Allergies?

After taking Ollie in to get his sutures removed, I explained to the vet that when I take his collar off, he goes straight for his front paws. He'll gnaw an bite that them like he's trying to get at this one itch. I had strong concerns because his paws would end up red and tender. The Vet concluded that it would most likely be a sort of skim allergen that is caused by the food he is eating. ALLERGIES?! Goodness sakes?! I guess since we are both mammals, it's most likely that we (dogs and humans) can develop allergic reactions. So to help with finding out the allergen, the vet put Ollie on a hypoallergenic diet. Which means he is to stop feeding on anything thing we used to give him. Completely eliminating that. And start him on this Iams, hypoallergenic dog food for skin and coat.

Iams® Veterinary Formulas Skin & Coat Response™ FP/Canine Dry Formula

As for treats? Carrot sticks. Yup.
Along with having to buy fresh organic carrots, this dog food is NOT cheap. Keep in mind, Ollie eats about 4 cups a day of dry food. So we go through a 15 lb bag pretty fast. At $50 bucks a bag, the dollar bills are adding up. OOOOOOF! I knew that getting a dog would cost us money, but this dog is eating better than I am!

I wonder if I can put him to work pulling weeds or washing dishes? hmmmmmmm....

Kids are mean.

Every morning I take Ollie for his poop walk. We'll go around the corner towards the park and circle around. This morning we past by some kids at the bus stop.


"Look! That dog looks like a flashlight! Hey Flashlight Dog! Hey lady, if you pull on his tail will he light up?! Ha Ha Ha ha ha!"

Oh how they teased poor Ollie and his orange collar. He's only gonna have this thing on till his ears heal up. I am NOT paying for therapy bills because he has self image issues! Ok, So maybe he doesn't care one bit what he looks like with his little bonnet. I'm thinking his mommy maybe the one with the issues. He's still a cutie in my eyes!OK, Maybe he does look a bit flash lighty.

If you can't Beat em, Join em!

I must admit. I've become one of the those pet owners that have gone Koo Koo over CoCo puffs. In this case, I'm obsessive over my dog. I think he's the cutest, sweetest, funniest, smartest, best behaved dog in the whole wide world! And of course I need to capture all this on film. So last night around bedtime, I drag Oliver's bed into our room and he sleeps at the foot of our bed. One thing we've been trying to teach him is that whole settling down period. He still doesn't understand that, so he insists on "play" time. Which of course involves his favorite "Cow" friend. He will sit at the foot of the bed with Cow in his mouth looking at you with those big brown puppy dog eyes. Like he's begging you to pick up the cow and chuck it as far as you can. I'm usually the strong one and will ignore the cuteness. David of course caves in a may throw it out for Ollie to fetch. Well last night, Oliver was sick of waiting for us, that he fell asleep on his bed with Cow tucked under his ear. Trust me, he did this himself because of his collar. Of course like any doting parent, the first thing I grab is the camera and start shooting away. Of course, by the end of the photo shoot, his look of " Are you done yet? Can I go back to sleep?!" is priceless.

New Friend

While walking Oliver this morning to our near by park, we came across a little dog named "Goose". The owner explained, "Like in Silly Goose!" Gotcha! After their initial "doggy" hand shake, also known as the butt sniffs, their tails were a wagging! Ollie really liked Goose! He wanted to play with her! Goose's owner said that Goose just lost her partner in crime. And seemed to be having a hard time adjusting to other dogs. Well, hopefully Ollie will break her out of that and they can start to bond. Goose's owner invited us out to the dog park at Shoreline. Hopefully we'll be able to make the play date!

David did inform me that on a walk they did last night, Oliver came across two statues of ceramic lions in the front driveway of a nighborhood home. Feeling very unsure, Oliver was on full guard of these two statues! I wonder what he was thinking?! I'll have to get some pictures to post.

Chewy

Ollie's got this chewing fetish. Whether it's his feet or tail or crotch, he's chewing on those parts?!

I don't know if these are just grooming techniques that all dogs go through or if it's a habit that he's forming. He's got an appointment with Dr. Singh, so we can finally get down tot he bottom of this. Other than that, he's peachy keen. Check him out here spread out with his chicken legs.

Yappers

The house next door has three little dogs that love to bark at Oliver. Actually they are small dogs, so it's more like a yipe. The pitches are high and frequent, so when ever Ollie goes out back to do his business, they smell him and start the yapping. The owners do nothing to discipline the dogs, so they are left barking up a storm. We hate to fuel the noise ordinance, but we don't feel like we are to blame. Especially since Oliver doesn't bark back at them.
Till today.
He went out to do his business and as they were barking up a storm. Feeling fed up with all the noise these guys were making, Oliver headed over to the fence area and gave a loud ferocious WOOF! Two seconds later, even the crickets were silent! It was actually quite funny!
Though Oliver remains quite when he's out back, the house next door remains loud and obnoxious. Three little ones yelping non stop into the night would drive anyone crazy. Luckily our double pane windows help. David does love it when we take Ollie out first thing in the morning to pee, and our neighbors get woken up by their own yappy dogs.
Good Dog Ollie. Good Dog.

Kennel Cough

Ollie has Kennel Cough. He's been retching for the past three days. Though his energy is fine and he's eating all his food, he has this awful cough that seems bothersome. from what I've read, I will let this cough take it's course. He's got an appointment to see the Vet next week, so hopefully he will be done with this.
Other than a little cough, Ollie has been great. He's learning to walk very well on a leash. I've found that he LOVES to play fetch. It would be a perfect world if he could chase after a ball all day long. I just need to figure out how to get him to release the ball once he retrieves it.

