Today is 11/30/2010, last post of this month, sorry for the non-dog-lover, it is all about Samson again. Well, I have been busy in taking care of him while Victor is feeling better.
Samson is now officially adopted by me and Victor, I am happy that we have found him and he happens to like our household. Even there was some dangerous moments (biting Victor), Victor realized it was probably his fault to force himself onto Samson while he was still new to all these actions / environments. Now they are all cool, Samson would follow Victor while he is munching something, hope there was a crumb here and there which Samson could lick on.
I digested 7 books in 10 days about dog's behavior and training, one book about grooming technique, the rest are all technical handling. I actually read all of them in great details except one book I found it was cruel to train the dog the way the author suggested, which was the Kolher Method I believe, encourage to hold the food for a few hours late or crate the dog for a long time before starting certain training section, I personally found it was very disturbing and un-humane, I did not finish reading that book.
In order to achieve true harmony inside the house, a packing order and certain rules must be enforced. Samson knows very well that he was not allow on bed sleeping with us, his own dog bed is along the side of my night table. At the first few nights, he whined and hope he could get on bed with us, Victor was soften because we allowed our dear friend's dog (the other good-looking cockapoo) on our bed, now we do not allow our own dog to go on our bed?!
The reason here is packing order related, I need Samson to know Victor is the man of the household, he deserves his spot next to me and no one can take away that spot, even my favourite dog, in relation to Victor's important role in the household, no one should challenge that position. You'd be surprise how many dogs growl at the husband and loving to the wife, it becomes a challenging situation if the dog thinks it can get ahead.
Samson now response to another command --- come when call. I would let him out at the yard, call him from a distance and he would come back to me then I would give him a treat. This command is very useful if the dog may gets in a dangerous situation, you would have to call out loud then expect the dog come running back to you. But you would have to bond with the dog first, it does not work if the dog has not put his trust on you yet.
Some people might think all these trainings are too harsh for the dog, just let the dog enjoy itself and have some love and attention from me, that is so not true. In order for the dog to gain the maximum amount of joy, freedom and happiness in a household, proper training is essential. For example, after Samson response to "Come when Call" consistently, he gained the freedom to run unleash on a 80 yard wide par 5
fairway while Victor and I are walking. Because I know whenever I call him, he would run right back to my feet, which he did, and every time he did what I expected I make sure Samson gets lot of praise and a dog treat as encouragement.
In fact I saw a lot of joy in his eyes while I let him run without a leash, his tongue was just hanging out on the side of his mouth and ran like a greyhound, it was quite a scene. Somehow when you get a dog out from the shelter, the dog was either being abused before, or someone just dumped it there for whatever reason, the dog feels very insecure. And that is what I see in Samson's eye even in the most comfortable moment inside the house, he couldn't help himself but think: Yeah I feel warm and fuzzy now but later Joey might just dump me like my last master did!
It will take time and patience to melt this insecurity away, but I am confident that Samson can do it!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Friday, November 26, 2010
wonder dog
We did it by instinct to change the dog's name from Buddy to Samson, the reason why we did it because Victor noticed the dog does not response well when we called his old name, sometime it turns its head away if it wasn't looking at you. We just did it without thinking too much, by start calling him a new name --- Samson, and everything around this name is positive and happy. Yesterday I was flipping on this book named "Adoptable Dog" about dog training or education to a shelter dog. It mentioned as followed:
"Naming or Renaming your adopted dog, does it matter what you name your newly adopted dog? And do you have to stick with the name he came with, if you know it?
Dogs are adaptable creatures. You can feel free to choose a new name for your adopted dog if you like. After all, you are giving him a new life - one where he won't roam and where he will get nutritious food and regular health care, appropriate training, and lots of love. These may be much bigger changes for your dog than the name he once knew!
It's also possible that an old name has lots of unpleasant associations for an abused or neglected dog. You may not know what those associations are, of course. A new name is actually an excellent idea for a dog of this sort. It will be one of many signs that a better, happier life has just begun.
Be sure to make only positive associations with your adopted dog's name. A common mistake is to correct a dog by yelling his name. Your dog's name should never be used in this way. It will only teach the dog to ignore you when you use his name appropriately - to get his attention or call him to you."
A day before thanksgiving, I was busy with grocery-shopping. I came home after 2pm and was hungry so I started the stove in high heat to reheat some chicken soup for lunch. After I did that I went back to the car to unload all my shopping bags, totally forgot the stove was on with a small pot of chicken soup.
While unloading from the car, I noticed the fountain was running low, starting to refill the water ... and doing other things at the front yard. Suddenly Samson was barking like crazy behind the door, I thought he was just barking because our next door neighbour's landscaping crew is working around the yard. So I opened the door to gave him a quick yell "stay", he still bark but in a lower tone.
After awhile, I opened the door to walk inside the house; Samson was barking un-controllable, I tried to discipline him to tell him "no barking crazily"! He ran into the kitchen and sat by the stove looking up.
I then realized my pot of chicken soup was boiling all over the place, it was over-flowing on the stove along with the heat that creates a burning smell. Good news is I wasn't using a Gas stove with real fire, that the soup could put off the fire and the gas may just leak into the air, a trace of spark could light up the house with an explosion!
Now I understand Samson was trying to get my attention that something in the kitchen is burning! He wanted me to go take a look of it and I ignored him and tried to discipline him, what a silly me!
Well, I gave him a big piece of dog treat afterward, to award his excellence in smelling the difference!
"Naming or Renaming your adopted dog, does it matter what you name your newly adopted dog? And do you have to stick with the name he came with, if you know it?
Dogs are adaptable creatures. You can feel free to choose a new name for your adopted dog if you like. After all, you are giving him a new life - one where he won't roam and where he will get nutritious food and regular health care, appropriate training, and lots of love. These may be much bigger changes for your dog than the name he once knew!
It's also possible that an old name has lots of unpleasant associations for an abused or neglected dog. You may not know what those associations are, of course. A new name is actually an excellent idea for a dog of this sort. It will be one of many signs that a better, happier life has just begun.
Be sure to make only positive associations with your adopted dog's name. A common mistake is to correct a dog by yelling his name. Your dog's name should never be used in this way. It will only teach the dog to ignore you when you use his name appropriately - to get his attention or call him to you."
A day before thanksgiving, I was busy with grocery-shopping. I came home after 2pm and was hungry so I started the stove in high heat to reheat some chicken soup for lunch. After I did that I went back to the car to unload all my shopping bags, totally forgot the stove was on with a small pot of chicken soup.
While unloading from the car, I noticed the fountain was running low, starting to refill the water ... and doing other things at the front yard. Suddenly Samson was barking like crazy behind the door, I thought he was just barking because our next door neighbour's landscaping crew is working around the yard. So I opened the door to gave him a quick yell "stay", he still bark but in a lower tone.
After awhile, I opened the door to walk inside the house; Samson was barking un-controllable, I tried to discipline him to tell him "no barking crazily"! He ran into the kitchen and sat by the stove looking up.
I then realized my pot of chicken soup was boiling all over the place, it was over-flowing on the stove along with the heat that creates a burning smell. Good news is I wasn't using a Gas stove with real fire, that the soup could put off the fire and the gas may just leak into the air, a trace of spark could light up the house with an explosion!
Now I understand Samson was trying to get my attention that something in the kitchen is burning! He wanted me to go take a look of it and I ignored him and tried to discipline him, what a silly me!
Well, I gave him a big piece of dog treat afterward, to award his excellence in smelling the difference!
Tuesday, November 23, 2010
Approval granted
Victor is not an animal person, I know it all along and he emphasis it that he is allergic to the hair. His kids from the previous marriage got dogs, every one of them had dogs, big or small, from maltese to golden retriever. However, they got dogs after they have their own family, not when they were living with Victor.
Even I saw other dogs I liked at the shelter, in order to execute my plan, I know I have to get a cockapoo to minimize the risk. When I first met Samson, he was not quite energetic, almost seems a bit depress compared to other dogs in the kennels. But he did not bark like crazy like other dogs at that moment, I gave him a treat through the wire of the kennel, Samson took it slowly and bring it back to the corner and ate it slowly. Victor had experience handling cockapoo for a few weeks for our good friend, and he liked that dog very much. In order to make him accept a dog in the household, it has to be a cockapoo.
Foster care for Samson is a good plan to start, because I am not just bringing home a dog and shovel my decision down Victor's throat. I told him I am just volunteering for a period of time, to foster this dog until someone adopt it which is true. But as a foster mom, I have the right to adopt Samson first if someone see its profile on the internet and suddenly want to adopt. So it buys me time to let Victor gets to know the dog, it also buys me flexibility to re-confirm Victor does not react to the hair-shedding issue before I actually bring a dog home.
