The Thundershirt

I'll be honest, when we first decided to get the

Thundershirt

for Showlow I was a bit skeptical.

I was thinking how could a shirt help with her separation anxiety?

But we bought it anyways and hoped for the best.

John had seen an advertisement for it

I think in a dog magazine, I don't remember which one though.

It's supposed to help by being a constant

pressure on the dog. So it's tight but not too tight.

The pressure is supposed to creat a calming affect in

anxious/stressful situations.

At first I didn't notice much of a difference.

When we left the house without her and baby, she chewed on things.

EVERTHING.

Including our mattress and sometimes even the blankets/sheets/their dog bed.

So we tried to a.) not leave the house together as much so someone could be home with Show

& b.) take her with us every chance we get.

Oh and c.) pick up ALL the pillows/blankets/dog beds/sheets before we left

which as you can imagine is a pain and very time consuming when you

need to run out of the door to work, school or an appointment.

So anyways, after Shows accident where she somehow

broke and jumped through a window

in our bedroom a few weeks ago

she COULD NOT be left 

alone at all since her paws

were healing from being

very badly cut up.

(P.S. she wasn't wearing the thundershirt when this happened)

We were very strict with someone

being home

with her/

John taking her to work with him/

her going with us everywhere we went.

Not once did we leave her unattended..

We did consider a crate, but we have

tried that before and it just does not work

well for her.

She broke the last crate we put her in

and I was afraid she would hurt

herself trying to get out of it again.

but now that she is mostly healed and acting

like nothing ever happened we decided to try

to leave her alone with Baby again.

Baby

[[Baby has NEVER had an issue with

being left alone and sometimes I think she prefers it that way ;)

but we'll save that story for another post.]]

This time we picked up anything and everything

we thought she might get into

except her toys and dog pillows.

Then we strapped her in her Thundershirt

and left. I won't even go

into the amount of anxiety we were

feeling at first.

We went to Ikea, Whole Foods and then got

dinner, but we go it to go since we

were nervous about what we were going to come home to.

(half eaten sofa, broken table, broken windows, toys all eaten,

shoes all eaten, Showlow hurt again???)

I was imagining the worst.

However, we walked in the house

and Baby was laying on the sofa

 (yes our dogs are allowed on the furniture)

and Showlow was laying on her dog pillow

with her toys.



Show's little 'nook' and the toys we left out for her.

John walked all around the house in disbelief

(which caused Showlow to

get a little nervous cause she wasn't sure what

we were looking for and what our reaction

was going to be when we found it).

But we didn't find it.

She had clearly played with every single toy

we left out for her, but she did not tear up anything.

Not even her toys.

I think it took some time, but since then when

she has the shirt on I deifnitely notice a difference in her

anxiety. It's definitely not as bad as it once was.

We stayed gone for 2 hours that day and we'll

gradually increase it little by little, but I don't expect

the couch to be torn apart anymore :)

She is pooped.

 So all in all I do recommend the Thundershirt

and even though we know that

it's not going to work

for every dog and every situation,

but I think it did help us & Showlow.

They are $39.95 and usually you can catch them

during a no shipping cost deal. Hope it helps

you as much if not more than us! :) 

Trust the Best. Its Unanimous...BSL Sucks!

        The focus of this blog post relates to subjects that affect our furry friends and who to listen to for advice? Most of this blog will be related to Breed Specific Legislation but other topics of animal welfare will also be discussed. If you ever have any questions first and foremost ask your veterinarian. The veterinarian is first stop shop for information. Saying that, they are still humans and thus have their own prejudices and biases. You may think it preposterous for a Veterinarian to be in favor of BSL, to have negative biases against certain breeds, or to even go so far as to be in favor of breeding when we have such an insurmountable problem of pet overpopulation in this country. As a veterinary technician I see all of this and more. Granted most of the ignorance I come across is from the pet owners themselves, but that is to be expected. When you have questions pertaining to animal welfare see what the American Veterinary Medical Association says about it, cant always trust your local "experts"

        Lets quickly see the stance of the AVMA on the issue of Salmonella infection. Many people (especially those in the pro-organic/natural dog food group) believe that the dog food recalls because of Salmonella infection only affect humans. This is FALSE. Salmonella infection is not common in our faithful companions but it is possible, just like in humans it is much more likely to cause clinical symptoms when the dog is already immuno compromised, has a concurrent infection, and young/geriatric. Even if they don't fit in that grouping they can still come down with Salmonella "poisoning". Check out what the AVMA says on this topic especially this tidbit taken from

FAQ about Pet Foods and Salmonella.

