All spayed or neutered...

All went well yesterday with the speuter of Bella's litter... I've never understood why some men are SO opposed to neutering their male dogs and puppies... Males are usually up and about a few hours later like nothing has happened... It is usually the females that feel MAJOR YUCK that day and the next...

So Nacho was up and about an hour or so later after I brought everyone home and seemed a bit dumbfounded in regards to the absence of his sisters' unwillingness to play (or gang attack him!)... :)... He kept trying to encourage them to come out of the doggie bed and play, but to no avail...

Finally Nacho gave up and crawled into the pile with them!... If you can't beat 'em, you join 'em I guess!

Daisy - She is moving along!

This little girl has come leaps and bounds this week! It seems so far as though the medication that the vet put her on for the nerve in her leg that has been bothering her has been working. We will know much more about how much it is helping her in about another week... Her leg doesn't seem to be stopping this little girl though! When we come home at the end of the day, she comes flying out the doggy door to the backyard running to the front gate jumping and barking and wagging her tail with excitement along with the other dogs. Up until now she would stay in the house when we arrived, but not anymore! The minute we open the door she flies back through her doggie door jumping around with excitement! You would never know she was scared of people or that her leg was tender. As soon as we sit on the couch to say hello, she leaps up and is right there to be first in line for her rubs! Daisy is a happy girl and her rehabilitation progress is really starting to show. We are very proud of her!

Alas, a failed meet & greet...

Well, it may be "failed" is too harsh of a word, but Bella did not get placed on her meet & greet yesterday... And even though I did caution the new potential adopters about her issues with dark shirts, baseball caps, etc., Bella did not warm up to them from the very beginning... Although I can tell someone how warm and loving she is once she gets to know you, first impressions are really what people base their eventual decisions on...

But, I don't really consider this a failure in the negative sense of the word...

My husband seems to feel that Bella bonded to us immediately out of pure necessity... He feels she was traumatized by being pregnant, delivering one pup, picked up by a shelter person, transported in a closed but vented shelter truck, deposited into a shelter kennel with all those strange sounds and smells, to deliver the other four puppies she carried...

From the very first moment I approached Bella, I did my usual 'dog voice' and I allowed her to move out of the kennel into the Xpen area at her own speed... She's never had any reason to mistrust me, but I expected her to be aggressive towards me as I removed her puppies from that kennel...

So maybe he is right - she bonded with us out of pure necessity... We provided a serene environment for her to nurse and raise her puppies, we were the source of her food and water while our dogs are exceptionally affectionate towards us...

Bella did NOT care for riding in a moving vehicle since day one (and that can be from that ride in the shelter truck as she was delivering her litter)... Every trip in one of those contraptions meant going to the vets and being prodded and pricked with needles, especially after the trip to ER and then ICU for most of the day!... While nursing, I could not allow her to get out into the general public for fear of what she'd bring back to the puppies... So she's had 2 months of not being forced to socialize with strangers...

Even visitors to our house have been looked at apprehensively by her, although most that cared to render treats were able to scratch her underneath the chin eventually... We don't have people coming and going around here like a revolving hotel door, so although this was a great environment for her to raise those tiny puppies in, now it has proven to be somewhat of a detriment...

My husband disagrees that Bella was a homeless person's dog... He thinks she did indeed have a deep and loving bond with her previous owner, but when she showed up pregnant, they didn't want to deal with a litter of puppies, so they dumped her at Hanson Dam... He tells me that's a dumping ground for stolen cars, dead bodies and just about everything else someone wants to get rid of fast...

However, we both agree that Bella's previous owner must have loved her and spent a lot of time with her because once she gets to know you, she is so deeply attached to you... If she were mean or aggressive, she'd never sleep every night on my pillow for sure!...

So for now?... I've been working with her on the halter and lead, but I couldn't start doing that in public until the stitches from the spay were removed... We're going to start taking her to one of local malls on lead so she gets more used to strangers moving about (and they don't hurt her) to rejuvenate that acceptance again...

She's no trouble at all here at the house (smile.. more than I can say about her pooky puppies! ) and I am SURE the right person with the right home will come along... Bella's a quick learner and is 100% potty trained, gets along well with my guys and we'll get her over this hump about strangers in time!

New collars all around!

