Light a Candle for Wen-Wen

My family shares in the grief for this loss. None of these tragedies will happen if we don't support abusive entertainment like this. I urge you to refrain from watching dolphin shows. If there's no market, there will be no business. By continuously applauding dolphin shows, and any other shows which involve animals being put to risk, you are helping in creating a demand. And therefore the promise of profit will continue to overpower what is morally right.

The Marley in your Marriage

In 2009, just a year after we got married, the film "Marley & Me" came out. It starred Jennifer Aniston and Owen Wilson. We still didn't have a dog yet back then but that didn't stop us from watching the movie.

In case you don’t know, this movie is about MARRIAGE. And I had to commend the chemistry between Jen & Owen. They were great together.To those who expected that this would just be another Romantic Comedy because of the typical Hollywood stars on top bill, or probably a run-of-the-mill Disney-esque Family film because there’s a canine involved, you must been disappointed. This movie is actually a memoir in motion. Based on an autobiography by John Grogan, "Marley & Me" is a simple straight-to-the-point chronicle of his family life and how their pet Labrador Marley figured out in the entire story.

“Marley & Me” first of all isn’t just about Marley, the dog. This is not like one of those Shaggy, Lassie or Beethoven movies. Marley didn’t save the day. Marley was not kidnapped for his fur. Marley was not made into a lab rat. Marley just happens to be the pet dog of the Grogans, and on many levels a representation of the responsibilities that come along with family and married life. Marley, as a very unruly dog, is symbolical of marriage itself – some days it’s charming but most days it’s such a chore. Just like Marley, marriage is not something you can return to the shelter or pet shop if it’s not behaving as you would have expected it to. Just like Marley, marriage can sometimes be messy, but hey you’ve just hafta pick up the poop and clean up.

The movie resonates a lot to Joseph and me because being dog lovers ourselves and childless to boot, we feel the pain of having to fill those gaps in our fledgling marriage; facing the social pressure to conceive a child by smiling up front and shedding tears inside our hearts; and living out our daily domestic humdrums and ironing out our various individual differences.

There’s also the issue of careers – giving up our “ambitions” to settle down. Some unmarried people are quick to say that marriage is not supposed to stop you from becoming what you’ve always wanted to be. And I know married people would agree with me that priorities do change. Although we used to have those BIG dreams of climbing our ideal career ladder, our families naturally become more important. When we were single, it would have been much easier to just call it quits when things start to become unbearable in the office. When we were single, we had more freedom to open the doors of working and studying abroad. We can’t afford to be jobless now but it’s not about being slaves to our obligations and losing ourselves in the process. Marriage is all about becoming unselfish.

We see that in “Marley & Me”. Jen Groger (Jen Aniston) leaves a high-paying newspaper job to take care of the new baby because she doesn’t want to be one of those parents who just see their kids awake for an hour a day. John (Owen Wilson) on the other hand, gives up his dream of being an international reporter in exchange for a more laid-back, closer-to-home job as a columnist. It’s not exactly the hardcore journalism career that he had hoped for but he’s not complaining.

Warning to single people, domesticity can be dull. But personally, I think marriage becomes mundane only when the husband and wife living out that married life are boring people themselves. Good thing, Joseph and I stir each other. To quote my husband, “How will I ever get bored with you? You’re crazy!” Hahaha!

Speaking of perking up the partnership, I guess Marley also provided the sugar and spice in their family. Marley kept them running, "literally" and figuratively. So I think it's apt to say that married couples should determine what's the "Marley" in their marriage. It doesn't have to be a literal pet... the Marleys in marriages differ and that all depends on the kind of couple/family that you are or want to be.

--Mommy Jill--

Dog Friendly Places in Davao

At Davao Memorial Park. 

I know I said that my first few posts will be about Gringa's first years with us but today I thought let's have a short commercial break.

