Recent dog report

After a few months of constant training, I have come to a conclusion that 'old dogs don't do new trick' is absolutely wrong. Samson understands virtually all the command I teach except some he chose not to comply, I leave some room for him to make decision for himself, so a general idea is I would tell him what I want him to do, such as 'finish your plate', if he decides he eats all the chicken and rice but not the regular dog food, I leave him alone.

He gets a lot more comfortable now, he gets a hang of our routine everyday is basically the same. He will get a morning 'get some fresh air' walk for 20 minutes, then expect a brunch, then he would hang around with us or lying down by the window to watch the birds fly by. Dog does not wear a watch, but he would give one loud bark if dinner was not served at 5pm sharp. I wonder how he knows the time?!

We normally have dinner at 6pm, after our dinner, Victor would ask Samson: "Do you want to go for a WALK?" then he jumps up and down as he would almost nod to say "yes", along with spinning himself in front of our legs. Ok we got it, you want to take a hike.

Using a leash to walk the dog is the law here in South Florida, as free-spirit as we are, we do not obey the law all the time. ^_^ We would start out from our backyard where joined with the 6th hole green, walk to the water & ice station of the golf course at the 7th hole tee, then we take off Samson's leash, let him run free on the fairway, he gets to chase squirrel, smell other animals' footprint, do his tracking, flush the bird along the edge of a lake. By the time we reach the 8th hole's fairway, we put a leash around him again because there is a road where cars drive by next to the fairway, then we let him run free again at the 2nd hole till we get home by the 6th hole.

There is only one condition Samson has to comply during this freedom walk, he must come back when call. Victor whistles very loudly, all of a sudden we'd see Samson run out from the bushes somewhere, usually I would give him a piece of cookie or water, in order to let him know: coming back when called is a good thing, you get cookie! Samson comes to expect this freedom walk everyday, when we finished dinner, he would pace himself at the door to wait for our call, he knows he is getting this adventure time.

Sometime Victor would talk to him like a human, surprisingly Samson would react as if he understands English. Yesterday Samson was holding (using his mouth of course) his toy before our freedom walk, Victor said: "Samson, drop it, we can't bring your toy to walk with us. Drop it."
Samson dropped his toy then shoot straight out the door!

There is a gesture Samson does when he asks something from me, he knows I taught him a 'Down' position and like him doing it. When I am eating a piece of cheese, he would come over to my feet, nudge my leg with his nose then slowly lowering his body to a 'Down' position. He is asking me to share this piece of cheese with him, usually I do after this asking gesture.

A lot of trainer discourage this kind of behavior stating that the dog would get pushy, we human should be the one who decides all the terms and when the food should be given. My personal opinion is in order to strengthen the bond between your animal and you, you must endorse a request when your animal ask for it if it's reasonable, you must let your animal knows he/she has a choice too but I would prefer the choice I provided, the animal should have the right to decide. How can I communicate with my dog if I only ask him listen and comply to my command but I forsake his?

Simplified

Sometime I get a feeling that I hate to throw things away, afraid that one day I might need it and I won't find it. However this mentality could easily fall into hoarding unnecessary items all around me, my closet and my garage. I have clothing which stated a size 4 when I am currently wearing a size 8, I thought perhaps one day I would lose some weight and be able to wear this dress again. After awhile I accumulated more clothing or things which I do not use. Then I set a rule to govern myself that if I have to buy 3 pieces of new clothing, I would have to donate or discard 3 old pieces of clothing. This strategy seems working alright as far as the closet was concerned.

When I take a close look at the things surround us, the more we need the greedier we get; need a bigger house, need a faster car, need a better face (could be a face-lift later for me), need a vacation, need a luxury watch, need a lot of things..... The list goes on and on, it never ends. In Zen teaching, there was a saying of "where is the dust gather when there is nothing to hold onto?!"

What it means is we gather the things for the dust to hold onto, then we complaint about the dust. The solution for not having the dust is to simplified your life. The dust here in this Zen teaching does not mean the actual dust, it represents un-wanted behaviour or un-wanted desire or a bitter feeling after getting something or not getting something. It sounds very deep, isn't it?!

It is a challenge to teach myself I don't need a lot of things, or to tell myself I am happy at something. Don't get me wrong that I don't like good stuffs, I love good stuffs but I do not want to let having the good stuffs or not having the good stuffs bother my living emotion, I want to be able to enjoy everything. If I travel, I want to enjoy the trip as much as I could whether I get to stay at the Four Season or short of budget to stay at Motel 8. Instead of spending time moaning that I don't get this or I don't get that. It's kind of a waste of time or I shall say a waste of my 'brain juice'.

