My Little 3-Year Old

My littlest baby turns three today! (That would be Angel, my Papillon. Cut me a break - my kids are teenagers...I have nobody who is little anymore! Nah - I can't use that as an excuse...I've always been an animal lover!)

It seems like only yesterday we brought her home, a little ball of fluff...

It took three days before she moved more than three feet from the sofa! Really! She's still a weenie - she's afraid of everything...tall people, people with hats, furnace vents, electrical cords (with good reason - she bit one once), vacuum cleaners, the laundry room (there are scary, noisy machines in there!), plastic bags...the list goes on and on. She was the runt of the litter and only she and her fat, bully sister were left by the time I showed up. I had to save her - she was so scared! I've been protecting her ever since. And, I always will.

She loved her bed, and her rawhide. Those were her two favorite things.

She soon developed quirks (which is how I knew she belonged in this family - we're all kinda quirky...) like flipping her bed over and sleeping on it that way...

She would steal my laundry hampers and put them in her bed and then pretend she didn't notice. It was like, "Hmmm...don't know where your hamper is..have you looked in your closet? I haven't seen it..." She'd do this with socks and underwear, too.

Oh - btw, that's not a pee spot on the carpet. It's been there since we've been in the house about three weeks. It's a mac n' cheese stain, thanks to a teenage boy who insisted that he wouldn't spill. :) Thanks, Aaron! He spilled it...twice! Once initially, then one more time while cleaning it up. ugh! I really need new carpeting.

Now, she's grown into her ears and her hair has grown out, her tail "feathers" have fanned out real pretty. She's so beautiful and such a nice dog!
However, she hasn't been feeling well for a while, and it makes me really nervous. I've taken her in to the vet several times.
It started last summer...I think we broke her. She's always been really good - never has an accident in the house - EVER - and is really a regular pooper and all. Well, last summer around the 4th the fam and I went on a boating day. Angel comes along on those. Our family generally eats pretty healthy, so we really celebrated the 4th. When we went boating/water skiing/tubing we brought along treats - trail mix, granola bars, gummies - I forget what else. This is a real treat. Anyhow, we were giving Angel "samples". She's only 9 or 10 pounds, so we probably gave her too much. ALSO, when we were done and deflating the tube on the side of the dock, she found something on the side of the launching area - I think it was a sandwich...so it could have had spoiled mayo that was sitting in the sun...so she may have gotten some kind of food poisoning. Anyhow, she started to get diarrhea right after that...for weeks! We had her overnight a few nights at the vet and had to give her meds for weeks...it was a nightmare! I thought she was going to die. So, after that she hasn't had ANY treats - even dog treats. She gets regular kibble for "treats".
Well, about a month or two ago, Bridgette and Mike were making jerky out of duck and venison. They fed Angel a little - they EACH did, without knowing how much the other gave her...it added up to a lot. She got sick AGAIN. Horrible!!!! She was back on meds - it wasn't as bad as last summer, but bad enough.
She hadn't recovered 100% when we left for our Christmas vacation, and my friend Bonnie was watching her. I was a bit nervous. But, Bonnie said she was fine. Bonnie and her hubby have 3 shitszus. They feed them this super-expensive Dick Van Patten Potato & Duck All Natural food and that's what Angel eats when they babysit her. Angel loves it, but like I said - it's super-expensive. They told me that they had no problems with her while she was there so yeah - I thought she was fixed!
I picked her up on Saturday.
Monday, she pooped in the house three times. She NEVER does that unless she can't make it outside...which means she's sick. (And, it was right by the door...once was right after I took her out!)
Yesterday, I bought her the expensive food. I give up. She only eats a cup a day, if that...so it's not like we go through a ton, anyhow. And, we had no accidents all day yesterday. But, she tried to crawl in my lap every chance she got...and would hide her head under my arm. It was pitiful.
But, last night she had an accident by Bridgette's door. (She sleeps in Bridgette's room.) Sigh.
I guess it takes more than one little meal (she must have had two bitesful) to regulate her. But, I've been reading on-line and this food really helps dogs who have problems being regular.
So, cross your fingers...this is horrible, and I'm worried about my dog. I know that sounds silly - but I really love this little thing. I really do.

I took this picture this morning. Isn't she cute? She's such a scrappy looking thing! She has bed-head. :) I guess I do, too, this morning. I better go get ready for SAMmy's...I hope you all have a great day!