Wrong shoes, ruff ruff ...

Some days if hubby is going to be working late, I will try to bring Toto down for a walk before the sun set. (Reason : before mosquitoes comes out!)

It is the Same O same O day, and I changed, leashed him , sit him by the door, open the door and goes out ...

And as always I will UNLEASHED him once we touch ground and let him roam by himself. AS he usually roam by himself UNLEASHED at the small park downstair. He will explore, and run here run there, smell here, smell there and walk with me to the mail box ...

But today at the bottom of the stairs after I squat down to unleash it, he RAN all the way Upstairs and HOME. I kept calling for him downstair he don't want to go come down!

I call him like for a good THREE minutes and I realised that I wore the wrong slipper down! So OK nevermind, I start to go up the stairs, and Toto is Peeping for me at the top. I went home, he goes in with me. I changed my sinto my usual Birks and went out this time round.

After the hoo-haaa, he went down with me, satisfied and never looking back!

SO ODD right?
I discuss with Hubby, do you think he realised I wore the wrong slipper when I squat down to unleashed him and that is why he start running BACK HOME?

Can a dog differentiate a Home USED slippers and a GO out Shoes?

I accidentally wore this pair of flip flop down ...

It a good day to be SUN TANNING!

Sometime you see him HIDING in the shade and avoiding the harsh sun ray but today he is lying there enjoying the SUN RAY and chewing on his favourite chew 'Leo'!

Toto 'cheeeeseeee' smile for Moommmie!

I guess he should be thinking,' LEAVE me alone!!'

Toto @ the Patio On the chair!

Autumn is here and the weather is fantastic with the COLD FRONT at full blast with blowing at us, and TOto is spending ALOT Of time outside by himself settling on our chair comfortably ...

Video is taken for hubby to show how Toto is OUTSIDE the patio by himself .

Often he would invite me to sit with him outside to just enjoy the breeze and he would position comfortably on my lap. But nowadays he wouldn't even move his butt because he is too comfortable lying there on the chair!

Dogs REALLY know how to enjoy life huh ...

Pics Update @ 7mth 3 weeks!

A beautiful skyline of Lewisville Dog park ...

Toto in the car waiting for Daddy to go his office get some documents!

Getting his fur stripped by PERSONAL grommer; Mommmy!

He gave up struggling after 2hrs, and total stripping hours; SIX!

Looks neater the next day and commanded by Daddy to SIT still for his photo SHOOT!

Looks good huh!

A walk in the Park with Fake duck!

Food and Poop - Anal Sacs / glands problem!

Apr 29 2011 - Updates : Orijen Fish + Wellness Simple Food Solutions Lamb Rice.

Jan 8 2011 - Food and Poop - Anal Sacs / glands problem! Pt II.

2012 - Please note we have since change Toto's kibble to ADULT kibbles, read 'Kibbles and Treats' for more updates.

2013 AUGUST 08 - We decide to CONVERT TOto to RAW DIET, and as of now for about 3 months, we hasn't had any ANAL GLAND leaking issue (touchwood).

For the past 2 months, Toto keep having this anal sacs problem and his anal area smell BAD; combination of poopy + fishy smell! And he keep licking his anal area which made his tongue smelly too! And so we know when your dog chases his tail or licking his ass, it is NOT a good sign or remotely FUNNY, it meant he has a problem! And the next stage would be the dog scooting his butt on the ground DRAGGING it across the floor, and the next thing you know he would have a IMPACT anal gland, and that is a SERIOUS problem!

Wikipedia

In dogs, these glands are occasionally referred to as "scent glands", because they enable the animals to mark their territory and identify other dogs. The glands can spontaneously empty, especially under times of stress, and create a very sudden unpleasant change in the odor of the dog. Dog feces are normally firm, and the anal glands usually empty when the dog defecates, lubricating the anal opening in the process. When the dog's stools are soft they may not exert enough pressure on the glands, which then may fail to empty. This may cause discomfort as the full anal gland pushes on the anus. The glands can be emptied by the dog's keeper, or more typically by a groomer or veterinarian, by squeezing the gland so the contents are released through the small openings on either side of the anus. Discomfort is evidenced by the dog dragging its posterior on the ground, licking or biting at the anus, sitting uncomfortably, having difficulty sitting or standing, or chasing its tail.

We research online and everywhere online mention that there are only 2 way to solve this problem; manually using our hand to help express the anal sac OR change his diet so that his POOP is harder and firmer.

But the problem with helping Toto release the anal sacs will not solve the underlying issue and in the long run, he will just DEPEND on us to help with it and that isn't easy; hahaha and disgusting. Hubby tried it once and regretted, hahahaha ...

The Second way is to find ways to harden his POOP! Alot information online have mentioned to increase his fibre intake. But how?

At that point of time, Toto's apetite has DECLINE and we were worried, so we bought Flaxseed meal to increase his fibre intake and it also help to increase his appetite to 2 cups per day (1 in the morning, 1 in the evening). His poop is still soft and slimy and he POOP alot, like 5-6x a day!

We were so lost!

We almost want to change his brand of kibbles as advised online!!

