Shellie

Just some pictures of Shellie taken at my work, she has her own exercise pen that I can lock her up in if she's too rambunctious while I'm grooming or too distracting for the pet being groomed, otherwise her and the Chi's alternate getting to run around in my grooming room. The picture of the black dog (Cassie-Standard poodle) shows how Cassie was 'guarding' her bone while chilling in my grooming room with Shellie...both of them are bone hounds :)

Lazy Days.....

Zoey, Sebastian and Shellie have their own exercise pens up in our grooming area/room so they can spend their days with mommy while she's grooming. Depending on the day, either the chi's or Shellie get to roam around the large room and just hang out. Zoey and Sebastian spend a lot of their time snoozing....here are some pictures:
**In the 2nd picture Zoey is 'guarding' a bone, she does that she will just sit and 'stare' at her bone for HOURS on end and if Bastian gets too close he gets snarled at, eventually she will eat it, but it's NEVER right away, even the dingo bones she loves so well.....silly girl!

Just a little rant....

OMG! So we work with a few of the rescues around here and they called us yesterday to see if we could do the vet work for a Great Dane who was in one of the local shelters. Well they brought him in today. He is 1 year old, weighs 80# Yep you saw that right...he should probably weight 120# or more. He is so emaciated you can see every bone in his body. The shelter has had him for 3 weeks, they said he refused to eat, we have now fed him twice and he gobbled it all up (just needed to be fed and we gave him some canned food with it). Anyways they have been trying to get him out but they had to do temperament test 1st and had 20 dogs ahead of him! The rescue group told them they would do the temperament test but they insisted on doing it. SO after he got here he peed in his room, looked like he'd been holding it for a week, and I noticed blood next to it (I wasn't here as I was going to pick up a kitten from the shelter...see below). Anyways the pussy blood I thought was coming from his pee so I went to grab a syringe to check his urine, then I went to collect it and it was dripping from his nose! They have had him for 3 weeks and didn't even notice, I had to call the rescue and inform them this poor little guy is mega sick, has a fever and all, but is happy as can be, oh and he's *aggressive* as he bit the 'hand' they temperament test with, um, he's starving of course he's going to bite the hand....he is sweet as can be and 'wants' to give kisses, but I think I'll wait until he's no longer oozing from his nose...I've had my fair share of strep this year :) The shelter named him 'Tank" which is NOT appropriate for him at all in the condition he's in.

Then a DIFFERENT shelter called me last night just before closing, they had a little kitten who was found who was packing his leg, it was apparantly broken, he is Mr Personality , I couldn't get out there yesterday so they gave him some Torbugesic (pain meds) and I went and got him today, they were SO concerned about him. They are the shelter I get most of my bottle fed kittens from, even though they are full to capacity they try to do whatever they can to get the cats and dogs homes. They are in a city where the majority of the dogs at the shelter are Pit Bulls and Pit Bull Mixes, they have an arrangement where people can get Pits and Black Cats spayed or neutered for free because there are so many of them. It's unreal. Anyways little Chance has a severely fractured ankle/leg, and is going to need it Pinned, right now we have it casted. My dad is asking up at the Vet Tech school he teaches at if they would like to do that for their surgery class so they get the orthopedic experience (he's the surgeon), or if not we will do his surgery on Friday, he is on pain meds and anti-inflammatories and what a big sweetie pie, he purrs and purrs LOUD.

I's don't feel too hot...

I's don't feel so good this morning, I've pukied my guts out about 6 times, mommy gave me this stuff that supposed to stop it, and so far so good, Grandpa thinks that my ulcer is acting up. So I get to take the nasty pink stuff again for 3 weeks, and some nasty tasting pill UGH!

She painted my nails!

Dad says I'm not a 'fru fru' dog but mommy said of course I am I am a CHIHUAHUA, I have a wardrobe that is bigger than his! LOL! Mommy painted my nails for the Fourth of July
Holiday....this is the first time I have every had my nails painted and I think it's adorable! Luv Zoey.

P.S. There is also a picture of Sebastian and Shellie being patriotic...though I'm the cutest! :)

We can haz a sheddin problum....

Don't tell anyone but we belong to the "Pet Shedder's Anonymous Program" at Camelot Pet Resort, Spa & Health Center.....mommy said the first step to fixing the problem is to admit it....do you think we have a shedding probelm?

Week of Dog Shows...

