Tigger

Zoey Shows Off

As many of you know, Zoey our little Chihuahua has mild hydrocephalus which makes her a little bit more difficult to train such as potty training etc. Well when she was a puppy Rob and I clicker trained her, and have worked with her off and on, Sit was never a command that she mastered. Today Rob was working with both Shellie and Zoey on some commands. She gets so excited when she does something right, she does a little 'wiggly' dance. She's such a sweetheart! She is wearing both a sweater and a coat because she's been colder lately, her CDA (Color Dilution Alopecia) seems to be active right now she's got spots along her spine where her blue hair is really really thinning out and not coming back in. Part of me thinks it's because she wears a sweater most of the time to keep her warm and it may be rubbing it off? Don't know what to do to 'stop' it. We did bloodwork on her Friday as she's been eating voraciously, losing weight, peeing/drinking a TON, but otherwise happy and active as ever. Everything was pretty much normal so we pretty much attribute it to the steroids and drugs she is on for her hydrocephalus/copd...which sucks, but we can't cut her back, she's on 1.25mg of Vetalog every other day right now, if we back off she starts showing more symptoms. I was worried she might have had cushings as long-term steroids can cause cushings and she's been on steroids since she was a year and a half old when we discovered the hydrocephalus. Cushings can also cause hair loss along the spine, so I was worried about it, but her bloodwork all checked out. You can see she's not looking as 'red' on her legs anymore with the homecooked/limited diet. Which makes me happy, she's not near as itchy as she was either. Anyways here are some of the tricks that Zoey showed off today:
1: Bow
2: Down
3: Sit
4: Stand (this one was the hardest for her, after a few times of mommy helping her she finally caught on and was 'offering' it herself.

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! :)