February = Dental

February is dental awareness month. Thank dog I don't need a dental this year. Gizmo isn't so lucky. He went in for his about two weeks ago. And now Claire tries to brush our teeth and puts wax on our teeth. I think she gave up on teeth brushing after two days. (SUCCESS!!!)

So while Gizmo was getting his teeth clean, he also got his anal glands expressed, a bath (because he was a mess after the anal gland stuff), a haircut. Oh boy. I feel bad for him! At least now he doesn't have stinky breath, making him a better playmate. 

Lilo

Pumpkin on the Patch!!

Today's the day! My new life as a journalist. Wouldn't you agree I'm a good writer?? yeah??!
Check out my first article on the Patch!
http://ashburn.patch.com/blog_posts/precious-pumpkin-38bcf013#c

Your Best Peke,
Pumpkin

Pumpkin

Life has been keeping me from writing a blog post on Pumpkin, our latest foster. He is a one-year-old pekingese mix over at Mutts Matter Rescue. He really is a doll! super sweet! and eager to please.

He is making his first media debut on the Patch this week. I'll post the link when the article is published. But here's a sneak peak of his photo shoot today.

Gizmo's 2-year anniversary

Hello, I'm a pretty big deal! I'm about 2 years and 6 months old. I've spent 2 years with my family. I love them mucho, and they even organized me a little celebration!

We got cookies that shaped like cupcakes! woof!!

And they tortured me by making me wait because they need pictures of me. Sheesh!

Of course, it's no party without my sis Lilo. She got a pink cookie...I want a pink cookie. Did you know, pink is my favorite color?

Food and Drug Administration

The FDA called me a few times this week!!!!  You know, I'm a mighty important dog.
Three months after my Fanconi incidence, the FDA is finally investigating and reviewing my case linked with chicken jerky treats. After a brief phone interview with the FDA lady, I asked Claire to reach out to my doctors for my full medical records so the FDA can review my case.

The lady wanted samples of the treat that made me so very sick, so they could examine the toxins. While I was at ICU, the doctors wanted the bag of treats, so they could file a complaint with FDA. Turns out, they disposed the treats after they filed the complaint. They did not save them as evidence or send them in to the FDA. I am pretty mad! After SOOOO much suffering, I want to get to the bottom of this. And the FDA is finally taking me seriously, but we have no treats for them to prove things out. I want justice for my fellow doggie friends and myself!

Merry Christmas!

Have a happy paw-lidays!

Your best friends,

Hiking The Parks

We have been visiting parks during the past few weeks. What a life?! Being outside, walking, sightseeing and sniffing. Lots of sniffing. :)

We're checking out the ducks at Patapsco State Park.

The park near Long Gate Shopping Center. The lake is almost like a mirror.

And the beautiful sky.

Gorgeous Lilo at the top of a rock :)  

Gizmo jumps off before a picture could be taken.

Good News!

Lilo went in for her monthly check up over the weekend. Even Lilo knows the routine, measure her weight, take her temperature, draw some blood, then outside to get urine sample. 

Dr. Parrish over at Hickory Ridge Animal Hospital called this morning and gave us some good news. Lilo's urine has no glucose!! and her potassium and bicarb levels are normal too. Her renal levels is high, but within the normal range. It seems like Lilo's kidneys are healing. She will continue her current treatment, which includes 6 bicarbonate pills and 4 potassium chloride pills. Dr. Parrish will discuss the results with Dr. Klaser, and they will decide what to do next. But it sounds like we can switch the monthly check up to every few months. Lilo and Gizmo have their annual checkup in January, so it won't be long before we are back to see Dr. Parrish again :)

A walk in a neighborhood park

What a beautiful day to be strolling in a park. We haven't done many park visits this summer, so it's nice that the family take us there today.

