We have a groom...

No, not the wedding kind. Pixie was groomed. No trimming, but she got everything else.
It took us months to get her comfortable enough with the groomers to let them take her away from me for a few minutes for her bath. Elsie and Jennifer have been absolutely awesome in working with her!

Every week, I took her to Petco to visit the groomer. They would spend a few minutes getting Pixie familiar with what would happen during a groom.
Well, on Monday, August 3rd, Pixie received her first Strawberry Lemonade Spa treatment with a Blueberry Facial.
She did well until about halfway through, and I had to go help them hold her. She was then able to continue the grooming.

So, after about 30 minutes, Pixie had been fully groomed in her spa day, she received a strawberry lemonade collar charm and smelled wonderful for about 6 hours! At that point, the dog in her took over and rolled in the grass to get the "pretty" smell off. Not to worry - this mom bought puppy safe scented conditioning spray... LOL

As you can see, the final results. She was a bit antsy when they tried to clean her tear staing, so I cleaned them at home. However, she is fully conditioned, moisturized, pampered, and "charm"ing... Notice her charm - almost as big as she is! The bows lasted a couple of hours but matched her charms and a t-shirt I bought her! This is one pampered pooch!

Rescuing dogs

I've now had Pixie, my rescue chihuahua, for about 2 months. The changes in her are remarkable!
She had a floppy ear and was very insecure! She barked and whined anytime someone left the room. She had to be constantly by or on me.
Now, she is much more secure with her new home. She sits with me in the mornings, during prayer and bible time. As the kids begin to get up, she will slowly decide which child to spend time with, and sit with that child. Around noon, when hubby gets up, she sits with him a while. Evenings, she sits with someone or by herself! More and more often, she will lay on the floor, a pillow, or sofa, by herself for a nap. sShe does not feel the need to be on top of someone to be secure.
She will go into her crate when we leave and only bark a couple of minutes before quieting down to play and rest. When we return, she does not go into a barking frenzy, but waits until we open the door. She then jumps from person to person to greet them.
Her floppy ear is now standing straight out - Yoda style, just like a chi is supposed to do! She is getting a bit more fur, and it's much softer. She has gained over 3 lbs, and is borderline chunky. We call it "fluffy", as the humidity here makes for bad hair days for all... LOL! (yeah, vet didn't buy it either!)
We began with Science Diet and switched to cooking for her very quickly. She does not like her veggies, unless they are little frozen bits. But dogs are carnivores, so veggies aren't a necessity. If the dog feels the need for greens, they instinctively know which grass to chew on and how much.
Now that I see all the changes in her, I wish I had blogged and photographed each step!
I do have 2 short videos of her... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VerEM16prg0 is her "princess dance" and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oqy3ZJk is my grandson laughing at her playing! (adorable baby laughs here)
I have decided that I will rescue another dog, but a bit later. Pixie has a lot to teach me about rescue dogs. And like Pixie, when the dog and the time are right, it will just happen.

Dog teaching God...

