So that is what this post will be about...just an update!
Let's see, a few months ago we had a little stray dog show up on our doorstep. When I first saw her I was pretty disgusted as she looked like she had some horrible disease. I told the children to not touch her, and honestly was hoping she'd go away and leave us alone (I know, I'm pretty horrible sometimes!). She smelled horrible, had seeping sores all over her body and her back where her spine was was completely bald...in really bad shape! This picture was taken about a week after we had her on medication. So the seeping sores are gone and hair was beginning to grow back in.
I put in a call to the animal control and chihuahua rescue to see if they could come get her, once I realized she would not leave our doorstep. Animal control was busy for the next few days dealing with more dangerous animals, and the chihuahua rescue was looking for a foster home. After spending a night in very cold weather on my doorstep, I received an email from the chi rescue asking if I could put her in a kennel out of the elements until they could find a home for her. I felt so bad that I had not thought of that myself! Especially after such a cold evening. Well I looked out my door and there she was, curled up on my mat shaking like nothing else...I put the cat kennel in front of her and she very quickly went inside.
From that moment on, she had my heart! Mark in the beginning was not wanting us to keep her as he felt like I had enough on my plate. The chi rescue people were taking forever and I was wanting to know what was wrong with her and hoping to get her in better shape as she seemed so miserable. So we took her to the vet after a day, hoping and praying she did not have mange. She ended up just having a bad flea allergy and a tail that needed amputated due to somebody putting a rubberband on her tail and letting it die in the middle.We were so excited we could actually get her fixed up pretty easily on some meds and tlc, and mostly that what she had would not hurt our current animals. Within a week, her sores were all gone and we had scheduled an appointment to have her spayed and her tail amputated. The vet and his assistants were shocked at what a sweet dog she was. They kept going on and on about how normally little dogs come in there and nip and yap, but all she did was lick and be sweet and submissive.
So finally Mark decided we could keep her (YAY!) so we had to make sure her and Mercy could get along without Coco trying to constantly attack Mercy, we're thinking little dog syndrome! They now love to rough and tumble together, which is pretty funny seeing their size difference, but they seem to love it! She is not yappy either like many dogs her size and breed, which we enjoy as well...we are guessing she's a chihuahua / min pin mix (a chi/pin).
After watching many episodes of "The Dog Whisperer" off of Netflix, I am training these two dogs and really enjoying it. We are taking two daily walks together, helping to bond them to me as their pack leader and to each other as well. I am finding that I really enjoy dogs more than I ever knew! Plus any reason to be outside is always a bonus.
The children are all enjoying her immensely as well. It is nice to have a dog that they can handle themselves on a walk, give her a bath on their own, etc.
Recently, even though Mark has always claimed to dislike what he calls 'rat dogs', I caught him in his man room like this...
I'm thinking he's falling for her as well :) Me too! I recently told him I think I will be wanting a lap dog forever now! It is so nice being able to take her places easily with me...Another funny thing back when we were debating on keeping her was her life span. When we first got her, I was guessing she was an old dog due to how bad she looked and told Mark at least we would not have a long term commitment if we chose to keep her. Then we found out that she is actually no more than two! Now I'm happy about that as I want to be able to enjoy her as long as possible!
