This is the kind of thing that disgusts me

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/crime&id=7555757


I live in Philly so this is a bit upsetting...especially when I'm getting emails each day about how full the shelters are on how they're euthanizing animals left and right.

Sigh. Well let's hope Philly (which is normally VERY low stocked on small dogs in the shelters) finds home for all these little guys FAST!

You look like your dog?

Well how about having the same medical condition as your dog? Scout broke out in a nasty rash and I've been watching it for the past month but this weekend it got REALLY REALLY red/pus-filled (ewww). So, I traveled back to my hometown so she could see the vet and the result: she has allergies (well dermatitis resulting from allergies...I have eczema which is like a severe skin allergy (sort of)). Anyway, she got a secondary staph infection from scratching (hence the pussy grossness) so he gave her a shot of penicillin and a shot of steroids. She's on oral Baytril for the next 10 days and a low dose steroid spray...it's by the company Virbac and it's called Genesis (it's technically a chemical known as triamcinolone acetonide..which I use every night after I shower to keep my skin from overreacting and breaking out in dermatitis). The vet explained that she'd have flare ups (like myself) depending on the cause of her allergies so most likely she'll be on this Genesis stuff for the rest of her life. Her abdomen already looks SO much better (no pus-filed bumps but some mild inflammation and she doesn't bite/scratch at it terribly).

So...considering she's been on the SAME food and been using the SAME shampoo since I first brought her home and it's only been the last month that she's had a skin reaction maybe it's something outside? Some sort of plant that's touching her belly? Or just seasonal/spring allergies? I'm hoping it's seasonal but I might try switching her food to see if it helps. She's currently on EVO red meat small bites but I've been switching (every other bag) to EVO salmon & herring formula. Anyone have similar issues or any suggestions?

OH and her weight? 10.12 lbs!! She clearly has the potential to chub up so I'll need to keep an eye on her but she actually seems to be in good shape as I can palpate her ribs with minimal fat covering and when I bathe her I can see a clearly defined waist. So conclusion...10 lbs is a good weight but I'm going to be keeping a close eye on her...

Scout's first boating experience!

I took Scout fishing with me this weekend. It was a little on the hot side but she did very well with it :)

Ugh, every time I look at pictures of her, I realize my little baby is all grown up! Where does time go?

Graduation!

My graduation was last night and Chris and I took some photos of the pups in their graduation gear. Susan, a woman on the clubchi board, custom made their outfits for the event (though they didn't actually go to my graduation) so I figured I'd share!

Updates!!

Sorry we've been MIA...I've been finishing up classes and I graduate in a week :D The dogs have been good. I've been working on a lot of training with Scout including the length and duration in which she can "stay" and "leave it" (very hard for her since leaving a piece of bread or chicken is almost impossible when your whole world revolves around food). Scout got her retained canines out a few weeks back and THANK GOD the chewing has finally ended!! She was big time into my wood furniture but now that those pain in the butt teeth are gone, she seems to be feeling better and only chewing on appropriate dog toys! The pics below are Peanut hanging out in the sun, her all time favorite activity. The one of Scout is from a week ago at the "winter in spring" event. They put down a few tons of snow for everyone to snowtube on at my University. Scout is obsessive about the snow so she couldn't get enough of it (as you can tell she was trying to roll in it in the pic).

Peanut loving the sunshine ;)


She looks a little grumpy here with those big cheeks!


Scout & her snow obsession!

I promise to post more as soon as possible!

I didn't do it!!! Okay...maybe a little.

Midterm Week is Dangerous...

...because I'm posting a bunch of pictures that you all must endure! AH I HATE STUDYING (of course I'll probably repeat that OVER and OVER once vet school starts in August haha) and I will use anything as a distraction! I usually online shop when I'm studying (also very dangerous). Last week I bought 2 new puppias and a life jacket for Scout. So far this week I've only bought a new dress for my upcoming gala and a box of 50 bully sticks for Scout & P.

Here are some more low quality blackberry pics.






And here's a picture of Peanut and my dad bonding as he sleeps haha. She really does love him.


And the oldest picture in this picture dates back to around 5 months ago when I picked Scout up! When I brought her home my dad said she looked more like a baby aussie than a chihuahua and my mom thought she was a mutant due to her size hehe :D I can't believe how fast they grow up though..sigh.

New Puppia Harnesses for My 2!

So the Puppia harnesses I ordered last week FINALLY came in!! I was a little iffy about the sizes. Peanut has an XS yellow but getting her head out of the hole takes a little bit of pulling which she doesn't like (can't blame her), so I decided to up her to a Small and in red because it's always been my belief that she looks great in red! Scout on the other hand got the lighter blue and I ordered her a Medium which sort of freaked me out because it just seemed SO huge. Well, Peanut's is a little loose around the chest and at 2 years old I have little hope of her gaining weight so it's going to be a little loose on her...preferable to shoving her face through a small hole. Scout's medium is a little loose around the neck (but not the chest lol) and I'm actually really glad I went with the medium...I tried the small on her and the chest part wrapped around near her shoulder blades and made walking quite uncomfortable...she really is a loooong (but short) puppy. Since she has the potential to put on weight (let's hope not I've already gotten questioned about her weight) or at least fluffier with her coat, the medium seemed like a good choice! Sorry for the bad picture, I'll get better ones after my next exam on Thursday :D

Chris' Video

Chris made a cute little video with some footage he had of the dogs this past spring. He compiled some stuff from his week stay with Scout (his true 'bonding' time with her as you can tell haha) as well as just playing around in the yard (if you watch carefully you can even see my parent's aussie Cooper in it at one point)! My boyfriend is such a goof but I'm so glad he loves these two little ones as much as I do (...if he didn't I guess that'd be the end of him lol). Anyway enjoy his strange little video!