Since I've adopted Pixie, I've seen a variety of lessons God is trying to teach me in her!
First, I have promised to pray regularly, but always get tired, something comes up, don't feel like it, etc... Well, we adopted our dog and dog's don't know excuses. They know routine. If you wake up every morning and take them outside, then to your prayer closet, they learn that after waking up, the prayer closet is the place to go.
So, when I have a lazy day and try to sleep in, she whines until I get up. When I have a lazy day and try to sit and watch tv instead, she whines at the door of the classroom until I sit in the chair where she gets on my lap.
Since none of my friends are up at 5:00 am to chat, there is no excuse once I get to my desk. A little, abandoned dog has taught me a lesson on commitment. On being faithful.
Second is unconditional love. I am the one who rescued the dog, I cook for her, I train her and she is mine. But, let my granddaughter hold her cookie too low, and Pixie loves her for being short and "offering" a treat. Rub her belly and she loves you. It's not what you have done repeatedly for her, you just walk in my house and she is ready to love you. It's really that easy!
Third is how to rest in God. My husband is a doom and gloom kind of person, searching the net for all the doomsday info. It gets rather scary for the kids to hear it, and depressing to hear all the horror going on. I was getting very stressed over it, until I began to watch my dog. She has her "people" for times. Every morning, she lays on my lap, and just rests. No cares, no worries, just rest. Every afternoon, she rests on hubby's lap or by his leg. Every evening, it's the kids, taking turns to share the love with all of them. She doesn't worry about food, money, or chasing cats (ok, sometimes she will stop and chase a cat). But resting in God is that easy. You just DO IT.
So, I guess Preacher Pixie was supposed to be my dog from the start. She kept running away from people to get to me, because I've been praying for help to be faithful in my prayer life, to learn to love unconditionally, and to rest in God and not worry.
Now, should I tell my pastor that my pooch is preaching and reaching me better than he is at the moment?? LOL!!

Pixie progress

Well, I've been a responsible pet owner. I had Pixie spayed two weeks ago. When the vet saw her, she told my daughter that I'm the 5th owner of this little dog, who they guess is about 13 months old. Seems there was a shelter a return, shelter return, an adoption and abandoned, adopted and abandoned then me... all in 1 short year.
I could understand if this were a ferocious pit bull attacking and mauling everything that breathes... but this sweet little dog mainly licks!
She is doing wonderful in her obedience training. She can Sit, Lay Down, Come, and Go In her House (crate). She can do these all with treats, sometimes without treats.
She is learning Turn Around, but this is tricky. If done in a certain way, she cowers down, as if I'm going to hit her. It's mainly turning clockwise, where I move my hand from her head around to her back right leg (which has a sometimes limp - it's not every step)
We are also working on Shake, but she has issues with touching her paws - unless in the bathroom. This will take some time to overcome, but the kids really want a dog to shake.
She has gained 1 1/2 pounds and is a bit over 6#. She is maybe a half pound overweight. We are working on fat to muscle and cut most carbs in her diet. Her treats are oven dried liver or chicken breast, lower in fat and calories, so she can train and have more than store bought treats! I prefer (so does she) the chicken ones. She has transitioned fully to home-made food (and treats) except for a sushi chew from petco.
Petco is still working with her on getting her to allow grooming. I know dogs would never get their nails done and bows in the wild, but Pixie isn't in the wild and I want a fully groomed dog for our Thanksgiving trip and Christmas. She really does not have enough fur to put a bow on her head, so we are considering a gel colored mohawk for special events.
She now leaves my lap. Except in the mornings. Every morning, we get up at 5:15 for my prayer time. I can't hit snooze or skip prayer, as she will fuss at me. This keeps me praying daily, without fail, no matter how tired I am. (she should get a click and treat for this)
She stay on my lap during prayer and bible study time. The moment my granddaughter walks in the door, Pixie is up and full of energy. Days I don't have grandkids. she sleeps on my lap until I make breakfast.
She takes morning walks with different family members. I make everyone take turns so she will walk with everyone. We are not allowing afternoon or evening walks due to heatwave. However, she loves to play Hide And Seek with the kids. After about 5 minutes, it turns into full blown chasing games. Then she wants to run after and "kill" her loofah dog toy. When she is ready to chase the toy for the kill again, she drops it in front of us. But she won't fetch yet, unless on leash and guided back the first time.
All in all, she has made wonderful progress. I am concerned about the history of abuse and how to correctly handle this. But I'm finding loads of information on several sites. Two that I use faithfully are


Both offer articles on positive correction/training of dogs. Pet Expertise has a neat free training book to download. It's different in that it has a progress chart and each action in various situations.