,

Update on Fanconi

Dr. P called and told us Lilo's Fanconi tested positive. I'm not sure what that really means since the cause for this is still an unknown (bad treats vs genetics)

In terms of the treatment plan for Lilo, we are looking at follow up visits once a month. She will stay on her potassium chloride supplement and sodium bicarbonate pills. We're reducing her sodium bicarb pills down to 3 tablets twice a day because Lilo has been having accidents in the house, and they smell like salt water, no pee smell (oh yes, I sniff it out!) The pills are causing her to drink a lot more than before.

We'll be monitoring her kidney levels, along with blood gas and probably urine glucose, at each check up. The doctors say it may take a year or more for the kidney to repair. If things don't improve after a year, Lilo may very likely have Fanconi for the rest of her life. From what I read so far, this syndrome is very manageable with a combination of pills and tests to monitor kidney and glucose levels. I'll research more about this once I catch back up on my grad school stuff. (since Lilo's sickness started around the same time the semester started, I pretty much been behind every week.)

So that's the update for now. Not much of an update other than we're in it for a rather long treatment plan.

A gloomy Saturday...

I'm finally well enough to blog about myself.
We went to Dr. Parrish again, got to see a black and white kitty at her office. It's one of the two kitties available for adoption. I don't understand why kitties are always in a cage. I want to play with them so badly.
They did the usual at today's visit, stick thermometer in my butt, needles at my neck, listen to my heart and lungs.  Good thing is, we won't see Dr P and crew until November! Yippee!  We're still waiting for Fanconi test result, the humans are hoping it's not the case...but Dr P just called and said my urine still has high level of glucose in it and blood glucose is normal, so it's highly likely that I've Fanconi.  She says to increase the bicarbonate to 4 tablets twice a day.  I think she is talking about all those treats I'm getting after each meal. Yummm, I can always use more treats. (Claire: we wrap her pills in pill pocket treats)

Claire snapped a pic of me napping in my bed. I love to sleep belly up.

Kibbles

I was so busy with work/school/housework...I didn't really have time to post an update on Lilo.

Lilo continues to improve! She is now eating some dry kibbles. I'm more than excited because I no longer have to chase her dog and force her to eat. It really makes the day go a little faster. We are still feeding her some wet food because of the potassium powder supplement. I don't think she likes the taste of it (yeah, it smells pretty gross!) so mixing it with flavorful wet food helps.

Lilo walks some these days, not a whole lot. I wonder if this is because her back legs are still sore from all the blood drawing. (she was so bruised up to the point she only has one good vein left.)

She is taking her medicines without trouble, thanks to pill pockets. If these sodium bicarbonate pills are for the long term, I need to start planning these pill pocket purchase. She is taking 6 bicarbonate and 1 zenequin antibiotic = 7 pills = 3.5 pill pockets (I use half a pocket and roll it and a pill into a ball for Lilo) It's actually kinda fun. 30 pill pockets per bag = 8.5 days at current dosage level...that's one bag per week. (gosh, I really have to stock up!)

The vet prescribes 14 bicarbonate pills per day. I gave Lilo 4 pills the first day, she drank 3 bowls of water and peed all over her bed. (she was in our bedroom, too weak to go down the stairs to the kitchen tiles)  Plus the 14 pills is based on blood gas result when she was at ICU, when she was on IV and not eating.  Lilo did another blood gas test last Friday (after 4 pills) and now we are waiting for the internal medicine specialist to get back to us on her dosage. We'll be going to Dr. P on Saturday, probably for another blood gas test. By this time, Lilo would have been on 6 pills per day for one full week, so we can make a better assessment on further treatment.

Fanconi Syndrome

It has been a while since I post an update. I have been reading up on Fanconi syndrome and the treatment protocol. (see link on the right margin under Resources)

We finally secured a bottle of sodium bicarbonate (i.e. baking soda) in tablet form from Wal-Mart pharmacy. Yes, we hate Wal-Mart, but we checked a few other places and they only have it in powder form. So there goes our $16 contribution to evil!  Apparently, bicarbonate is a very important treatment in Fanconi cases because of acidosis concern.

