So yesterday I had to go to the vet to get me "wellness visit". How stupid. If I'm well, why do I have to go to the vet and get stabbed with needles and stuff. Jeez people. Get a clue!
Anyway, at first I had fun cuz there was a kid there with a little dachshund puppy. I got to play with them and it was pretty cool. I didn't know it was a vet place. I thought it was just a fun place. So when it was my turn, I walked into the room on my leash. My foster mom didn't even have to carry me. I thought something was up when I had to get on a metal table. But the vet was really nice and I liked him. Until he stole some of my blood. (He was a vampire in vet's clothing! How sick do you have to be to want to steal Chilli blood!) Anyway, my foster mom said they were using it for tests, which apparently I passed. Then they stabbed me with needles. Then they wanted to watch me run. My foster mom says that sometimes I skip. (Yeah. So? I sometimes don't feel like putting my right hind foot on the ground. It doesn't bother me, so why should it bother you?) The vet says I have a luxating patella on that leg. I already told everybody that it doesn't hurt. And my patella's are way better than my little foster brother, Chesters. So I don't know what the fuss is about. Anyway, the vet said there's really nothing that needs to be done. Just make sure I don't get fat. And don't breed me, hahaha! My foster mom will take a video of me skipping and post it so you can see that I'm a perfectly awesome doggy even if I don't have perfectly perfect patellas.
It's been really really hot lately. That's really not a problem for us chihuahuas as long as we don't get too hot. But in celebration of the dog days of summer, here I am with my foster brother, Chester:
I had a really fun 4th of July weekend. I got to spend lots of time with my foster family and they're really nice! One good thing, I don't get upset about fireworks. Some dogs get really nervous with loud bangs, but I didn't mind at all. (note: we haven't been through a thunderstorm yet, so we don't know about thunder, but fireworks were no big deal.) I was getting a bit fussy about eating so my foster mom has been mixing my dry food with a little chicken broth and I really like that.
I got to go to a party one night. There were a lot of big dogs and a bunch of people I didn't know. They were really cool and I had a lot of fun! Some of those people get the message that it's ok to give dogs food! Pretty cool! I had hotdogs and potato chips and all kinds of awesome stuff. My foster mom doesn't approve of feeding dogs people food, so we kind of had to sneak. (I know. It's kind of silly. But she's really smart about most stuff. So I guess I can forgive her for not wanting me to get good yummy people food.) I met lots of people. One lady had me on her lap for a really long time. She kept saying, "Harvey, look at him! Isn't he cute? I want him!! Please?!" She was cute. Everyone liked me. They kept saying, "What a nice dog! He won't be around long!" I hope they're right! I like my foster people, but I sure would like my own people again. Maybe they'd even let me sleep with them! That would sure be nice!
I AM getting a bit tired of people saying my ears are too big. Jeez people. Get over it. I'm a chihuahua with german shepard sized ears. They don't weigh my head down or anything. I'm sure you have some unique features too! (I try not to feel self conscious, but it's hard when the first thing everyone always says is, "Wow! His ears are HUGE!")
On Saturday, my foster daddy gave me a cookie! It's SO awesome!! It's like a giant bone! Only it's made out of cookie stuff!! (note: it's just a generic, milk-bone-like dog biscuit) I don't want to eat it! I just want to save it forever! It's SO COOL!!!! So I took it into my crate and buried it under my blankies. It's like the best cookie EVER! But then Chester (my little chihuahua foster brother) stole it from my crate. My foster mom gave it back to me and I buried it in my blankies again. But all the other dogs want my awesome cookie. So I stayed in my crate to guard it!
My foster mommy finally said I had to come out of my crate. That I can't spend all day every day guarding my cookie. But it's SO AWESOME! I don't want anyone to steal it. So my foster mommy closes the door of my crate during the day so I don't have to worry about anyone stealing my cookie. I've now had my special cookie for 3 days and I'm never going to give it up!! It's really special. So if you adopt me, make sure to ask my foster mommy to bring the cookie.
On Sunday, a kid came over to visit. He wasn't very clever about dogs. He waved his hands around a lot. My foster mom taught him a few things. I liked him though. He seemed really nice and I didn't mind that he waved his hands around a lot. He liked me too and we went for a walk around the yard on my leash. It was fun. He laughed a lot.
It's Tuesday today and I'm back at work. I like it here. (Of course, I like it everywhere. I'm a pretty cheerful sort, you know.) But I've been getting more confident and I'm even playing sometimes!
Hi! I'm Chilli, a 5 year old, 7 pound chihuahua. I'm told that I have really big ears.
Up until yesterday I lived with my mommy. She had to give me up so I went for a car ride and she gave me to a nice lady from Yankee Chihuahua Rescue. Then I had to go in a strange car IN A CRATE!! I don't know why I had to ride in a crate!!! But I was very brave and I got in the crate easily and didn't cry or anything. We went for a pretty long car ride.
