Animal Sense training

Well, you know I don't need training, right? I mean, not really. I'm a good girl. I do have accidents in the house, and I misdirect aggression at my brother London sometimes when I am startled, but I'm really very good. Still, mom and dad couldn't pass up free Animal Sense lessons! They actually wound up being pretty fun for me, so I'm going to tell you about them.

First we met with two nice people: Jamie, who runs Animal Sense, and Amy, who was my personal trainer. London didn't bite either of them, which was nice of him. I didn't like that when I pawed at them for attention that they ignored me, but mom says I should be doing that less anyway. I barked at them until I ran out of energy and that was pretty fun.

The good thing about these new people is that they came with food. They fed me yummy things, and mom and dad got out the treats whenever they Amy came to visit. We practiced some of my new tricks. I knew sitting and down, but didn't know to look at my humans when they say "Watch me!" or to come running when I bark at the door and they say "What's that?" We also worked on "Stay", which I hate. I get excited, what can I say?

They also recommended I go to "Small Dog Play and Train" classes at Soggy Paws' North location. That was a great idea because each week I got hot dogs in exchange for tricks. I also made some doggy friends, and one of them was even my size and, um, "breed". (Sorta, mom says I am a "mutt", which she told me means I am "extra loveable")

We also learned that I'll do anything for a new fuzzy squeaky toy. I'll even jump over high poles and run through tunnels! I like the agility courses, if I'm in the mood. I'm a nimble little girl. London even jumped on top of a ramp to get a big piece of hot dog. Classes are really pretty fun, you know, even if I bark through most of the classes so the other dogs remember I'm there.

London and I both got toys at the end from our teacher, and we got certificates that mom and dad put on our fridge. Mom says they say we are "awesome canines". Well, no surprise there! Mine should be bigger than London's because he mostly hid during training time.

I'll write more later. I have to go hide somewhere safe because I think I heard thunder! Oh no!

Growl & Meow... Mmmmm

I have to tell you about some delicious treats that I recently tried. They're from Growl & Meow and Soggy Paws gave them to me as part of my win! I LIKE this prize. Mom and Dad told me they're called "Mangoberry Bites". Wow, I love the sweet fruity taste. They're much better than most dog biscuits, and I've tried a lot of different kinds.

I shouldn't tell you about the other Growl & Meow products because you might buy them and scrub your dog with them too, and we dogs don't like that so much. I mean, sure I like being clean afterwards but when I see my mom coming with a doggie cleaning product, I run for it! I don't want to be scrubbed, and your dog doesn't either. The foaming face wash is mom's favorite because when she rubs it on my face and then uses a washcloth to take it off, she says my face looks good as new.

(I have a lil head and I have to put it all the way into my food bowl in order to get any chow! It's not my fault that it gets dirty! Oh, and my eyes are too big for my head so my eyelids don't close over them and I get tear stains. Hmph. I'm still beautiful.)

London gets a flaky back because he has dry skin. Mom has been using the Mutt Moisturizer on him, and is delighted at the improvement in his skin.

We also have some Bowser Balm. My feet get awfully sore in the winter because of the bad salt that is put on the sidewalk in our neighborhood. I hope this stuff helps.

Oh! I almost forgot about the Doggie Detangler- grrrr it's my enemy. Oh wait, it does make brushing me a lot quicker and less painful. Maybe I don't hate it. I just hate being brushed! Yeah, that's it. So I guess if Doggie Detangler helps that be over quickly, then I like the stuff.

Oh, I have to go! Mom just put cut-up hot dogs in my chow to make it extra tasty and I don't want London to eat my share.

Dizzy Dogg Treats! Mmmm

(Hey look, I'm in the newspaper. That should happen more often!)

Oh man... you wanna know what's tasty? These Dizzy Dogg things we got last time I got groomed. I'm kind of annoyed that my mom and dad are keeping the basket of them on the table where I can't reach. I wouldn't eat them all at once. Just... most of them. Especially the Dizzy twists. Oh man. Mom told me to slow down and not try to eat the whole thing all at once but she clearly hasn't tasted these! And you know what else is tasty? The Nutra-tein crunchers. Mmm...you need to chew on one of those. I drool just thinking about them. Mom just moved the bag and I thought she was going to give me one. Noooo fair!