And because of the high glucose in urine (glucosuria) - a medium for bacteria growth - we will have to watch out for potential UTI (urinary tract infection). Fanconi is usually genetics related, urinalysis every 6 months is recommended to monitor progress. Owners can also test the urine monthly using those human glucose test strips.

I'm not sure if Lilo's case is from genetics or induced (through ingestion of toxins). So I guess we will have to discuss with Dr. P and Dr. K. what kind of follow-ups are needed.

About Lilo...
Great news today! She finally pooped!!!! after almost 3 weeks of no poop. I was getting pretty concerned since she ate quite a bit of chicken and canned food since Friday night. I fed her some carrots last night and some yogurt this morning. (she didn't want yogurt, but too bad, I had the potassium powder mixed in, so I forced her to eat it.) So a combination of carrots, yogurt, and potassium supplement probably help get her system moving.

She will have her follow up with Dr. P tomorrow afternoon.

The First Day Taking Care of Lilo

At 4:35 a.m., I heard dog walking around in my room. My first guess was Gizmo. When I turned on my little night light, I saw Lilo in front of me. So I got her the blanket that she used to sleep on; however, she wanted to sleep on my bed instead. She stood up with her front paws on the side of my bed, but I rejected her. So she ended up sleeping on the blanket for about 10 minutes and then started to walk out the room. I followed her to see whether she wanted to go out or not; but, she walked back to Sister's room instead. =.= Then I went back to sleep.

Waked up at 7:30 a.m. to start my day. First mission of the day was to make Lilo breakfast, mixing chicken with about a teaspoon of a/d. She refused to eat at first, but she started eating after I forced her to have the first bite. She willingly took bite after bite and finished every thing that I made for her. She then went back to sleep after finishing breakfast.


Lilo walked up to me around 10 a.m. So I took her out for a short walk. Since I didn't expect that she would want to walk so far, I left the door open when we left the house. Therefore, I had to kind of pull her back and get Gizmo with me to continue our walk. Since they were mowing the lawn outside, we turned around and went back home after we got to the STOP sign. Instead of going straight back into the house, we sat at the stair in front of our house. Lilo ate some grass while we were sitting at the front door. Hopefully this would help her to go to bathroom soon.

After we got back from the walk, I was pretty hungry, so I decided to eat the hard boiled egg from Saturday. I gave Lilo as well as Gizmo some egg white. Lilo was so happy about it.


At 11:10 a.m. she was having a nice time under the sun. Pretty relax.

We went for another walk around 3 p.m. Lilo was walking very very slow; however, once she saw the squirrel, she was dashing towards it. I wonder if she is really sick or not. But it is a good sign that she is feeling better. :]

2nd day at home after hospitalization...

(apologies in advance for inconsistent grammar. I'm updating this as the day goes.)

I took Lilo out for potty break at 8am, and she started shivering. I got so worried, I forced her to eat food and put 3 blankets on her. She stopped shaking after a bit, so I think it was too cold outside that caused her to shiver, not low blood glucose. At the very worst, she got a bit of food in her stomach.

She doesn't have much of a appetite. So far today (1:30pm), she ate about 3 tsp of canned food and drank some chicken broth (we mixed a few drops in her water bowl). However, she is in good spirit. We sat outside in the sun for about 10 minutes. She was smelling the air, perking her ears to all the noise, looking around. We actually took a short walk. She wanted to walk further but I was concerned. She saw our next door neighbor and wagged her tail. We sat on the front porch for a bit before going back inside the house.

At around 3pm, I took Lilo's temperature and it recorded at 104 (fever). We make sure she drinks regularly.

And her bruising is getting A LOT better. I didn't take any pictures. But her neck was very bruised up, you can feel a huge lump. I checked today and there is no longer a lump, just bruised up skin. So that's very positive! No more clotting concerns.

Lilo doesn't walk very much inside the house. So we make her go into her bed and shuttle her (aka, dragging her bed) from room to room. I shuttled her to the door and she joined Gizmo for our afternoon walk. She walks pretty slow (same speed as our previous HW-positive foster Diamond). Gizmo keeps turning around to wait for her. She is pretty happy to see a few people on the walk and especially my neighbor's cat.



