Tell Me A Story: PUPPY LOVE: DAISY

Marcia Norwood
America's STORYTELLER
Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

PUPPY LOVE

The first puppy we adopted through *LL Dog Rescue, was our sweet Daisy Duke. She came to us Christmas Eve 2009, just seven days after our beloved Silky Terrier, Rascal, died.

Daisy did not replace Rascal in our hearts, she just gave us a reason to love again.

Daisy was our 2.5 pound Christmas Miracle.

Her mamma was a Chihuahua.

Her daddy must have been a powder-puff Chinese Crested.

Daisy looked like a Webkins toy puppy....especially when her hair was full of static, after a bath.

Webkins Puppy

Everyone in our family fell in love with Daisy, and her sweet disposition.

She's smart.

She just can't hold her "lick-er."

Daisy gives and receives love so easily.

Daisy obeys, and comes when she is called.

She is smart, and easy to train.

She anticipates....really...anticipates what you want her to do. If you reach to pick her up - she jumps up to you. If you lean in to love her...she leans in to you. If you hug her - she hugs you.

She catches balls in mid-air.

She dances the Tango. You'd have to see it to understand.

She understands what we say. She gets it.

She can spell M-A-I-L and O-U-T-S-I-D-E. We're sure of it, because when we say or spell either word - she goes to the door and begins to sing.

Oh, yeah. She sings.

She's a lady.

She doesn't mind it when we dress her up, and pose her for photographs.

Daisy was almost one year old, when we discovered SPOTS on her skin. It was quite a surprise to discover what my girls called polka-dots under that pretty white fur!

Fun in the Tub: Daisy and Granddaughter Emily Grace. Copyright Marcia Norwood

"What is she?" we all wondered.

Her mamma was a Chihuahua, which daughter Faith pronounced: "Chi-ha-ha."

Her daddy must have been a powder-puff Chinese Crested.

Daisy was indeed our baby, and we were devastated when she got sick with some of the same symptoms that Rascal had before he died.

Frequent attempts to urinate
Pain when urinating
Difficulty urinating or straining to urinate
Urinating in unacceptable places
Urine leakage
Urine odor
Lack of urine control (incontinence)
Blood in the urine
Lethargy/fatigue
Decreased appetite
Small quantities of urine when urination is successful

An expensive trip (x-rays, catherization, sedation, intubation, medication) to the same animal emergency and referral hospital that finally diagnosed Rascal the night before he died, verified that Daisy (like Rascal) had a urethral obstruction.

Actually Daisy had multiple obstructions: large and small stones...13 stones in fact. She had tremors, and must have been in terrible pain. Surgery was required to remove the stones.

Thank God, Daisy survived, but within days, our other new puppy, Izzy Belle, started exhibiting the same symptoms as Daisy and Rascal. Izzy Belle also had a urethral obstruction that required surgery.

Three different breeds: Silky Terrier, Chihuahua/Chinese Crested and now our Schnoodle.

Same horrendous diagnosis: urethral obstructions: bladder stones.

One dog food: Science Diet.

Results: One death (Rascal) and two puppies (Izzy Belle and Daisy) with painful symptoms requiring surgeries and medications, and even more expensive prescription dog food.

Cost: Physical and emotional pain to pets and humans, plus financial burden: approximately $1,000 per dog: upwards of $3,000.

I began to ask questions, and not just from our new vet, who sold Science Diet. I like our new vet. We don't agree on everything, but they listen to what I have to say. After surgery, the vet prescribed medications for Izzy Belle and Daisy and also suggested Science Diet Prescription dog food to prevent future urethral obstructions.

I wanted to know WHY three of our dogs had the same problem, and what I could do to prevent it from happening again. I asked for advice from the folks who work in pet stores, and from animal rescue people.

All agreed DIET was a major contributing factor to our pets' decline in health.

All agreed that GRAIN-FREE dog food was the way to go.

Check out the dog food packages and COMPARE ingredients.

Beware. Not all measurements are listed correctly on the package either. Some companies disguise the content in other terms.

We purchased the even-more expensive Science Diet prescription dog food (from the vet) - which was, by the way, grain-free. The research we found; however, with the help of my daughter, Faith, shows NOTHING special about Science Diet prescription - except that it is grain-free.

Duh.

I now refuse to buy anything that is Science Diet.

We use Rachael Ray Nutrish Dog Food. It's GRAIN-FREE. Proceeds from all sales go to rescue dogs.

CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://nutrish.rachaelray.com/

What do you feed your pets?

Symptoms Of Bladder Stones In Dogs

CLICK on the link or COPY & PASTE the link in your browser:

http://www.vetinfo.com/symptoms-bladder-stones-dogs.html

Our Three Puppies: Pearl Ming Zhu (Peek-A-Poo), Daisy (Chihuahua/Chinese Crested) and Izzy Belle (Schnoodle)

Thanks for stopping by!

Come back often, and invite a friend!

Marcia Norwood

America's STORYTELLER

Telling Untold Stories in Photographs, Prose and Public Speaking

*LL DOG RESCUE

Email: lldogrescue@yahoo.com
For Dogs Available for Adoption and

Adoption Applications:

Web site at: www.lldogrescue.org

Mail to: LL Dog Rescue

PO Box 8545

Shawnee Mission, KS 66208

Tell Me A Story

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Saturday, January 4, 2014

PUPPY LOVE: DAISY

*LL DOG RESCUE

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AMERICA'S STORYTELLER, Marcia Norwood