We have to be the one to make sure the dust got nothing to hold onto, is to live a simplified life. Don't complaint about the dust, it is "we let something" for the dust to be accumulated, as simple as that.

Living in my memory

Today is mother's day, wish my mom was here to go have dimsum with me. It has been 6 years as I mark my calender, you left in a sudden leaving me with shock and tears. I did not want to believe the fact that you were gone, I did not shed a tear in your funeral though I did a lot before and after, I was in a total shock, could not believe you went to sleep and just did not wake up to see us again, to put your hard-working rough hand through my hair, I refused to believe it.

As time goes by, I feel I am just living overseas and you were home, instead of calling you, I just close my eyes and send telegraph to heaven in order to tell you I am alright. I have understand a lot more about the wisdom you shared with me as I grow older, I was not mature enough to understand when you taught me, now I do.

When I run too fast and fall, you helped me up and brush my knees where it breeds, told me to stop crying, just clean it up and shake it off, it'd be fine.

When I studied overnight for an upcoming exam, you boiled some crazy herbal soup to boost up my energy level, one time it was so strong that my nose bleed.

When I get tired to play in the park, later I pretend to fall asleep on the lawn so that you would hold me in your arms to bring me home 20 minutes away. It felt so warm and tender, I was 5 but I still remember til this day. It was your warmth that brought me to live, I would always be thankful for, for you, mom.

Mango tree

Last year was the first year my mango tree started to bear fruit, too bad I was not home for over a month and did not get to eat much of it during its harvest time. This year I am getting smarter, starting to pick them when the size is ready, let them ripe on the kitchen counter-top. I am sure 3 of my gardeners are just as smart as I am, started the picking without notifying me.

I went to the garage to bring out my 10 foot ladder, carefully set it up under the tree, as the sun was baking the sweat off my head, I gave thanks to God and start picking the mangoes. I am thankful for the fruits on the tree, I am thankful for whoever get to enjoy them including my gardeners and wild animal who roam around at night, I am thankful for the gift form nature that he had prepared for us.

Alphonso is the name of this mango species, it is among the best I have ever tasted, I would rate it even higher than the Philippine's mango. It delivers a very mild sweet flavor without all the fiber around the pit, it is very sweet but got a minty finish. Originated from India, I read. And I planted it at the back of my house 5 years ago when it was a baby about 4 feet tall, now it reaches 16 feet tall.

a letter to my dog - samson

dear samson,

time flies, as I look back to count the time, it reaches a half a year mark since I took you in from an animal shelter. remember you were a stubborn, good-looking little shit back then? now you have transformed to a well-behaved, still good-looking -- a new member of my family.

we could not get past the fact that you understand many single word, at time when we do not speak, your big puffy eye shows us clearly you want the potato chip in my hand by simply looking at me and looking at what's in my hand simultaneously. sure, I could give you a piece of my potato chip.

perhaps it was very scary for you to live in a new environment, with new people, you could not help yourself but bit Victor 3 times, showed aggression over a toy or a bone toward me. we understand and we forgive you, so we could leave our past behind to look forward to a brighter future. you have a home now, you do not have to be locked in a cage all day, you have someone care for you and a plus, you get to eat good food from my cooking.

sometime I wonder what are you thinking in your tiny little head. people often say animal is animal, they do not have emotion but I think that is the biggest fault. I see sadness in your eyes when we left home; I see excitement in your eyes when I take you out for a hike; I see joy in your eyes when you get to run on an open fairway to flush the bird; I see inquisitive in your eyes when we are fixing something mechanically; I see through the window of your soul and we bonded.

you may not process some fine features of a designer's dog, to a certain extend you are like a rough guy eating dinner without knowing table manner but we love you just the way you are. we are happy for you just the way you are.

you are our new member of the family, Samson.

took 10 years

as I slept my way through the night, something dramatic was happening on the other side of the globe --- Osama Bin Laden was killed in Pakistan.

report said that his hide out was carefully built to his protection, could imagine only the finest in navy seal counter terrorism team can get the job done. The president was actually playing golf in that afternoon while communicating back and forth with the operation, the president had to end his round early to attend a meeting of planning the action. He must be very upset that he did not get to finish 18 hole.

celebration was held voluntarily on the street in New York and Washington D.C., I could not help myself but think why did we celebrate someone's death?! Didn't it put us into a position no different than those who danced on the street in Middle East while 9/11 happened?

It took 10 years to track him down and execute, justice was served but another outbreak of revenge would come shortly after this, I am sure.

Confucius said: Before you embark on a journey of revenge, dig two graves.