http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/You don't have to be a pedigree dog to be loved.......en-UKhttp://backend.userland.com/rss092http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/http://data5.blog.de/design/preview/7a/0a6559bac12eab03370135514dac5f_160x200.jpg <p>Just before our trial separation, Patrick encouraged me to do a part time law degree to give myself an option for a change of career path in the future. I had been working in magazine production for nearly five years now, it was my first proper job since leaving college, and I did often wonder what it would be like doing other jobs. I know to other people my job seems pretty good as it is, working for a big, famous top magazine publisher, and I mix with incredibly intelligent people, however I still can’t deny that my job is getting very routine and boring. </p> <p>Anyways, the course started in June, I only took one module in the last term as it was only summer term, which was shorter than ordinary academic term times. This term (Sept – Dec), I’m taking two modules, Contract and Tort. I’ll be having lectures two evenings a week, which is not too bad, I can live with it. But anything more than that, I don’t think you can have a normal, balanced life (assuming that you have to work full time as well, that is). I do feel bad about not seeing my family and my two darlings (Smug and Lily) as much. In the weekend as I feel obliged to make it up to the dogs, I usually hide in my own flat to be with them, so sometimes I don’t show my face to my family at all during weekends. I’m sure mum isn’t very happy about this, I mustn’t make her jealous about the dogs.... <img src="/img/smilies/graybigrazz.gif" alt=":P" class="middle" border="0"> </p> <p>Last weekend, I was having a low moment, about the studying pressure, about relationship problems, about the loneliness. I found myself crying on the sofa, burying my head between my legs. Lily was just too old to pay notice to anything and carried on sleeping, however, Smug noticed and stared at me with much concerns from her usual patch (outside the bedroom), eventually she jumped on the sofa and rested her head on my lap. I’m not gonna be a anthropomorphist and say she understood how I felt or how she looked at me with big sad eyes filled with sympathy, or any soppy things like that, in fact I don’t think she had the slightest clue how I felt, I think she just found my weeping noise strange or disturbing and hence jumped up to investigate. But whatever drove her to be physically near her crying master at that moment, it offered me great comfort, holding her warm smooth fur is nearly as good as holding a girl friend, or a nice hunky bloke. And that warm feeling can ease your pain and drive away your urge to keep on crying. </p> <p>Thank you Smug, although you’re such a gormless, cheeky dog, you just somehow enrich my life so much, you really are one great companion. It's great to have you to dry my tears when I'm sad, but I don't ever want to see you weep, I want you to be the happiest dog till the day you leave me behind, and you can tell all your dog friends in heaven what a great life you had.</p> <p>Forgive me if I can’t spend as much time walking you and being with you when I’m in college, ok?</p> <p>Love you lots xxxxx </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2009/09/03/a-blue-weekend-6881414/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2009/09/03/a-blue-weekend-6881414/Thu, 03 Sep 2009 09:40:21 +0200 <p>After months of deserting my beloved blog due to some unexpected turbulence in personal life, I'm finally finding the courage to get back into normal life and continue this special blog on my two cuties, Smug and Lily. </p> <p>Well things did not work out for me and Patrick, my boyfriend of 10 years, we were just inches away from marriage, but still fate had other ideas and unfortunately we could not reach the finishing line together like I'd always thought we would. At the beginning, I was heartbroken, I felt that my world world had come crushing down, I'd always thought we were fine, all my girlie friends envied me for having a doctor boyfriend, but reality was, we weren't the one for each other, we'd just got used to being together and couldn't be bothered to look elsewhere, but gradually we'd grown increasing irritable and frustrated with each other.</p> <p>Anyway, I'm ready to move on, I mustn't keep standing still and feeling sorry for myself, besides, I have to be strong for my two angels, like kids, I'm convinced that they're able to pick up emotions and tensions of humans. These two helped me a great deal in terms of overcoming my sorrows. When I felt unable to show my true feelings in front of families and friends, it was my canine friends that I held tightly when I wanted to let it all out and have a good hysterical sob. Sometimes people go on about how their dogs understand them when they're sad and try to comfort their master by licking them or whatever. But in my case, my two dogs don't seem to understand much, as sick as a plank, they just stare at me. But that's ok, having them around is more than soothing. It was these two that motivated me to get out of bed everyday as doesn't matter how miserably I wanted to live my life, these two still had to eat, had to go for their daily walks, and it was only when I was out walking them that I felt human again, in touch with fresh air and human-beings, sometimes I even felt positive. I reckon pets are 100% good for healing breakups.</p> <p>When I first started this blog, it was meant to be an intimate little diary for recording memories of me and Smug together, my first proper pet that I encountered at a bus stop 5 years ago. (<a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/17/four-years-ago-4458676/">See 4 years ago....</a>) My intention was to record every memorable detail of her and every story that we create together, so when one day she leaves me behind to go to the rainbow bridge, I can still have these proofs that we were once the perfect master/petship. Something that I can just browse through and relive whenever i want to. This special mission should never have been disturbed, I know I abandoned it for a few months, but I shall never allow myself to do that again, I must keep it going no matter what. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2009/08/13/i-m-back-6713775/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2009/08/13/i-m-back-6713775/Thu, 13 Aug 2009 05:32:54 +0200 <p> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/615/3023615_5112f1607f_l.jpeg" alt="" title=""></p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/616/3023616_bbb5d7bdec_l.jpeg" alt="" title=""></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/outing-at-the-pier-5124517/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/28/outing-at-the-pier-5124517/Fri, 28 Nov 2008 09:31:36 +0100 <p>Well, wasn't I saying in the previous blog entry which was only updated yesterday, how pleased I was to see that Smug and Lily are now getting on better and more tolerant with each other? I think I was happy too soon, last night the two of them nearly had a good bitch fight, and what surprised me was that it was the usually cowardy Smug who started it. </p> <p>And it was my fault. I was eating an orange while watching TV the other night and found two pairs of longing eyes staring at me and tails wagging like mad, usually I don't give them much junk food and look after my dogs well, but the idea of giving them a piece of vitamin C seemed like a good thing to do, so I peeled them a segment each. Lily gave the piece of orange a good sucking and played with it for a while to work out how to eat this slippery smellie thing, whereas Smug (who has had oranges before) simply turned her nose up and made it clear that she wasn't eating it this time, and just laid disappointedly next to the deserted piece of orange, so I gave it to Lily, who by then had eaten up her piece of orange, and as soon as Smug realised what had been hers was now going in Lily's gob (even though she didn't want it), she went all funny about it, she got up, looked at Lily, then looked at me, she restlessly paced around and jumped up the settie trying to bite me in my hand (seemed playfully, but still hurt), then jumped back down, only to repeat the jumping up and biting before jumping back down again, she did that for about 3 times, then she headed towards Lily, growling in a crouching position (bum up), as if she was picking a fight with Lily. </p> <p>I was gobsmacked, because, right until that moment, Smug had clearly been wary and a bit frightened of Lily and always kept her distance. That miserable, scaredy face when she was corned by Lily when Lily first came to live with us a month ago, seemed so unfamiliar and distant now. Here she was, trying to declare war and reclaimed her place, the love of her owner (me) and, probably the lost piece of orange. She charged forward, and Lily wasn't having any of it, she stood up and woofed back, with eyes like a a pair of daggers. Shit scared, I knew I had to do something when Smug paced frantically around Lily, trying to work out the best angle to strike, I shouted at Smug, but that only made her even more mad, so, before she got even more worked up, I changed the strategy and clench my fist, pretending to have something in my hand, "O, look, what's this Smug, come with me to the bedroom, I've got something for you....." as I made my way to the bedroom, which was behind where Smug was standing. And the pathetic thing stared at me, her eyes were fixed to my hand as if she was trying to see through it, and rushed into the bedroom right behind me, so I grabbed her and quickly closed the door behind me, and smoothed her to calm her .......