It wasn't me!

Yikes, I've not posted in more than a week! It's been an odd kind of week w/a lot going on. Regardless...I will try not to let a week go by again w/o posting about my puppies! :o)

So I this is what I came out to after my shower this morning. "It wasn't me!!" hehe She was having a BALL ripping the stuffing out of this soccer ball. It was a great reminder how much I just LOVE Skinneez w/o their stuffing....

Okay, so I lied...more TEETH. Well, sort of....

Poor Matilda - Wed morning I noticed when I looked in her mouth, quite a bit of drainage gushed out from where they pulled her right baby canine. I was a bit freaked out but being as it was the day after surgery & knowing some drainage is probably normal I thought I'd wait it out until the afternoon & check to see if it was still draining. Afternoon came & she was fine...no more drainage She was swollen on both sides but I knew that also was normal.

Come yesterday afternoon I noticed that the left side of her muzzle was coming back to normal while the right side was still swollen. Come 3:40pm, I noticed it seemed a bit more swollen on her right side. I lifted her lip to get a look at the incision (which that morning had looked pretty good) & more fluid gushed out. I dialed the vets immediately knowing being a Friday afternoon they'd not be back until Monday. I got the vet that did her surgery on the phone in seconds & she said she'd probably need some antibiotics as it sounded like she may have an infection brewing but if I could...swing in with her & she'd take a peek. So we jumped in the car & headed straight there.

We got there & I carried Matilda in because it was pouring. They took us straight into an exam room & with in 2 minutes the vet was in with us. I showed her the incision & she was able to see the drainage come out....a lovely sight. Ick! By that time her face was so swollen I had a hard time lifing her lip up...poor girl. A few minutes later we were on our way home with antibiotics. I LOVE OUR VETS! They got us in for a quick exam & we were on our way home with meds in less than 50 minutes from the phone call (and we are 20 minutes away from the office) and with only a bill for the antibiotics! However, if it's still draining come Monday they do want her back in to check her out...

I started her on the meds as soon as we got home. This morning her right side was even more swollen - or should I say the swelling has spread to under her eye. She really is a sight. Hopefully the meds start to kick in soon...

Rain Rain.....how FUN!

NOT! Up until today we've had some crappy weather for a week or two. TONS of rain. Well, we had been keeping the outside play area door shut (though with all the rain the door swelled so you couldn't actually latch it). A couple days ago, the pups apparently figured out how to push it open and decided they LOVED to play in the rain!

We only figured this out when Mari came in like this...



Soon after Matilda came in like this (and Maxwell - though I didn't get a picture of him since I was busy bathing Matilda when he came in)...CAKED in mud! You really can't see just how much was on her. It was quite hysterical because they obviously were having a great time out there. Only little Milo didn't want to get his paws dirty & went. hehe



And for fun....Mari & Maxie. :o)

And Matilda in her tooth extraction....

Okay, this is the last about the teeth for a few weeks anyway. Matalda went in to get her 2 retained baby canines out. While I wasn't as nervous because of just dealing with Maribelle last week (and she had a whole lot more to be pulled) I always get nervous when leaving my pups at the vet. She was a wreck on the way - her fear of riding seems to have gotten worse & she pants & gets really warm. However, we made progress I think because she actually would lay down when I asked her which she'd never do before. I'm thinking it's because I was a bit softer with her than firm like I usually am (you know, Cesar says baby talk doesn't really do any good LOL). But in this case it really worked.

Getting at the vet we entered to see 2 young Basenji's which were quite excited to see Matilda. Matilda being Matilda tried fleeing like she was being attacked by a lion or something. I knew what that meant - emptied anal glands. Geeeesh. So as soon as we were taken into the exam room I quickly whiped her the best I could before the tech came in.... I did warn them that Matilda had gotten a bit nippy with someone a couple weeks back. Well, she actually tried to bite someones face but it was our fault for pushing her onto them. Regardless, I wanted to give them the heads up just in case.

