Making It Official

1.  On Tuesday afternoon, I made the 45 minute drive, two counties over, to the Orange County Animal Shelter to fill out the paperwork and officially adopt Winnie.  Winnie is home, as I hoped she would be.

This little Chihuahua has already made a huge impact on our household.  She is happy, and scampery, and oh-so loving.  Her ability to adapt and trust seems infinite, as she learns that we are now her family and she takes her place here.  She is learning how to get around in this big old house, and she has no problem hopping onto one of the big dog beds by the radiator in my husband's office to take a nap.  Her favorite place, though, is wherever I happen to be.

2.  Winnie had an appointment with our regular vet on Wednesday, for a check-up and to follow up on the various things that she was being treated for when I got her last week.  Her spay incision looks good and her mouth has healed well from having her teeth pulled three weeks ago.  The infection in her right eye is completely healed since she finished her course of antibiotic drops, though the resulting scarring has compromised her sight in that eye.  Considering how dire her neglected condition appeared to be when she was found in December and taken to the shelter, she is in extremely good health for a gal her age.

My vet knows me very well.  She said that she did a TRIPLE take when she saw our appointment on the schedule ... it said, Chihuahua Hilker.  (Connie has a CHIHAHUA???)  Once she was told that Winnie is a rescue dog, she understood perfectly.  Like I said, she knows me well.

3.  After we finished at the vet's, Winnie and I made a stop at PetsMart to get her a collar and leash.  Winnie was wearing a collar and I was given a leash when I picked her up last week, but I returned them to the Shelter when I was there on Tuesday.  They can save them for another tiny dog in the future ... I wanted Winnie to have her own collar and leash, chosen especially for her.

I was surprised to see that all of the extra-small sized dog collars in PetsMart were either too long (requiring them to be adjusted almost to their smallest point) or too stiff to be comfortable.  So, Winnie and I checked out the cat department of the store.  Discovered that cat collars are also too big for her ... KITTEN collars, however, were a perfect fit ... but the kitten collars don't have a ring on them to attach the leash.  I bought one anyway, to use as a tag collar.

Speaking of cats, this is what my lap looked like last night.  I was watching the hockey game and knitting a sweater for Winnie.

4.  With Winnie's new collar in hand, I have already ordered her ID tag online from Boomerang Tags.  I have used these tags on all of our dogs, and I love them!  They fit flat on the collar, so there's nothing hanging down to get snagged or jingle around. Ruby's 1-inch-size tag is large enough for her name, complete address, and two phone numbers.  Winnie's tag, as you would expect, will be significantly smaller (3/8 inch size) and can only hold four lines of info, 14 characters per line.  The chances of losing her are slim and none, but I fully believe in being safe rather than sorry when it comes to keeping ID on my animals.

A tag like this lasts for the life of your dog and it only costs $9.99.

4.  I went to Richmond yesterday, and one of my stops was at Trader Joe's to stock up on supplies because we are having friends over on Sunday (football related, of course.)  Petco is next door to TJ's ... I went in to see if they carried dog collars that are little enough to use on Winnie.  They had a small selection in the tiny size, and I chose a plain pink nylon collar with a snap buckle ... perfect, or so I thought.  Brought it home, tried it on Winnie for size, and it was too small.  There's a Petco right across the street from my dentist's office (where I will be later today), and I plan to exchange the pink collar for a larger size ... as long as the next size isn't TOO large.

This was the scene to my right ... both of them are sound asleep.

5.  It feels wonderful to say that Winnie is now officially our dog.  I loved her at first sight, as did my husband when he got home from his trip on Saturday.  I still can't believe that I brought her home without telling him first.  Fortunately, he concurred with me that she needed to be part of a family ... and he agrees that her home is here with us.  Ruby accepted her very quickly ... the cats are making progress and I hope that things will work themselves out within another week or so.

Welcome to the family, Winnie!  It's only been ten days, and I already can't imagine this place without you.

Chihuahua Update ... and a Name.

After trying names on this little dog for two whole days, I am fairly certain that we have settled on Winnie ... Winnie Pearl.  She just looks like a Winnie and it seems to fit her perfectly.  (Thank you for all of your suggestions of names for her in response to my last post.)

She is getting more comfortable in her new surroundings, and she has started to follow me around for short distances instead of sitting in one spot and looking confused and adorable.  She loves to sit in laps, and she will waddle over and hop right in if I sit on the floor near her.

We were doing this yesterday morning in the dining room, and Dorothy came by.  She walked past us and into the kitchen, checked things out in there for a minute or two, and she walked back out ... keeping an eye on Winnie the whole time.  Dorothy's behavior and acceptance of Winnie will be what finally determines whether we can keep her or not.  As of now, I am very pleased with how well it's going.

While Winnie and I were sitting on the floor, I took this photo so I could show just how small this dog is ... her paw is the same size as my thumb.

Winnie has learned that her home base is her pink fleece bed, and she hops into it all by herself and settles right in.  She and Ruby spent most of yesterday snoozing on the sofa.

Dorothy would come by occasionally to keep an eye on the situation.  Notice that she looks concerned, but it's no longer a look of panic.  It's a huge step for her.