Next step in getting the puppies' ready for their new furever homes is collars... It's an odd feeling for new puppies, but the less issues these cuties have to go through while still with their siblings, the easier any adoption will go... So walking down the 'catwalk'... correction... 'dogwalk'... (drum roll please)

And now, sporting spring green with only the sedate charm that our little lady has, I present our Miss Ebony:



And our other reigning priceless princess in the pack is dear Mercedes, fashioning the latest in festive pink to match her cheery disposition!



And now allow me to present Ms. Sophia in vibrant red!... Ah, Sophia would you like to turn around and show the folks your newest adornment?... Can you drop the toys for just a second?



{{We interrupt the dogwalk presentation as a few of our contestants decide to engage in Chihuahua Puppy Takedown}}



LADIES... A BIT OF DECORARUM IS REQUESTED... HUMRPH... AH, LADIES???

Oh, sorry, Nacho... Didn't realize you were next in line...



And finally, our Dulce in her red collar with white doggie bones... Uh, Dulce... We love what you've done with your tail, but we really would like to see you look this way... Yes, I know... Your brindle 'tiger stripes' is your favorite side... (I need to remember these kinds of things for a girl always likes to present their best sides to the camera - don't want to get kicked out of the foster's union, ya know?



Well, folks... Hope you enjoyed today's 'dogwalk' and the new collars!

What can puppies do in five minutes?

Every day we transfer all the puppies to another Xpen and then break down their entire area at least twice a day, washing all the blankees and toys, removing bowls and running them through the dishwasher, etc... Puppies are pooky - no getting around that!... At least 5 or 6 times a day we replace the pitty pad to insure no one is stepping in piddle or anything else...

Today they have learned how to undo the latch on each side of the pitty pad frame... So what can puppies do in five minutes with a new pitty pad?... ;) Open it up and destroy the pitty pad!



It's a gang destruction project, I swear! (smile)...

I had to feel sorry for poor Ernie though... He was a good sort, nice to cuddle with and snuggle up against... Until the pups decided they all wanted him at the same time... Needless to say, he didn't survive the onslaught of four females all interested in the same toy!

'Contentment' - Rescue veterans

At TLC we do pet therapy with some of our rescue veterans... These are my two Chihuahuas who regularly go into a senior living facility and brighten the days of those residents... BeeGee is a 'rescue failure' because she didn't match the carpet at one home and the other was unhappy with the lazy tongue, weird 'swagger' walk (she's a Chi-Weenie - 1/2 Doxie, 1/2 Chi), etc... Then we discovered during a routine teeth cleaning that she's a liver shunt dog and not a candidate for the surgery (like Frito, her sleeping bud)...

Even the rescued dogs that come from the worst circumstances can bring infinite amounts of joy to those who love them for what they are, imperfect as we all are... I've labeled this photo 'Contentment' 'cause it says it all to me...

New digs!

The pups are completely weaned now and it was time to reconfigure their "digs"... We expanded their area enough to add a small kennel (door removed for now) so they get used to going in and out of one... I'm a BIG believer in Xpens, crates and kennel for training purposes... We live in wildfire evacuation areas, plus vets just hate it when you bring in your pooch and they sit in kennel and howl for dear life!... Trust me on this one!... Besides this, canines tend to be 'den' animals throughout their lives and need the added security of places they feel safe in and don't object to being in either...

So, with the new digs, Sofia and Mercedes are 'one-upping' each other as to who will be the 'queen of the hill' so to speak... :) ... Ebony's easy going about things like this, Dulce is always the first out of the gate to investigate new things, but Sofia and Mercedes?... They are the 'princesses' of the litter and want everyone else to know it too!... They want the highest spot on the blankee, the center of the pitty pad, the new toy first, etc...

I did manage to get Sofia to sit still for a second - or at least long enough to snap a quick photo of her... She looks SO much like her mother with the whisp of white on her lower chin and the white star on her chest... Bella is such a rich deep and dark, shiny black with a gloss to her coat, beautiful white teeth and such a sweetie in temperament... Of all the pups, Sofia looks the most like her mom and she will be such a jewel to her new family... If she has just 50% of the sweet temperament her mother has, she will be priceless for any family!

Ebony has found her furever home!