Lilo seems to be feeling better. We let her sleeps in the living room, while we are eating dinner. She walks over to join us in the dining room. And she starts eating willingly (we are still hand feeding her). She is responding better to her surrounding too.

Saturday Update

9:30am update:

Lilo survived the night. She is still weak, but in good spirit. I slept on the floor with her and Gizmo last night. She was drinking throughout the night. I took her out for a potty break at around 2:30am. (shortly after that, I stepped on my phone and now it's broken. Great!) Then I fed her some chicken (she ate willingly) and we went back to sleep. No seizure, so her blood glucose must be ok.
Took her out again around 8am. Fed her some canned food and chicken broth since she wasn't interested in real chicken. Now we're waiting for Dr. P to call back and see what we should do next in terms of meds. Dr. Klaser at the Referral Center didn't send along sodium and potassium supplements because she didn't expect Lilo to make it through the night.

11:25am update:
We'll be bringing Lilo over to Dr. P's at 1:15pm to remove the IV catheter and pick up some more Zeniquin. She initiated to play with Gizmo! Whoah, that's a huge progress! Gizmo ran away, leaving Lilo sitting on my make shift bed in the middle of the living room.

Evening update:
Got a bit busy and didn't get a chance to update. Since the catheter was just put in on Friday, before we picked up Lilo, we've decided to keep it in case Lilo needs IV fluids over the remainder of the weekend. (catheter are good for 3 days but requires daily maintenance.) The technician showed me how to flush it.
Lilo seemed ok for the rest of the day. She didn't eat very much but drank and urinated regularly. She also ate some grass when I took her out. Since she ate so much in one day, we're waiting for her bowel movement. Maybe the grass will help start that.

Lilo's update

By now, I think we spent $5000 on Lilo. And she is finally home with us...well, with bad news.

I spoke with Dr. Klaser around noon, she said Lilo seemed brighter today, but she was waiting to test her electrolytes level at 2pm to see if she had improved.

At around 5:15pm, Dr Klaser called. She said Lilo's blood glucose level dropped to half the normal level, that she isn't looking good. They tried to force food on her with little success. She suggested putting a feeding tube in her, meaning anesthesia and cutting holes in her tummy. Because of her low blood glucose, they have to do more frequent monitoring on her, keeping her there over the weekend would cost $1000 per day. We're already $5k in, about two months worth of our salary combined. While we would do whatever it takes to get Lilo better, there is just no guarantee that inserting a feeding tube would really make her better. (This was all happening while I was at my co-worker's roof top deck end of summer happy hour. So I had to leave before most people show up.)

After speaking to Dr. Klaser, I called Dr. Parrish for her opinion. We spoke for a few minutes, she was very helpful. I decided to bring Lilo home. If she is dying, I would much rather have her spending her final moments with us. I could pay another $2k to keep her at the vet, get the feeding tube in, and she could even die during anesthesia procedure, without her family close to her.

Lilo has been through a lot. She was a breeder's dog, probably caged or confined, before she was rescued. She came to live with us three years ago, free to roam in the house. I can see she gets very depressed over the past few days, being locked up in a cage again. I just wish I can speak dog language and let her know we're doing this to help her get better.

We arrived at CVRC at around 7:05pm. We finally met Dr. Klaser (we spoke so many times over the phone) in person. She said unless a miracle happens and Lilo somehow turns around at home, we likely would have to put her down tomorrow. Lilo is only 5-6 years old. She is so young still! We are pretty depressed about the news. She left the catheter on Lilo in case we need to bring her to ER overnight for more IV fluid or to our regular vet to be put down, so they don't have to poke, yet another hole, in her vain.