Turn out Samson had performed very well, despite a few accidents and biting event. Be realistic, if I were the dog, I might just bite too because I am in a totally new environment, we should have give the dog more time to adjust before we get too close to it. Now everything works out very well, Samson is getting more comfortable and less insecure, knowing if we leave the house for a few hours and we would come back eventually.
This morning when I was drinking my coffee, Victor asked:
"wow this guy is back to sleep again?"
"yeah, he actually needs about 14 hours of sleep a day." I replied
"do you like him? do you want to keep him?" he asked me
"I would love to."
"even I am a bit allergic to his hair?" Victor asked again.
"you are fine, you are just telling yourself this way, you had no problem when the other cockapoo in the house for 3 weeks." I replied.
"For me to keep Samson, you have to like him too, not just me." I pushed.
"I like him, he is a cute little dog." Victor said.
"Does it mean I can keep Samson officially? is this my thanksgiving gift? X'mas gift? or Channuka gift?"
"Whatever you want."
Even I saw other dogs I liked at the shelter, in order to execute my plan, I know I have to get a cockapoo to minimize the risk. When I first met Samson, he was not quite energetic, almost seems a bit depress compared to other dogs in the kennels. But he did not bark like crazy like other dogs at that moment, I gave him a treat through the wire of the kennel, Samson took it slowly and bring it back to the corner and ate it slowly. Victor had experience handling cockapoo for a few weeks for our good friend, and he liked that dog very much. In order to make him accept a dog in the household, it has to be a cockapoo.
Foster care for Samson is a good plan to start, because I am not just bringing home a dog and shovel my decision down Victor's throat. I told him I am just volunteering for a period of time, to foster this dog until someone adopt it which is true. But as a foster mom, I have the right to adopt Samson first if someone see its profile on the internet and suddenly want to adopt. So it buys me time to let Victor gets to know the dog, it also buys me flexibility to re-confirm Victor does not react to the hair-shedding issue before I actually bring a dog home.
Turn out Samson had performed very well, despite a few accidents and biting event. Be realistic, if I were the dog, I might just bite too because I am in a totally new environment, we should have give the dog more time to adjust before we get too close to it. Now everything works out very well, Samson is getting more comfortable and less insecure, knowing if we leave the house for a few hours and we would come back eventually.
This morning when I was drinking my coffee, Victor asked:
"wow this guy is back to sleep again?"
"yeah, he actually needs about 14 hours of sleep a day." I replied
"do you like him? do you want to keep him?" he asked me
"I would love to."
"even I am a bit allergic to his hair?" Victor asked again.
"you are fine, you are just telling yourself this way, you had no problem when the other cockapoo in the house for 3 weeks." I replied.
"For me to keep Samson, you have to like him too, not just me." I pushed.
"I like him, he is a cute little dog." Victor said.
"Does it mean I can keep Samson officially? is this my thanksgiving gift? X'mas gift? or Channuka gift?"
"Whatever you want."
Monday, November 22, 2010
A Dog's Day
The dog has adjusted to our schedule, it knows I will take him out for a quick walk before 7am after I got my first brew of coffee. Yesterday we took the dog for a long walk on the golf course's cart path while the course was closed for play, it took about 1.5 hour and it had no trouble keeping up with us, it occasionally stopped and sniffed a little bit but catch up with a run afterward, so we didn't feel like we had to wait around for the dog at all.
Samson has a lot of "Cocker Spaniel" in him, this breed was used to "flush", which means chasing bird or small animal out from bushes then the owner / hunter can shoot the target. It does not kill or retrieve the games at all, I had hope that Samson could one day go outside to the driveway and bring the newspaper back to the door for me, unlikely this could happen. It was having great fun by chasing all the birds on the golf course yesterday, Samson looked so content after the walk with bird chasing, he must think he was employed with a purpose.
Then I had to take my grown-up goldfish to relocate to a friend's home, let Samson meet her big 2 years old boxer girl for a play date. Upon arrival, Samson already knew he was going to meet Bella (the big dog) again, he could not wait to jump off the car. I was a bit nervous to see Samson meeting so many children at my friend's house, there were about 8 kids at that moment, Samson did not bite or behave badly, it just ran away through the bottom of the gate! I had to chase the dog for 2 blocks!
I was so relief that Samson behaved in front of a group of children, that means it can be trained to trust children again even Samson was abused by kids before. This is a big step forward, I let the children fed Samson treats all along, it is always easier in bribery.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Report Card after 10 days
It has been 10 days of Samson checking-in, here is my report card for him, a little 4 years old boy cocka-poo:
Numbers of accident inside the house: 5 pee in various spots
Numbers of accident inside the house after 4 days of arrival: 0
Longest hour to wait for bathroom break: 11 hours
How long does it take to finish his bathroom business outdoor: 20 minutes round trip
Ability to swim: Yes, accidentally fell in the pool on the first night
Ability to social: Yes, but mostly ladies, Samson likes to play with girls
Obedient training: Yes to Joey, No to Victor
Obey Commands: Yes to stay / sit / go potty
Any phobia responses: Yes to other big dogs while walking on a leash, Samson was charged and bark like crazy.
Yes to look out the window and see strangers, also barking like crazy
Yes to children
No phobia responses to loud noises or bad weather or animals on TV or overly submissive.
Separation anxiety: Yes, does not like to see us go out without him
Possession protectiveness: Yes, does not like others to take his toys
Biting record: Twice, Victor was the victim for both times, trying to pet Samson from up above while Samson is in a protective mode
Ability to make up afterward: Yes, with a treat
Willing to be handled or groomed: Yes to Joey, able to brush, hair-trimming, apply ear-drop and front paws nail clipping not the back paws
Willing to be petted by strangers: Yes to ladies with a treat, men is ok sometime with a treat, successful rate varies. Samson did not like the teenage male waiter at the Gallery Grille where we had lunch outdoor on friday.
Love to go for a ride: Yes, but not left alone in the car for more than 15 minutes
Love to go to the beach: Yes, but do not like to be cleaned afterward
Love to get a treat: Yes, almost anytime; recent favourite is Victor's gluten free lightly salted rice cracker
Love to beg at the dinning table: Yes, will use his cute big eyes to look at you while you are eating, with a slight head tilt while sitting quietly and wiggle the tail slowly. If no responses, will do a stand with 2 back legs only and both front paws on your chair, in order to get closer to the food you are eating.
Manner inside the house: Very good, no biting on my expensive shoes, no chewing on window treatment, no investigating garbage bin, no jumping on furniture without permission, no barking all day long, nothing was destroyed in this 10 days period, no jumping on guests arrive at the door, able to go into his crate with supervision.
Manner outside the house: Just OK, likes to pull me with a leash during our walk; over react to other big dogs, have no clue to walk with a leash around big object therefore always tie up something in the way, likes to roll around on dirt or grass therefore require my cleaning service afterward ......etc.
Overall rating: in a scale of 1 - 10, Samson scored 8, still needs training on obedience, response to strangers and other big dogs and learn how to trust again!
Numbers of accident inside the house: 5 pee in various spots
Numbers of accident inside the house after 4 days of arrival: 0
Longest hour to wait for bathroom break: 11 hours
How long does it take to finish his bathroom business outdoor: 20 minutes round trip
Ability to swim: Yes, accidentally fell in the pool on the first night
Ability to social: Yes, but mostly ladies, Samson likes to play with girls
Obedient training: Yes to Joey, No to Victor
Obey Commands: Yes to stay / sit / go potty
Any phobia responses: Yes to other big dogs while walking on a leash, Samson was charged and bark like crazy.
Yes to look out the window and see strangers, also barking like crazy
Yes to children
No phobia responses to loud noises or bad weather or animals on TV or overly submissive.
Separation anxiety: Yes, does not like to see us go out without him
Possession protectiveness: Yes, does not like others to take his toys
Biting record: Twice, Victor was the victim for both times, trying to pet Samson from up above while Samson is in a protective mode
Ability to make up afterward: Yes, with a treat
Willing to be handled or groomed: Yes to Joey, able to brush, hair-trimming, apply ear-drop and front paws nail clipping not the back paws
Willing to be petted by strangers: Yes to ladies with a treat, men is ok sometime with a treat, successful rate varies. Samson did not like the teenage male waiter at the Gallery Grille where we had lunch outdoor on friday.
Love to go for a ride: Yes, but not left alone in the car for more than 15 minutes
Love to go to the beach: Yes, but do not like to be cleaned afterward
Love to get a treat: Yes, almost anytime; recent favourite is Victor's gluten free lightly salted rice cracker
Love to beg at the dinning table: Yes, will use his cute big eyes to look at you while you are eating, with a slight head tilt while sitting quietly and wiggle the tail slowly. If no responses, will do a stand with 2 back legs only and both front paws on your chair, in order to get closer to the food you are eating.
Manner inside the house: Very good, no biting on my expensive shoes, no chewing on window treatment, no investigating garbage bin, no jumping on furniture without permission, no barking all day long, nothing was destroyed in this 10 days period, no jumping on guests arrive at the door, able to go into his crate with supervision.
