Pa's Little Helper

Today Matt and I decided that we will team up in our cleaning efforts to maximize efficiency and decrease time. He was in charge of dusting, and I was in charge of vaccuming.

Azuki does what she usually does best--getting in the way and staying there.

Today, she decided that she will help her pa dust, by following him around and trying to attack his dust cloth:





Later, she keeps him company while he read The Economist. By resting her head on his page:




A few weekends back, she also acted as his study partner as pa studies for security exams:

Happy Halloween!

You didn't think I would miss a chance to dress my dog up in ridiculous outfits, did you?

Is that Azuki, or a bumble bee?!?!?!

(In case you wonder why I subject my dog to such treatment---it is because it is SO MUCH FUN, for me. hehehe)

The Most Expensive Doggie Haircut, Ever

In our small household we are no strangers to getting our hair cut. Interestingly, both me and Matt belong to the hairier category of the human race, and without proper waxing or shaving, my legs and even arms very soon resembles that of an overgrown chia-pet.

Matt has the convenient excuse of being a boy, so even though he has got bushy toes and this freakish patch of hair grass on each of his foot, society somehow determined that it is okay because it is "masculine." The hair on his head, however, grows so exceedingly fast and furious that two weeks without getting a haircut I wake up and find myself next to a monkey.

It is only fitting then for us to get a dog that requires the same amount, if not more, high maintenance when it comes to fur management. Poodles, unlike most dogs, have fur that do not shed. Instead, their fur continues to grow and grow like human hair, and requires regular and diligent grooming for them not to get matted and become uncomfortable. This quality makes them rather desirable if you are like me, who likes to wear black--dog hair on black clothes are so not cute.

It is NOT desirable, however, if you don't like to spend a fortune on your dog.

Azuki usually gets her hair trimmed once a month in a dog salon that is RELATIVELY inexpensive. In Tokyo, relatively inexpensive could actually mean out right price gouging, but since everywhere else is just as expensive or much more, your mind start playing tricks on you, and after awhile, money no longer seems like money, and spending that much to get your dog's hair trimmed, nails cut, ear hair plucked and her anal gland 'expressed' (i.e. squeeze all that funky juice outta that butt hole!) seems like a total steal. After all, do YOU want to squeeze poopy liquid out of your dog's butt hole? Didn't think so. That is definitely an outsource type of job. So seriously, I was starting to wonder about my luck, until I got notice that the store was moving.

There is another pet store that also does groming, but one time I went in there to ask about their pet boarding services the shop girl was exceedingly and unecessarily rude to me, which means there is no reason to give them my business. The large pet supply store that I can reach by bicycle also has a grooming section...and it is cheap if you join as their annual member. I am actually okay with doing that but Matt, after seeing their facilities, declared it unsanitary and unfit for our pup. God forbid Azuki accidentally takes a few slurps from the bath tub which has been tainted by, The Common Dog. (Although our dog regularly takes happy large slurps from the bowl which catches water that comes out of our dryer. Something about the taste of linen water that really suits her liking)

So that leaves just one other dog grooming service in our neighborhood--and this place is expensive.

I don't really know how stores determines their prices, especially when large variations obviously exist. But, The Grooming, as it is called, has arbitrarily decided that it will cost a toy poodle $XX to get primmed and proper. I mean, I am all about spending money on little furry pals, but even I thought that was a tad bit too much. I mean, do they use, like, shampoo made from the algae from the deep sea--like is it the same ingredient that is used in the anti-wrinkle de la mer cream? Do they give the dogs aromatheraphy massages? Or, or, perhaps they have got MAD SKILLS and will magically make my dog's legs seem shorter and actually proportional and make her look like a normal toy poodle? BECAUSE IF THEY CAN MAKE HER LEGS LOOK NORMAL then heck I will gladly dish it out! It would be like non-invasive plastic surgery for dogs.

Azuki was really desperate for a haircut, as Matt has been pointing out that the hair on her legs are way over-grown, and she is starting to resemble a small, barking, jumpy, portable jungle. So I decide to give this new place a try, since I still have some remaining faith in humanity. It must be special since it is expensive, I tell myself.

I pick Azuki up two hours later and....she looks good, but no different from any other time after she gets a haircut.

