Christmas in Thailand 2008

Thailand is a Buddhist country, so Christmas Day was just another work day here. As a result, we did very little to celebrate the day... except to dress Tai and Daisy in their 'Mr & Mrs Santa' jackets. Daisy goes everywhere Tai goes, so it was fun to see the two of them running around in a blaze of red.

Click pics to see full-size images.

And... here are our kids playing in the garden.

Daisy at 9 weeks

At the tender age of 9 weeks, our little Daisy has carved out a spot in the hearts of our family and our customers. Strangely, though, when Thai customers first meet Daisy, they don't ask "What's her name?" or "How old is she?" Instead, they ask "How much did she cost?" To Thai people, the value of something you own determines where you sit on the "social status ladder." As I say, strange!

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Tai is quickly becoming Daisy's friend and playmate. Daisy chases him everywhere like a little shadow, and when they play, she wants to bite at his jowls. They play tug-of-war with the rope chew toys, and compete for control of the crushed plastic water bottle that is their favorite toy at the moment. It's kind of like watching a hockey game, with this plastic bottle skidding across the floor and these two characters vying for control. Tai will steal it from Daisy; but a moment later, she'll steal it back. It's obvious that he's being careful with her when they play, not being too rough considering her diminutive size.

Daisy is learning to respond to her name. When called, she comes at a run. She's very much a people-person (people-dog?), demanding attention from everyone. Tai, on the other hand, will check out each customer who comes in, but then will go back to whatever he was doing. Just one of many differences in their personalities.

Daisy has an incredible appetite. She eats till her belly is bulging, then wants to dive into Tai's bowl. And, it seems, she'll eat anything. Not the fussy, picky eater that Tai is.

Here are more pics...

Introducing Daisy - part 2

Daisy has been with us for nearly a week, and has completely taken over the household. Here are more pics...

Click pics to see larger images.

Introducing Daisy

What a delight it is to introduce Daisy, Tai's new little sister, born on Oct 22, 2008, in central Thailand. This adorable little girl joined our family at the tender age of only 7 weeks. And what a bundle of energy! She bounces around like she's made of rubber.

We selected Daisy from a breeder in central Thailand, a four-hour drive from our home in the northeast. It wasn't easy making a choice from so many bright faces, all wanting attention, all wanting a new home. If only we could have taken them all. The drive back home was largely uneventful because both Tai and Daisy slept almost the entire way.

This little girl certainly has a healthy set of vocal chords. When she's hungry, she can scream loud enough to set your teeth on edge. You'd think she was being tortured. But set her bowl in front of her and it's like the world is going to end in 5 minutes. She attacks her food with gusto! We're going to try to give her a varied diet, not the fussy, limited diet Tai prefers. We've already learned that Daisy will dive into Tai's dinner bowl if she's not kept under control. (Tai is not impressed.) Thankfully she's destined not to be a picky eater.

At this point, Daisy has been with us only a few days, and Tai isn't quite sure what to make of all this. He turns a cold shoulder to her most of the time, and has even growled at her. But at night, he sleeps beside her. In rare moments, we've seen Tai playing with her a little bit. Hopefully his jealousy will subside soon and they will be inseparable.

We're not used to having such a tiny one under foot, so she'll have to stay on a leash for a while till she's a bit bigger and isn't so likely to get herself into trouble. After all, a restaurant can be a dangerous place. (No, she's not allowed in the kitchen.)

And so, what introduction would be complete without pics, so here are more...

Click the pics to see full-size images.

Tai celebrates 5 years

That's right. October 1st is Tai's big day. 5 years old. In his honour, we put up a few balloons in the restaurant along with a sign announcing this special occasion. In his usual style, he took it all with grace.

An injury

We're not sure how it happened, but a couple of weeks ago, Tai had this cut or scrape on his lip. We can't figure out if it is from sniffing along the ground or from sticking his face into long grass or shrubs. At first it was quite raw and open. Slowly it has turned more white-ish as it heals. I hope the hair grows back in so that it isn't a permanent mark. It doesn't seem to bother him much, although he does lick it more now than usual. Luckily, it doesn't interfere with his play. He still loves to play tug-of-war and to chase after his toys.

Tai gets new clothes

We recently attended a pet expo in Bangkok. Our friend there had a booth to sell all manner of clothes and doggy goodies. She delighted in giving Tai a variety of shirts and hats. Yes, hats. I don't like hats on dogs. In fact, I don't like clothes on dogs. I do admit that a shirt can help Tai stay warm in winter, but beyond that I'm not a doggy fashion aficionado.

Here's Tai in his schoolboy hat. Or is he pretending to be Sherlocke Holmes?

