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Everything You Need to Know about Guinea Pigs in Singapore — Part 2/6: Bedding (2 Pee Pads)

Still with me? Alright! let’s continue our discourse on how popular guinea pig bedding options perform in Singapore. To recap:

I recommend…

  1. Fleece or fleece lined products
  2. Pee pads
  3. Some types of wood shavings

In the previous article, we discussed why small animal paper bedding, newspaper, and shredded recycled paper are terrible options and explored several great fleece options. Please head over to: https://contributors.pawjourr.com/guineapigbedding1/ if you don’t know why. 

Also, if you’d like a cheatsheet on guinea pig care in Singapore, please refer to the first article of the series: https://contributors.pawjourr.com/guineapigbasics/

Bonding session @mapetitemenagerie

A popular bedding option for guinea pig owners in Singapore are non-scented pee pads generally marketed for potty training dogs. Easy, convenient, and relatively economically sound, pee pads will keep guinea pigs dryer and are easy to change out once or twice a day. You will find many brands available on: online giants like Lazada, Shopee, Qoo10, online pet stores like The Modern Guinea and Perromart, and almost any physical pet shop like Pet Lovers Centre. They come in various shapes and sizes, but most guinea pig owners prefer the 45x60cm dimension for adequate coverage of their guinea pig enclosures and easy removal of heavily soiled areas. 

Pro tip: Pee pads are a great temporary solution for sick guinea pigs.

Prices range from around 8-15SGD per pack of 50 disposable 45x60cm large pee pads depending on absorbency, material, brand, and store. On the cheaper end, the pee pads are not as absorbent and may not completely be leak-proof. If you are extremely vigilant about changing the pads or are only planning to use them for short periods of time, this could be a viable option. However, for a few extra dollars, you could opt for higher quality pee pads that do not leak; a reasonable price would be around 12-13SGD/pack. The higher-end options sometimes come infused with charcoal and are black in colour — some owners prefer this as it helps mitigate unpleasant odours. However, I recommend sticking with regular, white pee pads, as urine colour is often the first indicator of a potential bladder problem. I will elaborate on this topic in Everything You Need to Know About Guinea Pigs in Singapore — Part 6/6 Health. 

Truffle after getting spayed @mapetitemenagerie

That being said, disposable pee pads are terrible for the environment and may not actually be cheaper in the long run. A 70x140cm or 2x4grid guinea pig enclosure (suitable for 2 guinea pigs), would require 6 overlapping 45x60cm pee pads; one pack of 50 will last give or take a week. This would mean that pee pads for a pair of guinea pigs will cost approximately 650SGD a year (52 weeks, 12.5SGD/pack). The price of a Guineadad isn’t looking too bad now, wouldn’t you agree?

Did You Know: Guinea pigs live an average of 5-8 years. According to the Guinness Book of World Records, the oldest guinea pig lived for almost 15 years!

Pricing aside, disposable pee pads take an average of 500 years to degrade in a landfill. They are very convenient, but much like any other non-recyclable material, will negatively impact the well-being of our planet. Reusable pee pads made for puppies is certainly an alternative albeit not one that is popular among guinea pig owners. Perhaps, this is because fleece options mentioned in the last article require similar levels of maintenance. If you decide to try using reusable pee pads to line your guinea pig enclosure, please share your experiences with me! 

Another strike against pee pads is that, as I mentioned before, guinea pigs chew on everything. They will undoubtedly take a bite, and plastic can cause all kinds of ruckus when ingested. I have yet to hear of pee pads causing fatalities, but keep your eyes peeled to ensure that chomping on the sides of pee pads does not become your guinea pig’s past time. Some guinea pigs also enjoy burrowing under pee pads which defeats the purpose of using them at all. 

Popcorn on a Guineadad @mapetitemenagerie

One way to combat this is by using a combination of fabrics and pee pads; experiment with layers of fleece, microfibre noodle bath rugs, and towels atop pee pads. Alternatively, forgo the pee pads altogether and go with a combination of fabrics and a reusable leak-proof bottom layer like the pre-made options I mentioned here. The options are endless, so it is now up to you to decide what works best for your lifestyle and your guinea pigs. 

Next up is my personal favourite form of bedding but also the most polarizing among guinea pig owners in Singapore — wood shavings. Stay tuned as we delve into the pros and cons of wood shavings in the next article! 

Meanwhile, come say hi on our instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/mapetitemenagerie.com

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3 simple ways to keep your mojo when you’re training your dog

Photo Credit @fambam_sg

HOW YOU SEE TRAINING MATTERS

When you think about training your dog, what comes into mind? For many of us, it’s a list of things to check off. Can I suggest that while that’s useful because it helps us be goal-orientated but that’s also VERY UNHELPFUL. Why? Because it becomes GOAL centred and we should GROWTH centred.

What is GROWTH? Growth doesn’t necessarily only mean our dogs can exhibit a behaviour. Growth takes into the account that we are considering other factors like our dog’s age, it’s emotional maturity, it’s cognitive capability, and its capacity for learning. If our dog isn’t hungry to learn, there’s no point in making a lesson a lesson.

Being growth centred means we take a more wholistic approach to development. We measure the dog’s response instead of the result. We measure our response with our dogs as well. We look into our development as much as we care about our dog’s.

WHAT YOU MEASURE MATTERS

Fellow dog owners have asked if I ever get tired or nonchalant about training. My answer is NEVER. My secret is because I don’t measure my dog on the response. I measure my dog on her overall ability to handle life’s pressures and her ability to RECOVER from those stressors. E.g. Lady-Mae is sensitive to sounds and vibrations, to this day, you can see her get startled. I’m not measuring her on her response. What I look for is how she deals with it. Even though you can still see her body react, she brushes it off and goes about enjoying the environment. That’s GROWTH.

