Why Tripod?

"Why do you call your dog Tripod?"

"Does he have 3 legs?"

"Tripod as in the camera tripod? That Tripod?"

"Your dog's name very unique hor!"

These are the general reactions when people ask Tripod's name and I tell them his name. Let's clear it up now: Why did I name Tripod, Tripod?

For this, we have to travel backwards in time, all the way to when I was 13. One fine rainy morning, I was on the way to school for my history exams (Any one still remembers Chandra Gupta Maria). At that time, I was still very studious and I was extremely concerned about my academic results. I didn't have much time to study the night before, so I was feeling very stress on the way to school. 

I actually have social phobia, where I cannot be in a place full of strangers without my headphones to help block everything out; so I was listening to FM98.7 while I walked to school. That day, I remember clearly, the DJs were asking for people to call in to share the weirdest pet names that have for their souses, aka nicknames. However, one of the callers misheard, and called in to share about her friend's dog's name. The DJs burst out laughing, mainly because of the misunderstanding, and also because of the dog's name as well. 

Honestly, it's not that funny now, it was just a very adorable mistake, but because I was so stressed during that time, I found it hilarious and I was laughing to myself about it. From then, I decided that my first dog's name would be Tripod. Tripod then became my motivation to do well, because I told my mum, that I would get a dog named Tripod once I graduated poly/JC, whichever that I chose to go to. My mum just agreed to it, because she thought it was just a one time thing. Little did she know that I really meant what I said. 

Then came my 3rd year of FYP, and I lost the motivation to work hard for it. A lot of things happened in my 3rd year, I got into a heated argument with my lecturer that has 0 respects for the students, and the issue blew up to be enormous, and it became wide spread to the entire course, not just only my year 3 cohort. Everywhere I went, I felt like everyone was staring and talking about me (probably partially due to my social phobia, idk). It got so bad that I shut myself out from school and my group; not sure if they realized it, they probably thought it was just me with my mood swings.. It badly affected my group, because I was in-charge of the art department in my group, and no one else could / was willing to step up to help cover their own ass somehow. 

Eventually my mum agreed to let me have a dog, and that became my motivation to just work towards graduation. I managed to graduate in the end, even though I refuse to submit my final assignment, thought I still couldn't walk out of the trauma of that incident, and I lost a good friend because of that as well. But tah-dah! I got Tripod! 

Even now, Tripod is still my happy pill and my motivation for everything, he's my motivation to get a job and work hard so that I can provide him with better food, and if anything bad happens during the day, the first thing I do when I go home is to get a hug from tripod and a mouthful of his forever shedding fur, and an occasional whipping from his cane - like tail. He's the reason why I wake up early to go for walks with him, and also the reason I stopped sleeping my life away when I have no work. I honestly have no idea where I would be now if Tripod wasn't around. 

I once asked an AC to help me ask Tripod why he doesn't react to his name at first, and the answer I got was that he feels like people keep laughing at his name. Now, I tell Tripod everyday, that he (and the name Tripod) is very precious to me and plays an important role in my life, regardless of what people say. Some may say that he may not understand what I mean, but I would like to keep my faith that I have at least this bit of connection with him. I'm not sure how many of you can relate to that, maybe it's just me.

Conclusion: please just love Tripod and embrace his name and him as himself! 

Lots of Laughters, 

Tripod and Human

@4leggedtripod

Start of Tripod's Wardrobe Collection

OK. To be honest,  Tripod doesn't have that many accessories. #TrueWordsComingFromTheHeart. He used to have, I think over 40+ bandanas? But now the collection is down to only 30+. Isn't that sad?

Initially when I got Tripod, my family were not 100% agreeable to it, simply because of his breed. Despite my parents having bigger dogs in their home last time in their childhood (by bigger i meant a doberman),  my mum was actually scared of "big dogs", and she was expecting me to adopt a small breed dog which I refused to. This extends all the way to my aunts and grandma, while they thought that Tripod was cute, they were also worried because big dogs = fierce dogs.