Tai at the beach

After more than two years, we were able to make a getaway to the beach. Believe me, this vacation was long overdue. When we lived in Bangkok, we used to get away quite often. But now that we are 7 hours from the nearest beach... well, that kinda speaks for itself.

Click on photos to see full size.

This was actually Tai's first real beach experience. In the past, we had someone we could leave him with. Our favorite holiday spot at the time didn't allow pets. But now that we have no one to puppy-sit for us, we had to do extra research into hotels/resorts that accept these special members of the family.

We certainly hit on a wonderful place. In fact, the Villa Bali Resort had everything we needed and wanted... 1. they accept pets; 2. they have a pool; 3. they have easy beach access (right across the road); and 4. they have free WiFi. (Tai didn't care for this last one. He's not a slave to internet and email like someone who shall remain nameless.)

We spent each day in the shade of large trees on the long, wide beach or under an umbrella by the pool. This is low season, so the entire town area is very much deserted. Just a few tourists. In fact, the four-lane road that separates the resort from the beach was incredibly quiet, even in the middle of the day. It felt like we had the whole beach entirely to ourselves. Just the way I like it.

Tai thoroughly enjoyed playing on the beach and in the sea. His injured foot didn't seem to bother him in the slightest. He played himself to exhaustion, then enjoyed a nap, and started all over again. The only thing that seemed to bother him was the taste of seawater, but he quickly learned to cope with that.

We were delighted that Tai ate his suppers heartily every evening, just like at home. I mention this because in the past whenever we took him away on vacations, he would go for days without touching his food. Not this time. This time, he ate like a little pig!!




Check out this video of us thoroughly enjoying the beach: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a88AgTgf2J8

Here's the link for the resort: http://www.villa-bali.net/

New Signs at Boston-T

We had a new sign made for Boston-T Cafe and had the old one mounted on wheels so that we could have a sign at eye level. We're pleased with the results.

Click the photo to see it full size.

And here's a pic looking in to the restaurant from the street.

On the mend

We're glad to report that Tai is quickly getting back to normal. After 24 hours of pretty much staying put and sleeping, he ate his supper as usual and was happy to go out for a short walk before bed, just far enough to 'take care of business'. Naturally, his foot is still tender, and likely will be for a week or more.

And now after 48 hours, he's a lot more like himself. He's getting pretty good at hopping around on only one back leg. He went to the vet again today to have his foot cleaned and the bandage changed. What a trooper, sat through it all without a fuss. He was playing with a young girl this evening in our restaurant and, try as he might, just couldn't keep that foot off the ground all the time. Play clearly took priority over favoring a sore foot. That's our boy!

Tai has surgery

Tai is recovering from minor surgery to have a pad on one of his back feet stitched closed. We don't how the injury happened, but he came limping into the house yesterday with the inner tissue of his foot pad oozing out of a gaping cut. So off we went to see the vet.

He was given an injection to put him out, but it didn't take. Neither did the second shot. The third one finally knocked him out. When we picked him up a few hours later, he was only fractionally awake but was trying desperately to walk or crawl, though his limbs wouldn't cooperate. Talk about acting like a zombie.

He slept on the bed during the night so we could keep a close watch on him. Fortunately he slept well all night, moving around only a little. In the morning, he was still pretty dopey. I guess it will take time for all that anesthetic to work its way out of his system. And during the day, he did hobble around a bit, even peed and pooped. He must still be quite uncomfortable, though, because he has been growling at the customers who come into the restaurant. I would too if my foot were really sore.

Hopefully this all passes quickly.

Our Active Sleeper

I was just sitting here watching Tai having a nap in the afternoon. He is the most 'active' sleeper I know. His eyes are open, his tongue is out (normal when he's sleeping), and his feet and mouth are going at a furious pace. I'd love to know what he's dreaming. Could be about playing with his favorite toys, or about visiting with the neighborhood dogs. No wonder he looks exhausted when he wakes up!!

A New Old Pic

Found this pic on our other computer. Don't know how I missed it. The background has been removed through the wonders of Photoshop. I'm sure every BT owner will recognize this head-cocked pose, as if to ask "what are you talking about???"

Tai's Favorite Place to Snooze

We just bought a new padded chair for our restaurant. It was immediately a hit with the customers. Naturally, Tai was not to be outdone. His favorite place to snooze used to be the sofa. Now it's this new chair. Well, it is his restaurant, after all!

Click on pics to see them full size.

Boston-T Cafe has a new home

We haven't posted in a while because we've been busy moving house 'n home... and restaurant... to bigger and better premises. We outgrew the old location and found what we think is the perfect spot. Tai wasn't much help with the big heavy boxes, but he was a prince in consoling our aches and pains at the end of the day.

