Max is one lucky dog. Lucky enough that he regards food as a ‘want’ and not a ‘need’. During dinner we’ll plonk his doggie bowl at the usual spot, and Max will give it a casual sniff before running off to play. Only when he’s done chasing butterflies or lizards or whatever he’ll return to the bowl and crunch the pellets down with an unhurried air. Unlike Tat’s golden retrievers Leo and Smuffy- they gobble up their kibble like it’s the Last Bowl of Dog Food Ever In The World.

We shower Max with SO MUCH love. Sometimes it surprises us even- but we can’t help ourselves, it comes naturally every time Max cocks his furry head or blinks his long lashes at us. I give Max cuddles whenever he wants it (and also when he doesn’t), my dad wrestles with him (Max gets especially excited whenever my dad flips him onto his back a la martial arts), my brother tolerates Max’s painful paw punches to the face, my mother yells at us whenever she finds out that we so much as took Max’s donut away for punishment, my sister… well she hasn’t met the furball yet but I’m sure she’ll be reduced to a puddle of cooing goo once Max offers her his paw for a shake/rolls over (for a treat of course, Max doesn’t do free shows).

However, we are very careful to not let Max get too spoilt. This is why we exercise the disciplinary regime of Let Him Know We Are Bigger Than Him– Much, Much Bigger. Whenever Max gets extra naughty, we tower over him (I tiptoe sometimes) and boom “NO” at him. And if that doesn’t work, we reveal the Stick of Death. This will usually generate Pitiful Puppy Actions from Max- he’ll roll onto his back and give a couple of cutesy jabs in the air with his paws, throwing in an endearing body wriggle for good measure.

But… I do think that we’re the luckier ones. I am aware that life wasn’t at all bad before Max came along- but in my head I picture the pre-Max days as everyone sitting sullenly around the dinner table eating quietly; as for the post-Max days we’re all singing while passing around the salt/pepper shakers, laughing while sharing Max anecdotes before agreeing “life is so much better with Max around!”

I love Max.

I promise, this will be the last address shift.

…Until the next blog meltdown!

Current Mood: embarrassed

Max was treated to a post-dinner car ride: Mutiara Damansara to Subang then back. He loved every single second of it. He was in a high, his tiny head bobbing left right up down as he greedily took in the sights of the outside world through the glass.

‘Course, there was the occasional frantic barking every time a motorcycle flew by… Max doesn’t bat a doggie eyelid whenever a lorry rumbles by and he refuses to acknowledge cars. But anything with two wheels? Hah!

We even encountered a dog taking a dump by the side of the road- Max gave a high pitch whinny and tried to climb onto my brother’s head to have a better view of his fellow canine. My dad even slowed the car to see how it would all pan out but quickly floored the accelerator after Max started scratching the upholstery in agitation. Said dog just stared at us in mild disinterest as he continued with his umn, business.

The window was lowered for Max’s benefit, and he had a grand time airing his furry face, his ’stache going swooooosh in the wind.

After a whole half hour on the road, Max is now home and happily curled up around his favourite towel, probably dreaming about red/yellow flashes of lights and funny broom broom noises. Silly doglet.

End note: Have a nice LOOOOONG weekend everyone! :)

That aside, today was a Productive Work Day! Finally hauled my faddarse up and plowed through a certain dreaded project (we’re sending figures to Japan- guess who has to compile them) which I held off for days cos it seemed really tedious and I wasn’t too sure of how to do it…

But I managed to shove away the mindfuck and I’m now 90% done woots! I think what did the trick was that I rewarded myself along the way- “Ok finish this section here and you can give Tat a text/take a toilet break/reply your IMs/make some coffee”…

Sometimes it’s just the satisfaction of a job well done… :) And other times it’s the money.

Mmmn, money.