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....

Long Overdue Update!!

I am sure you are thinking... "Well, THAT'S a funny looking Whippet!"

Well, our hearts are still breaking over the loss of Isis last August. Although our friends Kathy & Debbie did have whippet puppies when we lost Isis, I was NOT ready for another dog or a puppy.

But last November, we went out to dinner with friends. After dinner they needed turtle food, so we stopped in the pet shop that was next to the restaurant. They have puppies. I've always been able to go in here without a problem because I don't have them take the puppies out. Our friend Peggy, however, DID!

She had them take out a cute little Shitz tzu. She was cute, but I had no problems. Then Peggy saw the female Basset Hound puppy and had them bring her out. Bob grew up with a Basset Hound.

My gosh, the look I saw on Bob's face....I knew it was now time. But 1) Did I have the time/energy to raise a puppy? and 2) We really did not want to buy a puppy at a pet store!

Bob and I went back and forth for 2 weeks... and then I realized that I was ready for a puppy (and all the work that goes with one). So I started looking for Basset Hound breeders. They are not easy to find near Chicago. Most of the Basset breeders are down South as Bassets are hunting dogs.

But then I found a breeder just 30 minutes away and she had puppies! A litter of 12 - with only 3 girls. We definitely wanted a girl! She asked us questions and we asked her questions and both decided each other was OK LOL!

So the week of Christmas we brought home Stella Margaret. Margaret cause it was all Peggy's fault that we even thought about getting a puppy LOL!

Here she is the day we brought her home with our friend Dawn:


And here are the Whippets checking out the new kid....




Surprisingly, Pandora is the whippet who decided to be the new momma to this "little" baby!



And so begins a new chapter in our lives! Stella keeps us laughing, that's for sure!! We still miss Isis every day..... but Stella helps to heal our hearts.

Pandora does it again....

Today Bob brought Isis' ashes home and we had another good cry. Just when I think I can't cry anymore...

But Pandora certainly got me running :) I let the Girls out after dinner and seconds after they ran out the door (in the fenced back yard) I spotted Pandora trotting proudly around the yard with the adult bunny she just caught!

Have you ever tried to pry the jaws of a proud whippet off of its prey, with 2 other whippets crowding in on you? It's not easy! I had to take Pandora outside of the gate so when I got her to release the bunny I didn't have Cleo or Athena right there to snatch it away. Didn't have to worry about Sequoya, this bunny was bigger than her!

I have to say, although I did have to pry Pandora's jaws open, she was VERY good and didn't snap at or bite me. I got her and the Girls inside and took the bunny across the street to the woods and weed for the coyotes to find tonight.

I'm certain there's some people out there who wish we never had Pandora spayed... this is her 15th creature captured! And that's in a fenced yard...

Don't Cry... I had a GREAT life!

Hey Guys, it's me Isis. Here's a picture of me my first day (actually my first HOUR) in my new home with Bob, Laura, Jen, Cleo & Athena. Today I went over the rainbow bridge... but I went HAPPY!!!

I've been really acting like my old self lately... doing my tricks, beating up on my sister Athena, racing down the hall to go out, running out in the yard.

Today Mom and Bob were out, but Jen was home with us. She had to run a few errands, but when she came back she let us out in the back yard as usual. She let me out with Cleo, and then I took a flying leap up the deck stairs so I'd get my treat for going inside.

Well, when she let Athena and Pandora out, I wanted to go out and PLAY! I was having my last hurrah. I had a wonderful time playing with my sisters. Then it was time for me to go to the Rainbow bridge to wait for everyone there. Jen was there with me as I passed over. Boy, what a wonderful way to go :) Bob, Mom and Jen are crying a bit cause they miss me, but I wish they wouldn't. I'll see them later when they get here.... and I'll be bringing them my favorite green tennis ball....

Isis Update... by Momma

Yep, that's my sweet Isis girl... asleep in a basket :) We had been noticing her slowing down over the past several months. (she has congestive heart failure) and lately she had been having some IBS problems. But then a couple of weeks ago she stopped eating or drinking. I wouldn't force her to eat, but I knew water was vital so I'd squirt water onto her tongue many times a day.

As you can see in her photo, she can't "not eat" for very long! Besides which, that is usually the sign that they are ready to "go home". We wanted to give her every chance though... and took her to our fabulous vets - Dundee Animal Hospital. We assumed we would be given the worst news....

