Life of a mixed-breed

Me and Buckie

2005-09-10T21:02:00.000+08:00

Goldie Gold

2005-08-16T18:26:00.000+08:00

I shot the latest picture of Buckie's fur 5 mins ago and well.. is he turning gold this time?
I could not figure it out anymore...maybe this is his last 'color'.

Now, what?

2005-08-01T23:24:00.000+08:00

Remember when Buckie was turning all white? Don't freak out, he's actually going back to brown! Hahaha a fickle little pup.

Doghouse Part II

2005-07-31T21:56:00.000+08:00

Oh boy, anxious..very anxious. Buckie is checking out his new home.

Doghouse Part I

2005-07-31T09:50:00.000+08:00

Instead of wasting tha RM72 we spent for the fences, my dad and I decided to make full use of it. We are making a dog house for Buckie! My dad is well known as Jack of all trades.. he fixes everything in the house, the pipes, the sink, my room's tiling that we rarely ask for any help from outside before. Well, dad thinks it's time for Buckie to have his own shelter. Isn't that sweet?

Umm, too small?

2005-07-27T21:45:00.000+08:00

Well, the picture paints a thousand words! You know what I mean with this picture up here. Too small for a big dog or at least a medium size dog. So what's next? U guess?

New Collar

2005-07-25T23:37:00.000+08:00

We finally bought the right collar for Buckie and I'm getting him to get used of it. It looked pretty irritating for him when he first had it on his neck. He was rolling on the floor several times, trying to get rid of the collar but eventually, he just gave up on it. Well, I put on the collar only during his play time.

At night, I remove and keep it. He should be able to relate that collar is actually for playtime and playtime is great!

I will soon have to start leashing him but I do not really like doing it so. Perhaps I'll just go with the flow. If he portrays good manners, I might not leash him after all.

Good dog!

Ants?

2005-07-10T10:56:00.000+08:00

I've been thinking..maybe it's not the skin problem. Maybe it's just those bunch of ants that's taking a stroll next to the wall near his cage. His fur is growing.. I think he's ok. LoL, the vet didn't say anything about it when I brought him for the booster injection.

Talking about the injection, Buckie was really week that day. He never bite, never bark and he never jump on anyone. He just came next to me and lied down. Just that. How weak. At least he ate his dinner, not much but lucky thing he had that little appetite left.
Went to DogsRUs and the lady told me that he could be weak for 7 days which was not so true. LoL. Buckie was back to his energetic mode today!

OMG, Skin Disease?

2005-07-05T00:10:00.000+08:00

Any advise, anyone? Need help!!
Mange? Ringworm? Fungal? I gotta get to the vet soon!

Clingy Pup

2005-07-03T17:28:00.000+08:00

He's too clingy. He follows everywhere I go and even if he is playing with his favourite toys, I could see his eyes peeping at me.

When I am near, he could just squeeze himself in between my legs along with his toys and play there!

LoL

Ugly?

2005-07-02T17:03:00.000+08:00

Well, people said Buckie doesn't look good. He's hairy & wolfy, dirty and fierce. I said he's the cutest :) His personality is just simple and loyal ..most of all, obedient, there's nothing than that any dog owners could wished for. They could pretty much get any Chi Hua Hua, Shih Tzu or Poodles but when those branded dogs don't listen or pay attention, that's the end of everything. Like people always say, 'You can't teach old dogs new tricks'. So do you really think Buckie is just a dirty dawg that do not deserve to have good characters? I don't think so!

Geez.. turning white or losing hair?

2005-07-01T17:14:00.000+08:00

Hmm.. I don't know how to say this but Buckie's color is just too unpredictable. It's turning white, as evidenced in this photo I shot.

Both his thighs are turning white, and his legs remained light brown. Check out his back, only few strands of dark brown patches on top.

Everyone is anxious about what he may become including myself!

Oh, btw look at his healing tail. It's getting better every single day. Boy, am I glad?

Attentive Little Pup

2005-06-27T16:55:00.000+08:00

Buckie loves to watch and learn. He follows me everywhere and look out for new lessons. I taught him how to 'Rollover' today. It's not easy.. I've tried several times but he kept on biting my hand. Hmmm.. this would need several days.

I'm getting a lil worried about his fur. I don't know if he could end up like Silky because I haven't really brushed his fur before. And I know if I do that, he'd freak out. LoL I just hope his fur doesn't get too long !

Time to change his bedroom size?

2005-06-26T07:13:00.000+08:00

I don't know how long he needs to stay in the cage. He is only 3 months plus and he's getting bigger and bigger each day. I wished I could just leash him up but maybe it's too soon for that.

Basic Obedience Training - Shake Hand at Week 14

2005-06-23T22:13:00.000+08:00

So it's time for a new lesson, 'Hand'. At the 'Sit' position, I stood in front of my cute lil pup and put a small piece of Jerky into my clenched fist at my left hand while my right hand tapped on Buckie's right foot in front of me, calling 'Hand'. He wouldn't understand at first, so I helped him raised his right foot with my right hand and quickly gave him the treat. It wasn't successful but I didn't give up.

The next day, I tried again but instead of raising his right foot on my right hand, he used the left foot. Mum said that most dogs are 'left-handed' but I don't think so because Bobby, my friend's neighbour's dog was trained up with right foot. Perhaps mum was right.. because Buckie is really left-pawed. LoL.. Anyways, I corrected him again and again. He was beginning to catch it.