Manner outside the house: Just OK, likes to pull me with a leash during our walk; over react to other big dogs, have no clue to walk with a leash around big object therefore always tie up something in the way, likes to roll around on dirt or grass therefore require my cleaning service afterward ......etc.
Overall rating: in a scale of 1 - 10, Samson scored 8, still needs training on obedience, response to strangers and other big dogs and learn how to trust again!
Friday, November 19, 2010
Samson again
If you are not interest in animal, these posts lately might have bored your eyes. But I had to write about it, the purpose of my blog is to preserve memory for myself, one day if I get alzheimer's disease and become forgetful, I could always come back to read what had happened before.
It has been a week since Samson moved in, a little cocka-poo shelter dog. He had a few clashes with Victor, another alpha male in the house; but I am hopeful that they would make up the relationship later on. The key is communication, understanding and respect each other's space.
Instead of reading dog training tips here and there on the internet, I decided this is not enough and I don't know how to communicate with Samson, to properly train him in order to get him to do what I want. He is no youngster, a 4 years old stubborn self-obsessive cocka-poo with tons of attitude. Well this becomes a challenge for me to teach an old dog new tricks! I went to the Palm Beach Gardens public library to get 7 books related to this topic, will digest all of them within 3 weeks in order to carry out a successful rehab program for Samson.
Samson has shown trust in me, he remembers who took him out of the shelter. Victor feels he is just a chop-liver in the house now because even the dog won't listen to him. ^_^ I just responded to him if he was the one to go pick Samson up at the shelter, Samson would react the same to him as to me.
Samson now understand 3 simple commands, stay / sit / go potty. He is not like my dear friend's cocka-poo we watched before, can pee / poop on demand at the backyard. Samson needs a good 10 minutes consistent walking in order to do his big business. Victor invented a no pick-up method is to open up a supermarket shopping bag real wide, lay it down on the lawn while Samson is getting in position, sure enough the droppings fall right in the center of the shopping bag, then we can tie it without a mess to dispose it.
There were 5 accidents inside the house in the first few days upon his arrival, I suspect the purpose of those pee was to mark his territory, Samson did not know this is his house he was going to stay so he marks it; once he understands he is sleeping here, eating here and playing here, he made no accidents afterward. He was able to hold it until we come home from golf and lunch, it was about 7 hours wait for him. Also he was changing to a new schedule, he wasn't fed at the same time as he was in the shelter nor being let outside at the same time, it is reasonable for him to adjust for the first week to a brand new schedule, so we forgave and forgot his accident.
So far he is doing good, he is just a bit sensitive to strangers approaching, this could be a golfer he saw from a distance out the window, then he started to bark like crazy, I now learn to distract him from that state-of-mind by using a toy that makes noise, I squeeze the toy then Samson follows the noise to retrieve his toy, forgot about barking at that stranger. Victor confronted him once while Samson was barking, his hand came down from top of Samson's head, Samson turned around and gave Victor a big snap! The key here is try not to confront his feeling, to distract him from that state-of-mind is the best method by far; if you must touch the dog at that moment while the dog is in the guarding mode, make sure your hand comes from down under his chin so the dog can view your approaching motion very clearly. Otherwise a sudden move from up-above like what Victor did, would receive a bite in return.
It has been a week since Samson moved in, a little cocka-poo shelter dog. He had a few clashes with Victor, another alpha male in the house; but I am hopeful that they would make up the relationship later on. The key is communication, understanding and respect each other's space.
Instead of reading dog training tips here and there on the internet, I decided this is not enough and I don't know how to communicate with Samson, to properly train him in order to get him to do what I want. He is no youngster, a 4 years old stubborn self-obsessive cocka-poo with tons of attitude. Well this becomes a challenge for me to teach an old dog new tricks! I went to the Palm Beach Gardens public library to get 7 books related to this topic, will digest all of them within 3 weeks in order to carry out a successful rehab program for Samson.
Samson has shown trust in me, he remembers who took him out of the shelter. Victor feels he is just a chop-liver in the house now because even the dog won't listen to him. ^_^ I just responded to him if he was the one to go pick Samson up at the shelter, Samson would react the same to him as to me.
Samson now understand 3 simple commands, stay / sit / go potty. He is not like my dear friend's cocka-poo we watched before, can pee / poop on demand at the backyard. Samson needs a good 10 minutes consistent walking in order to do his big business. Victor invented a no pick-up method is to open up a supermarket shopping bag real wide, lay it down on the lawn while Samson is getting in position, sure enough the droppings fall right in the center of the shopping bag, then we can tie it without a mess to dispose it.
There were 5 accidents inside the house in the first few days upon his arrival, I suspect the purpose of those pee was to mark his territory, Samson did not know this is his house he was going to stay so he marks it; once he understands he is sleeping here, eating here and playing here, he made no accidents afterward. He was able to hold it until we come home from golf and lunch, it was about 7 hours wait for him. Also he was changing to a new schedule, he wasn't fed at the same time as he was in the shelter nor being let outside at the same time, it is reasonable for him to adjust for the first week to a brand new schedule, so we forgave and forgot his accident.
So far he is doing good, he is just a bit sensitive to strangers approaching, this could be a golfer he saw from a distance out the window, then he started to bark like crazy, I now learn to distract him from that state-of-mind by using a toy that makes noise, I squeeze the toy then Samson follows the noise to retrieve his toy, forgot about barking at that stranger. Victor confronted him once while Samson was barking, his hand came down from top of Samson's head, Samson turned around and gave Victor a big snap! The key here is try not to confront his feeling, to distract him from that state-of-mind is the best method by far; if you must touch the dog at that moment while the dog is in the guarding mode, make sure your hand comes from down under his chin so the dog can view your approaching motion very clearly. Otherwise a sudden move from up-above like what Victor did, would receive a bite in return.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
Face Off - Victor and Samson
It has been 6 days since I took Samson home from a "No Kill Shelter", it is grateful that I took it in and shows affectionate to me most of the time, not so much to Victor. So a friend suggested to have Victor feed it, walk it a little bit. Yesterday I was out golfing in the morning, Victor walked Samson and when they arrived home, he tried to clean Samson's legs and paws because it walked on dirt.
Samson must got beaten by the back left leg before, it showed tremendous aggression to Victor and both of them had a face-off right at the front door. Victor grabbed it by the neck and push it down to the floor, it has a lot of force and struggle try to turn around to bite Victor, making this horrible groaning noise and showing teeth. Samson has to submit itself to the leader of the pack in order to have peace afterward in the household, who is Victor at that moment.
Victor held it down for about 2 minutes, then Samson started to soften and became submissive, then Victor let it go, it ran back into the house. Victor then try to make up with the dog, to give it a piece of treat, Samson wouldn't take it and walk away! Obviously it submitted but still mad at Victor.
Victor gave an hour for Samson to calm down, then approached Samson again to pet it and offer it another piece of treat; Samson paused a little bit and ate the treat. At the same time, Victor spoke to it in a very soft tone to explain what he was trying to do, did not mean to hurt you, just want to clean up your dirt on the paws so you don't lick all this bad thing back into your mouth, then you may get sick afterward bla bla bla.... just speak to the dog very softly.
They made peace after that, I was so relief. From then on, Samson let both of us touch his back leg!
I guess it takes a lot of patient to understand what a dog is going through, Samson has been locked up in the shelter for quite some time, I guess it is about 6 months. Samson was in the second shelter for 4 months so I assumed it was at the first county shelter for 2 months, just a guess. Did not know who beat the dog and where it was beaten before, it was very hard for us to understand its thought. I just try to simplified its life by showing him trust, love and caring; I am sure Samson feels it and understand its life is in good hand now, no one is going to beat it again.
After the face off, now Samson would go to Victor's office and ask to be petted, which is the first time I see it happening, what a big difference!
Samson must got beaten by the back left leg before, it showed tremendous aggression to Victor and both of them had a face-off right at the front door. Victor grabbed it by the neck and push it down to the floor, it has a lot of force and struggle try to turn around to bite Victor, making this horrible groaning noise and showing teeth. Samson has to submit itself to the leader of the pack in order to have peace afterward in the household, who is Victor at that moment.
Victor held it down for about 2 minutes, then Samson started to soften and became submissive, then Victor let it go, it ran back into the house. Victor then try to make up with the dog, to give it a piece of treat, Samson wouldn't take it and walk away! Obviously it submitted but still mad at Victor.
Victor gave an hour for Samson to calm down, then approached Samson again to pet it and offer it another piece of treat; Samson paused a little bit and ate the treat. At the same time, Victor spoke to it in a very soft tone to explain what he was trying to do, did not mean to hurt you, just want to clean up your dirt on the paws so you don't lick all this bad thing back into your mouth, then you may get sick afterward bla bla bla.... just speak to the dog very softly.
They made peace after that, I was so relief. From then on, Samson let both of us touch his back leg!