I got a call just after 10 saying she was out & doing great. Again...now to wait until 3pm. I got there just before 3:30 (just coming back from a funeral) & they said she was a little nippy but nothing real bad. She just panics so & I told the tech she was even getting panicky in the car. The tech knows how much we've done with her with socialization so we just concluded she was a funny little dog. Still....it won't stop me from trying to socialize her more. Maybe someday she will trust people more. I'm sure it's in her genetics to be a standand Chi who is very suspicious of strangers...I just wish she didn't feel the need to nip. LOL

Anyway, tonight she's doing okay. She's been sick a few times though. We were sure to skip breakfast (and water) this morning so I don't know where she got the upchuck... Hopefully by morning she'll be better because every time she throws up she goes into a reverse sneeze fit like she always does when she vomits and sometimes...it takes a bit to calm her down. So now for a few pictures...

On the way to the vets office - her new thing of panting when riding. Her little face is screaming ANXIETY!



On the way home - still anxious (look at those ears & she wouldn't lay down for the life of her) but drowsy at the same time...



And a picture of her new smile - bruised gums, stitches & all...






And her extracted teeth - yes, there were actually 3! But I had to throw a quarter in there...look at how long her teeth were. WOWZA!

Matilda the Terrible

I really don't think Matilda is terrible - but for a few moments two times today the thought crossed my mind! I was going to go meet my mom for lunch today. So I got my stuff together & sat down on the couch with the pups for a few minutes before leaving. Noticing how nice & quiet everyone was I thought I'd slip out the door. I had a new hand lotion my sister gave me for my birthday on the couch. It's in a metal like tube and in a box. It was on the couch with me sort of burried in a blanket & several times I reminded myself to put it back in my pocket book before I left. Well, in my hurry to escape before anyone noticed, I forgot. However, I did remember a 1/2 mile down the road so I turned around to come get it full well knowing if I didn't - I'd come home to a mess & have a boat load of sick puppers.

So I'm not gone but 3 minutes right? I come home & saw a piece of the cardboard from the box where I had been sitting on the couch. Matilda, she was in the corner of the couch shaking as if she was waiting to get in trouble (she always acts guilty when she has something to act guilty about!). So I ask her..."where is it??" when the thought popped in my mind to check their bed or the bean bag. They always like to drag stuff to their own "hang out" before ripping it apart. Sure enough, it's on the bean bag - the whole top half of the box ripped apart. THREE MINUTES!! These guys are like little piranhas! So I toss Matilda in her crate & off I went. And when I got home? Perfect! No messes anywhere caused by the other 3....

Just a few minutes ago my girls & I head to the store that's about a mile & 1/4 down the road to pick up some milk. We're gone, maybe 8-10 minutes. Get home & Gabby comes out in the kitchen with a bag of unmentionables. Something Ivy had taken to school for snack and decided to change backpacks before cleaning out that one. (**GAG**) Lets just say it was juicy & ripped open. UGH!

When we leave, we shut the bedroom & bathroom doors & gate off the kitchen so there is only the living room & puppy room to ram around in & we are good about picking stuff up off the floors. Except Matilda...she'll pull stuff out of the woodwork!! To get the bag of unmentionables - she had to drag Ivy's backpack out of the little cubby place where it was & dig through the dang thing to find what she thought was good enough to chew!

I know she's not always the only guilty one & I'm sure once she gets started the other pups join in on the "fun". But I'm pretty sure she IS the instigator in it all! I may have to start crating her when we leave for a while - we did that before when she started to get into trouble when we were out & after a while she sort of got the hint and was fine again. Hopefully doing that again will work...

Silly little pups...

More Teeth...

I'm getting some sick of blogging about TEETH! However, this thing I'm going to blog about will save me a few hundred dollars ever couple of years.

Matilda has never had great teeth. For her first year - we brushed at least every other day & used the water additive that's supposed to help with their teeth as well. Still...she started getting quite a bit of build up on her molars. She's going in Tuesday to have her baby canines out (which you can see in the picture below) and I figured I'd ask them to scale her teeth while they were there. Since she was going to be put under anyway...it was only an added $40 or something.