</p> <p>I've since decided to keep dog snacks in every room in the flat. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/21/first-fight-5074144/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/21/first-fight-5074144/Fri, 21 Nov 2008 11:11:09 +0100 <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/416/3001416_b8375bcbe7_l.jpeg" alt="" title=""></p> <p>I'm so glad that Smug and Lily seem to be getting on much better now, when Lily first came to live with us, Lily was terribly territorial, though she's a very sweet dog in general, her time at the rescue centre means that she's had to learn to stand up to other dogs and guard her own spot and nosh. Therefore Smug (who had came to live with me since she was 9 months old, and had only hung out with those fortunate and more tamed pet dogs) was shit scared of Lily and was miserable to start with with Lily around all the time. Cameras don't lie (says me), now at least they can bear to be quite close to each other without any tensions.</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/415/3001415_c5f7276159_l.jpeg" alt="" title=""><br> The two of them relaxing at home</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/417/3001417_5b55586ed1_l.jpeg" alt="" title=""></p> <p>A very happy Lily sitting nicely in the car, we took the dogs to the reservoir last Saturday, they both had a great time. Lily clearly wasn't so used to all this exercise and traveling though, she had car sick and threw up in the car and was quite poorly for the whole evening.</p> <p>Lily's skin condition has improved a lot, at least she's not so greasy anymore, she still smells a bit though, so I have to bathe her quite often (at least once a week, sometimes twice). She's getting cheekier by day and copies some of Smug's tricks, like rummaging the dustbin, sucking all the yummy caesar off the dog biscuits and then spit the biscuits out. like when Smug first got rescued, she loooooved her biscuits, but now they're not good enough for her anymore. Also she's showing more affection and not so jumpy like when she first came a month ago. I'm so pleased with her progress.</p> <p>Since having Lily, we have experienced a fair bit of prejudice from other people, (mainly the neighbours) they sniff, they tut, they frown, anything to make it clear that Lily is not a welcomed resident when they see Lily, some wouldn't even go in the same elevator as us when Lily's there. Even other dog owners aren't much more tolerant to Lily, they will happily let their dogs play with Smug (as no way she looks like a mutt now even though she is a retriever x spaniel) or poodles or Schnauzers, but they pull their dogs away if Lily goes anywhere near them like Lily's gonna eat them alive and then spit out green gunk. C'mon, why can't HK people accept Lily the mutt like the Americans have with Obama? Surely that's a much bigger step?</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/20/life-with-my-two-monsters-5067549/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/11/20/life-with-my-two-monsters-5067549/Thu, 20 Nov 2008 10:30:12 +0100 <p>Since I adopted my new dog Lily from an animal sanctuary (<a href="http://www.hkcaf.org/">CAF - Companion Animal Federation</a>) a couple of weeks ago, no, actually, even before that, when I only had Smug (another abandoned dog that I rescued by chance), people often tell me how kind they think I am to give a home to ugly old mutts (in other people's eyes), and boy some really exaggerate, it's nice to hear people saying nice things about you and give credit to something that you've done. Every time people start giving these compliments, I can feel my body getting light, and my feet nearly off the ground, floating in the air like a real angel, the truth is, I know I am not as nice as they think, and I do tell them..... I think my compassions are strictly limited to animals, which I think, in this human dominated world, they don't really have a choice how they live, it's all up to human beings, that's why when I see animals in a bad way, I know the blame is on us, we are the ones responsible for putting them in such bad situations, so it's only fair that I want to do something to help. </p> <p>A good example that I'm more of a devil than an angel, before I decided to join CAF (Companion Animal Federation) as a volunteer and to make regular donations to them, my mum said to me, "Why don't you go find an old people's home or children's home to help? I think it would be much more meaningful, animals are just animals, you know..." I retorted that I didn't think it's my fault that people don't plan for their future and don't have savings for when they're old, (in HK, old people's homes are mainly for the poor elderly with no or little savings), I disagree that people should spend all they have when they're young, then put their feet up and expect the government to take care of them, and then have youngsters volunteering to change their nappies, in HK, income tax is peanuts, we contribute hardly anything back, people have no rights to count on the government for everything. Over here, you either have to save up for your retirement, or you have kids, hoping that they will take care of you when you're old. So, that's old people's home ruled out. As for children's homes, I agree that orphans or abandoned kids are very unfortunate and do need as much help and resources as possible, unlike some of the elderly who created the bad fate for themselves, nobody asks to be born, especially only to be an orphan, they have no control of their misfortune. However, compared to animals in suffering, there are plenty of people around the world who feel the same and are willing to help an unprivileged group such as orphans or children in homes, they get far more sympathy and awareness than these poor animals, because people just generally think that animals are inferior to human anyway, what's so big deal that they suffer?</p> <p>Of course, after my explanation, my mum called me stupid and evil.</p> <p>Hence, I'm willing to be one of the minority who think differently. Right from the beginning I was clear that if I was to help a charity out, I will only go to an animal charity. I think that all lives should be equal, besides, even a human orphan who lives in a home can work hard and path a bright future for himself given the resources (talking about developed countries of course, not orphans in Romania, or Bulgaria etc unfortunately), nothing's stopping these children from turning their misfortune around, they can still be anything they want to be, but for abandoned or stray animals, even surviving is hard, what resources are there for these creatures? What future do they have? The government here is more keen to kill them all to be rid of the problem than to help. There has to be people who fight for the poor animals rights and to show them love.</p> <p>I was called evil again this time by (An odd bloke that I know) (He He) Patrick one Saturday a few weeks ago, Patrick was giving me a lift to CAF (I usually help out at weekends), on the way we witnessed a traffic accident, a little child about 8 or 9 years old was hit by a van just before a traffic light, and was sprawled out on the road, just as Patrick was about to jump out of the car to help him (Patrick is a doctor himself), I stopped him, I pointed to an ambulance parked in the lay-by of the opposite lane, I said to him, "don't worry, he'll be in good hands any minute now, please just take me to CAF." He looked at me in disbelief, that at this moment, I still put my animals before human. When we were both over the shock, he jokingly called me evil. I did feel guilty for a while, but I felt ok when I read in the papers the next day that the boy didn't die.