Then when we got there, there were dogs of all sizes. I like other dogs, so that was ok. I peed and pooped outside when I got to my new house. They say I like to "mark" things, whatever that means. All I know is things smell better when they smell like me! So I made every tree, bush and rock smell like me! It was fun. Then when we went into the house and I sniffed around for a good long time. I was going to make the ironing board smell like me, but when I lifted my leg, the foster lady yelled "NO!!" and took me outside. I guess they don't want stuff inside to smell like me. Go figure.
I spent the evening begging for food. I like food. And I met the man foster guy. He's awesome. I like him a lot. In fact I like all the people. There's a teenager that likes to cuddle.
That's pretty cool. There's a big black dog that tried to get me to play. But I didn't really want to play. I wanted to eat and look around.
Then the foster lady took me outside to go pee again, which I did. Then she told me I had to sleep in a crate. How foolish. These people have a LOT to learn. Chilli's like to sleep on beds, not in crates. So I barked. But only for a couple minutes. Then I went to sleep and slept until morning.
This morning the foster lady took me outside to pee and I did. Then I got to eat breakfast. Yummy! Then I went out again. Then I found the kid and cuddled with her for a while.
Really nice.
Then I had to get in the crate in the car again and I went with the foster lady to her work. I met a bunch of new people. They were nice and gave me cookies. Now I'm hanging out in the office with the foster lady.
It's boring and I keep wandering around looking for things to do. There's toys and bones here. I've chewed on the bones. But it's kind of boring. There's a chihuahua named Chester who came to work too. He's sleeping. And Maria (she's a bigger dog) is here too. She's sleeping. It's pretty boring. But I guess it's ok. There are really big scary metal stairs here and I was afraid of them. So my foster lady took me up the elevator the first time. Then when it was time to go down, I got afraid, so my foster lady picked me up and carried me down. But then I guess she got tired of carrying me, because she put me down on a step near the bottom. I went down the other 4 steps myself. She said I was really brave. That was this morning. By afternoon, I was running up and down the steps like I'd done it my whole life. The only bad thing about work is that people don't share their food with me here either. They give me dog cookies, but you'd think they could have kicked loose with a little piece of bologna or something at lunch time. Oh well. I guess I'll relax for a while. I wish I knew where I was going to live for good. I want to have my own people again! But this will do for now.
I've been bad about updating for Pearl. But she's not blogging any more. She's to busy enjoying her new home. She went to her forever home last week with a lovely retired couple and I'm sure she'll be very happy there! Another happy ending!!
My foster mom thought you might like to see me at work. I no longer need a leash. I'm right there by her side every minute. My foster mom still keeps me on a leash when we're outside and at work if we're cruising around the building and she might get distracted by work or something. But I'm loving having more freedom!
I'm really feeling ready to go to my new forever home. My foster mom says that I get to go live with Miss Charlotte in a couple weeks. She's the nice lady I met last weekend. I love her. But I still have to have surgery on my cherry eye first, so it will take a couple of weeks until I get to go home to live with Miss Charlotte.
Wow. What a busy weekend! On Saturday, my foster mom took me all over the place. In the morning she took me to Maine and I met these really nice people. The lady really knows how to pet a Pearl! I could have sat with her all day. She was really nice. It was a long trip and I like trips. Every time my foster mom opens the car door I jump right in (even before she wants me to.) Now I've learned to jump in and get into my little crate.) I love to go places!!
Then that night my foster mommy took me and Chester to a party. There were lots of people and lots of hotdogs. My foster mom wouldn't let Chester have any hotdogs, but I pretty much ate my weight in hotdogs because everyone wanted to feed me. It was awesome. My foster mom REALLY doesn't approve of feeding dogs people food and CERTAINLY never feeds dogs people food when she's eating it. She hates having dogs begging from her when she's eating. So I've learned to leave her alone when she's eating. But these people were SAPS!! They ALL fed me! It was SO COOL!
I didn't want to pee in these people's grass before we went in to the party, so my foster mom was pretty neurotic about watching me. You know how she gets. But I really didn't have to go. So that was annoying. But I didn't embarrass her or myself by having an accident. She took me outside about a million times. But I wouldn't go. My foster mom was annoyed that I wouldn't squat and squeeze out a couple of drops to make her feel better. HELLO! I REALLY DON'T HAVE TO GO!!
Chester and I saw a cat and at the same time we both ran after her. Except the stupid cat wouldn't run. It just sat there and stared at us. So that was embarrassing. Chester and I had to turn away and pretend that we didn't mean for the cat to run. Everyone laughed at us. sigh.
