Poppy Sick

So poor Popkin has Kennel Cough. I was really surprised by her having kennel cough because I thought it was a stomach bug, and I wasn't even sure if she was sick because she was still hyper as ever, and begged every chance she got. She had been throwing up yellow foam and even one of her meals four days in a row. I took her to the vet today and turns out she has a mild case of kennel cough.

The vet put her on antibiotics and cough meds. Other then the the throwing up she's been a fine little dog. The reason for this kennel cough was most likely when she was boarded at a petsitter's. 

The little nim still begs for food when she's sick

Other than that she's been doing well, normal bodily functions and usual hyper, crazy self. :)

Petstore Goodies

     Wow, I really haven't updated this blog in a while! Well I've been in Peru for the passed few weeks, but now I'm back! :)

     Anyway, I hadn't bought Poppy things from the petstore in a while so I went down to An-Jans (my favorite petstore) to pick up a few things. (Its my favorite petstore because they don't sell animals!:) I got just some necessities. I gave up on buying toys for her because all the cute little stuffed toys I get her get ripped within 10 minutes of giving her it :( And she still has her gummy bear toy, her red ring, her blue kong bone and a disc toy and rope toy which are put away for later. So here are some the the things I got her.

First up, these awesome treats from OId Mother Hubbard. Poppy was getting tired of Carry Outs and I was looking for healthier options. This ones got Peanut butter, brown rice and other ingredients that I can identify. Surprisingly, there's no meat in them, but I don't think Pop minds because they smell like peanut butter heaven.

Next, a new harness! Finally. I've gone through 3 harnesses with Poppy. The first was way to loose and there are holes in it. The second Poppy managed to chew off when she was at the dogsitter's and the third was way too lose. This one fits her great and it matches her purple leash. Though I do wish it had a cute design on it. Oh well, you win some you lose some.

And finally, Natural Balance Beef formula! The last one of these, which was Turkey Formula,  lasted me ages. Pop loves these, except she did get a little sick of the Turkey one, because I've started incorporating this into her food. She is one picky eater!

     On a side note, Poppy has been thrown up 3 times in the last two weeks. She throws up a yellow bile (too much info?) and its always in the morning (on my new carpet). I got a little worried and called her vet. He said its because she doesn't have food in her stomach from the night before and it builds up and causes her to puke the remaining bile in her stomach. Now, here's the thing with Poppy. She'll eat her breakfast (most of the time) but her dinner... not a guarantee. She's just such a picky eater. She'll love a brand of kibble at first, and then a week later she's sick of it. I've gone though soo many brands; Royal Canin, Natural Balance  Wellness, Nutro, Blue Buffalo and others I can't remember. She's liked them and then hated them. The one she's liked the most, however, was Royal Canin, so I've stuck to that one. I usually put in 75% kibble and 25% Natural Balance Roll (the one pictured above), but now she is even getting tired of that. I don't know what else to do. I don't really want to go the raw meat diet because its a little new for me, and I would make her homemade dog food but sometimes I just don't have time to make it. Nevertheless, tonight I'm going to mix her kibble with the usual Natural Balance Roll and add rice and chicken, hopefully she'll eat that. Crossing my fingers, knocking on wood, I really do not want to wake up to her vomiting on my new WHITE carpet again. Luckily I have an awesome cleaner that gets it out but still I do not want her to get sick again. Hopefully it works...

Check Up

     So, today was Poppy's first real check up. She did pretty well, she shivered and was stressed out a little but soon got over it. She is completely healthy, the only thing we need to watch out for is her teeth. The doc says she has a big underbite, which is normal because its genetic, but because of it there are two teeth missing at the back. He says if they don't come in it will be fine, but if there are teeth under there it could hurt her mouth severely and they would have to be removed. He said its not urgent, but to just watch her and check her teeth regularly. I guess it kind of makes sense that she's missing teeth back there, she does take longer to chew, I thought it was just because of her underbite, but its also because she's missing two teeth! Other than that, she's a healthy, happy pup and they said she was the perfect weight, and had very healthy skin, coat and they were very happy to see we were using a good quality dog food and a harness! Yay for doing everything right! :)

                                                    Hooray for a healthy, happy, dog! :)

Poppy's Package

     Poppy received a lot of loot today in the mail. Her Aunt who lives an hour away from us sent her a little "doggy care package".

First up, she got Natural Balance Roll food (which we use as treats) and a new kind of dog food Ultra by Nutro

She got two Beef and one Turkey Natural Balance Rolls!

I wasn't sure if I'd slowly give her this new kind of food or just try and see if it agreed with her. I ended up just mixing it with her kibble (Royal Canin Puppy) and she loved it and had no tummy troubles :-)

Next, she got a Hyper Pet Flippy Flopper Dog Disc, this disc is a little big for Poppy's mouth...it's bigger than her head (lol), but she loves it nevertheless. I'm going to have to teach her to catch it in the air

And lastly, two chicken flavored rawhide chews. Poppy loooved these, it took her all day to finish it, and even attempted hiding it in between the couch couchons! 

