Mojo's blog: The Havanese Mountain dog

2009-04-05T11:52:00.000-07:00

It's been a long time! Here's Mojo now, with a spiffy hat!

2007-05-30T02:49:00.000-07:00

Mojo's been relegated to #2 dog after the birth of Isabel. But that doesn't mean that we don't love him! It's just he has to be more proactive in getting our attention.

His hair is finally back to normal. It's a bit longer above the eyes (as you'll see), but overall he looks pretty good. We went walking the other day, and it was sooo hot that he lay down in the street and refused to move. So I carried him the rest of the way home. Dogs!

2007-04-05T21:53:00.000-07:00

Mojo now looks semi-normal!

2007-02-15T06:25:00.000-08:00

Wow, it's been a ridiculously long time between updates. That's because in the Philippines, there's not much to do with your dog. We went to the Power Plant at Rockwell, which we heard was dog-friendly, and found out you have to carry your dog. Ugh. Plus, you can't bring them into the stores. WTF?

The only dog-friendly area is the new Bonifacio High Street (where Krispy Kreme) is. There's a great store there that sells Chicken Soup dog food! Unbelievable! Now we don't have to convince someone to carry a 50lb bag of it in their luggage!

It's Landes and Hobbes, or something like that. We met the owner when we brought Mojo in (he has a Bichon at home). Right now they're the only Diamond pet food importer in the Philippines, so buy your dog food there!

BHS (and Serendra) is actually pretty dog friendly. Be sure to bring you leash and pick up after your dog. Mojo was able to run around on the relatively large lawns and generally enjoyed himself. He even said hello to some people - people who weren't afraid of dogs, a common problem here in Makati.

We went to the cemetary in Sucat the other day; it's the only other dog-friendly place that we know of. However, we heard that you can bring your dog to the Intramuros and Army golf course (according to the caddies). We haven't been able to try that yet, though.

We gave Mojo a haircut! The results are below. We've gotten used to it, but boy are we glad we took pictures of him beforehand!

2006-11-22T02:50:00.000-08:00

Another day, another haircut. Yep, Mojo got trimmed pretty well.

Now that we're joining bazaars we leave Mojo at the Narra house as a daycare location. He really seems to like it, especially since there have been all these people there. Two weeks ago the Rodriguez clan was over, and ran Mojo all over the polo field. When Mojo got home, he basically passed out he was so tired. Last week there were guests, so he got to do tricks & such. Fun!

2006-11-06T19:57:00.000-08:00

Mojo got bathed yet again today. It's such a routine that he now runs to the blow-dry area after the bath so he can get nice and dry. That's after he rolls around on the towels to get most of the water off.

What we've found is that it's easier to dry him then comb him. Most everyone says to comb then dry, but the hair really isn't manageable when it's wet. It also hurts more if there are mats. With a lot of bodifier and conditioner it's easier to comb out the mats (if any).

Of course, keeping his hair short also cuts down on the mats. But he still has a surprisingly large amount of hair stuck to him after the shower...even with his short hair. Time to head back to the groomer.

Mojo's ears still are problematic. The other day, Ela removed a huge thing of whatever from Mojo's ear. She's obsessed with cleaning out his ears, and cleans them every night with cotton balls, q-tips, and the antiseptic solution the vet gave us. The solution obviously isn't working (the infection or whatever it is is still there), but we still haven't gotten around to visiting the vet again. Mojo doesn't seem to be scratching his ears, so I guess it doesn't irritate him that much. But we still should take care of it before it gets serious.

Anyway, pictures!

Mojo striking his pose as his face and snout are dried. I suppose it's like being in a car, except you're not moving? Note that we use one of those cold/hot dryers. The cold air seems to work better, and makes him fluffier due to the supposed ionic feature of the dryer.

This is Mojo rotating so the air gets all of hi, especially the wet areas under his ears.

2006-11-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

Mojo went on a tugboat ride!

We all went on a tugboat ride, on the way to christening the new barge "Star Loader". This was back on 10/23, so I'm a bit behind.

He doesn't seem to mind the water, and I guess dogs in general don't mind, given the number of dogs on the tugboat and barge.

Anyway, pictures!

It's easy to be on a tugboat with an umbrella of your own.

