Thank you Honey. I will miss you...

I, Cinnamon, have sad news today.

My special friend Honey the Great Dane has crossed the rainbow bridge. She had been fighting against her heart problems but sadly the time came and she went peacefully, according to her human. I can't imagine how sad Honey's humans must be now.

As many of you know, Honey played an important role in my career as a doggie dancer. When I saw her dancing at a doggie event, I didn't imagine myself doing it at all. But, several months later she and her human suggested I try busking (improvised dancing). Although I got so excited that I couldn't dance well in my first ever busking, I really enjoyed it and later I started practising it.

I think I am a very lucky doggie having met her in person and made some really good memories together.

Our first playdate 

Honey and Cookie on the beach

Showing Honey my pivoting trick

Honey helped me with my obedience training.

The last meeting before Honey left for Australia. 

Honey, you will live forever in memories of many doggies and their humans let alone your humans. Thank you so much for everything you did for me. Play and run freely without pain and inspire more doggies in the world where you live now. Please don't forget about me, as I am going to meet you there again when my time comes. Also, please say hello to Cookie for me and tell him that I am doing well with my little brother Mint.

Rest in peace, Honey xxx

Beagle Christmas Fun Day

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

On the weekend before the last, we went to the Auckland Beagle Club Christmas Fun Day held in Cornwall Park.

I was really excited to meet many other Beagles again. As some of you may know, I am not particularly friendly to other dogs. But, I don't feel so anxious or nervous if the other dogs are also Beagles. So, this time I had a wonderful time with other participants.

The event started with a walk to the top of One Tree Hill. The hill is called One Tree Hill, because there used to be one big tree on the summit. But, after an activist badly damaged the tree, causing danger to visitors, the tree was taken down for safety. From the top of the hill, you have a 360 degree panorama view of Auckland city. Here is a snapshot of Mint and me taken there.

Can you see a small tower behind us? That is Sky Tower, the tallest building in the Southern Hemisphere.

After the walk, we did some games, of which Mint and I joined one each. Mint joined a game of finding biscuits scattered around on the grass. Although Mint found four biscuits, they were not enough to win the game. I took part in a seven-legged race. I think you all know three-legged races, where humans race in pairs with the right leg of the person on the left and the left leg of the person on the right tied together. The race we did is similar but seven-legged, instead of three-legged, because one dog joined each pair to make the total number of legs seven. Unfortunately we couldn't win again, as the winning team was unbelievably fast!


After all the games finished, the winner of the amazing/funny story competition was announced. My mum had sent them two entries. One is about Mint, who strangely dislikes the sound made when Mum cooks something on a frying pan. So, he always goes under Dad's chair and hides there until Mum finishes cooking. If any door or French window is open, he evacuates from the room through it. Our second entry was our dancing videos at NDOA. And, our second entry, the dance videos, was chosen as the winner of the competition!! As a prize, we got a dog bed, dog treats, a jacket, a collar, a lead, and many toys!  I was overwhelmed to receive such a great prize!



During the fun day event, our peer Beagles also enjoyed trying out Agility using gears that we had brought for it. The day may not be so far away when the Auckland Beagle Club Agility Team is formed!!

Two years...

Hi. It's Cinnamon.

Today is the second anniversary since Cookie crossed the rainbow bridge. However, Mum was so busy writing cards to send overseas that she had forgot about it until late at night. She always says that she misses Cookie a lot, but I doubt it now.

Here are a couple of photos of Cookie and me when I was ten weeks old. He was a true gentleman.

It's been a year since...

It is the first anniversary of Cookie's departure over the rainbow bridge. I wonder what he will say if he sees me now. Or, has he been watching me all the time since he left us? I wish there were three of us together, Cookie, Mint, and me. It would have been so nice.

My Birthday!

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

Yesterday was my third birthday.

Can you believe that I am three years old now? As I am smaller than most adult Beagles we see in New Zealand, many humans tell me that I still look like a puppy. But those who know me very well also say that I have matured significantly within the last one year.

I remember that Cookie celebrated my birthday with us a year ago. He showed me how to pose in costume for a camera.

I really miss him!! And at the same time I hope he is proud of what I have achieved in the last year. Now it is my turn to show Mint how to behave. It is a challenge for me, but I will do my best!!

To start with, I showed Mint what I had learnt from Cookie, i.e. posing for a camera!




Then, we enjoyed my birthday cake together!

This is what I was doing a year ago

Hi! It's Cinnamon.

When I was browsing old photos and videos on Mum's computer with Mum, we found a video filmed exactly a year ago. I was practising pivoting trick with Cookie then.




Watching the video, I missed Cookie so much! He was always calm like this and enjoyed learning new tricks with me, proving that even middle-aged dogs can start to learn tricks.

Back then, pivoting was one of the few tricks I could do. I have learned so many tricks in the last one year. My pivoting has also improved a lot, so I hope to show you how I do the trick now sometime!



From Cinnamon's Mum:

Today I took Cinnamon and Mint for a walk together in late afternoon, although I usually walk them separately. Now I regret that I did that.