The feedback that we receive from our dogs is a CONVERSATION, not an indication of how great or bad you are as a handler. If your dog has its tail tucked, stop fussing. It is sharing with you that it’s afraid of something. When that happens, I usually look around to see possible triggers. If there’s none, I just ignore it and continue what we’re doing. This is how it will sound like if the dog could speak:
Dog : (Tail tucked) “I’m scared.”
Human: (Look around assess the situation, calmly continue the walk) “I know you’re scared but nothing her to be scared, I’ve got you.”

Stop measuring the response and start measuring the recovery time your dog takes to offer the desired behaviour. And, START having a non-verbal conversation rather than reacting to your dog.

KNOWING YOURSELF WELL MATTERS

Too many dog owners have very little self-awareness. By this I mean, you have got to know what motivates you and how to motivate yourself. For example, I enjoy partnering with people to work on a common goal. I enjoy being able to consider risks and find the best options in training. I enjoy things better when I have clarity and I enjoy spontaneity and variety.

If you read what I enjoy, you’ll quickly realise that I won’t make a very good dog trainer because dog training is about consistency (repetitions) and being predictable.

When I adopted Lady-Mae, I thought about what kind of a dog I would like her to be in the midst of people who did not like dogs. My motivation to raise her to be a balanced dog came out of “I want other people to enjoy my dog too.” It wasn’t because she could make my life easier but it was the benefit of my community.

The second way I keep myself motivated is always evaluating the risks and options I have during the training process. Sometimes, this can look like I’m always changing my mind. If I’m training for others, I make it a point to communicate my intentions and why I made a change in decision.

The most important thing for me is CLARITY. Without this, I’m often frustrated. So, when I adopted Lady-Mae, I was constantly reframing my goals until I had clarity of the kind of dog I wanted to raise. My WHY gives me emotional clarity and helps me to be focused on Lady-Mae’s growth rather and goals. It helps me to also not compare myself to other handlers and keeps me focused on what Lady-Mae’s strengths are.

Lastly, I don’t have a habit of training my dog for more than 5 mins at a time, because I enjoy variety, I work on a few things that are related in the developmental process. And in order to beat the bore of predictability and repetitions which drains me, I don’t have a fix schedule on when I train the dog. I also don’t have a fix goal that I need to check off each day. I keep it fluid within the week. Instead of having daily goals, I have a weekly one that I work towards. That helps me manage my weaknesses while leveraging on my strengths.

So the next time you’re struggling with your mojo, you may have to have clarity about your GROWTH plan. Or you may have to change what you’re measuring or you may have to take time to know yourself better because it could be what’s hindering you from helping your dog unleash its potential.

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Everything You Need to Know About Guinea Pigs in Singapore — Part 2/6: Bedding (1 Fleece)

If you made it this far, I’m assuming you are mildly sadistic and/or the kind of person who likes doing housework. If you haven’t read Everything You Need to Know About Guinea Pigs in Singapore Part 1/6: The Basics, I recommend you take a gander at https://contributors.pawjourr.com/guineapigbasics/ and decide if you are seriously up to the monumental responsibility of owning guinea pigs.

To recap, this series of articles address the unique challenges of caring for a guinea pig in Singapore. For a more general understanding of guinea pigs, refer to the links in the first article. Today, we will start exploring the second of the topics below:

  1. The Basics — a quick summary
  2. Bedding — how popular options perform in Singapore’s humidity
  3. Environment — keeping guinea pigs healthy & comfortable
  4. Sourcing Food & Products — buy stuff without breaking the bank
  5. Vegetables — local produce that guinea pigs love
  6. Health — common illnesses in Singapore and how to deal with them
instagram.com/mapetitemenagerie

Sunny Singapore is super hot and humid in comparison to most places where guinea pigs are popular as pets. So, when reading or watching videos about appropriate bedding, keep in mind that things will not dry as quickly here and will easily turn icky (imagine peed on poop). Also, mold and fungal growth is a huge problem; this is rarely an issue in colder, dryer climates. 

The following are the most commonly used types of bedding for guinea pigs around the world: fleece or fleece-lined products, pee pads, bath mats, wood shavings, paper-based cat litter, small animal paper bedding, newspaper, and shredded recycled paper. I’ll be discussing the pros and cons of the above list with regards to Singapore’s weather and the products’ availabilities in our locale.

I do not recommend…

  1. small animal paper bedding
  2. newspaper
  3. shredded recycled paper

Though easy to find in pet shops, small animal paper bedding, most commonly used for hamsters, are chock full of dust and can often lead to fatal upper respiratory illnesses for guinea pigs. It does not dry very quickly, so your guinea pig may end up sleeping on soggy, urine drenched, mush. Plus, it’s super expensive when you consider the quantity needed for a guinea pig enclosure and not at all effective at controlling odour. 

Though readily available and virtually free, newspaper and recycled paper, are full of chemicals that you do not want your guinea pig ingesting or inhaling. If you put something in a guinea pig pen, expect it to be chewed on. Lead, a common ingredient found on printed paper is toxic to guinea pigs and will lead to all kinds of nasty complications that can be fatal and will result in expensive veterinary bills. It’s not worth it! Plus, it’s also ineffective in absorbing urine or controlling odour and will give you dirty, stinky guinea pigs who have been sleeping in a cocktail of their own urine and faeces. If you really want the smell of guinea pig poop permeating through your home, there are other ways my strange friend. 

I recommend…

  1. Fleece or fleece lined products
  2. Pee pads (jump ahead to pee pads here)
  3. Some types of wood shavings
Photo credit: https://guineadad.com/

Fleece has recently become the go-to choice of bedding for guinea pig lovers around the world. Eco-friendly, soft, and wicking, guinea pigs and their owners love fleece. However, in Singapore’s humidity, fabrics dry infinitely slower than in most other climates. Fleece does not perform quite as well here as it is described to by most guinea pig aficionados on the web; expect to change out fleece bedding twice as often as otherwise recommended. Keep in mind that fleece is warm, and Singapore is hot. Our goal is to keep guinea pigs cool, dry, and clean.

Pro tip: Guinea pigs tend to poop under hideys and next to their food so add extra “protection” around those areas for easier spot-cleaning.