But our Isis girl, she is stubborn with a capital S! She always has been, and it has certainly come in handy during her illness :) After Xrays of her heart and blood tests to test her organs, (as she is on some fairly strong meds) it appears she was dehydrated. She did start this on the hottest, most humid day of the year... poor thing! (even in the a/c)

The doctor gave her some fluids under the skin - which is tricky with heart patients... so she gave her 1/2 the normal amount. Also some meds for her upset tummy - which actually works on the brain, not the stomach.. cool. And help for her IBS.

The next day she was feeling better... not totally, but eating and drinking! After a few more days I called the doctor back and told her she felt a bit better, but still had problems with the IBS even on the meds. After a 15 minute phone consult, she had me just zip into the hospital real quick to see one of the techs for another dose of fluids, and some more stuff for the IBS. (probiotics) She also decided to go ahead and cut her digoxin in half. That med is the only one that she is on that would cause the IBS.

Boy did we see a difference within a day! Now our sweet Isis girl is behaving like she was 6 months ago! Full of piss and vinegar, trying to playfully beat up her favorite "sister" Athena :) This is certainly a dog with 9 lives!

Update on Dog Food Issues

I thought I'd give you all an update on the "dog food issue" as Mom calls it. Well, first Mom tried Iams as that's what our friends use.

But Athena still had problems outside, and my tummy was upset in the mornings. Mom fixed that with some Pepcid AC, but still - I didn't want to eat something that upset my tummy! Momma thinks it was the corn in the Iams that caused us problems.

Her friends also recommended Pro Plan Sensitive Skin & Stomach so she tried that. I LOVE this stuff and my tummy is all better now! Athena is still in the process of switching over but is doing well.

Isis was still having some issues. Mom had tried to switch her over from what she had been eating to our new food so she could just buy one type of food. But it didn't work well for her.

Last weekend our friends Nixie and Gremlin came over with their Mommy Dayna. Isis snuck into their room and snarfed down their kibble!! Momma thought she was going to have to deal with messes - ugh! But surprisingly there were none!!

So... on Monday Momma went out and bought some of that food for Isis and is in the process of switching her over to that. She's eating just regular people rice and chicken breast right now.

The new food is Nature's Variety Prairie Kibble. She's trying out the chicken and brown rice flavor. Momma even found a Nature's Variety coupon for buy a bag, get a bag free! Nature's Variety "Try it" Coupon

Momma is really hoping to have most of this all set by the time she leaves to visit her friend Daphne in New Hampshire at the beginning of June!

Isis - 2 years Since Accident!

Last weekend (last weekend in April) marked the 2 year anniversary of Isis' accident. Back then, her dogtor thought she would be lucky to have a couple more months left, but here 2 years later she's still with us and enjoying life!

Bob and Mom have noticed that she's now starting to slow down a little, and that makes them a little sad. They're really hoping that she'll stick around for a couple of more years, but realize that may not be the case.

But they are SO happy that they have had these 2 extra GREAT years with her! I have to tell you, Isis has gotten very spoiled in these 2 years. I wonder if she knew what she was doing? LOL!

I'm really glad to have my sister around to play with too! She and I still love to play stalk....



And she loves to pummel me - we call it "battle dog".

And I love to share my treats with her!



And there's just nothing better than relaxing on the bed with your sis! Even if Mom IS trying to change the sheets!

STOP Feeding Your Dogs Canidae!!!!!!!!!!

Mom notice that a lot of people find our blog by searching for Canidae dog food coupon. I'm here to tell you to NOT buy Canidae dog food...there is a big problem with it... and it's making us sick.

Mom put us whippets on Canidae all life stages dry kibble after the pet food scare a couple of years ago. We liked it and it was made in the US from all US ingredients. Mom thought she could rest easy.

About a week after Mom got the latest bag of Canidae, Athena got diarrhea. Mom thought well, it's spring and she's eating grass, nothing new. A dose of Kayopectate and some chicken & rice and she'll get over it.

She did NOT! She was doing alright on chicken and rice, but every time Mom tried to get her back on kibble, she'd get sick again. Tried again, this time up to 25 kibbles per meal, but last night got sick again. Something is not right!

Now Pandora and myself (Cleo) are on the Canidae as well, but our tummies are not as sensitive as Athena's. Both Pan and myself did get a touch of diarrhea, but were fine after a couple of days... although we still aren't 100%.. more like 90%.

So Mom took Athena to the vet... no parasites, no illness.... try adding metamucil for more fiber and she gave her some medicine to help her poor intestines.