As soon as we went out of the gate, we saw a dog coming in our way. If it had been either Cinnamon or Mint only, I might have been able to control them. But, Cinnamon started barking really aggressively, so I turned around to walk away from the dog. Then the owner of the dog followed us with the dog and even tried to let the dog meet mine. Being unable to control Cinnamon as well as Mint, who was pulling the lead, I got so stressy that I couldn't say anything when the other dog's owner asked my dogs' ages, which means I effectively ignored the person.

After putting Cinnamon and Mint in a down stay for a while to calm them down, we started walking again. Then, only ten seconds or so later, another dog appeared, and again his owner came in our way wanting to say hello to us, when I was trying to ignore them. Again Cinnamon started barking aggressively, and when I was struggling to control my two dogs, a person who was with the person walking the dog came and tried to give me a hand. But, again, I couldn't do anything but saying "I am fine."

Then, again, less than a minute later, another dog came in our way, and Cinnamon behaved in the same way.

It was a very weird afternoon. We usually don't meet so many new dogs walking near our house. That's why I took Cinnamon to many different places by car when I was trying to teach her to stay calm when she met new dogs, in preparation for Canine Good Citizen assessment.

I was reminded that training NEVER ENDS!!

Cookie and Cinnamon on TV

Hi. It's Cinnamon here!

Tell you what! Cookie and Cinnamon's bath time video was broadcast in a TV programme called "Wan Nyan (Dogs & Cats) Cafe" on NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation) as a featured video of the week!

You can watch the video here.

In the video I am speaking Japanese!! For those who don't understand the language, the title is "Can't have a dip in the bath tub" and my line goes like this, according to my Mum:

Wow, how nice it is to have hot water run over my body! That's how you think I am feeling, isn't it? Well, I want to soak in the tub like my friend does, but I am scared...

Here is the original video that our dad sent to the broadcaster in October.

Bye-bye to the year 2009

I can't believe another year is coming to end. I feel like the year started only a few months ago!

Cookie & Cinnamon's first walk in the year, 1st Jan 2009

I started blogging in January this year, and when I started it I was not sure what it was going to be like, especially because the day I published my very first post Cinnamon was hospitalised for a mysterious illness.

However, despite my concern, Cinnamon recovered well from the illness, and blogging has opened our world so much that we now have friends all over the world! Also, friends who we met through blogs have taught us so many things. Among other things, who would have imagined that we would take on dog dancing as well as making a debut in agility trials! Also, thanks to valuable advice from our blog friends, especially Honey the Great Dane, Cinnamon has become much more obedient. She looks like a different dog!

Cinnamon's first Clear Round, 20th Jun 2009

On the other hand, there was a sad thing as you all know. Cookie left us to cross the rainbow bridge this month. He had always been a great company for us since he came to our house a year after we moved to New Zealand. He brought us lots of happiness and opportunities to meet new people.

Cookie & Cinnamon at Hound Racing, 5th Apr 2009

Finally, we wish you all the best for the year 2010!!

See you in the New Year!!

Cookie returns home

Thank you very much for all your warm messages to Cookie and us!!

Today he came back to us in a casket, so now he is with us again.

Strangely I don't feel as sad as I thought I would become. I feel like he is still napping somewhere in the house, maybe because Cookie was always gentle and quiet and loved having a nap in a comfortable place in peace.

Cinnamon is coping without Cookie well although she sticks to me more than before and follows me around wherever I go in the house.

After Cookie left us, we received a lot of love from our friends and family. Firstly I didn't think so many blog friends who had never met Cookie or us in person would send their thoughts to him and us. Also, if I tell my neighbours about Cookie's departure when they see me only with Cinnamon and ask me how the other dog is doing, everyone, including those who we know only because we meet in our daily walks, gives me a hug.

Cookie's last walk was at New Zealand Kennel Club Ardmore Grounds on Tuesday last week.

Cinnamon often goes to Cookie's bed and stays laying on it like this. When she is doing that, she looks much more mature than before.

I love you, Cookie, forever...

Cookie went over the rainbow bridge this morning. He was eight years and seven months old.

Cookie (1 May 2001 - 5 December 2009)

As some of you may be aware of, Cookie had not been well since he started showing some pain in July. But, we didn't know the real cause of the pain and his progressive wobbliness until he had an MRI scan in late September, which revealed that he had an inoperable brain tumor with hydrocephalus and syringomyelia.

At that time we were told that Cookie didn't have much time left, but he bravely fought a good fight against the illnesses for the next two months, being on medication with Tramal (pain reliever) and Prednison (synthetic corticosteroid). He lost his appetite a little a couple of times in October, but, otherwise, he was eating very well and could walk around in the house and garden on his own with a wobbly gait.

However, last night he deteriorated dramatically. He bawled every time I touched him to adjust his pillow. He clenched his jaw and didn't open his month at all when I tried to help him drink or eat.

We were worried about him so much that all of us, including Cinnamon, slept in the living room together as we didn't want to put him in further pain by moving him. Cookie kept shivering from pain throughout the night, and in the morning he still couldn't move at all. So, we made the most difficult decision to let him go. We thought he had suffered enough and he should be let free from his pain.