That being said, fleece is still a great option to consider. Guineadad liners are the most popular pre-made fleece solution with a wicking top layer, an absorbent middle, and a waterproof bottom layer. Alternatively, similar pre-made fleece liners can be bought on Taobao and Amazon. Local small businesses in Singapore who make adorable fleece hideys and tunnels for guinea pigs can also make customizable full-sized cage liners. Contact them at Snugglebutts and The Maris Crafts.

Pro tip: Fold over Guineadad pockets on the 2×4 liners as they can get quite damp and nasty in Singapore’s humidity!

Photo Credit: instagram.com/thefoodiepiggies

The second fleece-based bedding option is a D.I.Y. combination of a layer of fleece on pee pads, towels, or on a waterproof liner. The best place to get large swaths in Singapore is Spotlight. I would recommend going down to the store at Plaza Singapura to check out all the adorable designs and select the amount you would like. To make things more complicated, there are several types of fleece. In short, make sure to choose anti-pill fleece. For more information, read this. Alternatively, Snugglebutts and The Maris Crafts make various sizes of fleece mats and pads that you can easily mix, match, and switch out when dirty.

Pro tip: Wash fleece at least 3x before first use to “unlock” its inherent wicking properties. Also, NEVER use dryer sheets or softeners!

There is no secret formula to finding the best bedding type for guinea pigs. Your ideal setup will come down to your personal cleaning habits and preferences, and you will most likely have multiple types of bedding at hand.

Learn more on the next article in the series as we continue to explore types of bedding and how they perform in Singapore! https://contributors.pawjourr.com/guineapigbedding2/

Come say hi on our instagram page: https://www.instagram.com/mapetitemenagerie.com

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When is the right time to get a dog?

I have always liked dogs and wanted one but I knew I wasn’t ready for all the commitment: monetary, time and mentally when I was younger. 

  1. Commitment: Monetary and Time 

I’d say what most, obviously myself do not expect is the amount of time and effort needed to put into having a dog. 
What I thought was simple: 
Money for food, necessities, treats of course, grooming and vet.
Time to feed, to walk, to bathe and to train. 
Be mentally prepared for all these to be a norm once you have a dog.

But what I didn’t think enough was how exactly and how much time and how much you need to compromise with your own time/schedule (depending on what age/temperament of your dog).

  • I had to, as much as possible settle Dusty’s needs before my own if it could be put on hold as I do not want to bother my family even if had to travel more and rush, I would do it myself. 
  • Training wasn’t something that I thought was needed or necessary other than Project Adore Obedience Training. What I had in mind was providing the dog a comfortable life, under a roof with fresh food and walks >= x2 daily.

    But training is also important in my opinion, to improve both our lives as we coexist under one roof and to set boundaries. Not only that but also be a responsible dog owner and not cause unnecessary problems to people living around us. 
  • Vet visits are definitely a need for annual vaccination and check ups but other than that it depends on your dog’s health. Money has to be set aside for emergency and I’d say always prepare for the worst (a bit kiasi).

    You could also look up into buying pet insurance for your pet as it will help ease the vet bills if anything were to happen. 

At the end of 2018(when I was 20), I knew I was ready for the commitments and started looking up on all the shelters I could find through web and social medias. It took much consideration and courage to finally take the first step in filling up an adoption application.

  1. Picking the RIGHT dog, not what you want but what you can handle with you and your family’s lifestyle. 

Of course including us, we wanted the nicest, cutest, and a fun dog.
But I knew that wasn’t the right way to look for one.

  • Are you active or more laid-back and chill? 
    I know my family and I wasn’t that active, so I decided that a lower energy dog will fit perfectly into my family. DON’T pick a dog that fits a lifestyle that you aspire to have. But pick one that fits your current lifestyle and work towards it. 
  • Who will be living together with the dog? 
    Make sure everyone in the family as well as the dog is okay with one another, especially if you have kids and the elderly in the house. 
  • Is the dog skittish/shy or aggressive/fearful?
    If the dog that you pick has any of these behaviours, just get ready to have to spend more time and (maybe) money to help your dog gain the confidence and to improve. 

Slightly more than a year of having Dusty with us, I wish I did know more (experience wise) about dog handling. 

  1. Get experience on how to handle a dog. 

Before adopting, what goes through my mind was what’s so difficult about having a dog? It just has to eat, sleep, bathe, walk, shit and pee. Thinking of it is so easy than having to experience it not for one or two days but till the end of their lives it’s a different aspect. 

  • Get a first hand experience as a volunteer or fosterer on how and what is it like to handle not just good and easy dogs but also skittish, shy, fearful and aggressive dogs. And from there you know what kind of dogs you can handle and live with for the next 10-15 years.
  • Reach out to dog owners and get to know more about their experiences with their dog.

So this sums up my thoughts on what I wish I had known.
Hope it was insightful for those who are planning on getting your first dog but is still unsure on what to expect! 

Do share with us your concerns or any experiences that you didn’t see coming with your first dog in the comments below! So that we can learn or at least have an idea on what to do if something similar happens to any of us! 🙂

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Everything You Need to Know About Guinea Pigs in Singapore — Part 1/6: The Basics

So you want a guinea pig. Hamsters, rabbits, cats, dogs, and humans are not your thing (or you already have them), and you’d like to add guinea pig to your list of dependents. Let me introduce, horrify, and enlighten you to the joys and challenges of owning guinea pigs in Singapore.

With temperatures soaring over 30°C and humidity levels averaging at 85%, we humans have learned to adapt pretty well to the tropical weather in our bustling city-state. Guinea pigs, however, are native to the Andes Mountains of South America and thrive in climates of 18-24°C.