</p> <p>So, I decided that I don't deserve all those compliments about me being an angelic, kind-hearted person, and you should see why. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/10/30/me-angel-4953910/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/10/30/me-angel-4953910/Thu, 30 Oct 2008 05:17:16 +0100 <p>Last weekend, I adopted another abandoned animal, but this time from a animal shelter (<a href="http://www.hkcaf.org/">CAF</a>), not through friends. Her name is Lily, a 10 year old mutt.</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/135/2922135_d0866aab9b_m.jpeg" alt="Image034" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>I have been helping as a volunteer at CAF for around 3 years. CAF stands for Companion Animal Federation. It's a small local animal charity not as well known as the SPCA. I support this particular one because unlike SPCA who will kill puppies and kittens and not very keen on having mix breed ones in the kennel, CAF will take in puppies and kittens, and they don't just keep the pedigree ones, in fact, half of the abandoned dogs there are mongrels, and I absolutely share this believe that all lives are equal, be it human, animals, adults or babies. </p> <p>About once a week, I go to the kennel to bath and walk the dogs, just to give them that little bit of TLC. I've seen many sad stories as well as happy ones where the animals are rehomed, of course some not-so-lucky ones just die in the kennel. </p> <p>Lily came to reside in CAF about 2 years ago, her owner had to move abroad and couldn't (wouldn't) take Lily along with her, that was the beginning of Lily's nightmare. She was already quite an old dog, and overweight too. Within a short period of arriving CAF, she got very depressed and wouldn't leave her cage or do any exercises. Also, she developed a skin problem which caused her skin to produce some sort of grease all over. On the contrary to the other dogs at the kennel who loose weight after being abandoned, Lily just kept ballooning until she couldn't walk. The staff there put her on a strict diet and I would walk her as often as I could. She was very stubborn, once out of the cage, she used to sit on the side of the road, determined not to move, like saying "see what you're gonna do about it". But I just couldn't give in to this big fat sausage, I would pull her, drag her, till she realised I was just as determined as her.</p> <p>To begin with, I would drag her about 2 streets up the road and then go back, and even so every few steps she would have to have a sit down and catch her breath. Then every day we went a little further, a little further, after a few weeks, we started going out for at least half an hour for each walk. Amazingly, after several months, she seemed to start enjoy her walkies and every time I opened her cage, she would rush to the front gate, eager to go for a walk!</p> <p>Needless to say, under this regime, she became a nice trimmed dog, and now she doesn't mind how long she goes for her walks and doesn't need to rest at all, she can't get enough of the outside world!</p> <p> Lily has a very sweet character and she is very clever and takes commands very well. She is one of the dogs who like to keep the cage clean and would only do her business when she's released from her cage twice daily. I've always taken a very special liking to her from the start, and I promised myself that as soon as I got my own place, I would take Lily home with me. 2 years on, I have kept my promise, now that I have my own place.</p> <p>It's a bit more difficult looking after two dogs, (Lily & Smug) but I look forward to life with these two monsters very much, I know they will enrich my life rather than being a burden. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/10/22/my-growing-flock-4911451/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/10/22/my-growing-flock-4911451/Wed, 22 Oct 2008 09:49:31 +0200 <p>The past week or so has been a real torture and a real drag, I was offered a job with a ballet company. (not as a dancer but to work in the PR/development department) In terms of financial gain, there was a bit of an increase, but to work in a ballet company seemed like a golden opportunity to a ballet lover like me, I just love this incredible form of art and would feel real proud to work towards promoting it and making the ballet group more successful. BEsides, compared to my current job in magazine production, this new job in PR seems fun and challenging. Surely it's a blessing for anyone to be able to actually relate themselves to their jobs and to do something that they enjoy and something that they have passions for?</p> <p>So what stopped me from going for this dream job of mine? ------- The hours. I was told that this job involves some irregular working hours and overtime, especially whenever they have shows or special events going. I must admit I'm a lazy person and l love to be able to shoot off at 6pm everyday, and because I've had this stable, relaxed, routine working style for a few years now, every evening I get home at about 7pm, greeting by my pining dog, who seems to live for the moment I come home from work, to pounce on me and to give me a big cwtch. (my dog never licks me, she never licks anything unless it stinks!) The thought of depriving her of the luxury of knowing exactly when she'll be able to jump on me to greet me is just too cruel. I can picture her lying next to the front door in the dark when I'm working late in the new job, wonder why her beloved master doesn't come home the same time she used to....... </p> <p>I just can't let that happen, this is the main reason that I turned down my dream job, and I know I'll never regret it, I know Smug will prefer me spending more quality time with her to a cupboard full of posh dog treats and toys (which the new job might enable me to get her) but seeing less of me. </p> <p>Or will she?</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/09/09/job-4701958/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/09/09/job-4701958/Tue, 09 Sep 2008 08:04:06 +0200 <p>I talked about an American presenter pronouncing the capital city of China - Beijing, incorrectly in my last blog entry (see <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/26/how-to-pronouncebeijing-is-it-a-french-word-4637648">How to pronounce "Beijing - is it a French word?</a> ), I thought I should also talk about the way us Chinese speaking English, just to even out a bit.</p> <p>As everybody knows, Chinese people very often have terrible problems pronouncing the "R" in any English words, sometimes we just completely leave the "r" bit out and pronounce the word as if there isn't an "R" in it. Just imagine a girl trying to tell her beloved boyfriend how important he is to her, but if she makes this mistake, it could end up like this:</p> <p>"Darling, you know, to me, you're really really impotant....... " (Impotent)<br> <img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><img src="/img/smilies/graybigeek.gif" alt="88|" class="middle" border="0"><br> OUCH!</p> <p>Also, we easily mix up the "L" and "R". I personally have problems with saying REGULARLY, JEWELRY, RIVALRY ........... etc. I have no problem with "LOVELY" and "RUBBERY" though and don't get the two mixed up, haha. </p> <p>I also find that most Chinese people can't roll their tongues like westerners do, not surprisingly I had a real hard time when I took Spanish for a year in college , the Spanish say the "R"s in a really exaggerative way and vibrate their tongue like mad when they pronounce it". I was so jealous of the English students being able to do it so putsy, I wanted to grab hold of their tongues and straighten them....</p> <p>Another embarrassing Chinglish moment was, when I was waitressing (part-time) in a restaurant one night, an English guy kept looking at me and shouted "T, T, T", not sure what was wrong with him, I ignored him at first, but then when I went back to his table after serving the others, he was still saying bloody T,T,T to me. Looking down at the tea point that I was holding in my hand, I realised he was making fun of the way I said "Would anyone like some tea...." But instead of saying "tea", indeed I was saying "T", in a short cute way. I felt like pouring the remaining tea in the pot on his head. But at least from then on, I make sure I say it right and delibrately drag the "ea" bit as long as I can so that that sort of embarrassment doesn't happen again. