GaGa For Chihuahuas

Vet Check

2007-06-22T18:43:00.000-04:00

I took PJ and Winnie to the vet today for another round of vaccinations. The vet checked their poo and found some microscopic worm evidence so he gave them a half a pill each and he's going to check them again in three weeks. The vet said the worm issue wasn't bad considering all the weight they've gained. Their next visit to the vet should be the last one for vaccinations. Weigh in: PJ gained from 1.6 pounds to 2.3 pounds and Winnie gained from 2.4 pounds to 3.4 pounds.

I set up the exercise pen next to the doggie gate that blocks one entrance into their nursery. This gives them about twice the play room. But, I have to be in the exercise pen with them to make sure they use their puppy pads. That's not going too well. They are only so-so on remembering to go back through the gate to use the puppy pads.

And they get to see Steffi more when they are in the pen. I expect them to someday learn how to climb up the pen and try to escape. It wouldn't take much for them to do it.

Back to the Vet

2007-06-01T18:04:00.001-04:00

Winnie and PJ went back to the vet today for their second round of vaccinations. PJ was weighed and she went from 1.4 pounds to 1.6 pounds. Winnie went from 1.9 pounds to 2.4 pounds. I don't think PJ's going to get to 6 pounds like the seller said she would. They did fine with the shots and so far they have no worms. They got to meet a husky type dog at the vet's office. Their tales just wagged and wagged. And they got to meet three kids who were there with the husky type dog. Their next trip to the vet is on the 22nd. I might take that day off. We get June 20th off for West Virginia Day. That's a Wednesday. So, I might take Thursday and Friday that week off too. I don't know why all holidays can't be on a Monday or Friday every year. Or better yet, if the holiday is on any day other than Monday or Friday, then the employer gets penalized by giving all employees an extra day off. I like that plan.

Puppies' Day Out

2007-05-27T13:17:00.000-04:00

I took Winnie and PJ to mom and dad's today. They played and played, ran in circles, then went to sleep. I brought them home around 10am and they've been sleeping ever since.

Meet the Puppies!

2007-05-12T14:48:00.000-04:00

The one with the floppy ears is Winnie Garcia. The one with the pointy ears is Phoebe Josephine Maria Olazabal. I named them, partially, after golfers.

Adorable Website

2007-05-05T19:10:00.000-04:00

I found the following website earlier today. You should check it out.

The Daily Puppy

Puppy Update #4

2007-05-04T20:02:00.000-04:00

Dad and I went to see the puppies tonight. The short-haired one is looking more spry this week than last week. I'm glad. I was worried she was going to be a slow one. But she's catching up. She's still a little scared but she's getting better. She wagged her tail some tonight. The long haired one has turned into a cryer. She whimpered several times tonight. I think she's getting old enough to realize when she's away from her mommy and litter-mates. She should get over it soon though. At least she will have the short haired one to be with in the crate when she gets here. The short haired one's ears are standing up now :) The long haired one's are half way up. They are both going to be adorable, but right now they are especially so since their noses aren't sticking out that much. The dog seller had her grandkids there again and the little girl snuggled up to the long haired one and she kissed the girl's little nose. I don't like kids, but that girl has a cute little nose. The puppies are on track to come home next week. Probably Friday or Saturday. Then I'll have pictures!

Other experiences at the dog seller's house this evening:

The seller played with the grandkids by putting them in a dog crate and closing the door. They should invest in some of those for the lobby at work.

The seller's husband showed us that two of their older Chihuahuas know tricks. They rolled over, ran around in circles. A white one named Cookie sat straight up on her butt and begged. The husband put some jerky on the coffee table and told Cookie to show him what she wanted and she stood up and pointed to it. Cookie also is a grouchy one. She's all right if you're petting her on her head, but try anywhere else and she growls and snaps at you. She got up on the couch between me and dad and then finally got on dad's lap. The husband showed us pictures of what Cookie and the other trained Chihuahua looked like when they got them. It's good that they have pictures of their dogs in picture frames even.