I guess it takes a lot of patient to understand what a dog is going through, Samson has been locked up in the shelter for quite some time, I guess it is about 6 months. Samson was in the second shelter for 4 months so I assumed it was at the first county shelter for 2 months, just a guess. Did not know who beat the dog and where it was beaten before, it was very hard for us to understand its thought. I just try to simplified its life by showing him trust, love and caring; I am sure Samson feels it and understand its life is in good hand now, no one is going to beat it again.
After the face off, now Samson would go to Victor's office and ask to be petted, which is the first time I see it happening, what a big difference!
Monday, November 15, 2010
Sunday, November 14, 2010
A playdate for Samson
Today I am going to deliver my goldfish to a dear friend's two daughters, meanwhile I figure it could be a good chance for Samson to meet a play date, Bella.
Bella is a big girl, she weights over 80lbs and has a very good-looking tiger pattern on her, she is a 2 years old boxer with tons of energy. I worry would they get along to play together because Samson is only 11 lbs and a small breed cocka-poo with the toy poodle version, facing this giant girl may scare him on the lawn!
Bella didn't know why she had to wait in the lawn at the backyard of her own house. Well, we let Samson comes into the house to take in the scent of Bella before they meet, so he is expecting her already, just not quite sure how big she is. It was funny when they meet, Bella just could not wait to tease Samson to play chase and run in circle, she seems thinking "Size doesn't matter".
Samson was not too crazy at the beginning, it takes him some time to warm up and then they really start to run all over the place, it was fun for me to watch how they interact with each other. Samson seems quite social, did not get scare of Bella's size, Bella just happy there is someone she can play with.
After an hour or so of playing, we went grocery shopping at 3 different places and got gas before we get home. I would say Bella really wore him out, he was so tired he was just lying in the middle of the kitchen floor and not moving. When it gets to dinner time, he was so hungry that he finished his bowl in 2 minutes I would say, I have never seen him eat so quick.
It was also a good experience for Samson to meet two nice children, so he now know not all children are bad, there are good children who loves animal and do not abuse. Let's see how this rehab going, if he is a smart dog, he should learn pretty quickly by just observing.
We also found out Bella was very gentle on Samson, she knows she has the upper hand!
Bella is a big girl, she weights over 80lbs and has a very good-looking tiger pattern on her, she is a 2 years old boxer with tons of energy. I worry would they get along to play together because Samson is only 11 lbs and a small breed cocka-poo with the toy poodle version, facing this giant girl may scare him on the lawn!
Bella didn't know why she had to wait in the lawn at the backyard of her own house. Well, we let Samson comes into the house to take in the scent of Bella before they meet, so he is expecting her already, just not quite sure how big she is. It was funny when they meet, Bella just could not wait to tease Samson to play chase and run in circle, she seems thinking "Size doesn't matter".
Samson was not too crazy at the beginning, it takes him some time to warm up and then they really start to run all over the place, it was fun for me to watch how they interact with each other. Samson seems quite social, did not get scare of Bella's size, Bella just happy there is someone she can play with.
After an hour or so of playing, we went grocery shopping at 3 different places and got gas before we get home. I would say Bella really wore him out, he was so tired he was just lying in the middle of the kitchen floor and not moving. When it gets to dinner time, he was so hungry that he finished his bowl in 2 minutes I would say, I have never seen him eat so quick.
It was also a good experience for Samson to meet two nice children, so he now know not all children are bad, there are good children who loves animal and do not abuse. Let's see how this rehab going, if he is a smart dog, he should learn pretty quickly by just observing.
We also found out Bella was very gentle on Samson, she knows she has the upper hand!
From Buddy to Samson
Last night was the first night we went out for dinner after the dog checked in, also the first time he would be separated from us for a longer hour. I purpose to let me confined in a smaller space such as the laundry room, so he goes to sleep there, if any accident happens while we are not home, it is still very easy to clean up that small area.
Victor's suggestion was to let him roam free inside the house, he feels like this is his house already, if I confined him when we are away, it could make him feel distress and do not like the fact that we have to leave the house for a few hours sometime. He said eventually you have to trust him. I smiled to myself knowing my plan has move one little step forward.
I said ok, if he makes an accident, you are responsible for it. He said ok.
We went to the Greek restaurant at jupiter, it takes a half and hour to go there, so I figure one hour on the road, one and half hour to eat, we'll test him for 2.5 hour the first time. The next test would be golfing up to 6 hours if we have to stay for lunch somewhere afterward.
Victor asked me is Buddy his real name?
"I was told it is from his original owner, and I read his medical record since he was born from a vet at Lake Worth, his name is Buddy." I answered.
"He seems does not response well with his name when we called him." He said.
"Are you suggesting we should give him a new name?" I asked.
"Yes, how about Charlie?" He said.
"No way, doesn't sound good." I replied.
"how about Charles?"
"What? that is the same as Charlie! how about Max?" I said.
"Max is good, easy to call, come over here Max!" he is rehearsing.
"But I want something have a meaning or symbolize something." I said
"How about Samson? he is strong, when I was walking him today he pulled me, almost dislocate my shoulder, and he has a lot of strength and character in him." he suggested.
"Samson it is! a good name, symbolized his strength. I want him to rehab here for 3 weeks to see if he can improve from whatever problem he had in the past." I pushed a little bit.
"He is a smart dog, I am sure he can do it." Victor is unguarded, I had to take this chance asking:
"So now you are going to give him a new name, are you willing to give him a new life at this thanksgiving?" I pushed.
He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling at the restaurant, saying: "here you come, we'll see how he does."
Haha, I know my position has moved up, it is now Samson's performance to determined if he can stay.
Meanwhile as we were driving home, we discussed if there was an accident, where would it be? I said don't worry, there won't be any accident, because you trusted him.
Sure enough when we got home, no accident! He was sleeping at the family room under my recliner where my blanket was on the floor, he had his toy with him on my blanket.
"Good boy, Samson, Score 1!"
Victor's suggestion was to let him roam free inside the house, he feels like this is his house already, if I confined him when we are away, it could make him feel distress and do not like the fact that we have to leave the house for a few hours sometime. He said eventually you have to trust him. I smiled to myself knowing my plan has move one little step forward.
I said ok, if he makes an accident, you are responsible for it. He said ok.
We went to the Greek restaurant at jupiter, it takes a half and hour to go there, so I figure one hour on the road, one and half hour to eat, we'll test him for 2.5 hour the first time. The next test would be golfing up to 6 hours if we have to stay for lunch somewhere afterward.
Victor asked me is Buddy his real name?
"I was told it is from his original owner, and I read his medical record since he was born from a vet at Lake Worth, his name is Buddy." I answered.
"He seems does not response well with his name when we called him." He said.
"Are you suggesting we should give him a new name?" I asked.
"Yes, how about Charlie?" He said.
"No way, doesn't sound good." I replied.
"how about Charles?"
"What? that is the same as Charlie! how about Max?" I said.
"Max is good, easy to call, come over here Max!" he is rehearsing.
"But I want something have a meaning or symbolize something." I said
"How about Samson? he is strong, when I was walking him today he pulled me, almost dislocate my shoulder, and he has a lot of strength and character in him." he suggested.
"Samson it is! a good name, symbolized his strength. I want him to rehab here for 3 weeks to see if he can improve from whatever problem he had in the past." I pushed a little bit.
"He is a smart dog, I am sure he can do it." Victor is unguarded, I had to take this chance asking:
"So now you are going to give him a new name, are you willing to give him a new life at this thanksgiving?" I pushed.
He rolled his eyes up to the ceiling at the restaurant, saying: "here you come, we'll see how he does."
Haha, I know my position has moved up, it is now Samson's performance to determined if he can stay.
Meanwhile as we were driving home, we discussed if there was an accident, where would it be? I said don't worry, there won't be any accident, because you trusted him.
Sure enough when we got home, no accident! He was sleeping at the family room under my recliner where my blanket was on the floor, he had his toy with him on my blanket.
"Good boy, Samson, Score 1!"
Saturday, November 13, 2010
Foster Mom's report 2
I was desperately looking for a groomer on the day Buddy arrives, because I want him to look his best when he meets my husband, Victor. I was unable to get him groom by a professional groomer in that afternoon, they were all closed for the day after 2:30pm. So my friend who has 2 small dogs gave Buddy a bath, he smelled nice afterward, we cleaned up his tear stain. The next day, I figure it is the weekend coming up and unlikely I could get an appointment, I decided to give it a shot to groom Buddy myself. I went to PetSmart to get whatever I need to get the job done.
He reacts very clam during my non-professional grooming period. I did it outdoor on my dinner table under the sun where he can feel the breeze, I tried to make it as pleasant as possible. He moves a bit here and there but I just wait until he settled before I move my scissors around with a comb. His left ear is clean but his right ear has wax built up, I used an ear cleaning drop and some Q-tip with dipped alcohol to clean up the wax on the outer ear, I did not dare to go in too deep so I just let the ear cleaning thing to do its job.