Welcome Home Oliver!

We are so proud and please to announce the newest member of our family.Oliver "Big Ollie" Dog. On March 8, 2008 My brother Billy and I drove to Homeward Bound in Elverta to Pick him up and bring him home. The past week of waiting for Oliver to come home was the longest week ever! We arrived at Homeward Bound early this morning with so much hope and excitement. Along with A crate, a bed, a brand new collar and leash, and of course several chew toys, I also had to think of a name for the dog, and thought it was a great idea to make it a contest at work! After several great suggestions, David and I agreed with "Oliver" or as he's now known around the house as "Big Ollie". We walked in the front office area and told the folks we were here to pick up "Oliver" aka "Chandler". Oliver pranced out excited and happy as a clam! Even though Ollie had underwent neutering and ear surgery, this boy was full of energy and spunk! My brother looks at me and asks, are you sure this is your dog? I looked at him with a little hesitation and said "Yeah, I think so?!". Ms. Jody then explained the medication Oliver is currently on and suggested we take him for a walk before taking that long drive home. Still a bit nervous, I tried to elude confidence that i knew what I was doing. So we proceeded. Here are the boys. Billy, Oliver and my little cousin Tyler all excited to take a little walk down to the pond. Billy had bit of a difficult time leading him. Oliver was all over the place, since walking on a leash was not his first choice. It was certainly fun to watch! As you can also see, Oliver had to have a cone around his neck so that he doesn't scratch up his surgery wounds on his ears. Poor thing, it was not fun for him either. After our long walk to burn off some steam and we headed back to Tyler's home to drop him off. Back at Tyler's house, his little sister Haley was so excited to see Oliver! She was all over him! Though she stood a bit shorter than him, he was happy to lay down and let her rub his tummy. He sure was a softy when it came to little ladies! I have a feeling he will be breaking lots of female hearts. When it was time to head home, Miss Haley was not too pleased to see him go. I did promise to visit real soon so that she can spend some time cuddling up to him. After two long hours in the car, Ollie was fantastic. Very calm and quite. He seemed very comfortable in the car, which is always nice for us to not worry about car anxiety. Once we arrived back home, Ollie was greeted with excitement and open arms to David. We guided him in to check out his new home and he was the best guest! I proceeded to show him the back yard and even gave him some water to quench his thirst. Ollie wandered around and just made himself at home. Here is Ollie and his favorite toy, "Cowie". Since coming home, Ollie has had this squeak cow in his mouth pleading for us to play with fetch with him. He's such a retriever! As for his first weekend home, everything went very smoothly. We discovered that Ollie, may have been house trained before.No Jumping on the furniture, or the bed. He's got great manners but needs some coaching on his walks.He tends to pull and tug. Ollie loves to be brushed and rubbed after a good meal. On Sunday we gave him a quick bath and a long jog in the park, Ollie was pooped. With my Cesar Millan book in hand, all the training is paying off. Ollie has become our little angel.

Homeward Bound Golden Rescue

When Doc and I came across the idea of adding to our family, we had our four legged friend in mind. I researched online what kind of dog would be best for our little family and I came across the ever famous Golden Retriever. We were looking for a dog with similar energy level, house trained, good with little people, good watch dog, and furry companion. This search also lead me to the best adoption/rescue center ever! Homeward Bound Golden Retriever Rescue is located just 30 mins north of Elk Grove in Sacramento. I quickly put in my application and crossed my fingers. Several months later I get a call from Ms Karen. After a home visit and some patience, she came through with finding us our Dog. Ms. Karen invited us up to the Sanctuary to visit a dog that was just brought in from Bakersfield. They called him "Chandler". On March 1, 2008 we headed up to pay a visit to Chandler and possibly any other dogs that would be a good match. The drive was about 2.5 hours from our home. I picked up my nephew to bring him along as a "kid" test for the dogs and of course a fun trip for Tyler as well. When we got there, Chandler was brought out. What a vision! Not only was he beautiful, but his eyes we captivating with a longing look that screamed "Take me home!" He caused such a ruckus and excitement, I looked over at Doc and said, "Uh oh, What did we get into?' Doc grabbed a hold of the leash and off we went to the field to "test drive" Chandler. Without a leash to connect with and a whole field to run around, Chandler took off like a six year old after too many CoCo Puffs. We called out his name, we tried to play ball, we even tried to walk with him on a leash. Chandler even managed to plop himself in a tub of water and get himself and our gang all soaked. It was close to impossible to get a hold of him, so immediately we decide to look at another dog. We met one other golden and one golden mix. Not feeling the connection with the last two, I convinced Doc that Chandler is the one for us and the chance needs to be taken. After some instructions from Ms. Jody, We were told that Chandler needs to stay for another week to get his ears cleaned, and his neutering wound to heal. We were also instructed to pick out a new name since "Chandler" was just given to him when he arrived to the Sanctuary less than a week ago. With excitement and nervousness, we drove home with the hope that Chandler is our little angel. Stay tuned for the Pick up day! Many thanks to all the wonderful volunteers at Homeward Bound and especially with Ms. Karen. Her kindness, understanding and patience lead us to our faithful companion.