ruff housing

My Lovahs

another frog and i’ll start an ark

Life with two doggies is fabulous.  A bit challenging at times but lots of fun.  Betsy seems to have adjusted to my schedule right away and as far as I know she is not whinning/barking when I leave.  (fingers-crossed)  I am crating her during the day and when we sleep at night.  Eventually she will sleep in the bed with the rest of us but not until we know each other a little better.  A big factor will be when the kitties are more comfortable with her and she is less interested in them.  I’m sure we will get there but at the moment Lucy has resorted to her usual hind end chewing and is back to having bald spots above her tail yet again.  Poor thing.  Betsy and Lucy are both curious about one another but Lucy does not handle it well.  Betsy will go up to sniff her and she’ll hiss at her.  Ok, fine she’s getting too close, I get it.  But Lucy is constantly pushing her own comfort boundries.  She doesn’t play it safe by any means like Chloe does.  It’s like she will intentionally get dangerously close to Betsy and then she’s like, Oh god, what am I doing and psyches herself out.  Chloe is handling it much better, she spends a lot of time hiding in the bathroom.  Once we move I’m going to build them some sort of fabulously hip kitty perch to hang out on out of puppy reach.  Might not be as cool as the Cats’ House but better than nothing.  They’re really sweet and I love them to death.  I am experiencing some guilt about their current stress. 

Chloe has developed a heart murmur, most likely due to being a pure breed.  It may be nothing, only time will tell.  My fluff butt also needs some dental work, also due to her breed. 

Biggie though the boy is the more dainty of the two, not just in stature but also behavior and demeanor.  Tiny little feet, long skinny legs, so quiet so well mannered.  Betsy is a total slobber monkey.  She eats messy, her tongue is much bigger and more slobbery than Biggie’s.  She is not afraid of big dogs and will bark at Biggie to get him to play with her.  Her head and paws are huge and her short, stubby legs can jump higher than I would have expected.  She has no problem getting onto the bed. 

Biggie is learning more on how to be a dog from her.  Wow, digging is fun.  Playing with toys, stealing each others toys and chews, and even a little tug of war.  Working on dog training and tricks has become more challenging.   I have to put one in their crate otherwise they are trying to steal the others treats.  Betsy can do sit now.  We have been working on getting Biggie to shake across body and not with the same arm/paw.  I need to think of some more things to teach him.  He knows so much I almost ran out of ideas.

Betsy has been really good with not going potty in her crate.  We had a couple accidents her first day but have been fine ever since.  At first she would only go when walking on a leash but now she is going in the back yard like the rest.  She is very interested in checking the dogs downstairs out.  She HATES the car.  Shivers like the dickens and does not sit still.  Biggie on the other hand loves the car and sits right down, happy as a clam.  He’d rather come along then stay at home.  He is so cute,  he knows to put his head forward so I put his hoodie and harness on.  Then he jumps around because he knows we are going somewhere,  if Mommy isn’t going quick enough he whins.  He bolts down the stairs so fast he slides across the wood floor and smashes into door.  This guy loves his walks.  He really is so quiet most of the time you wouldn’t necessarily know I have a dog if you didn’t see him.  (Unless I haven’t cleaned in awhile. Eek!  I try my best.)

Kermie is looking quite dumpy these days.  Time to cut back on the crickets a bit.  Lucy has conquered our booby trap and likes to sit on top the terraium, which freaks me out everytime I find her there.  Not sure I can blame her though, there’s something terribly interesting in there and it’s all warm.  Despite the title of this post, I don’t think I will be getting another frog.  White’s tree frogs have been known to eat their own kind if they are bigger or even anoles.  So I guess the little guy will have to live a life of solitude.  He doesn’t seem too upset about it.  It also turns out Kermie is quite the musical fella, he will try to croak to the beat or the blender.

All for now, pictures lata!

In the morning light

Betsy!

My desire to adopt another dog finally outweighed the reasons I should wait to do so.   I was looking at petfinder.com admittedly a little compulsively.  I was looking for a dog that would be a compromise between what I like for a dog and what Dan likes.  He really likes sad, wrinkly dogs: basset hound, sharpei, pug.  I found a pug named Hailey that caught my eye and seemed pretty cute @ Pacific Pug Rescue.  All the animals are in foster homes so you have to fill out an application to set up a time to meet the animal.  So I did so, and had to provide 2 references and a relative!  And they really check with all of them.  Part I thought was funny was they didn’t check with my landlord…  Finally after all that we went to a pug adoption event @ Furever Pets.  OMG, some of those dogs are freakin’ hilarious.  Junior was a big happy guy with rolls of skin around his neck.  Emma was a very sweet blind girl.  I personally took to a guy named Oscar but was on the hunt for a girl.  We met Hailey who didn’t seem anywhere as shy as they made her sound.  Next day we had a meet and greet at the house.  Biggie seemed to get along with her alright but Lucy on the other hand was freaked the f out.  Her tail was all in poof out I am not happy mode. Hailey was mostly interested in sniffing everything and trying to find anything she could eat whether it was out or not.  She also did not hesitate to poop on the kitchen floor, which was just to funny really.