     Anyway, Poppy really loved and enjoyed her loot and she wants to thank her Auntie :-) That's all for now!

Happy 9 Months, Popkin!

     Today is Poppy's 9 month old birthday! Which means I've had Poppy for 6 months now (the shelter recorded she's born on September 20). I remember when I first picked her up from the Humane Society when she was only 3 months old. 

Poppy at 3 months after her spay surgery

Poppy exploring the house 

     I cannot believe how big she's grown. I remember how dependent she used to be on me. She would cry the minute I would leave the room, even if other people were around. She used to be scared to climb the stairs. She used to be too small to jump on the sofa, she would sleep in my lap all day and she used to be so shy. She has blossomed into a beautiful, loving, confident doggy.

Look ma! No hands!

notice her underbite?

     I love my little Popperton, so in celebration of her 9 month birthday I am making her a special dinner; her kibble (Royal Canin) mixed with steamed carrots (her fav) and boiled chicken (also her fav). Lately, I've been spicing up her kibble because I feel like she really is getting bored of the flavor. She is a VERY picky eater. I've tried about 10 different brands of dog food, the only one she's liked was Royal Canin. So, yesterday I mixed her kibble with baked sweet potato, boiled salmon and blueberries. She loved it! So today I'm making her another creation. I basically give her something close to what I'm eating. I am on this new healthy eating craze and I've decided that its time for Popkin and I to eat healthier. I considered the raw food diet for Pop but I'm the kind of person who has to do A LOT of research before trying something like that. We'll see how it goes. But today, for myself I'm making a grilled chicken sandwich with lots of veggies on the side, with the extra chicken I'm going to make Poppers some boiled chicken with steamed carrots. :) I love my Pop-pop bear so much! Happy Birthday Pops! :) She grew up so fast cannot believe only 3 more months until she's a 1 year old! Well that's all for now, Popsicle has also been working on some tricks so I'll post them on her Youtube. I'm so proud of my little girl!

                                                 Poppy's Derp face hehe ;)

Humming Bird and Favorite Toy

     Today morning I was taking Poppy out to do her business when I heard my neighbor over the fence. She said her cat got out and luckily came back, but had caught a Hummingbird. She asked if I could take care of it or take it to the Humane Society because she's going to Las Vegas today. I didn't mind taking care of the bird because I had done this many times before (her cats are always hunting birds and sometimes rabbits!). I took the bird and I put it in a cage with some nectar and lots of ripped paper for a nest. I called the Humane Society and asked if I should bring it in, and they said only if it is injured from the cat attack. I took the bird outside to see if it would fly. It first hopped onto the grass and then it took flight. It was so beautiful to see it, and it even took some nectar from the flowers in my backyard. I didn't get to take a picture of it (sadly) but it looked just like the one below.

     So, after the whole hummingbird situation, Poppy was in crisis. She has this one favorite toy, the JW Gummi Bear dog toy. It looks like this: 

     And she couldn't find it anywhere. Whenever she can't find it she cries and starts looking all over the house for it. I started helping her, and even I couldn't find it. After a while of looking in all the usual places she went, I took her to the back yard. And that's where I saw she had "hidden" it in the grass. She was so happy to have it back, but I couldn't believe she had attempted to bury it in our yard. Today I'm going to go buy her a few more toys (lol) yeah she's spoiled.

Roadtrip

     So this weekend was Poppy's first road trip. I have to admit, I was a little scared of how this would turn out. In my car Poppy shakes and cries, but this weekend I borrowed my dad's car and it worked great. She slept the whole 1.5 hours to Davis and didn't cry at all. I was visiting my sister's house in Davis. 

*YAWN* Are we there yet ma?

     Poppy did give me a big scare this weekend though, I left her alone for an hour and I had forgotten her water bowl at home, so I left a plastic bowl with her (she's usually fine with those). I came back and she had ripped up the water bowl completely. I was really worried that she had eaten the plastic. Luckily she was fine though, but I didn't get too much sleep because I wanted to make sure I was awake if she felt sick, or threw up. She did her business fine and ate and drank normally. Poppy and I stayed in a hotel that allowed dogs, and she was great, she only barked once at night when she heard someone walk by. 

Where are we maam?

     A lot of people came to meet Poppy too, I am really glad I took her to Davis because she's still 8 months old so she's still in the stages of getting desensitized to things. She met little kids, which she was a little fearful of at first but was fine later, a lot of people who walked by wanted to pet her, which she loved, and my relatives came to my sister's house to meet her, which she also loved. I love that Poppy is such a friendly dog and that she got some more socialization done on this trip, and practice of being in the car for a long time. 


   But once we got home she just was knocked out, I can tell she's just happy to be home :) In other news there's a bunny in our back yard... Poppy tried chasing it before we left. I really hope that there aren't more little bunnies hopping around in our backyard. I'm fine with one, just not a whole colony!