An easy search of basic guinea pig care provides endless information on how to provide for these cute little rodents, but most of this material come from owners in Europe or the U.S. Owning guinea pigs in Singapore come with a unique set of challenges. In this series of articles, we will explore the following topics:

  1. The Basics — a quick summary
  2. Bedding — how popular options perform in Singapore’s humidity
  3. Environment — keeping guinea pigs healthy & comfortable
  4. Sourcing Food & Products — buy stuff without breaking the bank
  5. Vegetables — local produce that guinea pigs love
  6. Health — common illnesses in Singapore and how to deal with them

First and foremost, let’s review the basics. A plethora of information about guinea pig care is a click away online, so here’s a quick summary:

Guinea pigs…

  1. must have hay at all times to keep their teeth and gut in tip-top condition
  2. should be given timothy hay based pellets
  3. are sociable animals and must live in pairs or more
  4. do not produce Vitamin C and need vegetables or supplements daily
  5. require adequate space (i.e. 2×4 grids/70cm x 140cm for 2 guinea pigs)
  6. cannot be toilet trained and require a lot of cleaning
  7. require a cavy savvy vet when sick

Other topics will be more thoroughly explored, meanwhile, take a look at these videos and other videos on these channels for more information on basic guinea pig care:

A final note for now…

Guinea pigs are not easy pets, especially given the specialized care they require in Singapore. They are more work than a well trained dog and are expensive to upkeep as their food requirements are not native to Asia. Plus, veterinarians who are well-versed in guinea pig medicine are rare in Singapore, and those medical bills add up!

Pet stores typically do not carry adequate caging requirements nor are they well-versed in cavy husbandry. In other words, don’t trust anyone who’s trying to sell a guinea pig to you — do your research! Do not be fooled by their adorable faces; guinea pigs are actually poop machines in disguise. Be prepared to clean up after them every. single. day.

If you are undeterred by all of the above and still want these little fluffy bundles of poop in your life, give a pair a second chance by adopting! Please do not support backyard breeders or pet mills (where pet shops get their animals). When you’re ready, head on over to the next article, Everything You Need to Know About Guinea Pigs in Singapore — Part 2/6: Bedding (1). https://contributors.pawjourr.com/guineapigbedding1/

For more information and to adopt a guinea pig, please visit Guinea Pig Rescue Singapore: https://www.facebook.com/guineapigrescuesg/

Consider looking at this online store for Guinea Pig approved paraphenelia: https://modernguinea.com/

*I am not associated with or sponsored by any of the above organizations

Drop by my instagram for candid pictures and say hi! https://www.instagram.com/mapetitemenagerie

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What are Singapore Specials like and are they right for you

Every person getting a new dog, be it first-time or experienced dog owners, would arrive at this question at some point during their decision-making process: What breed of dog should I get? There are the usual pedigree breeds that have been labelled as “family-friendly” like our adorable Golden Retrievers and “easy to train” Maltipoo cross-breeds which we have crossed paths with during one of our evening leisure walks. However, when one considers between adoption and getting their new furkid from a known breeder, a major deterrent against opting for adoption is the lack of information on the temperaments of Singapore Specials (SS) (our affectionate name for our kampong dogs, also known to many as “mongrels”, “mixed-breeds” or “strays”). 

As a first-time owner, I too hesitated on adopting a dog because I simply did not know much about SS. It seemed like an easier option to buy a pedigree dog whose temperaments, quirks, prey drive, receptivity to training was already analysed and readily available on the Internet. On the other hand, searching up “Singapore Specials/mongrels” on Google left me with few to no results about the things to expect from owning an SS. Thus, I finally decided to write about my experiences with owning an SS and behaviours characteristic to SS in hopes that this article will raise more awareness about our beloved local dogs and many potential owners will consider adopting a Special as their future companion, and best friend.

Before diving into the particularities of Singapore Specials, I felt that I should introduce myself first so you could put a name and face to this article. I’m Sabrina and this is my best friend, and “grandchild” (according to my parents), Kyla.

Kyla at 6 months old and still a compulsive worry queen

Kyla is nearly 7 months old and my family had adopted her from Mercylight in July 2020. While I am currently abroad for my undergraduate studies, I had spent most of my days in Singapore prior to my departure caring for Kyla and thus I will be sharing my experiences from that period (currently, my family is caring for her and I receive regular updates on her growth).  In the process of writing this article, I had also spoken to other SS owners to compare my experiences with them so as to give a more accurate representation of SS as a “breed”. Of course, given that SS were never specially bred for any purpose as was the case for many pedigree dogs, their personalities may differ from what I write so that should be kept in mind when you read my article. 

So without further ado, what are Singapore Specials like?

Past experiences can mean fearfulness and skittishness

While some SS may have been rescued when they were only a few days old, many others are often introduced to shelter life and exposure to humans after months or years of roaming and scavenging for food. Having spent their entire lives hiding from humans and sleeping near construction sites or fields, this means that they have never experienced living with humans in apartments, eating from bowls, being touched nor walking on leash. Naturally, SS which have not socialised properly are more fearful and resistant to a change in the environment. While I was fortunate enough to have adopted Kyla when she was still very young and thus could socialise her to new environments fairly easily, many other SS owners have to restart the socialisation process. This usually implies slowly introducing “unnatural” elements to them, even the smallest things like the TV or rooms in the house. One SS owner had shared with me that her SS was still very skittish even after four months of being with her family and had stayed in the same room for almost two months. It takes constant repetition, exposure to the same environments over and over again for Specials to recognise that these spaces are safe. Adopting an SS means harnessing that mountain of patience to go slow, and to reassure them that humans, other dogs and even their reflection in the food bowl is nothing to be afraid of.

Be prepared for a high prey-driven dog

See that rat that just ran past the pavement? The flock of birds minding their business on the grass patch next to you? You better hold your leash tight. Singapore Specials are your diamonds in the rough when you consider them as hunting dogs. Over decades of surviving on their own, they have acquired an acute sense of smell and sight valuable for sourcing out food. It is in their nature to hunt down birds and other small animals. Even Kyla, who never had to scour for food on the streets, was very attracted to rats and birds that she spotted on our walks. She would whine and tug very strongly on the leash when we prevented her from going closer to the rat hidden in the grass. On one walk, Kyla had found a dead flattened rat on our road and picked it up like it was a precious chew (and you can guess who had to forcefully take the rat from her). The point is, expect that SS have a high prey drive and if you ever thought of letting that rabbit next door be her new best friend, you should probably think twice. 

