Tuesday, April 27, 2010

My Darlings Baileys and Maen

Nonchalance
Old dogs can be good at ignoring.

Maen is so used to having the iRobot irritating her daily that she will stubbornly refuse to move away, even when the iRobot physically sweeps her sides. She will only walk away with contempt in her eyes at the robot when it persists in sucking her into its system.

Baileys is still bothered by its presence more or less. He gives way as it approaches but makes no fuss about it.


Grooming
Baileys got his bath last week while Maen seemed to be awaiting her turn. The moment Baileys got the go-ahead to jump out of the bathtub, Maen got all excited and half-stood against the tub wagging in anticipation and all ready to jump in.

We went downstairs to dry Baileys up, cleaned his ears and cut his nails. All the while, Maen watched excitedly. The moment I was done with Baileys, Maen moved over to his place right in front of me and sat there smiling at me. hehe. So cute.

I usually start grooming Maen first because she's always ready and seated right in front of me the moment I sit down with the grooming tools ready. She doesn't really enjoy being brushed at her butt but will offer everywhere else for me to brush.

And each time after I finish with Baileys, she will automatically return for another round of brushing.

So cute la. hehe.


Smartness
and Obedience
Baileys on the other hand is less 'cute', so to speak BUT he uses his brains, something Maen hardly seems to be using. He knows exactly what is right and wrong, which of us (between Mr Liow and I) is more lenient and will step right up to the edge of the boundary each of us set.

He knows never to step into the rooms when Mr Liow is at home. Unless Mr Liow allows, he will not even appear upstairs at all. He does follow AN and I upstairs when Mr Liow is away but stays outside the rooms, until we disappear into the bathrooms.

When he senses that it's time for a bath, he will stay run away but returns when he hears me getting impatient and will grudgingly follow me into the bathroom. Each time Maen walks in front of him, he will allow her to take over, seemingly hoping my attention will shift to Maen instead.

Once upon a time, Maen would comfortably chew on her bones when we leave the house while Baileys pranced around. Now, Baileys will be the one comfortably chewing on his bone while Maen howls for us to return. The good thing about staying where we are now is, we can walk over to them from outside the house and give them the 'finger' and stare. Maen shuts up the moment she sees us.

Baileys is the only one who will greet us with something in his mouth whenever we return home. Sometimes he ends up with something in his mouth that does NOT belong to him. You'll hear Mr Liow breath heavily to calm down when he sees that but I think that is very sweet of Baileys. Adrielle will not be too pleased when what he has in his mouth belongs to her. hahah! That teaches her never to leave her things all over the house and it's way more effective than nagging at her everyday to pack her stuff neatly after using them.

Oh, and because Baileys is tall and smart enough, he's almost always the 'scavenger'. He's pulled my coach bag off the table many times, just to take the food out from inside. This boy recognises which bag holds snacks (those that I bring out for AN) and he's had his fair share of bak kua and biscuits. They almost had chocolates but we came home in time (THANK GOD!) and they had none. Remember when Baileys managed to break into their treat cabinet and had greenies buffet more than once?

Maen will not hesitate to try break out of the kitchen by pushing her body against the baby gate. She escapes when the baby gate is not locked but Baileys will never follow behind her, unless the gate does not spring back. Even when I hold the gate and allow them to come out, he will not step out until I either nod my head and give a smile, or tell him to 'come'.

They are now 5 years old and soon after number 2 human puppy pops, Baileys will be 6 years. I don't know how much more time we have with each other but I pray again that they will never need to suffer pain, ever.

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