Our darling Ebony has found her very own furever home with her new daddy, Marc... Both she and Dulce traveled to Marc's home for the home check yesterday, and all went exceptionally well!

Dulce went along -- you can't leave Dulce out of very much... :) but Ebony stole Marc's heart as she warmed up and then serenely sat on his lap, loving life... When it was time to leave, she wanted to stay but she still needs to be spayed on April 29th and get her last set of puppy shots...

I hope to get a 'success photo op' the first weekend of May when Ebony joins Marc on their new adventure together and will update this blog if I do - hopefully Marc will continue it on and we'll all get to read about their latest adventures together!

Daisy Craving Affection

After her exhausting day with me yesterday and all the fun and excitement of the dog park, much of Daisy's nervous energy was drained. After a nice nap in the late afternoon, for the first time in 4 months she jumped up on the couch and sat next to me for attention! That is unheard of for Daisy! Relaxed and with her tail wagging, she looked at me waiting for me to pet her. Not only does Daisy not come to me voluntarily for affection, but she has a sore nerve in her back left leg that causes her to skip when she runs, so jumping on the couch is not her thing. She has gone up via the steps we put out for her, but NOT when PEOPLE are sitting on it! She has always preferred to watch the happenings from her comfy dog bed... So this was a treat for me to see and I rewarded her with a nice long belly rub for coming uncalled!

Daisy has seen 2 vets for her back leg and a specialist. The specialist has put her on a medication to reduce the swelling around the nerve hoping to improve the aggravation the nerve is causing her. We should know in a couple of weeks how much this medication works for her. The vet specialist told me she may improve greatly and the pain may go away or she may have aggravasion in her leg permanently. Like back pain for people, not much can be done, just managed, so we hope the medication works...

New arrival - Maximillian or "Max" for short...

We have a new arrival around here - Maximillian or "Max" for short... Max is definitely one of those 'million dollar' dogs, and was well named... As long as I have been rescuing Chihuahuas, I have seldom seen a more gorgeous or beautiful Chi and these pictures do not even come close to doing him justice!... Even my husband pronounced him "GORGEOUS" upon seeing Max close up for the first time!

The preferred color of eyes in a Chihuahua is dark and traditionally the fawn/buff color is the usual Chi color --- although this breed has had a lot of changes in it since it became a 'celebrity adornment'... While I'm a stickler for the head and overall look (including weight) in Chihuahuas, my Peanut has the dark ruby eyes that change depending upon how the light hits them... In Max's case, I've watched them go for light ruby to yellow amber and almost green today with the various kinds of light and sunlight...

And he's tiny - 4 pounds at 14 weeks... If this gives you a perspective of his size, Bella is between 9.5 and 10 pounds as she's recuperating from being a nursing mom... I took this photo when the two of them first met this afternoon - tails were both up as they met and that tells me friendly but aloof until they gauge each other better:



Max also has white 'angel wings' across his shoulder blades and a slightly darker demarcation line down his spine... Not socks but white 'footies' on each of his four paws, when Max walks or runs he picks up his front two feet very similar to a trotter in the horse world... While submissive to my crew members, he's not fearful nor aggressive and after playing for a few hours, he curled up on a pillow on the couch for a short puppy nap...

This is not a good picture of him, but he's just arrived and as he settles in, meeting everyone, I tried to take a few photos of him until he gets used to my photo bug tendencies (smile)... He needs to get a tiny bit more weight on him, but with my home cooking and a bit extra protein, he'll fill out in just a few days or so...

Max is up to date on his shots, neutered, will be getting his rabies shot and license next week and is house-trained already... He's not used to the doggie door yet, but we'll work on that in the upcoming week, as well as seeing how he does on harness and lead... I'm not sure I have a small enough harness for him, but if not, I'm sure I can get one at the local petshops...

As I'm writing this, he and a few of the others are playing in the family room, running round and using one of the doggie beds as 'safe'... Then they start all over again with another game of 'catch me if you can'... He's 'all puppy' and pretty good on his feet already, making fast turns and enjoying the playing and interaction as only puppies can...

Beautiful dog - I'll try to get some better pictures of him tomorrow!... I've started his own blog like we do with all of the TLC dogs HERE.

