I am thinking I should change Prince's name to the 'Comeback Kid'... There were times --- especially when he totally stopped eating for me, and then the green yuck that kept pouring out of his nose and eyes --- that I thought for SURE I was going to lose him... I realize that the vet diagnosed it as pneumonia, but with all the swine flu warnings going around, I seriously wondered if he had the canine flu and not just pneumonia...
Prince realizes that we are just plain ole softies around here... He's figured us out... For all the 'stuff' we demand of the dogs ("go potty OUTSIDE, not in here!", "BE nice", "Who's growling - there's no growling (barking) in rescue", etc.), he has pegged us alright...
Recently I switched around my desk and what we call the 'Chihuahua Penthouse', turning the desk into a corner desk and extending the Chihuahua Penthouse 200% in size for the optimum space in front of the window that the dogs sunbathe in the mornings now that it is colder...
I added a second set of steps so there were no longer 'gatekeepers of the steps' and a few warm blankees... The area has now become a morning haven, for where we are - the dogs are...
Prince has figured out that the two desk lamps on the top of my desk generate heat (as I myself figured out when I sat my keyboard too close to one and melted a few of the keys... OH MY~!!!)... He consistently steps onto my desk and tries to lay down underneath one of the lights - usually on top of the papers I'm working with at the time as you can see in another photo...
Finally this morning I gave in, after lifting him off my desk three times... Easier to join them if you can't beat them, ya know?... (Maybe I set up this scenario when I named him 'Prince'... Who knows?)... But I cleared off MY working space from papers and files, re-arranged a few things and grabbed a clean doggie bed to fit into that spot for him...
As soon as he saw it, Prince stepped gingerly across my keyboard, did half a turn and then immediately fell asleep in the doggie bed... As I type this, he is sleeping soundly and snoring to my left underneath the lamp... It is far enough away that it is not too hot to his body, but yet close enough to give him that extra little bit of warmth...
I noticed this morning that his collar finally fits him and if he continues to gain weight for me, I'll have to readjust it a notch larger... Won't bother me~!!!...
I sent more than one prayer skywards in the plea that I'd not lose this dog to pneumonia or whatever uggly mugglies he had brought with him...
He still has a bit of respiratory stuff going on... But the yuck is finally clear and not green any longer... Prince is used to being given meds now, especially after the force feeding days of baby food when he was so sick!... And his nose leather is no longer crusty and white, but coming back in rich charcoal like God intended it to be...
This morning as he was standing, I noticed one nail had grown a bit too long... I reached for my clippers and as he sat, he allowed me to trim it back without having to restrain him in any fashion...
Prince is just another example of my belief that is NOT the shelters who are the 'bad guys' in the problem of an enormous unwanted overpopulation of these little ones in our shelters... Instead, it is the general public who dump these little guys off in the misguided belief that someone will give them a home...
The shelter system does the best it can, given the funding it has, but these little ones just don't do well in that kind of environment... While Prince and his sister, Buttercup, were listed as aggressive and too hard to handle by the shelter staff, I feel it was more the massive change in their environment that caused both to deal with the change the best way they could...
As I have been typing, Prince has yawned and stretched out in the warm spot he's in... Yes, he is one aggressive dog, huh?...
We weighed him yesterday and he's gained 5 ounces... That might not seem like much, but for how deeply sick he got as he fought off whatever he had, we are VERY pleased with the weight gain he is making...
Although he still needs to gain more weight, he is definitely a sweetie pie and will make someone a GREAT dog once he is ready to be adopted... Just the beautiful coloring of his coat alone, but his sweet personality is even bigger than the appearance in this little one... A treasure for sure - a prince if nothing else - but definitely a "find' in our local shelters...
If TLC does not have the dog or puppy you are looking for, PLEASE take a trip to the local shelters before the holidays and find the furever furbaby of your dreams... Trust me - they are there waiting for you - and there are tons of GREAT dogs and puppies available for adoption.