Reactivity and the importance of training

A similar point to how past experiences have shaped the personalities of Singapore Specials, another common characteristic to note is that SS have the tendency to be more reactive and sensitive to new people and dogs. In defining “reactivity”, I refer to behaviours such as growling, barking, and defensive stances. While Kyla is more sensitive towards people (barking) and very playful around other dogs, other SS I have met are reactive to the latter and easy-going with people. Then again, there are some Specials that are friendly to all and have no problems with interactions, so it may not be set in their personalities after all. Nevertheless, given the fact that they are generally more fearful and skittish, it would be a good idea to invest time into obedience training sessions to learn to manage their reactivity and to desensitise them to new environments. Group training sessions are useful as they allow you to practice managing SS around other dogs-in-training which provides a controlled environment for correcting their reactive behaviours.

happy girl passed her first obedience training!

Highly intelligent thinkers

Singapore Specials are very intelligent. Period. Their resilience cultivated from their survival instincts ultimately means that they are determined to crack that puzzle to obtain that bonus treat. It took Kyla approximately a month to figure out how to push the baby gate open to let herself up to the second and third floors of our house, and she was able to recognise her reflection in the mirror in our living room after one house visit (back when we were still in the process of adopting her). However, because SS are able to solve challenges fairly quickly, it is also important to engage them intellectually to ensure that they exercise their mental capacities. This may mean making them work for treats and spending some time engaging in challenging play (personally, I play hide and seek with Kyla to do so). 

Your best bodyguard, a fiercely loyal buddy

Last but not the least, SS are your residential guard dogs. Their sensitivity to new environments is also a valuable asset that can be harnessed. Perhaps it is the fact that they are eternally grateful to you for giving them a furever home and a lifetime supply of tasty treats, but Specials will reward you with their unwavering loyalty after they gain trust in you. One day, I was waiting at the void deck for my family to buy dinner with Kyla. She laid down 1m in front of me and was calm when people walked past us and went about their day. However, when one man had approached me to ask about her, Kyla immediately stood up and barked at him, always putting herself between me and the man. This was when I had realised that Kyla’s barking was due to the fact that she primarily wanted to protect and not to display dominance and aggression. You can therefore say that SS are amazing guard dogs, and their alleged “hostility” should not be taken for aggression but their strong loyalty to their owners. 

—-

If you have read till this point, thank you for your support and I sincerely hope this article has helped one or two potential dog owners to make an informed decision regarding their new family member. All I wish for is that this article sheds more light on the temperaments of Singapore Specials so that we remove the stigma regarding stray dogs and that many may consider adopting an SS now with better information on what raising an SS is like. 🙂

Many thanks to those who have helped contribute to this article in one way or another!

Our long-distance relationship now 🙂
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Seriously, it is Alright to Feed Kibbles and Raw Diet Together.

I’ve always seen this question and always hear this answer in response:
“No! You should never mix kibbles and raw meat together. It will lead to problems because kibbles and raw meat have different digestion speeds and require different pH levels, so you can’t eat them at the same time. You should feed a fully raw diet, none of that kibbles cr@p. That’s like feeding McDonald’s to your pet every day.”

It has also gotten really annoying to see raw feeders with a holier-than-thou attitude bashing on or criticising other pet owners for feeding kibbles or mixed diets. Let’s just start off by saying this:

Feed the pet in front of you. What works for one may not always work for the other. There is no one RIGHT or WRONG feeding, and you should do what is right for YOUR PET. No one has the right to criticise another individual for their decisions.

Of course I’m not referring to people who are just feeding their pets the most blatantly obvious and unbalanced meals, those should be called out. I’m talking about most decent and thinking pet owners in this situation, who does not deserve being called out for their decisions on feeding their pets.

I can’t emphasise this enough: EDUCATE people, not put them down. When we all first started, we all know what it is like to be in a position of confusion with so much mixed information available on the Internet. Why not take the time to share your experience, your learning resources, and allow them to then make a decision for themselves on what is right for THEIR FAMILY.

Raw feeding may be cheap or expensive depending on the country. The owners may or may not have the time to prepare a nutritious meal. There are many factors that go into why someone decides on feeding raw/kibble/HCF/any of the above combinations.

Also, just to address that whole idea of kibbles being MacDonald’s. That is not exactly right. Kibbles are essentially balanced meals that provide the necessary nutrition for the pet to live. MacDonald’s are unbalanced fast food that is poor in providing many essential nutrients.

Rather, try thinking of kibbles as army rations.
Does it taste good? Probably not.
Does it look or smell appetising? Not really.
But does it hit the minimal daily nutrients requirements? Usually*, yes.

* Disclaimer: I am referring to kibbles that are of decent quality which abides by nutrition guidelines in these situations.

This seems to have turned into a rant (lol). Now that the rant is over *sorry for ranting*, let’s get back to the point of this post.

What you see in a bowl is NOT representative of everything that goes into my dogs’ diets. Please do not replicate without knowing what is necessary for your pets.

So, it is not true that you cannot mix kibbles and raw meat. Yes, the digestion speed will definitely be slightly different, but this does not mean that you cannot feed at the same time. Do you have to wait a few hours before eating meat when you eat grains?

Note: Some pets may have diarrhoea when eating kibbles + raw meat, but this is not because of digestion problems, but because the stomach is not used to it. Any change in diets usually causes some problems (even among different brands of kibbles if you have a pet with a sensitive stomach).

Remember, your stomach does not have a pH level button, it will not change stomach acid when digesting kibble or eating raw meat.

Breaking Down “Digestion”

Geddit geddit? Breaking down? Digestion? (Okay sorry I’ll just show myself out.)

Digestion is the process of extracting nutrients from food and then transporting the released nutrients from the gastrointestinal tract to the body, where they are used for energy and tissue growth. The stomach and small intestine are the main parts of digestion. The stomach does not absorb nutrients, it releases them from food and destroys pathogenic bacteria such as Salmonella. The longer the food spends in the stomach, the greater the amount of digestion (this is good).

