The Cuteness

Mia loves to model.  She is proof that the more you expose a dog to, the more they get over things they don't enjoy.  For example, she used to shy away from the camera, now she just takes it.  I took her to the ice cream stand today... so I could buy a pint to go, and she sat in the car quietly staring straight ahead even though I parked next to a car with a dude inside and there were lots of people milling around.  Not even one bark, when she used to go bananas, I was so proud.  I mean it doesn't always work, but today she is in a more laid back mood I guess.

Hot Dog Dog

We know that it's not Halloween yet, or Howl-o-ween, but Mia could Not help herself... she just had to be a hot dog for a minute.

Truthfully, she hated wearing this.  I think she was insulted.

Little Angel

Mia is not very good at gardening, nor at staying Out of the garden.

She is, however, Excellent at snoozing in the middle of the day.

We had family come over on Sunday for a little dinner, and when they all came in, she went crazy of course barking like a mad woman.  After just a couple minutes she was totally back to normal, so faster than any previous group entrance which is Great.  Also, once they were here and settled in, she acted like she always does - cool, calm, collected, sleepy.  The only incident that occurred was her humping my brother's leg... I really don't understand why she does that to men.  She never ever does that sort of thing to me, so I'm not sure if she thinks that I'm clearly her master or if I'm just her buddy and she doesn't need to express her dominance with me.  She still to this day humps Abe, he wrestles her down each time to prove his point but it's not really working in the long term.  She's probably humped him over a dozen times now.  This was the first time for my brother, he was totally not expecting that.  It does seem when people play rough with her, that she thinks that she needs to prove something with the humping - I never play rough with her.  I play chase with her around the dining room table, play fetch with her football, take her on walks, free range in the yard, give her treats, snuggle, and we nap together.  It's a much different relationship than the one that Abe and her have.  He likes to snuggle with her, but when they do play, it's Rough Housing, like fur is flying and she loves it.  I'm the Queen Bee in this house, but Mia is a close second... she's like my right hand woman.

Problem

I am so embarrassed for my dog right now.  She's having butt issues, specifically anal gland issues.  They need to be expressed or something but I'm not sticking my finger up her butt yet it keeps spontaneously leaking and it is the most foul odor anyone has ever smelled EVER.  She does actually seem mildly embarrassed by this problem, but I really don't know how else to solve it.  I just watched an online video that a vet made about this and he said that dogs should have 2 teaspoons of fiber per 40 pounds of dog 2 x a day to help avoid this gland issue, but he expresses his dog's glands almost daily and then he showed it.  The dog didn't even flinch!  The second that I even lift up my dog's tail, she's onto me, and scuttles away.  Seriously, the last thing I want to do in this world is This but taking her to the vet to have a vet tech do it for like $40 also seems silly.  OMG.  help.

In the Shadows

Poor Mia.  With her mom being pregnant and her dad being busy with work, she seems to be getting pushed to the side a lot these days at home (except for her full days at daycare)  She isn't acting up at all, her stomach is doing just fine, I think she's just wishing for more attention but there's just so much going on with the adults.  Out in the world, all she wants is to socialize, and at home all she wants is to lounge with a companion so she's sort of like WTF?!  Even her blog is being neglected.

We took her to the vet last weekend to get updated on her shots, and she went bananas.  I thought that we were past this, since the last time I brought her in there myself she did really really well.  This time, not so much.  Maybe there was just a little bit too much going on with kids there and other dogs, but at least she didn't pee on the floor or anything....just barked mortifyingly loud.

I've had to restrict her free ranging because the last time I let her do it, she chased a squirrel into the woods right next to the road where she ran around sniffing like a mad animal in the road then back in the yard then back in the road, etc.  She has no awareness of cars, so I was Not pleased.  The squirrel had completely taken over her brain, and the usual ways I get her back easily were not working: walking back inside, saying "let's go back inside", calling her name, shaking a bag of treats, pulling out a treat and having her walk towards me, etc.  Finally, I had to just chase her into the woods and grab her, while repeatedly yelling at her - I'm sure the neighbors could hear me being nuts.  I got burs stuck in my work pants - my Only maternity work pants mind you, which we found all over the house for days after.  She has not been allowed to be free and easy ever since then and she has Not forgotten about the squirrel, she looks at those woods every day wishing for it to reappear.  She's not the brightest dog in the world, but she does not forget animal sightings - Ever.

Mia and Rosalita

So far Mia's new food regime has done wonders for her body, she's feeling much better.  She used to gorge herself on grass outside because her stomach hurt but she hasn't done that at all this week.  Most meals she'll eat at least 75% of the food, which is better than before when she'd skip meals on a regular basis.  I like to think that she's much happier now, and we're much happier too now that Abe isn't being woken up several times a night so Mia can go have poop explosions in the back yard.

This is Mia and Rosalita at daycare, they're a cute pair.  I'm very surprised that a female is one of Mia's best friends, normally she tends to get along with males much better.  I saw a video of these two running around and playing and Rosalita seems to have the same style of crazy and rough play so I guess they are a good match after all.  I really need to find one of those little play houses for Mia.

This Labor Day weekend, Mia will be boarding at daycare for 3 nights... she will not be pleased but hopefully she has friends to play with during the day to make it less painful.

Another food experiment

Ok, new tactic.  We're cutting way back on the wet food for Mia.  Previous meals were: 2 cups of dry plus 1/2 can of wet.  I thought that she needed the calories since she's so active and never gained any weight... and look so thin.  I'm not sure if it's all the wet food flavors that we use, or just wet food in general that bothers her.  I mean she loves the flavor, but it might not love her stomach.  She's now getting 2 cups of dry plus 1 spoonful of wet just to get all the kibble a little flavor.  Three days of this, and so far things seem to be going very well.  She is eating her food, she's not having diarrhea, and actually she may be a little bit more regular than she used to be.  Also, we're only giving her treats without wheat or gluten or anything that she could be sensitive to.  The Trader Joe jerky treats she was eating before apparently had wheat in them.... odd, I mean it's jerky.  She really likes this Dogswell brand in the Mellow Mut and the Vitality flavors, they are 100% allergy free, so eat up puppies!

Sigh

A weekday morning like any other.  I got up, showered, and in the middle of getting dressed Mia let out a few squeaks from downstairs in her crate.  Usually she really likes to sleep in, so I went downstairs and took her outside where she did her business (number 1 and 2 if you really wanted to know).  We came back inside and I made my princess a glorious breakfast of kibble and wet food mixed together.  I put the food down on the floor and said, "Mia, where are you??"  Out she came from under the dining room table which is not one of her usual hangouts.  When I went to see what she was up to... there it was.  A pile of diarrhea on the carpeting, Right after we had just been outside!  WTF!!

This must stop.  I don't even know what to do with her, but she's sick just in time for the weekend of course.