Chars Dogs and Dog Info

Your sweet dog comes in from the backyard and is covered with blood from head to tail with blood-what can you do? Alternately, perhaps you walk in the house after working all day and your dog is lying on the floor panting and bleeding. What can you do?

The first thing you need to do is try to keep your dog quiet and motionless. You need to determine what is causing the bleeding so get a clean cloth or towel and look for the location of the injury. If it is a deep puncture or cut with major bleeding (bright red blood spraying from the injury or darker colored blood streaming generously from the injury or the bleeding is hard to stop), get another clean cloth or towel and softly apply pressure on the wound. Do not apply a tourniquet.

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As you know, I belong to five dogs that I call my furry kids. As I sit at my computer, eating my favorite type of sweet, chocolate, they will beg and grovel, begging for just a taste of that chocolate. I know better though, their sweet eyes and faces will not make me give in to them. I will not be giving them a sample of any type of chocolate.

If you give your dog chocolate just one time, they will constantly want that taste. This is a terribly bad thing for our dogs. If a dog eats just a little bit of chocolate, according to vets, the dog will crave it all the time. He will lunge and search for a bit of chocolate. If your dog eats chocolate, it can be lethal to them.

To read the article I wrote and learn more about chocolate and dogs, Click Here

At the time I got Rocky, I was working at a pet shop and one of my good friends I worked with was named Lisa. On one of my days off, Lisa called me at home and was all excited about the two puppies they had just got in. Guess what breed they were? Yep, miniature schnauzers! Well I grabbed my husband and flew down to the pet shop. I told Brian he needed a velcro schnauzer like my Fritz. (I think he was always jealous of my affection for Fritz) We got to the pet shop and they had these two light silver colored miniature schnauzers. I picked them both up and said the first one that gave us a kiss was ours. They looked identical and they were both boys. Well, Rocky was the one we picked and brought him home. (Thanks Lisa, like I needed another dog ) I couldn’t think of a name and Lisa thought of the name Rocky and I thought it fit quite well. 

Rocky (also known as Scooby, Rocky Roo) was soooo cute!! All the other dogs loved him, except Shelby. Shelby was like “ANOTHER DOG!!!) She was not a happy camper. If Rocky would try to lay next to Shelby or rub against her, Shelby would jump away and give a little growl. Rocky loved everybody. I think he thought Shiloh was his mommy. He would always want to lay next to her.

Rocky is like a two year old kid. He is full of energy and always getting into everything, still to this day. If I leave the door open to my room, I’ll catch him in there messing all the covers up. Rocky is all the time trying to get in his dad’s garbage can. He still likes to pester Shelby. No other dog in the house messes with Shelby-she’s the boss. Rocky is different. He’s not scared of her at all and is always trying her patience. He is always into mischief, but look at that face, you gotta love him!

So those are my five dogs and my hubby has put his foot down: NO MORE DOGS!!! I think the reason I kept getting dogs, besides the obvious reason that I love dogs, is that when I lost my dog Crissy many years ago, it broke my heart. I was so depressed and upset that I didn’t even go to work for two days. It really tore me up. I seem to think for some reason that if I lose one now, I will have the other four dogs now to console me. However, I now realize that if something happens to any of my five kids, it will still break my heart because I love them so much. Sometimes it’s difficult taking care of and paying for the needs of five dogs, but I wouldn’t have it any other way.  

I got a phone call one night from my son, Ernie. Ernie was living with his dad at the time and his dad and his wife had two miniature schnauzers that they had since they were puppies. They were named Fritz and Buster. They had been kept in a crate all the time except to go outside to do their business. They also had an older dog who didn’t like the schnauzers because they were all the time nipping at the older dog’s feet. They kept the schnauzers in a crate to avoid the problems. The pups were hardly ever let out of the crate. They were turning a year old and it was time for their yearly vaccinations. My ex and his wife had decided that instead of spending the money to get their shots, they were going to take them to the dog pound. When my son called me and told me, I was livid! I told him I’d be right over to get them. Ernie knew how I loved dogs, especially miniature schnauzers, since my previous dog that I had lost passed away was a miniature schnauzer. 

