{20sept2012: not scared}

I can't say that EVERYONE is scared of Darwin. Every so often we go out with her and people actually aren't afraid of her and want to come up and say hi.



These kids were super sweet and the little boy was very smart, we talked about what we feed our dogs. hehe. After the kids came up, a couple adults came along to pet Darwin as well. 

***post about our use of a pinch collar on Darwin to come.

{17sept2012: circus freak walk}

Walks with Darwin are always so entertaining here. The staring and pointing and loud gasps of fear, it's like we are walking the bearded woman or wolf boy or some other circus freak down the street. Here's a glimpse at one walk a month ago to pick up some lunch at Holland Village.





The staring and pointing is nothing compared to the screaming we got this weekend though.
We decided to take Darwin to the beach this weekend and getting to the beach means taking a cab (at least til we figure out getting a license here and renting a car). Our first cab experience was a learning one and since then we've figured out texting to book a cab is the easiest way to do it. (You can send a text message to the cab company with your zip code and they'll send a confirmation and cab number pretty quickly. We just add a note that we have a big dog with us and it's worked out fairly well.) Well we got to the beach with no problems and spent a couple hours there (I had a cold so we didn't stay out too long) and we texted to book a cab to go back home.
The first cab showed up (well he had just dropped off passengers at the same location) and refused to take us because he didn't see we had a dog and he's Muslim, ok fine.
So we texted again and was confirmed a cab. He showed up and I walk over and he's like no I can't take you. And I asked why, we had said we had a dog and he confirmed our booking. He said he's scared of dogs. At that point Jason had walked over with Darwin and as soon as Darwin got near his cab he started screaming (like a little girl). Oi.
We were really annoyed by that point and booked another cab. Finally a cab showed up who, though he was scared of dogs (he asked if Darwin would bite him, and I reassured him that she would not), accepted us and got us home.
It's always an adventure with a big dog in Singapore.

{19aug2012: tick!}

Nasty nasty nasty.
Darwin's first tick.
We went for a walk one night. Our landlord at the temporary place we're staying at told us about an abandoned railroad track a few blocks behind our house that's a good place to walk dogs. So we set out to find it (took us a couple times to actually find a connection down to it).
{this wayyyy!!!}

I don't know if it's because it's not super easy to get to or because of the possibility of snakes, but we hardly ever see people down there so it's a great place to let Darwin off leash for a little bit.

We got home from a short walk (30 minutes is about all Darwin could handle) and we were relaxing watching tv, giving belly rubs, when I noticed something on her belly.

Ewwww a little tick!
I quickly pulled it off her (it wasn't stuck to her, and wasn't fat and full of blood) and put it in a glass of soapy water.

I don't know if she got it on her walk on the railway trail or if she got it at quarantine and it died sucking her flea and ticked medicined blood. Either way it's disgusting and I hope we don't see any more of them.

{11aug2012: summer picnic}

Darwin got released from quarantine at the perfect time. The next day, Saturday, was our office summer picnic! They chose a place on the east coast that's dog friendly so Darwin could make her big debut.
Before we could do that though, we had to give Darwin a bath. She was a little stinky from travel and quarantine, and we thought she should make her first impression be a non-stinky one. So she got her first outside with a hose bath.... she was not a fan.

Then the FUN began. Not really. In Singapore it is VERY expensive to own a car so most people get around by taxi, bus or MRT. Dogs aren't allowed on the bus or MRT, which means regular taxis, or special pet taxis. The thing is pet taxi's are expensive. We had called a company and they told us it would be s$65 to take Darwin to the east coast. ONE WAY. HECK NO! The thing about regular taxi's are that many taxi drivers won't take dogs (some for religious reasons, some because they are afraid of dogs, etc). So we called a cab company (Comfort Cabs) we were told were a little more easy to get a dog friendly driver and told them we had a large dog. It took us about an hour standing outside in the heat and 4 cabs to find one that would actually take us.

(We learned that if we book a cab notifying them we have a dog, they can't say no and we shouldn't ask and just get right in. That seemed to work.)


Over an hour late, but we finally made it to the picnic!

We were a little nervous about how Darwin would do with that many people all at once, and also how some people would take to her. She did great and for the most part everyone loved her.

I even got her accessories to wear to hopefully win over some nervous people.

It was a really hot day (who am I kidding, they are all hot days here) and since we were at the beach I thought we should give Darwin some time to cool off in the water.




