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Likes: To cuddle with you and play with "Dillion" the male rat terrier/chihuahua mix of my moms
Pet-Peeves: My son screaming, she runs into another room. People moving to much when she is trying to lay down on them.
Favorite Toy: a cloth squeek bone and a raw hide
Favorite Food: her biscuits
Favorite Walk: anywhere.
Best Tricks: stay, sit, shake, lay, crawl.... working on rolling over!
Arrival Story: After my sister's rat terrier /chihuahua mix, Max, dissapeared out of her yard(suspected stolen when news of 2 other dog dissapearing out of their yards came about). Max lived with us at one time and we all knew him well, even after he and my sister moved out, he was very loved by all of us.
In the search for Max I visited several "found dog" sites with no luck, we did everything to find him, but it has now been almost 2 months(7/20/2007) since he has been gone with no sign of him.
As I was searching these sites I would see countless faces of dogs who needed a good loving home...one that I could provide. The problem was my dad, who is already up to his ears in dogs....4 in house already....he wasn't keen on the idea of me getting my own dog...sure we pay rent, stay out of the way here, but to have 5 dogs in one home was just out there to him. My mother, who can't refuse a dog, was all for it...even conspiring with me to convince my father of it. LOL
I went back to the sites and searched for the perfect dog. I wanted a puppy, young and compatable with my energenic 3 year old son. I found "Leia" **nameless at the time** on a classified ads site for our area. The picture made her look much smaller then she was and I was looking for a smaller dog...so I called the lady about her. She was 2 1/2 hours south of us in another city... but after talking with the lady I was interested, even after I was told she was 5 months and 20lbs already... bigger then I was looking for by at least 10 lbs, but something told me that this was the one. So I arranged to meet her the following day when she would be visiting her family that lived only a half hour from us, making it easier for us to see her before making any choices about her (and not wasting anyones gas).
When we arrived at the agreed meeting area and I seen "Leia" for the first time I was in love!! She was sweet, immediately came to me with kisses...and ended up in my arms! She even won my dad over (mom and dad came along to see her as well) who even asked her if she wanted to come home with us!!!
Needless to say we came home that day with a new dog.
Bio: Princess Leia was named after the ';star wars' character if you didn't catch that! My 3 year old son is the one who named her, and I couldn't refuse it. She has been a blessing for me, a stay at home mom. she has brightened my nights when I am usually alone, and brought much happiness to me.
She is so very sweet, very good at listening from the get go. She responds well to me, still working on others, I mostly just make a noise to her and snap my fingers/point down and she stops what she is doing and walks away! I even tought her to stay in the garage when the door is open and i walk away from it...of course only after instruction to do so..but that she does it is amazing to me. She also goes potty outside well, though we do have some issues with that we are working on it...and it is my fault not hers.
Other then that I am doing my best to "teach" the others in the house, who are used to the 4 dogs that have been here, how to treat her and get her to listen. That is more difficult then teaching Leia by far! I am also trying to work with another dog in the house who is aggressive to the other animals....that is going well as long as the "problem" people are not there.
I still need to get her fixed, but I had her get shots and dewormed (tapeworm when I got her). I am saving the money to get her fixed asap as well as her 2nd set of shots.
Forums Motto: Princess of cuddles
The Groups I'm In: Star Wars Fans , Parvo Victims and survivors, Star Wars, Star Wars Legend
The Last Forum I Posted In: Leia is cleared!
I've Been On Dogster Since:
After a long time away we have come back to dogster! We had some computer issues that couldn't be fixed without just getting a new computer and for christmas that is exactly what happened so now we are back and better then ever!
Things have been great around here, Princess Leia is still one cooky dog and just started her first time being in heat. She has been wearing some pretty funny outfits to keep from leaving spots on everything and all of us have been getting a good laugh about it, thankfully Princess Leia loves the attention and doing anything to see smiles on her owners faces...even wearing a diaper, onesie or a body suit! !
Christmas was great for everyone, Leia got some new toys and of course some yummy treats! She also got to spend some quality time with Grandma and Grandpa while mommy and daddy were visiting other people. Leia also got another cousin for christmas! Tiger Lilly is the newest addition to aunty Tami's family, though saddly Promise will be looking for a home better suited to her needs. Promise was rescued from an owner who was not taking care of her and in fact even gave her away to Aunty because he didn't care about Promise. Now that promise is healthy she can find a good caring home without children or other dogs, we will all be sad to see her go but it is the best thing for everyone.