It's going to be a long weekend for most of us starting today November 1 and I bet it won't be long until you feel some cabin fever. And having dogs even poses more anxiety because let's face it, there are aren't a lot of pet friendly places in the Philippines -- what more here in Davao?! But in our first two years of living here, we managed to find a few choice places where you can have some fun with your furbabies. 

Ironically, the best place to bring your dog to here in Davao is the Memorial Park (the Davao memorial park in Matina particularly). Going there today though would be a BAD idea. But any day of the year except on All Soul's Day and All Saint's Day, the memorial park is the number one choice where you can frolick with your pooches. So put that in mind.

Since the memorial park is out of the question for the long weekend ahead, we suggest these other places.

Resting on the giant slate letters
"Land of Promise" at Gap Farm

In the city proper, your two best options are Gap Farm along Garcia Highway, and Matina Town Square. And in Samal Island, we can vouch for Villa Amparo beach garden resort for being pet friendly.

We always heed the advice of our good friend LESTRE ZAPANTA, the Pinoy Dog Whisperer about exhausting Gringa's pent up energy. He says that dogs become hyperactive and eventually turn unruly and disobedient mostly because of pent-up energy. In short, we have to exhaust a dog's energy for us to be able to control it, and in so doing be able to train it. 

Gap Farm is a nice place to go to especially if you have small hyperactive dogs because  of the unlimited space. We take our dogs to the "Land of Promise" slope and play catch and run with them. After an hour of running up and down the hill, our hyperactive princess (and mommy too) is now literally "dog-tired" and ready to go home. We really notice a change in her behavior after she has exhausted all her pent up energy. She doesn't get irritated with kids any more and to make her listen and follow us become easier.

We really recommend Gap Farm if you want to spend some quality time with your pets outside your home. There is an entrance fee for humans though (about 30 pesos I think) but dogs are free!

Playing with Gringa's favorite toy at
Matina Town Square.

So what you can do after the Gap Farm trip is to bring your furbabies to Matina Town Square. We can assume that your dogs are probably more behaved at this point after their physical activity. This time, you can just do a more relaxing bonding activity with them.

The small park at the back part of the MTS is an ideal place for dogs to stroll in. You can even have some Halo-Halo and sit at the benches, and have a photo taken. A park bench. A dog. A book -- now that's a movie poster right there! 

And finally, if you want to bring your fido to the beach, we highly recommend Villa Amparo beach resort in Samal Island. The amenities are clean. The rates are fair. And best of all your furbaby is welcome here! There's another resort in Tugbok called Gumamela Caverock  resort which also declares itself pet friendly. The only downside is you have to pass through a looong stretch of "rocky" dirt road going there. But hey, if you've got a 4x4 SUV the trip won't be much of a hassle I guess. 

It's pretty hard to find a pet friendly place here in Davao. I heard that SM Lanang declares itself "pet friendly". The fine print: you are only allowed to bring your dog if you carry it. Good luck to owners of Retrievers, GSDs, Huskies, and all the big working dogs. 

Daddy's drooling darlings

The thing is you can't call your establishment "pet friendly" if you cannot even allow the dogs to walk. Of course, I understand that there are a lot of breakable items inside the mall. A responsible dog owner should never really risk that. But I suggest that SM actually designates an area where pet parents can bring their dogs WITHOUT HAVING TO CARRY THEM. Say an indoor park, or an al fresco area with benches. 

I actually understand why it's not easy for commercial establishments to allow dogs into their premises. This is because there are still a lot of IRRESPONSIBLE pet owners out there. What does responsible pet ownership mean? 

Responsible pet owners are conscientious enough to scoop up their dogs' poop. Responsible pet owners know the value of training their dogs -- NOT JUST TO DO TRICKS -- but to potty train and socialize with other dogs and humans as well. And most of all responsible pet owners regularly bring their dogs to licensed veterinarians for proper vaccinations, check-ups, and laboratory tests if suspicious symptoms have been persisting. Responsible pet owners do not wait until their dog is about to die before they bring it to the doctor, or worse ask questions like this ONLINE, "Dadalhin ko na ba dog ko sa vet? Nagsusuka kasi and nagtatae ng dugo!"  