I drove the 35 miles to go pick up the pups and brought them home. When I took them out of the crate, I was appalled! They were all matted and covered with feces and urine. I don’t think they’d ever been groomed. I called my friend, Lisa, in panic, pleading for her help to at least give them a bath because they stunk so badly! She came right over and helped me bathe them. They still smelled a bit but were a lot better than before. The crate went out with the trash.

I made an appointment to have them both groomed and took them to my vet to get them their shots and checked out. The vet said they were in great health and should be great. After a few days, I learned that having two one year old pups along with Shelby was a little hard to handle. They were not housebroken so they were peeing everywhere and a real challenge. I had a large cage that I had used for Shelby when she was a pup so I had to put them in the cage whenever I was gone or asleep until they were trained. I was working at a pet shop at that time and had decided after talking with my vet and the pet shop owner to let someone adopt one of the pups. A regular customer of the pet shop was looking for a new dog to keep his current miniature schnauzer company and I thought it was a great fit.  Based on Ernie knowing the pups more than me, I adopted out Buster and kept Fritz.

Fritz was born May 28, 1999 and he came to our home in August 2000. Much to my surprise, Fritz got along great without Buster. He was housebroken in no time and became my little buddy and velcro dog. What I mean by velcro dog is that he goes everywhere I go, even the bathroom. He never leaves my side unless I go downstairs. I think he is scared of the steps. I usually sleep on my side and Fritz lies right beside me. He is like my baby. I know with dogs like with kids, you shouldn’t have favorites, but…. well you know. 

So know we have 4 dogs in our household, for now…… 

After owning Shelby, who was part Australian shepherd, I had searched the internet find out more information about this breed. After learning more about them, I knew I wanted another Australian shepherd doggie. I looked into the Australian shepherd rescue groups as I wanted to adopt a dog that needed a home. I located the Aussie Rescue & Placement Hotline in Pennsylvania that had groups located in a number of states. They had a representative in Iowa with whom I got in contact with. I was approved for adopting a rescue and the search began. A blue merle Australian shepherd by the name of Carly who was about 9 months old was rescued from a private residence. This dog had been kept outside all of the time on a chain. A neighbor had reported the owner because they had seen that for a number of days, the dog was not fed nor watered. The ARPH went by and picked her up, cleaned her up, got her spayed and heartworm checked and she got all her shots. Most blue merle’s have copper in their coat and no tail but Carly had no copper in her, alot of white and a tail. I saw pictures of her and fell in love. She seemed to get along well with the other fostered dogs so we made a date to meet the representative up by Chicago and pick her up.

 I enlisted the help of my good friend Lisa and we headed up north for the trip. We met with the representative, Jayne, and as the dog walked out of the car I could tell she was much bigger than Shelby was and that kind of surprised me but otherwise she looked great. She was quite shy and Lisa ended up sitting in the backseat of the car with her for the ride home. She seemed to love the car ride. And so began the saga of Shiloh…

I renamed her Shiloh Lynn (my girl dogs middle names are all named Lynn after my sissy SharonLynn). She was born April 21, 1999. When I brought her home, Shiloh and Shelby sniffed each other a bit and then got along great! The first thing Shiloh did was follow me to my bedroom while I changed my clothes, promptly jumped up on my bed, sniffed around and peed on my bed.  But the look on that face, how could I be angry? I immediately showed her to the outside yard and she figured it out from that day forward.

Shiloh has always had the personality of being a mother dog. If one of the other dogs whimpers or whines for some reason, she is all over them, making sure they are okay. I think she would have been a great dog mommy. She is the sweetest, most lovable, huggable dog I have ever met. Whenever I need a hug or I’m feeling blue, I can always count on Shiloh to let me hug her and help me feel better. I don’t know how the prior owner could have treated her the way they did. She sure didn’t deserve it. 

Her tail is her biggest attribute and I can’t see her being without her tail like other Aussies. When we talk to her, she wiggles her butt and swings that tail and it is sooo cute! Thus her nickname: Wigglebutt. In fact, she’ll answer to Wigglebutt quicker than to Shiloh. I am so glad I adopted her. She’s been a great addition to the family.

