Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas to all our friends. Destiny and Oscar opened presents last night. This was the first time for her opening presents, so she needed some help. Oscar is a pro, and as soon as he saw the presents he was ready to rip into them. It didn't take long for them to unstuff one of their toys. In typical doxie fashion, of course. They have many new toys, and of course they need to play with the same one at the same time. Have a great day, and Merry Christmas.

Spade Surgery Today

Destiny had her spade surgery today. All went well. She was micro chipped, and had her last puppy canine tooth extracted.

The most stressful part for us was the timing of getting her from the vet and when the blizzard hit us. We made it about almost an hour. We are expecting over 14 inches of snow with 40 mph winds and have a blizzard warning for over 24 hours. We will be home tomorrow, which will let us keep a watch on our precious angel.

Destiny and first snow on ground

We had about two inches of snow yesterday for our first measurable snow of the year. Destiny wasn't too sure about it. She kept lifting her legs up. I cleared an area in the grass for her. After a bit she did get down to doing her duties. She even snow plowed a few times with her nose. Didn't have the camera at that moment, so I will get some pictures this weekend.

Destiny gets spaded this coming Tuesday, so look for updates on that. She is doing very well. Definitely will be on the lite weight side at 6.8 lbs a few weeks ago. As she has grown, we have come to the conclusion that she is indeed a chiweenie. That of course doesn't change a thing for us. She's our little Destiny.

Destiny and Oscar on News3

A picture of Destiny and Oscar was featured as Madison's WISC-TV3 morning pet walk pets this week. Many of our friends and family saw the picture on TV, although we did not see it.

First Snow Fall

This morning Destiny experienced her first snow fall. Nothing big as far as snow is concerned, just a bunch of flakes. No snow on the ground or anything. She didn't like going out this morning when it was 24 degrees. Just wait until there is snow on the ground.

After going out this morning, she was more than happy to get under the covers of the bed.

Destiny at 5.6 lbs

Destiny went to the vet yesterday for her last puppy shot. She weighs 5.6 lbs now. Vet is happy with her progress. Doc figures that Destiny will be a lite weight in the 8 lb area. She goes in late November to be spayed.

We had a trainer come to the house to work with some of Oscar's issues. She was pleased how Oscar and Destiny play and interact. We are working on resolving Oscar's issues with new people and other dogs.

New Gate

This week our new maple stair gate was installed. We had decided to have a gate made to match the wood work in the house. Considering that Destiny will be with us a long time, we didn't want to deal with a pressure gate over time. The gate a swing gate with spring loaded hinges so that it closes by itself and stays in the closed position. There is no latch, so it's easy for us non-doxies to open the gate and walk through. Thanks to Aaron Maes from Arena for making the gate for us.

Housebreaking

Destiny is doing well with her housebreaking. Yesterday she went to the door, did her circle dance and barked. We put her outside, and she did her duties like a good little girl. Yeah!

What a week!

It's been a while since I've posted an update on Destiny. Last week (10th), Destiny had her rabies shot and she now weighs in at 5.1 lbs. She is getting longer! Destiny and Oscar continue to love playing together and are the best of buddies. Destiny is exploring more of the house all the time. She can go down the hall to the bedrooms without bumping into the walls.

This past Sunday, Destiny started throwing us a curve ball when it came to eating. She didn't want to eat her food. She had smelled a bag of Oscar's food and decided she wanted that. Of course, she needs to eat her puppy food. This week it has been a battle at times getting her to get her puppy food. She's eating it, but a little less than what she was before and taking a lot longer to eat. She's acting like a 2 year old who doesn't want to listen to their parents. She knows what she wants and she wants it now. To entice her we have added chicken broth to her puppy food, and that seems to be working. She saw our vet today for additional shots, and doctor checked her out considering our issue with her eating. Vet doesn't see anything medically wrong with her, and believes as we do that this is Destiny's power play to get what she wants. Vet wants us to continue by having her eat twice a day (morning and evening), and if she doesn't want to eat her food then take it away and try feeding her the next feeding time. Destiny will get hungry enough that she will eat her food. The big thing for us is to not give in to Destiny's wishes. We tried feeding her tonight at 6:30. After a while of her dancing around and smelling the food and more circles, she finally decided to eat. She ate her full amount of food today, between what she ate this morning and this evening. We just need to keep it up and not give in and try other foods.

Destiny weighed in at 5.1 lbs today, and the vet wasn't concerned with no weight gain in a week. Destiny goes to the vet for more shots in two weeks, and the vet expects to see weight gain by then. I see no reason for not expecting that, as long as we keep her eating her puppy food and the correct amount for each day.