It is the small intestine, not the stomach, that absorbs nutrients. The nutrients released from the food are absorbed into the blood through the intestinal wall. The speed of food passing through the intestine will affect the number of nutrients that the small intestine can absorb. Fast-moving food cannot absorb too much nutrition. (Note: This might be where the misinformation starts.)

A recent experiment was conducted to observe the digestion speed of dry food and raw meat (see picture below). The researchers used X-rays and barium (a radiopaque liquid mixed with food) to trace dry food and raw meat through the gastrointestinal tract. Although only one dog was examined, its original digestion rate was slower than that of kibbles, which overturned the general statement that “raw meat digests faster than dry food”. In fact, liquids are emptied from the stomach faster than solids, and carbohydrates are excreted faster than protein and fat.

On the left is the x-ray of the dog eating kibbles, and on the right that of the same dog eating a raw meal.
The first two rows on the left is that of a kibble diet, the right and the last row is that of a raw diet. You can see that kibble was digested quicker than raw meal.

The above images were taken from The Raw Feeding Community, a great online source for raw feeders. I highly recommend heading on over to their post for a detailed explanation on the hour by hour breakdown of the meals being digested. Click here to be brought over to the original post.

Back to the explanation, when food enters the stomach, it will be soaked in stomach acid. Then, depending on the degree of swelling, the stomach will release an appropriate amount of gastric acid to control the dilution, so the pH can be maintained at a high acid level initially. Dilution is part of the digestion process. It occurs gradually through the digestive tract. What you don’t want to do is to have undiluted acid coming out the other end. Just thinking about it is painful.

The stomach has an excellent design and has served dogs and cats for thousands of years. As an example, when calcium is felt in the stomach, more stomach acid is released because bones are expected to appear due to the calcium content. More digestive juices are needed to break down bones than meat. There are more “sensors” and feedback mechanisms in the digestive system, which can effectively extract nutrients from various diets ingested by animals in different foods. We are at a time where we have access to a lot of information, let’s not fall for false information. Detailed research on pets has shown that mixing raw food and kibbles does not produce toxins or digestive challenges.

People have been feeding their pets a mixed diet for decades. Only recently has the trend of avoiding mixing become popular under the influence of false or wrong news. Studies have indeed shown that mixing some fresh raw food with kibbles is much healthier than kibbles alone. Complete + balanced raw meat is one of the best things you can feed your pet. But there are exceptions. Some owners may not have the time or money to feed raw meat, so we should not blame others for their choices. We all want the best for our pets, so please also give other pet owners the same respect, and do not fault them for a decision that they may have also made with the same best interests at heart (within reason of course).

Seriously though, please do not take my words out of context. What I’ve shared above is information from research that I have done. You should absolutely do your own research, start by reading up the blog I linked above to read about the experiment in detail. Then, come to your own conclusion on what is right for YOUR PET. You know best from experience and trials what works for YOUR PET.

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Community Stories

How having a dog changed my life.

Processed with VSCO with p5 preset

It’s…. officially 9 months 5 days since I had my first dog, and it’s been a helluva ride for me. Well, do not mistake me when I say that. This helluva ride kinda changed my lifestyle, my habits for the better, though twenty percent of the time, I had my eyeballs rolled after every mess my dearest pup made:)


TIME AND COMMITMENT

My fiancé and I decided to get a dog as we were living in the same house and working in the same company. COMMITMENT, I would say is the distinguishing factor whether or not, you should, or SHOULD NOT have a dog. Living with a puppy is honestly underrated and definitely incomparable, to taking care of a baby as many would say.
We were really blessed to have flexible working hours to deal with the puppy period as the first few weeks of your life with them, is gonna be disastrous.

You cant get mad at this puppy face isnt it.
  • Meals

Prepping their meal isn’t as simple as what many thought it would be and to further clarify this misconception, it definitely isn’t just scooping a cup of kibbles and expecting them to feed on it for all of their meals, their entire life. Every individual puppy is different and do keep in mind that their body changes and reacts to different types of food as they grow.

We did have had quite an experience with my sheltie’s meal since he was a puppy.
From raw to kibbles, to freeze-dried, to raw again and then to home-cooked.
Was indeed a stressful process I would admit. HEH!

They could be receptive to raw at first but allergies could kick in after.
They could be receptive to kibbles at first but decided to be picky after.

The list continues and to sum it up, every type of food, be it commercial food, home-cooked, raw … etc, they each have their own benefits but it boils down ultimately to how your puppy reacts to each type of food and the commitment of every dog owner to formulate the meals of their pups accordingly so they can eventually live a long and healthy life.

  • Daily walks / Dog runs / Cafes

Oh.. daily walks. Some people lament the need to walk their dogs daily and soon after, they no longer walk their dogs anymore.

This is when commitment kicks in as walks are what your pups look forward to every day where they can run wild, play at dog runs, or even just a 45mins walk outside wherever. Pretty similar to the kind of break we look forward to after staying at home the entire day.

Walking them daily exposes them to different environments instead of being a country bumpkin. Some puppies react very much as they were not exposed to cars, people jogging, the sounds of the birds chirping …etc when they are young and become fearful as they age and these certainly are not fears that could be eliminated overnight. This is only just an example of my experience having a sheltie, however, there could be other problems owner faces depending on the breed of their dog.

Commitment to walk them daily eliminates bad behaviour and is a good form of exercise to correct them of their bad habits and to develop a healthier relationship between you and your pups:)

Let them have their fair share of playtime too. Cafes are really heaven for them.

  • Trainings

Obedience training, focus training, toilet training, or whatsoever training you have enrolled yourself and your pups into, please do not give up halfway as these are the essentials and know-hows which will definitely be useful to you and your pups. All in all, don’t get one if you cant commit and don’t resent them if they were to pee on your couch or your bed or your favourite cushion in the future. #JUSTSAYING

  • Showers

Be sure to shower them weekly / twice a week to keep them clean. You don’t want bugs or fleas up their fur. As my sheltie has dry skin issues, he has to be showered weekly with medicated shampoo. The process is really tiresome but you get a puffy, pleasant smelling, and happy puff at the end of the day.