Since my sister, Jen has a harder time getting off work now that she works at Petco, I offered to take her Standard Poodle, Jewel to the dog shows. They were in Blackfoot, Idaho. It was a lot of fun, and the first time I have gone to a dog show by myself (well I was with Susan one of our friends), anyways I learned a lot and can't wait to go to the next show in July in Eagle, Co. Jewel did good, she is 10 months old so is still very much a puppy and learning to the ropes of being a show dog. It was just a little slightly intimidating that the #4 Standard poodle in the country was there! Who's handler REALLY likes Jewel, she told me a couple of times how pretty Jewel is and how nice she was. I got some show tips from another handler there as well, so hopefully the next show will go smoother for us. Here are a couple pictures of Jewel

My Mr Smartypants....

Who Says Toy dogs are dumb? Sebastian our little long coat chihuahua has his issues (OCD--not shoulder like Shellie but Obsessive Compulsive Disorder--runs in circles constantly, has submissive urination, ADHD, and anxiety). The past few months I have been working hard with training him to help break some of his issues.
Here are a few pictures of some of the things we have been working on and what he's got down pretty good:
Sitting, Laying Down, Rolling Over, Standing like a bear, Come
Working on: Give me 5/10 and Shake, Hide your Face (with paws) I am truly shocked at how well he is doing and what a 'calming' effect it has had on him. The other Chihuahua is Zoey who doesn't sit or lie down and know tricks as she has joint issues/degenerative joint disease at a young age so it's hard for her to do things like that on command, so we haven't forced the issue. But she's always so excited when working with Bastian that I give her tiny pieces of treats anyways :) You can see a slight bump on the top of her head, she has Hydrocephalus (water on the brain) and that bump is her molera/soft spot that is actually saving her life as it has given the excess fluid somewhere to go without building up excess pressure.

Rest in Peace Sweet Skye

One of our budgies passed away yesterday. She was a mauve opaline hen, just over 2 years old. She was egg bound (bled to death while passing an egg). In the past her eggs were always tiny tiny, this one was HUGE! Here is a picture of her:

Sissy Needs Happy Thoughts

So Sissy LaRue has felt like she's on fire the last few days, very hot to the touch, especially on her ears, so brought her to see Grandpa/Vet today. She's running a fever of 104.4 YIKES! She's acting perfectly normal, her normal obnoxious psycho self (She's a pester pester pester you kitty and doesn't take no for an answer), she's eating, drinking, pottying all normal, no discoloration of gums, eye, anything, she's also my one eyed cat. You honestly cannot tell she has anything wrong with her. She does have a fat belly, but she is also a glutton for food, and eats 24/7, so it's not the 'pot' belly appearance of FIP. Anyways we are keeping her overnight at the vet, and possibly doing an abdomen tap and bloodwork tomorrow.

The abdomen tap is because she was out of a litter I bottle raised in which 3 of 6 have died of FIP (Feline Infectious Peritonitis) they died at about 5-7 months of age. Sissy will be 2 years old on the 27th of May. I'm just freaking here that she's got FIP of which there is no cure.

Making Progress

So we've had Shellie for almost a month now, she is doing great. Despite a bladder/kidney infection, and possible food intolerance/allergy (they just KNOW how to find me don't they?) Anyways we are 'clicker' training her and she's doing REALLY good at it. Almost too smart for her own good. Here a few commands that she's getting down pretty pat:
1- Sit
2- Down (lay down)
3- Off
4- Leave it (this one is REALLY a challenge for her especially if it's another dog or people)
5- Easy (walk easily/loose leash walking)
6- Wait (this one she came knowing, she will wait for up to 5 minutes for her food to eat, once her food it put on the floor.
There are a couple of yahoo groups that have helped immensely (spt (start puppy training) and Clicker solutions).
I take her for a 30-45 minute walk each day, which amazingly enough isn't bothering her shoulders at all. Not sure if she still has a shoulder problem as I don't notice her limping hardly ever. She gets clicks n treats along her walks. We are using a gentle leader to walk her which she does wonderful with. We just got a 'deluxe' version that is 'padded' so it's softer on her nose which she likes I think.

Healthy Wet Food for dogs

I made a healthy mixture of 'food' for the dogs to entice Shellie to eat better. It consists of 1# of hamburger, 1 grilled chicken breast, 1 salmon patty, 2 cups brown rice, 1/2 cup cottage cheese, 4 hardboiled eggs, 3 cups mixed veggies all were ground in a food processor and all were cooked, Munchie the kitty is the supervisor, and Shellie was Quality control...as you can tell she LOVED it! I only give like 1/4 cup per feeding to Shellie and then maybe 2 teaspoons to the chihuahuas mixed with their dry food per feeding. I separate it out into storage containers freeze some, and keep 1 in the fridge.

I also mixed up the dogs weekly foods, since they are on supplements and such and to save time I portion out their am/pm feedings for each day add the powdered supplements and put them in rubbermaid type containers...BIG time saver! I do this about 1x a week. Yah my babies are spoiled.

Day at the park 2