Daisy's Day at the Park

Daisy had her first day at the dog park today! In the morning, she and I ran errands and then ended the day on a nice walk through the dog park in Thousand Oaks.

In the morning she started out a bit insecure with the car ride even though we have traveled together before. She was panting and shaking a bit unfamiliar with the ride and where we were going. By the end of our errands a couple hours later though, she was relaxing with her head on the passenger seat and at times looking out the window and everything going by! With the window cracked, her little nose was sniffing all of the hundreds of smells outside! What curiousity and happiness!

In the house Daisy is very comfortable now, she comes when called of course (when there are treats) and always wants to be part of the mix. Comfortable at home, I still wasn't sure how she would be out in public, but to my surprise she was "tentatively" friendly with everyone that wanted to pet her and walked around the whole day in and out of the stores with her tail up and wagging (and of course loved the food treats we ate during the day together!)

After all my errands were done, to the dog park we went. I had stopped at home to get another member of our pack to lead the way for her at the park, and she followed him all over from the minute we got there to the minute we left. No hesitation to leave my side, and when a bit insure came running back...

She was definitely curious, smelled each tree and each bench - she actually went up close enough to smell some stranger's ankles! Not close enough to be pet, but a good start! Tired and exercized out, we came home after about an hour at the park and she is now curled up on her bed catching some zzz's...

Good day for Daisy, what progress!

Litter's first intro to another dog - nose to nose!

I do pet therapy with several of my Chihuahuas at a senior assisted living facility, along with a few other TLC volunteers... One of my guys (Frito) is just the easiest Chi to work with for he is loving life every second of the day no matter who the dog is, how big they are, or whatever human he encounters... Sadly, Frito is a liver shunt dog and not a candidate for the surgery, so he is considered 'terminal'... On the positive side, we celebrate every day of his life with us, and he in turn, meets and greets all the new fosters because of his amicable nature and disposition...

Yesterday once the baths were all done and puppies were dried, some of their puppy energy was drained off, so we decided to do the first introduction to another dog that was not their mom... They've seen my crew through the Xpen sides, but haven't had a chance to go 'nose to nose' or 'nose to butt' as dogs normally do... They still had a lot of energy as the photo shows, but it was the best time to attempt this first encounter...


While I can't honestly say that Frito enjoyed Sofia chewing on his tail, he handled it exceptionally well... ... Frito is considered a 'deerhead' Chihuahua and is about 5 pounds soaking wet if you're trying to judge the sizes of the pupppies by him... As the puppies are now 1.5 in human years at 7 weeks old, they've done the bulk of their growing in the past month or so....

Even Nacho had to get into the act, being a bit too pushy with Frito, who promptly gave out a bit of a growl about Nacho's lack of canine manners... This is how puppies learn how to be good canine citizens and if properly introduced and good socialization continues as they grow up, they grow into adult dogs that can be taken anywhere and trusted to not be dog-aggressive towards others...




Dulce had to get into the act as well, trying to use Frito as a step stool, and once again, Frito proved to be the 'gentle man' he is... Actually, I'm proud of all of them - pups and Frito combined, for this first encounter went exceptionally well!


Eventually they all settled down and got sleepy - busy day for the pups, usual nap time for Frito... Yet another major step in their lives!

The litter - our first bath!

I'm a bit of a buggerboo about smells and now that the litter is walking in their food dishes regularly plus the other smells that aren't always attractive with new puppies, it was time to get their first bath... We waited until the afternoon sun had warmed up the house to about 80 degrees yesterday afternoon and then set up an Xpen in the family room with extra towels...

My daughter agreed to be the pup-sitter and 'toweler -dryer' for this event... And Dulce was the first one up for a bath in the kitchen sink... She surprisingly did not complain too much about the whole ordeal but once put in the Xpen and dried off, she scampered about like a new born lamb in a field of fresh grass!... She particularly enjoyed stretching out on one of the doggie lounges we had in there as she rubbed dry her tummy even moreso...

The fish in the aquarium behind the Xpen held a bit of her attention over and over again... I think it must have been the brilliant red of my husband's Parrot Fish... Dulce kept going back to that corner, fascinated by their movement inside the tank...


The next pup up for a bath was Sofia and after she was dried, she and her sister Dulce had a particular interest in my daughter's bracelet, along with just about everything else they could smell, touch or play with! (smile)...

