Flapper-Mummy's been dying and waiting for the 13th June post to come!
*shameless* :D
No images this time though.
When Flapper's "working", mummy can't take photos.
9:45 am - Search and Rescue Training #2
Right now, it is a tough call to see who is enjoying the training more - Flapper or me! Haha... you'll see why in just a little bit...
We arrived on location about 5 minutes and lo and behold, a little Jack Russell name Joey has already started her training! Joey is the experienced one. He's got his own little working vest already. Flapper's fresh blood... wonder how long it will take before the vest is bestowed on him!
Flapper's friend, Hero the GSD, was there for training too! Yay! Hero, as usual, was very excited to see Flapper. So while Joey was busy at work, it was mingling time for the woofies.
Hero's turn - so Flapper-mummy went to look for Joey's owner for a chat whilst Hero was training. And suddenly, we heard this rattling sound and guess who had taken a break from his training to come look for his good friend, Flapper? Yep! Hero!
The amazing world of doggie-friendships.
Muacks muacks.
Of the 3 dogs, Flapper's the last to train. After god-knows-how-long, it was finally Flapper's turn. Refresher lesson from last lesson. So as usual, one of the assisting trainers attempt to get Flapper excited through play. Flapper was not as energetic as usual... hmmm.....
And guess why?
Because Flapper Mummy forgot that he did not poo-poo that morning. So instead of running to 'find' the ball, Mister Blondie ran to the grass patch, sniffed around and ended up doing his very important and urgent business.
Mummy shy.
Mummy apologised.
You can almost see that big relief on Flapper's face. After he emptied his bowels, he gleefully came back to join us.
Training resumed.
Flapper looked uninterested... surprisingly.
It's either the heat or it was not challenging enough?
Flapper completely ignored the trainers attempts to get his energy up.
He looked away.
But they proceeded with 'hiding' the ball anyway.
I released Flapper.
"Flapper, go!"
He waddled his way to the dude, stood there and gave me the "are you kidding me?" and barked anyway.
He did what was required effortlessly and without much interest. And with this, he was ready to proceed to the next stage of the training... Flapper-Mummy was amused!
Break time.
Flapper was relishing his ice water.
Nice.
Cool.
Tongue about to explode.
Flapper-Mummy wasn't sure how 'excited' he will be for segment #2.
Once again, Flapper's the last dog to go. This time was fun! The trainers started hiding themselves and Flaps had to go a-searching. But this one is easy. Very visual. And this time, Flapper was more excited to play (something new I guess).
But there was a slight glitch.... any new obstacles.... Mr Blondie won't be going without Flapper-Mummy.
So guess who started whining when he had to cross the obstacle?
Yep! Mr Flapper Choo!
I had to sheepishly tell the trainer, "looks like I've got to go first..."
But hang on! Mr Flapper Choo looked like he was getting distracted again! Off to the grass he went... AGAIN! What the heck is that boy up to? And then he squatted to pee... Oh yes! Flapper almost finished the entire tumbler (BIG TUMBLER) of water! No wonder he needed a pee break.
Blush time again for Flapper Mummy.
After his nice long released of pee, Mr Flapper Choo happily continued his 'search' and this time, got past the obstacle without much qualms. Damn it!
Another try.
Ding!
Flapper got it again... quite quickly I must say!
Trainer said, "Play something rough with him..."
Me: "Play rough? Like what?"
Hmm.... pause to ponder.
I've only got his ball... so guess it will be football!
Boy oh boy was Flapper happy. And then almost immediately after the first kick, we resumed training. Flapper was definitely excited now and did well with his training. And then Flapper-Mummy thought it was break time or something and started chatting with the trainer. At the background somewhere, a football team has started. The boys started playing football with Flapper!
Me: "Errr... are we doing anything else?"
Trainer: "That's it for today! Flapper's got it!"
Me: "Ok... you guys can book appointment for next week... after training, you can play football with Flapper again."
i-laugh.
On this note, I must really thank the boys for playing with Flapper. Nevermind the heat but Flapper sure did have fun! Especially when it was football time!
Tell me again, who is enjoying the training more?
And with that, Flapper made it through 2nd training.
Fun!
Oh! In case you're wondering how Flapper plays football? Here is an old shot of him and his famous "football pose"....
Flapper the Basketball Player?
In between Search and Rescue Training and Therapy Dog, I decided to sneak in a new training - compliments of Mr A who gave me the equipments/toys. Woohoo! And Flaps got the new game real quick!
OK... don't expect Slamdunk dog!
Flaps is no Michael Jordan of the doggie world.
He is slow-mo dog.
I was making a joke today - Flapper will make a good instructional video.
"And this is how you do it.... "
Slow-mo with Chariots of Fire music at the background?
That could work....
I'll have the video posted up one of these days....
Don't ask when.
3 p.m. Flapper the Therapy Dog
No thanks to the H1N1 virus, visits to the homes were suspended for the entire month of May and most of the homes are still putting the visits on hold till further notice. Thus when I received the email announcing the visit to Bethany Methodist Nursing Home (BMNH) was on, I was soooo happy! I miss going to the homes with Flapper BIG TIME!
As a good friend of mine would say whenever I'm feeling down... "GO TAKE FLAPPER DO CS (community service)!"
And then Flapper-Mummy will be a happy gull after serving for an hour. :D
Dear Fellow Volunteers,
My dogs, Silky & Stallion were vey excited and wanted to get into the car on that morning as their instinct told them that they would be going to BMNH for PAT session after a month break in May because of the flu H1N1 outbreak. We were blessed in having a crew of die-hard volunteers who came and had to be screened including temperature taking at the front lobby before proceeding to the room for PAT session. All of us passed with flying colour as we did not go overseas during the June school holidays. My heartfelt thanks to the following volunteers:
- Michelle Loh with Yaki / Datshund
- Lena Tay and mum with Sammi / Chihuahua
- Corrinne Choo with Flapper / Labrador <--- that's us!!
- Chen Zhaoyang with Cookie /Shetland Sheepdog
- Gok Kunshan - Helping hand
- Lee Say Hoon - Helping hand
- Mabel Ho with Silky / Golden Retriever
- Charlie Ho with Stallion / GSD
A very warm welcome to Fiona Yeo who has 2 lovely Jack Russell, namely: Mei Mei & JJ; and to Ivan Chang who also has a Jack Russell, name Tag. They came to BMNH as an observer and thereafter, they will bring their dog(s) to our assessor to assess their dogs' temperament. We look forward to having them on board for a meaningful and enjoyable PAT works.
We focussed very much on communication and motor skills at this home. Corrine encouraged a resident to take Flapper for a walking exercise. Petting and touching our dogs including throwing a dumbbell for the dog to retrieve increased gross motor skills. We enjoyed ourselves so much in seeing smiles in their faces .... we spent slightly more than an hour at BMNH.
Please note that our visit to SWAMI Home is still temporarily suspended as the home management has not given us the clearance for PAT session. The next visit is to IMH on 21 June. Please watch out a reminder from Tricia, and please check out our website for the latest updates.
Have a blessed week ahead.
Don't know about you!
But I couldn't ask for a better Saturday than this!
Sometimes I really wonder.... what am I going to do without Flapper?
Tragic thought.
Went home, basketball part II with Flapper before SIL's party of sari-friends (Bollywood theme) flocked in.
Early night.... another long day coming up!
Yawwwnnn.....
I think it's Pooped-Doggie-Mummy more than Pooped-Doggie-Dog!
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