The Surprise Chute

So.. I've noticed several times before, that Poochie occasionally had rotting fish breath (.. at both ends). But I never bothered to look it up and instead put up with it until recently. So, anyway... I learned that it could be impacted anal glands.. but I knew it never got bad for her because the smell would go away and she never resorted to scooting or anything beyond a few licks.
Anyway... she started sticking her bum at some point tonight and i smelled it.. and phew.. yeah.
SO thanks to the research I had done previously, I was somewhat prepared to do whatever it is I was supposed to do.

Did it. Mystery brown liquid on a napkin. Over. Wasn't thick and the smell eventually went away and she stopped bothering with her butt. So.. I've checked it off as a successful first time. :)

.... I was a tad shocked once I saw that the squeezing did cause secretions.. and then the smell was 300 times worse.. and since I was kind of confused and had no idea if whatever I was doing was even right.. I checked to see if she was cleared or not by sniffing her butt... first whiff.. HUGE mistake..

it choked me a bit.

i still smell it. it's.. in my nose.

Running machine

During those icy days, I couldn't take Poochie out for her daily walks so I taught her to walk/run on the treadmill! Honestly, I didn't think I'd be able to do it, since she's so scared of anything big and loud.. but she loves it!

It's been a while...

Hey everyone

Poochie's doing super :)
Within the last few weeks her ears and her tail got a little bigger. Her tail is longer and a little fatter.... definitely not that flattering. Poochie had a blast on the weeks worth of ice we had not too long ago... Slipped and slid everywhere.

New tricks! "turn" and "shake". "Turn" she only knows in Korean, though. So she knows all of her commands in both English and Korean. Yes.. yes, we are proud of her :)

Socializing

Forgot to note that she has been making progress with being around people!

Happy Holidays and Greetings to a NEW YEAR!!

My dad returned from Korea with one of his sisters as well as a bundle of gifts for Poochie! A great quality knit sweater (comes with matching scarf) cost around $10.00.

Here's another shirt he got her. Actually, it was a freebie from the groomer's my aunt's Yorkie goes to. Each time they go, they're given free dog clothing. I hate pink and I hate wings, fairy-like things, but this shirt... is a winner. I think it's the teeny wings that bettered it. The pink isn't too painful, either.

She also got two pair.. sets of shoes! All leather, zipper, velcroe, and fashionable... for around $10-$15 each. They fit perfectly and stayed on. Awesome, awesome. As soon as my birthday present (camcorder, hurray!) comes in, I will take a video of her in them. After a minute she's gotten the hang of the 1 set (black & white). The other set is brown leather and a size bigger than it should be, so it's a bit funky... Have you seen a dog trying to walk in shoes for the first time?? Do you know just how painfully hilarious it is?? Now, don't comment and say something annoying like, "that's inhumane," "you're torturing the poor dog," "you should go kill yourself," "etc.". I think she'll appreciate having warm feet when out in the freezing cold. She loves her clothes more than anything. If I pull one out and prepare it to be put on her head, she dances, sits down, then sticks her nose out for me to put it on her.

Oh deary me

It's been quite a while since my last update!

I have been sick and busy. Now that I'm a full-time student, I'm twice the busier.

Poochie is well... She did have a bit of a skin problem due to the dryness and coldness. Our house is super dry ...
She had these hot bumps on her back for a couple of weeks. It's all cleared, though it spread a bit to her bum, but that's nearly cleared as well. I kept her back moisturized and cooled with a peppermint oil spray I made. I don't know if it's the cooling mists or just time, but her back did show signs of getting better when I started to use the spray. It also made her coat smoother. She never showed any changes in behavior. The bumps didn't itch, either. I could tell that it did irritate her, tho. During the breakout, she also chewed her tail raw. It healed as soon as I sanitized and applied ointment. Used Bitter Apple to keep her mouth off.
To keep her warmer I made her a fleece vest. It's super cute and she likes it. She dances when I bring it out.

She dances a lot now.

Such a brat of a princess, she is.

Still working on the socializing, but her training is going really well. Still haven't taken her to classes, but I think I'll still wait on that till I can take her to more advanced classes and once she's much more socialized. Due to my busier schedule and being so ostracized from friends, it's harder to go out and do things.

I am loving the low gas prices, thanks to our WONDERFUL economy...

My first book is published and availble for purchase online!!!! EXICTEMENT!!!!
I was going to wait on giving the link out till my name is put in the inside of the book, but the publishers like to rip us off on teeny changes like that, so.. here's the link!!! I'd prefer you guys buy the softcover, since my name is permanently on that one. The hardcover has my name on the jacket, but not on the physical book :(

Rosie Fights the Twisted Wind - Written by Tad Troilo, Illustrated by Jennifer "Bagel" Han

Here are a couple pictures of the book that the author sent me a copy of :) (Thanks Tad!)

The jacket:

The Spine!! My first real, hardback spine. (without my name T_T )

Poochie's First Snow!

At first it had snowed enough to cover the ground...



Then it started to snow heavily



When I noticed that it was starting to snow again, it was also windy and blew a lot of snow into our deck.















Eager to go back in

Charlee Bear

Karly (Bailey's mommy) was giving treats that looked like these. I'm not sure if they were Charlee Bears, but I think they were... The ones I bought are "liver". Poochie loves them; therefore, I love them. LOVE them. Poochie now knows the "down" command. She learned this within minutes of me having opened the bag. Of course, Poochie's smarts and myself also deserve some credit, but still.. Poochie has never shown this much exhilaration and such hard work for her other treats. Awesome. Pure awesome.

If you own a dog and you've never given the love of your life these treats...
then you leave right now and you go buy some now!
Charlee Bear

Buttplug

I'm an intern at Port Discovery, a children's museum in Baltimore and I've developed a habit of watching the PBS channel before I leave. Which means I get to watch a number of educational kid's shows, including: Super Why!.

When the lead character first suggests we go to the "book club," I swear it sounds like he's saying "to the butt plug!". When I first heard it, I was like, "what'd the kid say?!" And then the next kid says "to the book club!" and it sounded like "book club". That was the only way I knew what they were talking about. It wasn't just that one time... anytime the show comes on I hear it as "buttplug". It's only when he repeats the word that it sounds correct.

I like the pig. Although, his song is starting to get pretty annoying.

New Friend, New Sweaters, First Pests

Poochie's made a new friend! Pictures from their first playdate will have to be posted later, but we recently went to Soldier's Delight, Serpentine Trail for a nice, fun hike. From there and from Bailey's home, Poochie got her first ticks.

Here's little Bailey, the 5 mo old Jack Russell Terrier~


The color of the leaves were pretty



Quite a nice park

Now, I'm looking for some essential oils to make pest repellent sprays. For some reason, I can't seem to remember any local stores, nor am I having any luck in finding one online to go to. I need either geranium or peppermint oils.

courtesy of aromaweb.com

Poochie's first sweater started to look more and more like some rag thing Hercules wore in the Brat Pitt movie, Troy... Anyway, my mom made a second one with two colors of Lion Brand yarn. More stitch techniques started to come back so it started to look more and more like a store-bought sweater. Unfortunately, this one came out too short. It really was more like a vest. Since the whole point of a sweater/vest is to keep Poochie warm... my mom made another one. Perfect! It even has a collar. Only downside is that it.. slips back down to her tail... Need to tighten it up here and there. We had some fun with the 2nd sweater and as miserable as Poochie might've/must've been.. it made me laugh till I lost a kidney... It was painfully, pathetically adorable. Oh, and for once this mean hat idea wasn't mine; it was my mom's!

With her faux hat... and miserable.. perhaps




Without her faux hat and exhilarated.