Well, getting ready to brush the pups teeth today I got looking at her teeth & sort of scraping it with my nail. A little piece of the "build up" came off - it's like a hard covering a tad darker than her natural teeth - very weird. But I was thinking people can scrape their own teeth with that pick thing you can buy (sorry, I do not know the proper name of this instrument LOL) - and my pups are pretty good about letting me do whatever to them I need. So I grabbed our little pick & proceded to scrape the build up on her teeth.

15 minutes later & her back molars have never been so WHITE!! It was a little difficult to get the bottom teeth (which had a nasty dark brown build up starting - ick) because her tops sort of go over them but I held my finger between her teeth & let her bite me (OUCH) while I cleaned those as well. It took a little time & patience and I'm sure I didn't do as good a job as the vet while their under but by golly I think I've just saved myself from them needing dentals every couple of years! Not to mention save the trama of them going to the vets and being put under anesthesia (which always makes me nervous with these little dogs!).

So anyway - there it is. I've become a doggy dental hygienist!

Here is Miss Matilda after her "cleaning". I should have thought to get a "before" shot for comparison but I thought this was funny anyway. Matilda will do this sometimes when she gets really excited playing (usually though her lip is folded up more so you can see her gum as well) - I swear she's smiling! Oh & yes...notice the extra tooth? Come Tuesday - she'll have a normal smile which will be great because I can see where stuff gets caught in between them has started to discolor a bit.

Maribelle's Deciduous Tooth Removal

Well, my little trooper had her baby teeth out yesterday. I was so upset leaving her at the vet yesterday morning at 8:30. Usually I'm good with stuff like this but I think being as it wasn't such a routine procedure I was a bit nervous. So lately when I've taken her into the vet she'll bark or growl at (most of) the techs - never trying to bite when they check her over or anything but she is quite vocal anyway until they pick her up. And then squirming to get back to me when they do. But wouldn't you know it - yesterday morning she was as quiet as a mouse & let me hand her off w/o any squirming to come back to me?? She just sat in Nikki's arms (the tech that also taught my other 3's puppy kindergarten class) looking around as she took her out back. I think it probably made it a bit harder for me since she obviously trusted me to give her to the tech. On the other hand, I was very proud of her as well. Not only because of her behavior that morning but because when I picked her up at 3pm they said she had been a very good, a very sweet & a very QUIET girl while sitting right in the front room watching everyone do their thing. Awwww.....!!!

Saying that, the procedure went very well. The vet said they removed 9 teeth, stitched her up & home she came with orders for softened food for a few days & pain meds for about a week.

She was a bit sleepy yesterday afternoon but last night started chewing - yes CHEWING her toys. She's obviously feeling pretty good! Her muzzle did develop a bit of swelling last night & a bit more so first thing this morning but it has gone down a bit so hopefully it will continue to go down. I think she will be happy to have her regular hard kibble back - she's getting sick of the gooshy stuff already. hehe But she is eating a little bit at each meal so that's good.

Anyway, here is poor Miss Maribelle on the way home from the vet yesterday afternoon...



This morning with her little swollen muzzle...



And the teeth they took out...

Mourning the Loss of a Pack Leader and the Bad Part about having SO Many Dogs!

Morning the loss of a pack leader: at least that is what I think Mari is doing. Every time I leave the house, this is what I can hear from outside. It used to last longer but now only lasts about 30 seconds. And it is only when I leave? Nothing like making mom feel bad. LOL Gabby is so funny hanging out with her. You can see how patient Mari is with that camera in her face...

Please don't mind Ivy raising her voice at Maribelle - she was stressed because our big dog was freaking out in the kitchen (he gets WAY over excited when he goes for a walk and pounces all over everyone & that's where we were heading with the boys). Generally they're only supposed to do the "SHH" part and never use the name when correcting and she obviously didn't know Gabby was filming.