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_wave.gif" alt=":wave:" class="middle" border="0"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/29/chinglish-4652282/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/29/chinglish-4652282/Fri, 29 Aug 2008 07:43:47 +0200 <p>Like every one else, ever since the Olympic Games started on August 8, my eyes were constantly glued to the TV to watch some of my favourite sports. I found that the narrators/presenters of the local Chinese channels (TVB Jade and ATV) just talked too much drivel, and they surely didn't know what they were talking about and were simply making noises. So I tried the English channel (TVB Pearl) and got the impression that the "gwai lo" (foreign) presenters were much more professional and knew about their sports, so I stuck with the English channel. However, every time one of the presenter guys who speaks with an American accent mentioned "Bejing", I frowned, because he keeps saying "Bei-SHING", instead of Bei-JING! Now, it wasn't the first time I'd heard people pronouncing it that way, and I don't normally think much about it, but coming from a professional TV presenter is just a bit ridiculous and inexcusable because it's misleading, people who have been saying it right might now think that this idiot's version is correct. </p> <p>The word "Beijing" is the English name for the Capital of China, it is actually the phonetic transcription from the Chinese pronunciation, because in Chinese, it is also pronounced exactly "Bei-Jing". (Two separate characters in writing which means "the capital situated in the north") The way this guy said it like a bloody French word or something, and there is no need to be smart about it when it's so obvious how it should be pronounced, why be creative with a city name when there is already an universal way of pronouncing it!?? </p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/740/2760740_d1ac31aa20_m.jpeg" alt="Beijing" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>I know with some country / city names, they can be difficult to pronounce, like some of the Welsh words, or some other Chinese places such as "Shanghai". Because in English, it's just one word, some people say "ShanGAI" instead of "Shang - Hai". I can tell you that it should be latter, because in Chinese, it is again two different words, and pronounced as "Shang - Hai". but to me, this is a mistake that is easily made, as in general, you just don't normally pronounce the "H" that comes after letter "G" in a vocabulary. That's totally understandable if you're not a Chinese speaker, and I'm happy with both ways of saying it.</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/741/2760741_0204eec495_m.jpeg" alt="Shanghai" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p>It's just that if I was a presenter, hosting an important show/programme like the Olympic games, I would at least look up the dictionary and make sure that I know my country names, the sports terms and try my best with the names of the participants.</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/26/how-to-pronouncebeijing-is-it-a-french-word-4637648/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/26/how-to-pronouncebeijing-is-it-a-french-word-4637648/Tue, 26 Aug 2008 05:01:16 +0200 <p>Like I mentioned in my first few blog entries, I used to prefer pure pedigree dogs and having a cross-breed dog like Smug (she's a cross Retriever and Spaniel) was just pure fate, basically an "accident"! But as time went, I got to know more about my dog, and because I was now a pet owner, I noticed things about dogs more, and became friends with many other dog owners and their dogs, my previous perception about "Pedigree dogs being the best and cross-breed ones are rubbish" is now completely and forever changed. I realised that cross-breed dogs are clever, they're fit (it is believed that they only inherit the best things from their parents, hence if a dog has crossed 4 different breeds, it has the best parts from 4 different breeds of dogs, so they eliminate the bad qualities of each breed). Also I find them extremely loyal and calm, definitely more stable than many rat size little dogs.</p> <p>I would not swop Smug for any expensive pedigree dog now (so does that mean I now discriminate pedigree dogs <img src="/img/smilies/icon_rolleyes.gif" alt=":roll:" class="middle" border="0">). I'm ashamed to say that, before, whenever I was asked what kind of dog my Smug was during our walkies, I used to say that she was a Golden Retriever, sometimes Cocker Spaniel. It depends, if the person who asked me had a retriever themselves, I would usually say she's a spaniel as I think they would kind of know what a retriever dog looks like and notice the difference between Smug and theirs. And if the person had a small dog or a spaniel, I would swing back to Retriever, as to them, a retriever should be big, and my dog is usually much bigger than their "rats on string", so it should be convincing.</p> <p>About a year of having her, I started to tell people the truth, that she's a mutt, feeling a little inferior as I replied. And the reactions and responses from people just really really annoyed me. Typically they would looked quite surprised (because I must proudly admit that Smug does look very pretty and fit, quite a bit tidy looking than cross-breed dogs in general), then they would have this awkward smile and nine out of ten would coo, "Oh, she looks very nice for a mutt!" Or, "Oh, she doesn't look anything like a mutt, she's not ugly at all!", before they reluctantly put their snobby paws on my dog and start patting her, expecting me to feel happy and grateful about their "compliments" about my dog. Some even stopped their dogs from playing with Smug after they found out Smug wasn't a pedigree dog like theirs.</p> <p>I try not to bite back or be horrible to these people, at the end of the days, what can I say, I used to have the same misconceptions about cross-breeds. I can only try to "sell" my ideas about them and how they are also sweet little darlings if given the chance, but of course, people aren't usually that interested or convinced about what i say.</p> <p>Nowadays, when I'm asked what type of dog Smug is, I proudly announce that she's in fact, a "very pure, pedigree Mutt!"</p> <p>Because I think mixed-breed dogs are a very special kind of dogs in their own rights and have many attributes that other breeds of dogs don't have. And it breaks my heart that many people would not dream of giving this particular kind of creatures a chance, it's usually the cross-breed dogs that get abandoned and become strays. That's why people generally see cross-breeds as scruffy, because they often have to live on the street, getting kicked by kids and becoming walking meals to fleas and ticks! I'm sure given a chance, any mutt can look good and smart, just like my Smug.</p> <p><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/469/2743469_00a0b1cffd_m.jpeg" alt="Image015" vspace="5" hspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/470/2743470_29d29fd6ef_m.jpeg" alt="Image022" vspace="5" hspace="5"><img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/471/2743471_cbb69d68fa_m.jpeg" alt="Image026" vspace="5" hspace="5"></p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/19/a-pedigree-mutt-4607327/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/19/a-pedigree-mutt-4607327/Tue, 19 Aug 2008 07:39:58 +0200 <p>On a typical lazy afternoon yesterday, Smug curled up in a ball on the Settee, resting her head on my tummy. I looked at her for ages until she fell asleep, and it just hit me that the areas around her brows and her lashes are greying, although she acts like a little puppy, she is after all, a five year old dog now, from what people say about large dogs only live up to 12, 13 years, Smug is supposed to be nearly way half through her time ...... </p> <p>This sweet little thing sleeping soundly on my belly has given me over four years of her life, greeting me when I go home from work, doing daft things to cheer me up when I'm sad, being my only motivation for exercising (dog-walking), sharing my calories at meal times so that I can stay slim. She gives me absolutely her everything and never holds back, accompanies me during those lonely years after returning