Q:How would I know if my pet had a Salmonella infection?

A:Pets with Salmonella infections may be lethargic and have diarrhea or bloody diarrhea, fever, and vomiting. Some pets will have a decreased appetite, fever and abdominal pain. However, not all pets carrying Salmonella will appear sick. Apparently well but infected animals can be carriers and may infect other animals or humans, particularly through exposure to their feces. If your pet has consumed the recalled product and has these signs, please contact your veterinarian.

Q:Are certain types of pet foods more likely to be contaminated with Salmonella?

A:No pet food is immune from the possibility of Salmonella contamination. There is evidence, however, that feeding raw foods, such as raw meat and eggs, increases the risk of Salmonella infection and shedding of the bacteria (leading to possible infection of other animals and of people).^2-9 Regardless of the type of food you choose to feed your pet, proper precautions should be taken to protect your family's health.

Please for the welfare of your animals ensure that your dog gets the best available, many know my stance on which pet food to feed, not all agree, and I'm not here to sound like a tool for one company or another but if interested I will tell you what I feed my dogs, a food that has had no Salmonella recalls or has faced the problems that foods such as Wellness, Blue Buffalo, Canidae, Taste of the Wild, Diamond, have faced.  Check out the list of the latest dog Food recalls and make sure your pet is safe.

Dry Dog Food Recalls

Tail Docking and Ear Cropping

           Before getting into the whole BSL debate lets quickly talk about cropping ears, or any other mutiliation of our canine companions for aesthetic purposes only. I have made it clear time and time again that I am 100% against Ear cropping and Tail Docking when done for cosmetic purposes which incidently makes up 99% of the times they are done. (Also against Declawing cats when done just for the owner to have less hassel with scratching. There are many options available instead of declawing)  In the Pedigree dog circuit Tail Docking and Ear Cropping are done for Breed standards. I don't know about you but my dogs are my family, they are not showpieces, they aren't meant to be pranced around in front of a bunch of rich snobs and win ribbons for looking the most unnatural. This topic is set for a different blog post but suffice it say that I will never crop my dogs ears or dock their tails when it ISNT medically necessary. This is not to say that I wouldn't adopt a dog with these features but that I am very much against having it done. It pains to me to know that where I work allows these procedures, yet I am at least semi glad that our Ear Cropping is over 900$. Too bad my opinion doesnt matter....

Ear cropping is mutiliation, It is not accepting your dog the way they are but instead turning them into something that makes you feel better about yourself. Making your dog look meaner makes you a complete idiot.

The AVMAs stance on Ear Cropping and Tail Docking.

Ear Cropping and Tail Docking of Dogs (Oversight: AWC; HOD 07/1999, EB revised 11/2008) The AVMA opposes ear cropping and tail docking of dogs when done solely for cosmetic purposes. The AVMA encourages the elimination of ear cropping and tail docking from breed standards. The Canadian and UK Veterinary Associations also oppose ear cropping and tail docking. For this and more check out the AVMAs policies AVMA Issues Breed Specific Legislation Now in the attempt to keep this blog from getting longer and longer I will just post the AVMAs view on BSL. It has been shown time and time again that BSL does not work, it is based on ignorance, and fear. Heres a quick read from the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association. Responsible Ownership the alternative to BSL Also the ASPCAs view on BSL BSL Policy- ASPCA National Canine Research Council on BSL Dog Breed Specific Legislation AVMA AVMA policy Dangerous Animal Legislation (Oversight: CHAB; EB 03/88; Revised 11/01; Reaffirmed 11/05, 04/2010) The AVMA supports dangerous animal legislation by state, county, or municipal governments provided that legislation does not refer to specific breeds or classes of animals. This legislation should be directed at fostering safety and protection of the general public from animals classified as dangerous. Community Approach to Dog Bite Prevention Heres some State to State Laws regarding BSL Breed Ordinances CDC and AVMA Agree, No Scientific support for BSL No Support for BSL Centers for Disease Control statement “ [The study] does not identify specific breeds that are most likely to bite or kill, and thus is not appropriate for policy-making decisions related to the topic…There is currently no accurate way to identify the number of dogs of a particular breed, and consequently no measure to determine which breeds are more likely to bite or kill.” Some pics of our pibbles!  Baby and her BooooyFriend Jackson  Baby and Jackson  Its how pibbles sleep  Shes in LOVE!  Give me that treat!  Showlow as a little puppy!  My Best Friends  Look how cute they are!  Showlow didnt exaclty love her Birthday Bath  Have never met a better dog When Show was a tiny thing.

