Singing to Chance

I overheard Zac this morning singing to Chance.  It was the cutest thing.  He was singing very quiet and petting and kissing Chance.  The song he was singing is a version of Shel Silverstein's poem that his teacher taught him.  It goes like this:

I love you little, I love you lots
my love for you could fill ten pots
fifteen buckets, sixteen cans,
three teacups, and four dishpans.

Zac could not remember the whole thing so he just kept singing the first two lines over and over, until he noticed me paying attention.  Then he got embarrassed and stopped.  It was so cute I had to find the lyrics so I could help him remember the rest of the song.

Seizures

Chance has not had any more seizures since the last episode on February 9th.  We are so glad!  His first seizure was on January 28th.  It was a frightening thing to witness (I would have freaked out if Ken were not home that day. Seeing him take control helped me react in an appropriate, calm manner on his second episode.) We have since had his blood work done, and of course our local vet advised to have him take some medication to help maintain his seizures.  I did not feel good about that, and got a second opinion from his breeder (who is also a vet.)  I felt much better about the recommendation she offered, and that was, he may have low blood sugar which would cause seizures.  Also, his liver enzymes were slightly elevated which could indicate a toxic insult of some kind.  I could not think of any toxic insults he could have encountered so I went with the low blood sugar thing as the possible cause.  She recommended not to do anything yet, rather watch him for a while and see if they get better, worse or hopefully stop all together.  Well, it appears they are getting better since he has not had one since then.

I have been monitoring his eating more closely.  We stopped feeding him in his kennel where he was burying, and knocking over his food almost every time.  When he first came to live with us he loved food and sniffed it out any time and any place he could.  Since then he has slowly been less and less interested it seems.  He still comes any time we are making food, and sniffs around like crazy.  The strange thing is that now when we feed him he doesn't scarf it down immediately.  For the last two weeks I have been adding a calorie booster to his food (Nutri-Cal).  He loves that and scarfs it down.  I do not understand why he does not eat like that all the time. However, I do have some theories;

1. First, Maybe he is being bullied by the cats not to eat?  
• This seems silly since they are usually nowhere near when he eats, and if they are, he seems to eat a little better if anything.  
2. The second theory could be that he is not getting enough exercise.  
• Over the winter it is hard for me to take him for walks as regularly since he HATES being in the cold, even with his coat on he hates it.  
• During the last two weeks I have taken him on walks almost every day.  There were a few snow filled days, we took those days off!  
• When he exercises, he seems to eat better those days as well.
3. Finally, he could be depressed.
• I know that many people get seasonal depression, I assume it could be the same for dogs.  
• Not only that, but he did leave all his family at the same time it started to get colder.
• He also has fewer friends to play with.  Kisses will indulge in his playful spirit, but Daisy and Tigger are just not as playful.  He needs more dogs, not cats to play with.  We try to get him together with our friends' dogs when we can, but that tends not to be as often as we'd like.  

With the warmer weather we are starting to remedy all these issues.  I think the combined efforts are having a positive effect on him overall.

That's about it for that subject, now on to brighter thoughts.  Every time Ken comes home, Chance will run to him and try to jump up on him.  Today, Ken even said come on Chance and he fully tried to jump up in Ken's arms.  He loves it when Ken picks him up and pets him and loves him.  Almost as much as he loves to snuggle on someones lap, or in between your legs, or under the warm covers.  He is such a cute little snuggle bug.
Every morning after Lexi heads to school, Chance goes in and snuggles with Zac for another hour until he has to get up for school too.  Zac told me the other day that he loves it when he wakes up and finds Chance right next to him, curled up in a ball.  "It is the best thing to wake up to" he said!
One of Chancey's other favorite spots to be is in the front window on top of the couch.  I used to try to keep him of this part of my couch, but he loves it so much I finally gave in.  It is his spot.

XOXO Chance

Zac LOVES to Love Chance.  Any time Chance will let him cuddle, Zac takes full advantage.  Not only that, but he wants his picture taken every time so he can see how cute they are together.  So as you can imagine, I have a LOT of picture of chance and Zac.  This one was so adorable I could not resist sharing it.  Zac, and Chance are both such little snuggle bugs.  We love them both and all their unconditional love.