Dan went somewhere and when he returned we both agreed while Hailey was a highly entertaining, great pug we didn’t think she was the one for us.  She also seemed to have a caring living situation until the right one for her came along, if anyone is interested in a pug she is wonderful.  So off to the humane society we went, I had been the day prior and was interested in a dog named Janella. A dachshund/chihuahua mix, or CHIWEENIE transferred up from California, recently spayed with a cone around her head.  Janella, what kind of a name is that?  Blah!  Anyways, we had a meet and greet with Janella.  She already seemed more warmed up to me than the day before.  Once a dog gives me a big slobber kiss I am pretty much done for.  Well, she did and I was sold.  Biggie and her didn’t seem too interested in one another but they also weren’t showing any teeth so all and all it seemed alright.  I looked to Dan, “what do you think? ”  I ask repeatedly.  I think he is not sure about the second dog thing but says yes he likes her.  I ask him 20 times if he is sure.  Really, I don’t think he’s going to tell me no, but I worry I’m driving him crazy but by asking him repeatedly I am probably doing so.  Yes, ok yes.

Janella is promtly changed to Betsy and we are on our way home with two dogs in the car.  Me beaming like the dog loving freak that I am.

Betsy looks very similar to Biggie.  Same color and same shape of head.  She has the dachshund body, the cutest big feet and a huge head.  If I ever learn to spell dachshund without the aid of google it will be a miracle, let alone say it.  She is scared of rides in the car but does not appear to have any of the same issues that Biggie does.  She’s a big dog in a small body and so far has not been intimated by any large dogs in passing unlike Biggie who cowers behind me she runs right up to them.  Major hurdle at this point is her interest in chasing cats.  My cats.  Not good.  I can see all my cat lover friends in a frenzy over this.  Don’t worry guys, it will all be okay!  You can’t bring home a new animal and expect everything to be all holy jolly in the snap of a finger.  These things take time and I’m sure Betsy and the cats will come to an understanding.  It just may take a couple claws to the face first, harsh I know but such is life.  Lucy and Biggie can be pretty friendly with one another so I have hope.  Not to mention Chloe and Lucy when they first met, yikes stripes.  Biggie is learning to share me and play with his new companion.  I’ve got a full house and am done adopting pets but my heart is overflowing.  I may not be perfect but I am good at this and enjoy is so so much.

Betsy Smalls

Happy Sabrina (& dorky)

Big & Betsy

Serious cuddling on the couch with Lucy, Big, Betsy

Hailey

An update on life and the critters

I’m stuck at home with the dreaded swine flu.  I feel a bit like a leper.  Funny, I wasn’t really worried about it like everyone else but here I am sicker than a dog.  Actually, my dog is a lot healthier than I am!

Events as of lately,

Biggie got to be filmed for a podcast on PDXDOG at the latest Chihuahua Social Club gathering.  I had to drive to Lake Oswego and that’s always an adventure in and of itself.  I always feel like I’m lost when I go to the suburbs.  But that’s beside the point.  Christiaan McPherson who I met briefly when I adopted Biggie I randomly recognized on PDXDOG and added as a friend. Turns out he is a student at AI for filmmaking and has done some work in the fashion industry so our paths seem to have crossed.  He is the one putting together the films for PDXDOG.  I can’t say I knew what to talk about but I look forward to seeing it nonetheless.

PDXDOG but also the Chihuahua Social Club have been a great to get involved with.  It’s been great to converse with other fellow animal lovers who understand where I’m coming from.  Biggie has been to 4-5? chi social dates so far.  Which has been so fantastic because he can be around other dogs close to his size.  He can be so terrified of big dogs and who can really blame him, especially when they are so in your face and come bounding after the little guy.  He’s not always terribly interested in conversing with the other dogs but it’s good for him nonetheless.  I think he is still learning to play to some extent but when he does have a moment of play with another dog I am so happy and proud.  Interacting with some of my friend’s dogs have also helped with that.  Biggie is such a handsome fella though, there is always a young man that wants to hump him.  Poor Biggie, too good looking for his own good.  It’s so surprising all the different shapes and sizes chihuahuas alone come in.  Biggie is definitely the biggest so I guess he was named well.  Some of those dogs are like 2 lbs, just tiny!

Lucy is still licking her fur off her back but what else is new.  Her acne has got better but I have to keep on it or it springs back up again.  I don’t really know what to do about her compulsive licking anymore.  I think I might go get one of those Feliway plug-ins when I’m better and see if that will help.  Other than that, I am out of ideas.  She seems fine except for some bald spots.