I had no problem clipping his nail on the 2 front paws, he doesn't like me to raise his 2 back paws, I guess I did not know how to position him, he is definitely ok to let me clip his nail. I used to do this to my cat in Hong Kong.
Before the "Frontline flea and tick's treatment" arrives in the mail, I gave him a medicated collar to kill the flea and tick if there's any exists.
I found out he is a great swimmer on the first night, he accidentally fell into the pool during his sniff and pee pee time, he was able to follow my voice and swim very steadily to the steps of the pool, walked out with style and shake off the water! Voila! He knows how to swim!
In the future, I will be absent in the morning due to golf, so I am trying to establish a schedule for Buddy to understand. I wake up between 6:30am to 7:30am, the first thing I do is to let him out, while he is peeing, I point my index finger toward the ground and use simple word such as "GO POTTY", in order to remind him this motion and word means a request. Upon the second he puts his leg down, I gave him a treat and praise him lavishly.
I also use this index finger motion whenever I "Request" him to do something, and I give him about 30 seconds to response. Buddy is a very smart dog, he gets it very quickly. I do it on requests of "Stay", "Go potty", "Surrender". I will stay with these 3 for the first week, move up to another level later.
I won't feed him breakfast until my husband wakes up at about 7:30am to 8:00am, Victor has to feed him with 1/2 cup science diet dog food, which my friend Betsy has 2 small dogs highly recommended. I will only feed him dog food in the first 2 weeks, later may introduce him to real human food throughout the day such as chicken breast, carrot, romaine lettuce, red bell pepper or broccoli....etc.
This weekend I did not plan any activities but just focus on getting Buddy used to the new environment only. So even I am available to walk him in the morning, I won't do it because I won't be able to walk him in the morning later on, I will walk him after 2pm.
While Buddy eats breakfast, I will eat my breakfast at the same time so he knows this is the time zone we do this together.
Then I will find some chores to do around the house, such as feed the fish, gardening at the front, do the laundry....etc. In order to make him understand hey I have work to do in the morning. At this morning period, I will let Buddy out once or twice to avoid accident. At 2pm, we'll start our long walk in the neighbourhood, so he knows I will walk him sometime in the afternoon in the future.
He is also very good in guarding the house, last night was garbage night and I am sure the raccoons were out for dinner. We went to sleep at about 9:30pm and he barks like crazy at about 10:30pm, I woke up and followed him out to the sliding glass door, turn on the light outside to scare the whatever animals, then I praised him for being alert at night.
If there is a scale to rate a dog from 1 to 10, Buddy is reaching the mark at 8, he only has to do better on the issue of "marking his territory" and "follow simple human request", he will reach a mark of 10.
He reacts very clam during my non-professional grooming period. I did it outdoor on my dinner table under the sun where he can feel the breeze, I tried to make it as pleasant as possible. He moves a bit here and there but I just wait until he settled before I move my scissors around with a comb. His left ear is clean but his right ear has wax built up, I used an ear cleaning drop and some Q-tip with dipped alcohol to clean up the wax on the outer ear, I did not dare to go in too deep so I just let the ear cleaning thing to do its job.
I had no problem clipping his nail on the 2 front paws, he doesn't like me to raise his 2 back paws, I guess I did not know how to position him, he is definitely ok to let me clip his nail. I used to do this to my cat in Hong Kong.
Before the "Frontline flea and tick's treatment" arrives in the mail, I gave him a medicated collar to kill the flea and tick if there's any exists.
I found out he is a great swimmer on the first night, he accidentally fell into the pool during his sniff and pee pee time, he was able to follow my voice and swim very steadily to the steps of the pool, walked out with style and shake off the water! Voila! He knows how to swim!
In the future, I will be absent in the morning due to golf, so I am trying to establish a schedule for Buddy to understand. I wake up between 6:30am to 7:30am, the first thing I do is to let him out, while he is peeing, I point my index finger toward the ground and use simple word such as "GO POTTY", in order to remind him this motion and word means a request. Upon the second he puts his leg down, I gave him a treat and praise him lavishly.
I also use this index finger motion whenever I "Request" him to do something, and I give him about 30 seconds to response. Buddy is a very smart dog, he gets it very quickly. I do it on requests of "Stay", "Go potty", "Surrender". I will stay with these 3 for the first week, move up to another level later.
I won't feed him breakfast until my husband wakes up at about 7:30am to 8:00am, Victor has to feed him with 1/2 cup science diet dog food, which my friend Betsy has 2 small dogs highly recommended. I will only feed him dog food in the first 2 weeks, later may introduce him to real human food throughout the day such as chicken breast, carrot, romaine lettuce, red bell pepper or broccoli....etc.
This weekend I did not plan any activities but just focus on getting Buddy used to the new environment only. So even I am available to walk him in the morning, I won't do it because I won't be able to walk him in the morning later on, I will walk him after 2pm.
While Buddy eats breakfast, I will eat my breakfast at the same time so he knows this is the time zone we do this together.
Then I will find some chores to do around the house, such as feed the fish, gardening at the front, do the laundry....etc. In order to make him understand hey I have work to do in the morning. At this morning period, I will let Buddy out once or twice to avoid accident. At 2pm, we'll start our long walk in the neighbourhood, so he knows I will walk him sometime in the afternoon in the future.
He is also very good in guarding the house, last night was garbage night and I am sure the raccoons were out for dinner. We went to sleep at about 9:30pm and he barks like crazy at about 10:30pm, I woke up and followed him out to the sliding glass door, turn on the light outside to scare the whatever animals, then I praised him for being alert at night.
If there is a scale to rate a dog from 1 to 10, Buddy is reaching the mark at 8, he only has to do better on the issue of "marking his territory" and "follow simple human request", he will reach a mark of 10.
Friday, November 12, 2010
Foster Mom's report
as a foster mom, I am obligated to write a report about Buddy, to his original trainer at the shelter - Quin.
Hi Quin,
I appreciated your help in getting my first step to become a dog owner, allowed me to be a foster mom for Buddy as the first step. He is my first dog, I am learning from him at the same time he is learning from me.
You mentioned the procession issue about Buddy, yes, Buddy has this issue and I feel he was firm when I was with you at the shelter while we did our trial walk, later on in the evening on the day I took him home, he submitted to me, I asked him to "Surrender" and put my index finger out, gave him about 30 seconds, he puts whatever toy / treat was in his mouth next to my feet. Since then he did not show any aggressions toward me, but he still shows this reaction to my husband.
Our friend's suggestion is to have my husband feed him, that is a good idea. Buddy start to trust him on the second day, which is the day my husband started to feed him dinner.
Buddy was house trained in his previous owner home, I am sure. But being in the shelter for a while, he forgot what he suppose to do. I am starting to house train him again as if he was a puppy. He had one accident in the bedroom next to my pillow on the floor and on the carpet at the same time. It looked like he was marking his territory, I was there at the moment so I acknowledged what he did, took him out immediately and cleaned up the pee. He did not do it in the house after that (yet). But he did pee twice in my friend's house when we paid a visit, where 2 other female dogs were present, Buddy marks his territory again twice within 1 hour.
He has very good manner, he does not bark unless he feels I am being threatened, which he barked at the security guards and the shop-keeper at PetSmart like crazy when I talked to them. I then ask the guy to shake hand with me, continued to talk to them, Buddy's reaction subsided after about 60 seconds.
He does not jump onto furniture without permission, he does not chew shoes or window treatment or investigate the garbage or tear my decorative pillow in pieces; he has been behaving very well, with good manner. He just does not understand simple command such as Sit, Down, Paw ......etc. Which I think I can train him later, I want him to get comfortable in the home first, it has been a lot of new things for him, I just stand very firm on 'potty training' right now, the rest I'll start a week later.
Buddy has very good social skill, I took him to my friend's house who got two big female labs where he paid his hello then mind his own business; I took him to another friend's house who got two small female dogs (havanese & papyllon), he played with one of them and did not show much interest to another one.
He may feel a bit insecure now, which he gets nervous when he does not see me in sight. I tried to put him in the crate just a few minutes and walk away from him, then he would bark and make a crying noise, then I would talk and tell him "I will be right back" where he does not see me but close enough to hear my voice. He quiet down a little bit and wait, I then make sure I showed up like 5 minutes later to open up his crate and praise him like crazy.
I think it would be helpful to make him not afraid of the crate, and have faith that I would always go back to get him.
Regarding to the children who think Buddy was not friendly, my personal opinion is mis-communication among them. Buddy makes a strange noise when he wants to play, he also shows a sign of nipping like a puppy would do normally. These are signals of how he feels at that moment, not an aggression towards others. He is absolutely very friendly, very affectionate and able to trust. He is a good boy as far as I am concerned.