Even the smallest amount of movement seems to capture their interest at this age of their life (approximately 1.5 years of human life per their size, breed and health)... It is very fascinating to watch if you're an avid dog observer as I am...

They were making so much noise as they rough-housed in the Xpen, even Bella had to come over and investigate what was going on...

Ebony was the next one for a bath and she wasn't too happy about the process... She's always been the one in the litter who stands back and watches before she dives in and starts participating with her siblings... It doesn't seem to be fear-based but more of an intellectual curiousity whereas Dulce just barges into whatever is going on like the resident party girl, looking for a new toy to play with, interested in what is going into their food dish, etc...

Ebony however is the observer in the bunch and likes to watch from afar until she can no longer refrain from joining in on the fray... In this regard, Ebony is more like her momma than any of the others, for Bella likes to sit and watch what is going on around her too... It amazes me how they all can be from the same mom in the same litter and yet be so different in personalities~!!! It is almost like they watch any game to determine the rules of it before joining in and assuring they are the winners, ya know?... I don't mean 'calculating' in a negative sense however... There's not a mean bone in either the mom nor her litter who are all outgoing and loving beyond the norm...

All of us around here seem to have our favorites in the litter... Sofia is my daughter's favorite and mine is Mercedes... I don't know if it is because she's always been the smallest or because she seems to have the biggest 'attitude' in the bunch... She's vocal when you least expect it and because she's so small, you wonder where she got that voice~!!!... She DEFINITELY knows what she wants and WHEN - and is NOT afraid to tell you either!

Mercedes was QUITE content being bundled up as my daughter was drying her off, and as it took a bit longer because she of the females in the bunch has the longest fur, Mercedes was loving life being held and coo'ed to by my daughter in the towel...

Those warm fuzzies were interrupted when one of her siblings came to investigate why Mercedes was still 'lounging around' in that towel and Mercedes was QUICK to fuss about being disturbed (smile)... It was almost as if she had just come out of a bubble bath and was relaxing, but the kids were knocking on the bathroom door without relenting, ya know?







Once she was all clean, dry and warm, she was as ready as the rest of her siblings to investigate all that was going on around her now that her 'beauty requiem' was compete! ... So now that that was all said and done, it was time to investigate what mischief Mercedes could get into and my daughter's shoe strings seemed to be very inviting for further investigation and/or chewing upon!




Oddly enough, she didn't really want to share that with any of her siblings either! (smile)... By the way, both Sofia's and Mercedes' tails have already taken on that distinctive curl that Chihuahuas are known for... Ebony's is a bit longer and while she carries it just as high and proud as her sisters do, it just now starting to curl over...




The last one to get their bath was Nacho... Because of his much longer coat, we knew he'd take much longer to get dried, so we intentionally left him to last... He didn't mind all the extra attention either and gave a kiss to his benefactor of the warm fluffy towel and rub down!

... continued on to the next part of our adventure - meeting someone new, nose to butt as dogs do...

Bella, Bell-ll-lla

Around here we tend to make almost 'sing-songy' ditties with the pups and usually it is my husband who starts one... In Bella's case, it is her name and then said again with the middle stretched out and raised in pitch - "Bella, Bellll-lllll-a"... It always produces at least multiple wags of her tail and if she's close enough, a few nice (but dry) kisses to your face...

Bella was spayed on Tuesday, and on the way home from the animal hospital, she crawled into my lap as I was driving... Trying not to move too much, she rested her head gently upon my forearm... I suspect she was hurting, and I was hurting inside for her too... I couldn't help but think that if her previous owner had just thought or taken the time to get her spayed before her first heat, she'd still be with him/her/them...

I understand how inconvenient it is to have a litter of puppies and sometimes you love your puppers enough to give them up for the chance at a better home, but it still saddens me... Her previous owner must have loved her dearly because it shows in how much she gives to us as her temporary foster family... When we arrived home, the first tail wagging I saw since I picked her up occurred as she saw my crew through the patio door... They were excited to see her and she in turn, was REALLY excited to see them too!