to Hong Kong from Britain, whenever I need her, she's there waiting to pounce on me eagerly. Sometimes mum laughs at the way she watches my every move so closely and intensely round the house, it's like she doesn't want to miss anything in my life, it's like she knows she has limited time..... She managed to turn our perceptions/prejudice towards mixed-breed dogs around, she manages to make us laugh every day. Every time I look at her, I'm so glad that I gave her and myself a chance four years ago, to love and to be loved..... </p> <p>She looked so cute sleeping, and I happened to have my mobile phone on the Settee with me, so I took these pix:</p> <p><strong>Fast asleep like a baby </strong><br> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/673/2707673_a7e3ac0d5d_m.jpeg" alt="Image005" hspace="5" vspace="5"></p> <p><strong>Waking up when I couldn't hold back smoothing her</strong><br> <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/674/2707674_2b1a743d9c_m.jpeg" alt="Image021" hspace="5" vspace="5"> </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/04/such-a-cute-baby-4539504/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/04/such-a-cute-baby-4539504/Mon, 04 Aug 2008 06:54:38 +0200 <p>Having lived in the UK for years, it's very clear to me there is a big gap in terms of the standard of manners between UK and HK, and it is in public transports you're guaranteed to see some pretty bad manners, including rushing to board the train without letting other passengers alight first; people not giving up seats to old dears or pregnant women; nose picking; insisting on standing by the doors just so that it's easier for them to get off, but blocking other people's way; and most typically, fighting for seats. And I saw a very funny example of two guys fighting over a seat this morning.</p> <p>On my way to work, I caught the tube (or commonly known as the <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EQKOf8CShwM">MTR</a> in HK) at Kowloon Tong station, there was a "Gwai Lo" (*A slang term for male westerners in Chinese) next to me and smiled at me and I smiled back. when the tube came, we both boarded the same carriage. I went to the row of seats on the left and he went to the right. I got myself a seat first and I looked around to see where he was, I saw him approaching the only spare seat on the whole row on his side, which was literally right in front of him, all he had to do was to sit his butt down. Then, all of a sudden, a Chinese guy in his twenties wearing a red top emerged from nowhere (I guess he was in another carriage and spotted the seat), he ran over and sneaked into the seat this Gwai Lo guy was about to take. By doing this, he actually pushed this gwai lo guy out of the way as he was squeezing into that seat. I was gobsmacked, so was this gwai lo, but I could tell he was more pissed off than anything.</p> <p>I'm sure he wasn't really pissed off over merely loosing a seat but actually because of the rudeness of this guy. The gwai lo froze for a second, then his face turned red and he looked extremely annoyed, what he did, he didn't shout at this guy (which I would) or hit him, and he could easily win as he was a tall guy in his thirties (I guess) and quite well built, at least not wimpy looking like this young Chinese guy who just stolen his seat. He crossed his arms and firmly stood right before the wimpy guy, so close, his feet were actually touching the wimp's, from there he glared down at him fiercely, as if saying to him, "How dare you! Bxxtard!" And he stood in that position and distance with the same dagger look and glaring for the whole 15 minutes journey, right to the last stop but one. Because he was standing right in front of this wimp, any movement the wimp made would have touched the gwai lo, which I'm sure, would have sparked off a good argument or, most likely, a fight. I could tell the gwai lo was trying very hard not to punch this guy one. The wimp was so frightened, he knew damn right that he wasn't in any position to stand up to the big guy and just froze, looked away awkwardly and maintained the same posture the whole journey, avoiding eye contact with this towering figure in front of him. </p> <p>The gwai lo guy saw me watching and smiling, I gave him a nod as some sort of approval / encouragement of his way of dealing with a rude dickhead like this one. This wimp so deserved it. When the guy who sat next to the wimp got up to get off the train, the wimp seized the opportunity and swiftly slid his arse across to the next seat and then got up at his quickest speed and flew out of the door. </p> <p>I saw a smile of victory on the gwai lo's face at the same funny scene of how this wimp made his escape. He then sat down on the next seat. When we got off at the same station, I smiled and said "Well done! He deserved that, that should teach him a lesson." He just smiled and shook his head and said,"Unbelievable! This guy ...." I said," So, did he wet himself? Is that why you didn't take his seat after all?" He chuckled, and then we said goodbye and went our separate ways. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/01/mtr-in-hong-kong-4527456/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/08/01/mtr-in-hong-kong-4527456/Fri, 01 Aug 2008 04:39:25 +0200 <p>What better to do on a really hot melting summer day than splashing in cool water? I thought last Saturday (25th). Looking at Smug panting and dribbling in the house with temperature at 33 degrees Celsius, I decided to take her swimming, although she didn't seem to enjoy it too much the last time me and Patrick took her a few months back, for her first ever swimming lesson. I discovered this Dog recreation club through other dog friends, where your dog can swim and play in big fields with lots of games and hurdles. </p> <p>Last time me and Patrick took Smug there, she was picked up and chucked into the water to force her to swim as she just would not go anywhere near the pool herself, and because we had to pay to get in, we thought that we could only have our money's worth if our dog is in the water the whole time. After a few times as a water bomb, she was running from us every time we went near her as she knew what was to come. We found it embarrassing as well as amusing looking at other dogs flying into the water like a rocket after their toys. There it was, our Smug standing by the gate, looking terrified and wanting to go home. We only stayed about half an hour.</p> <p>This time, we decided to give it another go, and if she didn't like it, we would not go again.</p> <p>There were lots other dogs in the swimming pool as it was such a hot day, the car thermometer showed it was above 36 degrees outside. Humans are not allowed into the water, I suppose the owner of the place dosn't want to be responsible if people pick up horrible germs from that water and become seriously ill. </p> <p>We carried Smug and threw her into the water a few times, then Patrick came up with a different idea, he had brought Smug's favourite toy with her, an orange Tweedy rubber ball, and threw it into the shallow part of the pool, she went in the water for it reluctantly as she hated loosing her ball to other dogs nearly as much as she hated water, but as soon as she got her tweedy ball, she legged it onshore. Patrick did that over and over again, he threw it a little bit further to the deeper end each time, until Smug suddenly finds that her legs were not touching the bottom of the pool anymore, for a second, she looked panicky, but that didn't stop her going for the ball again the next time and found that she was actually swimming with her feet way above the bottom of the pool and seemed to be enjoying it.</p> <p>Lots of people cheered for her as many of them saw the whole process and laughed all the way through. </p> <p>Bravo! That's my good girl! </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/29/swimming-4513876/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/29/swimming-4513876/Tue, 29 Jul 2008 05:30:35 +0200 <p>Soon after our trip to the vet, Smug's scabies went at an incredible rate, the medicated shampoo that Smug was prescribed with was fantastic, everyday we would see improvements in her skin. My mum and my brothers were also cured in a matter of days after a regime of smothering themselves in the prescribed cream. I joked to them that it was Smug's revenge to them for not making an effort to welcome her arrival and ignoring her all the time. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_mrgreen.gif" alt=":>>" class="middle" border="0"> As for the bald patches on Smug where my friend half shaved her, I couldn't stand it any longer and bought a hair clipper to do the job properly, gone the fur but there was now no place for the hundreds of the angry bites and scars, she turned into a dalmatian looking dog with dots and blobs all over her, but it was not a pretty sight at all. On many occasions, I would be stopped during our walkies, get told off/ tutted at / frowned on / lectured by passers-by about the condition of my dog and what an useless dog owner I was. </p> <p>"Bloody hell! If you haven't got a clue how to look after a dog, don't have one! Look at the state of this poor dog, do you not feed / wash her ........" is one of the typical accusations I used to face. <img src="/img/smilies/grayno.gif" alt=":no:" class="middle" border="0"> I explained once or twice initially, but a few times that I just ignored them. I focused on improving Smug's health and appearance.</p> <p>Within a month Smug's skin was cleared, when I said cleared, I meant she didn't get any new bites or rashes, but it seemed that the scars were to stay, she wasn't scratching frantically anymore. However, the fattening up process wasn't going so smooth. I was so desperate for her to put on weight, for months and months she stayed as a skinny dog as ever! I fed her the most fattening food including boiled cow's livers, eggs, cheese, and chips and crisps for snacks, I also gave her tablets for worms. Every time I took her to the vet to be weighed, he would shook his head, telling me her weight was still nowhere near standards. But it took a completely different turn after I took her to the vet for a desex operation in December, 2004, 5 months after she came to live with us. She just kept balloning, about a month after of her surgery, everyone was commenting on how nice and healthy she looked, even by people who had never met her before. Then, another month later, she finally hit the target weight, and then, about another month passed, I found people telling me that my dog was fat! At first I took it as a compliment as something that I'd achieved with so much efforts, time, money and love, but then I had to admit in the end, it was most probably the desex surgery that caused the rapid weight gain, which I had been warned about before she had it done. Still, it was the answer to my prayer, so I didn't care a bit. But then, another few months, even the vet said that she was now over-weight, and the cow's livers and the cheese had to stop, I felt that I really couldn't win.</p> <p>That's enough about how I ended up having Smug 4 years ago, and I'm very grateful that it happened. She has changed me in many ways, mostly good, and I would like to think that I saved her life, because, looking back the state she was in, she was clearly badly neglected and treated with great cruelty. I'd like to think that I'm the good thing that comes out of her bad young life. </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/24/four-years-ago-v-4491527/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/24/four-years-ago-v-4491527/Thu, 24 Jul 2008 09:03:54 +0200 <p>That was how I ended up with Smug. I must admit, before really getting to know her, I was just on a mission to fatten her up and getting her in a better shape, partly because I wanted a nicer looking dog, but most importantly I felt sorry for her. </p> <p>In order for her to stay with us for good, I knew it was very important for mum to accept her, I didn't even dream that mum would be taken to her straight away because of her not-so-cute appearance. So I tried every tactic with mum, I crept round her, I argued when she said she didn't like the dog and wanted her gone to begin with, I even tried some corporate management tactic with her, which I studied in college, when a company is going through major changes, staff are likely to resist to the change, and one of the best way to deal with that is "involvement", which basically means involve the people who are affected by the change such as getting them to see the need for the change for themselves, the planning and the actual implementation, it is thought that the more input these people are able to have, the less the resistance. </p> <p>So, I decided to give it a try with mum, I would sometimes pretend I was busy and ask mum to put out the dog's dinner for me, which some time she would and other times she refused, just to let me know that she was still not happy about having this dog in the house. And most sneakily, I asked her to give the dog a proper name when I realised that I had forgotten to ask my friend the dog's name, but I also thought that if she's going to have a new start, she could do with a new name too. Unknown of what my intentions were, she fell for it. <img src="/img/smilies/icon_cool.gif" alt="B)" class="middle" border="0"> Although she would moan as she was doing the dog's dinner, at least she got to see for herself the funny eager, longing look on the dog's face as mum was putting down the bowl, whereas before, mum wouldn't even look at her. (Except when "accidents" happened and the dog did her business in the house, she would really really glare at the dog) Also she reluctantly named the dog "zu-mug", which means Piggy" in Chinese, not because my mum hoped that the dog would soon put on weight and live up to her name, but it was simply because mum thought that this dog was thick, especially when she wasn't toilet trainned even though she was an adult dog, and when we tried to train her, she just didn't get it. I thought it was a horrible cheesy name, but seeing the smirk on mum's face, all pleased with herself that she'd found the perfect name for this dumb dog, I just knew i had to go along with it.</p> <p>And like many people in Hong Kong have both Chinese names and English names (like me, I was born Sen-Hei, but my English name is Julie), I decided that Zu-Mug's English name would be "Smug", because of the approximation in the pronounciation. </p> <p>Mum tried very best to accept her, although every night when she came home from work, welcomed by this strange new odour of dog wee, she would frown and moan, but always gave in to me after my begging. But it reached crunch time when mum and both of my brothers started having little bites and itches all over their body a few days after I brought Smug home, there was only one suspect who could cause it. I was the only one who didn't have it although I was the only one who really bothered with her while others kept their distance.</p> <p>These bites and rashes worsened and persisted for a few days, which drove the three of them mad and were extremely resentful towards Smug for bring in her own "pet" fleas into our home. They all had to go to the doctors for some cream and medication to help easing the itchiness. Mum gave me a final warning that it was either the dog or me that had to go (or both). In response to that, I doubled my usual share of house-chores in the following few days, I carried on with my pathetic voice every time I called "Mum ~", most importantly, I took Smug to the Vet to find out what the problem was.</p> <p>The Vet diagnosed her with scabies. A parasite commonly found in dogs and cats, the scary thing about it is that it is also infectious to humans. He gave me some medicated shampoo and some tablets to treat it. I tried to use this opportunity to find out more about Smug, e.g. what breed of dog she really is, her age etc, (and to make the consultation fee more worthwhile)   The vet confirmed that Smug was mostly definitely a cross-breed, he thought she was a cross between a Golden Retriever and an English cocker Spaniel, said the vet. Then he looked at Smug's teeth to try to figure out what age she really was, that was something I hadn't dared to do, forcing her mouth open and poke around in her mouth like that? No way. All we saw was horribly stained yellowy teeth <img src="http://data5.blog.de/media/778/2707778_c058d752df_m.jpeg" alt="IMGP1688" vspace="5" hspace="5">, all of them were like that, and 3 or 4 front teeth were rotting and one was completely missing, the vet shook his head tutting. I said to the vet "so, this one is a heavy smoker",   I asked  "Is she very old?" "No, judging by the condition of her teeth, she's at least 9, 10 years old, but there's no way she's that old, in fact, I would be surprised if she wasn't less than a year old...." He said as this dog showed off and stood up to play with him, trying to convince us that she was in fact, a very young dog, her tail was wagging crazily in circle like propeller, and he was stroking her and patting her in return.    