Mojo, with the almost totally opaque waters of Manila Bay in the background.

Mojo taking shelter from the hot sun on the way back.

2006-10-27T01:30:00.000-07:00

The other day we were at the Narra house. In the back is a marble patio, with a 5 or 6 foot drop to the polo field.

Anyway, Mojo was chasing some birds (yes, birds) around the patio and they flew off into the polo field. Naturally Mojo chases them to the edge. And then, for the first time, he looks down, and jumps off! Oh no! So he ran off for about 20 feet into the polo field. Luckily we were watching, so saw him jump off. Whew!

This is now a problem because if he jumps off, how will he get back? If nobody notices he's in the polo field, well, it wouldn't be too hard for someone to just steal him. Yuck.

2006-10-04T07:18:00.000-07:00

Click me for a really big version of the picture!

2006-10-04T01:59:00.000-07:00

We've had an almost complete infrastructure meltdown here in the Philippines, which means that internet connectivity has been pretty bad. But, we do have new pictures of Mojo to post! However, it'll be a few more days before we get to that due to (you guessed it) poor connectivity.

2006-10-01T00:52:00.000-07:00

Mojo had a haircut! He looks really good, and really seems to like having shorter hair. It's also softer than his long hair, and is easier to groom/pet.

He got a haircut because of some kind of ear infection. One day, we noticed his ears (inside) were red and had scab-like things around. I thought it was ear mites, because my old cat had ear mites. So we went to the vet, and lo and behold, he had some kind of bacterial infection in his ears. He also had flea dust and some kind of foot fungus thing. Yuck!

So we need to put drops in Mojo's ears for a while, and wash his feet with an antiseptic.

Where did this come from? Who knows. But we just discovered that his chickens were getting moldy, which is kind of bad.

Anyway, we got Mojo a new toy yesterday: a small squeaking ball that we called 'tetris'. It's his new favorite toy! It's about the size of a lime and fits well into his mouth. He played with it all last night and this morning. He'd make it squeak, then roll over on his back playing with it. Fun!

We also have a new trick, though now without the chicken we can't do it. We basically got Mojo to tell us whether he wanted beef jerky or chicken. We'd place the beef bag on the floor, and the chicken bag on the floor, and he'd go and sit down in front of the one he wanted.

I wondered whether he was really choosing or just sitting down in front of a bag randomly. So one night when he chose beef I asked him "chicken? chicken?" He got kind of anxious and pushed against the beef bag more strongly, saying "no, I want the beef you moron." Hah!

No more chicken because of the mold. We put the beef jerky in the freezer to stop mold, just in case. Oh well, there went a couple of pounds of chicken.

2006-09-14T07:17:00.000-07:00

Well, nothing's been going on with Mojo lately except for that afternoon at the local cemetary. His hair's getting longer, and he's run out of pee/poo pads. The maids are washing his reusable pads every day (whew), but the pads are so small that he misses them when he poops much of the time. When we move into our new duplex, we'll try and get him to poo and pee outside.

We walked earlier today, down Narra and Flame Tree Road. Mojo pooped, then was in a real hurry to get back. When he came home, he drank a whole lot of water. Guess that long hair really is hot?

Here are some recent pictures of the longer-haired Mojo! He's looking more and more like a Havanese.

2006-09-08T00:08:00.000-07:00

It's been a while since the last post, because nothing's really been going on. Work work work, and Mojo stays at home.

His hair's getting longer, which is neat. Maybe by next year he'll have his full coat!

Last weekend we brought Mojo to the park in North Forbes so he could walk (run) around. While we were there, he met a beagle puppy! How about that? He wasn't interested in playing, though; as usual, he was more interested in the person at the other end of the leash. The beagle was hopping around and barking, trying to get Mojo to play, but Mojo really couldn't have cared less.

Then we ran around for a bit, which was fun! I think we got tired before Mojo. All of us were panting heavily, actually, since there really isn't much excercise in our lives right now (drive to work, drive back). Ugh.

2006-07-30T01:30:00.000-07:00

Pictures from Oregon:

Mojo back at Larch Mountain. Yep, not so exciting without the snow!

Mojo at one of the many waterfalls right outside Portland.

Another hour, another waterfall.

After going to the waterfalls (and before going on the plane), Mojo had one last groom. Fancy dog!

