Chacha turns 11

Happy Birthday, Chacha! 

Another Stroke.

 

Chacha had another stroke yesterday. 

I am going to start giving him a 4th of a baby aspirin every day. Hopefully it will help. He has had one once before, sometime last year. Both times he screamed, then lost his balance and seemed to be unable to see and his tongue turned white. He gradually recovered within about half a hour. 

No dry food now...

Chacha has a hard time eating dry food now. So canned food it is. And not just any canned food, I buy the best I can afford for my little buddy. I hope to be able to make him homemade food one day, but he does eat a lot of my food now.  

He gets a little Dinovite every day, not as much as it says to feed him since he is not too fond of the taste. If I only put a little bit in he does not seem to notice or care. His fur has not come back, so I guess it is not because he is lacking something. 

But he is happy and healthy, and enjoying the warm spring. He turns 11 later this month. I think that he is doing good for a dog his age and considering how he lived before I got him...

My Boy is Enjoying the Sunshine

Okay now?

Chacha is back to eating! I have no idea what was wrong with him but I am glad it is over. He would go crazy if we had to take him to the vet.

Improvement

I was able to get Chacha to eat 1/4 of a waffle yesterday!

What's Wrong?

Chacha has ate very little the past few days. Other then that, he seems fine. I don't know what is wrong with him. With the cold weather we have been having, he has not been going outside much, so maybe he just ain't hungry. My mom bought a pen a few days ago for him to stay in when I am at work. He always seems to slip out of his sock (he pees inside the house...) and he really don't like the baby my mother has been babysitting (I don't blame him). He does go in the pen by himself sometimes, so he don't hate it. He was eating fine before then, but won't even touch his favorites now.

Dinovite

We started giving Chacha Dinovite on the 1st. So far, I have not noticed a change but it does take a while for fur to grow back. We will see. He has slowly lost most of his fur on his ears and tail. I think that it is genetic...

Chacha's Past

(This is the first picture I have of my dear boy)

Bare cage. Loud, frantic barking. Cold. Lonely. 

Chacha's first 7 months of life were spent with a backyard breeder/puppy mill/hoarder. 

How anyone could treat any animal like that is beyond me. Even more so my grandmother who always seemed so nice, but I know better now.  (Thankfully, the animal control stopped her from breeding several years ago, but she still has so many dogs... I wish they would do more. I wish I could do more.) 

I was only eight when she gave me Chacha as a Christmas gift. 

I had met him a few times before then and he was always happy to see me (and be let out of the cage).  He was so skinny it looked as if he was starving, and he had very little fur on his paws or tail. His dewclaws had been pulled out when he was younger. I am still very angry about that. How could anyone pull a puppies toes out?! Humans are monsters. Most of them are at least. He still bares the scars and has arthritis in his paws because of this. And he still loves her. I don't know why.

He is safe now. I will always care for him and love him. 

He has been my best friend since that cold Christmas so long ago and I will defend him to the death if necessary. He is always there for me, to protect me. I feel safe when he is around and he feels the same about me. We are more then friends, we are family. Along with Callie and Fifi, we are a pack. 

Could I ask for more?

True Love

Who says animals don't love?

Chacha has been in love with Fifi since they first met and you can see it in his eyes when he looks at her. If you say her name, he snaps his head around to look for her. He is very protective of his lady, doesn't even let her play with Callie.

He holds Callie back while she eats (Fifi is nervous around bowls and Callie takes advantage of this by stealing all of her food). 

When he is around Fifi, Chacha is a real gentleman.

At the Lighthouse

With the cool weather we have been having, it is a great time to go on nature trails.

And who's better to take along then your best friend?

Dogs love to explore, so I take Chacha with me as often as possible. I usually have to carry him after a while because he doesn't have the energy he use to, but he keeps going for as long as he can.

Yesterday, we went to the lighthouse and everyone had a great time. Dogs are awesome!

Chacha's Photo Album

I've got a photo album that I will fill with just pictures Chacha. 

I've only got two pictures in it so far, but will be getting some more printed soon.

Chacha is not amused...

Training with the Clicker

I recently read The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller. 

It is a great book that any person with a dog or thinking about getting a dog should have. No hitting, jerking around or bullying your dog, just fun and effective ways to teach him to do what you want. I was planning to wait until I got a clicker to start with Chacha, but yesterday I found a old one that I've had for years. Although it is broken, it still clicks and will have to do for now. 

We started yesterday. I will be updateing our progress every so often. 

Here are the exercises for week #1. 

The Clicker - This teaches the dog that the click means treats. All you have to do is click then quickly give him a treat. Once the dog learns this, it will never need to be repeated. Chacha seemed to get after only about 6, but we done 15 just to be sure.

Name - Say the dog's name. If he looks at you, click and treat. This teaches him to pay attention to you when he hears his name. After I got the hang of timing the clicker right, Chacha caught on. Today he did better. 

Sit - Chacha already knows how to sit, but I usually have to lure him. Hopefully with more practice he will sit on cue. 

Down - Chacha knows this too. But as with sit, I have to lure him.

The Problem with Girls

Fifi and Callie are in heat... 

Now Chacha is going to be acting crazy for a couple of weeks or so. 

He can't get them pregnant for some reason, but he doesn't seem to understand that. If he could, we would probably have to get the girls spayed. Chacha is so small that he might not wake back up if we took him in, and Fifi is only a little bit bigger. One of my aunts took a cat to be spayed and she died, so we've never wanted to chance it. 

That being said, my next dog will be fixed when he/she is young and healthy.

Chacha doesn't like it, but he is banished to my room until he leaves the girls alone.

Why is it Going Away?

The fur on Chacha's ears, tail and paws is slowly disappearing. 

I don't know if it is because of his age or something genetic. I noticed that some of my Granny's chihuahuas also have this, so I'm thinking it's genetic.

Car Ride

My Mom had to run some errands today and me and Chacha came along. 

Chacha enjoyed the car ride. New people to bark at, new sights to see, new smells....

Bath Time

I try to give Chacha a bath every week or sometimes every other week. 

He is not very happy about it... but at least he is clean.

Just Trimming Toenails

It had been a while since I trimmed Chacha's toenails and they were definitely overgrown. 

I found the clippers today and fixed that. Here is a before and after photo.

Eating His Vegetables

This is a video of Chacha eating tomatoes and part of a baked potato. 

He has trouble chewing because he has lost most of his teeth, so we have to soften his dry dog food and he gets lots of 'table scraps' too.

The song in the background is Hopeless by Breaking Benjamin.

Fireworks

Chacha and Callie are not big fans of the fireworks (or thunder) but at least they don't panic. 

They just ask to be held or go hide in one of the bedrooms.