Socializing at Pets Picnic Party, Sentosa Cove

Last Saturday, the Furry Tales attended the Pets Picnic Party at Sentosa Cove, along with 500 people and 250 pooches gathered for an afternoon of fun, games, food, shopping and mingling!

One big happy family! (L-R: Vivien and Lulu, Muddy and Tanya, Olive and Vicky, Sisi and Lucy.)

Organized for the third year by Pets Magazine, the event allowed like-minded dog owners and families to get to know each other and foster bonds within the local canine-loving community.

Our dogs enjoyed the afternoon of socialization and meeting new friends. They were also hoping for some of the yummy Thai food and snacks provided.

The food’s for us too, right?

However, we did find it a tad loud (and at last year’s event as well), especially when the emcee got excited and raised his voice while conducting the games. Next year, we will try to come earlier to find a space closer to the back!

Retail therapy was available, including handcrafted jewellery, glamorous pet collars, and customised pet portraits. Other activities included an adoption drive by Save Our Street Dogs (SOSD), entertaining games that saw furry ones pitting their “skills” against one another, and a ‘Pup-tor’ booth for pups to make new friends. Sponsors were generous with their prizes, including a GoPro HERO Session and Fetch Mount (total $600), a half-day luxury yacht charter ($1,800) and a 3D2N stay at Capella Singapore ($2,400). Sadly, we didn’t win anything. We’ll try harder next time!

Our mamas are so cheap this was the best costume we got!

The event was a job well done by the Pets Magazine team and we enjoyed it even more than last year’s picnic. Thanks for a fun-filled outing!

Coney Island Adventure

The Furry Tales visited Coney Island awhile ago we really enjoyed it. What’s not to like really? Greenery, shade, sea, dogs and lots and lots of space,

Here’s our article for Pets Magazine’s Outward Bound column.

5 things we do that our dogs hate

1.Talking too much

We love to chatter away. Even to our pets who don’t understand most of the things we say. They may understand a few key words like “Walk”, “play” “ball or “No” but most of it gets lost in the many sentences we say. Dogs pay more attention to our body language so if we only pay attention to our words, we often send them mixed signals.

I heard “yummy”

What are you saying?

2. Hugs and kisses

Most dogs hate hugs. At most, they tolerate them. We express our love through affection but dogs don’t. In the dog world, if they put a paw on the back of another dog, it may actually be an act of dominance. Some dogs tolerate the hugs because they love and trust us, other dogs might actually feel fearful and threatened. Lucy is the smallest dog in The Furry Tales and the easiest to lift and cuddle but she actually hates being smothered with hugs and kisses. Her mouth is closed and she only tolerates it because Sisi can’t do without them.

When will she put me down?

3. Pats on the head

How would you like being patted on the head? If anyone reached in front of your face no matter how gently, your instinct would be to pull away or back up because of the invasion of personal space. Our dogs feel that way too. They tolerate it from us because they know and trust us but they don’t really enjoy it from strangers We love it when we meet responsible parents who tell their children not to go for our dog’s faces or heads.

Your hand looks big and scary coming at me

Stop patting my head!

4. Dress up

We think they look adorable and we know they don’t like it but we do it anyway. We don’t even have a good excuse to because of our all year round summer! Oops!

Dressed up as zoo animals for Halloween

 

5. Bath days

Our dogs hate bath days. Lucy runs and hides when she sees her towel being taken out. Funny that they love rolling in the mud and dirty puddles!

Put down the shampoo and I’ll come out

No rubber duckie, no rose petals, no bubble bath. What kind of bath is this?

Christmas Pet Photography

Avid photographer Sisi (Lucy’s mama) recently did a photo shoot of Kevin and Audrey with Hugo, their cute Pug puppy, dressed in matching festive colors for an early Christmas shoot.

Shot during sunset, these pictures were taken at Canterbury Road where many dogs love to run off-leash up and down the hill. Hugo was no different and really enjoyed himself in between shots.

If you would like to book a similar photo shoot for Christmas, there is a special festive price of S$80 for a 1-hour session. E-mail Sisi at soh.sisi@gmail.com to book your slot or if you have any questions.

 

Lucy’s sleepover at Hilton (again)

Lucy recently stayed at Hilton Hotel for her mama’s birthday again. The haze in Singapore has been so bad, it was nice to be cooped up in a nice place other than home for a change.