Princess Leia still loves to tease the cat, Leala, and irritate her. I think Leala likes it sometimes though, especially when she provokes Leia! Leala is not Leia's only friend, Dillion (Rat ter. Chua. Mix) is her best bud and partner in crime! Dill is always finding ways to come visit, even whining up a storm to get through the door! They play and take naps together, get into things they are not supposed to and chase my son around to try and steal his snacks!
Leia Also got a new brother! Seymour the albino, yes red eyes and all, Fancy Cockitiel. Though they do not spend a lot of time together they know they are family! Audrey, our other bird, is still sweet and sassy and loves her new brother, they like to fly to the floor to go after Leia...Power in numbers I guess! LOL
WEll I guess that is it for this year! Happy New year DOGSTER!!!And to ALL our pup pals out there!!!
Once again we are doing fine today. Still no signs of Parvo as we near the end of this nightmear.
Seeing how there is no new news to share about my pup I will share about my sister. Earlier this week a neighbor of my sister's came around asking about two pups that had gotten loose and ran off. She had not seen them at that point but the very next day she spotted 2 puppies fitting the description and took them straight to the guy...who aparently was not the owner and didn't really know much about them so it was time to wait for the owner and see if these were the pups they were looking for. Soon after my sis recieved a phone call telling her that the pups where NOT the ones the owner was looking for and that they were being sent to the pound! My sis's fience' told her to go get one of the dogs and bring it home that he wanted to keep her if the owner could not be found.
Later in the day I got a call from my sis telling me that they found the owner...well the owner found her. But she reluctantly handed over the pup to the guy who she described as smelling like beer and didn't seem to care much about the wellfare of his pups (they had worms and tons of fleas BTW). So being that this guy didn't seem to care much for the dogs my soon to be brother in law asked if they could keep the pup! The guy said YES! So now they are welcoming their second new puppy into the home in less then 6 months!! Both have a story of owners not being able to or not wanting to keep them...thanks to my sister these dogs will not end up on the kill list at the pound/shelter.
I would love to say that I saved Leia from such a fate but I did not...however I may have still saved her given that she was 5 months old and unvaccinated ...had worms (that the woman who I got her from didn't even know about and they were full grown worms) Who knows if she would have been taken care of Properly later. Sad news is that she still has time yet before we know her fate with Parvo. Only time will tell if this pup has a battle for her life to face or simply a close call.
Well today marks 2 weeks since Leia's first day of Parvo exposure. She is still fine...playful as ever, eating like a pig, drinking, and her stools are solid. Of course the princess is lazy most of the day! LOL That is nothing abnormal though, as I believe I previously stated.
I am still taking everyday with a grain of salt...though as the days pass things look up I still have more time to wait...still more time for symptoms to show up. If we can make it to this Sunday (Sept.2nd) we will be able to breathe once more, as Sunday August 19th was the last day she was exposed to Parvo in it's full. I am hoping that with all the caution we have taken in cleaning up and keeping her out of the yard where Peanut had pottied was enough to keep her from further exposure while we were waiting for the vaccinations to kick in.
I plan on watching her closely for at least another 2 weeks...mainly because of the week following the Parvo exposure she was still able to be exposed to it via the house...should we have overlooked something...until her second round of shots took effect. Though if she were to of gotten it I highly doubt that all that would have mattered...she would have gotten it the week she was around Peanut. As my husband reminded me, she helped Peanut (who was in heat) clean herself those first few days...which means she was pretty much licking up the virus directly from the source! If she was to get it from that it would be today or tomorrow that symptoms would start. Besides whoever said it was EXACTLY 7-14 days after? Couldn't she still on day 15, 16,17 even 18 or 19? This is part of the reason I am waiting for the rest of this week and all through next week...but like I said as each day passes it looks good for her (being that today is tech. day 14 as of first exposure) and again, I HAVE to take each day with a grain of salt....otherwise I will get into a false sense of security when we are not to the secure point yet!
Aside from watching her I have made it a point to research doggie viruses and illnesses. Some are not of so much concern some are at the front lines of worry.... I also have seen that there is possibly a new strain of Parvo...the F strain...however I have seen little on this and what I have has been mostly from forums of normal dog lovers. Nothing solid enough to say that this is a fact. I also came across something about F strain not even being Parvo that it was a new Distemper strain that has been mistaken for parvo as it has the same symptoms and is just as deadly. How true any of that is I still do not know, should i find evidence supporting it as fact I will do my best to inform others of this. There is no vaccine for them according to what I have seen on them. For anyone who has a heart for animals...their own or in general...should want and need to know this information.
I like to have the facts before spreading the word as truth...yes I will tell you that I heard about it...but I will not back it up as something truthful until I have seen the proof.
Anyway I guess that is all for the update! Keep praying for Leia and other Doggies out there in danger of Parvo or in it's grips.
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