First Day of School

April 17, 2010

Being that Kitty is a year old and has demonstrated that she has a mind of her own, I thought it would be a good idea to enroll her in a beginner training class.  Today was her first day, and I am ashamed to say that we were late.  Yes, Kitty was late to her first day of school.  But it was not her fault.  I take the blame completely.  She tried waking me up early enough to get there on time, but I was such a sleepy-head.  I will say, however, that I sacrificed looking my best so that SHE could look polished and presentable. 

When we arrived, the instructor invited us to take a seat and continued with his lecture.  Surprisingly, Kitty made friends instantly with the Yorkie that was sitting a chair away. 

One of the reasons I chose to enroll Kitty in a class is because I am trying to socialize her.  She is a very timid little doggie and tends to shy away from other dogs.  So, I was very happy to see her trying to make friends because she does not always behave this way.

When I tried to introduce my cousin’s baby Labrador to her a couple of weeks ago, Kitty ran and hid under the end table.  That’s when I knew it was time for her to get out in the world.  Fortunately, Kitty is not aggressive and will allow people to pet her if they do not move toward her too quickly.  She has never bitten anyone, and she really does love attention.  But I would like her to be more playful with her peers and more confident in the real world.  Also, education has always been very important to me and my life.  So, it only makes sense that my dog should have an education as well.  Since I have no kids to send to college, I must send my dog to training classes.

I had no idea that I would learn so much just from the first class.  As it turns out, the huffy veterinary technician who told me that I was feeding Kitty too much may not have been too far from being right. 

It IS true that dogs should only eat so much a day, AND their food should be measured.  Because of Kitty’s size, I have been breaking her meals up into several small meals rather just one or two larger ones.  A while back I read that Yorkshire Terriers are susceptible to hypoglycemia because of their size.  So, that’s when I decided to start feeding Kitty small meals throughout the day.  From what I understand, it really isn’t overfeeding because it amounts to the same as a whole.

One thing I have neglected to do, though, is put her on a feeding schedule.  Dogs need routine.  I know that.  I have just failed to do it.  But no more.  Starting today, Kitty is getting measured portions of food at specific times each day.  And that’s that.

We were issued clickers to use as a training tool for the duration of the class.  You know, I’ve always wondered how the heck to use those things, and I am happy that it was explained to me today.  I always thought that the dogs were supposed to be attracted to the clicking sound in some way.  I had this crazy notion that dogs would somehow be mesmerized by the sound, like it would magically lock your dog into a trance and all of a sudden, he/she would want to follow you and obey your every command.  Nope.  No such luck.  You’re actually supposed to offer a treat after EVERY click, and it eventually CONDITIONS your dog to do what he/she is supposed to do.  Go figure.  So much for that dream of being like the Pied Piper.

Who would have thought his training thing would be so much work?

I also learned that dogs use nonverbal communication more so than verbal communication.  It makes sense though.  Whenever dogs want something, they use nonverbal cues:  they pull, they scratch, they jump, etc.  They only bark as a last resort.  Therefore, when training dogs, humans should use nonverbal cues first. 

And that’s the gist of what I learned today.  It’s strange though…  I thought that Kitty was supposed to be the one learning...

A Dog Named Kitty

I have a dog named Kitty. That’s right. A Dog. And her name is Kitty. Most people, upon first hearing her name, ask me to repeat. I guess they feel that I could not possibly have labeled my canine with a feline nickname. But I did.

Why? Well, let’s start by first introducing what kind of dog Kitty is. Kitty is a Yorkshire Terrier. She is a year and a half old and weighs between 3.5 and 4 pounds. (Her weight fluctuates.) As a puppy, Kitty was tiny enough to fit into the palm of your hand. Due to her small size, she used to get into unfortunate little predicaments. She got stepped on a few times, fell off the sofa, got lost behind the fridge, and worst of all… she got “pinched” by a swinging storm door. But despite all of that, she kept bobbing right along. So, I decided she must have nine lives—just like a cat. Hence, I named her Kitty.