Mojo and his toys. This one is of Mojo and Herbie

Mojo in the morning with his menagerie.

Giving a big yawn for the camera.

2006-07-28T19:34:00.000-07:00

Mojo had a surprise today: an early bath!

The showers here are big glass showers, with a door. When I shower Mojo usually looks in the shower, sitting on the bath mat. Today, though, he looked like he wanted to go in, so Ela opened the door. She's always teasing Mojo about going into the shower, and that he wants a bath. This time he went in and started lapping at the water. Did he think it was a waterfall? He was lapping at the falling water like he does at the waterfalls. Did he want a bath? He hasn't been washed in a while, and he went right in under the flow of the water. Weird.

Anyway, he went out then back in again, and was mostly damp - damp enough to need a towel dry. It was really bizarre. He got a dry and comb, and had lots of hair - enough for a small tennis ball. We never expected that he would really actively get a bath.

After all that, we looked in his bowl and yes, he had no water. Oh well.

2006-07-23T16:45:00.000-07:00

Woof!

From a recent photo shoot...

2006-07-21T21:19:00.000-07:00

Oh, we took Mojo to bepu the other day where we supervised the unloading and moving of the container. There were a couple of semi-stray dogs there that weren't that friendly. They did give Mojo some unwanted gifts: fleas and ticks. Yuck! So Mojo was frontlined again (it was about time) and bathed. He was pretty patient, and basically hung around watching the moving etc.

2006-07-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

We've bathed Mojo a couple of times since we've been here, but last time we bathed him we tried something new. Usually we towel him off and he rubs himself against the bath mat (or floor towel) to speed up the drying process. This time we left him with three towels. What did he do? He rubbed himself against all three towels, pushing is face and body into the towel...and sliding them (and himself) all over the bathroom!

He did need more drying, but he did a pretty good job getting most of the water out of his fur (hair?).

One thing about the Philippines is that we don't need a hairdryer to dry him off.

2006-07-17T18:23:00.000-07:00

Mojo's slowly learning to poo outside. That's one benefit to living in a house: you can just send your dog outside and they poo. He still stays inside during the day so his pads are still required, but his solid waste is now usually dropped outside on the ground. I'm not sure how that started, but it's much nicer than him pooping inside.

We got his ticket back to the US the other day. Strangely enough, the US has no specific documentary requirements for importing dogs except for a rabies vaccination. The airline (Northwest) requires a health certificate on the way in, but that usually isn't a big deal. We'll have to get his Philippine papers again, but we've gotten used to doing that.

Our container is released today, which means a ridiculous number of Mojo's toys will be available soon, as will the rest of his dog food; they don't seem to sell "Chicken Soup for the Dog Lovers' Soul" dog food here, so that's his only supply unless we get a bag in Utah. Maybe we'll pick up a 25lb bag, or figure out how to import it :)

2006-07-16T20:36:00.000-07:00

Why would Mojo be cooler with long hair? Because longer hair moves more in the breeze, when there is a breeze.

With short hair and wind, the wind doesn't really seem to penetrate to the skin - it just flows around the dog. With longer hair the hairs sway in the wind, which allows wind to get to the skin.

Is is for real? Well, look at a field of corn. When they're short they don't sway much. When they're tall they sway back and forth like crazy.

In any case, Mojo definitely isn't as hot as he was when we got here. I credit his longer hair, though it really be that he just got used to the hot weather.

We're slowly finding places to bring him, though it's pretty hard. We were at the La Mesa Dam Eco-Park last weekend. Mojo seemed to like being out, though he got really muddy (the rains have come, and are soaking everything). We walked in the UP park area too, but it's not as much fun as walking around in Oregon. Sigh.

Mojo seems to have adjusted pretty well. He stays at the house and plays with the yayas. I'm not sure what else he does, really. But what else do dogs do?

Adam & Mojo seem to have come to an arrangement of some sort. Mojo actually seems to have taught Adam how to play with toys in the first week, which I didn't know was possible. Before, when you threw a toy, Adam wouldn't really know what to do. Now if you throw it, Adam goes and gets it. He doesn't come back, though he does like being chased. How about that?