Also, as I said we took the BOYS for a walk. Do you see Matilda anywhere when Gabby was filming? NO! I got half way down the driveway before I realized we didn't see Matilda as we were getting the boys ready to go. Why?? Ivy had taken her upstairs to help her clean & locked her up there! When you have so many dogs sometimes you just don't realize when one is missing. This isn't the first time this has happened either. LOL Luckily not much time goes by before we realize we're one short. I sent Ivy back up to open the door & she said she was sitting patiently right by the door waiting for someone to let her out. Poor thing... LOL

Social Pups...

While the pups werne't interacting per say, they were existing happily with my moms Golden Retriever, Holly yesterday after our walk. I only walked Maxwell & Maribelle with my mom & Holly because the other 3 had gone for a walk in the morning and I was a bit on the tired side. Anyway, I believe my pups have only "met" Holly for a walk two other times though each had visited her once or twice at her house. Regardless...after Maxwell barked & growled for a few seconds at first he was happy as can be. And Maribelle, didn't bark at all when first seeing her. When we got back to my house we hung out on the porch for a bit. I let Matilda out & Milo sat in the open window right by us. It's so great seeing these pups getting along....

It's the Fuuuuuuurminator......

I'm always a sucker for those commercials about "amazing" pet products. I'd seen this brush, the Furminator, on television quite a bit & thought how I'd love to try it. Milo has been a big shedder since the day we brought him home at 18 weeks. Well, when visiting Ames Supply this weekend I stopped in to see if they had any Skinneez (another AWESOME dog invention I learned about on Club Chihuahua!). Not only did I find those but I also came across the Furminator as well! I knew I shouldn't *really* spend the money but I did & am SO glad. It's well worth the $$! I was so amazed at the amount of hair I could get from a short coat Chihuahua! I was going to take a picture of all the hair but didn't. LOL His coat was remarkably softer after his brushing. And the second day, I brushed him again to get even more out. I figure after a week of daily brushings he'll more than likely be down to no shedding. I'll just have to keep it up once every week or 2. So if you are tired of dog hair...definitely check out one of these tools! Oh & I did try it on our big dog. He's a HUGE HUGE shedder. It worked great but I didn't have the 2-3 hours it would take to get all of his hair out. But I did get a lot out of him as well...a whole kitchen garbage cans worth. Nasty! LOL

And whats a post w/o a picture or two? Here are the kids with their Skinneez. They LOVE them!!

Uncensored & Uncut Morning Play

Some may find this funny, some may find this disturbing but living with 4 Chihuahua's it's a part of our lives. LOL Generally Maxwell is a very submissive dog. Some days however, he's just feeling his oats to say the least! He totally sounds like a little Tazmanian Devil - he is by far our most "vocal" when playing. It's almost like he's talking to the other pups...or giving them hell anyway. LOL

I wish those word bubbles weren't transparent at all...I did try to cover up the worst of it....

Deciduous Teeth - BLECK!!

I'd like to think I'm a good Chi Mama. I feed one of the best/healthiest foods on the market, try to train/socialize the best I can & I've done everything the vets recommend, including spaying & neutering as early as possible (they recommend between 5-6 months). Of course we've not spayed Maribelle because we are hoping to breed her but if you're not going to show or breed, I say 7-8 months would be perfect! Otherwise you could face having to bring them back to be put under anesthesia to have their deciduous teeth (AKA retained baby teeth) removed. All I can say is thank the heavens above we waited to have Maxwell neutered until he was a tad older (7 1/2 months) otherwise all 4 of my Chi's would have to have a special dental day visit. UGH.

I was so worried about Matilda & Milo's 2 retained top canines & knew they needed them out or else plaque can build up & cause more problems. While it needs to be done I wasn't in too much of a hurry - so I thought I'd build up our vet fund a bit so I wouldn't drain it in one visit.