Growing up, I was not really allowed to have pets. So, when I acquired Kitty I had absolutely no idea what having a dog entailed. I also had no idea how much I would learn and grow just from owning a small dog.

One evening, when Kitty was at the age of approximately three months, she began throwing up. Like I mentioned before, I know nothing about having pets or raising a dog, but I was pretty sure that wasn’t something that was supposed to be happening. The following evening I noticed that, in addition to throwing up, there were also worms in her stool. Again, I was pretty sure that wasn’t supposed to be happening, but at the time I had no idea what was causing this or how to stop it. All I knew was that she was sick, and she needed medical attention.

(There is a bit of the story that I am leaving out here for personal reasons, but later on, I may choose to become a bit more open about little details. For now, I am choosing to protect other people’s privacy.)

I consulted with a friend of mine who thought Kitty might have parvo. I had no idea what that is. All she could tell me was that dogs can die from parvo. Naturally, I panicked and took her to the vet. To this day, I do not know why the vet did not give me a rundown of symptoms and diseases or tell me that the worms were not causing the vomiting. All I know is that, for the longest time, I thought worms were, in some way, related to the vomiting. It took me a long time to realize that Kitty just has a really sensitive stomach. So, it was just a coincidence that she happened to be sick to her stomach each time she had worms. Whereas, the worms only reoccurred for a couple of months, the vomiting was reoccurring for a little more than the first year of her life. During that year, Kitty visited the vet at least once or twice a week.

After a year of watching her suffer needlessly, we’ve chosen a change of environment where she no longer has access to random tidbits that she might have been treated to otherwise. She is now on a strict diet. She eats PRESCRIPTION DIET dog food. And she is treated to occasional bits of chopped apple. Now that she no longer gets sick, her appetite has improved immensely, and so has her vocabulary!

Kitty is a very calm, quiet dog, but she does not hesitate to let you know when she is hungry. Yes, she is one of those dogs that knows the secret language of Scooby-doo.

There will be no resting or relaxing for ME unless SHE has a full belly. She will not hesitate to look me in the eye and use her words. If I do not pay immediate attention to her, she will stomp her little paw and sneeze, and then she will raise her voice to make sure I hear her. If I am asleep and eye contact is not possible, she will simply jump on my head or my chest and lick my face and hands until I get my sleepy butt up and fill her bowl with food.

I don’t know about you, but I am a person who needs her sleep. So, as a helpful hint to those of you who might feel the same way, I’ve found that giving Kitty one last meal before she goes to bed helps prevent those early morning wake-up calls she was becoming accustomed to giving me. Not to mention, I learned that it also is a remedy for bilious vomiting syndrome.

Moving on…

Kitty recently had another vomiting episode, and when I took her to the vet, the tech who took Kitty’s vitals asked me how often she eats. I informed her that Kitty eats three or four times a day.

“Why so much?” she asked in a rather accusatory manner.

“Uh, because she’s hungry??” I responded a bit sarcastically.

“Well, she’s eating too much,” was the curt reply. “She should only be eating twice a day. No more. Even the doctor will tell you that.”

I did not like her tone. After a year and a half of struggling with Kitty’s sensitive stomach and finicky appetite, I think I’ve done enough research to, at least, know when and how much to feed my dog. Not to mention the fact that the tech failed to observe that Kitty is NOT obese. That’s right. Kitty is not fat; she is fluffy! She weighed in at 3.8 pounds that day. Does it sound to YOU like she eats too much? I think not!

But I refrained from going off on her. And I merely observed the lack of concern the vet for the day showed for Kitty’s condition.

Needless to say, Kitty is now in need of a new vet. We’ll let you know how the search goes.

And from here on out, we (Kitty and I) might even feel compelled to share whatever research we come across that might benefit other dog owners.

We look forward to sharing our adventures with you (whoever you are), and hope that you enjoy reading. :o)