Last night, as I sat on the sofa, watching 'American Idol' and 'Rehab Addict', things took another step toward returning to normal.  Alice walked into the room, hopped up and settled into her usual spot between my left leg and the arm of the sofa, and went to sleep.  (YAY!!!!)  Then it got even better ... when I got up to go to the basement to switch my load of laundry, Alice stayed where she was.  There they were, two dogs and a very brave cat, all sharing the sofa at the same time.

Winnie is settling in very quickly and finding her place in our daily routine.  I never in a million years thought that I would EVER have a dog like this.  It goes to show that the little voice in my gut knows more than I do.  I was recently asked by a friend if I was going to get another dog, and I told her that I wasn't actively looking for one ... but that I would know when the right time and the right dog came along.  Unless circumstances change pretty drastically, that time is now and Ms. Winnie is in her forever home.

The Chihuahua Formerly Known as Olive

Instead of making you wait as I go through the whole story ... I will get straight to the point and tell you that we have a not-quite-four-pound geriatric chihuahua living here as of Tuesday.  Technically, she's a foster.  I'm working under the assumption that it will end up as a more permanent situation, though.

The shelter named her Olive.  She was abandoned during the week of Christmas, and she was taken to the shelter by kind people.  The shelter volunteers saw that there is a whole lot of life left in her tiny, elderly self.  They sent her to the veterinarian, where she was evaluated ... her health is good for a little girl her age.  (she may be as old as 16.)   She had a dental (which required extraction of all but one of her few remaining teeth) and she was spayed and vaccinated and put on antibiotic drops for an eye infection.

I saw her picture on Facebook yesterday morning.  A friend of mine shared her photo ... and there was something about that little face that got to me.  (The dog was being fostered at my friend's vet's office).

photo from Facebook

I kept myself busy with piddly things yesterday, all the while I was trying to keep my mind off of the little chihuahua.  The more I tried not to think about it, the more it ate at me.  At 2:00, I called the vet to ask about 'Olive'.  They told me that she is a spunky, sweet little girl who really needed a warm home and someone to love her.  I told them that I would like to meet her to see if she could be part of our family.

I should mention at this point that it had been snowing since about 11am.  Fortunately, the snow was beginning to let up when I loaded our current dog Ruby into my Jeep and headed out.  The roads were in good condition and our half-hour trip was uneventful.  

I was unprepared for how incredibly tiny this dog is.  Even with no teeth, a monumental overbite, and cataracts, there was something so appealing about her.  The little voice in my gut was deafening, "Take her home with you."

So I did.

Even though this was a spur-of-the-moment decision, we had a few supplies that we could pull together for her.  The pink fleece bed was bought years ago for the cats, and they haven't wanted anything to do with it.  My largest cat carrier is serving as a crate for her.  The ladies at the vet gave me a can of the food that they had been feeding her, and I stopped at the store on the way home to buy some more.

As an example of how tiny she is, that's a placemat that she's standing on while having her breakfast this morning.

As I said in the beginning, she is officially my foster dog.  I had no idea how the cats would react to having this tiny little critter in their house, and their behavior will be what determines if she stays.  I am pleased to say, the cats have reacted pretty much exactly as I thought they would.

Maggie:  I know that 'thing' is over there, but I'm not letting it get in the way of my lap time.

Alice:  What is THAT?  ((hisss))

Dorothy, overreacting as usual:  OMG!!!  This is the worst thing that has EVER happened!

In my short time with this little dog, I can see why the shelter volunteers gave her a chance.  She is adaptable and affectionate and so, so sweet!

I have a confession to make ... my husband did not know anything about this until the deal was done and the dog was settled in.  He is away on business, and the time difference and his schedule of meetings just didn't leave an opportunity for me to call him to ask.  I talked to him last night (dinnertime where he is) and I told him that we are fostering an elderly Chihuahua.  He told me that he can't wait to meet her ... exactly as I thought he would!

She came with the little purple tank top to help keep her warm, but that wasn't going to be adequate against the cold and wind that we are experiencing right now.  This morning, I had a bright idea ... I made her a sweater out of an orphan boot sock.  As you can see, it fits her perfectly!  With her new sweater and her blue blanket, this little sweetheart is staying warm and toasty.

This tiny dog ... this sweet, sweet little girl ... needs to have a name other than 'Olive'.  (friends of ours recently adopted a dog and her name is Olive).  I have been calling her Little Doggie, but that can't go on for much longer.  So far, I've tried Olivia, Daisy, Violet, and others.  These are still in the running, but none of them feel right.  I think I'm looking for a little-old-lady-type name for her.

I am thrilled to share this little Chihuahua-formerly-known-as-Olive with you!  Hopefully, we will soon know if the cats will tolerate her and if she can stay.  Until then, she is warm and safe and loved.

Update, 1/23/14:  I think we have settled on Winnie Pearl as this little girl's name (all of our animals have middle names).  She just seems like a Winnie to me.  The cats are still a bit freaked out, but getting to be less and less freaky as time passes.  I don't want to jinx it by being too confident, but I think that Ms. Winnie is home to stay.