Shows 1st B-day

Our baby girl turned 1 on April 14th.

You're probably going to notice thorughout the blog

that we've started to call her Show.

(even though her full name is Showlow)

It fits her well because not only does she put on a show

(for everyone)

But she steals the show too. (& our hearts)

Anyways, we celebrated her first birthday

with a bath at Wag N' Wash

and got a cute dog bone shaped cake from there too!

We're pretty sure her and her sister

had a great time, and they definitely enjoyed the cake!

Afterwards, we took two pieces to Show

and Baby's cousins

Tucson and Tolleson

(AKA Val's dads Pitty's)

so they could enjoy as well.

Here are some pics from our fun day.

Show after her bday bath

Happy Birthday Show!

Baby had fun too ;)

Show's fabulous cake!

Yummay!

So good she licked it off the floor

Tucson enjoying his piece

Tolleson

Our lil family p.s. this is the best we could get, two of us couldn't sit still!

Let's try this again.

Okay, where to begin. I just went through all of our posts

over the pasts couple years and I have to say

 I am very happy with them

& even more happier with how many views we've gotten(!)

however, there is always room for improvement.

Our goal in life is to END BSL entirely, and in order to do that or at least get us in the right direction we really have to make a better effort in posting our experiences and adventures.

 We spend 99% (or at least it feels like it) of our days with our dogs,

 and I know we have tons to blog about... but we just don't.

I probably spend most of my time reading other peoples fabulous blogs

and getting inspiration, but now it's time to buckle down with our own.

So here is a new promise to go with our new look.

We are going to do our very best to post more often, gain more readers

& work harder towards our overall goal of ending BSL 

by letting the world know just how amazing

 our four legged family members are!

End BSL of ALL Breeds

Everybody who owns a pitbull knows that BSL or Breed Specific Legislation impacts our daily life with our dogs. For many of us who don't directly face the kind of bullshit that citizens in Denver, Miami or Ontario citizens do over their valued family member, chances are you are still affected in some way. Whether it be insurance bias, ignorant owners, rental bias, or any other little bit of discrimination we are all still affected. But it goes further than that, Just by owning a pitbull/amstaff/staffy we are lumped together in mainstream societies views as being fringe elements of society, that we don't take care of our pets and just want them for "suspect" reasons. Any good owner knows that these are just plain wrong. Just by owning a pitbull we are already the target of "our" (used loosely) politicians, news reporters, or any other group that seeks to fulfill the discrimination already against our beloved pets.
         What we seem to forget is that BSL is not a one breed monster, yes the hate in the last decade and more has been against pitbulls or any other breed even faintly resembling them. Let us remember that they used to subjugate the Dobermans, and Rottweilers as well to this unfair and unjust BSL. Not to mention that many BSL laws still discriminates in no order particular against German Shepherds, Wolf Hybrids, Dogo Argentinos, Mastiff (any breed) Presa Canarios, Akitas, Chows, and yes Dobies and Rotts. As a pitbull owner and lover I know that to classify my dogs as aggressive or ruthless or evil/mean/monsters etc... is complete bullshit. Im sure that owners of any of these breeds listed above feel the same way about their dog. Can there be aggressive members of these breeds?? Yes, absolutely, there can be aggressive dogs of ANY breed, interesting enough that the large more powerful breeds are the scapegoat. Can Akitas inflict more damage than a chihuahua? Absolutely. I do find it very interesting that the smaller breeds like Daschunds, Chihuahuas, pomeranians are generally more unstable towards humans and other dogs. Are they treated more like commodities than pets? Yes. Are they babied and carried around in their owners arms? Yes. While working in a vet hospital I have been bit no less than 15 times. None of these times has it been by a dog larger than 20 lbs. This is not to say that I haven't encountered any aggressive large dogs, I sure have, but the great majority of unstable dogs has been of the toy breeds. BTW the most aggressive larger breed dogs I've encountered were a Bearded Collie and a lab/shepherd mix. My experiences are not to be extrapolated over the entire population of dogs but people really need to take a look at themselves before they are so quick to write off a certain breed of dog because certain members of society.