Yesterday she was sore, but had already started feeling better... In the afternoon she crawled into her usual spot on the top of my pillow for our nap, and licked my forehead as if to say, "Yeah, I know your sad they had to do that to me, but it was for my own best interests... No more puppies for me... I forgive you because I know you care about me..."... I have a degree in anthropomorphism, I know (smile)... But even if these puppers are fosters in our home, I care about them almost as much as I love my own guys...

This morning Bella was hungry and made up for not eating much yesterday... The hair on the belly they had to shave to do the spay is already starting to grow back in, so I suspect it is a bit itchy... She was doing 'stretchy' exercises on the indoor/outdoor carpet on the patio today and I suspect it relieves a bit of the itch for her...

She still doesn't care to have a harness put on her as we practice walking on lead around the backyard... While she knows we don't go out of the house without this, I think right now she'd prefer we didn't practice this much needed skill... Now that she is spayed, no longer feeding her puppies and the litter has had their first series of shots, the risks of her bringing back something to the puppies has dramatically decreased... Previously the best I could do was rides in the truck with me (and she loves looking out the window as the sights pass by), but now I can actually stop and walk her in one of the many parks we have here in Simi... She's still a bit shy around strangers, but this too shall pass as she no longer has all those 'mommie hormones' flooding her inside emotions and protective mindset all mothers have regarding their litters...

My crew spotted a lizard on the tree in the backyard this afternoon... I think he lives in that tree for he seems to know just how high up my crew can jump... He tends to get beyond that point and then do his 'lizardy push-ups' they like to do... Almost taunting them in fact...

Peanut alerted to the lizard first and then the others circled around... The lizard was pretty confident he was safe until Bella rushed out to see what was going on... Bella's bigger than any of my Chihuahuas, so she was able to surprise the lizard in so much that she is able to get much closer to him...

It didn't take much imagination on my part to visual an expression on his lizardy face of "UT OH" as he threw it into reverse and backed up the tree another few feet in overdrive!... LOL... Yeppers, Bella is back and a happy camper once again!

Daisy - her third month

With the help of a small daily dose of prozac, Daisy slowly began to find serrenity in her own skin. For a dog who had spent so much of her life shaking/trembling in a corner or under a table, this was the first time she has chosen to wag her tail instead! Daisy's alertness and curiousity has grown each week, and her "doggy appetite" was becoming more apparent by the day! These were all great signs of progress for this little girl.

The next step - to go from "tolerating" human affection to yearning for attention from people as well. Until now, a simple caress or tummy rub has provoked massive fear, anxiety, trembling, and at times even submissive urination. For the next month, we are going to redirect her fearful response when touched to one of relaxation and peace...

Dulce - What a cute expression!

Every one of Bella's pups has either a wisp of white on their lower jaw or the white star on their chest - in Ebony's case, the chest star is also a wisp of white in a sea of black ebony...

Dulce and Ebony are now the most adventurous in the crew... They are the first ones up to the dinner plate, first ones out of the bedding area, first ones for just about everything and anything! Last week Ebony was a bit fearful and this week, she's gangbusters to see what is going on and to be the first at it with her sister, Dulce!

I have watched Dulce (with fascination) because from the very beginning, her coat was striking... The bands of brindle have changed along the way, but they have just given her more of an appeal (at least to me)... She was the biggest at the beginning, but the others have now caught up to her and about the only thing she's ahead of them is in her height (which in perspective, is not really that much different)...

Now that we have removed the opaque barriers, the pups and my crew readily look at each other through the 2 levels of gating... I felt that this would prepare these pups for seeing other dogs and gain the trust levels for good canine manners down the road... Bella watches carefully, but has relaxed her guard because she's now determined that although everyone can almost go 'nose-to-nose,' none of the adult dogs here can actually touch her puppies...

Dulce, on the other hand, would SO enjoy getting out and running around with my older adult Chihuahuas... We have a puppymill guy here that I thought would be my biggest problem, but he routinely goes and stands by the puppy Xpen, tail wagging invitingly and Dulce spots him from afar and charges to the side, stretching in the hopes she can actually touch him... It's really cute and dogs amaze me each and every day of my life!

Dulce promises to not only be a strikingly colored dog, but an outgoing one as well!

Slideshow - Bella and her pups' journey...

