We actually got there a bit late, spending way too much time waiting at Pet Express so Shantee could get a bath. We missed the “Pack Leader Talk” by PETiks Atbp., but we were able to watch a game of musical sit and stay by smart dogs and an obstacle course run by energetic pooches. But tickets weren’t the only stuff we won:

Thanks to MyPetChannel.tv for this pic!

Shantee got two boxes of COSI Pet’s Milk for being sooooo adorably dressed! Dog Fashionista FTW!!!!

Many thanks to MyPetChannel.tv for such a fun day. It was Shantee’s first time in Ali Mall, and she had so much fun too! It was a bit weird going around with Shantee there, as Ali Mall didn’t used to allow pets inside. The event that day was also Ali Mall’s way of showing everyone they’re now pet-friendly. And we’re so glad they are, as Ali Mall is now being added to Shantee’s “go to” places

By the way, today is the last leg of the Cats and Dogs 2 Mall tour. Head over NOW to SM North EDSA Sky Garden, and get your own chance to win tickets to this PAWsome movie! More details here.

Hopefully, we’ll be able to bring Popoy along for the event. He’s my sister’s favorite aspin. We wanted him to be part of the club, but we had to miss the first meeting and registration because of a scheduled trip. The PAWS Aspin Club registration booth will open at 11am — this is our second chance! I just hope my husband and I won’t be too tired to go.

If you’d like to be part of the PAWS Aspin Club, take note of the following:

• Updated vaccination records must be presented upon registration
• Dogs must be friendly to humans and other dogs
• Dogs must be leashed at all times when attending club events
• Female dogs must NOT be in heat when attending club events
• Php250 club registration fee will support the PAWS Animal Shelter

PAWS Aspin Club will be held on 7 August 2010 from 11:00AM to 3:30PM at Eastwood Central Plaza. See you there!

All Fur One and One Fur All is an awesome series of events (it’s a mall tour!!!) in anticipation of the paw-bulous movie, Cats and Dogs: Revenge of Kitty Galore. Here’s what to expect!

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On July 24, while long time rivals Ateneo and La Salle fight it out at the Araneta Coliseum, Cats and Dogs shall do a Fist Bump and UNITE in ALI MALL for the sake of mankind!

Get ready for some Mission ImPAWssible as Warner Bros, Pictures and MyPetChannel.tv invite you to the Mal…l Tour of “Cats & Dogs: The Revenge of Kitty Galore”

As a way to announce that Ali Mall is now a pet-friendly mall, pets and kids will be treated to a whole day of Fun Activities on July 24 from 1-6PM.

Come in your Best Spy Costume for the “Dogs in Disguise Contest” and get a chance to win Tickets to the 3D Advance Screening on AUGUST 15, 5PM.

Watch dogs in action as they jump through tire holes and bars at the “Pooch Boot Camp” area to be handled by ASOco (Asong Sanay sa Obstacle Course) Trainers.

Learn more about Canine Behavior as myths and common pet mishandling practices are debunked during the “Pack Leader Talk” by PETiks Atbp.

Partner with your best pet buddy to look for clues in the “Hunt for Kitty Galore” scavenger hunt game.

Strike a “paws” at the photo booth and treat your pets with yummy samples from our COSI PET’S MILK, and BOW WOW dog food courtesy of Handyman.

Register at www.catsdogs2.mypetchannel.tv/win-tickets/ to qualify for the Ticket Raffle!

“CATS AND DOGS: THE REVENGE OF KITTY GALORE in Ali Mall” is also brought to you by: MERIAL PHILIPPINES, COSI PET’S MILK, HANDYMAN, SONY, CARA WELFARE, ASOCO, PETIKS ATBP, PHILIPPINE DAILY INQUIRER, THE EDGE, PET’S LIFE MAGAZINE, AND U92.

Log on to www.catsdogs2.mypetchannel.tv/mall-tours/ for the complete Mall Tour schedule.
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Hopefully, I’ll see you on the 24th! Shantee has never been to Ali Mall, and this will be her first time. We can’t wait already!!! Let’s just hope the traffic isn’t too bad that day and we’ll also have a place to park.

Daddy’s Pet: A Father’s Day Pet Event will be held on 27 June 2010 (it’s this Sunday!) from 10am to 5pm at One Esplanade in Pasay City. There will be lots activities for day: pet grooming area, bazaar, a fashion show, training area, special performances, arts and crafts, pet adoption, and an animal welfare forum with Compassion And Responsibility for Animals (CARA). Dads will have a pampering area, and can even participate in a special dad-and-pet mini-Olympics!

Hopefully, Marc and I can participate in this event along with Shantee and Kubrick!

Aqua Toy squeaks, squawks and pretty much just lays there whenever Kubrick feels the need to chew and play. The poor thing has already turned an ugly shade of very dark brown from its original color of yellow. Kubrick barked and whined, but no, Aqua Toy needs to take a bath!

Kubrick is very possessive of this dog toy, a gift originally meant for Shantee from my friend Nina. I guess it was his only “friend” when he first came here and Shantee thought it best to just ignore him so he’d eventually disappear. My Shih Tzus are long past the stage of getting-to-know-you, but Kubrick still hangs on to Aqua Toy.

This isn’t the first time Aqua Toy took a bath — the first one being the aftermath of Ondoy, when my husband and I thought it unhygienic and unhealthy for Kubrick to chew on a dog toy that was recently drenched in flood water. Kubrick was so happy when he got Aqua Toy back, it was like a one-sided gleeful reunion between two old friends. I’m pretty sure he’ll react the same when Aqua Toy emerges clean and yellow from the hanger tomorrow

Preparing for the summer season is almost always frequently overlooked. For us humans, summer usually means two months of fun days under the sun. But for our funny friends, it’s not only uncomfortable, but could also be a matter of life and death.

