The Pood Tackles Singapore Agility

The Pood is already eyeing her first USDAA trial in Singapore, coming up in just two weeks on September 12. It will be held at West Coast Park and is the 6th USDAA trial in the country. In preparation, we attended a practice match at Ethans Pet Resort in Pasir Ris, where the PUPS Agility group meets.

We were made to feel very welcomed there. One of the members, Anderson, drove us to the practice location and we got in one warmup run before Carbon succumbed to the heat and humidity, the long winding car ride, and the excitement of being out of quarantine (I'm FRRREEEEEEE!), by repeatedly getting sick to her stomach. We tried two more runs but both times she left the course to pee/poo and then returned to her little corner to barf. Poor thing!! I had wondered why she seemed to be behaving VERY well (not really being too obnoxious to the other dogs, etc.) and sure enough, it was because she didn't feel good.

So my new agility buddies think I have a much friendlier and less capable dog than I actually have.

The fun thing is that if Carbon gets even one "Q" at the upcoming trial, she will be the top-rated USDAA poodle in Asia. That's because she appears to be the only poodle competing in Asia.

Here is her practice run. You can see that it is a very small course, and she found the distraction of the dogs tied to the fence irresistable!!

Pood in Jail

Well, the Pood arrived in Singapore on July 29 via Amsterdam, traveling with her buddy, Cody, with whom she is sharing an air-conditioned jail cell in quarantine (Singapore requires a minimum 30-day quarantine for pets coming from the U.S.). We contracted with PetMovers, a local pet care provider in Singapore to visit and exercise the dogs daily until I arrived on August 14 (Mike could see them only on Saturdays due to his work schedule and the limited visiting hours at the quarantine station.

The dogs did fine in their travels, leaving LA in the care of Pacific Pet Transport, each dog in a huge pimped-out crate with water and food bowls, absorbent padding, and fuzzy blankets from the thrift store. Their 13 hour flight from LA brought them to the KLM (Royal Dutch Airlines) Pet Hotel in Amsterdam, where they had a 9 hour layover to rest and relax (they have not disclosed their activities during the layover, apparently feeling that 'what happens in Amsterdam stays in Amsterdam') before boarding the 9 hour flight to Singapore.

Mike saw them at quarantine the morning after they arrived in Singapore (he tried to meet them at the plane per my insistence, but was not able to enter the airport without a passport) and they were fine. I went and saw them on my first day here, and every day thereafter except when I had a bad cold and could not ride on public transport to get there.

I was able to exercise them in a big grassy pen, thrown the ball for them, etc. Cody spent most of his exercise time rolling around on his back; Carbon mostly ran up and down the fenceline, challenging the other dogs who were visible in their kennels.

The staff was awesome at the quarantine station and the dogs did just fine, staying happy and healthy the entire time. AND, it was great to get them home this past Friday afternoon!!! The photo is of the dog and Pood settling in at their new home.