Cameron was driving us home (I was too emotional to drive). Well, Cameron was pretty emotional too, we totally missed the exit to I-97. So we had to turn around. We didn't get home until 8:50pm. We were starving! But first thing I did, try to get Lilo to eat. I squirted chicken broth down Lilo's throat, I put a/d canned food on her nose so she would lick it. When I held the spoonful of a/d in front of her, she actually ate it willingly. She ate about 2/3 of the can. In the meantime, my sister was steaming chicken and rice for Cameron and I to eat. So we finally ate our dinner at 9:30pm, and Lilo started shaking/shivering (due to low blood glucose). I was forcing sugar on her and she hated it. Back to me eating dinner, then I thought I should give a small piece of chicken to Lilo (it's just steamed chicken with a bit of salt. no marinades.). Lilo ate the small piece of chicken. We were more than excited. I gave her almost half of my chicken while Karen prepared another small piece. She ate a lot of chicken. Hopefully, that's enough to help her out.

It's 11pm now, Lilo is no longer shivering. We're monitoring closely and hoping for the best. And we're turning on the heat to keep her warm.

Please keep Lilo in your prayers!

Update on Lilo

Karen and I visited Lilo today at the Referral Center. We didn't take a picture, but she has a pretty decent size kennel with comfy blankets to lay on. I think Lilo may be improving slightly. She seems brighter, but exhausted. She drank water when we arrived but didn't eat. We petted her for about 45 minutes. I would have stayed longer if I didn't have class tonight. But it's very nice that they let us stand there for so long.

Lilo's RBC count went back up a bit, so they decided against a plasma transfusion yesterday. We'll see how things are tomorrow. I'm hoping she can come home, if not, we'll go visit her again.

There are two other shih tzu there. And a medium-large size dog just had a brain surgery, there's gotta be 15 staples on his skull, scary!

Update on Lilo

We've been pretty busy running around town, trying to figure out what's wrong with Lilo.

We went to Dr. Parrish at Hickory Ridge Animal Hospital for a second opinion on Monday. The lab did a more extensive blood work analysis on Lilo, and the results were quite inconclusive. And Lilo was running a fever at 105, which was very concerning. She spent Monday at home with us, started eating some a/d canned food. Things seemed to be improving. Because she was drinking and urinating a lot, I have been sleeping in the living room so I could take her out to potty every three hours through out the night. We gave her ice pack to cool her down. Monday night into Tuesday morning, she even came up to the couch and pawed me, and I let her sleep on the couch with me. I really thought things were improving. She seemed more alert of her surrounding.

We were back to work on Tuesday, so we dropped off Lilo at Dr. Parrish's so someone would be there to monitor her progress. Unfortunately, she was still running a fever, and things weren't looking so great. We decided to transfer her to Chesapeake Veterinary Referral Center in Annapolis, where she can get better care. She stayed there overnight on IV fluids.

So back to today (wednesday). Lots of information. Lilo is at their Internal Medicine dept. They reviewed her case and ran more tests on her. With the fact that her blood glucose is normal, and urine glucose very high, they're suspecting kidney damage (same conclusion as the ER vets). And even after being on IV fluids overnight, her potassium level is still pretty low. All the clinical signs lead them to Fanconi syndrome (apparently very common in Besenji breed, but Shih Tzu aren't known for this). It's basically when the kidney tubes are unable to absorb electrolytes back into the bloodstream. (vs diabetes where both blood and urine glucose levels are high) Since this syndrome isn't that common for shih tzu breed, the vets are trying to pin point what could have brought such toxins in Lilo's body. They're suspecting jerky treats, but we don't really know for sure.

Adding to the complication, Lilo is anemic and getting pretty bruised up around blood drawn sites (clotting problem). They did a few clotting test, some came back ok, some abnormal. They are (probably did by the time I'm typing this) doing a plasma transfusion on her. I just wish there is something I could do to help Lilo.

We miss you, Lilo!

Please keep Lilo in your thoughts

Lilo is sick.
She threw up on Monday night. Hasn't eaten a thing since then. She wasn't moving a whole lot, but was drinking water, so we weren't too concern. And she shows signs of improvement over the past two days, moving around the house more (but didn't go on walks) and drinking more water.
She lost 1.5 lbs though, so we took her to the vet today. She is now being hospitalized getting IV fluids. The blood work reveals high liver values. They gave her some antibiotics, so hopefully that will help her and she can come home soon.

