Basset Hound Update!

Well, I'm really late with updates yet again!! What can I say? I've been busy training Stella, making bears and taking care of our neighbor's dog across the street.

Stella is 6 months old now and she's grown quite a bit! She and Sequoya (our Chihuahua) are best buds!! You can see them play together (and also Cleopatra our whippet) in the video below taken just a couple of days ago....

Isis is doing Great!

As many of you know, our sister Isis had a bad accident in late April of 2007 with injured her rear end and aggravated a serious heart condition that was hiding. She was given just a month to live...

Here we are in July of 2008 and Isis is still here and doing great! I know Momma has not done an update on her lately, so since I (Cleo) have taken over this diary, I thought I'd let you all know how she was doing.

Naturally her favorite past time is lying in a sunbeam.... I think that's the #1 favorite past time of ALL whippets! Turns out it's also a favorite past time of chihuahuas too - here's a photo Momma took of Isis and Sequoya sunning together. Doesn't Isis look great? She's finally put on just the right amount of weight.

Woof at ya soon!
Cleo

Are You Looking for a Chihuahua? or Whippet??

Although we found our wonderful Chihuahua, Sequoya - I still take a peek at the Chihuahua Rescue USA site to see who else is now looking for their "forever homes" Sadly, there is a constant flow of Chihuahuas that come into rescue.

You can read bios and see photos of the Chihuahuas (and Chihuahua mixes) available at Chihuahua Rescue USA here.

I know that some people think that all dogs in rescue are there because they are "bad dogs", but that just isn't true!! Sequoya was given up by her owner due to allergies and landlord issues. Her sister Flower was too! That's Flower's photo below... she's still looking for her "forever home". We met her too and she was just adorable!

This adorable little boy below - Pistol Pete - ended up at CRU (Chihuahua Rescue USA) because his Daddy passed away :( Just look at that face!!

Cha Chi is another sweet boy whose owner passed away :( The family didn't want him so they dropped him off at a shelter. Fortunately, CRU got him out of the shelter and he is still looking for his new "forever home", but is out of that scary shelter!

There are some Chihuahuas that don't have the reason they are in Rescue posted in their bios like 1 year old Bellamy below.

But the great thing about adopting thru Rescue is that the foster moms and dads do TONS of work with them, get to know the fosters in their care in order to match the right dog to the right people. Bellamy LOVES being held... and when his foster mom bends over to pet other dogs he will jump on her back to crawl up on her shoulder and reach over to give her kisses!!!

Stay tuned for more photos of Chihuahuas looking for their new "forever homes"! I'd love to adopt them all, but I can't. So I'll try to do the next best thing... helping to find these loving dogs their new homes! :)

And as Whippets are our first breed... I must mention at least one of the whippets currently looking for her "forever home". Fortunately for the breed, Whippets have never been in movies or commercials... and have not gained the popularity that the Chihuahua has. Thus, there are not nearly as many Whippets in Whippet Rescue as there are Chihuahuas in rescue. But it does still happen!

This is Penny. She's a 6 year old female whippet who loves to play frisbee! (non of our Girls ever got the hang of that LOL!) She is looking for her new "forever home" with her "sister" - 8 year old Paige. They have been together since Penny was 8 weeks old! If you think that 2 whippets will be harder to care for than one whippet, let me assure you - 2 whippets are much easier!! Whippets LOVE to cuddle together and almost need another whippet to be with (although yes, there are some people who have just one whippet and they do just fine)

You can read more about Penny and Paige... and the other whippets looking for their new "forever homes" on the Whippets for Adoption Rescue page.

More Photos!

I have not been a good blogger!! I had promised Sequoya's foster mommy - Marg - that I would take lots of photos!! Well, I guess I've been taking them, but not sharing - and that's almost as bad! So here are a few that I was able to edit today! If you click on the photos it will take you to the larger one I have on Flickr if you are interested. I hope you enjoy ;)

Shopping Again ;)

OK I can't help myself!! I was on eBay and found this adorable Chihuahua Pillow here, how cute!!!

Fun Whippet & Chihuahua Shopping!!

When we first got Cleopatra (our first whippet) it was hard to find Whippet stuff to buy. The Whippet is not a popular breed, so it doesn't make a lot of sense for stores to carry products that will take up shelf space and not sell quickly. Thank goodness for the internet!!

The Chihuahua IS a popular breed!! So it is easier to find cute Chihuahua stuff locally than it is to find Whippet stuff -- but I still love the internet! There's such a wider variety to choose from ;-)

Here's a couple of cute things I found tonight at CafePress.com
- you can click on the pictures if you want to see them in the store....




And I think this is definitely true of us.....

This is what Sequoya Thinks of her "Belly Band"....

Our little princess is doing just fine! I did take her to the vet yesterday because she started acting funny. Her spay area opened up a little and it was hurting her :( . She's been licking a lot even though I've tried things to stop her. She's able to get out of the cone collar!