Ha! Their couple extra teeth is NOTHING compared to Maribelle's "rows" of shark teeth. She has won the award of the most deciduous teeth our vet has seen. YAY! I told them I counted 9 though they only put 6 on my quote. They only saw what I could show them with a not so thrilled Maribelle (poor thing is getting mighty sick of me checking out her chompers) or possibly they're cutting me a break with "forgetting" 3 teeth?? I'm sure a few could be tugged out w/o much trouble though...maybe that is why.

Anyway, they also gave me a pet dentists' name & phone number who is 2 hours away & told me it may be worth to call & get a quote. I nearly rolled on the floor laughing when they quoted me TWICE as much as our vets. I'm sure they're wonderful - they do look like a great vet but I'm confident enough with our vet to save myself several hundred dollars & four hours in the car (as you may know I *hate* long car rides plus Maribelle gets car sick).

My little lovey will be going in for radiographs & extractions this coming Tuesday...and Milo & Matilda will be having their 2 baby canines out the following Tuesday. So much for building up my vet fund enough so I won't drain it in one visit...or sorry TWO visits. But at least THEN they'll all have perfectly healthy toofers!!

I snapped these pictures the other day to have record of Mari's gorgeous teeth. I was going to wait to post them with some after shots but just so you can see what I'm talking about....

Bath Day Zoomies & Diva Matilda

As most dog owners know, a bath can create quite a rutkis. While they try to dry off quickly they run, rub on furniture, shake & everything in between. Do they really just want to dry off quicker - or is it a post bath high? Hmmmm....

I thought it would be fun to snap a few pictures of our Zoomies. I only got Maribelle & Maxwell - I'll have to think to get the other 2 next time!

Though I do want to add: Matilda is the biggest "diva". She loves her brothers & sister but while getting beautified (getting towel dried after a bath, nail trim, tooth brush, etc) she can NOT be bothered. If one of the others come close to see what's going on it's immediate teeth. The moment I let go & am done with her she's completely fine. She apparently takes beautifying very seriously. Diva much?

New Walking Route & Some New Portraits

Figuring my crew is getting a bit too comfy or just bored on their regular walking route (even Matilda, who is as quiet as a mouse outside of the house, started to bark a bit the past couple days - at nothing no less.) I decided to take a different direction on this mornings walk. Instead of the quiet dead end/scenic route I took the main road. Our "main" road isn't too terribly busy but being as it was a Monday morning there was a decent amount of traffic along with people getting in their cars, construction people preparing for their projects, etc. MUCH more going on on this route which at this point is probably a good thing for these guys, socially.

Not only did motocycles, large trucks, cats & new dogs show themselves on the way - my crew was basically pretty quiet - I couldn't believe it! The first 1/2 mile or so on the main road they did act a bit panic stricken with all the hustle & bustle but soon they got into their traveling mode. However, something or should I say someone was killing my hand! MILO apparently wasn't thrilled with this walk as he was leaving it up to me to drag him. Thank goodness for those new collars - I thought I'd unhook his harness & hook onto his collar (which I generally don't like to do because of their tiny necks) but it helped 100% - he was perfect from there on out!

So we pass this house & a dog, a large dog (gray giant schnauzer perhaps???) comes running out barking. By the time it saw us we had already passed his house but you know - there is only one way home. We continued on a 1/2 mile before turning around. As we approached that house again I accidentally stepped on someones foot causing a screatch. Of course, that attracted the dog & here he comes toward us barking an obviously territorial bark. Like it or not, I put on my best imaginary Cesar Millan costume, looked forward & walked on calmly not even looking at this dog. The house is on a corner, I'm on HIS side of the road & in the midst of it even a car comes so I have to stand to the side with my crew until it passed. Maxwell gave a couple growls....but that was it!! Even with that dog standing 10ft (or less) away barking. I was very proud to say the least...and wasn't I THRILLED the dog didn't come any closer... LOL

With that said, I think we were all happy to get home after our 3 mile walk this morning. And this afternoon I snapped a few photos of the crew - one you can see in our new blog header. The individuals you can peek at on the "meet our crew" section of our WEBSITE & the boys photos & the girls photo are to follow....