Bella and her puppies arrived here a month ago today and it is hard to remember just how small they were and how confused (?), fearful (?), anxiety-driven (?) Bella was at the time... She has now settled into the routine around here as the puppies are as well... Bella's 'spot' for sleeping is now at the top of my pillow at night... If I'm sitting on the couch watching "Idol," she's sitting on the top of the back of the couch or on my left side, napping on the comfy pillow there I rest my elbow on... If I'm at the computer, she's laying in one of the doggie beds scattered about...

While ever alert (and she knows which cries from the pups are serious and those that are not), Bella's probably one of the most active, but SO laid back dogs I have ever fostered... It has been the EASIEST foster (despite the health crisis we averted with the calcium drops) I have ever had... And considering she brought a litter of 5 puppies with her, I think I'm the one that has been spoiled here...

I created a slideshow of Bella's journey here with her pups this past month - hope you enjoy it... Hard to remember just how small and helpless they were until I view the slideshow myself! http://www.tinylovingcanines.org/slideshow/bellasslideshow.html

Catching up with Simba...

Simba is now ready for adoption. He's clearly enjoying the human touch, comes to you when you call him and has grown into a real sweetheart. He's a real pro on lead now and I can take him just about anywhere without him being fearful or scared. We've been doing a lot of umbilical training as well, so that's caused him to be right by my left side without any commands or direction. He's totally house-broken as well, will sit and lay down on command, knows what 'quiet' is as well as back, drop it and stay.

We have a foster mom and her litter right now and Simba is SO interested in them! He stands and just watches them non-stop, wagging that little snub tail a hundred miles an hour... I just never would have thought it! But he is totally fascinated... It tickles me to watch him watch them... Wonder if he had puppies around him sometime before in his life? He doesn't bark or growl at them - just stands there watching, wagging that little butt of his! What a goober!

Hopefully there is a furever home out there for him - he so deserves one! You can read the full journey of his rehabiliation at Simba's blog located here.

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Update on the pups and Bella...

The puppies are now up and about in their Xpen 'playpen'... They roll around, tumble with each other, do running (stagger) play dives at their littermates and it is SO comical to watch!

They've started using the pitty pad and have become very good about it... I suspect they will be very easy to potty train down the road...

The hardest part right now is trying to anticipate when they will be hungry and then keep myself from wearing a majority of their dinner!... They have now learned the sound of the food processor that is grinding up the Royal Canin puppy kibble... As soon as I arrive with their prepared food dish, they rush to the front of the open door of the Xpen enclosure and I am covered with kisses and nuzzles from all of them...

As I put down the dish with their food at least one or two will step in it, then turn back to give me (and my hands, forearms, face, shirt...) more kisses... So by the time we've achieved the goal of putting down that food dish, I am usually covered in sweet puppy kisses interlaced with puppy formula, baby food chicken and ground up kibble!

Eating time is when I change their pitty pad, bedding and take out the toys, replacing them with new (clean) ones... They stay interested in the food dish for about five minutes and it gives me just enough time to get this done!... I am amazed at the interest in each new toy and only Ebony hangs back with their arrival... We keep rotating out brightly-covered toys in different sizes because the puppies have now entered the 'fear zone' as they call it... The period of time between 5 and 8 weeks that puppies normally develop natural fears towards things... The more exposure you can give them different things within their environment, the less likely they will be to grow into fearful adults down the road...

We also have been exposing them to sudden louder noises, along with my husband's voice, smell and touch, etc... This week I also had to trim back their nails (daggers) and I can almost see a look of appreciation in Bella's face now!... The puppies' tiny teeth have started to come in, so between those nails and their teeth, I myself cringe when she goes in to nurse them!

Each and every one of the pups sat patiently while I trimmed their nails - not one squirmed or wiggled on me... We've made a practice of stroking their feet when we hold them and this has already helped...

Dulce is no longer the largest one as the rest of the pack have now caught up with her... She is still strikingly a brindle with a beautiful coloring... Dulce practiced her puppy howl this week as she sat in a corner and cried, which turned into a howl for her mom... Bella kept circling, looking in but not jumping into their enclosure... Once Bella made sure Dulce was OK, I got the impression this was part of the unique things only a momma dog can give to their litter, and the care that puppymill puppies lose because they're taken from their mom about this time and shipped to petstores across the country...