I had fully expected a miracle transformation. Instead, I just have a well-groomed dog.

Azuki officially has the most expensive haircuts out of all of us (for those of you that are wondering, the rank goes Azuki, Matt, and then me!)

Here, you be the judge. Take a look at the member of the family with (by far) the most expensive up-do.

NOTE FROM THE EDITOR: Matt would like readers to know that the writer of this blog has once again exaggerated her claims. His haircuts do not cost as much as the dog's, or his wife's on a PER APPOINTMENT basis, which is what the blogger was talking about (even though on a monthly or aggregate basis, due to the frequency of his haircuts, it obviously adds up to be more! But we won't discuss that further here due to legal considerations). Oh yeah, and that he doesn't have THAT much hair on his feet.

What Azuki will Miss Most About Tokyo

On many evenings I take her to a nearby square (not exactly a park since there are very little grass. Mostly concrete) where on the upper level the same set of owners and their dogs gather every evening and let their dogs play together. Since it is a relativel safe and enclosed area, we often let our dogs off leash and the security guards, even when they walk by, tend to look the other way.

It is an incredibly diverse group of people--ranging from the old to the young, and their dogs are big, small, medium. Every evening can range from 5 to as many as 8 or 9 dogs--some are older or nautrally calmer, and tend to sniff around a bit and then sit by their owner quitely while enjoying the scenery. Others, like Azuki, are off the wall happy, run around to gather treats and pats and hugs, and chase after each other. All the while people chat and play with one another's dogs.

I don't exactly recall how or when, but somehow and sometime ago Azuki and I were inducted into this mysterious and exclusive dog club. Not every dog and owner is welcomed, mind you, because some dogs simply can't get along with others. I didn't even realize that we were part of a close-knit sub-culture (dog-loving culture) until I see new owners and dogs walk by, casting envious looks at us. Why they would choose to accept a young Asian woman who speaks broken Japanese? I think it must have been when Azuki was a puppy and went up to everyone and everything, wagging her tail and offering her puppy kisses, that they decided that we were okay to stay. The dogs readily accepted her, because she is a small, non-threatening female. We met a few dogs and a few owners first, and then, word of this little hyper poodle Azuki played with their big shiba-mix dog, or their little maltese, or their usually fat and lazy french bull dog, got out. The next thing I knew, we showed up once and people I have never met were calling out to Azuki, and when they left, saying how happy they are to have finally met her.

Over the months that we have been going regularly, both Azuki and I have gotten to know everyone well, and formed a real bond. They were genuinely concerned and sad when they heard about Azuki's leg condition, and when we didn't show up for awhile, everyone asked everyone else if anyone has seen us. When we returned after the surgery, people were genuinely happy to see her well, and once again sad that we are moving to NY.

The other day, Azuki received home-made doggie biscuitis (with human-grade ingredients so people can eat them too), and a concerned shi-tsu mom even gave azuki her dog's night light to attach to her collar, because now it's been getting dark real early and Azuki totally blends into the night. She was afraid that Azuki would get stepped on, or worse yet, get hit by a car.

While our dogs romp, people swap stories, where to go to the vet, the dog salons...they patiently talk to me een with my broken Japanese and have always made me and Azuki felt nothing but very much welcome.



People often think of Japanese people in general are polite but guarded, and not particularly easy to get to know as a foreigner. I think that is probably true due to the language barrier, but as I have gotten to know this group of people, I have found incredible kindness, openness, and acceptance from everyone.

As our time winds down in Tokyo, I often think that Azuki and I will probably miss this part of our Tokyo adventures the most. Sure, food is great here and the streets are clean and safe, but can one really claim to have experienced a different culture without getting to know the people?

The funny thing is, one of my biggest complaint about living abroad was always that as a foreigner in Tokyo, you always feel like the outsider looking in, never quite experiencing local culture or getting to know Japanese people. But thanks to my overly excitable pup, she has introduced me to a little world where we might not all speak the same human language but we can all speak dog.

Here are some photos that we took at Ebisu Prime Square. It's hard to actually capture what is going on---real life is much more fun than the pictures convey.