Now a seasoned “traveller”, Lucy was not nervous at all entering the hotel. She sat by the side of reception with her bag of toys, waiting for us to check in.

All ready for my staycation! I mean, my mom’s!

She also knew the drill once we reached the room. She took all her toys out of her bag and brought them up onto the bed.

I’ve got my ball, octopus and doggie toy.

Lucy tired herself out playing fetch with her toys and then the real stay-cation began.

First, a bubble bath to soften the pores, then slipping into her robe and slippers. Once dry, it was onto the arm chair with her eye mask on, awaiting her luxurious massage from mama.

Please fetch me my towel. It’s cold in here.

I don’t see any bubbles in my bubble bath. I’m not liking this.

How does mama expect me to     sleep when it’s so bright?

Lucy did not like the service staff that came into the room with food because none of it was for her. So she barked a little, scaring the men. But her mama carried her aside and gave her a stern talking to. She relaxed a little after that when she realized she would get her dinner too.

Lucy enjoyed her non-birthday, birthday celebration stay at Hilton very much and is demanding that next year’s stay-cation be where there is a pool for her to go swimming in.

Stop kissing me and promise there’ll be a pool next year.

mama and lucy matching robes

 

How to Throw a Doggie Party!

What’s a party without dogs? That’s the motto of The Furry Tales and friends, who threw a Hawaiian-themed ‘Aloha’ party at the beach (a non-scary Halloween dress up!). Our dogs rocked their leis, sunnies and floral trends, while the humans enjoyed a relaxing afternoon sipping on coconut juice and cocktails on the beach. (This was part of our Pets Magazine photoshoot.)

Can you spot our 10 dogs and 1 Hahn’s macaw perched??

Here are our top three tips on a fuss-free doggie get-together:

1) Share the cost and effort!
Potlucks always work to split the cost of the food (and effort). Most of the props are also hand-made or recycled. We had pigs in a blanket, bite-sized sandwiches, fruit sticks, mini cakes and fresh coconuts – most of our foods were also dog-friendly so we could give into their begging faces.

Spot Pretty the Hahn’s macaw, fitting right in with the themed food and drinks.

Pigs in a blanket on sticks

Delicious bite sized sandwiches

Lucy in her hand-made skirt and flower lei.

2) Ensure sufficient space for the dogs.
While we had our party at the beach, which meant loads of space for our dogs to run around in, we also have many house parties for our dogs. Think about the space you have. If you do not have a large home, it can still work if you are willing to move around your furniture a little or set up play gates to separate troublemakers. Limit the number of dogs to what is manageable.

Vicky playing pat-a-cake with Olive.

Junior and Hyper waiting for their turn to jump through the hoop.

3) Make sure your dogs have basic training in manners and obedience.
Well-mannered dogs, or those that have been taught basic obedience commands, are obviously easier to manage for a party. For example:
• Sit-Stay for photo-ops
• No jumping up or snatching food from the table
• Good recall ensured they could be let off leash

Table manners: Olive’s waiting patiently for a sip of coconut water.

Lulu and Olive are used to wearing things on their faces 🙂 Sit-stay training.

There you have it, three planning tips that made our Aloha party a breeze!

As a bonus, we also had some fun entertainment and games.

Maggie serenaded us, and Cotton.

Kafka manages to squeeze through the hoop.

Friendship.

Lucy wants a bite of that sausage roll!

Ahhh, this is life.. hanging out by the bar..

We were blessed with great weather and always have a great time when we have themed parties. Last Halloween, we had a zoo party!!

This year’s party ended with some of the dogs jumping into the water to cool off and swim.

Kafka, Lulu and Lucy all after the ball.

We had no witches, pumpkins, bats or candy but we still had a perfect Halloween! We hope you did too! Tag us on Instagram @thefurrytales to share your Halloween snippets too and we might compile and feature them in our next post! Aloha!

Vivien with her gentle giants, Kafka and Lulu

Charissa with Lady-Mae and her then foster dog Roody.

Lucy is always adoringly in love with owner Sisi.

Aloha from The Furry Tales

For Halloween this year, instead of the traditional party with pumpkins and witches, The Furry Tales decided to have a hawaiian themed beach party instead. Pets Magazine got the inside scoop and here it is!

Happy Chinese New Year!

The Furry Tales would like to wish you all a very Happy and Prosperous Chinese New Year. May you enjoy all the family gatherings and may your tummies be satisfied with plenty of bak kwa and pineapple tarts this festive season!

GONG XI FA CAI