Then everybody sat down and played a stupid card game. It was a bit boring, except for every so often, someone would drop something. So I hung out under the table and ate potato chips and stuff. I sat with my foster dad which surprised my foster mom. I generally don't like him much. He reminds me of someone I hate. I like most men especially the ones that ignore me, but not him so much. But I sat with him cuz he seemed to like that and fed me more. My foster mom was surprised that I didn't barf, cuz I ate so much. Chester sat on my foster mom's lap while they played cards and another nice lady picked my up and I sat on her lap for a while. It was fun.
Then when we went back home it was really late. All the dogs went out to get empty and I did too. But then I didn't want to go to bed. I wanted to party still. My foster mom was understanding about that and let me run and play for a few minutes. I grabbed a toy and wrestled with it. My foster mom was surprised because I've never played with a toy. But when she would throw it, I would run and grab it.
It was so fun. Then she helped me settle down and put me in my crate for the night. I slept like a rock. Good times!
So now I've been in my foster home for an entire week. It's been pretty fun and I'm happy. My foster mom thought this might be a really good time to talk about my potty training. I know. Embarrassing, right? I can't believe I have to talk about this, but my foster mom thought a bit of detail might help my new family know how to best help me with this. For the record, I haven't had an "accident" in a couple of days and they really weren't my fault anyway, so I don't know what all the fuss is about, but whatever.
The biggest challenge to potty training (other than I've never done it before) is that I've been in a kennel for quite some time. I don't know if you know how nasty that is. That means I have to pee and poop in the same place that I sleep!! Yuck! I am a very tidy dog. I don't want to be near pee or poop. They're gross. (My foster brother, Leo, doesn't even notice if he steps in it. ICK!! He's a big slobbery lab. So that explains it, right?) But anyway, in a kennel, you can pee whenever you want. You never have to hold it. So now, I am learning that I only have certain opportunities to pee. At first when my foster people would take me outside, I wouldn't go right away, so they had to wait. But I'm better about that now, since I'm learning what I'm there for.
The other tough part is that these people expect me to pee in GRASS!! I think I might have mentioned before that grass is weird tickly stuff and I DON'T LIKE IT!!! So it's hard to think about peeing when your feet are in icky grass. But I'm doing it. My foster mom took a video of me today going pee in the grass. (I know, right?!?! How embarrassing is that!!?! There must be a law against posting stuff like this on the internet!! Jeez!) But here it is.
So that was taken at 11:30 this morning. Do you want to hear my basic pee schedule? Really? You do?! Wow. Humans are obsessed with the weirdest stuff!
Ok. Here goes. So for the first week, I woke up and the people scurry me outside to pee. What a lame way to start the day. Go in the wet dewy grass and pee. But then I got to go in and have breakfast. Then the people took me outside for another pee/poop break. My foster mom seems to not be satisfied unless I have peed 3 times and pooped once. I think she might be a bit of a control freak and a bit overly obsessed with toileting habits. But I love her anyway. In any case, if my foster mom wasn't convinced I was empty, she would watch me like a hawk and if I started to sniff around she would take me out again. It was a bit annoying. But she seems to be relaxing more now. She's making good progress.
After I got more into the habit of peeing right away when she took me out, it started to get easier. She still took me out more than I really needed to go, but sometimes I would tell her I didn't have to go, just so I could get out of the icky grass. But she seemed to be pretty patient.
For the last couple of days, my foster mom has mixed it up a bit. I overheard her saying that she wanted me to learn to "hold it" so she has started waiting until I look like I really have to go. I don't really like to scurry out of my crate in the morning to pee. Sometimes, I really don't feel like I need to go until I've moved around a bit. So for the last 2 days, my foster mom has fed me before I went out. That was fine with me, but my foster mom watches me super carefully before I do my first morning pee. That's for sure!
Now when I'm at work with my foster mom, I have to go out whenever she has a minute. So like today, I peed and pooped after breakfast at 7:30. Than we all went to work. When we got there, I peed before we went in at 8:30. Then I went around the office on a leash and visited people. Then I got to play with Chester and Rudy. Then I got to chew on a bone and nap for a while. A couple of times my foster mom wanted to leave the office for a few minutes so she put me in my crate then, but I didn't mind. Then at 11:30 she took me for a pee break (that's the one she videoed.) Did I mention that it's WICKED EMBARRASSING!!?! Then a guy came into the office and they had a meeting. I hardly barked at him. Now I'm having a nap (it's 1:00 and my foster mom's having lunch.) She says she doesn't plan to take me out again until 3 or 4 PM. You might be wondering how I'm writing this and sleeping at the same time? If so, you're thinking too much. :)
Just so you don't think that my foster mom ONLY takes videos of dogs peeing, here is another video of me today at work.