In all the madness of getting ready to leave in the morning we had forgot to feed Darwin (bad doggy parents), but luckily there was leftover rice after everyone ate so Darwin didn't go completely hungry.

{i love rice!}

We were there for a few hours so Darwin got a fair share of beach time.

 

One of our bosses son's was visiting and he LOVED Darwin. She had a blast chasing him on the beach too.

 
I was surprised that Darwin wasn't scared of the waves on the beach. What she was scared of though was the thunderstorm that we got caught in before we left. Luckily Darwin had a new friend to comfort her.

While Darwin was being comforted, Jason and I were both on our phones trying to call a taxi to pick us up. MAN. That was tough. Being that it was dumping down rain I think everyone in Singapore was trying to call a taxi at the same time. It took us an hour just to find one that would come, and while standing waiting for it we all got soaked. We had a blanket for Darwin though and covered the back seat and thankfully the cab driver didn't make a fuss that we were bringing a HUGE wet dog into his cab.
We survived our first adventure in a cab with Darwin. Whew.

{06aug2012: Free at last!}

Ok ok, I skipped the last few days of Darwin's quarantine. We did go every day we could, except once, on the 4th of July we had house hunting appointments and all the appointments happened during visiting hours. I can tell you that the remaining days were more of the same, show up at 4, let Darwin out to a run shortly after for 15 minutes, go back to her room and cool off in the a/c, petting and massaging, then another trip outside around 545 (technically you are only allowed one outside time in the run, but if it was slow they were nice enough to let us go out - which was most days - so Darwin could get one more potty break before we left).
Fast forward to Friday July 6. Release date.
Release time at quarantine is between 10am-12pm and our pet movers handled all of that. They told us they'd come by our house around 11 with Darwin. So at 1030 we left work and headed to our place. As we  got off the bus and were walking to the house we saw a van parked out in front and Darwin being walked around! (sorry, no pictures, they were early and I wasn't ready for them.)
After handing over their payment and getting all of her things (paperwork, bedding) we took her up to our temporary room to get her situated.
checking out the bathroom and kitchen...

getting comfy... 



really making herself at home...

We headed back to work once we saw she would be okay. And now that she's out our real adventures begin.

{04aug2012: Quarantine Day 6}

The quarantine has no visiting hours on Sunday so we felt really bad for Darwin. 

This is how she felt about that:

heheh just kidding... cheap toy = quick destuffing while being used as a tug toy. 

We did bring her another treat, this time, some left over bread from our dinner the night before. Darwin is totally my girl... we both love our starches! :)

Four days left of jail... so close!

{2aug2012: Quarantine Day 4}

Saturday's at quarantine the visiting hours are longer (2-6), but the thought of sitting in Darwin's tiny room for 4 hours wasn't exactly appealing. We also had errands to run so we did a little shopping at Mustafa in Little India before going up to quarantine. I was told by the driver who picked me up from the airport that Mustafa was the best place to go to get things for cheap. I was also told by some friends in the office that Mustafa is a CRAZY place and you could get lost in there (actually the wording was more like "always keep track of where the exits are" and "if a fire ever starts while you're there just sit down and prepare to die.") . I was a little nervous to go in there based on the descriptions, but we managed to survive (you can seriously buy everything you need there - the driver said they used to sell cars there too, but not anymore) and found a few things for Darwin. We shared one of them with her to keep her company.


The heat was way too much though and she wasn't interested in her new toy, what she was really into was the air condition.
{i love you cold air blowing machine}

{30july2012: Quarantine Day 3}

Jason finally got to Singapore while I was visiting Darwin on day 2, so on day 3 Darwin got a special surprise. Dad!

When Darwin first got to quarantine our pet mover had mentioned that while Darwin's crate was very big, it was a little narrow and Darwin's legs seemed stiff from not being able to stretch out while she was in it. So while we visited Darwin we made sure to give her good back massages.

{27july2012: Quarantine Day 2}

Now that I knew the drill of quarantine (get there at 4, sign in, get Darwin out for her 15 minutes of outdoor time, sit in the room for the next hour and half) the second day I came with a treat to entertain her.
{hello. welcome to my room}


{appppllllleeeeeeee}

{give it here!}

{that was delicious}

On the second day I think Darwin had figured out the drill as well. Unlike day 1, she was standing and waiting and I could hear her barking as I walked into the hallway. I had noticed the lady across from us had brought string cheese for her dog, so I thought I'd bring Darwin apples! She loved it! She was more vocal when I left on day 2 than on day 1.