Most of the dogs that bite people are Unneutered, Stray, Untrained. Those dogs that have an owner that are aggressive nearly all are untrained, have irresponsible/bad owners, and un altered. People are soo quick to attack the breed when the blame lays squarely on the shoulders of the human. People are assholes, they are douchebags, they are soo quick to rid themselves of their dog when their life gets hard, they dont value these dogs as family members and consequently the dogs will end up at the pound, on the streets, or from owner to owner, nothing of which is conducive to a healthy happy dog. I see way too many instances of people saying my wife is pregnant so we dont have time for our dog that we've had for 10 yrs... Seriously??? What kind of lowlife piece of shit are you to do that to your dog that was loyally by your side, who didnt judge you on your faults, and was as happy as can be for 10 yrs? Dogs ARE family, having said that they need to be treated not as people but as dogs, as happy healthy members of our family. They can't be allowed to run the household but they can't be tied up all day in the backyard either. Respect them, take care of them, vaccinate them, microchip them, Neuter/Spay them, feed them, love them. People generally don't deserve 2nd chances, Dogs deserve a million.

Heres Mo, My Chow mix that lived to age 14. Died in 2009. RIP Mo, Wonderful dog, Best Friend, Wish you were still here buddy. Dont judge the breed, judge the deed.

A dog is the only thing on earth that loves you more than he loves himself

This post is going to be a little bit of me venting. 

I'm frustrated.

 When John and I got our pets, it wasn't a 'for right now' thing. 

Nothing makes my blood boil like the question,

 'but what are you going to do with them when you have kids?'

That's like asking someone 'what are you going to do with 

your first child after your second child comes?'

 Absurd, right? 

We don't exchange our family out, we add to it. 

So when I see posts on Craigslist that say they need to give their dog up 

because they're moving or they're having a baby or they're going to school

and don't have time for the pet, it drives me crazy.

When you made that commitment to adopt the pet, you made that commitment for life.  

So to answer that annoying question. 

We don't do anything with our pets when life changes for us. 

If we come across any obstacles 

we address it and adapt.

 But that does not include giving them up.

We made the same commitment to them 

as we made to each other on 

our wedding day.

And we 100% plan on keeping both of those commitments

Such cuddle bugs <3

 

IT'S REALLY THAT SIMPLE

 

 

Positive Press for the Pitties!

my little love bugs

These past few weeks have brought some well deserved media to our pibble family members. Instead of the negative news articles that completely misrepresent our lovable breed, there's been a few positive ones. Here's one of my favorite clips from ABC 15 news. 

We've obviously all heard of the McDonald's ad comparing the 'risk' of trying their food and petting a stray pit bull. After I was furious with them for taking advantage of the negative media surrounding our dogs, I was then happy and proud of our pit bull family for the fierce responses and comments sticking up for what we believe in. 

Here's another positive Pit Bull video that John found from youtube. It's a bit intense and emotional, but regardless shows how loving and loyal these sweet dogs truly are. 

This article which was posted on Yahoos front page had some nice things to say regarding Pittie's. The article states "The pit bull has been given a bad rap for years because of their use in dog-fighting rings, but those that are bred as pets can be just as loving as any Cocker Spaniel.  Ignorance of the breed perpetuates the myth, as evidenced by a recent McDonald’s ad." Click here for the full article. 

 This feels like a step in the right direction. This along with BSL being overturned in multiple cities. One of these being Miami-Dade, and another state wide BSL repeal which will hopefully be signed into law by Governor John Kasich, Ohio HB 14.