Since our family don’t go out too often during the summer (me and my husband love to travel, but the summer heat is just too overwhelming), we’ve come up with a list of “to-do’s” for our dogs so that they would be comfortable during the summer.

Let the dogs stay in air-conditioned rooms with you. Our two Shih Tzus and my mom’s favorite aspin / Japanese Spitz mix stay inside the house with us since they’re the smallest in our dog pack. They’re also the furriest. Since intense heat usually activates my asthma and our home office have expensive computer equipment, me and the dogs usually stay inside an air-conditioned room. It’s a pain when the electric bill comes, but it’s worth it — my husband and I would rather pay a bit more on electricity for two months than having the dogs suffer heat exhaustion or me confined to the hospital due to frequent asthma attacks.

Always keep a boy of fresh water for them to drink. I think this is self-explanatory. We all know how important it is to drink water, especially on a hot summer day. Dogs are the same, they need water too.

Provide adequate shelter. The dogs must have shade to keep them cool if they’re staying outside your house. We’re lucky that there are two mango trees in our backyard, the dogs can play in the grass even when it’s hot since the trees provide shade. I also had a tiled area done for barbecues in the yard, and it’s the perfect place for the dogs to hang out (the tiles keep them cool).

Give the dogs a shower! Let them cool off. Even dogs who don’t like baths appreciate having a cool shower in the summer heat.

Give the dogs a haircut. Our pure Aspins (Spike and Kutonbol) have short hair, unfortunately, the others aren’t so lucky. The other dogs are either Shih Tzus (Shantee and Kubrick) or Aspin / Japanese Spitz mix (Harry, Choknat and Patatats) — thick-haired breeds. Summer is an insane season for them, so it’s usually the time when we give them a “crew cut.” The dogs sometimes feel ashamed of their silly haircuts (we either cut their fur really short or have them shaved), but looking silly is better than having them suffer heat exhaustion

Make sure that the dogs’ living quarters are well-ventilated. Just like humans, dogs kept inside the house should have proper ventilation. Keep windows open so air gets in. Last summer, my dad even had exhaust fans installed in our house, significantly cooling the parts of the house where it was usually hot.

Probably because of climate change, our weather has been, for lack of a better term: weird. El Nino has already brought drought to our country — the heat hadn’t been friendly to both plants, animals and even humans (heat stroke is very dangerous!). It’s best to stay safe and take necessary precautions. We don’t want our summer fun be ruined by a tragedy, do we?

Hope you all have a safe and fun summer!

Translate for Animals is another one of Google’s project hoping to bridge language barriers in order to better understand our animal friends

Hurhurhurhur APRIL FOOL’S!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Too bad it’s only a prank It would be nice to have something like that, wouldn’t it? Kind of something out of a sci-fi movie

I understand that times are hard, and whatever you can save, you keep it. Consulting a vet or any of those pet health services don’t come cheap, and I know sometimes it’s tempting to simply search the net and try to discern for ourselves what our dog’s symptoms mean. But don’t forget that when you decided to keep a pet, you understand the responsibilities that go with it — and that includes vet expenses.

I don’t mean to sound preachy, but really… When you think your dog isn’t breathing properly, or that something is out of the ordinary that got you worried in the first place — bring your dog to the vet. ASAP. The time you spent scourging the net for answers or asking every Joe Schmoe you know could cost your dog his life. That’s a bit exaggerated, but really, every minute counts to ensure your dog’s recovery.

I made that same mistake with my baby Sheero before — I should have brought her to the vet sooner, and it didn’t occur to me that there might have been another reason why she got sick again. I just assumed that the meds prescribed by the vet before will work once more. It was only after few days that it became apparent to me the meds aren’t enough anymore — and that was the only time we did take her to the vet. Sheero passed away due to a heart attack that led to a coma. Together with our vet, we did everything we could to save her, but still… There’s this question of what-could-have-been had we brought her to the vet sooner.

I hope nobody goes through what I did — Sheero’s passing really broke our hearts. It took a while to recover. And while we’re learning to accept the fact that we did everything in our power to keep her alive, there will always be the nagging feeling that things could have ended differently if we didn’t hesitate.

Remember, when you decided to take a pet, it’s assumed that you know what you’re getting into. I’ve said this more than twice but I’m going to say it again: bring your dog to the vet immediately if he seems sick and don’t play vet unless you really are one. Even if your pet’s symptoms “seem to match” a general article you found on the internet, or that you feel that you’ve told everyone every single detail of your pet’s condition in the hopes that some tech-savvy vet will advise you online — there could have been something you missed that only the trained eye of a vet can see. It’s always better to bring your dog to the vet for an actual, face-to-face consultancy.

For the first time, a race event tailor-made to accommodate dogs! The race kits include not only singlets for human racers, but “race bandanas” and poop scooper for their canine partners as well But that’s not all… The race event categories and race maps were also made for dogs in mind — 1.5km, 3km and 5km. The 1.5km event is a realistic distance for short-legged fur-babies like mine — Shantee can do 2km walkies, did you know? Winners will receive prizes. Though Shantee and I don’t have illusions of winning the race, we’re still banking on finishing it!

Can’t run? Well, you and your dog can still join in the fun! At around 6:15am, fun games will begin for non-runners. A lot of activities are planned from 4:00am to 10:00am on race day, dog-lovers like you just shouldn’t miss it!

TailRunners: The Metro Dog Run 2010 will be held on Saturday, 17 April 2010 at the SM Mall of Asia and is co-presented by Royal Canin, Pet Express, and MyPetChannel.tv. For more details, visit the official TailRunners microsite. See you there!!!

They also have a website, be make sure to take a look!