UTI & Hot Spot...

One morning, I took the kids to the park across the street and noticed that Pocky was peeing much more frequently than normal. Eventually he squatted and looked like he was trying to squeeze something out and I saw a drop of blood...((((；ﾟДﾟ)))) Is this a kidney stone??? I rushed back home and called the vet immediately. Pocky, we will take you to the vet as soon as possible, just sit tight...

Right before I hang up the phone with the vet, I caught something in the corner of my eye. Pretz...?
I thought she was chewing some lent but wait...she was actually licking her own knee...what's going on...

How did that happen!!!?｡ﾟ(ﾟ´Д｀ﾟ)ﾟ｡
We ended up taking both of them to the vet.

Ummm...nope. We are staying here until you get checked out by the vet! Since there was no availability to make an appointment, we had to walk-in and wait for availability.

Pocky had some bacteria in his urine. The vet said it is hard to tell if he has kidney stone so she diagnosed him with a UTI and we got an antibiotic to take home. Hope the antibiotic knocks out all the bacteria and he doesn't need any further treatment...(´Д⊂ 

Pretz had miner hot spot as we suspected. Guess what we got for her...

She was so funny. She didn't care if she was wearing the cone of shame or not. She was just walking into everything, knocking everything out of place and kept walking. Completely opposite personality from Pocky. When she was walking down the stairs, her cone of shame kept hitting the next stair and she was so confused. It was so funny and cute. I wish I had picture!
It was a long day...we had to take a nap...

How rude...I was in hurry to take you guys to the vet so get used to it!
Please get better soon guys( ´ー｀)


I also had a handsome guest that week. He is a Borzoi, named Dante!

He is a very tall, slim, and manly dog but he is a very shy Gentleman･:*:･(*´∀｀*)･:*:･
His owner said he was rescued in Florida and she adopted him...Who would abandon this gorgeous dog?!!!

Look at this heart shaped birth mark. I am so happy for him to find a great family who loves him and takes good care of him. You will never be alone Dante! ❤

FLANDERS

One of Papa's good friends, Mathew Curran is a very talented artist. There is an exhibition in downtown Raleigh at FLANDERS ART GALLERY where some of his works are on display until July 21st. Since we live right around the corner, we took our doggies with us to check it out! 

Mat specializes in stencil art in which he draws the piece first, prints it, and then uses an X-acto blade to fashion each stencil.

It's hard to see in the pictures but his work is very detailed. In fact, the piece in the above right is actually two layers providing a stereoscopic effect. 

Papa's favorite were the Ravens on white background while mine were the Ravens on the textured collage print. The reason why I liked those pieces was that he mixed and patched together nature with things found in our urban environment such as signs, landmarks, and buildings etc,. 
Something that you can't miss at the gallery is...

I asked Mat how long he took to finish this particular piece. I expected him to say a couple months but he said "this one took a bit longer like five days". I was like ((((；ﾟДﾟ)))) I don't even know how but It's amazing. He also said that he envisions placing it on a barn in a field after the exhibition. Wherever that is, I want to go see it!


There are two other artists on exhibition at the gallery. As soon as you walk in, you will see Jonathan Brilliant's work (my first thought was his name is already talented...).

Jonathan Brilliant's work utilizes ordinary coffee shop materials, maybe things normally overlooked. I didn't know what it was until I got really close to it. These are the wooden stirrers woven together very tightly without using any glue!(ﾟДﾟ≡ﾟДﾟ)Wow! The wavy tube that you see in the picture is not a vent pipe, which is what I thought at first. It was made with the cardboard coffee sleeves and the plastic coffee lids...I was just staring at it...speechless━━━━(ﾟ∀ﾟ)━━━━!! It's amazing how one person can make such a thing without using any kind of glue. Anyway I liked it a lot! 


The last one we saw was Olek's crochet work. She has "power" to change anything into multi-looped, hyper colored, crocheted visions. It's like magic!･:*:･(*´∀｀*)･:*:･

Look how pretty this tractor looks☆彡 Never expected this! They allowed Pocky and Pretz to get on this fantastic ride. They look so special ヾ(*´∀｀*)ﾉ


She also did some amazing work to the gallery itself...tada~~

She covered the gallery with crochet!!!! Everything is possible! Pocky, Pretz and Mat almost blended into the camouflage crochet too（*^_^*）hahaha 


Thank you to Mat for the personal tour and letting me bring Pocky and Pretz. We had a great time and enjoyed seeing the ordinary with extraordinary.


The exhibition is until July 21! The location is 302 S. West Street in Raleigh, NC. If you haven't been there yet, go check it out!(人´∀｀)．☆．。．:*･ﾟ

Fashion Show

There are so many cute doggie clothes in Japan. I went shopping one day for Pocky and Pretz when I was in Japan, and look what I got...