Below is Azuki's best friend, Shiro-chan. He is a mutt (possibly shiba-mixed?) that his owners found in a park. Actually a really great, goofy, and sweet dog. They like to chase each other and Azuki generally just like to be near him. Although he is a big goof ball, he is one of the stronger males in the group therefore he gets to determine which new males gets accepted into the pack:


Humans hug and shake hands to greet each other. Dogs sniff butts. The gray dog is the below picture belongs to a wonderful old lady, who actually speaks English very well but only speaks to me in Japanese! He is calm, even tempered, but also a strong male who doesn't tend to like new males that he has never met. He also decides if you are cool enough to be part of the pack:



You can't really see Azuki in this picture--I'll give you a hint: she's got devil eyes! Auzki's color is such that she blends right into the brownish red concrete floor at night. She is actually being held by the woman in the white scarf, who owns the white maltese--you can see her eyes shiny in the photo:


Cutie-pie Yuki-chan is a boy maltese. What amazes me most is how white dogs are kept so snowy white in Tokyo. If they were anywhere else, they usually look like your grandmother's carpet. When he and Azuki first met he chased Azuki around a whole bunch!

And the Goods Just Keeps on Coming

Whoever thinks that taking care of a puppy is easy work, should definitely babysite Azuki for 2 weeks. After that I DARE YOU TO GET A PUPPY. Trust me, it will instill the fear in you.

For over a month and a half I was so worried about Azuki's bad leg, and then when surgery finally came, worried about the procedure itself, and when the surgery was over, worried about her staying by herself in the hospital (okay fine, we still went to Kyoto, but I was worried in between all the fun that we had. hehehe), and then after we got her home, worried about her rehabilitation.

After her stitches were removed, everything seemed just peachy, until one night, she started to puke out all her food, and then suffered through bouts after bouts of diarrhea. This continued for two days, until at the end she was letting out blood. It stopped for two days after I took her to the vet, but then promptly started again. Except, this time, there was no vomiting and only diarrhea, and the diarrhea only happened in the middle of the night.

That's right. In the middle of the night I would hear her get up, pace back and forth, and then go potty. I would have to get up right away to clean up everything (thank goodness the pup never missed---always on her potty sheet), and then wipe her butt real good because all that liquidy poop surely gets stuck in all that hair around the butt.

The pup would go back to sleep, but then 15 minutes later, have another bout of diarrhea. I get up and the whole process is repeated. Everytime she lets it out, the amount of poop decreases, until she has absolutely nothing left in her intestines anymore. This may take 3 or 4 times.

Needlyess to say, when she has a bad night, I don't sleep either. This happened for a few days, until I took her back to the vet again, because I was truly worried that she was perhaps infested by some weird alien worms that are eating her innerds and forever colonizing the lining of her stomach causing diarrhea everyday for the rest of her life. Well, they said she was probably fine, just left over side effects from too much antibiotics. So they gave her a special diet and more medication (does that make sense to you? Treating an over-dose of antibiotics perhaps with more antibiotics? I know I never went to vetinerary school...but something about it makes me go hmmmm). We have been to the vet so much, that I feel like we should just live there. Now when we go to her local vet (not her surgery vet), they are like, oh, Azuki, what is it this time??

So her diarrhea has finally gone away (third day and no poop in the middle of the night! woo hoo!), but now I have discovered a new problem--worned down footpads.

I am not sure why, but all three footpads on her good legs have been worn down, exposing the tender pink part of her skin. I don't know if it is because she has been outside too much, or just that all her weight has been on three legs instead of four. it doesn't seem to bother her, but research on the web tells me that without proper protection, her footpads can get infected, and in the worst case scenario, the dog might need SKIN GRAFTS to replace lost footpads. SKIN GRAFTS?? Geeze, nowadays, these pets have ample access to orthopedic surgery, orthodontic care, radiation for cancer...I mean, whatever happened to the good old, dumping a defected pet in the park method? Okay, I am totally kidding. Like I would ever do that to my sugar booger. You know one day I am going to write a blog about Azuki getting a kidney organ transplant.

In any case, this whole worn out footpads thing seems small, but it just adds even more work for me.