Gusto ko talaga batukan ang mga taong ganyan not only because they're irresponsible but for SHEER STUPIDITY and ZERO COMMON SENSE. 

portable water bottle for dogs

Spending time outdoors with your pets is a wonderful experince. Just remember the essentials that you must have with you to ensure a safe and stress-free trip:

1. WATER. Bring a portable dog water bottle or a regular small bowl will do.

2. TISSUE or Wet Wipes for your dog's butt in case they poop, and for their dirty paws. (This is very important especially if you have lap dogs. You want them clean when they're on your laps, don't you?)

3. PLASTIC or PAPER BAGS for your dog's poop.

4. TREATS or TOYS. You need this to keep their concentration on you and not be distracted with other people and things around. 

Do you know some other dog friendly places here in Davao? Share some info, will 'ya? Have a safe and wonderful long weekend everyone!

--Mommy Jill--

October is now for Pets

Halloween costume idea:
Gringa Girl as Einstein. 

October has become a busy month for pets, what with the World Animal Day activities and Halloween. This is especially true for pet parents like us. The calendar is filled with pet parades, pet blessings, concerts for animal welfare, pet fair, pet expo, dog runs, and pet trick or treating. You name it.

For the past two years, the pet event business has really boomed -- just right after we closed MyPetChannel. How ironic, right? But I've learned well enough that it was part of God's beautiful plan. If it weren't for that little company of mine shutting down then my husband and I would not have heeded God's call to move to Davao.

Albert Einstein

One of the things that we miss about Manila though are the plethora of PAWS events that Gringa and Rajah could join.  Of course, I'm particularly biased. I have been a PAWS volunteer for a long time, and it was my passion for pet welfare that inspired me to start an advocacy through MyPetChannel.

The major event that we covered in 2009 was the World Animal Day. Check out that webisode below.





I really hope that Davao City will soon become more conscious about animal welfare. Unfortunately, there's still a lot of work to be done here.

Just recently I had a discussion with a colleague of mine in the faculty room about animal rights. She said something like, "Animal rights. Hindi ba pwede human rights muna?"

While she said was true, I also quoted what Mahatma Gandhi said:
“The greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated”. 

To which she retorted, "Naisip ba nya yun nung nandun siya sa kulungan. Mas mabuti pa pala yung hayop sa kanya."

To which I refuted, "Oh but remember, it wasn't the animals who put him in jail..."

Man indeed is the bigger beast don't you think?


--Mommy Jill--

Our Baby from Bohol

We almost had two chocolate labradors! Can you imagine that? At the height of the Ondoy aftermath in September 2009, a veterinary colleague of Joseph called us up to ask if we were willing to adopt two choco lab puppies who got misplaced during the typhoon. The owner was offering the dogs up for adoption because their home was devasted by Ondoy.

At that time, we were renting out our 1-bedroom condo unit in Mandaluyong, and were living in a much bigger loft type apartment in Cubao. Unfortunately, it was still too small for TWO LABRADOR RETRIEVERS! So we had to refuse the offer eventhough my nephew and I were looking forward to taking care of the puppies.

God indeed had another puppy in mind for us.

We found Gringa in Bohol several months later when we celebrated our 2nd wedding anniversary with Joseph's parents in Tagbilaran. We had just concluded Tailrunners Metro Dog Run 2010 at that time. It was the most grueling event that my husband and I have organized together under our small web-based company MyPetChannel. It was a successful dog run, being the "first of its kind" back then. 300 dogs and 500 humans were registered that day. It was the longest day of my life! I literally had no sleep for 48 hours. It was fun. But it was also stressful.

So as a treat, and as a break from all the doggie business, Joseph and I retreated to his parents' house in Bohol -- which ironically houses about a dozen pooches! I already mentioned in an earlier post that my mother-in-law was virtually a cat lady who has dogs instead.