RESPONSIBILITIES AND SACRIFICES

Waking up at several intervals during the night to clear his poop was a test for us. Both me and my fiancé struggled so much as we were logs before we had him. Puppies poop like there’s no tomorrow, and just so you know, they eat their own poop like it’s the best dessert they ever had. And yes, this is gonna be repetitive for the first few weeks. Ingesting too much poop is definitely not healthy for them in the long run and it could become a habit which would be hard to correct in the future.

It was madness for us at night and we were soulless in the day when we headed for work. But seeing how much he has grown and learned when and where not to poop, we know the sacrifices were not wasted.

As it’s only just me, my fiancé, and my pups living together, we could barely head out for a long period of time. Well, not until hapsie is an adult. heheh.
Staycations were also a no for us, temporarily. Covid’s here anyway.

HOW IT EVENTUALLY CHANGED MY LIFESTYLE

Having our own personal time has became a bonus for us.
Without a dog, you can travel whenever you want to, enjoying impromptu plans with friends and families, spending some time chilling while watching Netflix, popping chips into your mouth.

But when you have one….. you have to feed him on time, spend time walking him, playing with him, teaching and training him. Your energy will be drained by the time the sunsets. Zero time for dating or even just mere chilling. Times where we left him at the groom for about an hour or so, was the only personal time we had to have a cup of coffee, to lay back and chill for a bit. We even had to drop him off at our parent’s place occasionally to attend meetings/appointments and only fetch him when our day ends.

Waking up early has become a habit as we had to feed him. We use to be logs who only wakes up in noon. Now our body clock has changed.
Weekends have also been busier than before as we’ll bring him out to cafes, dog runs to meet his siblings and friends as weekdays were only walks and journey to the office together. Chilling and lazing on a weekend has become a once in a while event. It did change my lifestyle to a healthier one and I’m thankful for this change. 9 months into having a dog and I’m enjoying every second of it. Looking forward to having him celebrate the different milestones I’ll be achieving in the future and I’m really grateful for the change he has brought upon us.

—

Ah, not forgetting the twenty percent of the mess I mentioned earlier, its nothing more than having holes in your favourite shirt, clean socks which are soaking wet, strings in your pants shredded, and tissue paper pieces all over your floor 🙂 But don’t worry, after all the mess that’s been made, you’ll be sure to see their most innocent, brightest smile which you can never get mad at 🙂

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Community Stories

Tips for taking memorable outdoor photos of your furkid (without using professional cameras!)

Our personal experience

We often receive queries from fellow pawrents who ask us where we take our outdoor photos, what camera we use, and how we managed to get clear and bright photos of Taro! While we are by no means professional photographers (PS. in fact, we snap most of our pictures with our iPhone!), we would love to share some tips on how to get some memorable and clear photos for you to keep (or post on IG!)

Photo snapped using iPhone 🙂

1. Is your doggo in a calm mood?

This is an important point often overlooked by most pawrents! There is no way you can snap a nice clear photo if your dog is in an overly-playful mood and is constantly breaking his/her sit-stay position. Tips – we usually start our photoshoot sessions by taking Taro for a long walk or letting him interact with other dogs. After the walk, Taro will be calmer and tend to stay better – more time for hoomans to snap photos!

Photo taken after a long walk with Taro.

2. Avoid crowded photo spots

This goes without saying – it is difficult for most dogs to stay focused when there are tons of people and dogs walking past. Furthermore, most people would prefer photos where there are as little photobombs as possible. We like to bring Taro to spots in a park where there are fewer people walking by – other than your doggo being less distracted, you also get to snap more photos in peace without feeling too conscious of yourself squatting in front of your dog with your phone for too long a period of time >.< Places, where there is plenty of room for walking and photoshoots, include Bishan Park (huge park, you can definitely find less crowded spots!), East Coast Park, and Lower Seletar Reservoir.

Photo taken at East Coast Park

3. Take advantage of the (good) weather

We love taking photos around 5 to 6.30pm. This gives you a good chance of taking sunset photos, and we try to avoid gloomy days because the surroundings can differ so much with some sunshine. Below are some sunset photos that we really love – disclaimer: they are definitely a stone’s throw from professionally-taken photos, but good enough for our own keepsake 🙂 Bonus – they are ALL taken with iPhone only. We love snapping photos on the go without carrying heavy cameras.

4. Make use of some blooms

This is up to your personal preference, but we love having blooms in our photos! If you use aperture on your camera or portrait mode on your iPhone, you can actually achieve some nice effects with a random flower bush.

5. Can’t get your furkid to stay still? Try putting them on a bench 🙂

Not all dogs are pawfect at sit-stay, and on certain days they are extra distracted! Sometimes, we love to make use of that random park bench to snap some photos 😉

Botanic Gardens
Sengkang Riverside Park

6. Basic Editing – simply use your phone photo-editing app or Lightroom

We usually do some basic editing of our photos – no complicated or paid app or Photoshop, we do it only using our iPhone photo app editing functions and Lightroom. There are many ways of editing a photo and different people have different preferences, so there is no right or wrong to this! For our own photos, we like them bright and vibrant. We would usually adjust the brightness and color of the photos slightly. Lightroom does this pretty well without making your photos look over-exposed or unnatural.

Places we love to go

Our frequently visited places for walks and photos are – Punggol Waterway Park and Sengkang Riverside Park (these parks can be pretty crowded though, but they are near to us), East Coast Park, Bishan Park, and a new favorite Lower Seletar Reservoir. We also love Botanic Gardens and Gardens by the Bay but they are a little further for us. Share with us your favorite places for photoshoots/walks below! And thank you for reading! We hope this article helps pawrents without professional cameras to take nice and memorable photos of their furkids for keepsake 🙂

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Community Stories

My first experience with an Animal Communicator

Have you ever wondered what your pet is thinking?