Where is the Diamond???

A black and white dog named Diamond showed up at our house on Monday evening. And today, she found her forever home!  Whoah, that was fast! Maybe that's why our family won't let us run around outside, so no one can steal us. LOL.

So about Diamond, it all happened so fast, we don't know where to start. She is with Mutts Matter Rescue, is diagnosed with heart worm, has dry eyes, malnourished, etc etc. Poor thing! the full treatment for heart worm takes about 2 months. And she walks so slow, we can't walk together (Gizmo walks like a chicken with his head cut off!). Of course, because of this sickness, she gets a lot of attention, which we aren't too happy about.

It usually takes us about a week or two to accept a foster dog to our gang. You know, us shih tzu could get quite picky. I (as in Gizmo) finally accepted Diamond, and poof, she left! Now I'm sad, lost my appetite, wonders what's going to happen to me...is my family going to give me away too? I'm also black and white. And Claire always tells me I'm the best dog, second to Lilo...maybe I'm not good enough. Plus Claire gave us a bath today. Today is really not a good day...

I (as in Lilo) am quite happy! They all come and go. Gizmo, you're the only one that stay. So if I were you, I wouldn't worry too much because I like you and so do the family.

Here's a cute pic of Diamond after her short stay. Looks just like me, Gizmo :)

Harper's Ferry

We went hiking in Harper's Ferry, WV yesterday.  We have been white-water rafting in the area a few times, but this is our first time visiting Harper's Ferry on foot.  The dogs didn't get to go with us since the hike up Maryland Heights trail is quite strenuous.  It took us about an hour to hike up about 2 miles, but it was worth every bit of energy.  We were in Maryland, overlooking Virginia and Shenandoah River River on the left, and West Virginia and Potomac River on the right.  Isn't that beautiful?  If you're in the area, you should check out the trail!

Farewell Ozzie

After two and a half months, Ozzie (aka Bogie) found an awesome home earlier this week.  His family screams in joy as soon as they meet.  We're so happy for him and are confident that he would be pretty spoiled! 

Happy Vacation Day

Claire and Cameron were supposed to camp out after 4th of July firework in Cambridge, MD. But the weather forecast (rain clouds) didn't look so good so they drove home instead. Yay to us because they took us for a walk on the Trolley Trail this morning. Trolley trail has a lot of trees, so most of the walk is in the shade. We were so excited to go for a short car ride and walk around. And now we are exhausted. In fact, my eyes are half shut as I type this blog post. But gotta share the joy! Off to a nap now.

Happy Birthday Lilo!

Three years ago, we welcomed Lilo to our home.  Lilo is our very first dog and she is the best dog.

Today, we celebrate her 5th birthday.  We were told she was about two when we adopted her.  Cameron and I baked her a pumpkin cake with peanut butter icing.  I tasted it myself, it's pretty good.  It's basically a can of pumpkin, flour and butter.  Obviously, it's not sweet or anything, but I'm sure it's very tasty for the dogs :)  This year, we have Gizmo and Ozzie attending her paw-ty.

Here's Lilo waiting to taste her cake.

Finally to eat it!  Yum!  Gizmo, on the other hand didn't like the cake, or rather, he didn't like the peanut butter.  I had no idea.  I have never seen a dog who doesn't like peanut butter.  Gizmo is special :)  He ate the cake ok once I cut off the part with peanut butter.

I served a piece in a bowl for Ozzie.  He grabbed it and walked to a "safe" place to eat.  LOL.

First Peke Foster

This is our very first pekingese foster.  Ever since we watched Malachy winning Westminster best in show, we are very drawn to the breed.  So when Mel over at Mutts Matter Rescue asked if we would foster Ozzie, we agreed.  He is so sweet and friendly, rides well in the car, walks well on the leash.