Anyway, I don't really ask to go out yet. My foster mom doesn't give me a chance to cuz she takes me out WAY more than I need to. I guess that might be why I haven't had many accidents. A couple of times I've started to squat in the house and she scoots me out the door super fast. (One time I only wanted to sit down. I wasn't peeing at all. Jeez! I get it! You want me to pee in the grass. Did I mention that my foster mom's a bit crazy?)
Then this weekend I was home alone with just one of the kids and when my foster mom came home she found a poop on the mat in front of the door. Jeez. I was at the door. WATCH ME GUYS!! LOOK! OVER HERE!! I HAVE TO GO OUT!!! But my foster mom was a bit disappointed since she had taken me out to pee right before she left and she was only gone for an hour. But I didn't think about pooping then. I'm still not used to the concept of holding it and voiding all at one time. And I had already pooped once in the morning. So all things being equal, I prefer if you take me out too much and watch me the rest of the time. I'm easy to watch. I like to stay right with my foster mom. She knows that if I'm not right next to her, I must be sniffing around. Sometimes I'm just looking for food, but if I'm sniffing, she takes me out. I guess it's ok. I've only been working on potty training for a week so I think I'm doing pretty well, right. Didn't it take you longer than that to learn where to pee? :)
Update - 5-28-2010
So it's been a full 2 weeks of potty training and I am doing really well. I'm on a pretty regular schedule now. Here it is:
6AM(ish) - my foster mom takes me out of my crate and I go for a quick pee. Then we come back in the house and I get breakfast. Than My foster mom takes me out and I poop and pee again. She doesn't believe I'm empty in the morning until I have peed 3 times totally and pooped once.
8AM (ish) - I get in my traveling crate in the car and we go to work. My foster mom expects me to pee again when we get there before we go in. If I've already peed 3 times this morning, she doesn't push it. Usually I pee right away and we get to go in to work. If I don't pee right before we go in, she keeps me on a leash the whole time I'm there except when we're right in her office. She's really neurotic about making sure I'm empty at work. But I've never had an accident there, so I guess it's ok. My foster mom says that her work people will develop an attitude about helping socialize us foster dogs if we pee in the building. So we have to be really careful.
12:30 (ish) - My foster mom takes me out to pee. I usually go right away.
4 (ish) - We leave work. I have an opportunity to pee, but I usually don't go and my foster mom doesn't care. Then I jump into the car and get into my traveling crate and we usually go home.
4:30 (ish) - We get home. My foster mom checks if I want to pee before we go in. I usually pee either before we get in the car or after we get to the house. But if I don't feel like it, she doesn't care. She just watches me like a hawk (sometime keeps me on the leash, because it's hard to watch me when she's getting home to all the chaos.)
5PM (ish) - All 6 dogs get to eat. We all eat together. My foster mom gets all the dishes ready and then we get fed in order of age. Or size. I'm not sure how she decides. But old Toby and little Maria get fed first. At first I wanted to try to take their food. But I've learned to wait. Then Lucy and Leo (they're really big) get fed. Then Chester and I get ours. If anyone gets excited about feeding time, my foster mom just stops and stands there and waits for us all to settle down. So everyone has learned to sit politely and wait for their food. The others used to get really annoyed at me when I used to get excited. But now I get it. I don't get anything if I'm pushy. Then after dinner we all go out. I pee a couple of times and poop once. My foster mom plays ball with the big dogs. Chester and I play some and it's really fun.
9:30 (or right before my foster mom goes to bed.) - Chester, Maria and I go out to pee. Then my foster mom puts me in my crate for the night. Usually I don't mind because I'm tired, but sometimes I cry for a couple of minutes, because I really would rather sleep with the rest of the people and my foster mom. My foster mom just ignores me.
My foster dad often gets up at 5AM and I wish he would come and get me, so sometimes I bark or cry a bit when I hear him moving around and letting the other dogs out and stuff. But he doesn't take me out. I have to wait for my foster mom. And she won't come if I'm noisy. So I usually settle back down after a couple of minutes and wait until she's ready to get up. My foster mom tries not to let me hear her moving around or talking before she's ready to take me out, because she doesn't think that's really fair. Chester likes to sleep late. I'd sleep late too, if I were in that big comfy king sized bed. He's always the last one up. :)
This week I've only had one accident. My foster mom didn't let me pee after work before doggy dinner on Tuesday. I would have peed either at work or at home before we went in, but she didn't give me a chance. So I peed while she was dishing out food. She knew I probably was having an accident because she noticed I wasn't right by her side. She called me and I came right away, but she knew that I must have peed and went looking. She found my puddle. :( Oops. But I really had to go! All she needed to do was let me go before we went in the house. But she still thinks that only one accident on my second week of potty training is pretty good.
Anyway, that's the drill. Hope you liked hearing about how I am being potty trained.