However there's always progress to be made. I'll leave you with this lovely picture my uncle sent to me and this quote by Edward Everett.. "I am only one, But still I am one. I cannot do everything, But still I can do something; And because I cannot do everything I will not refuse to do the something that I can do."

Everyone can do something <3

Pitbulls FTW

It has been quite awhile since we had a post but knowing that we don't want this blog to end up like nearly every other blog I created I will see what I can do to keep it going. Since the last blog a lot has happened, not just with Val and I but with our dogs, our work, and life in general. One of the major events that we went to was the Canine Carnivale, kind of like a fair with games food and entertainment courtesy of MayDay Pitbull Rescue. We took Showlow, and it was one of her first events with large groups of people and animals and she did AMAZING. At first she was intimidated and shy but by the end of the event people were coming up to us saying "Oh is she that dog that was carrying that bone around all day". She did the lowest setting on the limbo and even got into the kiddie pool with a large shepherd and laid down no problems.


Works been going pretty well, finished school so will be taking the VTNE and State Exam soon, so will be doing a lot of studying in the coming months. Vals dad recently stumbled upon a chow-shepherd mix around 12 wks old in his front yard. being who we are...and not wanting that dog taken to the pound where who knows what would happen to it, we took it in...and boy was it a very needy puppy. Had it for a couple days then took it to work, had a fecal/giardia test done on it, dewormed it, and vaccinated it. Luckily one of Vals friends was looking for a puppy, and before you know it, she had a new dog and it has just been doing better and better. Couple weeks ago we even had a introduction with Baby and Baby did Great! seemed to have some excited energy, but the intro went well. We also have a playdate set up for Baby and an adult Lab some friends of ours have. Since that will be babys first real introduction with a large calm dog, we are excited to see how it plays out.

It feels like I crammed everything into two paragraphs, but its last, tired after long day at work and hope to have more frequent shorter posts, with pictures...Also we think Showlows around 9 months and is 34.3#...She is the worlds first MinPit!

A Tired Dog is a Happy Dog

Well its been awhile since my last post. I hope you all read Vals blog a couple weeks ago. Where to start...

Well Showlows about 30 pounds and it seems like she's getting more and more energy everyday. She is completely caught up on her vaccines, having 4 sets of her K9Combo, her Kennel Cough, and Rabies, as well as her last Parvo virus Vx. She is 100% healthy and ready to take on the world...literally.

Raising a puppy isn't easy its a full day commitment. Her and Baby have really became quite the duo.Whereas Baby would love to lie around all day, Showlow has unlimited amount of energy thats hard to keep up with. This prompted us to think of getting her into agility. Showlow would be amazing at it, she always wants to play fetch and recently she has been interested in the frisbee. She hasn't learned how to catch it midair yet but will go retrieve it, and it shouldn't take her long till shes jumping in the air catching it.We have lots goin on in our life but we will be getting both ShowLow and Baby their CGC awards (Canine Good Citizen). Her and Baby do play a bit rough but they do seem to care for eachother and miss eachother whe they aren't together.

We plan on taking Showlow to the Canine Carnivale this October 29th for Pitbull Awareness Month put on by the amazing MayDay Pitbull Rescue here in Phoenix. Feel free to message me for more info or check out their website at www.maydaypitbullrescue.org

The best advice I have to give on raising puppies, pitbulls or otherwise is this. A tired dog is a happy dog. A happy dog is a good,obedient dog. Tire your dog out before any training. Take them for walks, let em run around until they go lateral. Until next time. Be a responsible pitbull owner. Spay/Neuter, Vaccinate, Train and show the world that pitbulls make wonderful pets.

-John

" Water, taken in moderation, cannot hurt anybody."

Hello everyone and so so sorry it's been so long since our last post. However, we are here now and ready to UPDATE!

John and I both had this dream of our pups playing in water

because it's just so damn HOT in Phoenix.

Baby was not interested in water at all. 

She hates taking baths and any other activity that 

deals directly with water other than drinking it of course. 

 John trying to give baby a bath in the baby pool <3 ha. 