concerned about dog food

I adopted Pixie from a vet, and assumed (oh, bad, bad, thing to do) that the food the vet put her on was the best for her. After all, a vet is there to take care of our animals.
Well, 5 weeks into owning Pixie, I asked around about possibly controlling some of her anxiety through diet. That is when my eyes were opened to the horrifying world of pet food. The more I research, the more I'm disgusted. Soylent Green...
I have discovered that the leading brands, the brands I have come to trust over the years, put horrible stuff in pet food. Dogs can't digest corn, and many use corn as a main ingredient.
So, along with reading my kids food labels, I'm now reading dog food labels. But, it's coming more and more possible that I will cook for my dog. Except for a few supplements, everything dogs need, I serve my family. Normally, cooking for dogs is expensive - but Pixie is tiny. She finally hit the over 5# mark!
I'm still researching, and watching her.
This week, she is eating ground chuck. The little rascal actually pulls green beans out, but dogs don't really need veggies, and there are better ones for her. I add a little oatmeal to is, fish oil,and mix with a bit of her kibble, to convert her over. She hasn't liked chicken so far.
Since I can't repost the study info, I can tell these things.
Dog food should have specific meats as the first few ingredients - beef, chicken, pork. Not by products. Fats and meal should specify which fat and meal - not just animal fat. Check chemicals - some that have been banned from human food is in our dog food. These additives are known carcinogens and are not regulated by any animal agency.
All the information I've read is based on findings by the US gov and veterinary groups. BUT - I take studies with a grain of salt. You can find studies showing coffee is good and bad for you.
Pixie, will be enjoying healthier foods cooked by me, and I will supplement her with a natural dog food.

Pixie learns to play

Pixie was a rescue dog, so we don't know about her past. When we got her, she didn't know how to play. She didn't like any toys.
It has been 4 weeks, and through patience, trial and error, and assistnace from Petco in Pasadena, she has found a couple of toys she likes (she prefers stuffed, soft toys).
She likes a Cesar Milan Squirrel that is almost at big as she is. She attacks the squirrel on a regular basis.
After 1 weekend of tossing and tugging, she now plays a fetch type game with her stuffed butterfly.
On occasion, she will chase a small tennis ball, but quickly looses interest, preferring her stuffed animals.
She does like her puppy kong filled with treats when we leave. And she likes the Petco "sushi roll" chews. Either of these will keep her playing and chewing quietly.

Puppy training

I have several sources of assistance for training Pixie. One is a personal trainer, who graciously donated her time and training program to help us with our Pixie. (Thank you Annie!!)
The second is a really cool free training guide located here You must have a PDF reader.
I was using the Pet Expertise guide first, and love the checklists! The checklists are written so I can sit with my kids and tell them the goal, and they get it.
She has learned her name, to Sit, and we're working on Come. She is very smart, and if she thinks she should get a treat for performing the task, she will not do as asked until she gets the treat. Once we get a few treats, she does as asked.
There was some sort of abuse... when we are feeding her treats, she shys away, making it difficult to offer more than verbal praise with the treat.
Most "accidents" are actually our fault... she has separation anxiety and barks when I leave the room. We tend to ignore the barking, and some of it is a let me out bark.
I tried the Cesar Milan way, and really liked that he thinks we all need balance in our lives, including our spirituality... but he wants to correct people, not pets. I have Jesus to correct me, so I stopped reading Cesar's book and used that time to read more Bible.
Pixie is also having to be taught to play with others, being abandoned. And we are trying to socialize her with other dogs, as she has a bit of aggression.
Post more updates later.

Pixie

Thursday, May 7, my oldest daughter gave me my mother's day gift. A twice abandoned puppy we named Pixie. Pixie is part Chihuahua and part terrier and weighs in at 4 1/2 pounds.
She has been part of our family now for almost 3 weeks, and is fitting in nicely. She has learned her name, how to Sit, and Come.
Pixie has severe separation anxiety when I leave the room. This looks to be our toughest battle with her.
I will post updates on her as we progress.