Mom got on the phone with her friend Daphne and Daphne started searching on google.... turns out there has been a MAJOR recent problem with Canidae . http://www.consumeraffairs.com/pets/canidae.html

There are many comments on here about dogs showing the very same symptoms that Athena is showing... starts to get better on chicken and rice... but as soon as the food is re-introduced, no matter HOW slowly.. they get sick again. Mom is switching all of us Whippets from Canidae to ANYthing else!

Oh, I forgot to mention... Isis and Squirt never were on Canidae, and they are NOT sick!

Free Shipping on Dog Toys, Treats and more!

OK I hope Mom read this email she got from PetSmart.com
We've been inside all winter and we need new toys!! Some chewies would be nice too!

Mom got an email from PetSmart letting her know about the Free Shipping offer they have. If she spends $40 before taxes and enters in the code FS40 in the promotional code field, then her shipping is free! Of course, dog food, litter and other heavy items are not included in the offer, but hey - everything else is!

The offer is good till February 9th but I hope she doesn't wait that long! Thank goodness we live in the lower 48 states cause that's only where the offer is good.

Sigh... back to dreaming about bunny rabbits in summer grass......

We do NOT like Snow!

OK... my tail is between my legs. Turns out I need Momma's help sometimes to keep this diary up. But this is a new year, so she said she'd try again.

I have to tell you, when it's cold and snowy out for a long time, us whippets get cabin fever!! We may love to lie around and sleep a lot, but we need to burn off some energy too!

So our Bob built us an oval race track in the back yard with that big loud red machine that eats and spits out snow. Momma even braved the cold to take a few photos of Pan and Athena out on the track. She didn't even try to take one of me... humph! She said since I am white, you would not be able to see me anyways...

New Dog Treats Site!

Momma has just started a new blog site - recipes for dog treats!! Boy are we excited about that! Some of the recipes are hers, some she's gotten from others, and others she's found but has not had time to try out. I don't know WHY she hasn't had time to try them out yet... I think that should be her FIRST priority!

You will find not only recipes there, but also links to other sites where you can buy gourmet dog treats or even links to more homemade dog treat recipes! Here's the site: http://dogyummies.blogspot.com/

Time to Sun!

Sorry, not much to say today.... now that momma is home, it's time to lie in the sun on the deck...ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhh

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

Momma Dog is taking over!

Hi!

"Momma Dog" is one of my nicknames - actually this is Cleopatra. Our momma - Laura, does NOT seem to be doing a very good job at keeping our page updated. So I have decided to take over.

I know she's very busy with her business and taking care of the 5 of us, but there's people out there who want to know what's going on with us Girls! ;)

Woof at ya soon!
Cleo

A word about Greenies - a dangerous treat!

A couple of years ago I had a teddy bear artist friend who lost her dog to Greenies. He did not choke on it, he chewed it all the way. But it did not go all the way thru his digestive tract, needed many surgeries, and eventually died from infections from the surgeries.

I was reminded of this as I was flipping thru my recent pet catalog - and noticed that they have greenies for sale.

Here is a link to a post on Whole Dog News about other people who have had similar problems with Greenies: http://quikonnex.com/channel/item/15930

I thought it would be a good idea to post it. We tossed our Greenies in the trash when I first heard of the problem my friend had :( Yes, I could have sold them on eBay and made some money. The package was unopened. But I didn't want to be responsible for the death of someone else's pet either....

Lost a Friend Sunday :(

Last Sunday we lost a friend - Scotty. I used to dog sit him when his "parents" would go on vacation. I'd bring him over to play with the Girls so he wouldn't be lonely while they were gone.

Sunday they went out to breakfast for just 45 minutes and came home to their home on fire. Scotty didn't make it :(

We are now in the process of having a smoke/fire detection system installed that will alert the fire department right away if there is a fire. We didn't know those types of systems existed!

We'll miss you Scotty!!!

Fun Photos

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 ;)

Eagle Pack Holistic Select Dog Food COUPONS!!

Sequoya's foster mom had her on Eagle Pack Holistic Select Chicken Meal and Rice dog food. Bob's Auntie Jan (big dog lover!!) also loves this brand. I emailed them for coupons and they sent me a pdf for a $10 off coupon!!! It's only good until March 10th, but there's another one for $5 good until the end of March too. I thought I'd share it with you too! I'm always looking for good deals :)

The coupon is in PDF format and you can download it here.