Metchy's First Valentine

Yup, you read it right. 14/2/2020 is Metchy's first Valentine's Day. Watch the video and you will see another Pom standing on Abby. 9 month old Tala belongs to a very handsome dude called Ayman, who lives 6 floors above Abby's unit. Initially there were 2 Pomeranians at Ayman's but apparently one of them passed away due to heart attack.  Yes, dogs do get heart attack, too. 

Poor Tala has been lonely and heart broken ever since. Enter Metchy, the rascal. She has been a little out of depression since Abby started bringing Metchy to Ayman's place and vice versa. She is such a darling that you can put her on your lap and she will sit there for hours. A very well-trained girl - she goes for a walk without leash or collar. The only set back about Tala is that when she starts missing Ayman she literally tears up - yup, she cries. That's when our hearts break and me being the mom of Abby would insist she calls Ayman to come and get Tala - we mothers are like that, you know. Can't bear tears, especially of our children and pets. Other times, she will happily play at Abby's place. 

As for Metchy, as much as he loves having Tala around to play with and tries to `play' as well, he gets extremely jealous if either Abby or I pick her up and cuddle her. The video shows how he goes aw aw aw - unable to really scold Abby for putting Tala on her stomach. That was the first time we heard him make sounds like that. 

Metchy behaves like a typical male - tries to make his presence felt, and Tala growls if he ever goes near her food 😂. There were times Tala's growls were very strong that Metchy refused to leave his spot from under the sofa! Yes, folks, he hides. Hell has no fury like a ... Tala does not like to be scorned!

But all said and done, both poms miss each other when they don't see each other. Since tomorrow is Valentine's Day, perhaps it's time to give both a memorable celebration. One dog cake coming up!

Understanding Metchy

Since the last blog, I have not written much. Work, life, love, children and Metchy took precedence over everything except breathing and staying alive 😁. 

At work, I have assumed larger role with business development added into current responsibilities; to say it clearly - I asked for it! Yeah, I did because I have a skill that is quite valuable to most organizations and I figured I had better use it for the benefit of my employers.

The life angle had gone into a disarray with me spending more and more time at Cyberjaya, minding Metchy before and after work - it is like raising another child - trust me! Only that this baby cannot be kept confined to your lap for more than 15 seconds 😂

Love ? Raed returned from Gaza on 25th January and that is one great solace now that I have someone to take care of me and turn to whenever I needed support. It feels good to have a man again in my life - a man who is a Jack of All Trades, who can do just about anything. I was in awe till I found out that he was once a Major in the Palestinian Army which explains everything about him. Just about everything. That man is a human wonder who can survive just about anything - the sort that really turns me on 😉.

Both daughters secured jobs - one at a medical devices company while the other one at a burger and taco place. They love their jobs and are making money enough for themselves - what more can a single mother ask for? 

Last but not least - Metchy. It has been an eventful three months with him. He still pees everywhere, especially if he is mad at any of us. All it takes is for us to step out of the house for one brief moment and he gets mad for being left alone! Shoes will be dumped on the bed, pee at places one can never guess like on the floor poster, or on the comforter (you'll know only when you touch the comforter 😞) and sometimes poop on the bed even when he knows where to do his business. Makes Abby pissing mad but he is cuteness unlimited, so he gets away with just about everything!

But there is one thing that we could not figure out till today - what to feed him. His previous owner - Ahamad - apparently had fed him mostly human food, that Metchy didn't quite know that he has to eat dog feed or keebles. We were told that Metchy eats cooked chicken, fried sausages and stuff but till today he only binges on dog treats. That is all he eats - no proper food. Abby and I have tried to no avail to feed him cooked chicken meat, cooked chicken liver, cerelac, goat's milk, farleys rusk - all no go. He loves treats and binges on them throughout the day. Well, we could have done what the Internet advised - starve him till he eats keebles. I am a mother; no way I will starve my kids, so starving Metchy to discipline him is out of question. We can only hope that as he grows older he comes to his senses and behaves like a real dog. 

The first week he was with us, it was a real test. We left his food in his food bowl as we had been advised but he never touched it. Poor boy was hungry but we didn't know, we kept putting food into his food bowl - occasionally he ate one or two morsels of our food and drank some water. He became even thinner and looked haggard. Then, my elder daughter said something very brilliant - he is a puppy, ma, why not give him milk. That was the first time we saw how hungry he was and he lapped up two bowls of milk - his proper food after one week of starving. Slowly, I started thinking and bought some human baby food. Initially, he liked cerelac, farley's rusk and grilled chicken, now he only loves his treats, so the mummy in me went into overdrive to buy dog biscuits and treats online. 