 This is her "I hate water" face

So when we brought home little Showlow we knew right 

away that we wanted to introduce 

her to water ASAP. 

Since we got Showlow Memorial day weekend

and this is ARIZONA, we knew the weather would be on our side. 

Lucky for us John's mom has a decent size baby pool & 3

cute pups for Showlow to play with too! 

To say the least our visit went GREAT! 

I'll let the videos and pictures tell the rest, enjoy!

 Gma trying to get Showlow in the water

She loved it!

 Max and Showlow

it's not the best quality but I think you get

the idea.

Once again these amazing dogs made me feel like a proud mama. 

She had so much fun and cooled down from the heat.

stay tuned because once I finish John will be doing his own post on here. 

until next time.

-V

It has been quite some time....

Well It has unfortunately been awhile since we've been able to post on here, but a lot has happened with our newest addition, little miss Showlow.. I assume this next blog post will be quite large, couple things it will entail... Showlows first playdate with Max,Sunny, and Rev, as well as her first playdate with Oliver... Her first experience with a pool, No shes not yet completely house trained.... Also... How big she's getting, and just owning a pitbull puppy...what to expect... Stay Tuned...

Some Updates

Well it certainly has been awhile since we posted anything regretfully. Well to make up for that its most likely that this blog will be kind of long and have a lot of information. Well since we don't know Showlows actual birthday, due to our educated guess shes around 14 weeks right now, and she has definitely grown. She was about 13 lbs two weeks ago and is def at least 15 now, getting quite heavy luggin around. Shes had two sets of her K9Combo Vx, and her first Bordatella Intranasal Vx, her next set will be another Combo and her first Rabies shot. poor girl.

Word of advice to anyone getting a new puppy. If you don't want to house train don't bother getting a puppy. House training isn't easy, its very frustrating and it takes quite awhile to achieve 100% success. We will take her right outside, she will both poop and pee, and we take her in, less than 5 minutes she will do both right on the floor. I swear she poops more than she eats, shes a garbage disposal. Yet she is wonderful and we are grateful we have both of them everyday, even when they frustrate the hell out of us. She has learned that when she goes outside she is supposed to go to the bathroom. What she hasn't learned is that she's not supposed to go to the bathroom inside. This is partly due to her being soo small/young, as a puppy she can't hold it like Baby can, so its kind of out of necessity, but also out of not knowing any better. Very Frustrating, but it only gets better with time.

In other news, Baby and Showlow get along perfectly, and Showlow is already learning some commands, such as sit, but there is always work to be done. We need to bring her around as many other dogs, large and small that we can to socialize her at a young age. Unfortunately Baby didnt have any experience with large or small dogs, was never played with, was just left to fend for herself in this disgusting AZ heat. There is a lot of work to be done with both dogs, Socialization being the most important. The only way to benefit these breeds are to raise healthy, obediant, socialized, friendly dogs. There will be no other way to smash the bullshit BSL and stereotypes against bully breeds. Well theres a little rant for now.

Was going to post pictures but apparently the pictures from my phone don't work on the computer even after I saved them onto the computer. Some bull.

Alright well till next time, which will be sure to have pictures of them, as Showlow is getting huge.

John 

Happy Happy Pups!

Hello, Val here. We haven't had the 2 dogs interact too much since Showlow is being treated for Roundworms and Coccidia. But today we decided to let them play a little bit. We first took them in the backyard and let Showlow sniff around and then John sat in a chair and held baby because we noticed that if we let her go she tends to forget how big she is and accidentally tramples little Showlow. Showlow continued to run up to baby and bark and play. You can tell that Baby wanted to play too, but we just couldn't risk her stepping on Showlow. Once Showlow is a little bigger that won't be a problem. After they played out back, we brought them in and let them play together on our bed. This way they were mostly laying down and we wouldn't risk Baby stepping on Showlow. This for me was just the happiest time. Since we got Showlow I have been a little worried about how Baby would react to her.  Baby has been the only dog in the house and I was worried she'd be territorial. I should have known better though, she is truly one of the smartest and sweetest dogs in the world. She did great with Showlow and at the end of the play date in the bed she was relaxed & HAPPY. I've seen baby get excited to see us when we get home and excited for a bone or treat. But today I felt that she was truly happy that she had a playmate. This in turn made me extremely joyful and all my previous worries went away. Dogs naturally run in packs, and it brings them contentment and peace to have other pups in the pack. It broke my heart to leave Baby every time John and I left to work. But now I know that once Showlow is a little bigger she won't be alone all day, she'll have someone to run and play with and nap with. Can't wait to watch those 2 grow up together. Until next time, PUNISH THE DEED NOT THE BREED and please help us promote responsible pet ownership and help us fight Breed-specific legislation.

here are some pics from our play time today, enjoy! 