2006-07-10T23:16:00.000-07:00

It's been over a month since the last post, which is sort of embarassing. But we're now ensconsed in the Philippines, so I should be able to post more often.

Mojo's adjusting to the heat pretty well. We cut his hair right before we left, and he was hot for the first week or so, but seems fine now. He's still trying to figure out where the bathroom is, an has been peeing on the floor mats occasionally. Yuck!

Anyway, Mojo's reaction to the heat has been pretty weird. I'd have thought that Havs would be used to hot weather, since they're from Cuba and all. My theory is that the longer hair keeps them cooler, because the wind goes through their long hair more easily. If they have short hair, the wind just bounces off it.

Mojo's hair is longer now, and he's not as bothered by the heat. Who knows?

2006-06-17T18:01:00.000-07:00

It's been a long two weeks, with a lot going on. Mojo's been the same, though! His hair is starting to grow out a lot, which is really nice. He got a mat, which is a good sign.

We've been doing agility again, and the last two weeks have been kind of interesting. Mojo occasionally will just stop and sort of sit there, staring at whomever's running him. It's unclear whether he's lazy, tired, or both, but I think it's because the courses are getting harder. Instead of just doing runs at lightning speed, we've been trying to slow him down so he pays attention to what we want him to do. This helps on the trickier courses, because they set the courses up so your dog -wants- to take the wrong jump. You have to call him off and send him to the right obstacle, which is hard when they're not paying attention to you.

So anyway, I suspect that frustration is a part of it. When Mojo does the wrong thing we stop and bring him back to the beginning, or at least an obstacle before the one he had a problem with. He doesn't really seem to like that all that much, but with enough coaxing (or carrying) he's OK.

Agility, btw, is run by Behave Canine Solutions LLC. They're really great, and really put a lot of thought into messing with (uh, challenging) your dog...and you!

Anyhow, more pictures!

Mojo somehow got this toy wrapped around his head, or got his head stuck inside this toy. Any which way, it made for a funny picture!

Mojo relaxing outside the Pittock mansion.

Extreme closeup!

2006-06-05T18:27:00.000-07:00

Mojo sleeping in my bed.

Hairless in NY

Mojo treed one of my mom's cats!

Look at the great extension that Mojo gets as he stretches towards the feline.

Mojo has a very, very strange expression on his face.

This is Mojo with Bella, a bichon that lives nearby.

Mojo at Cannon Beach.

Mojo at Trillium Lake

Coming back from the lake, Mojo was pretty dirt-encrusted so he had to sit in the back of the car. He didn't like that so much, and kept looking forwards and whining. Eventually he got his way, if I remember correctly.

2006-06-05T14:58:00.000-07:00

Google's photo uploads seem to be broken, so it'll take a little while longer to get the pictures up :(

2006-06-05T13:57:00.000-07:00

It's been since March since I posted any pictures of Mojo, so I'll try to do that today.

Anyway, we've moved Mojo to another daycare provider. A doggone good place just wasn't hacking it. It's always a bad sign when your dog wants to leave before he goes in. When we went there, Mojo would be excited to go in, but once we were in the door he'd be hopping on us trying to leave. That's not a good sign.

Maybe he was just bored? Who knows.

Instead, we're bringing him to Petsmart's day care. They opened it a few months back, and the neat thing is that the dogs are in this big glass room, so you can see them. The problem is that your dog can see you, which is distracting. When we did the temperament screen (which every daycare should do), he first was looking at us as if to say "hey, why is it that I'm here and you guys are over there?". Then we went off and hid behind the boxes of Milk Bones, and he started looking around a bit overwhelmed by all the dogs running around.

After a few minutes he went into one of the crates to get some personal space. How about that? After a few minutes, he was out, sniffing around.

At that point we took off to do some errands.

When we got back we had a little fun with him by trying to see him without him seeing us. We edged around some of the displays, and Mojo was there, just hanging around doing nothing. I popped out and walked across the display, and he perked up, trying to figure out if it was me. Then he kept looking in the direction that I went. Then Ela popped up, Mojo got all excited, trying to get out of the daycare area.

So far we've brought him there one more time, and he seemed to be OK with it. He still wants to go into Petsmart, which is good. Though it seems that he really does like the Barkzone better than any of them. We'll see, I guess.

I've got to start organizing the pictures, stay tuned!