Nacho is nothing but a ball of black fluff and he, along with Sofia, are DEFINITELY much more longer haired than the rest of the litter... His coat is like air and mink combined... It is very hard to describe how soft and tactile it is... It is like one of those pompom balls you can buy at a craft store without being wirey or bushy... He is definitely a looker and will make some furever owner very happy in the future!

Sofia will be the first one to climb out of the enclosure - or at least, that is who we are betting on... She's a sitter and observer - almost like she's watching to see how something works or what you are going to do... She's my daughter's favorite and I can see why... You can't pick her up that she is not going to shower you with puppy licks and kisses!

Ebony is a bit more shy than the rest of the litter... She is the one who likes to snuggle and cuddle the most in the litter... Although a bit shy, Ebony warms up rapidly, but she seems to prefer that others in her litter investigate things first, then she approaches... Once she has arrived however, she is clearly excited, happy, hungry, whatever... (smile)... She tends to rough-house more with her brother than her sisters right now... It is hard to tell who is who when they do their tumbles together!... Once they've arrived at the end of the tumble, they stand up, shake a bit and then hand out licks and kisses to each other... It's beyond precious to see!

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Daisy's second month

After Daisy had about a month to become familiar with the routine around here, we noticed that her fearful trembling did not improve. In order to ease the trauma of this transition and to help facilitate her rehabilitation, I put her on prozac to take her edge off. I quickly recongnized that Daisy was one of the worst cases I have ever seen and that there was no need for her to suffer through each level of her rehab. I have never medicated a dog for anxiety or aggression, but each dog's temperment is different and we need to look at each one as their own case. The prozac took about a month to take full effect, relieving her slowly of the most extreme trembling, frozen from fear behaviors and Daisy's rehabilitation began to very slowly take hold...

... and now the 'fine print'... plus the current weigh-in

Tiny Loving Canines is a non-profit rescue organization bound by California Law which states that dogs adopted from a rescue by the public must be spayed/neutered before their adoption. Please be advised that the puppies will be spayed/neutered as well as micro chipped during the last week of April and will not be available for adoption before then.

In addition, the puppies will be receiving their first set of vaccinations on April 16th, at 6 weeks of age. For their health and safety, any meetings with the puppies will have to wait until then.

If you are interested in adopting one of these pups, they can be seen after April 16th and adopted as of May 1st. Unfortunately, there are no exceptions to these dates. There has already been a lot of interest in the puppies, so we suggest that you fill out an adoption application and FAX it to (805) 578-2604 if you are interested in one.

Please understand that these are Chihuahua Mix puppies, not Purebred Chihuahuas. Tiny Loving Canines cannot guarantee their size when full grown, physical/behavioral traits, and/or coloring as the father of these puppies is unknown.

On a personal note and these are just guesses, but Nacho and Sofia are clearly both going to have longer hair than the others... Chihuahuas come in two varieties - Shorthaired and Longhaired. While is not usual to see such long hair on a puppy in a Chi litter, we can't guarantee that Nacho and Sofia are Longhaired Chihuahuas either. Sofia's ears are long so I expect them to be more of the "Puggle" version or ‘flop-eared’ version and not erect because Bella's ears are not totally erect...

Bella clearly alerts only on only black dogs, so I suspect that she had a male pack-mate that was also black who she mated with - black is a recessive gene, so to have 4 out of 5 puppies in a litter black, both parents should have been black.

Bella is a Chi/Terrier mix, so she does not have the highly curled-over (typical) Chi tail... We can't guarantee that any of the puppies will have the typical Chi tail in fact... Most likely Mercedes will have Bella's tail because it is so long and probably will not curl over like a Chihuahua's tail normally does... Nacho has the shortest tail of all, so he's most likely to have the greatest ‘curled-over’ tail in the litter... Again, there is no guarantee because these are Chihuahua mixes...

Finally, it is a myth that all males mark - dominance directs marking – females mark also, especially if they are the alpha in the house or the current dog in residence when a new one arrives. It is not unusual to find your current dog will start marking when a newcomer arrives.

And now the puppy weigh-in for those that are following these blogs:

Dulce - 40 ounces
Ebony - 32 ounces
Mercedes - 22 ounces
Nacho - 26 ounces
Sofia - 31 ounces