Such a scary big pupper :")

Then I met my neighbor, who owns Heihei, Tripod's first friend when he came to our neighborhood. She gave me some of Heihei's shirts, which he doesn't wear, because Heihei doesn't like anything on him other than his collars. Tripod was so tiny at that time, and the shirt was oversized, making him look extremely adorable!! And that triggered Tripod's wardrobe collection. See below for Tripod's first ever shirts! He still wears them now~

Tripod generally doesn't have a temper, he's pretty tolerant to everything that I do, and has absolutely no objections to me putting on clothes for him. This eventually lead to his first bandana (blue), then the first customized bandana, then backpacks, then eventually fancy collars! One of Tripod's first fancier collars came from PawsNWags, a pink sakura one. Tripod's fur is this very neutral color, so pretty much every color looks good on him, including pink!  Tripod also landed his first pawdel gig with PawsNWags too, his photo was on display in their booth when we went for one of the events and chanced upon the human behind PawsNWags by chance!

 But Tripod being Tripod, he just had to cause trouble for me. I eventually realized that he can slip out from his buckle collar, because of his odd body proportion. Tripod's neck circumference is only 36cm. My cousin's maltipoo's neck measures 28cm. Can't understand his body proportion, but I had to deal with it somehow, which was then I came across fabric martingales, and I can't turn back. Mainly because of the variety of designs available. I kept bugging Ocha Mama telling her that when she released her martingale collection, I will be the first to get it! I don't think i managed to fulfill that promise, but I managed to snag myself a one of a kind design for the collar!

I love that design, and we would have used it everyday, if not for the fact that Tripod's neck becoming smaller again when we tried the new collar on him. Right now that beautiful piece is undergoing alterations, but once it's back we will have tons of photos and matching bandanas to have a photoshoot session with it!

I think that's about it, there's nothing much that I can share about Tripod's wardrobe now. We are superlly culturally diverse though, so if anyone has like cool lobangs for new style accessories, do hit us up!

Lots of Licks(From Tripod),
Tripod and Human
@4leggedtripod

The Month Of Tripod!

Yay! March is here. It's Tripod month!

Hi all! Human Zoe and Singapore Special Tripod here! Why Tripod month, you ask? That's just a human thing. I brought Tripod home on the 31st of March 2018, and I had no intention of returning him from the start even though it was for home trial, and hence, the human officially declared March as the Month of Tripod~

Tripod on his first day of homestay! Look at his ears!

Just to share a bit about Tripod:

 Tripod is 1 year 6 months old as of 1st April, I brought him home when he was just shy of 6 month old. When Tripod first came, he was named Nimbus (though i called him Tripod the day he came to our house), was a tiny little (not very) fluff, and has a super long tail, with one ear floppy. Just imagining the half floppy ears makes the human fangirl over it again.

Tripod was very timid, and he was afraid of so many things; he even refused to get out of the house for walks and pee breaks. Here's a never ending list of what Tripod is scared of:

1. Humans (which I now realise he warms up to them quicker if that person has a dog with them )
2. Anything with wheels
3. Babies and little children (beats me why)
4. Traffic
5. My mum (fingers crossed that she doesn't see this)

At that time, honestly, even though he was super adorable, human was just a daaat bit disappointed at how timid Tripod was. Human's ideal kind of dog is actually one that is one that is very human and dog friendly, and barks when there are people at the door etc, but Tripod was the complete opposite. Till today, the number of times that he barked can be counted with one hand; + many left over fingers.

But after a while, I came to terms with it, because he looked for me for comfort, I'm a sucker for that; and I realised that raising Tripod might be a lot more fruitful and rewarding as compared to raising a dog that is "perfect", as per my ideal at that time. Looking back, I see how much Tripod improved; from refusing to get out of the house, to whining to get me to bring him out. From freaking out the moment he sees strangers, to walking calmly (most of the time), in crowded parks. And his most recent achievement: going down the lift!!!!! Every little improvement is documented in his instagram' I feel like time passes too quickly with him. In a blink of an eye, he's with me for 1 year already!

It's frustrating sometimes, I admit, when we end up having to work on our training again, but I cannot deny that Tripod is a bundle of joy to be with. I mean, him and his vain nature, and his goofy long tongue and expressions; what's not to like?

How do you not love this dog? 

Just to further emphasize my point~ 

There's so much more for me to say about Tripod, because I'm obsessed, but let me leave it as it is for now. Next week, I'll share more about how Tripod became known for his 'excessive wardrobe'. (HUMAN BEG TO DIFFER. HE DOES NOT HAVE A LOT OF ACCESSORIES)

Thanks for reading about Tripod, please do spread love to us! Till then, ciao!

Lots of Love,
Tripod and Human
@4leggedtripod