Lexi's first Chance-tragedy

Christmas Morning, Lexi and Chance cuddling on her new bean bag.  

 Chance is content to be anywhere Lexi is! =)

He also likes to snuggle by Zac, however his favorite thing to do with Zac is "play!"

So for Christmas, Lexi wanted nothing except for American Girl Doll Bitty twins (or accessories.)  Okay, maybe she asked for an art set also, but that was only after she thought she might not get what she really wanted!  She does love drawing, but she loves her babies even more.  Yes, that includes her adorable little Chance!
Two days ago, she was playing with her twins (Grandma came through on her wish list, thank goodness for Grandma!)  She had asked me to keep Chance out of her room because he was trying to chew on their hair.  So I did.  We shut the door and let Lexi and Zac play for some time with their babies.  Lexi put her babies to bed (in her bed) and then was distracted with eating and chores and such.  Not too long after this, I heard a blood curdling cry from my sweet Lexi.  She sounded very distraught, not just the usual frustrations she gets sometimes with Zac, but a very sad, or hurt cry.  I rushed to see what was the matter, she collapsed in my arms.  She was so torn between being mad at her favorite friend, Chance, and being sad for her new favorite toy, her bitty baby.  I could tell immediately she did not need to be reminded to keep her favorite things locked up or put up high.  She was beating herself up enough for her mistakes.  She was devastated.  Luckily, American girl dolls have their own hospitals and we will be sending her little Emma there soon to have surgery on her hands that were chewed up by Chance.  Although it took her an hour or so to forgive Chance, she did, and it was precious how she told him she still loves him.  It was so weird, but he really seemed genuinely sorrowful and apologetic for ruining her doll.  They have definitely got a very special bond.

Christmas Chaos

So, it is the holiday season again.  This time we have a new element in our home to add to the Chaos.  Not only do we have visitors for a week straight, but we have our adorable Chance, both of which are welcome additions during this hectic and fun time of year!  I was concerned how Chance would do with all the chaos, but he has shown his true colors once again!  He definitely feels my anxiety any time there is extra stress on my plate, but he adapts nicely.  We have conquered the potty regime pretty nicely, he has not had an accident inside for many weeks, that is, until two days ago.  I blame it on myself, I had so much going on and was stressed to the core.  Somehow Chance caught on and decided to add to the chaos.  He took a good old stinky dump right in the middle of it all!  Needless to say, after cleaning it up I realized I needed to decompress, so I took a much needed nap and forgot about it all!  Chance also took a much deserved and needed nap, away from all the crying and terrorizing kids.  Whew!  Thank goodness for doors!!!  We hid in Lexi's room together and ignored all the chaos.
Ken's sister has nicknamed him "Squishy".  She says he looks like he got squished with his long elegant face.  I laugh because I think it one of the things we love about him.  I am not impressed by any other dog, as horrible as that sounds!  Kristi (Ken's sister) has also given him an Indian nickname "He who hath no personal boundaries" (or something like that!.)  She is a hoot to have around, and has no problem telling it how it is.  Tonight her girlfriend, who is an animal behaviorist, is coming to stay for a couple nights.  We love Liz, she is an uplifting person, and we love her insight on all our pets!
Since we have had Chance, we have been trying to teach him to use a little "door bell" to inform us of when he needs to go potty.  We have a little rattle thing hanging from our back door, which every time we take him out we shake.  It is at the perfect height for him to reach up and tap if he wants.  Occasionally we will help him tap it before we take him out.  In the last month he has used it to our advantage a good handful of times.  Today, Lexi heard him tap it, went to the door, and saw he was standing there waiting for us to open it  She took him out and he immediately relieved his bowels.  It is moments like these that I just have to smile and say "yes!"  We love him, and feel he is the most intelligent and wonderful dog ever.  Our only problem now is that Zac has been asking Santa for his "own" Italian Greyhound.  Not sure how Santa is going to pull that one off!  In fact, I have put in a counter request to please give us another year or two to get acclimated before he brings us more adorable dogs!  We do LOVE Chance, but I am definitely not ready for another one yet, even if the kids are!  Lexi has the biggest claim on Chance right now, he listens to her best, sleeps with her most, and generally finds her his little master.  We call Lexi his snuggle buddy, and Zac his play buddy.  Ken and I are just extras!
Basically, the general consensus around here is "We Love Him."  Zac has even told me he loves him even more than he loves me.  Totally not cool, but it still makes me smile.  We are counting our blessings this holiday season for having such a wonderful, delightful friend, companion, etc.  Thank you Layle for this opportunity.  We feel very blessed that you allowed us to adopt this little heaven sent angel.  Merry Christmas to all!

