The Whippets Welcome a New (but not necessarily faster) Member to the Team

A week or two ago, the MachSpeed Crew welcomed a new “vehicle” to the team.  She is an old green and white Honda Super-Cub.  Here are Łajka, Rocket, and Astro with the Green Machine:

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We shall soon see how well I will be able to keep up with the dogs on this motorbike.  We will check that out when there will be a fitting place and time and situation for some fun.  For now, I take the dogs for a run next to my bicycle occasionally (most often just after dawn or after/during a rain shower).  Another way is to take them somewhere by taxi or to take one on the bicycle.  (My bicycle now has a place for one dog to sit on the back).

Misc Whippet Pics from the Past Few Months

I haven’t posted much here recently.  For this reason, I will post a slideshow with whippet pics from the past couple months here in SaiGon.

But first I will tell you about what happened last night:

I wish i had had my camera ready when I came home late…  because Rocket and Łajka (the two larger fawn/whites) worked together (in a great show if cooperation) to catch 2 mice in our house!!  It happened right in front of me as I was settling into the house just after walking in.  That brings the mouse-catching total to 3 for this place.   I don’t enjoy see them kill ANY mammals… and I wash their mouths out after the kill and then feed them something…. but what can you do?  There is vermin in the house, and  I’m not gonna use poison, and traps are dangerous and ineffective, and “the crew” kills them as quick as a trap would.   Another fortunate point is that they are killed quickly and bloodlessly.

Those mice have been giving them fits for a while. (They hear them behind the shelving and stuff but never see them).  They were set on getting them.  Earlier , I wasnt sure if they were small rats or large mice.  I guess they are large mice.

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Slides are paused and moved forward/backward with the controllers on the bottom of the photo.

Notice how Łajka and Rocket begin to stretch from one slide to the next when they are on the bed.

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Extreme Flyball Freestyle (with Whippets)

Here is a little slideshow of the made-up “sport” of Extreme Flyball Freestyle.   We, theoretically are joking, but now that I think of it,  this probably would be a cool sport.  Maybe it could be played in a room with slippery floors (like we have here), no furniture, and slightly padded walls  (which we don’t have here).  Since we don’t have these conditions, and I played the role of thrower and photographer at the same time,  the photos are not very “extreme”.  Maybe someday in the future  I will get a friend to take the pics as I throw the ball.

Its kind of amazing how quick they react to the deflections in random directions off the furniture.  It would be great to film this with a slo-mo cam — especially considering how slick the polished rock floor is!

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The Whippet 3-Pac : We are all so different from each other

For now, we will just post some more fun photos from around the house.  Click on the photo to see it enlarged.

Dog Foods in SaiGon (Ho Chi Minh City), Vietnam

If you were wondering, yes there are packaged dog-foods in the country — both kibble and canned.  This blog entry will be about the choices that I have found.  I will gather more information and then add it to this entry as I compile it.

For now, I will show you 2 brands:

2 of the brands you can find in HCMC

“Birbo” is made by a brazilian company here.  As of April/May 2011, this 400g package was 15,000 dong in a small vet/pet-shop in district 4 next to the bridge going into District 7 towards Lotte Mart.

“Classic” has a similar looking kibble.  As of April/May 2011, this 400g package was 17,000 dong at the same little shop.  This product’s packaging is in English and Thai.  You can also get it in bigger packages at a few supermarkets like “Wellcome” (Western D1 next to the cinema  for, i think, about 89,000 dong) and Lotte Mart (in D7 for,  i think, about 109,ooo dong).  This brand has a puppy version and 2 adult versions based on breed size.

A third brand is “Pedigree Pal” (in both kibble and canned).  I will add this info here in the (i hope near) future.  I heard from a vet that Alpo has backed out of the market here.

There are some upscale brands available at the better-stocked/bigger vet clinics that have attached pet-shops.  brands like “Purina Pro-Plan” and “Royal Canin” might be found there for example.  Please keep your eye out for a future blog entry here about vet clinics in the City of Ho Chi Minh.

I have heard from vets that some dog and cat food producers in the tropics have put out some feed that has caused liver or kidney damage to pets.  You may want to talk to a vet here to get a given brand “cleared” with them.  I am not an expert, so I am not going to give any info or opinions on this topic.  I will just tell you that these 2 brands in the top photo are part of the diet of my dogs at present, but I am playing it by ear.

If you know of more brands here,  please tell me about them in a comment or an email and i will add it to this entry.  Thanks.

Various Stuff Connected to my Vietnam Experience

Greetings once again.  <Witam>

I have another little slide show for you with random shots from the past week.  <Mam kolejny slajdy dla Was z roznymi fotkami z tego tygodnia>

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pic1: a shot from the window of a skyscraper.    pic2: some wall-writing in my alleyway.  (who’s gonna go to some www and translate it to english first?)  pics3&4: my alleyway (between my street and my house).    pic5: the buddhist set-up above a doorway in my house.   pic6: some french-fry thingies.  i hear they are made of rice.  they are kinda sweetish and are fried. pics7&8: the dogs in the park with onlookers (who are waiting for more tricks).

It looks like i will probably go to Vung Tao tomorrow finally!  I plan to take some pics and of course see the greyhound racing.