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

Day at the park