Stranger anxiety in dogs

We know that the young child will go through a time when he or she is extremely wary of strangers. It is interesting to see this same phenomenon in Summer too. When we took her back in Dec, she seemed quite happy in the company of humans. We first met her at a year end gathering at my brother in law’s. There were perhaps around 30 of us there and she was extremely comfortable with the crowd.

Over the past few weeks with us, we have noted that she does not take too well to people outside of the family. When our neighbour who loves dogs (Mae dotes on him) comes over and tries to make contact with her, she growls at him. And just the other day, there was this deep almost adult bark from here. Most times, we still hear the chipmunk yelps, especially in the morning as she seeks to reenter the house. However she is friendlier to children and would allow the young ones to pat her on the head.

The past Saturday we had a CNY gathering at our place for the relatives. Mae as usual lapped in the attention showered on her. Summer was not friendly. She would not even take food from David, who gave her to us. Though at times, she would just forget herself, go just wild, and attack Mae who just gets horribly upset. They had to be tied up for a while in the kitchen until order was restored and the guests safe from dashing dogs. What a night.

Add comment February 3, 2009

The Changi Experience

Flying back home from Changi airport was such a delight. Mum, being 82 years old, was automatically given priority boarding. And the wonderful lady at the check in counter decided that she should be accompanied by us, so my daughter and I were automatically given this same priviledge.
And with ample shops and food outlets, we enjoyed a leasurely breakfast at Toast Box and walked around the shops. I even managed to get a good deal for my sports shoes!

With our priority boarding, we were one of the first few to enter the plane. We got the 2nd row seats as the first row was reserved. As the plane filled up, 2 guests took their seats at the front row, and were warmly greeted by the flight attendants. I was then reading the inflight magazine. One of the men looked like the CEO of AirAsiaX.

There was a slight delay in our take off as we were waiting for another passenger to board. The HE came in. It was Tony Fernandez himself and he sat in the seat right infront of us. It would have been nice if he had addressed the passengers, but he was busy with the other two, in deep conversation over business.

When food was sold, it was interesting to note that those in front of us actually paid for the food they ordered.

When we touched down, it was a long walk to the international arrival. Renovations were ongoing. The new arrival hall was great compared to the old one which was always crowded with so few baggage carousels to handle the many incoming flights. This one had about 8, I think. However, it was again a very long walk to the taxi stand.

Add comment February 3, 2009