One pet is enough for me to keep up with! Baxter is over two years old, but he's still a puppy at heart.

I plan to take him to visit Santa at Petsmart again this year for a photo. The donation goes to an animal shelter. I hope Santa isn't afraid of him! He weighs in at 55 pounds now, which is huge for a purebred Wheaten Terrier. He's "Wheaten Maximus."

Always nosing around.Need help raking?

Lennon, my four-year-old Golden Retreiver, and Carl my brother's five-month-old Chocolate Lab have become best friends over the past three months. There is never a dull moment with these two in the house.

Good morning sunshine.There may be some trouble brewing.

Even as best friends, sometimes
they can't stand to look at each other.

I'll try some bitter apple spray or Tabasco to see if that will keep him away from chewing at his feet. Thanks for the tip! I'll let you know if I have any success.

More "Adventures of Ziggy" today.

We got snowed in, so after I did some work, I took the dog for a trudge in the snow.

Here she is showing her Alaskan husky side.

Snowlicious

I also took a video of her playing "Queen of the Hill" and "Dig a hole to China" in our backyard: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFKBzmJcHJo

I've never given my dog this supplement, but Drs. Foster and Smith pet catalog offers a green-tea based product called "Yard Guard" that is supposed to reduce the yellow spots in the yard by neutralizing the ammonia.

I've heard other pet owners say that it works.

It seems like it's always something with our puppy. I'm grateful that she hasn't had any life-threatening issues, but really, it's always something!

Today I spent $317 at the vet. She has a recurring bacterial infection in BOTH eyes, plus allergies that apparently make her more prone to such infections. To top that off, the vet also tested for (and confirmed a diagnosis for) "demodex," some kind of nasty little mite that causes a skin irritation/rash and hair to fall out. The pup has a little bump above her left eye that looks really dry, scaly and rough - and apparently the cause is a tiny bug that looks really disgusting under a microscope.

The office visit, the tests, the medications for treatment AND the purchase of heartworm and flea/tick preventatives walloped our credit card yet again. I don't think we could afford to have children even if we were ready. Our "baby" already is costing us a fortune!

I use the hose outside in the summer. It gives Lennon the freedom to walk away when he is uncomfortable but he doesn't seem to be as skittish as when he takes a bath in the tub.

In the winter, I take him to PETCO. They have self-bathing stations. It only costs about $10 and you bring your own shampoo. The stations have a hook for a leash to keep the dog in the station and a heat-controlled water hose. Then you are the one who freaks your dog out, not the groomer.

When I found out about the self grooming part of PETCO I was excited. It works really well for my dog. 

My dog, Quincy, is well known at Cleary Lake dog park as the dog who jumps the fence to go swimming in the stagnant pond. He's not allowed to go swimming most of the time because he also will smell fishy and gross. We've tried hosing him down at the entrance to keep him cooled off. We've tried carrying a water bottle to squirt him with or let him drink from it. But, no, he wants to be submerged and chase the other dogs in the fenced-in pond area and, generally, just be a bad listener when it comes to the water.

Cool Quincy"Now, Quincy, we are NOT going swimming today," I remind him at the entrance as I take off his leash. In a flash, he's headed down the path toward the pond. It used to be that he would pace along the fence crying and trying to stick his big ol' head through the wire fence to get in. The first time he jumped the fence, it was a shock to everyone who witnessed it -- he cleared it from a dead sit. Now, he sails over it at a run with me trailing behind yelling, "Quincy, we are NOT going swimming today! Get out of the water! Do NOT drink that water! Get OUT of the water!"

He actually waits for me to open the gate to let him out of the pond area once I catch up -- after I tell him about six more times to get out of the water (unless there's another dog and/or a ball to divert his attention, then I have to call him about 15 times).

I've tried keeping his leash on him as we walk past the pond but he knows his way back and will wait until we are as far from the pond as we can get in the park and take off cross-country with the wind in his hair. It's not uncommon for me to pass people on my journey back and have them tell me, "Your dog's in the pond. He jumped the fence." There's usually at least one person at the park who hasn't seen him do it before and they think it's really cool.

As for how we combat the fishy smell? I've been putting him in my husband's shower -- it's got doors vs. a curtain and I shove him in, turn the water on and shut the down while I gather up a couple of beach towels and the doggy shampoo. Then I join him, scrub him and towel him off before he ever leaves the stall.

Lucky for him he's so darn cute!

Quincy, you are bad to the bone.

