or sniffing in his fragrant doggy scent. It makes me happy!

In case you're curious, he sleeps with me on my bed nightly with his head on my arm until his fur gets us both warm and sweaty; that's when he looks for cooler pastures on the ground. I think I'm not alone in this dog-in-the-bed thingy. A recent report says that a third of American dog owners allow their dogs to sleep with them. A lot of people think it's dirty and disgusting, but I think the benefits outweigh the cons. I've woken up in the middle of the night feeling frozen from the aircon and turned over to the hubby for some warmth, only to find him just as cold as me. That's when Tiger comes into the picture! I'd actually get up, search for him on his little pet bed and lug him into bed with me, feeling so snug as his warmth spreads over to me. It's almost like heaven. Incidentally chiengora (dog fur wool) is great for keeping warm. I've got a whole box of Tiger's fur collected so that I can make my very own dog hair scarf!