The next morning, I started the lesson again and this time and YES, he raised his right foot! Way to go, Buckie! Well, he's got a little bit confused between 'Hand' and 'Down' at first so, I showed him with my hand signals again to make sure that he understands them.

Training a pup is not as simple as it seems because you would need a lot of patience and commitment. Buckie is one helluva smart dog, so thank God I do not have any trouble teaching him new things. It's easier to train them when they pay very much attention to you.

Basic Obedience Training - Stay & Down at Week 13

2005-06-16T21:13:00.000+08:00

'Stay'.... while I used my hand as a stop sign, took few steps away for 1 second, then returned and rewarded Buckie for not moving. That's how the command 'Stay' worked! I'd make sure he does not stand up or move as I reward him so he doesn't get the wrong meaning. Day by day, I gradually increased the distance by a step at a time, and the length of the stay by a few seconds at a time. It took me for about 1 day for Buckie to learn the command. He's definitely a fast learner!

After succeeding in 'Stay', I taught him the command 'Down'. This started with Buckie in 'Sit' position. I took a small piece of Jerky as a treat and lowered it to the ground in front of his paws and quickly gave him the treat as soon as he lied down. 'Good Boy'! It took me 2 days on this one and he does really look cute in 'Down' position. I was beggining to expect too much from him when I should be glad he could understand most of the basic obedience commands.

Basic Obedience Training - Sit at Week 12

2005-06-09T18:50:00.000+08:00

I read a lot about training up puppies from the internet and all the websites about them are pretty resourceful but they told me to be patient because most puppies will only start learning from 4 or 5 months onwards. Buckie is only 12 weeks old.

So one day I tried to teach Buckie a new command, 'Sit'. I pointed my finger to him with a treat on my left hand, shouting 'Sit!'. At first, he din't really understand so I pressed his butt down and lifted my left hand high above his nose till he finally sat. I gave him the treat and praised him enthusiastically. Well, that's it.. he sits everytime I order him to do so and he sits whenever he sees food on my hand. Very good boy indeed!

Here's Buckie at Sit position.

Double Trouble

2005-06-08T13:36:00.000+08:00

OMG!! Buckie is such a rascal! I have been away for 2 days and he has already learned how to break out from the cage. When my sis and I reached home, we could see slippers and poo were everywhere around the garden but Buckie was nowhere to be seen. I was already expecting him to have runaway from us :(

As my sis slowly walked into the porch, trying to search for Buckie.... there he was, standing anxiously on the garden chair!! I walk towards to him and he started running to me like he never wanted to be left alone again. Phewww.... it did scare me a lil.

I played with him for a little bit, and then hurried him into his cage. It was already 7pm, so my family and I drove off to a chinese restaurant for dinner. Little did we know, Buckie was already trying to escape himself from his cage. We spent few hours and when we came back, all we heard was Buckie's yelling in pain. I reached towards his cage and found his right leg stuck in between the wires at the corner of the cage! Blood was everywhere!

Dad quickly untangled the wires and I took some Dettol to clean up his wound. He looked pretty hurt and he wasn't walking right. And he also broke the tip of his tail, leaving an ugly chopped end. I used to envy his tail very much.. but looks like it will take a long long time till he finally heal up.

Piteous.. he can't even wag his tail :(

Toilet Training

2005-06-03T16:06:00.000+08:00

Siberian Huskies clean themselves like cats so there's not much of a hard time toilet training my little pup, Buckie. He hardly soil his cage, almost never. Quite a genius for an 11 weeks old puppy. Well, I do maintain a daily schedule for him, making sure he adhere the routine and does not confused himself.

His designated toilet area is at the porch where I made a square out of 4 pieces of gates/fences.
I placed some newspapers in there too, to let him know that that's the spot he needs to eliminate. Well, for coupla days, he managed to learn that! Well done! Wanna know the secret?
Well here it goes

1. Take pup to poo each morning. That's the first thing I do every morning when I wake up at 6am.
2. Say 'hurry up' and stand quietly so he could find the right spot.
3. As the pup starts to relieve himself, calmly praise him 'hurry up, good boy'.
4. When the pup finished with his business, praise him more enthusiastically. Make him think that you are proud of him.
5. Feed him morning breakfast.
6. After 15 minutes, let him out to poo again.

This must be consistently be done in the morning, afternoon, evening and before you go off to bed. Puppies can't hold on for more than 3 hours so if he does mess up his place, don't punish him. Buckie had soiled in his cage before and all I did was facing the poo and shouted, 'Bad poo!'. Lol.. I didn't know why I did that but he was listening attentively.

Hi, I'm Buckie

2005-05-29T07:19:00.000+08:00

Name : Buckie
Born : 18th March 2005
Color : Brown + Black

Buckie was a gift from my friend, Jeri. She's my best friend at work. Buckie is a mixed-breed between a Siberian Husky and a possibly Silky Terrier. We never really know who was the father, we just guessed it. Well, with his long and changing fur, it really does look like Silky's style. Anyways, he was treated at Jeri's place for about 1 months plus before I brought him home. He was infested with ticks and filled with dandruffs. Here is how Buckie (11 weeks old) looks like, tiny and .....'hairless' on the first day with us.

Here is to show you the difference between a Siberian Husky and a Silky Terrier.