Mom told me they're a Chicago company. I said. "Well, I was born in Florida and then I moved to Rhode Island. Now I'm in Chicago. Where should I be loyal to?" She said I didn't have to pick. Florida's pretty warm though, which I love.

I am in training now so I am supposed to be polite and "give back" for my rewards. So thank you to Soggy Paws and Dizzy Dogg for giving us these.

Now can I have another? I'm a skinny dog, what's the harm?

Animal Sense Training Day

first of all, i need to say how happy i am about the news that Nina got adopted! both London and i are thrilled that she has a new forever home. we know first hand how much happier and stable we felt once we got ours. all dogs deserve a forever home.

ok, so, today was my training consultation with Jamie (and Amy) from Animal Sense. *blush* i hate to admit this, but i've never really been properly house broken. and i hate Chicago's cold, windy weather which makes learning to go on proper walks hard for me. i'd much rather do my business inside where it is warm like the people do! and i still bark at noises outside the door an awful lot.

now my house has wee-wee pads everywhere and mommy and daddy walk out of the room every time i bark at noises! it is kind of shocking. but i think i'll learn quick.

i also got signed up to go to a small dog play-n-training class which i'm looking forward to very much. before we got adopted we never got to meet other dogs and now we aren't socialized. i play a bit too rough sometimes with other little dogs. so we're going to class to learn to be good friends! we're excited.

Jamie had come to visit a long time ago to help London stop being such a tweak, and she said that he'd made a lot of progress. i hope i learn fast too!

in a bit mommy is going to post a scan of the picture of me that was in Chicagoland Tails last month. i'm famous!

more attention!

on Saturday (Caturday, feh!) i had to go to the vet again! the icky medicine for the sores in my mouth didn't make them go completely away, so we had to go back so the man could look again and see if they were OK. he said that for now we're going to "observe" them (i'm not sure how they expect me to see inside my own mouth).

oh, and i failed a test! (*blush*) so that meant i had to get a shot, too. a vaccine for my temper. no, that's not it. for this temper. no, Daddy says its called distemper. i guess that was OK. it made me sleepy.

Mommy has been helping me practice all my exercises at home. she puts things on the floor and makes me go round and round to get cookies. sometimes i get dizzy and excited and i just want the cookie now! i sure hope the exercises work and make me stronger, cause they're tricky!

Mommy also says i'm getting a new collar soon. my pretty red one with the stars is getting worn out. i don't want to lose my tags!

i'm so glad that it is slowly starting to warm up outside. i hate the cold so much. c'mon sun! shine!

Integrative Pet Care

I tell you, my schedule is so busy these days. It's nice to get out and let people everywhere see my lovely haircut. I was back at Soggy Paws for a trim the other day! Gotta keep that fur out of my eyes so they don't get goopy :) It was okay though because after my stylists were done bathing away my itchies Mom and Dad gave me a doggie truffle. Mom threatened to eat it on me because it smelled so good! She gets enough treats, I think!

Anyway, yesterday we went back to Integrative Pet Care to learn some exercises. As I mentioned before, the people there say I am "cow hocked" and that means I put too much weight on my front paws. They also said, um, wait let me have mom type it... I have "luxating patellas". Oh, that means that my back legs don't always stay in place. To keep from needing surgery at some point we need to do exercises! Good thing they're fun.

I barked at Dr. Mayer's dog and I got yummy treats just for playing. I got to run around cones (I am so good at agility) and jump over little polls. The nice lady and mom and dad all kept saying I was cheating with the polls by not using my back legs right. I can't help it if I found a better way to do it! They said I need to do it the hard way to build up strength in my back legs.

I also stood on a funny device that was wobbly and rubber! The nice lady gave me a massage the whole time and that was nice. She could have done that all day if you ask me. She also warmed up my legs and gave them nice massages. I showed her how well I can sit and lie down for treats
, but she said for a while I need to earn my treats by chasing them in small circles. People are funny.