Today, she goes to kindergarden, and I was hoping for a whole day to myself where I can do work. But this is how it happened:

1. Wake up to pup in the morning pacing around
2. Take her to puppy school
3. Ride bike to pet supply store to buy doggie socks (yes, doggie socks) to protect her little feet
4. Go back to puppy school to drop off doggie socks so she can go for her walk later with the trainer
5. Now writing in her doggie blog because her pa was asking why there hasn't been another blog (he is on a business trip) because obviously he doesn't realize that taking care of the pup is a full time job
6. Still hasn't written my article yet but in a few hours gotta go pick up the pup again from school

The Beast is Back

Since her surgery, Azuki's leg has been getting stronger and stronger everyday, and she seems to be completely devoid of pain. I can tell because she is just about back to her pre-leg-problem self--in other words, completely crazy.

I had thought that Azuki's calmness when we approached summer was a combination of the heat and her finally growing out of the maniac puppyhood. During those few months, she required much less exercise, slept a lot more, and generally was the cutest cuddly bear one can ever imagine. But in fact, that was all a facade. She was simply in pain, and therefore couldn't do as much as before.

Well, the pup is a good girl no more. The beast is back, with a vengence. I wake up now not to an adorable pup sleeping in her doggie bed next to my bed, lifting her chin for a chin scratch, but a crazy fur of ball pacing furiously back and forth, checking to see if I am up and if I will feed her and/or take her out for a walk. Sometimes I try to out-stubborn her by pretending to be asleep, because I just want to make a point that YOU CANNOT BLACKMAIL ME WITH YOUR ANNOYING BEHAVIOR, DOG. I AM THE MASTER AND I DECIDE WHEN YOU EAT YOUR BREAKFAST, DAMN IT!

But inevitably it is I who give in and get up to feed her, then get ready to take her out, because for 30 minutes to an hour at a time, the pup will pace back and forth, back and forth, back and forth, from the kitchen to our room, then back to the kitchen, then back to the room. All I would hear, is her nails clicking on our hardwood floor: click click click click click. Stop. click click click. Stop. Click click click click click clik click click click click click click click click click click click click

When I change to take her out for her walks, she goes nuts out of excitement, circling around, running towards me and then attacking first my pant legs, then my socks, shaking them furiously in her mouth. If god forbid I am taking TOO LONG to get ready, the pup again paces around the room making little whiny noises, as if saying, "Can we go yet? can we can we? huh huh huh?"

When I take her to the park in the evenings to meet her human and pup pals, she runs around and greets everyone, over and over again. Runs back, and forth. Back, and forth. Because now I am cautious of her getting hurt, I usually trail after her to make sure she doesn't fall in a ditch or something. After awhile, I am really not sure who is exercising whom---why do I feel like I am the one who is getting a work-out??

The other doggie parents at the park are like, oh, look how genki she is, isn't it so great that Azuki feels better? You must be so happy seeing her so active again.

And I'm like, um, yeah. It's just err, wonderful.

Stitches Removed! The Cone Stays...

Azuki had her stitches removed today. There is still a little scabbing, but the vet who took her stitches off said it healed well. She still needs to wear her cone to prevent her from licking or scratching when we can't watch her, however.

A little drama unfolded yesterday which involved an emergency trip to her regular vet. Azuki had been vomiting early in the mornings with weird stomach gargling sounds, and no appetite, for the past two days, and then yesterday, she added acute diarrhea to her list of ailements. Possibly due to all the antibiotics that she was taking, which might have caused an baterial imbalance in her tummy (antibiotics kill off good bacterias too!), she started to not only having diarrhea all morning but at the end was letting out just little squirts of liquid, and then finally, blood. When I saw the blood I became really worried, and promptly took her to her regular vet close to our house, in which she got an IV injection. Yes, dogs get IV too. Azuki was a champ when they stuck a VERY BIG needle IN HER BACK, and didn't flinch or make a sound at all. She stayed there for 10 minutes, totally calm and licking the nurse's face. It provided her some much needed liquids and a little vitamin C, since she hasn't eaten or drank anything all day, and the little that she at the night before all came out during her puking and pooping spells. They also gave her some special special-to-digest food which is suppose to be easier on the tummy. Last night around 10pm, she ate heartily and also this morning. Today, she didn't puke once (although I heard some gaggin in the morning), and although she had extremely soft and discolored poop (sorry for the unsavory details), at least it wasn't diarrhea. When we went to get out stitches removed today, she was extremely genki, a sign that she is feeling better already.