I sent Apartment Therapy a request for more appealing incorporation of pet products in the home.  They’ve posted some but much to my dismay they are all incredibly expensive.  This Modcat litter box caught my eye and is pretty sweet looking except for that whole hanging the dirty scoop out in the open business, and reuseable liner…?  Really?  Whatever, I’d put regular litter in it and call it a day except this lovely plastic bin costs $180.  Are you crazy?  For that it better walk the poop out to the curb while it’s at it.  It’s a plastic bin people, I don’t care how pretty it is. I would like to find another litter box that won’t lend itself to so much litter on the floor.  The Clevercat has the same idea and it only $30.  Not nearly as aesthetically pleasing but saves me $150.

Alright, that’s all for now.  Everything is exhausting right now.

Furever the plague of a teenager

Lucy is not exactly your typical ignore you, I’m better than you and don’t need your attention kitty.  She is more the oh my god, pay attention to me, pay attention, oh my god you’re paying attention to me and I like it so much but I’m confused so I’m going to bite you.   Poor thing doesn’t know what to do with herself sometimes.  Everytime I leave town she licks bald spots on her rear, chews on her nipples till they’re red and then can’t stop herself when I return for weeks.  I always have have someone watch her at the house to hopefully minimize the stress factor.  

Around two months ago I noticed a slew of red sore scabs around her neck and chin.  The seemed to appear out of the blue and I had no idea why.  She’s the rebel of the bunch so I never can be sure.  Maybe she got in a tangle with the dog when I wasn’t looking, got her head stuck in something.  Who knows?  So I checked them daily to make sure they were getting better.  They seemed to be but I kept scheduling an appointment with the vet a few days out just to be sure in desperation.  They eventually cleared up and she seemed fine but then she started in on her rear licking again.  I thought oh she’s probably jealous of Biggie and still adjusting to him and I just better make sure she’s getting plenty of love.  Lucy is pretty hard to ignore though, she stands on the sink when I brush my teeth, sits on my lap when I read or dwindle the night away on the computer.  She can’t stand to be locked out the room you’re in and will occaionally wake you up in the middle of the night by sticking her face in yours until the tickle of her whiskers is too much to bear and you acknowedge her.  She licks to sleep right up by your face and lick your nose.    Sometimes this is pretty annoying but whenever I hear people don’t let the cats in the bedroom I just don’t get it.  I always wanted a cuddly cat.  My cat growing up wasn’t so into that. 

Anyways,  Sunday night I noticed a bump on Lucy’s chin that seemed to become several bumps but kind of hard to tell.  I knew it felt off and I freaked.  I thought maybe she had cancer or something, she’s still young though around 5ish… I took her in and they said she has kitty acne.  Wtf? Kitty acne, I was not aware this was a common kitty aliment.  Apparently plastic bowls are really bad because they can harbor bacteria in their scratches and that’s why the acne happens around their mouths.  Well, this was all news to me.  Pet lover that I am.  I do wash out the pets bowls and have never heard of this before but now it has me wondering about my own acne issues. I guess we’ll just have to see. 

Poor Dan, he asked was I going to get new pet dishes now and I said yes.  He got a sad look on his face, “That was one of my birthday present ideas.”  Well it was a good idea.  Why my pets eat out of the most random hodgepodge of bowls when I go to lengths for them otherwise is kind of silly.

fetch!

Finally got Biggie playing fetch.  So excited.

A testament to gluten free & natural remedies

Biggie appeared to have some sort of cold.  His normally very clean ears were suddenly filled with dark wax galore, cloudy eyes with big yellow goobers. Poor guy.  I debated if I should take him to the vet.  He was scratching at his ear and cutting himself with his claws which was not helping the situation. I freak everytime one of my pets gets a scratch or sneezes but I don’t go to the doctor for every sneeze so why should they?

I was in the process of switching Bigs to his gluten free kibble.  I was giving him half the new and half old.  I completely switched him to the gluten free food, Orijens.  I bought some organic ear cleaner from New Seasons and went to work cleaning his ears a couple times a day.  The directions say to put a couple drops inside their ear and massage.  This is easier said then done.  As it was a bit tricky to put in the drops and massage before he did his doggie head shake and splatter me with ear drops.  So after having Dan help me a few times, I gave up and soaked a cotton ball with the liquid and rubbed the inside of his ear with it.  I think it was a little less shocking and picked up the wax pretty well.  Within a few days his ear was looking worlds better and he smelled a little bit like a candle.  He quickly learned if I had a cotton ball and a bottle it was time to hide.  Sigh, but he learned to forgive me quickly. 

His eyes are way better now, no more thick eye goobers.  They’ve always been a little bit wet but I think they are the best they have ever been now.  So I’m sticking with the gluten free is the way to be motto for me and big.  And it just goes to show a little TLC can get the job done.