Bobzilla

The journey of a very brave miniature schnauzer called Bobbi "The Bobzilla" with her not so chatty socially challenged - borderline anti social owner/chew toy. Bobbi was diagnosed with a severe case of a congenital heart disease. We're living like there's no tomorrow.....and this is my way of sharing her with you

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Ear cleaning and cables

Don't worry, ear cleaning and cables aren't related at all. She has been very naughty lately, yesterday she chewed one of the cables outside for no reason at all - well I don't think there's any reason for her to chew it. She's got enough chew toys and treats to keep her occupied, no traumatic experience what so ever. I'm running out of ideas now, bitter spray doesn't work and I don't want to rub chilli all over my stuff because the odds are I'll be the one that touches it and then probably touch my eyes or something stupid like that. So I have a homework now to try and figure out how to deter her from chewing cables. Suggestions are welcome, but please do not post stupid obvious things like "hide the cables" or "closed of the areas with the cables"...trust me, if I could do that I won't be having this problem!

In my whole life, I've never ever ever met a dog with hairy ears or even heard about it. So ear cleaning or plucking ear hairs to be exact aren't at the top of Bobbi's grooming list. I've tried it once and at the end, her ears looks...normal...but my fingers hurt from trying to pull out those pesky little oily hairs. I didn't like it, she certainly didn't like it - although she was asleep for most of it, it was before her beta blocker days so she was just sleeping all the time. Stopped doing it for 2 months and just try doing the regular ear drops every couple of days until last week where I suddenly feel guilty for not plucking the hairs out. So like most people would do, I went online and buy a haemostat. "It" arrives yesterday and last night I went straight to work (was the perfect timing because we just found out she chews yet another cable, so I hope that she associates the plucking with chewing cables). I thought it would be a breeze because when CC showed it to me it looks very easy, but nooooo the hair just keeps getting loose and I ended up annoying Bobbi. So once again, I had to do it by hand with a little help from the haemostat. At the end I think I started to get better with it, but I will need more practise for sure. 

I'll be flying back home this Saturday. I don't have any problems leaving her with M because I'm sure he'll take good care of her, I'm not sure she can handle it though. She is basically my shadow when I'm at home, just like a cute little angel following me everywhere. She even stay outside the bathroom when I'm in the shower. I don't think he'll stay at home as much as I do, I'm basically a social cast-away now because I insisted on staying at home with Bobbi on weekdays after work - well worth it :)

Anyway, I got her a new collar..will take a picture of her tomorrow or Saturday morning before I leave. It's so cute!

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Relaxing in her igloo after a nice warm shower <3

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

House warming

We finally had our house warming party last Saturday (we moved in 3 months ago!). For weeks I argued with M on what's the best way to do it, should we do it on the balcony or on the roof top, what are we going to do with Bobbi for the day...we even consider asking if we can drop Bobbi at CC's place because we were just so nervous and unsure how she's going to react.

We ended up having the party on the roof top and we put Bobbi in M's room (bobbi proofed of course), and move her pee pad and her dog house to his balcony. She seems happy enough to stay there for the first couple hours, we just stay away from the room to give her some peace and quiet. Mother nature didn't seem to like our plan, a couple of hours into the party it started raining and it was so windy we had to move the party into the living room. There's no point of locking Bobbi in M's room so I open the door slightly to give her the option to go out but also provide some cover from my noisy guests.

Everyone loves her because she just kept going out - on the hallway and stop on the border to the living room - to watch us. Every time someone stood up to go to the kitchen or bathroom she would run towards M's room but then turn around to find that no one is following her so she would walk towards the living room again. It's almost as if she's taunting my friends to come and chase her (but we made it clear that she doesn't want anyone to chase her).

Overall, I was really happy with her progress. Doesn't seem like a huge one but in my book, a progress is still a progress. She's also calmed down a lot around my flatmate and her bf, still don't like them but at least she stopped barking.

I'm going home in a couple of weeks, a bit nervous now. I hope she can cope okay without me being home, the last time I left her she had to be rushed into the hospital.

Here's a picture of her wearing her purple jacket before going to the park last Saturday. It was still a bit too warm, so I decided to let her wear her brown vest instead of the jacket. But she looked soo cute! (in case you're wondering...the white stuff on her beard is yogurt)

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

WHERE WOULD YOU MOST LIKE TO VISIT ON YOUR PLANET?

Japan - Kyoto

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Another play date

After being bullied by a mean whippet last week at the dog park with no BoB to defend her, I decided not to take her this Saturday. Instead...we went to CC's place for a play date (yay!)

She was shaking at first when we get into the car but wasn't very long before she calm down. Was a bit shy when we get there and just sniff around without caring about the two boys that's madly trying to sniff her. As expected, she get along well with Nigel. They were playing for a long time and I feel a bit sad for BoB. For some reason, she doesn't want to play with him. It was sad but cute, Bobbi was fighting with Nigel and BoB decided to join in by bringing his stuffed bunny. Those two just kept fighting and there he is next to them just waiting with a stuffed bunny in his mouth (I caved in and play with BoB).

There are even times where Nigel was just exploring the yard and Bobbi initiate a play! We were just so happy looking at her playing with another dog. It's not going to be long before Nigel can come out to the park - it will be very interesting to see how Bobbi reacts seeing Nigel at the park. I will be going back home for a couple of weeks early June, by the time I get back Nigel should already be a regular there.

We left her at CC's place for a couple of hours because I had to go to the city for an appointment. When we picked her up, CC mentioned that Bobbi refuses to go in. I feel so bad, the whole time we were away she had to sit outside with Bobbi (and it was a pretty cold day). She did however, ate some sweet potato treats with yogurt from CC's palm and...she pee in the backyard. That's always a good sign, right?