There's another Chihuahua there named Daisy. Daisy is about 3 pounds and about 6 years old. The seller told us that for the first year and a half of Daisy's life, she stayed sick. The vet didn't know what was wrong with her but she wouldn't eat or anything. So, the vet finally told the seller to take Daisy to Virginia Tech to a vet school there where they could run all kinds of tests. After $1600.00 of bills, the Virginia Tech people diagnosed Daisy with some kind of disorder called "Polyarthritis" (I think that's what it is) which isn't what we think of as arthritis. As it was explained to me, It's something like an immune system disorder. Daisy's immune system was fighting her body. So, the VT people gave Daisy steroids to take and that would destroy her immune system. Then she would get weened off the steroids and over time her body would create a new immune system and she would get healthy. And that's what happened. The seller had decided not to breed Daisy because, while the VT people told her it was a fluke, the seller couldn't be sure that any puppies Daisy had wouldn't have the same thing. Daisy may be only 6 years old, but she looks about 14. But she's healthy now. And she was spayed. The seller said that every time Daisy would come in heat, she'd stop eating so the seller decided to get her spayed. A 3 pound Chihuahua can't afford to stop eating.

And tonight they allowed a female weiner dog to meet up with a male. I guess in a few weeks they will have some weiner dog puppies :) The male came in the house and peed by the door. I guess he isn't allowed inside very often. And there was one little weiner puppy that escaped from the room she was in and ran out the door to the outside. She was an active little thing and friendly. Really big paws. The puppies are cute, but I don't think I like the looks of adult weiner dogs. Their chests low to the ground then their lower tummies and butts higher - they look a little weird. Of course, it could just be her weiner dogs and not the breed.

The husband told us about this Pomeranian puppy they sold. It was a really, really small one that the seller had kept for something like 4 months because it was too small to sell for the longest time. Well, she finally sold it and took it to the vet to get its shots and then the buyer took it home. It died that night. They think it might have been the shots that did it - that maybe the shots were too strong for the puppy. I forget how small they said it was but I think they mentioned that it was 14 ounces at one point. I don't think the seller deliberately bred poms to get really small ones, I think that one was just a runt. Anyway, the seller gave the buyer her money back even though the buyer said she didn't want the money back. It was probably one of those things where the buyer thought she was taking a risk on the puppy and felt she paid her money in good faith knowing that there could be a sad ending.

Puppy Update 3

2007-04-29T05:49:00.000-04:00

I went to see them last night. The longhaired one never stopped wagging her tail and she kissed me repeatedly. The shorthaired one was scared of everything and just shook and shivered. I put her on my chest up near my neck and just petted her and she got used to that. I hope she grows out of that. Dad came with me and he got to hold and pet them too. They are bigger than they were last week. The lady said she thinks she saw them trying to sneak some of the puppy chow out of the mom's food dish. I guess the lady mixes adult food with puppy chow when she wants to start getting the puppies to eating dog food.

Dad found another dog he wants. The woman had a 4 month old yorkie running around the living room. He was cute. He had a cute little bark, and he was all hair. You couldn't see his eyes, nose or mouth. Very friendly and very much wanting attention. He finally got up on the couch with us and squirmed all over dad nipping him and licking him all over.

The lady had a min pin who just had a baby Friday night. She showed us the baby and it was so tiny. She's got another min pin who's going to have babies at the end of next week. That dog got up on the couch between me and dad and dad spent a lot of time just petting her. She loved attention.

Another Recipe

2007-04-27T18:35:00.000-04:00

Cheesy Biscuits

1 cup flour
1 cup grated cheddar cheese
1 tbs butter
1/2 cup milk

Mix flour and cheese. Add the butter. Slowly add the milk until stiff batter/dough is formed. you may not need all the milk. (I used a little more than 1/2 cup milk) Knead and roll out dough. Cut out into pieces using cookie cutter or knife (I used the pizza cutter) Put on ungreased cookie sheet and bake for 15 minutes in a heated 350 degree oven. Refrigerate to keep fresh.

Results: Fritz eats them. Steffi tries to bury them. I tasted one and it tastes like a biscuit. My family's recipe for biscuits is just flour and milk.

Recipe

2007-04-22T19:16:00.000-04:00

I found this recipe on The Poop website. It was only half complete on the website so I filled in the rest.