You would think that she would detest her surgery hospital, since in her mind, they probably did something really bad to her and then locked her up with a cone over her head in a small cage for 5 days. However, Azuki is not one pup to hold a grudge. She was actually very EXCITED to get there, rushing into the lobby on her three good legs and saying hi to both the doctors and the other pet owners there. It really does seem like her love of people trumps pain or any negative experience that she might have had.

When we came home, she is tired from all the excitement. Seeking a little piece of sun on the floor, she does what dogs do best---nap!




Despite being born a little handicapped, Azuki is still the luckiest dog in the world!

Which is which?

This picture really doesn't have anything to do with anything. We are simply amazed at some of the positions that Azuki chooses to sleep. In another ingenious work of Matt the photographer, he caught Azuki sleeping with her head between her legs...like a true yogi. You can't really tell which is her head, her leg, or her butt from these photo:





Now, that is talent!

Frankenpup

For the surgery, they had to shave her leg, and the incision left a huge, ugly scar which is still all stitched up. She also has to wear a cone/e-collar around her head to prevent her from licking/chewing her own wound. She hates that cone, because it must be be so uncomfortable. She is constantly bumping into walls, crashing into our legs, and has trouble eating and drinking with that huge ugly protrusion. When we are at home, we watch her closely and take it off to let her get some un-fettered sleep, but unfortunately at night she still has to wear it because we can't watch her. She is a con artist, however, and twice last night I woke up with that maternal suspicion all women must innately possess when they just know that their children are up to no good. First, I heard the pup going to her water bowl and it sounded like she is happily taking huge slurps and it just sounded like she is having too easy of a time. Surely, I got up and saw her wagging her tail at me WITHOUT her cone, as if she didn't just committ a dangerous offense that could send her back to that hospital. I put it back on, but then a few hours later, I hear her going to the toilet without bumping into anything, and when I got up, her cone was lying on the ground and she is sleeping very comfortably with her bare head resting on the side of her doggie bed. That little sneaky dog has mastered slipping her small head out of the cone QUIETLY right besides my bed, which means there must have been some level of plotting and contemplating involved in that pea-sized brain of hers.

The cone and her shaved leg do make some interesting photos for this blog, however. Matt had a ball taking pictures of her chicken leg (it's seriously that thin, since she has lost all her muscle mass in the past few months that she wasn't using it) and her cone-head. Below are some of Matt's artistic pieces:

If Dr. Frankestein had created a dog companion for his monster, the dog might have looked like this:

Upon closer inspection of the incision:


Poor Azuki and her cone, giving us a sad look as if saying, "how do you expect me to sleep with this stupid thing?":


View from the top:

Tomorrow we go in to get her sutures removed and hopefully she won't have to wear the e-collar anymore. I am not actually sure if it will really happen, since I suspect that she has been licking her incision when her cone was off, and also that I can still see some redness in her incision. I will keep you updated on what happens. In the meantime, please keep Azuki in your thoughts and hope for her speedy recovery!

Surgery Update

Azuki went under the knife on Monday, 9/25. Matt and I dropped her off, and as if sensing something was going to happen, she was acting very anxious. We handed her off the the vet technician and then Matt and I set out for Kyoto the next day...I know, so cold, right?
But in our defense, we weren't allowed to visit her anyways while she was hospitalized (to avoid too much excitement) and as if sensing my neurosis, the vet technician asked that PLEASE ONLY CALL ONCE A DAY.

I was totally offended that someone would think I am the type of crazy dog moms that would call like 5 times a day. I called that evening and learned that the surgery went well, and that Azuki was resting in her cage without any fuss. I called again Tuesday, but then SKIPPED A DAY just to prove them wrong. That's right. Talk about self-control, baby.

The surgeon (yes, he is not just a vet, he is a SURGEON. In fact, shortly after Azuki's surgery he left for the US for a surgical conference...a surgical conference abroad, for animal doctors!) said that her femur bone had already cracked, so she was probably in a lot of pain, although Azuki never complained. She never whined or barked because of pain (only when she wants something), and she was never cranky and snappy like some dogs can be when they are in pain. She was hopping around on three legs and most of the time seemingly very happy. Apparently she had a very high pain tolerance. And she is just a extremely good natured dog!