Happy Birthday!

Well, our little baby is growing up!  He turned 1 year old on December 4th.  He lost one of his baby teeth last week, which may be why he was struggling with meal time.  He had no real signs of losing a tooth until all of a sudden, he started gagging.  Lexi noticed something in his mouth so she went to examine what he was gagging on.  It turns out his tooth was hanging from his gums.  I removed the tooth and he has been eating much better ever since.  Lexi asked if the tooth fairy would come if she put his tooth under her pillow.  I asked her if it was her tooth.  She thought for a minute, then said maybe we should put it under Chances pillow.  Maybe the tooth fairy would bring Chance a new bone or something.  Well, we must have all forgotten about the tooth fairy, but I bet she would bring Chance something, I mean, why wouldn't she, it is a tooth after all!
As for his birthday, we had a Christmas party with all of our friends that day.  He must have felt it was for him.  He was friendly and happy and loved being the center of attention and all of our affection.  He has warmed up to most everyone we know without any problems.  He bounced around from lap to lap all evening.  He even loves to play with the cats, although, sometimes they do not love it as much as he does, they tease him and sometimes they play back!  Tigger, our oldest cat, is still resistant to getting too close.  This last week however, he has ventured upstairs and into Chance territory more than ever.  He will hiss at Chance if he gets to close, but mostly just runs away when Chance is to playful.  Kisses on the other hand loves his attention, I think!  Kisses purposely follows Chance, and or steals his favorite resting spot (on the top of the couch right next to the window in the warm sun.  Chance takes this as an invitation to play with her.  Kisses does not budge, but rather seems to call him on.  I think the two of them will some day be snuggle buddies.  They are both so affectionate, and love to snuggle.

Chance playing with Kisses

Chance and Kisses resting on my bed

On Thanksgiving we put up our Christmas tree.  The cats have always LOVED taking their naps under the warm lights.  This has not changed.  Because our tree is upstairs, I was nervous about how Chance would do with it and all the trimmings.  We hung most of the ornaments out of his reach, and so far, he has not even attempted to bother any of it.  Of course, when he smells a cat underneath it, he cannot resist trying to check them out.  This mostly results in a hiss or two, they don't like to be disturbed while napping I guess!
Chance has been much better at going potty outside since we got him his winter coat.  It covers his entire body and is much warmer than his others.  We do however have to shovel our grass so he has less snow to tromp though to get to his favorite pooping place.  Once we figured this out, it has been a breeze!
He is a joy to have around, and to my dismay, Zachy tells me frequently that he loves Chance even more than me. =(  Well, Chance deserves his love, and Zachy deserves to have a four legged friend to love him unconditionally.  Lexi is proud that Chance listens to her the best, and I am proud that she has taken so much responsibility with him.  She does most of the work when it comes to feeding, taking him to potty, and keeping him well and happy.  We have found that Zac is his favorite "play" friend, and Lexi is his favorite "snuggle" friend.  This works perfectly, as Lexi loves to snuggle in soft cozy blankets and read,, read read.  While Zac loves to run and play fetch and chase with Chance.  They are all great together and Lexi and Zac both are wonderful examples when we have other children around.  They pay close attention to how the other kids are around Chance and are not scared to help the other kids be kind and gentle and not too rowdy with him.  We could not be happier with our perfect little family.  It is a blessing to have such wonderful children and pets and we thank our lucky stars every day.

Halloween

Chance is so polite to sit quietly while we dress him in the weirdest things.  This costume is no exception!

The very first Halloween Lexi got to pick what she wanted to be, she chose to be a pumpkin.  It was no surprise to me that Zac chose a pumpkin costume for Chance for his first Halloween.  He does not like the hat much, and shakes his leg warmers off as fast as he can after we put them on.  The sweater though, he can't get that one off so easily!  Besides, it kinda helps keep him warm.