Buddy has behaved unexpectedly well, I am very positive that he would want to stay with us to be one of the pack, hopefully I can give you such a good news in a few weeks. Thank you so much.
Hi Quin,
I appreciated your help in getting my first step to become a dog owner, allowed me to be a foster mom for Buddy as the first step. He is my first dog, I am learning from him at the same time he is learning from me.
You mentioned the procession issue about Buddy, yes, Buddy has this issue and I feel he was firm when I was with you at the shelter while we did our trial walk, later on in the evening on the day I took him home, he submitted to me, I asked him to "Surrender" and put my index finger out, gave him about 30 seconds, he puts whatever toy / treat was in his mouth next to my feet. Since then he did not show any aggressions toward me, but he still shows this reaction to my husband.
Our friend's suggestion is to have my husband feed him, that is a good idea. Buddy start to trust him on the second day, which is the day my husband started to feed him dinner.
Buddy was house trained in his previous owner home, I am sure. But being in the shelter for a while, he forgot what he suppose to do. I am starting to house train him again as if he was a puppy. He had one accident in the bedroom next to my pillow on the floor and on the carpet at the same time. It looked like he was marking his territory, I was there at the moment so I acknowledged what he did, took him out immediately and cleaned up the pee. He did not do it in the house after that (yet). But he did pee twice in my friend's house when we paid a visit, where 2 other female dogs were present, Buddy marks his territory again twice within 1 hour.
He has very good manner, he does not bark unless he feels I am being threatened, which he barked at the security guards and the shop-keeper at PetSmart like crazy when I talked to them. I then ask the guy to shake hand with me, continued to talk to them, Buddy's reaction subsided after about 60 seconds.
He does not jump onto furniture without permission, he does not chew shoes or window treatment or investigate the garbage or tear my decorative pillow in pieces; he has been behaving very well, with good manner. He just does not understand simple command such as Sit, Down, Paw ......etc. Which I think I can train him later, I want him to get comfortable in the home first, it has been a lot of new things for him, I just stand very firm on 'potty training' right now, the rest I'll start a week later.
Buddy has very good social skill, I took him to my friend's house who got two big female labs where he paid his hello then mind his own business; I took him to another friend's house who got two small female dogs (havanese & papyllon), he played with one of them and did not show much interest to another one.
He may feel a bit insecure now, which he gets nervous when he does not see me in sight. I tried to put him in the crate just a few minutes and walk away from him, then he would bark and make a crying noise, then I would talk and tell him "I will be right back" where he does not see me but close enough to hear my voice. He quiet down a little bit and wait, I then make sure I showed up like 5 minutes later to open up his crate and praise him like crazy.
I think it would be helpful to make him not afraid of the crate, and have faith that I would always go back to get him.
Regarding to the children who think Buddy was not friendly, my personal opinion is mis-communication among them. Buddy makes a strange noise when he wants to play, he also shows a sign of nipping like a puppy would do normally. These are signals of how he feels at that moment, not an aggression towards others. He is absolutely very friendly, very affectionate and able to trust. He is a good boy as far as I am concerned.
Buddy has behaved unexpectedly well, I am very positive that he would want to stay with us to be one of the pack, hopefully I can give you such a good news in a few weeks. Thank you so much.
Veteran Day - Buddy
The shelter volunteer has to come to my house to check if it was suitable as a foster parent of Buddy, so the lady followed my drive all the way from Wellington to ibis. I was so relief to see Victor's car was not in the garage, that means the chance of him ruining it on the scene was 0, I can then proceed with my plan.
Buddy was surrendered sometime in the middle of the year, he is 4 years old born on 8/11/2006, his very original owner became seriously ill, could no longer care for him, turned him into Palm Beach County animal shelter with all his formal medical record from a Vet at Lake Worth.
The County jail kills if the animal sits too long without adoption, Buddy is cute and they call a "No Kill" shelter at Wellington to take him in, Buddy was taken in at Wellington on 8/26/2010.
One family with 2 kids adopted him once in early September, this family returned Buddy in 2 weeks, the comment was Buddy is not friendly, he bit the kids.
The other volunteer who cares for Buddy's cell told me he was house-trained, but he has procession issue. During my trial walk with Buddy at the shelter's fenced in back lawn, he showed the procession issue when I try to take away the toy from his mouth, he scratched my hand, there was no blood but it wasn't the best impression.
I figured he was frustrated, he was in this shelter for 3 months already, he now get to go outside and play but I took away his toy, if I have to think in a dog's prospective.
That is a good shelter, but again there are so many dogs they have to take care of, Buddy is not getting any personal attention he needs. He does not react that crazy with treats when I gave him, he reacts very well with praise. When I walked into his cell the first time, there were 30 other dogs barking at me and jumping up and down in their cages, I guess they want my attention, may be a chance for them to get out for freedom. I turned to Buddy, he was quiet looking up at me, just bring his nose up to the edge of the cage, I put my hand down to let him smell me, then I gave him a treat, he took the treat and hide at the corner of the cage, ate it a few seconds later.
He has to learn to trust me too, I am sure he was dissapointed that he was abandoned.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Golf in China
I was watching the HSBC world challenge throughout the weekend, was held at SheShan Golf And Country Club in Shanghai China. SheShan means west mountain in Chinese, this course location is west of the city next to an old quarry field. It was opened in 2004 and that was the last time when I was in Shanghai, in 2004.
One of Victor's friend from Philadelphia has been living in Shanghai, they live in a villa inside a golf and country club back then, they have 3 children and all are going to international school, I visited them and had dinner with them while I was there alone. They do not play golf but they like the lifestyle of living inside a club and it gives better space to raise a family in a hustling and bustling city. Shanghai house 29 million people, it has more people of California and New York state combined.
I was staying at one of the newest hotel the "Grand Hyatt" back then, it was the tallest building in Shanghai, overlooking the city with gorgeous view, has really good restaurants and clubs on the top floor. I remember I wanted to get a drink after dinner, I had to show my room key in order to get into the club, there were probably many girls try to get in there to meet 'someone special'. A regular room rate was US$ 300 / night and I stayed 4 nights only. I went to the club every night for a drink, had to show my room card every single time. And I could not believe how long that line was, I was amazed. Then a year later the Four Seasons opened, took away a lot of business from Grand Hyatt, I did not go back to Shanghai ever since.
Golf becomes the trendiest sport in China right now, new courses and golf developments are being built every where. Any business owners would join a club for social purpose or try to make their deals on the golf course. Caddies are mostly ladies though, I would say a good 95% of caddies are girls there. I guess business owners are mostly men in China, prefer to be pampered by women on the golf course. Many people have asked me why didn't I considered to move back to China, I like golfing there but the air quality is extremely poor, it isn't funny. The hazy sky you saw on TV this weekend is there all the time, it doesn't go away, that is the smog from all the factories burning something everywhere, Hong Kong is slightly better because it locates on the coastline.
I am not sure if people noticed the background noise from this golf tournament, I am not new to it and it bothered me every time when I had to visit China, it is the drivers love to blow their horn no matter what they do and when is it in China. They blow the horn when cutting the lane, they blow their horn when passing, they blow their horn when they think you drive too slow, they blow their horn when they drive into the alley...etc. It could be 1 am at night, they don't really care, they just love to blow their horn.
The commentators tried to explain this golf club is located next to a very busy road, in fact it is next to a highway. The truth is no matter where you are around the city, you hear the horn ALL THE TIME. That is why I had to pay more money to stay at the Grand Hyatt because they have double window to block road noise, otherwise I could not sleep there. Now 6 years later, double window becomes a standard in all newer hotels in Shanghai, back then Grand Hyatt was the only hotel offered this feature.
This seems like a very nice course, I am sure the professional golfers are used to block out certain distraction such as road noise like this. On the other hand, I am not sure how I would feel during the middle of the swing or putting through my ball, you hear "Beep Beep Beep" from a truck! I guess I should learn how to block out distraction like this too, definitely beneficial.
One of Victor's friend from Philadelphia has been living in Shanghai, they live in a villa inside a golf and country club back then, they have 3 children and all are going to international school, I visited them and had dinner with them while I was there alone. They do not play golf but they like the lifestyle of living inside a club and it gives better space to raise a family in a hustling and bustling city. Shanghai house 29 million people, it has more people of California and New York state combined.
I was staying at one of the newest hotel the "Grand Hyatt" back then, it was the tallest building in Shanghai, overlooking the city with gorgeous view, has really good restaurants and clubs on the top floor. I remember I wanted to get a drink after dinner, I had to show my room key in order to get into the club, there were probably many girls try to get in there to meet 'someone special'. A regular room rate was US$ 300 / night and I stayed 4 nights only. I went to the club every night for a drink, had to show my room card every single time. And I could not believe how long that line was, I was amazed. Then a year later the Four Seasons opened, took away a lot of business from Grand Hyatt, I did not go back to Shanghai ever since.