And finally hubby found the answer, we have been OVERFEEDING Toto!! After his neutering Operation, by right we should have convert him to adult food or if not decrease his food intake to 'ADULT' portion! Actually,Toto did it automatically but being 'ignorant' and 'kiasee'(scare to die) adult, we still buy flaxseed to indulge him to eat MORE!

Overfeeding means undigested food = soft poop = impacted anal gland!

And our ignorance caused TOto to have a smelly, FAT butt!

Hahaha he grew so fast, we were so worried because we were aiming for him to be at 16-17lb @ adult weight! And at 7mths he already is at 17lbs!!! We were so WORRIED hahaha, not forgetting his small potbelly which make him look so clumsy cute! And when in dog park he RAN lesser and so much slower too!

But then after the 'Chewed wall episode', the 'fasting' make everything back in order again. He is now at about 16lbs, and feeding so much lesser so we can give him more treats!

We are feeding Toto with One cup of Hundchen Flocken Puppy (lamb) and hopefully will be converting him to adult soon! We also added like a 1/8 cup Pinnacle Holistic Trout & Sweet Potato Dry Formula into his kibbles, we wanted some fish in him, hahaha! We got that Packet free from Pet Supplies Plus when Toto is a 4mth old puppy, he is so cute, the friendly staff gave him a 'FREE' packet!! Hahahaha ~ After he has done with that we be adding his 'fish' supplies from Orijen 6 fish from dog!

Toto eat twice a day, half cup each + 2 teasp of Flaxseed!

When we overfeed Toto, he is so disinterested in his meal, NOW he cannot wait for feeding time! If I am late in the morning, he will sit by his feeding area to WHINE!

One online forummer even 'Fast' her dogs for 24hrs once a month so that her dog has SUPER hard poop! Well whatever you do, I guess this isn't a one solution problem, because there are 1001 solutions online, choose one that is based on you dog's need, and we are lucky that we found that solution!

Please NOTE everything written here is based on personal experience!

Toto the Westie @ The Colony Hawaiian Fall Dog Swim!

Before Summer end, alot of pool will open their pool for dogs before they are closed for the season! And we have missed quite a number of 'Dog Swim' event the last weekend because the weather is really TOO HOT to step out of our home, and finally 'The Hawaiian Fall' which is like a 5minute drive away is starting a Doggy Swim event! We can even see the Hawaiian Fall from my apartment!!  The ticket price is USD8.00 for adult staying in The Colony and USD5 for Dog!

We always hear people say 'Dog just naturally knows how to swim!', and we wonder out loud,' Do they?'.

Initially we are wondering 'How should we teach our dog to swim?'. At one point we even want to get him some Doggie safety swimming float vest!! Hahahaha ...

But all our worries are for nothing, when we walk into the water and because Toto wants to follow us so, after 2 or 3 skips when Toto start to panic and paddle he start to float and then swim!!

We can see he is not at ease in the water but he got used to it VERY FAST and was paddling up and down hahahaha ...

So funny, now we can tell OTHER people, 'No need to teach dog how to swim, they 'Naturally' will KNOW How to swim! Just throw them into the water!'

The event was from 1pm-5pm and we arrived rather early thus there were No Queue and the water was still very clean! At first we are wondering whether the pool was CHLORINATED but it wasn't. It was just plain water! So me and hubby had a great time, we both love swimming but hated the chlorine and the chlorine smell!

Very All American Home Video ~

Toto had a blast of a great time!

Chewed Wall and vomitted!

A few days ago Toto chewed WALL again! So we are very sure he chewed wall not because he is bored because we are right inside the bedroom sleeping! He is just being naughty and angry that we didn't want to wake up! This time round he has a very bad reaction, and vomitted on our bedsheet, and vomitted again and again in the Patio. He ended up vomitting some yellowish bile ...

We were so worried, he refused food and drink; and was so lethargic for the whole day! Even when he is resting in the crate, I have to keep moving him ot make sure he is still breathing and moving!! I hand fed him a biscuit in the evening, and that open up his apetite so he had some kibbles and water in his crate. When hubby came back in the evening, he is so much better. He can play abit but we can still see that he isn't as energetic and was wobbly in his jump.

But the good news is HE LOSE weight!! Hahahaha before this we are so worried of his weight because he is reaching 17lbs @7.5months and already has a small round belly! And we noticed that he isn't running as much or as fast! Gosh, he has become a ALL AMERICAN over-weight dog!

Anyway he become his normal self the next morning eating, drinking and jumping again! He lose almost 2lbs, now weighing a healthy 16lbs! And he can run longer and faster now.

After his neutering Op, we should have lessen his food but we didnt; that is another story altogether. But now we are feeding him about 11/4cup a day.

At the end of the day, he always want to hump and lick a soft toy head, and Hippo is his new love!

He always fall asleep this way!!

Hippo's nose is smelly with Toto's saliva!

But sometime he use Hippo as a pillow ...

Securtiy ALERT!! Security sleeping ON DUTY!

Doing a Zombie Dance in his sleep!?

He look so westie huh!

Looking so intensely being a busybody!

Such a busybody dog!