Here are a few pics of the new home of Boston-T Cafe. As I said, it's bigger and better... and the customers love it!

This is the entrance. If you look closely, you can see our street sign... complete with Tai's pic. And we're having another one made. It's in the works as we speak.






Click photos to see full-size images.




The garden.











Inside the restaurant. And look, there's Tai on his way outside to greet customers.

A Little Pee'd Off? Shocking!

You would think that after living here--meaning here in this building--for over a year, Tai would consider the entire place his. But for some reason, he still finds the need to pee on things in our apartment and in the restaurant. Fortunately it doesn't happen too often and we're able to clean it up before the customers see it. It's frustrating, though. It's not like he can't get outside to take care of business. There's always a door open somewhere.

One morning recently, we were going through our usual routine to get the restaurant ready for opening. We plugged in a main extension cord that powers a few lights and a fan. Immediately that line went dead. Why? Because Tai peed on the one little piece of the fan's electrical cord that had been repaired a very long time ago... and the pee must have penetrated to the wires, shorting out the line.

Can't figure out why Tai would pee at exactly that spot. Good thing, though, he didn't pee on it while the line was live. It has been proven that if you pee on a live wire, the electrical current can travel up the water stream and... well... the result would have been shocking. Ouch!

Not Sleeping Through the Night

Tai usually sleeps very well through the night, although his snores are loud enough to wake the dead, but at least he seems to sleep well. Recently he has started getting up in the middle of the night... to play. He will wake us by licking an arm, a leg, a face, whatever is exposed. And if we don't respond quickly or decisively enough, he starts pawing at said arm, leg, or face. Silly me, at first I thought he wanted to go out for a pee, but when we got out of the bedroom, he scampered for his toys and threw them around with wild abandon, hoping I'd join the fun. I didn't. I couldn't. I was still half asleep, so I led him straight back to bed. Within a minute, he was in the land of slumber again... albeit a very snoring slumber. We've been going through this almost every night lately. It's hard to ignore someone licking your face!!

The Return of Summer

Summertime temperatures have returned to this part of Southeast Asia. We're talking highs of 35 to 37C (95 - 99F). Very normal for this time of year. And that means a return of Tai's hot-weather sleeping pose. Gone is the curled-up-in-a-ball-to-keep-warm pose of winter, and back is the rather undignified lie-on-his-back paws-in-the-air pose of hot, steamy summers. Keeping the chest cool keeps the entire body cool, so the experts say. Tai seems to agree.

Fashion Dude

At this time of year, when most regions of the northern hemisphere are still in the cold clutches of winter--and here in Thailand is no exception, though "cold" is a relative term--we seek to keep our little BTs warm and cosy by outfitting them in all manner of jackets and coats and pajamas and boots and hats and what-have-you.

Personally, I'm not a fan of doggies dressed to the 9's. And I'm not the one who went out and bought Tai's wardrobe (let's be clear about that!!) ;-) But I'm the first to agree that if it keeps him (or her) warm 'n toasty, let's put it on. Tai is a warm weather doggie. (And we certainly get our share of "warm" weather here in tropical Southeast Asia!) He hates being cold, which includes being in air conditioning. He'd rather sit outside in the sweltering heat. But at this time of year, he seeks the sunshine. He sleeps at night in his favorite pajamas and will sometimes spend the whole day in some kind of jacket if the temperature is sufficiently cool. I came home from work the other day--a particularly cool day--to see him lying on the road in front of our restaurant. (Don't worry, he was perfectly all right.) It was just that the sun was no longer on our north-facing patio, and the nearest sunny spot was out on the road. So there he was, dressed in his red Santa jacket, curled up behind a parked car. What a goof! Naturally, I shooed him off the road. Hmm, I wonder if that's what they mean by "fashion that could stop traffic"???

Tummy Troubles

Poor Tai has been suffering with a stomach or intestinal bug the last few days. The vet thinks it's from licking things he shouldn't be licking. No surprise. We often see him licking at some spot on our patio, so there's no telling what he might have picked up. Anyway, the vet has given us a couple of medications that should stop his pooping every two hours day and night. He's been on the meds for almost 48 hrs at this point, and he's looking more comfortable even though he is still pooping every few hours.

During the night when he needs to go out, he scratches at the bedroom door. One of us will take him to our patio door. (We live above our restaurant, and it's just too complicated to take him downstairs and outside, so it's to the upstairs patio we go.) Poor guy is forced to poop on the tile floor, but he has no choice. He comes back in, shaking like a leaf, no doubt thinking he's done something terribly wrong. But we reassure him that he's a good boy. Then it's back to sleep we go... till the next time.

Old dog, new trick?