So now we have 3 dogs in the family, so far…… 

At the time we brought Midnight into the household, my husband Brian was an over the road truck driver. This was in March 2000. Brian was at a truck stop and was inside looking at the gift shop after eating his dinner. He met up with a couple of young children playing some video games and he could see they didn’t have much. He felt sorry for them so he gave them a couple of bucks so they could play some games. Shortly thereafter, their mother came up to Brian and asked if he needed his truck cleaned. She and her children were living in their car along with two dogs and needed some money. He let her clean his truck for like $25 and after she was done she asked if he wanted to buy one of the dogs. One was a two year old Dalmatian and the other one was a black lab puppy. At the time, the only dog we had was Shelby and she was at home with me. Brian picked up the little black puppy and all she wanted to do was lick kisses all over him and he knew he had to have her. He paid the lady $25 for her. She didn’t even have any dog food for her or a leash. She was feeding the dogs scraps left over from what they ate, the poor things. Brian wished he could have gotten both dogs but he knew he better not. I didn’t even know about this one; more on that later. He went inside and bought the pup some dog food and found a rope because they didn’t have any leashes and the drama of Midnight began.

Midnight (also called Bear, Star and Mid) was the typical puppy and being on a semi was a little difficult for Brian and Midnight. One day, Brian was talking to me on the phone, and he said he had a surprise for me. All of sudden I heard these little barks or yelps in the background. Immediately I said, “You have a dog!” Brian said, “uh yeah!.” That’s how I found out about Midnight.

I told Brian that he needed to get her home because she hadn’t been spayed or had any shots and that needed to get done as soon as possible. I met Midnight in April 2000 when Brian brought her home. She also got spayed and all her shots up to date. We didn’t know when she was born so we gave her the birthday of November 18, because that was Brian’s birthday. The first night Brian was home with Midnight, Shelby absolutely would not let Midnight on our bed. I thought there was going to be a big fight, so Brian ended up with Midnight in his truck. Soon, Shelby accepted Mid into our household. 

Midnight is just a big lovable bear. As a puppy, she liked to tear up and chew on everything in Brian’s truck and did not like being left alone. As an adult, she is fantastic. She overcame her chewing habit and is a great dog. 

So now we have two dogs in our household, for now…..

Shelby, also known by her daddy as Precious, was the first dog we got in the Piggush household. Shelby Lynn was born May 4, 1998 and is an Australian Shepherd-terrier mix. I had lost my beloved miniature schnauzer, Crissy, months before. We had to put her to sleep because she had numerous health problems, and I was just heartbroken. My hubby thought it might be time for me to have a new puppy. We went to a place called Love at First Sight, which is a no kill shelter, and looked at the puppies. There were about five puppies in Shelby’s litter and they were all adorable, of course. But the one I named Shelby was the one that caught my eye. She was a little different color than the rest and when I held her, I knew she was mine. 

The girls at the shelter said that this litter of pups was left outside their front door in a box, covered in urine and feces. They were just deplorable. We took her home and she started her life with us, as an only dog. The photo above is when she was just a baby.

Shelby was cage trained since I was still working full time and we lived in an apartment and thought that was the best thing for her. The first night, we put her in her cage, and we went to bed. Well, that didn’t work very long. The whining and crying just broke our hearts. I had to work the next day so Brian went out to her (she was in the living room), and lay down by her cage with his fingers touching her through the cage, where he ended up sleeping all night. From that time on, Shelby owned us. 

After a few months, she was housebroken and we let her in our bed at night. She was a perfect angel. She only stayed in the cage when we were both gone. 

Over the years, and with the addition of more dogs, Shelby became the boss and goddess of our house. Nobody over ruled Shelby. Even the bigger dogs, if they had a toy, and she wanted it, they would drop it and let her have it. 

I really think she would have liked to have remained an only dog, but she has managed to accept all the other dogs as they came along, except maybe Rocky. That’s another story. 

Shelby is getting older and maybe a little slower, at times, but she is still a happy doggy that has a way of her own and is special just being Shelby. 

My husband and I are owned by five dogs. The oldest one is Shelby and she is an Australian shepherd/terrier mix and she runs the place. The second one is Midnight and she is a black lab mix. The third one is Shiloh and she is a pure Australian shepherd but with a tail. The fourth one is my velcro dog Fritz and he is a miniature schnauzer who follows me around everywhere-including the bathroom. My fifth and final dog is Rocky and he is a miniature schnauzer also.

All but Rocky have either been adopted from shelters or rescued and they each have a story. Starting tomorrow, I will start with Shelby and tell their tale.

So have a good day!