Golf becomes the trendiest sport in China right now, new courses and golf developments are being built every where. Any business owners would join a club for social purpose or try to make their deals on the golf course. Caddies are mostly ladies though, I would say a good 95% of caddies are girls there. I guess business owners are mostly men in China, prefer to be pampered by women on the golf course. Many people have asked me why didn't I considered to move back to China, I like golfing there but the air quality is extremely poor, it isn't funny. The hazy sky you saw on TV this weekend is there all the time, it doesn't go away, that is the smog from all the factories burning something everywhere, Hong Kong is slightly better because it locates on the coastline.
I am not sure if people noticed the background noise from this golf tournament, I am not new to it and it bothered me every time when I had to visit China, it is the drivers love to blow their horn no matter what they do and when is it in China. They blow the horn when cutting the lane, they blow their horn when passing, they blow their horn when they think you drive too slow, they blow their horn when they drive into the alley...etc. It could be 1 am at night, they don't really care, they just love to blow their horn.
The commentators tried to explain this golf club is located next to a very busy road, in fact it is next to a highway. The truth is no matter where you are around the city, you hear the horn ALL THE TIME. That is why I had to pay more money to stay at the Grand Hyatt because they have double window to block road noise, otherwise I could not sleep there. Now 6 years later, double window becomes a standard in all newer hotels in Shanghai, back then Grand Hyatt was the only hotel offered this feature.
This seems like a very nice course, I am sure the professional golfers are used to block out certain distraction such as road noise like this. On the other hand, I am not sure how I would feel during the middle of the swing or putting through my ball, you hear "Beep Beep Beep" from a truck! I guess I should learn how to block out distraction like this too, definitely beneficial.
Karate Kid
I don't remember if I saw the old movie Karate Kid, I seem to remember a little bit but not very clear, perhaps I was very young back then, I remember the first movie I saw was "JAWS" in the theatre and I had nightmare 3 nights in a row then my mom blamed my sister so badly for taking me to watch such a horrifying movie.
Last night I watched "Karate Kid" new version with Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son, it was somewhat a family feel-good movie, I like to watch those before I go to sleep, I hate to watch too much fighting or killing or conspiracy inspired scene before I go to sleep. It is also a good habit to keep a good night sleep, do not put your brain into a too-active level 3 hours before your bedtime, everything has to be very calm and quiet. Normally we watched nature channel or something related to the universe, nothing has a real conclusion, Vic can't deal with animal eating scene so sometime NatGeo is not on the menu, he had this old sensation when he was a kid, he imagined animal from Africa is walking out from one of his wall in the bedroom to chase him and eat him.
Back to the "Karate Kid", the kid throws his jacket around. This is not a big deal as far as American parent was concerned, it is a big deal in a Chinese family I can tell you that. This action symbolized a selfish act, disrespectful to the person who has to pick up after you, all you care about is yourself but nobody else.
The first lesson he has to learn was to pick up your jacket, put it on, take it off, throw it on the floor, pick it up again....a cycle of motion repeating itself.
The kid thinks it is stupid, he wasn't learning "Kung Fu", he wanted some real action with punching and kicking.
He did not realize what he was doing with the jacket was the basic motion of "Wing Chung" hand's action. It was by far the most powerful close-contact Kung-Fu one can imagine, Judo from Japan was a copy from "Wing Chung" and Bruce Lee was an expert of that line.
Anyway, it was also his first lesson about Kung-Fu, a Chinese tradition --- of Discipline. I think my mom would be very surprised if she is still alive, hearing me to talk about "Discipline". I was the most "un-disciplined" kid in the family, everyone follows mom's order except me, I always had my own mind to do my own thing. Somehow it worked out fine, but I listened to my elder brothers and sister complaining all the time, which I was the luckiest among them.
Discipline, I did not understand its true meaning til I get to about 28 years old. Then I realized what mom teaches us was very important, discipline inside the household brings stability to society, which was a sense of responsibility to an individual in a healthy way.
Which I did not understand until I picked up golf at that age, discipline means so much in improving, self-control and respect to others.
One wonders why American kids are so wild in public and the parent don't know what to do, it lies in the teaching of discipline. An action of throwing your jacket around is not tolerable in my household, everyone knows its place and what he / she suppose to do once you walk into the house. The truly successful discipline method is the one like my mom used, does not have to make a noise, just give you a look and you immediately pick up your jacket, very effective.
That is probably why you rarely find an Asian household have kids DUI, fighting in school, involves in crime......etc. Everyone seems to know his / her place in the society, the training started early, at home while I started to walk. It was called "Discipline".
Last night I watched "Karate Kid" new version with Jackie Chan and Will Smith's son, it was somewhat a family feel-good movie, I like to watch those before I go to sleep, I hate to watch too much fighting or killing or conspiracy inspired scene before I go to sleep. It is also a good habit to keep a good night sleep, do not put your brain into a too-active level 3 hours before your bedtime, everything has to be very calm and quiet. Normally we watched nature channel or something related to the universe, nothing has a real conclusion, Vic can't deal with animal eating scene so sometime NatGeo is not on the menu, he had this old sensation when he was a kid, he imagined animal from Africa is walking out from one of his wall in the bedroom to chase him and eat him.
Back to the "Karate Kid", the kid throws his jacket around. This is not a big deal as far as American parent was concerned, it is a big deal in a Chinese family I can tell you that. This action symbolized a selfish act, disrespectful to the person who has to pick up after you, all you care about is yourself but nobody else.
The first lesson he has to learn was to pick up your jacket, put it on, take it off, throw it on the floor, pick it up again....a cycle of motion repeating itself.
The kid thinks it is stupid, he wasn't learning "Kung Fu", he wanted some real action with punching and kicking.
He did not realize what he was doing with the jacket was the basic motion of "Wing Chung" hand's action. It was by far the most powerful close-contact Kung-Fu one can imagine, Judo from Japan was a copy from "Wing Chung" and Bruce Lee was an expert of that line.
Anyway, it was also his first lesson about Kung-Fu, a Chinese tradition --- of Discipline. I think my mom would be very surprised if she is still alive, hearing me to talk about "Discipline". I was the most "un-disciplined" kid in the family, everyone follows mom's order except me, I always had my own mind to do my own thing. Somehow it worked out fine, but I listened to my elder brothers and sister complaining all the time, which I was the luckiest among them.
Discipline, I did not understand its true meaning til I get to about 28 years old. Then I realized what mom teaches us was very important, discipline inside the household brings stability to society, which was a sense of responsibility to an individual in a healthy way.
Which I did not understand until I picked up golf at that age, discipline means so much in improving, self-control and respect to others.
One wonders why American kids are so wild in public and the parent don't know what to do, it lies in the teaching of discipline. An action of throwing your jacket around is not tolerable in my household, everyone knows its place and what he / she suppose to do once you walk into the house. The truly successful discipline method is the one like my mom used, does not have to make a noise, just give you a look and you immediately pick up your jacket, very effective.
That is probably why you rarely find an Asian household have kids DUI, fighting in school, involves in crime......etc. Everyone seems to know his / her place in the society, the training started early, at home while I started to walk. It was called "Discipline".
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Food Stamp Discussion
It was my last day at Eastpointe Country Club, I was scheduled to play with a Canadian lady who comes down early for the season. I thought it was the last day, let me just play very relax and pack my clubs afterward, did not prepare or thinking of playing competitively.
However this Canadian lady lost to me in the championship last year, and we did not play together ever since, perhaps she wants a re-match. Upon the first drive, as we were driving down the fairway, the conversation goes:
"What is your handicap these days." She asked me.
"I think it's six point something."
"Then what is your course handicap at this tee?" She asked again.
"it is seven or eight, between the white tee and the red tee, there is only one stroke difference." I replied.
"So how many strokes are you giving me today?" She asked me.
"None." I smiled and answered.
"What? I thought we have a game, my handicap is 16 and you should give me 9 strokes. You'd be surprised how close this match could be!" She was in disbelief, she could not handle my rejection.
"I don't give more than six strokes." I replied once again.
"How can that be? In order for us to compete fairly, you have to give me 9 strokes!" She just don't handle rejection well.
"Then work harder at the driving range, chipping area and putting green, call me when you get within 6." I smiled.
"Oh I thought I have a chance today, to beat you with 9 strokes given." She might just try a little harder to push.
"You have no chance at all, I do not want to take your money. It's my last day here, just want to relax and play." I replied.
She doesn't let go, that's how we started:
"Why don't you just give me 9 strokes???" she negs.
"There are people lining up for food stamps in this society, why don't you become one of them?" I replied.
"What do you mean? this has nothing to do with the society, I deserve this 9 strokes from you." She insists.
"There are people who work very hard in the society to get what they need to raise a family or feed their elder parent; there are people who don't work and lining up for food stamp then cry to everyone they need help all the time. God help those who helps themselves." I firmly said.