Alin.. alin... alin ang naiba!

There was a pack in the house, and among the new set of litter, there was one brown furball that just grabbed my heart!

My mom-in-law called her Cinder because she was the only brown puppy among the white ones, making her  look "madungis" but the moment I saw her -- I saw my old dog's face. And just right then and there I uttered "Oh my little Gringa!"

Gringo was my childhood dog who died in 1994 right before I left for college. And this Gringa looked exactly like him. Parang lukso ng dugo, kumbaga!  

Gringa with her foster dad

What even made her adorable was her quirky personality. When we met her, she wasn't even playing with the other puppies. Her best friend was this old male tabby cat that has been in the Palarca household for as long Joseph can remember. In fact, Gringa spent more time with this other specie more than she ever did with her mother. Hmm... doesn't that sound familiar? (I guess she really was meant for me, LOL!)

At that time, the idea of having a dog was more farfetched than it ever did before because we just moved back into our smaller Mandaluyong condominium unit. This was right after Kean, my nephew, joined his mother in the US.

You're probably made of stone if your heart doesn't
melt to those adorable puppy dog eyes :-)

But before Joseph could give me the cons of adopting a puppy at a time when our married life is hitting a few bumps here and there, Gringa had us at "woof"!

And the great Gringa adventure begins!

--Mommy Jill--

Meet the Paw-rents

Hi there! We're Jill and Joseph Palarca. We got married last April 19, 2008. It was a simple but beautiful garden wedding in Quezon City. Something that I have always dreamed of ever since I saw the film "Chances Are" starring Robert Downey, Jr. and Mary Stuart Masterson. And the movie's theme song "After All" fit our love story to a tee so we decided to use it as my bridal march tune.

My husband is a licensed veterinarian while I am a Comm Arts and Literature teacher in a university here in Davao City. I used to have a successful career in Media and Advertising but more on that on my future posts. How did we get from QC to DC? Again, that's another post reserved for the coming days. :-)

For now, let me just give you all a little background on how we became pet parents or paw-rents, if you may.

Having children didn't really occur to us right away because when we got married we were actually standing in as foster parents to my nephew who was only about 5 years old at that time. He was already under my care since he was 3, and Joseph, who was still my fiance back then already held the reins with me.

With Kean, our nephew, back in 2006

So we sort of had an instant family when we got married. And it was all good. My husband though he is a veterinarian and a big dog lover wasn't around pets as much as he would have wanted that time because he was still working in sales. He was a Sales Supervisor for a company that sold diagnostic test kits for animal clinics. A private practice was far from his mind during that time.

In the absence of a "pet" we came up with a pet project instead. Since I was already a volunteer for PAWS (Philippine Animal Welfare Society) and I was into video production, advertising, and marketing, we thought of the idea of putting up an online TVzine about the pet lifestyle in the Philippines. So in September 2009, we gave birth to MyPetChannel.tv.

We produced a lot of webisodes and events under that fledgling company. My husband and I started to work from home to run it. Unfortunately, the idea of a TVzine was kind of novel in 2009 and so we had a bit of difficulty selling the platform to advertisers. So despite being prolific, the company/website had to fold in 2010.

That was a painful year for us because not only did our "pet project" die, we also had to say goodbye to our "eldest son" -- my nephew -- who finally got his immigrant visa to join his mother (my sister) in New York City.

Gringa at 2 months old

With both our careers at a standpoint, our hearts hurting, and our marriage hitting some really big bumps on the road, only one thing made us smile -- our new puppy!

Gringa Girl was indeed a blessing in our married life. She's our first FurKid and she has changed our lives since then. This blog was finally created so that we can tell you our story starting from the day we became Pet Paw-rents!

So in the next posts, journey with us back in time as we do some flashbacks from 2010 until we reach present time. This blog will also be my husband's pet care domain. So aside from following our adventures you will also learn a lot of animal health tips from Doc Joseph himself. Hope you're excited because we are!

Until then :-)

--Mommy Jill--