When The Stars Graced Our Covers With Their Pets

The shoot for this issue, a Lunar New Year special in 2006, was unexpectedly delayed for two hours because of Jeannette Aw's dog, Dasher (not the cute Westie you see on the cover). He ambled into the shoot and everyone's impatience immediately dissipated just from looking at the dachshund. Goes to show how cute pets really are the best tools to defuse tension.

Jeanette then took a personality test, which described her as a Bernese mountain dog - sturdy, intelligent, good-hearted,, sweet and hardworking. 11 years later, do you still think the test's results hold?

The cute puppy peeing on Allan Wu is not a fair representation of the stomach-churning ordeals he went through for Fear Factor in 2004. Here's his take on something we hope you'll never experience - eating a hearty concoction of cockroaches, worms and maggots. "Infinitely worse than it smells. It's the worst thing I've tasted. And it hurts drinking it too. Like battery acid except it's chunky. It's thick, like the most putrid and repulsive mud. By the 15th shot I was beginning to gag. The second I finished That last shot, I reached for the pail and blerrrrgghhh, it all came out. It smelt so bad the camera crew had to leave the room."

Three steaming mounds of poo. That's how our shoot with Ann Kok started in 2012, when the star's jack russell terrier, Masky, let loose her bowels in a midst of tattered nerves. Instead of cowering in guilt, the pooch then tottered around excitedly for the next three hours, bumping into furniture with her tongue hanging out the side of her mouth.

The cute pooch was also mostly-blind, being afflicted by cataracts. Ann Kok's devotion to her furry companion is unpretentious and, really, quite admirable. For Masky, there's no spa treatments, no designer accessories, no fancy dinners and no personal trainers. There's only occasional walks, a once-a-week bath and a doggy stroller. So, where is the love?

Well, if true love is acceptance, then we really think Masky is very much loved. Ann refused to let Masky go under multiple operations just to get rid of the genetically-caused cataracts. "It's okay. Let her knock into things. She just needs to adapt to this place. She has accepted her condition and she's cheerful and contented with the way life is. In fact, she seems even more happy-go-lucky. I think we can all learn from her."

For Pinto the dog, it ain't easy getting treats from Channel NewsAsia presenter Glenda Chong. When asked if Pinto gets massages, she had this to say. "How would he be tired? He sleeps at home the whole day! The dog doesn't need that."

Unlike many canines that have multiple outfits, Pinto only has the essentials. "I don't believe in dressing pets up. The only things he has are a bow-tie, a raincoat, booties when he was a puppy, and a T-shirt a friend gave him. That's it."

How we wish we can borrow Hermione's Time-Turner necklace to return to 2001, when Daniel Radcliffe was still an innocent, slightly chubby kid on the cusp of eternal fame portraying the boy who lived. Why? Because there is no one on earth who doesn't want to experience, for the first time, the candle-lit halls of Hogwarts. And, well, because Hedwig the snow owl would still be alive and well.

In this issue, our editor ended her review of Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone with words that would come to accurately encapsulate the entire franchise. "You will be spellbound."

Tinklebell, Julie Tan's toy poodle, is the de facto poster child for pampered pets. To prepare for our interview back in 2014, Tinklebell went for a fur trim, took a bath, listened to prep talks by her showbiz mummy and eventually got rewarded with a post-shoot belly rub.

Julie Tan on her first impression of the fur ball is reminiscent of a princess meeting her prince charming. "It was love at first sight. Four years ago, I went to the pet farm 'cos I wanted to get a brown poodle initially. I was looking at the dogs when i noticed there was something black hiding in one corner. When I walked over, I realised it was her and she was looking at me with a very bright expression. She was only two months old then. When I looked at the rest of the poodles, I had no connection with them at all."