"That is not true, you can't get benefits for more than 24 months, it is a new regulation. There are people who need our help in the society." She started to become political.
"I agree, I do charity, but it is at my expense and the budget I can afford. How much money the government is giving to a teenager who gave birth to babies nowadays? $650 a baby a month? well she figures if she pops 5, she gets a paycheck better than the one who works 10 hours a day at burger kings." I said.
"Wow you really sound like a true republican!" She said.
"I work hard, don't I deserve more? Isn't it what drives this country? It's called Capitalism. And I am actually a registered independent for your information." I smiled.
"I can not believe you don't give me 9 strokes." She still negs.
"Pay your 6 hours a week range practice, 2 hours a week putting and one hour a week on iron game; it would take you about 5 months to get within 6 strokes then call me. That would be a fairer game for you when you are truly ready, not now, with welfare." I replied and ended the discussion.
The end of the round, I played almost with my eyes closed, still 10 strokes ahead of her. The truth was I don't want to take her money, I know she stands no chance at all because my handicap is trending down, that means I consistently shoot a lower scores than my handicap dictated, it will keep trending down if I am keeping up with my practice regime until I hit the plateau.
I just do not understand, when I was a higher handicap player not long ago, I always enjoy an opportunity to play with a lower handicap player. I wanted to learn what they do, how they prepare for a shot, how they hit the ball, what do they do for putting, how do they handle the situation when they are in trouble....etc. I was always try to learn something, planning one day I am going to be just as good as this player I am playing with. I never asked for 9 strokes, or 10 strokes from someone who is obviously has a higher skill level than me, I treasured the lesson that I've learnt from playing together with this person. I still remember a few, even now, I remember what I learnt from them.
Perhaps that's how it makes me better and I will improve because I can always learn something from another better player.
However this Canadian lady lost to me in the championship last year, and we did not play together ever since, perhaps she wants a re-match. Upon the first drive, as we were driving down the fairway, the conversation goes:
"What is your handicap these days." She asked me.
"I think it's six point something."
"Then what is your course handicap at this tee?" She asked again.
"it is seven or eight, between the white tee and the red tee, there is only one stroke difference." I replied.
"So how many strokes are you giving me today?" She asked me.
"None." I smiled and answered.
"What? I thought we have a game, my handicap is 16 and you should give me 9 strokes. You'd be surprised how close this match could be!" She was in disbelief, she could not handle my rejection.
"I don't give more than six strokes." I replied once again.
"How can that be? In order for us to compete fairly, you have to give me 9 strokes!" She just don't handle rejection well.
"Then work harder at the driving range, chipping area and putting green, call me when you get within 6." I smiled.
"Oh I thought I have a chance today, to beat you with 9 strokes given." She might just try a little harder to push.
"You have no chance at all, I do not want to take your money. It's my last day here, just want to relax and play." I replied.
She doesn't let go, that's how we started:
"Why don't you just give me 9 strokes???" she negs.
"There are people lining up for food stamps in this society, why don't you become one of them?" I replied.
"What do you mean? this has nothing to do with the society, I deserve this 9 strokes from you." She insists.
"There are people who work very hard in the society to get what they need to raise a family or feed their elder parent; there are people who don't work and lining up for food stamp then cry to everyone they need help all the time. God help those who helps themselves." I firmly said.
"That is not true, you can't get benefits for more than 24 months, it is a new regulation. There are people who need our help in the society." She started to become political.
"I agree, I do charity, but it is at my expense and the budget I can afford. How much money the government is giving to a teenager who gave birth to babies nowadays? $650 a baby a month? well she figures if she pops 5, she gets a paycheck better than the one who works 10 hours a day at burger kings." I said.
"Wow you really sound like a true republican!" She said.
"I work hard, don't I deserve more? Isn't it what drives this country? It's called Capitalism. And I am actually a registered independent for your information." I smiled.
"I can not believe you don't give me 9 strokes." She still negs.
"Pay your 6 hours a week range practice, 2 hours a week putting and one hour a week on iron game; it would take you about 5 months to get within 6 strokes then call me. That would be a fairer game for you when you are truly ready, not now, with welfare." I replied and ended the discussion.
The end of the round, I played almost with my eyes closed, still 10 strokes ahead of her. The truth was I don't want to take her money, I know she stands no chance at all because my handicap is trending down, that means I consistently shoot a lower scores than my handicap dictated, it will keep trending down if I am keeping up with my practice regime until I hit the plateau.
I just do not understand, when I was a higher handicap player not long ago, I always enjoy an opportunity to play with a lower handicap player. I wanted to learn what they do, how they prepare for a shot, how they hit the ball, what do they do for putting, how do they handle the situation when they are in trouble....etc. I was always try to learn something, planning one day I am going to be just as good as this player I am playing with. I never asked for 9 strokes, or 10 strokes from someone who is obviously has a higher skill level than me, I treasured the lesson that I've learnt from playing together with this person. I still remember a few, even now, I remember what I learnt from them.
Perhaps that's how it makes me better and I will improve because I can always learn something from another better player.
Urban Golf
I had this dream like 3 years ago, it was such a weired dream that I still remember pieces of it now. My dream was me and 2 of my friends, we were playing golf in Hong Kong, I mean at the heart of the city, not a golf club in Hong Kong and the greater area around. We had to play as it lies, I remember I had to hit a drive curve left over a pedestrian bridge and try to land it at the middle of an alley, well I missed a little and the ball hit the handrail then bounce onto the roof top of some stores. The next scene I remember was me standing on the roof top and try to hit that ball over the gap of 2 big buildings.
It was such a weired dream, did not serve any purposes but just funny and 3 of us were very serious in the dream. We had to make all sorts of crazy shot over something or hit between something or try to land the ball on something.
This is not the craziest part, the craziest part is today I saw it on my google index page that it's Urban Golf Day.
What?! I didn't know there was an urban golf going on?! I had played this game in my dream and was pretty good at it.
Details please refer to this video, that was probably the way I played in the dream, the only different was I got a nicer swing than these guys, and I was playing urban golf between big buildings, it gets very close if you imagine the background of new york city's soho or tribeca area, and I was urban golfing in Hong Kong!
Perhaps I should try it in real life.
urban golf video link
It was such a weired dream, did not serve any purposes but just funny and 3 of us were very serious in the dream. We had to make all sorts of crazy shot over something or hit between something or try to land the ball on something.
This is not the craziest part, the craziest part is today I saw it on my google index page that it's Urban Golf Day.
What?! I didn't know there was an urban golf going on?! I had played this game in my dream and was pretty good at it.
Details please refer to this video, that was probably the way I played in the dream, the only different was I got a nicer swing than these guys, and I was playing urban golf between big buildings, it gets very close if you imagine the background of new york city's soho or tribeca area, and I was urban golfing in Hong Kong!
Perhaps I should try it in real life.
urban golf video link
Halloween
There was a year we could not give enough candy to the kids, I remember it was like the second year after we moved in, in 2005. There were parents driving their golf carts bringing the kids up to the driveway to get candy, or kids riding their bike with a hanging basket for candies.....
Nowadays everybody is on strategic planning, no one wants to come to my door because the houses are too far apart and both of my neighbours are not home all year round. I guess they feel it is a waste of energy to go into the end of the block or a cul-du-sac and only get one house as target. I had no one to ring my bell, no one, not one child!
The outdoor garden lights were on, and it was about 8:30pm; Victor went on to close everything. I said hold on a minute, perhaps some kids would come later on at night. He replied it is a sunday, kids are going out since the afternoon, it is almost 9pm and they are sleeping for school tomorrow, let's close everything.
Good news is I only bought 3 packages of candies, I remember last year I had 7 and gave it all to my cleaning lady because she has a 10 years old son.
Perhaps it is a blessings, from now on I don't have to worry about buying candies for Halloween. Because kids like to go to places with higher hit rate, I would call it; they can get the maximum amount of candy with least possible time, well this teaches them efficiency too I am sure.
I hope they are that efficient in their homework!!!
Nowadays everybody is on strategic planning, no one wants to come to my door because the houses are too far apart and both of my neighbours are not home all year round. I guess they feel it is a waste of energy to go into the end of the block or a cul-du-sac and only get one house as target. I had no one to ring my bell, no one, not one child!
The outdoor garden lights were on, and it was about 8:30pm; Victor went on to close everything. I said hold on a minute, perhaps some kids would come later on at night. He replied it is a sunday, kids are going out since the afternoon, it is almost 9pm and they are sleeping for school tomorrow, let's close everything.
Good news is I only bought 3 packages of candies, I remember last year I had 7 and gave it all to my cleaning lady because she has a 10 years old son.
Perhaps it is a blessings, from now on I don't have to worry about buying candies for Halloween. Because kids like to go to places with higher hit rate, I would call it; they can get the maximum amount of candy with least possible time, well this teaches them efficiency too I am sure.
I hope they are that efficient in their homework!!!
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