He went on to say that he thought that Smug might have been seriously ill with dog flu before, and she was probably treated with this particular drug (I forgot the name now) that tends to stain and rot their teeth terribly but does the trick curing the illness.  I sighed, "poor thing, so she nearly died?"  The vet nodded.  He then sympathetically looked at her and carried on smoothing her and prodding her, that's when he noticed that Smug had a slightly curved spine, I hadn't really noticed it before, now she looked a bit like you know when cats are showing off, they brush their  bodies against your legs, and stick up their back and their bum in the air, now I could see Smug was a bit like that.  The vet made the most of his detective skills again and explained that Smug was probably kept in a cage since she was a puppy, and as she got older and bigger, the cage was no longer big enough for her body to develop properly, that might explain why her spine was bent.  I exclaimed,  "Blimey, how can any one be so cruel? No way you should keep a dog this size in a cage!"  Whether the story that the vet guy tried to piece together was true, I was completely convinced then, and I was more determined than ever to give this poor young dog who had such a bad start of life a better life, and to make it up to her.    One thing that did confirm part of the vet's assumptions was true when my friend who got me Smug called me a few days later, and told me that Smug's ex-owner wanted to know if I would like to have the cage as well.  "Cage?"  "Yeah, he said that he didn't think you could carry all that stuff, the dog and the cage, that's why he didn't give it to me last time, but now he said that he'd bought a smaller dog and a smaller cage, he didn't need this big one, do you want it?"   Oh, so he was now being kind, so he thought, and god bless his latest toy - a Shih-Tzu. I said to my friend "No I don't want a bloody cage." So Smug was kept a prisoner before we met. I hoped she was enjoying the freedom of roaming anywhere she wanted within the 700 sq ft match box that we lived in <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/23/four-years-ago-iv-last-chapter-4487110/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/23/four-years-ago-iv-last-chapter-4487110/Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:47:01 +0200 <p>Back home, I wanted to kill my dog friend or this dog's ex owner. It wasn't until I got home that I took a good look at this ugly looking creature, and it turned out that what I was told a boy dog was actually a girl one! I looked and looked and looked, trying to find something that this dog was supposed to have, but I couldn't, this mutt was 100% a she. I must admit like many people, me and my family used to prefer male dogs simply because you haven't got to worry about their periods or them getting pregnant by other dogs, trouble-free! So, as well as being lied to about the dog's age, (she was clearly an adult dog at 2 feet long and 1 feet tall, not a "puppy"), the dog's health, I was also lied to about her sex! God, next thing someone's gonna tell me this thing is not even a dog but a weird looking cat, or fox or just some new species! Still, I didn't feel like taking my anger and frustration out on the dog, something about this dog made it impossible for me to do so, he, or I should say, "she", now, she had the saddest eyes and the most confused look on her face, and her sticking-out ribs just told me that she needed food, urgently, and love.</p> <p>Once home, first thing I did was giving her a bowl of dog food and some water. You know whenever I watch these animal rescue programmes, these people rescuing dogs/cats/wild animals and take them to the vet, and I'm always most anxious in my heart and wished that they would give the poor thing some food and water first, never mind the stupid weighing or poking or prodding. She hungrily and desperately gorged down the food, she had her head right in the bowl, all I could hear was the rattling noise that the biscuits were making when she dived her nose in and pushing the biscuits, I didn't even hear the chewing sound that she was supposed to be making, she wasn’t even chewing! She was just sort of hoovering them straight into her stomach.</p> <p>Seeing that, I wanted to fill the bowl right up, so I knelt and reached out my hand to get the bowl, in the split second that I touched the side of the bowl, I immediately regretted my action, as I had this quick flash back in my mind of how dog-trainers always warn people not to stand near dogs that are eating, or to try to touch their food <u>or taking it away from them</u>. So I immediately realised I was making a big big mistake and could end up having my hand bitten off by this starving creature, which was feeding contently just a few seconds ago, but too late, I'd already touched it! I was about to chickenly draw my hand back when I noticed that the dog had stopped eating and just looked at me, tail wagging. To my surprise, she didn't look vicious or pissed off or showing me her teeth. She just stopped and puzzly looked at what I was doing, the interruption of her meal didn't seem to bother her, so I swiftly moved the bowl towards myself and poured some more dog food in it. I slid it back to her, she just gently and almost elegantly moved her head back in. I don't know why but I was most chuffed and touched by what I'd experienced. I was chuffed about her apparent sweet nature and my pet-training skills (like hell) So chuffed, that I did it again, I said "Stop" and took the bowl off her, again she blankly stared at me, still tail wagging and did not show the slightest sign of aggression but just patiently waited for my teasing to end. After that, I decided to leave this poor thing to her much much needed meal without any more disturbance from this nuisance new owner. </p> <p>After scoffing down the whole lot, she sniffed around seemingly trying to look for more food, though I was very tempted to give her some more, I had to stop myself from doing that because we had some goldfish in the house, and I was always told that goldfish are unable to tell when they're full, you just have know how much to give them, otherwise they will eat however much you give them until they are so bloated and full and they would just flip over and die, I guessed the same applied to dogs...... And anyway, in front of me, this greedy dog just had nearly 2 bowls of dog food, I was sure that she would be quite happy to eat the 3rd bowl, but I didn't want to stuffing her to death. As soon as she realised she wasn't getting any more, it must have hit her how thirsty she was, she drank the whole bowl of water as well. I found myself assessing her again straight after her meal to see if she looked any better, if she was any less skinny. </p> <p>To be Continued</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/22/four-years-ago-iii-4482609/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/22/four-years-ago-iii-4482609/Tue, 22 Jul 2008 11:06:43 +0200 <p>We arranged to meet after work the next day near where she lived, I was so excited and worried at the same time because my family had no idea what I was up to, especially my mum, she was the boss. But when I asked whether we could have a new family pet, though she was a little hesitant and frowned a little, she wasn't absolutely against it, I could see deep inside her mind, she was actually thinking "Hmmm, maybe I can live with that....." I suppose she was in a good mood, but I'm probably being unfair on her by saying so as my mother is actually a nice, kind lady who also likes animals. I supposed she had the perfect reason to be hesitant because when we had pets when in the past, it was always mum who ended up looking after them.