We have a box full of dog treats and two bags of keebles. The treats finished, keebles would probably end up in the trash bin in a couple of months. 

Over the last three months we have learnt a few things about Metchy:

1. When he gets mad he takes the shoes/slipper of the person he is mad at and dumps them on the person's bed

2. If he didn't get to carry the shoe/slipper - he pees on them

3. Sleeps under the bed if there is no one at home but barks every time he hears someone at the corridor

4. Gets very excited seeing us every time we enter the house even though we just stepped out for one moment, such is his love

5. Hates the sound of pounding on the floor or sound of squealing tyres 

6. Does not like to poop in the house on his designated mat, when the urge comes he does his best to hold his poop and that is one sight that kills me each time; thus when we see him do that we quickly take him down to the small park outside the building

7. Sits on the floor and moves on his butt whenever his but itches (this is one hilarious sight!)

8. Does not like to shower but does not try to escape from the bathroom either; does not like to be blow dried either, so we give him a shower, pat dry as much as we can and let him dry himself by rubbing against the bed sheet, sofa cover etc and boy, he does a good job that he will be dried within 2 hours!

9. Loves all his soft toys but dislikes anything that squeaks; the love of his life is Abu the Qatar Camel

10. He loves unconditionally - scold him, he will sulk under the bed but call him and he will come running!

I for one, miss Metchy everytime I have to return to Kepong so much so I will be bothering Abby about his food, what he is doing etc which I think at times irritates her.

We do not know why people and pets enter our lives but one thing is for sure - every entry of a person or pet certainly changes our lives and for that I thank Raed and Metchy for bringing fresh air into my life which is otherwise boring and mundane 💝💝💝

2020 is off to a great start; I wonder how many more changes are coming my way, now that to begin with, we are beginning to understand Metchy...

Metchy's `P' Adventure

This is Metchy, the one year old Pomeranian whom we adopted from a Libyan student who was going abroad for internship. He had this little fellow for a year, from birth, I suppose. So, by the time we got him, most of his habits were already formed. 

Picking him up from his owner was an adventure. I had banked on his familiarity with Abby, to keep him sane in the car. Luckily, I had already repaired the car air-cond by then. So, we drove to Crystal Serine and picked him up. He was stressed, especially seeing his owner walk away. It was a very short drive to Tamarind Suites. Poor boy was quite unsettled but he remained less active, manageable while we drove back, but he was panting hard - stressed due to changed environment. 

Clearly, he was not groomed before the handover, so his fur was also flying all around the car. It was a new experience for all of us, indeed.

Reaching home, at the apartment, Metchy was clearly stressed. He sniffed us, sniffed around the house, he panted heavily and the pee adventure began. The day before, we had gone to the petshop at DPulze to buy his supply like his food bowl, water bowl, small breed adult dog food, pee pad, pee pad lining, his body harness, collar - all in all we spent more than RM600. It is rather funny that we actually thought he would pee on the pee pad, just like how we human use the toilet. Funny and silly of us. 

But Metchy had other ideas. He started peeing on almost everything! Just about everything. Table legs, at the base of the poster on the floor against the wall, sofa legs - you name it. Apparently, that was how dogs claim their territory, and the whole apartment was territorised! Each time he peed, we put paper towel on the pee to absorb it and at regular interval we mopped the floor. So, on the first few days, there were so many paper towels lying around the house 😂. Eventually, Abby started scolding Metchy each time he peed on the floor, that he started running and hiding under the bed each time he did. Sometimes we did not know he peed but as soon as he hides under the sofa, coffee table or the bed, we would go around looking for his pee and there you go - the tell tale puddle on the floor! 

If the bed sheet of the beds are removed, you can see puddles on the mattresses - almost all over them. That much he had peed since he came to us.

Half a day passed, all he did was drink some water, refused the food. His breathing was also normal, by evening he had settled down at our place. He was friendlier, but was still very `male'. Didn't quite come to play with us, held himself away. 

It took us almost a month before he became child like. But reaching that state was not easy for he knew he could get away with murder especially with three lovely females who dotted on him. He is one mischievious brute, as we discovered later!