It was my second time to bring him to Eastwood City, which claims to be the first pet-friendly city in Manila (or in the Philippines? I don't know) and went around the area while waiting for my friend. I asked the driver to drop us off at the entrance that led straight to the concierge so I could get our pet pass. The procedure is very easy. All I had to do was present Odie's vaccination records and fill out two little forms upon approval, aka upon having them see the anti-rabies vaccine. I think that's their only concern though, so I guess their management should know what the anti-rabies shot is all about. In that case, are they just concerned that the dogs might transmit rabies to other dogs? I don't know, but that's a good cause too!
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| Eastwood Mall's Pet Pass. I'm actually considering getting an ID protector so I could just attach the pass to the leash in future trips. |
I made Odie do some name recall exercises just so that his attention is on me in a very high-distraction environment. I was so impressed to see a very obedient dog! He would pull on the leash from time to time, but he kept sitting by my side whenever I stopped walking.
We went to Dogs and the City to get a nail trim. It was then when I found out that Odie is now considered a medium-sized dog! I wanted to cry because he's grown up so fast, and because rates for medium-sized dogs are a bit higher!!! The last time I had Odie checked in was three weeks ago (he was getting really naughty, my siblings and I couldn't properly eat our dinner), I was about to pay the boarding rate for medium dogs but was told that he was a small dog. Anyway, when we got there, I was told that his nails can't be trimmed yet because the quick was still too near. The groomer just trimmed Odie's dew claws and told the cashier to not charge anything! I sincerely thanked the groomer, then bought a leash and a pack of treats.
Odie finally met Mindy, and as expected, he was very excited to meet her! I took advantage of the opportunity to do a polite greeting, but once Odie sat down and I told Mindy it's okay to say hello to him, he started hugging and kissing (and humping) her! It was a delight to see Odie meeting a human friend!
We took a cab and went to Robinsons Magnolia to meet Nica, who brought her beautiful mahogany shih tzu, Willow. It was Odie's first time ever to ride a cab, and I was so thankful that he was very well behaved considering that he was sitting on my lap in the absence of a crate.
Robinsons Magnolia's entrance doors have huge signs that said "Pets are welcome here!" but my, do they have great limitations! I let Odie walk going in and the guards started panicking! Mindy filled out a pet pass on my behalf and we found out that the guards panicked because dogs are only allowed to walk on the al fresco area at the back of the mall. They are allowed inside the mall, provided that they are in their carrier bags, or are being carried by their human handlers! Rules also state that only small to medium dogs are allowed in the area. HELLO, how can I take a leisurely walk in a good mall with great stores when there's a 20-pound puppy in my arms? Where is the leisure in that? Even the walk from the entrance to the al fresco area was difficult because that 20-pound puppy kept moving! Their pet policy is more of a hassle than a privilege, really. They should replace their signs with:
"Pets are welcome here, but GOOD LUCK TO YOU IF YOU BRING ONE!"
Or you know, to be on the constructive side, they could at least have a dog stroller rental facility? We rent, they earn, we can go malling with our dogs without having their paws touch the mall's floor. Everybody wins.
We went straight to the al fresco area and met Nica and Willow. Seeing the two dogs walk towards each other was too adorable for words, we humans were reduced to exchanging awwww's and ooooooh's! The two sniffed each other and Odie started humping which caused Willow to retreat. She spent the rest of the time being running away from Odie, but she was smiling the entire time, so I'm guessing she liked playing coy and being chased by a boy. Apart from that, Odie was relatively kind and obedient. He may have eaten some of the leaves in the elevated plant boxes, so I'm sorry, but that's what you get when the mall has a huge al fresco area, with a huge, GATED grass garden with signs that said "keep off the grass" because since when did grass become a display piece?
Nica gave us a ride to Katipunan and since traffic was quite bad, Odie was on hyperdrive and kept humping! I was too tired to reprimand him, so I gave him some slack. After all, he wasn't successful in courting Willow. Halfway through the ride, we noticed that he was falling asleep! A TIRED DOG! OH JOY! Odie fell asleep in my arms, which he hasn't done in such a long time. I thanked the high heavens because when he sleeps, I could get some rest from all his movement.
Odie wasn't allowed in Ateneo so she dropped me off at gate 3. The Ateneo guard was nice enough to just point us towards gate 3.5 in order to exit. I was expecting him to flail his arms and send us away but he was very diplomatic! I just hope that Ateneo would go back to allowing dogs in campus though. We crossed the blue bridge (which isn't blue anymore, but who cares) and someone suddenly grabbed my arm and said "HEY!" and I realized it was my thesis mentor! It was a short chat though because I was with puppy and she had rehearsal. I decided to take a cab back to Eastwood so the driver can fetch us there because sadly, Katipunan isn't very pet friendly. Also, I actually didn't know cab drivers are totally fine with having dogs ride their cabs. Manila isn't so bad, after all?
We went back to Dogs and the City so that I could board Odie for a bit and spend time responding to my own needs, and so that he can rest for a bit after all the walking, playing, and training. Their staff happily took Odie in and played with him when they weren't busy. I finally had time to go to the bathroom, got some tea, went online, and coordinated with my siblings so we could all go home together. I claimed Odie after 1.5 hours and took random homework videos and some photos while waiting for our driver to arrive.
I was surprised to see that the travel crate wasn't in the car! I thought I was going to finally get rest from Odie in a moving vehicle. On the way home though, I guess Odie was too pooped to move around in the car. He lay on one side and slept like a baby! He must have been really tired.
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| Mr. Sleepyhead |
It was a pretty good day, all in all. It's also been a while since I last took Odie on a full day out, just the two of us. I hope we could do it again in the near future, and I hope that he could meet more of my human friends. I also sincerely hope that Robinsons Magnolia would either improve their pet policy, or ditch it entirely.
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