I've been waiting to do a fashion show, and finally It's time!
Pocky's first one, as you can see from above picture that he is already wearing

When I saw this, I thought this would be perfect for him to wear on Independence Day. It has cute buttons in front, very detailed and I like it!
Pretz's first one is a girly one-piece,

She is such a tomb-boy. I thought it would be nice to have at least one cute dress to look like a little quiet girl...(^_^;) She can wear this when she goes on a date with Pocky ( ´∀｀)b
Pocky's second one is a reversible outfit,

and If I flip it over...

Doesn't this face remind you of somebody?? It reminds me of cousin Choco (^^) You can enjoy two different looks with one outfit!
Pretz's second one is an aloha one-piece.

It's been a very hot summer so far. It's going to be a beach theme outfit for summer.
Pocky and Pretz's third outfits were presents from my sister.

Same clothes but different color (*^^)v Perfect size and very cute! Thank you sister!
The last one is my favorite...not only for Pocky and Pretz, but I also got the same T-shirt for Papa too!
One Piece( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/One_Piece) is a very popular manga series in Japan. I used to watch it before I came to the US. It's still an on-going series... unbelievable! I had to buy the T-shirts for kids and Papa. There it is...

Hahahaha, I love it!!! Maybe I should have gotten a T-shirt for myself too (^^)

Before the fashion show, I had my neighbor's dog who needs to be groomed. He is a mixed Pekingese named Oliver ☆彡He needs a summer hair cut which means shaving! 

He looks very tiny with shaved hair but I bet he is not as hot as before (*^^)v Stay cool Oliver! See you around!

Folly Beach, SC

Right after I got back from Japan, Papa and I had our birthdays so we decided to take a trip to one of our favorite place: Charleston, SC. Charleston, here we come＼(^o^)／

We stayed at a hotel right on the beach in Folly Beach. All the rooms are ocean front! Of course doggies are allowed "woof woof". The restaurants and shops are walking distance, I love it (*^^)v

Charleston is only 20 minutes away by car; very easy access.

We have been to Charleston twice already but every time we visit, we try to go to different restaurants and enjoy walking around the city ･:*:･(*´∀｀*)･:*:･

All the buildings are really old yet each one has its own character and history to it. Very interesting ( ´∀｀)b

If you have never done any carriage tours or ghost tours in Charleston, YOU MUST! So worth it!

We didn't have a hard time looking for dog friendly places. Pocky and Pretz seemed like they enjoyed running around  White Point Garden which used to be called The Battery Park. They offer views of Fort Sumter, scenic anthebellum homes, and a number of historic monuments ☆彡

Back to the Hotel, the sun was about to go down. Walking the beach would be nice! Dogs are allowed on the beach after 6pm. It's the first time for Pretz to go to the beach, we'll see what happens (*^^)

As we expected, she was just fine; brave gril on the beach! On the other hand, Pocky was looking at me every two seconds "why we have to walk on the beach, I hate water". Pocky, get a grip! hahaha

It was a very relaxing and productive long weekend wasn't it? （●＾o＾●）Let's come back again when it gets a little cooler!

Dog Style in Fukuoka, Japan!

I was in Japan for two weeks to see my family and friends. Unfortunately Papa, Pocky, and Pretz had to stay home this time (´д⊂)‥sniff sniff...BUT it's been one year and half since last time I went back to Japan. It's always good to see my family, relatives, and friends.
Other than spending personal time, I also spent time at my sister's grooming shop a little bit.

She went to grooming school and worked for local grooming salon for one year, and then she decided to open her own grooming salon in 2005. To become a groomer was her dream since she was little and she made it possible! I am so proud of her! As soon as I walked in, as usual happy greeting...

Hey guuuuuuuys!!!! It's been so long!!! Believe or not, my sister owns FIVE dogs...
Let me introduce you these happy doggies (^^♪

Four Miniature Schnauzers and one long hair Dachshund (I think Camel thinks she is one of schnauzer too by now lol) No wonder I have also two Miniature Schnauzers. I was definitely influenced by Grandma Teddy. They seemed very busy so I just took quick shots in the store and moved out of their way...

I heard she is opening a bigger store in the beginning of next year. How exciting! Looking forward to come back again soon（●＾o＾●）

My sister took two days off for me even though her store was very busy...Thank you sister!!
We decided to take a trip to our grand mother's house! Yes, there are more doggies...^^;
This is grand mother's dog Choco! Doesn't see look like someone??? Yes she is Teddy's daughter, also Sanshiro's sister. Grandma said she is happy everyday because of Choco (*^^*) awww I could tell she is very attached to my grand mother ❤

Next one is my cousin's dog; a little chubby Chihuahua, Leo ＼(^o^)／
He was a rescue dog. Who can abandon this lil cute one...I'm so happy for him to a find happy family. He must be surprised to see this many dogs at the same time in the house...hahaha (*^^*)

Grandma and cousins look great too! I'm glad that my sister had time to take me there while I was in Japan!
I miss them A LOT!!!

Until I come back next, hopefully next year, see you my happy family!