Wouldn't you want to take him home? 

Vacation without us!!!

Isn't this pretty? Well, Cameron and Claire went on a vacation without us. We would love to be there hiking with them! Maybe next time.

Did I hear treats???

We seem to have a lot of house guests lately, what is going on???  The latest one we have is a miniature schnauzer named Lucy.  Lucy is kinda crazy because both Lilo and her wants to take charge.  I don't really care as long as she doesn't steal my food or my spot on the couch, hehe!  I did notice something good happened since Claire picked up Lucy on Thursday.  We started getting treats on our walks.  Whoah, an extra snack in between meals makes stomach very happy :) 

Lucy walks separately from us.  They said she needs one-on-one training on walking and not barking when walking.  I don't know what that means...how could you not know how to walk???  I enjoy walking very much and choking myself is the last thing I want to do on my walks.  And why would you bark at humans/dogs when you walk?  When I see other dogs or humans, I try my fastest to hide behind Cameron or Claire.  This doesn't make any sense to me!  Oh well, beef jerky tastes so good I would not complaint.  I'm looking forward to some more beef jerky tomorrow.

Spring is here, so is the rainy season

Lilo's contribution.  Gizmo's contribution.

We really enjoy spring time, it means more walks, more daylight, flowers, grass, etc...But one thing we don't particularly enjoy is walking in the rain.

Last weekend, there was this huge thunderstorm.  Stupid Gizmo kept whining about going out, so the humans took us out IN THE RAIN and GUSTING WIND!  

I didn't know any better, Lilo.  Did you see my expression afterward?  I was traumatized!  I didn't want to go out ever again.

Claire felt bad for us.  After all, both of us have quite a bit of fur, and could get to be quite a pair of dirty mops if soaked.  So she went online (her favorite Amazon.com) and looked for nice raincoats.  She ordered them earlier this week (actually sold by Petco.com) and the package came yesterday, just in time for today's rain.

Boneheads water proof raincoat is pretty awesome.  Just checked the price, $19.99 for small/medium/large, it's $2 cheaper than earlier this week!  I think Claire is going to order a medium size for Gizmo.  Ok, so about the sizing, Claire ordered two large, because doggie apparels tend to run a bit smaller.  Turns out, large fits me, Lilo (14 lbs with lots of fur!), perfectly.  But it's a bit too big on Gizmo (11 lbs with not as much fur). It does a very good job keeping our bodies dry, allowing us to maintain our appearance.  No one likes to see either of us soaking wet...we look like rats without all the poofy hair!  Plus, we look like we're on a mission with the raincoat!  Like a construction worker, or firefighter, you know, something about being in uniforms.

Pictures of us after our very first walk with the raincoats.  Face slightly wet since we didn't use the hood (yeah, it gets in the way of seeing/sniffing things), feet are all wet as expected, but body 100% dry.  I would say, good $45 spent on us!

Avery Adopted!!!

That was fast!  Our house guest Avery just went to his forever home.  He only stayed for 5 days.  We just started playing with him, and now he is gone.  Farewell Avery.  We hope you all the best with your new family.  Here are two pictures taken on his last day with us.

He loves shoes, carries the winnie the pooh slipper around all the time.  Weird!

Foster Pup Avery

Avery is a shih tzu mix, available for adoption over at Mutts Matter Rescue.  He is our latest house guest.  They said he is about 1-2 years old.  He seems ok, not too big of a dog.  We haven't play with him yet because both of us are a bit sick from this warm weather.  He was neutered last Friday, so he wasn't in the mood to play anyways. 

The three of us walk pretty well together.  He doesn't try to push us around, so that is good.  We really enjoy our walks, and we already get enough hassles from the humans for sniffing too much. 

And he likes toys, always seems to have one in his mouth.  Runs around the house with toy in his mouth all the time. Only one suspected accident so far in the house.  Enjoys hanging out with us on the deck.  Let our humans know if you are interested in adopting him.  He's really sweet.