His last moment was serene. He went in my arms. Cookie, we will never forget about you. You will live forever in our heart.

Walk at racecourse and Honey's birthday party

We had a great weekend full of fun activities.

On Saturday morning, after doing the laundry, we went to Ellerslie Racecourse for a walk. It was a pleasant walk thanks to the beautiful spring weather with the blue sky and some cloud.

At the racecourse we watched people doing golf on a short golf course in the infield of the racecourse for a while. It was really an ideal weather for playing golf.

At first we were walking together peacefully, but all of sudden Cinnamon made a dash and was gone far away in the next moment. Although I was a little worried whether she would come back soon or not, she turned around and came back to us after exploring the field for a few minutes.

Back at home, being exhausted from a lot of running at the racecourse, Cinnamon fell in sleep on the deck.

In the afternoon, Cinnamon and I went to our friend Honey the Great Dane's 6th birthday party and had a great time with other dogs and dog lovers, while Cookie stayed home with his dad.

Cinnamon enjoyed playing with a four-month-old Great Dane puppy called Lexi. They looked like really good playmates.

We did some games, including Ian Dunbar's K9 Games, musical chairs and doggy dash.

In the musical chairs we were out after the first round, but it doesn't mean that Cinnamon couldn't sit and stay long enough. We were just unlucky with the timing that she stood up from the sitting position.

In the doggy dash, she beat a Shetland Sheepdog called Finnegan in the first round, but in the second round she was beaten by a German Shepherd called Kira by microseconds. Cinnamon ran very fast, but Kira was just too fast. In this sprint race, the dogs had to sit as soon as they reached the goal where their owners were waiting, and Cinnamon did it beautifully, which I am very proud of.

We also did egg and spoon race and champagne race. In both races, humans, with their dog's lead tied to their wrist, ran a course with their dogs. Something hilarious happened in the egg and spoon race, but I am not writing about it here as perhaps Honey is going to tell you all about it! In the champagne race, a nice cute boy volunteered to be the handler of Cinnamon, while his sister handled Honey. What a lucky girl Cinnamon was!

After all the fun games, dogs shared Honey's birthday cake, which her humans had made.

Actually Cinnamon got the biggest share of it, because everyone was so amused by how Cinnamon ate a big piece of cake at a mouthful that she was given a second piece. In fact, while big dogs were breaking their cake into small pieces and eating them one by one, Cinnamon was chewing up a whole big piece given to her in her mouth without dropping a crumb!

After that, people there were even more excited to see how Cinnamon was cleaning up all the cake crumbs on the floor like a vacuum, although it was nothing unusual to me as I see her doing that every day at home.

It was a really great party!! Thank you for inviting us, Honey!!

The source of Cinnamon's secret treats

Since late September, Cinnamon has been very busy finding and eating something in the garden whenever she is out there.



I had seen Cookie doing something similar before. At that time he was eating cherries from our flowering cherry trees, but now it is too early for Cinnamon to start picking up cherries, as the cherry trees in our garden are just finishing flowering. And besides, the stuff Cinnamon has been eating looks like some kind of nuts.



At first, I thought they might come from a Titoki tree, as Cinnamon was picking up the nuts in the area around the tree. But, according to a reference book, Titoki bears a different type of berries. Then, where do they come from?

I went to Palmers Garden Centre and asked a botanist there what those nuts came from. He said "They are seeds of big palm trees." As soon as I heard it, it struck a chord! There IS a big palm tree in our nextdoor neighour's garden!



Come to think of it, we have been seeing many birds flying over our garden with the seeds in their beak. I just hope they won't harm Cinnamon's stomach as it is hard to stop her eating them. At least it seems she can't digest the seeds, as they always come out with her poo (You can see a photo of it by clicking here).

This is one of the culprits who have been scattering palm seeds around our garden.



In the meantime, Cookie doesn't bother to look for the palm seeds. He would rather lie down in the sun and have a pleasant nap.

Scent of Roses

There was Parnell Festival of Roses at Parnell Rose Garden (formally called Dove-Myer Robinson Park) on the weekend. This was the place Cookie went to in his first walk ever, but unfortunately we couldn't see any flowers then in July, as the roses had just been pruned.

Cookie's very first walk

The garden looks like this at this time of year
(Sorry it's an old photo from year 2000)

Yes, that's right. Roses are most beautiful at this time of year here down under! Roses are in bloom in our garden too.

Cinnamon and Roses

Cinnamon is appreciating the beauty and scent of roses

She wants to have a closer look, doesn't she?

Oh, no, Cinnamon!!

One Sunday morning

In the change of season Cookie sheds so much that his fur is all over our clothes every time we pet him on our laps. This morning we FURminated him again, and even more loose fur came out than the last time! Comparing to Cookie, Cinnamon doesn't shed much.

I love this...

Soooo gooood...

A big pile of removed fur

Hay, Cookie.

Stop tickling me, Mum.

Mum, I said 'Stop.'

Hmm. Not too bad after all.