Vet Check

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

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

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!

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

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

The Daily Puppy

Puppy Update #4

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

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.