Caring for Chance

• We feed Chance twice a day about 3/4 cup of dry food with a bit of water to soften the food at each meal.
• He loves chewing on his bones, and eating greenies are a special treat.
• We also give him 2 fish oil capsules per day.  This helps with dry skin and overall health.
• We put vitamin E oil on the tips of his ears to keep them from drying out, or as needed.  He has the softest ears and this really brings that out.
• He gets his teeth brushed 2-4 times per week (depending on how often I remember.)  We use 'Kissable all natural toothpaste' and/or 'Dentacetic Natural Dental Gel.'  Between the two, he seems to have kissable breath most of the time!
• When he gets wax or dirt in his ears we clean them with cotton swabs and Epi-Otic ear cleaner as prescribed.
• He gets a bath once or twice a month (as needed.) currently we use Dermalyte shampoo and brush him with a soft natural bristle brush to keep him shiny and clean.
• We keep his nails trimmed short with nail clippers and a file.  He is great about allowing us to take our time with the pedicure.  He loves to be taken care of, anything to be in a lap!
• We help him wipe the pee-pee from legs and belly on a regular basis to keep him from getting a rash.  At first we did not do this so he got a rash which we got some special ointment for to get rid of it.  The ointment is Panolog Cream it works great.
• His favorite toys are squeaky no filling animals.  He loves to play "catch the skunk" with Zachary.  This is where Chance gets on our couch and Zac runs back and forth through the kitchen and tries to sneak up on Chance with his squeaky skunk.  Sometimes Zac will let Chance get a hold of it and gently play tug of war with him.  Zac loves this game and always reminds Chance how much he (Chance) loves him (Zac) when they are through playing.  He also is quite fond of Zac's shoes, he will hunt them down, even when they are put away.
• Chance wears a sweater or coat when we go venturing outside if it is cold.  He does not like the rain or snow, so on those days he wears a rain coat with a little hood.  When it is cold outside, he tries not to go potty more than necessary, and never wants to hang out outside once he's done.  Since we always accompany him, we are quite ready to go in as well!
• Chance has his own designated "hang out" area in the upper portion of our yard.  We have fenced this off for him so he can run freely while we have the peace of mind that he will be safe from the elements of the neighborhood.  
• We take him for walks as frequently as we can.  He always wears his collar (which he seldom wears at home) and a leash.  It is fun for us to show him off to passer by's.  He responds best on a leash when Lexi or myself are walking him.  He gets very skittish when other dogs, bikers, skateboarders etc. come by so we either pick him up temporarily or stand way out of the way.
• Chance generally sleeps in Lexi's bed, however, sometimes he sleeps in his kennel or in Mom and Dad's room.  If he is tired and we are all busy with our chores, he will try for Lexi's bed first as the best spot to relax.  If that is not available, he will go for my bed or the couch by the window so he can rest in the sunlight.