The journey home was a breeze, she was very calm in the car and even tried peeking outside the window a couple of times. By the time we get home, she was still so happy and excited from the play date she just kept running around the living room. I've been a bit worry that we might overwork her heart a little bit by playing with her all the time, I don't want to get her excited too much...but I guess M and CC is right, making sure that she's happy is more important for now so I might play a bit more with her.

I can tell that she was just so tired from everything because when I lift her to the bed for a little nap she just fell asleep straight away, didn't even move around to get a good comfy position. And at bed time, she basically slept through the night! It's a nice change from the usual running around the living room at 3 in the morning.

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Learning to be a guard dog

She started to growl and sometimes bark if she see my flatmate or her boyfriend. The first time she did it was when my flatmate was getting ready to go to work while I was on holiday. Bobbi must have heard her moving around the living room and she decided to go check it out....and bark at her haha

She did it again this afternoon, I was just chilling out in M's room and we can hear her growling from the hallway. I thought she was just being silly, but then I heard noises from my flatmate's room. She and her bf are getting ready to go out and they were walking towards the door, they must have stopped in front of the hallway and that's why Bobbi started growling.

It happened again later on, the two of them came home when were watching TV on the living room. I wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, but then she started barking at my flatmate's bf. He was trying to get her to come closer to him and he made a rookie mistake of looking straight at her. She stopped barking but even though she eventually come and sit near me, she wouldn't stop looking at him and her posture is like she was ready to pounce at him if he decided to approach.

I don't want to encourage this behaviour towards him because obviously those two will be around us a lot, but I do like the fact that she is trying to fend of strangers. Not sure if it's because she wants to take care of her family or because she thinks she's the pack leader =/ I hope it's the first one, I've been neglecting trying to show her that she's at the bottom of the food chain ever since the thongs incident.

The guard dog is snoring next to me now...

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Her first igloo was a total disaster, it was so small she looked like a snail

New (bigger) igloo:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_134.jpg

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Playing at Nudgee Beach dog park/beach

More pics:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_124.jpg

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_129.jpg

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Playing with BoB and Nigel after CC gave her a hair cut

Bobbi sniffing BoB:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_107.jpg

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Talking a walk to the Parklands, she was too tired to walk back....started to get really sunny just when we get there :(

More pics:

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_91.jpg

http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbi_96.jpg

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Snuggle up with uncle M

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Check out her new outfit for the winter!

Also in her new vest: http://i1235.photobucket.com/albums/ff439/tanteNdut/bobbiMay2011_02.jpg

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Adjusting to our normal work schedule

After almost 3 weeks of having me at home with her, we finally have to adjust to the normal schedule. It's actually not too bad now, she'll be too distracted in the morning from the treats hunt to be sad seeing me leave for work. On the afternoon as usual, I try to come home as soon as possible and we would play for a couple of minutes.

For the first two days, I found my PJs on the living room floor! I think she was too lonely so she dragged it to the middle of the living room - which has been one of her favourite places to hang out lately.

She's doing good with her cow skin treats, it's not like she's obsessed with it but she chews it every now and then. She's been playing more with her toys and she just love trying to kill her rat doll that I got from IKEA. I thought she would like it because the tail is roughly the same size as a big cable, but she just like biting it and doing the doggy shake where she just shake her head to try to kill it hahaha

I'm trying to include her toys more whenever I play with her, but it's not going so good. She's always more interested on chasing my hand or trying to lick my face, although there has been a couple of times where she bite the soccer ball (plushie from IKEA). I practically shoved it into her face and then she gets annoyed because she couldn't get to me and start biting the ball.

I took a picture of her and the mouse yesterday, M said that I was being cruel for taking a silly picture of her....but I don't care, she looked so cute!

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Changed

The past couple of days I've been watching her behaviour closely and it's completely different. She's been playing with her soft toys which I think she picked up from watching Nigel play with his toys, and she just want to play with us all the time! We went to the park on Saturday and she actually initiate interactions with other dogs, although she didn't really play but it's a start. Now whenever I walk outside towards the rooftop she just follow me, and yesterday the little princess go down stairs instead of following me to the rooftop! Not sure if it's a good thing or not because she's not suppose to be too active but I do like seeing a new side of her. She's on the normal dose of her heart medication now (twice a day) and it didn't seem to have a major effect on her. She's still doing her usual corpse sleep where nothing can wake her up, but when she's awake she seems so alive. I keep feeling like this is just the calm before the storm, like in the movies where it reaches the happy point before everything starts crumbling down. M said that I'm just paranoid but I don't know...it all seems too good to be true.....

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

Happy to be home

Haven't post anything in a while, so here's a quick recap. She got through the endoscopic procedure and I picked her up the next day. Her vet turns out to be the the head of internal medicine, I felt so stupid for insisting a second opinion when she suggested the procedure. Anyway, she has to take antibiotics and another medicine to help coat her stomach that was irritated by pieces of the thongs. It was a pain trying to stick to the schedule but good thing it was easter holiday. Went to CC's house on Wednesday to get a long overdue haircut and to play with Nigel (the new addition in CC's household). Bobbi played with Nigel in the backyard! It was a pleasant surprise seeing her running around and actually interact with another dog. Our theory is that she prefer to play with Nigel than BoB because she can beat Nigel :p After we got home, she's been acting all nice and happy. It's like she knows that from now on everything will be okay. We went to the pet shop to get her a bed, but it was too small. So funny watching her trying to fit in there. M bought her a new bed the next day and took her to Nudgee beach. Will post pictures soon. Finally everything starts to calm down and she looks happy and healthy - well as healthy as she can be....which is enough for me.

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

[smalltimidmouse-blog]

More running pictures