Woofys

1/2 Cup Milk, Dash Salt
1 egg, Dash Water
2 spoons Peanut Butter, 1 & 1/4 Cup Flour

Mix the egg, milk, peanut butter and water together. Then add the salt and the flour. Divide dough in half and roll out on flour-dusted counter or freezer/wax paper. Cut into small squares or use cookie cutter. Bake on cookie sheet for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 degrees.

Result: Steffi and Fritz love them.

Found A Blog

2007-04-20T22:00:00.000-04:00

I finally found a really neat chihuahua blog. Check out "The Chihuahua Diaries".

Visit To The Puppies

2007-04-20T18:41:00.000-04:00

I couple weeks ago, I visited a local dog breeder and put a deposit on two female chihuahua puppies. I had been on the puppy hunt since Phoebe passed away in February and was happy to have found someone local who had puppies for sale. She had puppies ready to go but I wasn't ready for them - I plan to take a week off from work to start housetraining the puppies and I couldn't do that two weeks ago. So, I asked to see the puppies that were only about two weeks old. She had a litter of long haired chihuahuas that were two weeks old that day and she had a litter of short haired chihuahuas that were a week and 5 days old. I chose a long haired black, white and brown female and a short haired black, white and brown female.

Basically I did what all the books I've read said not to do. The books say I'm supposed to watch the littermates play and pick the ones that appeal to me, but these puppies were too young to play. They barely had an eye open. But I think they will be ok. My first visit to see them was last week and they were just a bit more lively, but still slept a lot. Today, I visited them again and they are bigger and more active. They still slept and the short haired one was a little chilly. But they kissed me and my dad who was with me and the long haired one rolled over on her back.

I'm hoping to visit them each week until I can take them home. This seller allows them to be taken home as early as 6 weeks if they are eating and drinking well and getting along well (Most books say 8 weeks). But she did have one smaller chihuahua who would max out at about 2 1/2 pounds that she didn't even advertise until 10 weeks because at 6 weeks the puppy still didn't have any teeth. So, I think the seller evaluates each puppy and decides when they can be taken home. Right now, the expected take home time is when they are about 7 weeks old. The longhaired one will be 7 and the short haired one will be 6 weeks, 5 days. Unless she lets me take them home earlier. They will be with each other and they will be able to interact with my other two dogs eventually so I don't think they are going to suffer any harm from being removed from their littermates a week early. It won't be as if they will be going into one-dog households.

Hello Fellow Chihuahua Lovers

2007-04-19T21:02:00.000-04:00

I've been searching and searching google for anything chihuahua and haven't seen very many chihuahua blogs out there. So, I thought I would create one. Hopefully, I can bring a little joy into the lives of Chihuahua owners and all those who don't own chihuahuas but chihuahuas own them, well at least their hearts.

And hopefully I can help people find info on these lovable lapdogs as well as some possible shopping options for them.

A little about me: I've had chihuahuas in my life for nearly 28 years. First was Tippy, who was trained by my uncle to keep children on a couch so he could get some sleep. She chased me and my sister through the house and was quite the biter. She lived for about 16 years and I believe the secret to her long life was the bologna we fed her twice a day. Then we had Mitzy, another pet given to us by my uncle. She didn't live as long as you'd expect a chihuahua to live but she was a good example of what nonfamiliars of the breed think of - possessive and fiesty, a one person dog. She slept with me in my bed for a long time, but one night she threw up in the bed and I said "no more of that". She passed away a few days later. After Mitzy came Susie and Steffi. Susie was Steffi's mother and lived a pretty long time. Steffi I still have. She will be 15 years old this summer and until about three or four years ago, she was fed a steady diet of bologna. But she has a chronic cough that is aggravated by excessive weight, so I put her on a diet of boiled turkey breast to keep her weight down. Briefly, I had the pure joy of having Phoebe as a member of my family. She passed away very tragically in February. It's still painful to think about her. And next month, I plan to welcome two new chihuahua puppies into my family. I was only planning to get one puppy as I already have Steffi and a half pomeranian-half miniature collie named Fritz, but my dad talked me into getting two puppies.

I'm sure there will be plenty of posts on this blog in the upcoming months about the puppies and my resident dogs. You'll have to stay tuned.......