Beach Trip!!

The pups got to go to Island Beach State Park this weekend! While the water was FREEZING, it was so beautiful...nice and clear! This was a first time on sand for both of them but they enjoyed it :) OH and in case you can't tell by the pictures, miss scout is HUGE weighing in at a whopping 8.7 lbs (as of her deciduous teeth removal vet apt last wed.)!

Vet Trip

So both the girls had a trip to the vet. Scout had her two baby canines removed (HOPEFULLY this ends her nonstop chewing. She wasn't a big teether from the 3-7 month age when she got all her adult teeth in but lately she has been chewing everything from my wood furniture to electrical cords/wires/headphones). She's eating wet food and on antibiotics for the next 10 days but doesn't seem too painful. On the other hand there's Peanut. I might have told you she has had a lot of skin issues (the result of her crappy breeding but that's another story). She was first diagnosed with demodex even though her hair loss was very localized to the top of her open fontanel. Well, after 8 weeks of Ivermectin treatment it didn't clear up at all. So I let it go and then it seemed to be getting worse (or expanding) which made me think it was something infectious even though Scout's coat was perfectly normal. So off we went to UPenn's Animal Hospital. Fortunately I know a doctor (a vet with a Ph.D who studies the pathology of skin disorders in animals) that could accurately diagnose Peanut. I had an idea rolling around in the back of my head and was pretty sure I knew she had follicular dysplasia. After a few skin scrapes/biopsies the results were in: color dilution follicular dysplasia. Follicular dysplasia in dilute colors such as silver fawns/blues is the result of POOR breeding as it is a genetic disorder. In Peanut's case, excess melanin clumps around the hair shaft and causes it to break resulting in her little bald head. Fortunately it doesn't have any impact on her health or well-being. She will continue to live a long and healthy life she'll just be my little bald girl. It's possible that she will lose more hair over time so I have to use a conditioner to help keep the hair as flexible as possible. I have to minimize hair breakage by not putting on collars/brushing excessively. Because her head is unprotected I have to keep her squeaky clean to avoid secondary bacterial infections as well. Sigh. At least it's figured out and I know how to manage it.

NOW for the worst part :(
While Peanut was hanging out at UPenn, one vet decided to tell me how I have raised a "bad" dog. According to her I am an enabler and only baby my dogs creating small dog syndrome. Now, I'm willing to take some of the blame for Peanut's behavior but I think a large portion of it is very very poor breeding. Peanut knows commands and she does listen though on this particular day she was quite stressed from having her skin scraped until it bled on the top of her head and on her ears and so she was a little skittish. She did try to bite the one vet (the one was criticizing me) after which she proceeded to hang my dog in the air by her harness (hoisting her up by her leash). Now that doesn't seem like the appropriate way to correct her behavior. Peanut is incredibly fearful and has resulting aggression, Scout does not display such behaviors and has never bitten anyone so I'm inclined to say it's not entirely the environment Peanut was raised in but also the genetics (the old nature vs. nurture argument). I do not baby my dogs and I rarely carry them around. Peanut has had a LOT of socialization however she still reacts fearfully. We had a break through this weekend when she rolled over on her back to two friends that she never met before who stayed at my apartment. Slowly, I think Peanut is learning. I was just very insulted by this woman's critique (not to mention she later added that I would be the type of person to raise murderers as my child judging by the way I handle my dogs. She told me she is used to military style dog training and when I look at Peanut I need to see a rottie and not a chihuahua). While I will continue to work with Peanut and help her get out of her shell, I refuse to acknowledge that I "destroyed" my dogs. BOTH are a work in progress and I give them all the effort I can. Sigh. Sorry for the long post I've just been really upset by Peanut's follicular dysplasia and the commentary from this "professional."

Scout's Photoshopped Shot!

It makes Scout look kinda old but I love it!

Another hiking day!

My boyfriend and I took the "ladies" (since Scout is becoming quite the adult I can say this haha) to a mountain trail. I think by the end of the hike, Chris & I were both more exhausted than the dogs :D

Quite the retriever, eh?

WHO NEEDS A FRIENDLY GOLDEN RETRIEVER...when you have SCOUT the WATER DOG (though my boyfriend would clearly outline the differences between Scout and a golden retriever as he's a crazy golden retriever fan and counts the years until he can finally own)!! I took Scout with me and my dad hiking down at the Delaware water gap. Scout absolutely LOVED it! She was very well behaved, hurdled over the logs easily, but then passed out for about 4 hours straight after the adventure! I started randomly throwing sticks in to the water for my own entertainment and found that Scout started getting daring enough to go after the close sticks. The water was a little on the chilly side but I can't wait to see how far she'll go in when it's a bit warmer! Here are some pics of her doing her thing out in the "wilderness."

Random

Random collection of pictures I took today while avoiding doing homework and studying for my finals :(


I know this might sound horrible, but I'm considering trimming the ear crazy-ness. My boyfriend likes to make fun of her hairy ears but I've always thought it was adorable. I've never cut the hair though but now it's starting to look especially stringy and quite long. She's going through a very awkward stage right now, but I will still stare at her for about 5 minutes thinking "what a gorgeous dog." I think she's a wonderful example of the breed with the exception of the fact that she's too large under breed standards (but I think her size is absolutely perfect).




Sunbathing!


Though somewhat gross to admit, I have a thing for veins (ask my bf, he'll tell you how much I admire his jugular haha). Anyway, I love the way the sun lights up P's ears and all her veins just "pop." I apologize if I've grossed anyone out here, I've done many animal dissection and I'm always amazed by the incredible anatomy in the animal world.

THE END!