Quick Update

Alright so I dropped off ShowLow at my work before I went to school and went straight there after school to find some news regarding her diarrhea of late. I just realized that I didn't mention before that she had diarrhea, well she did and I was already under the assumption that she had some kind of worms, as many puppies do, especially neglected, abused ones.... So a Fecal Smear, Float and Giardia Test were done at my work. The Giardia was negative but the Fecal tested positive for Roundworms and Coccidia. Both quite common in puppies, as the Roundworm larvae passes down through the mothers milk. So after a small dose of Ponazuril (for the coccidia) and an Iverhart Max... Which is a heartworm preventative but most importantly it treats Roundworms, Hookworms, and Tapeworms, so it is commonly used as a dewormer especially in puppies due to the very high safety level on these compounds. So little ShowLow got her medicine today as well as her first vaccine just as a precaution, If the mother wasn't vaccinated which I assume she wasn't its a little added protection. So Dr. B. thinks she is about 6 weeks, so she will need to be booster in the coming weeks. In two weeks I will also have to pick up some Panacur  and deworm her with that as an added precaution. Little Showlow is doing great currently, has only had four bowel movements as opposed to yesterday when she went nearly every 30min to an hour because the food she ate went right to the worms and passed through her. Her latest BM actually is part solid and has improved drastically since yesterday. Shes on the road to full health! Oh and in case people didn't know Coccidia is a protozoan parasite that causes Diarrhea in dogs. It is usually found as part of the dogs Normal Flora, but during times of stress/immune system compromise.... It can lead to an overgrowth.. which is what happened in our ShowLow.

 Pictures to follow soon.

Till next time.....

We're Back with Major News!

Ok everybody, I know its been a long time since there was anything posted but the time in between posts will be much shorter.

Ok so for about a month or so Val and I have been getting more interested in getting a puppy. A playmate for Baby, that would grow up with her and keep her company. So over the past couple of weeks we've been going to the pound in the aims of rescuing a dog that would surely be put down and give it a second chance. For one reason or another we didn't end up getting a dog from the pound, be it financial, not the right fit, or timing what have you. One of my coworkers Aunt Fawn pitbull also just had puppies and we were close to getting one of the boys to add to our family until..... Yesterday we get a call from Val's Aunt letting us know that someone dropped off a little black and white pitbull puppy in her yard in Tucson. Immediately  we were interested, we tried to get a picture sent to us but we couldn't, so as kind of a spur of the moment decision, and with what her aunt told us, we just drove down there last night to pick her up. She was everything we wanted and much much more, we didn't get home till after 1am and didn't get to bed till after 3:30. Last night we introduced Baby  to our new little girl just to gauge her reaction, we did it inside our house and didn't do it optimally.
       So we got up today went to Petsmart got her some things, then went to our parents house to show her off. We are happy to say that we already found a name that fits her. We recently found out that our paradise city...ShowLow has a BSL and dangerous dog laws in place. We've brought Baby their twice without knowing this information...ooops.... Anyway as a testament of fighting BSL we named our little girl Showlow... We find that it fits her quite well and we're both happy with it.

Ok so we did a meet and greet round two, I took Baby for a good 20min walk got her tired a little bit then Val met me with Showlow on the corner of the block, out of the house, so there is no protective behavior from meeting in Babys house...

I am pleased to announce that it went quite well. Its moments like this that make you feel just wonderful. Cant wait to bring our little lady into work and get her the works, dewormer, fecal check, ear medicine, All vaccines, microchip etc... Exciting times.

Heres some pictures of her and Baby when they met.

Enjoy! and till next update Punish the Deed not the Breed!!