The choice then, was when to pick her up. She had to be hospitalized for 5 days for observation as well as forced cage rest, in which the doctor said, IF YOU HAVE TO COME THEN THAT'S OKAY BUT PLEASE BE PATIENT FOR 5 DAYS, adding another insult to injury because I never said anything about wanting to go see her! In fact, we were in Kyoto, enjoying our late summer vacation! Seriously, I don't know what about me gives them the impression that I am not just adorably neurotic but completely insane.

Anyways, we can also choose to let her stay for three more days and then pick her up the following Tuesday, 10/3, since that is when she will get her sutures removed and it will save us a whole round trip and a half to the vet. This is actually a very good proposition because the vet is not very close, and taking her there and back is always two-person production trying to navigate the crowded streets, all the stairs, and crowded trains (which we have to change, requiring more stairs) with my purse, water, poop bags, and a dog that now too big to sling comfortable over your shoulder in a dog carrier without giving you major back problems.

Also, before her stiches are removed, she needs to be kept quiet at home, so her wound heals properly. We were also afraid that she would be too excited at home, and unable to contain her, she would somehow tear her sutures.

So, we planned on keeping her for a few more days at the vet. At first.

But when we came home from Kyoto, I was suddenly overwhelmed with guilt. I mean, we already spent 4 days biking throughout bamboo forest, hiking up to money parks, feeding deer in Nara, eating delicious regional food--we almost had too much fun while our pup was down and under. Could we really possibly leave her for longer than necessary? Matt was convinced that it is in the best interest of all parties involved that we don't pick her up until Tuesday, and was able to stick by that judgement until he was confronted with:

"Sigh. I wonder what the pup is doing."
or,
"I miss Azuki. Do you think she is doing okay? Is she lonely?"
or,
"Do you think they are cleaning her eye boogers? Are they giving her any attention at all??"

or, mutiple variations of that very subtle and skilled manipulations by his wife. Finally, Matt has had enough of these sick mind games and relented, deciding that making that extra trip is much easier on the body and mind than hearing me whine: "Do you want to pick up Azuki tomorrow?" Before he could finish the sentence I was already doing my victory dance, gyrating my butt and doing aerial push-ups (one can learn a lot from those hoochie-mamas in MTV rap videos).

So we went and picked up Azuki, who was soooo happy to see us that immediately I decided it was the best decision that I had ever made. I mean, they took good care of her, but with all the other dogs there post-surgery, and being a VERY busy hospital, there is no way that she could possibly get the individual attention that she needs, or, perhaps more accurately, that I think she needs. She seemed to be doing very well, although coming home I had to clean about 5 days worth of hardened eye booger off, and brush through huge hair balls---poodles are very high maintenance in that way---they need to be groomed regularly. Also, we noticed that she reeked of urine...she must have peed in her cage and then stepped all over it. That made me sad because Azuki hates to go potty in her cage---she only does it out of necessity, even when we have a REALLY BIG cage for her with clearly delineated bed and potty sheet area, and still that pup will hold it for like 8 hours before she pees or poops in her 'den'. It is the dog's innate nature to keep their sleeping area clean.

Anyways, I stand by my decision to pick her up early, because the pup is thoroughly enjoying being at home. I mean, can you sleep like this in the tiny cage at the hospital?

Or this:


She is resting a lot, and although in good spirits, for the past two days, is having some trouble keeping her food down. A lot of puking, some diarrhea, and not much eating. I am not sure if the excitement of being at home , or because the ongoing two types of antibiotics that she is taking, that is causing her stomach upset. They didn't mention her vomiting during her hospital stay...although it could be that she vomits mostly early morning (like 4am or 5am), and then she has this gross habit of trying to eat up her own puke. When she is at home, I am out of my bed with a paper towel ready to clean it up in a nano-second before she has a chance to re-eat what she has re-gurgitated, but at the vet, since there is no one there at night, they might have just not known she has been puking.

So having her at home has meant a lot of work for us, and especially not a lot of sleep for me. Matt was like, how is it that she is this much work, and she doesn't even talk!? In fact, she doesn't make much noise at all. Imagine taking care of a baby or a child that is sick? One who is able to cry, scream, and say "NO I DON'T WANNA!" over and over again??