Charlie and Rosie!

Hey guys!  Just thought I'd post a few of the pics I took yesterday when I was outside with the dogs.  In case you don't know, Charlie is the Maltese and is 10 years old, and Rosie is the beagle and is 3 years old.  Enjoy the doggie pics!

Rosie!

The Doggie Update! 11/20/2012

Hey guys!  Today I figured I’d give you all a little update on the doggies Charlie and Rosie, since it’s been awhile since I’ve written a post about them.

Rosie is doing well; she’s still the cutest beagle I’ve ever seen.  She’s still quite skittish around my Dad, but overall she’s been so much more relaxed and comfortable with us than she had been when we first got her.  We’re pretty sure she’d been abused by her former owner- my Dad seems to believe that she was a hunting dog that wouldn’t hunt.  She’s got a chunk of her right ear missing, which could have been caused by a bullet, or who knows what.  But overall, the best we can do is try and keep her relaxed as possible and show her lots of love.

Charlie on the other hand, is a completely different story.  He still loves the family and loves being pampered and cuddled like he’s the King of the house, but his health hasn’t been perfect.  After many months of worry and anxiety over his well-being, we finally discovered that he has several infections in his lungs and a collapsed trachea, all which are contributing to his awful cough.  After being on many different antibiotics, he’s finally started getting better, and has gained most of his weight back.  He’s now almost 7 pounds!  He’s definitely healthier than he’s been in months, but he still has a long way to go.  I’m just happy that he’s been doing so much better.  It was definitely scary when he wasn’t feeling well!

Well, that’s it for the day – I thought I’d just give you all a quick little update about the doggies and how they’ve been doing.  Thanks for reading, and until next time – happy reading!

Meet Tigger!

     This past Friday, my friend Brittany and I visited the local SPCA where I volunteer to look at the kittens that they had because my friend has been considering adopting one.  For those of you that don’t know, the SPCA is an animal shelter.  The first cat we saw – Kandy Korn – was an orange and white short hair that we both absolutely fell in love with.  We went into the playroom with him and he was so friendly!  He couldn’t stop climbing into our laps to cuddle and he was purring up a storm the entire time we were with him.

     We looked at other cats too while we were there and while we did find many kittens that Brittany liked, none of them compared to Kandy Korn.  We asked a few questions about him and about the adoption process in general, and the next thing we knew, Brittany was filling out an adoption application and we were approved right on the spot.  Brittany called her parents and they agreed to let her adopt the kitten, so the next thing we knew, Brittany became the owner of a kitten!

     On Monday we brought Tigger, the kitten’s new name, home to Brittany’s apartment after he was neutered at the vet. He was a little out of it because of the anesthesia, but overall he was doing great.  He was pretty playful considering what a rough morning he’s had, and we had a great time playing and cuddling with him all night.

     The next morning, Brittany said that he had been acting really strangely, so she ended up taking him to the vet again.  They found out that he had a mild respiratory infection – something that takes care of itself.  So, he’s been a little miserable and not as playful the past few days, but overall he’s doing well and we can already see that he’s recovering. 

     So meet Tigger! The newest animal in my life!  I hope everyone is doing well and that you all have fabulous days!

Charlie's First Bath

A few days ago, I woke up like any other morning and rolled over to an unpleasant sight… and smell.  My adorable little dog, Charlie, had decided to poop in his crate at some point in the night.  Not only did he relieve himself in multiple ways if you catch my drift, he then proceeded to roll around in the mess and get covered in it.  And believe me, I can only wish I was making this story up.

Once I got over the stench that now filled my previously clean room, I stooped down and attempted to clean up as much of the mess as I could without gagging or vomiting myself.  And let me tell you- I cannot even begin to describe how nauseating the sights and smells were.

After I had taken Charlie outside to do his morning business and fed him and had cleaned him up as best as I could manage with the little supplies I had available to me, it became clear that I would have to tackle another hurdle I had yet to face in pet ownership – the bath.  

One eventful trip to PetSmart later, I was ready for battle.  I have to admit, Charlie was so cute in the car and in the store that it was hard to be mad at him for making a disgusting mess at that point.  Anyway, I filled the bathtub with a couple of inches of warm water, placed him in the tub, and waited for him to try to escape.  Which, thankfully, didn’t happen. 

Thinking I got lucky, I began to take a large plastic cup and pour the warm water over his body, which he seemed to enjoy.  At first he, splashed around playfully.  Until I got to his head.  I tried my best not to pour the water into his eyes, but he was not happy about having water on his head.  And that’s when the escape attempt happened.  However, his break for freedom was shortlived, as he quickly slipped (not much, and he didn’t get hurt!) and realized there was no way he was going to be able to jump out of the tub.  For the rest of the bath he was calm, and relaxed a lot more when I began massaging him more with the doggie shampoo.

I think I enjoyed the bath experience a bit too much because I couldn’t stop taking pictures of him.  And I couldn’t help but notice how much more of a rat he looked like once he was all wet.  But I think he still looked adorable.  So now I (thankfully) have a nice clean and poop-free dog!

Charlie

A few weeks ago (on 12/23/2011 to be exact) I got a dog!  I’m so excited because this is my first ever pet.  My friends were very surprised that this was my first pet ever, but my mom always said that she didn’t want a dog and/or that she doesn’t like them, even though everyone else in my family wanted one.  But, recently I’ve really been feeling upset because of a lot of things going on in my life and I’ve been having a hard time getting up in the morning because things have been really bad.  So, I spoke with my parents, and because the dog with will be with me in my apartment while I’m away at school, they said YES!!!

My dog’s name is Charlie.  He is a white, 7 pound Maltese.  Right now he actually has almost no fur because right before we adopted him he was taken to the groomer and they shaved off way too much of his fur.  So now he looks like a little Chihuahua and he keeps shivering when we take him outside.  So I had to buy him a little sweater, which makes him look even more adorable.

The only real issue we’ve had with him is the fact that he wasn’t trained very well by his previous owner so we have to work on very basic commands like ‘sit,’ and work on house-breaking and things like that.  But, overall, he is such a sweetie and is pretty well-behaved so it’s really not a huge issue, especially since we knew beforehand and we’re expecting it.