She's back to her frisky self today but I keep her a bit quieter. She's taking some antibiotics to help. I also finally figured out how to keep her from licking... withOUT the cone collar!!!

I sewed up a piece of fleece with some velcro to go around her entire body area from just behind her front legs to just in front of her rear legs. Kinda like a belly band for boys, but much wider. It covered (lightly - air can still reach it) her spay area enough so she can't get at it.

First time we tried it on her, she was sitting with Bob, and I left the room. She hopped down, did a little wiggle on the carpet and off she went without her belly band! Smart little girl LOL!

So I've added one more thing... I put her harness on her and have attached the belly band to the harness so she can't wiggle out of it. She's resigned herself to wearing it now, but at least it's not for long :)

Sequoya's Portrait

I wanted to take a picture of our little girl "au naturel" so you could see how pretty she is! She was such a good girl.... it was sunny in the family room at this time so it was warm then. But shortly after this... the sweater came back! I can't wait till it's up in the 50's temperature wise!!

Brrrr it's Sweater Weather for Sequoya!

Holy COW it's cold!!!! When you are short haired and less than 4 pounds - you certainly need a little help to keep warm during the winters in Chicago. Fortunately, it can be a lot of fun too!!

Sequoya's foster mommy Marg very generously gave us a couple of sweaters to start Sequoya's wardrobe. Isn't this adorable!!! It has a faux scarf on it too!

I'm looking forward to adding to Sequoya's wardrobe.... there's TONS on eBay! Check out the ones I found below. I love eBay - I can shop in my PJ's if I want to LOL!!

Getting to Know her Big Sisters

The second day... but still the first 24 hours in her new home.... Sequoya has decided to get to know her big sisters! Sequoya has no fear of the "big Girls" now and just trots along with them to see where they are going.







Sequoya's favorite place is Mom's lap - but she also enjoys a sunbeam when it decides to show it's face....

A New Addition!

We'd like to introduce you to a new little addition -- Sequoya! Sequoya came to us from Chihuahua Rescue USA. Her original owner had to give this little darling up due to allergies and landlord issues.

Sequoya is a Chihuahua. She's almost 1 year old... her birthday will be this weekend. She weighs all of 3 lbs 10 oz.

Sequoya is doing wonderfully! We got home about 4pm Sunday evening - right at the Girls' dinner time. I had Bob take Sequoya into the bedroom and then first took the Girls outside, then gave them dinner.

After they calmed down a bit I brought only Cleopatra into the bedroom. Bob was on his knees looking at Sequoya on the bed. :) Cleo came over very gently and sniffed. That's why I wanted Cleo first.. I knew she'd be gentle. But this big dog was kinda scary for Sequoya and she growled a little.

Cleo backed off no problem. I took her out and brought Isis in. We figured she has to meet them soon anyways. Same thing... So then I picked her up and let ALL the Girls in. It was OK cause Sequoya was up high.

We all went into the living room and I sat in my chair with Sequoya. All the girls came up sniffing of course... and Sequoya growled a bit. We got the Girls to back off - they went to lay on the couch.

By 5 I wanted to start dinner. I was going to put her in her crate but Bob said why? So I put her with him and she lied down on his chest in his recliner - it was so cute! I did get a photo but I still need to download it. This little dog already had Bob wrapped around her tiny paw LOL!!!





At dinner time I brought Sequoya's pup tent carrier into the kitchen and she layed in there while we ate and while I cleaned up - so Bob could catch up on his lap top.

After dinner we took turns with her :) while we watched TV and then a movie (300 which was awful by the way). Then it was bed time.





Sequoya had a wonderful night last night. We had purchased a little dog bed and put it in the headboard between our two pillows. Bob turns over a lot in bed and didn't want her getting squished.

Bob was already in bed and I was still getting ready... so the light was still on. He kept putting Sequoya into her bed and she kept coming right out and sitting on his pillow next to his face LOL!!!

I finished getting ready for bed, got a blanket for her, turned out the lights and set her in her bed and covered her. Well, let me tell you she was in heaven!! She stayed cuddled in there all night till it was time to get up in the morning.

Today she's walking around sniffing everything... checking it out (well, except now cause I'm sitting... so as you know... she's in my lap ;). The Whippet Girls still sniff her - but it doesn't bother Sequoya one bit now. She knows that they won't hurt her so she doesn't care a bit!

She is SO cute walking around with her long legged sisters! More photos soon!

She didn't feel like eating much last night.. not surprised. But I did have some chicken baby food so I let her lick a little so her tummy wasn't too empty.

This morning she still turned her nose up at the Eagle Pak (the food she is eating now) -- but loved the Girls' Canidae LOL! The kibble size is the same! I only let her have one though. Don't want her to get sick by eating too much of a new food. I took my blender and chopped her Eagle Pak up, and mixed in some baby food chicken and so she did eat some of that.