As an owner of 2 dogs – Lilo, a 12-year-old Maltese, and Cookie, a 2-year-old Pomsky mix Shetland, I have always thought “what if I can understand why she’s doing this or that, etc etc.” Hence, I decided to share more about my journey in engaging an Animal Communicator (AC)!

Cookie & Lilo (henlo everypawdy!)

As Lilo got older, I was making a conscious effort 1 year ago to search for a good AC in hopes of understanding more about Lilo so that I can make her remaining years the best ever possible, but my main motive was to know her bucket list! I also got the AC to check in with Lilo about her health conditions and some behavioral issues. As for Cookie, I wanted to understand more about her; her character likes and dislikes. 

While I was researching on which AC to engage, most AC allows up to 10 questions per animal, which I feel that it is enough to know everything important about the animal. For 10-15 questions, ACs usually charge between 80~180 SGD. Most ACs are able to communicate with any kind of animals, be it dogs, cats, reptiles, birds, etc.

I chanced upon Nicole, from @pawsandcrystals on Instagram as she was launching a “pay as you wish” initiative to kick off her animal communication journey. Nicole is currently doing this full-time and her current rates are as below which is super affordable! I felt this instant draw towards her and decided to drop her a dm. We clicked off and immediately set an appointment date for her to do her sharing via a video call. FYI, Nicole usually discusses with her clients over WhatsApp messages or IG DMs, and this special arrangement to do a video call was made as I wanted to share more about some questions you guys might have while contemplating to engage one.

Nicole’s very affordable rates! (Supporting small biz owners as much as possible)

But first, some funny stories that Nicole shared with me! An owner wanted to know why his pug kept getting shocked by his own fart sounds, and the pug told Nicole that he did not know that the sound was coming from himself LOL! Nicole communicated with the pug that not all sounds are scary and the sound came from him. The owner then updated Nicole that the pug smiled at him when he farted the next time! How cheeky is that!!

Nicole also shared that when she first started her AC journey, she chanced upon a chicken near her residential block that looked lost. To practice her AC skills, she proceeded to take a picture of it, went back home, and tried to communicate with it but there wasn’t any response. She thought that her AC skills were not working and then proceeded to bring her dog, Bubbles out for a walk. The moment she opened the door, the chicken was right at her doorstep! HOW IN THE WORLD?! 

Nicole’s very cute dog – Bubbles and said Chicken that appeared at her doorstep

According to Nicole, there are different ways that an AC communicates with animals. Some of them do it through visuals, taste, smell, etc.. For Nicole, it was visual while her friend was through taste. Example: to ask a dog what it likes to eat, Nicole will show different visuals of various foods and get the dog to show her the visual of their favorite food, while her friend will get a taste of the food in her mouth. Cool right?! 

So… What do you need to prepare when engaging an AC? 

In order for Nicole to communicate with our dogs, we sent her an individual photograph of the dogs that we took recently. Do make sure that their eyes can be seen clearly! We also sent her images of us (the dogs’s main caretakers) so that Nicole would know who the dogs are referring to when she gets the visual replies from them. You should prepare a list of questions which Nicole will communicate with the dog and share her findings with you via IG Dm or voice memos.

When Nicole starts her communication with the animals, she’d say hello, introduce herself to the animal as their papa/mama’s friend and give them a heads-up that she’ll be asking them some questions. For our dogs, Nicole shared that Lilo was more aloof like “Who are you? I’ve never seen you before, what do you want?”, while Cookie was really excited like “HELLO! OK! ASK ASK!!” reaction!

Now some of you might wonder ‘What questions should I ask an AC’? There is really no fixed set of questions to ask. You can really ask anything you want, really! 

Here are some of the questions you may consider:

  • What do you like/dislike 
  • Any pain in your body or discomfort
  • What is your bucket list 
  • What activity do you enjoy the most 
  • Do you have anything to say to us 
  • Who do you love the most 
  • Why do you do this (behavioral issue)
  • What type of food you prefer 
  • What do you enjoy most that we are doing for you now 
  • How can we improve your quality of life

Whilst Nicole was sharing with me her visuals that she got from my dogs, I basically went “omg ya omg ya omg yaaaa!!” the whole time because she was quite spot on! For example, she asked Lilo what she likes and Lilo showed her a visual of the milk balls that humans eat. This treat choice is pretty uncommon among dogs and I did not share any videos of Lilo eating the milk balls on any platforms, ever! 

Lilo’s favourite sweet potato milk balls for dogs that looks just like human’s!

We also asked about her behavior of lunging at other dogs first when we are outside. Lilo told her that she is territorial and now that she’s older, she wants respect from other dogs. What a diva! Lilo also told Nicole that she doesn’t like grass and does not understand dogs who chomp/eat grass on their walks LOL! You may want to ask about bucket list because Lilo expressed that she wanted to eat a plate of sausages but she has never tried sausages! So Nicole explained that sometimes, animals want the food that they see or smell when the humans eat. 

For Cookie, she communicated that she really loves zoomies, running in dog runs without leash. She also loves to come to me for sayang, and to play rough with hoodad. Quite spot on as this is what she does daily! This girl even complained that she hates the hairdryer because it’s noisy… which explains why she keeps trying to run away after a shower hah! Cookie also expressed her preference for meaty and dry food. Just for fun, we got Nicole to ask Cookie who she loves more, mama or papa? Interestingly, Nicole said that she saw Cookie jumping between us and told her that she can’t choose, she loves both of us a lot! 

Supawdawg! Cookie doing her zoomies as usual!

At the end of the session, I felt that I knew more about my dogs and how to improve their quality of life. I would suggest for all pawrents to try out AC as it does help to understand your pets better. Afterall, we all want our pets to live the best life possible, right? If you ever feel that there is a sudden change in your dog, you may want to consider speaking to an AC or feel free to reach out to Nicole. She’s super friendly! We are all learning how to be better pawrents for our furkids, so hang in there because you are doing great now!