I wasn't really sure which was more appropriate... can't teach an old dog new tricks, or necessity is the mother of invention. Tai is not an old dog--he's only four. And he is a dog, so 'invention' is not exactly his forte. But he did teach himself how to open the screen door that separates our apartment from our (oops, his) restaurant.

We keep the screen door closed to keep the mosquitoes out of the apartment. Our building backs onto a well-forested piece of land--the word 'jungle' certainly applies--so we have more than our share of mosquitoes day and night.

Tai is sleeping a lot during this cool time of year, and what better place to sleep than on the bed. But the bedroom is in the apartment. And the apartment is behind that closed screen door. Simple solution... push! He figured out all by himself that if he gives the door just the right amount of force, it pops right open. He has other places where he can sleep during the day--a favorite blanket on the floor in the restaurant and a favorite chair in the kitchen. But who can argue that the bed is so much better!

Clever dog!

A Visit to the Vet

Tai is such a trooper when it comes to his regular visits to the vet. We stopped in earlier this week for his regular shot. He stands there like the brave boy he is and takes his jab without even a flinch. Quite frankly, he's more interested in all the smells that pervade the office rather than in what the doctor is doing. His little nose sounds like a hoover as he covers every inch of the office floor in search of... well, whatever he's in search of.

Only three times has he had any kind of adverse reaction to his shots. Once was in Bangkok. He needed two shots, so the vet did one in each hip. Within a week, Tai developed quite a sizable lumps at those sites. It looked like he was about to sprout wings. It didn't occur to us at first that it was the result of a badly given injection, but that's what another vet told us. Sure enough, within about 4 months, the lumps gradually disappeared, just as the second vet said they would.

Another time, when we were living in Chiang Mai, we took Tai for his shot, and then immediately went to one of our favorite restaurants for supper. (Our favorites tend to be those that let us have Tai with us.) We had just finished our supper when poor Tai suffered a reaction to the meds. He threw up under our table. The restaurant staff, bless them, took it all in stride. We learned a lesson from that, though. After we take Tai to the vet, we don't go anywhere for at least an hour afterwards. Just a precaution. We make sure he's outside so that if he does throw up (or something else even more disgusting), we don't need to 'embarrass ourselves', if you know what I mean.

The third time, also when we were living in Chiang Mai, we came home immediately after visiting the vet. We wanted to make sure Tai didn't have any reaction before we went out for the evening. (He was going to have to stay home alone on this particular occasion.) We knew something was up when he started walking around in a strange way, like he was entirely uncomfortable--which of course he probably was. Then it happened. He vomited and pooped in the middle of the living room floor... at the same time. He looked so pathetic, standing there in the middle of that mess. If a dog can look embarrassed, he sure did at that moment. Poor Tai. Fortunately, though, we haven't encountered that kind of reaction since then.

Winter in the tropics...

Yes, it's winter here in Southeast Asia, and the thermometer seems to be doing its rollercoaster thing. Racing up to the low 30s C (85F) during the day, and sliding down to the upper teens C (60F) at night. Very comfortable, if I do say so myself (which of course I just did). Sure beats the snow and cold back home in Canada.

Lately, though, Mother Nature has been toying with us. Nighttime temps had slipped down to 12C (54F) for a while. Brrrr! And at the moment, daytime is near 38C (100F). Poor Tai doesn't know whether to wear his Santa jacket (complete with brown leather belt and fake fur trim) or his boston bikini (I'm not even gonna try to explain that one!).

I guess we should enjoy the cool while we have it. Won't be long before tropical summer returns to these parts, with days near 40C (104F) and nights not much cooler.

Eating Out

We had visitors over the New Year holiday, so we took them across the street to an all-you-can-eat buffet barbecue restaurant. A charcoal barbecue on every table. You do your own cooking. It's convenient, it's open-air, and they don't mind us having Tai with us. Usually he lies on the concrete floor while we eat; but this is winter season, and even in the tropics it can be pretty cool at night, so the ground was a little too cold for him. Instead he curled up on a chair next to us.

He's usually a good boy, never pestering us or begging during the meal. But this time, he must have been really hungry and insisted on sitting on my lap while I had my dinner. Well, at least I thought it was because he was hungry. Turns out he was after my chopsticks. He loves to chew chopsticks. To him, there's no difference between a small tree branch and a chopstick. They make for great chewing. I won't let him have free reign with them, though, for fear he chews it to little pieces and tries to swallow them. As soon as the end of the chopstick is nicely crushed, I take it away and we start on a new one.

The best part is that nobody bats an eye when we have Tai with us at these restaurants. He's always so polite and friendly and quiet, and the staff often comment about it. The perfect guest.