But at least you'll let your owner put sunglasses on your face. My dog, Ziggy, acted like she was being tortured when I tried to make her wear one of those elf hats last Christmas. As my husband said, "She actually looked sad when you tried to put that on."

And at least you don't swim in the river, like Ziggy. It was fine until about a week ago, and now it smells strongly of the urine of every dog in the Twin Cities metro area.

Any time Ziggy does something we don't want her to do (dig, eat plastic, bark at the neighbors, chase the cats, etc., etc., etc.), we firmly utter "UH UH UH!" and give her the look and stance of disgusted parents who just found their child eating crayons for the millionth time.

If that doesn't work, we have to physically go over and pull her away from the offending deed/substance/etc. and immediately give her something she CAN eat or chew and then praise her for such.

You may have to do this several times, but it shouldn't take long for him to get the message. If it does, I'm not sure what the next step would be!

Chewie is cute in the jersey! My dog refused to wear any sort of clothes. When I was growing up, we had a cat that we dressed in doll clothes. We could even take it for rides in the baby buggy. That was priceless.

Here's another humiliating pet product - the doggie umbrella.

Chewie may have to go too. Her problem is too much excitement.

My neighbor's Siberian husky looked like a headless statue in the yard -- she kept sticking her head under the snow and would just stand there. I don't know if she was sniffing the grass under the snow or just enjoying the cold.

She also took kindly to be throwing shovels full of snow on her and at her. I played in the yard with her till my fingers got too cold in my gloves because my wimpy short-haired dogs get too cold. I even bought my puppy a faux suede pink coat with faux shearling lining -- but now she complains because her feet get cold!

My puppy, Baxter, who checked out OK at his December vet visit died of kidney failure last month at age 4. Maybe his slowing kidneys caused some of his other habits I wrote about last year - chewing at his paws, etc. - that the vet attributed to food allergies and behavior.

I feel like we did everything right - bought from a breeder where we saw both parents and had AKC paperwork, took him for regular vet visits, etc.

The vet didn't recognize the signs until he got really sick, and they tested his kidney function at 5-percent. We took him to another vet, to make sure before we put him down, and that vet confirmed the same test results.

Has anyone had a wheaten terrier with similar health issues?

I'd love another wheaten someday, but I'm hesitant if these health problems are common.

Sorry to hear the sad news, Joanna. I don't know specifics about that breed. I know our last Yorkie wasn't feeling well and a vet put her on all sorts of meds for a heart-related condition. Later, when she got older -- but not "that" old -- we had the vet check her and then, not satisfied with the results, brought her to the U of M vet school, where they told us that she didn't need to be on all those meds (misdiagnosed) and that the meds actually shortened her life. We still go to a local vet, but when we aren't satisfied (or it's potentially serious), we'll take our dog to the U. Yes, you do need a referral. And yes, it is more expensive. But worth it.
Again, sorry to hear the news!

Thanks for asking about it, Lori! I've read about genetic disorders, but it's always good to hear what people experience firsthand. (I mean, I read one book that said Wheatens were good apartment dogs. I'm not sure who they thought they were kidding! They need a yard!)
Wikipedia says Wheatens have a life expectancy of 13 to 14 years, but it notes all of their potential genetic problems:
"...particularly protein-losing enteropathy and protein-losing nephropathy which constitute the loss of protein from the intestinal tract or the kidneys, respectively. Both conditions are potentially fatal and difficult to diagnose. Other disorders sometimes found in this breed include: Renal dysplasia (especially in Europe), Hip dysplasia, and Progressive retinal atrophy. Several of the breed's clubs are now beginning to address these health issues."

A mix that might work for me, since I'm allergic to most dogs that shed, might be a Whoodle (a wheaten poodle mix)?

Has anyone heard of this mix? Any idea if it would be less prone to some of the genetic issues since it's mixed?

Watch out for foreign objects in pet food. I just found several small, sharp, blue pieces of plastic in a brand-new bag of dog food last night. I was a little shocked, especially because we pay a lot of money for this food (the brand is Wellness) and the company actually has a good reputation.

In any case, I'll be bringing the bag back today (along with a little Ziploc bag with plastic shards).
I'd really like to know where those came from and how they possibly could have gotten into the bag. They were visible as soon as we opened the bag. It's not like I go sifting through my dog's food - it was just right there!

Interestingly enough, last week, I bought a pound of ground beef from the store near our house, and when I cooked it, I realized there were MANY small pieces of black plastic in it. Basically, it looked like someone had shredded a garbage bag and ground it up with the meat. You've gotta love quality control.