Of Dogs: Singapore Tails

As a continuation of my previous post, I will like to say the following:

When we consider why we want a dog, we must also understand what a dog wants from us. I am a strong advocate that any good and functioning relationship must be one that is mutually beneficial.

What I believe is that us humans must provide dogs with enough exercise. Cesar Millan’s fans will know that his catchphrase is “Excerice. Discipline. Affection. In that order.”.

Dogs, like humans, require a lot of exercise. The key to having a well-balanced, obedient and happy dog is to bring them out for daily walks of no less than 1 hour (I will tell you why in a later blog post).

Hence, I have decided to set up a dog walking business - something that will benefit the pooches of increasingly busy Singaporeans.

I can serve the West and North areas, but contact me at 93261040 or singaporetails@gmail.com to see if I am able to serve you or to find out more!

I await your call or email!

Here is my promotional poster:

Of Dogs: Why People Want Dogs

People used to ask me why I want a dog. I used to be unable to answer them with an answer that I felt was reasonable or practical.

Wanting a dog just seemed to be something instinctive. Something just compels you to want a dog. One that you can call your own.

But, after some experiences, some turbulences, some incidents, I think I realise why there is sometimes no real, "practical" or "reasonable" answer. A dog is just "man's best friend" - and that is a tall order to fulfil!

I realise that a dog is fiercely loyal. You can rely it to be your forever companion. A dog will never hold grudges for long. It forgives and forgets. It protects. It loves.

A dog is also a loving companion. You slowly realise that a dog will always be there when you need to tell someone your grievances, your secrets, your wants - and the best part? You know you can trust your dog completely. Often, people will say that this is because your dog can't speak. But, I will rather like to think that your dog keeps your secrets because it loves you and it knows you have placed full trust in it.

A dog is also your friend. Many a times, when you feel lonely and sad, you realise that a physically present human friend might not turn out to be a "friend" after all. A dog, on the other hand, is  someone you know you can rely on. Someone you can just hug, just rant to. People often say that dogs have a 6th sense, and even though I do not have one yet, I do believe they know - they know when you feel sad, when you need company, and they know when you just want them to cuddle beside you, giving you the love that you need. A dog is capable of all that.

Of Cats: My Experience with Singapore Strays (Part 2)

As promised, in Part 2 of this series, I will be sharing how we can approach stray cats, or pets for that matter.

APPROACHING STRAY CATS
The key to approaching all cats and dogs, regardless whether they are strays or not, is to treat them like you will treat any other human being, with respect. Respect can come in many forms - respecting their physical private space, respecting their social comfort zone and respecting their own characteristics and behaviour.

To put it simply, like humans, cats and dogs have their own level of comfort around others. To approach them, you must understand their characteristics and behaviour, which us why Part 1 of this series is introducing the different groups of community cats.

I have mainly adapted my points from the below poster:

(Photo Credits: Sophia Yin Blog)

Below are some tips that I find useful when I approach community cats that I have never interacted with before. I believe these tips are fairly universal and can be applied to approaching stray dogs and other pets.

(1) Recognising their boundaries
Every cats and dog has their own personal comfort zone. Once you enter it's comfort zone, they will feel that you are infringing their personal space and security and their limbic system will kick in - meaning that they will either choose to launch an attack or flee.

Recognising that each stray cat and dog has different level of comfort around people is the first step to successfully approaching a community cat or stray dog. But this also means recognising that some cats and dogs find it hard for people to approach them and there are times when it will take a long time before you will be able to approach a cat or a dog and successfully pet it. It also means recognising that you might never ever fully gain full confidence from a stray cat or dog.

Knowing the comfort zone will allow you to build trust with the stray cat or dog too. Like humans, stray cats and dogs will start to trust you when you respect their physical and social comfort zone. 

You can build this essential trust by always standing at a safe distance between the stray cat or dog and you. Let them smell you from a distance. If they don't look alarmed, then approach them slowly (more on this in the next section). This is especially so for the community cats I have categorised as "The Wild" (see Part 1) as they need more time to trust you.

(2) Approach slowly and calmly
Would you like it if a stranger runs towards you and start touching your head and your body? Definitely not! Women will start shouting "Molest!" and men will start giving punches and kicks to this rude boundaries.

However, you will most likely be cordial if a stranger approaches you slowly and calmly, looking at you from the peripheral vision (more on this later) and asking for verbal or facial recognition before proceeding to "touch" you.

Similarly, the best way to approach community cats or stray dogs will be to approach them slowly and calmly. This will not alarm them of you as a perceived threat.

(3) Using your peripheral vision
It can be a scary experience if you realise someone has been staring at you. For stray cats and dogs too, staring at them and approaching at them head-on is a very scary experience as well.

What a "stare" means to a dog
(Photo Credits: Sophia Yin Blog)

This is especially so if approach with your mouth wide open and your teeth showing. To the stray cats and dogs, they will treat the sight of teeth as a sign of aggression, so they might respond consequently with a bite or a scratch.

Using your peripheral vision means approaching the community cats and stray dogs sideways, and looking at them calmly from the side of you eyes. This lets the stray cats and dogs know you are interested in approaching them, but yet not making yourself seem like a major threat.

(4) Understanding body language
Unlike humans, stray cats and dogs do not use much verbal language to communicate. Hence, to understand the community cats and stray dogs requires a good grasp of what their body language means. 

The poster below is a good summary of how dogs in general behave.

The language that never lies - body language

Most cats behave in the same way. However, there are a few differences to how a cat behaves.

A cat that feels threatened and that is about to attack rarely "meows", like how a dog will bark. However, threatened stray cats will first move to show its whole body, then proceeds to hunching its back to increase the surface area before showing its teeth.

A threatened cat - look at the hunched back and open mouth showing teeth
(Photo Credits: Google Images - Pet Wellbeing)

In addition, a cat that feels hungry and that does not perceive you as a threat will always "meow" to you. It is a sign of attracting attention.

*Some of the above tips are adapted from Sophia Yin's "How to Greet a Dog and What to Avoid".

Otherwise, you can download her eBook from by clicking here.

Of Dogs and Cats: Singapore Tails

I am not a dog owner nor a cat owner, but I do certainly hope to be one soon. And, in this blog, l will blissfully act as if I owned one already!

So, this blog will serve as my diary and my point of contact to the vast world of animal lovers out there. I want to, one day, be able to look back and smile at these memories that I once had. I will unabashedly share everything - from my experiences with neighbours' dogs to my experiences feeding strays, from cat and dog food reviews to reviews on books and movies about our dear pets. All these from my Uniquely Singapore perspective. But the love for our pets will transcend physical boundaries, so all are welcome to read and share!

I will also try to offer consolidated opinions and fresh perspectives to learn how to train your pets; I am by no means an expert, but from what I have read, often the best advice comes from the person who has the same interest as you, and who has the same questions you will have - be it as a current or future dog owner.

Feel free to ask me any questions on dogs and cats, I will gladly answer them - either from my personal experience or from carefully considered and collected information.

So, this is my Singapore Tails (pun always intended) and I hope you will like it!


Update: 15th Nov 2011
It is official! On this special day, I have decided to launch a dog-walking service to all Singaporeans, preferably those staying in the West and North areas.

Contact me through email (singaporetails@gmail.com) or handphone (93261040) to know more!

I will update more in a later blog post!