Mom and dad already made me play for my treats this morning! Mom had me running around her legs in an "8" pattern. I didn't tell her how much fun it was so she'd still give me the treat! London wanted to try, so he got a turn too.

minty fresh

On Thursday I went back to the vet's office, but not for another check-up. No, this time it was different. Now, the truth is, I don't really know what they did, because I slept through the whole thing, but Mommy and Daddy say that I had special people to help me sleep through it all, I got my nails trimmed, and all my teeth were carefully examined and cleaned. Someone finally found the little sores in my mouth that my crooked teeth were making! So Mommy and Daddy are sneaking me medicine hidden in penabuderonastick treats. They think I don't know, but I want them to be happy, so I take it. Plus, penabuder is fun to try to eat.

My mouth feels lots better and my breath is a lot better, too *blush*. But now I have two funny little bald patches on my legs. I hope they grow in fast, they look funny!

We Love Roscoe Village

Hello everyone!
Well, I just came from a vet appointment. My mom and dad sure make those things early. I mean, I was all snuggled in bed and they woke me up and scooped me up to go uptown to Roscoe Village Animal Hospital. They love Roscoe Village. Mom likes to play with the Keurig K-Cup coffee maker in the lobby and read the dog magazines. I like when the receptionists fawn over me and give me treats. London hates all of it, but he's more timid than the cat that lives at RVAH. (That cat is pretty fearless I must say. I gave her my most intimidating stare and she just walked right by me! Hmph.) I got to bark at a Great Dane and a Boxer, and they both hid! I was the toughest dog there.

Anyway, I got a bunch of shots so that part wasn't fun, but I was really happy when the vet noticed that I have some ulcers in my mouth! Ouch! They've been rubbing on my teeth, but I had trouble telling mom and dad about that. The bad part is now I have to take antibiotics, but the vet said my mouth would be feeling better soon. Aside from the mouth sores, the vet said I was healthy! He listened to me breathe and said I'd always be a skinny girl. Good, now someone give me a steak!

London got switched from clomicalm to paroxetine. I hope it settles him down! He's such a spaz, but I love him.

Mom said that Roscoe Village was super generous and she was really touched. She said the vet bill would have been more than her poor grad student budget could afford, but my cuteness meant she didn't have to worry. We got a bunch of free Heartgard Plus, which makes me happy because I love those tasty cubes. Mmmm. I don't think they're really medicine, I think they're treats.

Oh, I go back on Thursday for a dental treatment. I'll have to make sure to eat something minty before so I don't scare the nice vet with my dog-food breath.

Integrative Pet Care

OK, before I talk about today, I need to just say how mortified I am at the "before" pictures that got posted of me before my spiffy haircut. *Paws over eyes* I cannot believe people get to see that I looked like that. A girl needs to maintain some dignity after all.

But today was a good day. Today Daddy and Mommy drove me to meet the nice people at Integrative Pet Care. at first my brother London and I were worried that this was just another vet's office. We aren't such very big fans of the vet. There's usually a lot of poking and prodding and things and it isn't a whole lot of fun. But this was different! There were exciting things everywhere! Doggy pools and exercise rooms and all kinds of things. Mostly everyone just cooed over how cute I am (of course) and then there was lots of people talk that I didn't really follow too well. Something about my knees being a bit wobbly and me being "cow hocked" or some such silly thing. I don't know, but it means I get to come back and learn exercises and tricks that will help me walk even when I'm old! So that seems pretty exciting.

Even though I hate baths, I think I secretly want to get to run in the hot tub tread mill machine. The life jackets looked really stylish.

My Before and After (and during!) Photos

The folks at Soggy Paws and Colleen Duncan Photography have posted photos of me (even one in the bathtub!!) on their web site. If you'd like to see just what I had to go through to get fixed up...click here!

there's only so much you can do to help

No matter how much you groom me, clean me up, fuss and coo over me, and tell me that I'm the special winner, there are times that I am going to fall asleep on a muddy towel with my head buried inside Daddy's shoe and then snore like your grandmother. Just accept it. It is who I am deep down under all the bling.

I love my new food!

Okay, okay, I am getting up from a nap with my brother London to tell you what's going on with me. My humans say they'll give me a treat if I do. Well, people seem to love my new hair cut! They won't stop petting my head and telling me I look less like a Maltese and more like a Pekingese! I don't know what those words mean, but I know I look different. I can see better with the fur out of my eyes. My face is nice and clean, even after I eat my chow!