We are beginning to see that Destiny is turning into an alpha female by her recent actions with the food and how she often plays with Oscar. Oscar is such a good sport with Destiny and hasn't gotten mad at her when she gets over zealous in her play.

Here are some pictures

Thought I should upload some pictures to the blog for all to see. Oscar and Destiny have become the best of friends. Destiny even went into the danger zone, Amanda's room! :-)

Exploring the house

Destiny is exploring the house more and more each day. It's easier now that Oscar let's her explore without having him right there beside her at all times. She discovered the hallway that goes to the bedrooms. Along the way, she found where Oscar sleeps during the day. She seems to have found the trails of Willie that still exist in the house. She keeps trying to find this other dog that she must smell in the carpet. We know that it's time to shampoo the carpet. :-)

Oscar and Destiny are getting along great. They will play tug a war with toys, and he even lets her win.

We got Destiny a Ru' Sack and she loves it. I took her in it to Amanda's school bus stop this morning. She got to meet some other people.

First Vet Appointment

Destiny's first appointment with our vet was yesterday. She's weighing at 3.9lbs now. She got lyme and kennel cough vaccines. Goes back in two weeks for next set of shots. Everyone there loved her.

After the vet, we stop at our daughter's day-care to pick her up. Destiny met some of the teachers and a few of our friends.

After many nights of good sleeping, Destiny had a bad one last night. She started at 1am barking, so I put her out for potty. Put her back in bed, but she didn't want to sleep of course. Ended up on the sofa with her and Oscar on my lap until I got her to fall asleep. Then I put her back in her crate. Then she got up at her 'normal' time of 3:30am. At least then she went back asleep after going potty. Then it's up at 5am for breakfast and playtime. All in a day of the life of a puppy. Hope you have a great day!

Aug 25 Update

Destiny is doing great! She loves all her toys, and loves to play with Oscar. Oscar and Destiny plays very well together now, and Oscar doesn't need the Calming Cap anymore. Destiny hears Oscar's collar and follows him around. If she goes off in a different direction, Oscar is sure to go get her and watch over her. Destiny is eating well, and appears to growing longer since we got her. She loves the babble ball that we got her, as it makes and says all sorts of things and sounds. Destiny visits our vet on Thursday, so we are sure to update you on her visit.

Last night and play time today

Sleep time went well last night. We put Destiny in her carrier for bedtime. Oscar wanted his bed next to Destiny's carrier, and he slept next to her all night.

We allowed more playtime today as they get to know each other better. Oscar is getting very attached to her. We were finding that he would play a little to hard for her, so we tried something this afternoon and it worked great. To assist Oscar in the past we had gotten him a Gentle Leader Calming Cap. This goes over the eyes to help keep him calmer and not get as agitated in stressful situations. Anyway, we put the Calming Cap on Oscar and let him and Destiny play. Oscar played very well and gentle with her. They had a good time, and he never got upset at her with her puppy play. He was enjoying the playtime as much as Destiny was.

Here's a short video of playtime with Oscar wearing the Calming Cap.

Destiny Came Home Today

Today we picked up Destiny from Midwest Dachshund Rescue. We traveled to Palatine this morning, returning in the afternoon. Destiny traveled very well in the car and slept the entire way home. Michael had Destiny in the front yard, while Carrie got Oscar and took him for a quick walk. While they were gone, Michael let Destiny explore the house a bit. When Carrie got back, we put Destiny in the carrier inside the play area and then let Oscar check things out. He barked a bit at first, and then more when we let Destiny out of the carrier but still in the play area protected from Oscar. He barked and she barked right back at him. After some corrections of Oscar, he settled down and did more investigation as to what we brought home. His tail started wagging more and more. It took less than 20 minutes for Oscar to accept Destiny. Because of the size difference at this time, we will take things very slowly and controlled. At this time, we won't let them play directly together without controls in place to make sure there are no mishaps. We let them greet each other outside of the play area, and they did pretty good in about five minutes of play time. We will add more time each day for direct contact play as they get use to each other. Overall, the first day has been a big success.

Other Pictures of Destiny

Here are some other pictures of Destiny that we have.

Destiny is Coming Soon

We have been approved by Midwest Dachshund Rescue to adopt Destiny! She's will be 10 weeks old, and we will get her on August 22. She is a blind double dapple dachshund. Look here for updates when we get her and how she is doing.