</p> <p>So all night I had this picture in my head of me proudly taking home my big soft, cuddly, friendly new pet with long golden locks and big brown, kind eyes and all gentle. Surely that's how a retriever dog should look like? I've seen them on TV and in movies many times..... </p> <p>Don't they say that the higher the expectation, the higher the disappointment. What greeted me when I arrived the bus station where me and my dog friend had arranged to meet completely took me by surprise. There it was, instead of a healthy, bouncy little retriever pup, jumping up and licking me, an adult dog with a long pointy face and the body about two feet long, like one of those Afgan type dogs, sat nervously hiding behind my friends legs. His fur was patchy and a brown/gingery colour, it seemed that some of it had fallen out naturally and some was deliberately shaven, which I had no idea by whom or why. He was also obviously painfully underweight too, he looked like he hadn't eaten anything for weeks, I later found out that that body of over 2 feet long carried only 17 pounds of meat when I took it to the vet, when she should have really weighed twice as much proportionally. The fact that we met met up at a busy bus station was making the dog very nervous and scared . What struck me and disappointed me the most was, he did not look a bit like a golden retriever to me. Once I had a closer look, I found all these thousands of rashes and scabs on his skin where the fur had fallen out/shaven. He... I thought, looked just like a sick, mixed-breed dog to me. </p> <p>Standing there, all I said to my friend was "is that it?", and just stood there staring at this scraggy, scruffy and skinny dog. My friend nodded, with an embarrassed look. During those moments of staring, my mind was actually racing, what should I do? Turn around and leave? Take him home anyway? Should I shout at my friend for lying and giving me this illusion that I was to be given a perfect pedigree dog? How do I convince mum to keep it when he looked anything but likable? </p> <p>In the end, I decided that I would have been a complete arse to my friend if I did what I really really wanted to do then - refuse to have this "thing", I didn't know what she could do with this dog as she did say that his owner didn't want him anymore and was all enthusiastic when he found out that some sucker was looking for a dog for a pet. He saw the best chance of get rid of him, so the chances of him having this dog back was nearly zero, and I didn't want to dump the problem to my friend when all she wanted to do was being kind and helping me find a perfect pet. So, I took a deeeeeeep breath and asked my friend more about this dog, how to care for him etc. It turned out that it was also the first time my friend had seen this dog, I asked about his patchy fur and his skin problem, my friend told me that when she saw this dog, she was also amazed at his appalling condition, she noticed that the dog had a very thin coat of fur and was already a l little patchy because of his obvious skin problems, she decided to shave all his hair off in the hope to make him look less awful, only the hair clippers broke half way of the trimming, she got as far as doing one of his back legs and half of his back, hence the awful patchy looks as she didn't have another clipper to do the rest. Then, I coldly thanked my friend and took the dog home, together with some other stuff that his owner rewarded me with, e.g. some dog food, dog shampoo and chewy toys etc. </p> <p>To be continued </p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/18/four-years-ago-ii-4463172/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/18/four-years-ago-ii-4463172/Fri, 18 Jul 2008 05:50:50 +0200 <p>It is lovely July summer time again, despite the intense heat, humid and the suffocatingly fast pace of life here in Hong Kong, everything seems so full of life, and people are more energetic and vibrant than any other time of the year. There are generally feelings of hope, happiness and liveliness in the air. It must be the effect of the much much needed sunshine that finally arrived since last week, after two months of endless rain, I could hardly believe that I was actually in Hong Kong and not the UK. Also, it is that particular time that reminds me of a very lucky encounter four years ago, which brought this incredibly precious and important figure into my life, which later, became a part of my family.</p> <p>In mid July 2004, a year after I finished my studies in the UK and returned to Hong Kong. I was due to go back to the UK for the congregation of my Masters degree, and I couldn't wait. I had been working for a Japanese company which manufactured and sold an electronic part called capacitors for six months. Having returned to Hong Kong from the UK for almost a year, I realised that I didn't have many friends in Hong Kong and was feeling rather lonely. All that I ever hung out with was my boyfriend Patrick, whom I'd been going out with since starting uni in 2000, I yearned for different companion. So, when a friend of mine, who had a dog herself which I adore and knew many people who have dogs, offered to get me a puppy, I was more than thrilled to say yes. </p> <p>I never believed in buying pets here in Hong Kong, because I know that many people don't think about it seriously enough before they get a pet, to many people, pets are like an accessory, they go out and pay a fortune to buy one when they feel like it, and when they've gone off it, they just abandon the poor thing just like dropping a tissue, without any hesitation. So I would only consider adopting, or having a pup from those owners who don't want to keep all the babies that their family dogs have given birth to. (And don't ask me why the hell they don't desex the animal in the first place)</p> <p>How I ended up having Smug, my precious doggy companion was never just a coincidence, nor a plain, smooth process. It was bizarrely and wonderfully determined and planted by fate, that she was the only dog for me and I was the only master for her. I could have missed her so narrowly and easily. When I told my friend that I would be delighted if she could find me a puppy, I pictured myself with a small size dog with fluffy white fur, something like a Maltese, a Pekingese, a Pomeranian or something of the similar sort. Because I only lived (and still do) in a small flat of about 700 sqr feet, with my family - my mum and my two brothers, so having a large dog hogging the place seemed out of question. Also because the last dog I had was a white Pomeranian, I thought it would be absolutely wonderful to have a new dog that resembled my pom.</p> <p>One night, a couple of days after my friend promised to keep her eyes skimmed for a dog for me, I went to Patrick (my bf)'s, when I got to work the next day, I found that I left my mobile phone at Patrick's apartment, I was in no hurry to get it back though as usually, apart from my mum and Patrick, very few people would call me, as I didn't know many people here. I thought I would get the phone back when I next saw Patrick. And it was about 3 days later that we met up for dinner and me getting my phone back. I was gobsmacked when I saw I had over 30 missed calls, and 6 voice mails. I was never wanted that much before! And apparently most of the calls were from my dog friend, so I called her immediately.</p> <p>"Hi, did you want me?" I asked.</p> <p>"MY GOD! DID I WANT YOU!? WHERE THE HELL HAVE YOU BEEN??? WHY DIDN"T YOU TAKE MY CALLS???"</p> <p>"Well, I ....." </p> <p>"Listen" She interrupted in a rather annoyed tone, " I got the dog that you asked for, a one-year old white Maltese dog, his owner didn't want him anymore, so I had him in my house for a few days while trying to get hold of you, but because he didn't get on with Money (her dog's name), I had to get rid of him quick as I didn't know when you'd get back to me. I gave him to somebody else...."</p> <p>OMG!!! A white maltese? How gorgeous is that? That would be my dream dog!!! </p> <p>As if I wasn't gutted enough, she added, "He's a really sweet, adorable dog, you would have loved him."</p> <p>I decided that she was no longer my "dog friend", she was now a "bitch friend", big time. I was thinking in my head that she could have kept the two dogs in separate rooms until she was able to speak to me, I thought she was simply being spiteful. I didn't want to show that I was upset with her though, because I still wanted her to keep dog-hunting for me. But I was convinced somehow, that she would give up now because she was perhaps just as upset with me as I was with her, or she might simply worry that I would disappear again if she did find me another dog, and she would again end up with 2 crazy dogs in her house. So I was amazed when she called me about a week later, telling me that she had found me another dog.</p> <p><em>Now, this time, I wasn't going to let this dog slip out from my hand. I wanted to take him home ASAP.</em> She told me that it was a golden retriever puppy, that was all I knew before collecting it.</p> <p>TO BE CONTINUED</p> <p> <small> <a href="http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/17/four-years-ago-4458676/#comments">Comments</a> </small> </p>http://juliesmugdiary.blog.co.uk/2008/07/17/four-years-ago-4458676/Thu, 17 Jul 2008 05:29:53 +0200