And really, I am writing to say that I love my new food. I had my mom type the label in- it's "Evanger's Pheasant and Brown Rice" and then they stir in a little of the wet food "Duck and Sweet Potato". To tell you the truth, I like the dry food even by itself, with just a little hot water stirred in, and I never liked dry food before!

Mom says this is gross and I shouldn't tell people about this, but we dogs don't mind such topics: my insides have been much happier on the new food. I think my old food was too rich for me.

Mom is going to embarrass me by adding a photo of me bundled up in one of my sweaters. It's very cold in Chicago right now so I need it!

What a Day!

I hardly know where to start. Today might just have been the craziest one of my entire life. And my life hasn't exactly been all naps in sunbeams and walks in the country.

So, we woke up really early, and rushed through our morning walk and breakfast. My whole body was itchy because my fur was way too long and it was all matted up. I could barely see while we walked from the fur over my eyes and all the goop making it clump up in big chunks. I was so embarrassed whenever other dogs saw me like that I'd just bark and bark hoping they'd run away. It didn't work very well. I'm very small and not so very intimidating I guess. And breakfast! Don't get me started. They try, I know they do, we've been through so many different foods. But none of them is very tasty. I can't help it if I'm picky. I'm a special girl and I deserve special food.

But clearly today we were going to go somewhere in that big, fast, noisy thing. The only time we ever get up early and rush through walks and breakfast is if we're going somewhere. I wish London didn't get so upset about going out places. Nothing bad ever happens. He's such a worry wort.

Well, we went and went, and then eventually we got out of the big, fast, noisy thing again. OK, Daddy is telling me it is called a "car" and that's lots easier to type, so I'll do that from now on. We got out of the car and went indoors to a place that wasn't our home. We met people who all knew my name and were very excited to see me! They kept calling me a "winner". I knew I was a special girl but it was nice to finally meet some people who agreed with me! Usually I don't like it so much when Mommy and Daddy leave me with strangers, but these people were so happy about me being there I thought maybe this one time it would be OK.

The first thing they did was have me stand and sit just so and a person had one of those face things that click. Mommy has one, too. They don't seem to do anything but click. I don't know why they always point them at me.

Apparently, this is one of the places that we go once in a while, where I have to get a bath and then they cut all my fur off. This takes a long time and involves getting all wet and things. Sometimes it seems nice and sometimes I just want it to stop. I can be a bit confusing and overwhelming. But when it was all over, I wasn't itchy anymore, and I could see all around, and my face wasn't clumpy or goopy! Everything was just soft and clean. This was very exciting for me.

Then there was even more of the clicking machine. This time with lots of strangers -- human strangers and another dog stranger. Her name is Nina and the humans said she is a winner, too. They also said she needs a forever home. That made me a little sad. I used to not have a forever home and it was terrible. At least I had my London with me to keep me safe and not so lonely, but Nina doesn't have a London. I hope she gets a home soon. She was nice, and they made her all soft and fluffy and clean too so she looks wonderful! We ran around and around and around shouting to each other about how pretty we both look. That was fun. London was anxious about it because he's always worried other dogs will hurt me or will take his place as my partner. He's silly. No one will replace him, and Daddy won't let anyone hurt me. He's even bigger than the big, big dogs, so I know he can keep me safe.

After the clicking was done, Mommy and Daddy came back. They made lots of excited sounds and held me and pet me. I like that. It makes me purr. I don't know what a "cat" is, but everyone says that I secretly am one. They're wrong. I'm Mei. That doesn't sound anything like "cat".

Being a winner means that along with my fancy bath and haircut, I also got new food! It is the best food we've ever been given. I even have second helpings sometimes, and I -never- wanted seconds before. Daddy says that maybe soon I won't be so skinny anymore, which is good because I get cold a lot.

All the excitement made me very tired. When we got home I curled up on my pillow and took a very long nap. All this typing is making me tired, too. I have to run all around to get to the right buttons. Daddy says it is time to push the button that says "publish post", so I am going to do that, now.