My Yorkie Bichon Mix

Jack took a little trip to the vet last week.  Just for his yearly checkup. Usually he doesnt get nervous when we take him in the car, because he is so used to going over to Nanas house. He doesnt usually get nervous until we try to get him out of the car at the vets office (or the groomers). But he must have sensed what was up, because on this particular day, he was shaking from the minute he got in the car. When we got to the vets office, the lady at the front desk actually commented on how badly he was shaking. Poor little guy. And It was only made worse when I realized I forgot something in the car.  We went back to the car and he quickly jumped back in…thinking he was safe….only to be pulled back to the vets!

Our vet is a very nice lady who senses that Jack is a very shy, timid, pup…so she showers him with lots of love and attention, rather than jumping right into the checkup, shots and what not. She always says that he has an especially nice temperament and calls him a “good pup”.  He didnt even make a peep when given his two shots, one for lyme and one for distemper. She also took blood from his front paw to check for heartworm.  He isnt up for his next rabies shot until next year. (And our town actually does rabies vaccines for free every November at the fire house).

Jack was 11.8 pounds at last years checkup…and this year he was 12.6  The vet said that he is a good weight…but it wouldnt hurt if he lost the point 6. It should be a little easier getting him to run around outsisde, now that the weather is starting to warm up. 

Every since Val and I got home from our Mexican Riviera cruise, Jack has been a little sick.  Nothing terrible as he seems to act fine when he plays and greets us at the door.  Unfortunately though he is having a bad case of “The Runs”.   We noticed it getting worse each day until nothing but liquid comes out where it should be solid.   Often times he attempts to go, but can’t and then just sits on the grass.  It is so sad looking that you just want to scoop him up and hug the little guy.

This past Saturday night was the worst. I suspect some of our guests at a party we had fed him some table food.  At this point we were only feeding him chicken and rice and had just started to see some improvement but that all went to hell in a handbag Saturday night.   Jack sleeps in our bed, and when he is about to throw up or go to the bathroom he is thankfully smart enough to jump off the bed first.  This alerts my wife (I’m a heavy sleeper and could get hit in the head by a brick and not wake up) that something is wrong.  We put him back in bed, but he jumped back down moments later…so I quickly rushed him outside thinking something was about to explode.  YUP!

During the night, Jack had to be let out 3 times and another time in the morning.  I’d be lying to you if I said we managed to anticipate all his movements as we found a few spots where he had gone to the bathroom on the rug.  Let me tell you that stuff is a pisser to clean up.  So after that night we did not feed him for 24 hours and then started him on a regimen of chicken and white rice only.

I’m happy to say that Jack is officially clogged up now and should be returning to normal pretty soon.   Just like humans who take Imodium, dogs will usually not go to the bathroom at all for a day or so until their stomachs start to feel better.  Jack’s tummy isn’t making those sickly noises anymore so we are on track for a full recover any day now.

Oh, and Jack LOVES chicken and rice!

Over the two years we’ve had Jack, he will occasionally start having these episodes where it sounds like he is having trouble breathing.  His body gets stiff, back arches and he makes this weird sound.  After doing a little pokeing around on the internet it turns out that some dogs have this reflex called Reverse Sneezing.  It isn’t bread specific and at least, in Jack, doesn’t happen too often.  I’d say that he’ll probably have an episode once every few months, but it’ll happen a few times over an hour or so.

Jack will stop after a few minutes, but to help your dog stop reverse sneezing a little quicker you have to get them to swallow.  An easy trick for doing this is to cover their nose and that’ll make your pup swallow.  I’ve tested this out on Jack and it works very well.  He will swallow and the reverse sneezing will usually come to an end.  I don’t believe there is a cure for it, but we are going to show the video to our vet when Jack goes in for his yearly checkup next month.

I know pets can have allergies and I’ve dealt with it first hand growing up with my Turkish Angora cat named Rusty.  Of the 20 or allergens out there he was allergic to roughly 12 of them and we had to give him a shot once a month in order to combat the affects.  Rusty’s allergies would make him get very itchy around the face and it would also cause very skittish reactions.

With Jack we have noticed over the past year he tends to lick and lightly bite on his legs until the fur is completely wet.  It doesn’t seem to get overly red or irritated though so part of me thinks that he is just cleaning himself.  However, Jack does not like it when you touch that area and will pull his leg away or even show his teeth a little.

I have been trying to pay close attention to him with the hopes of finding the cause of the allergy.  Maybe it’s the type of food he is eating or a treat that we give him causes the itchy legs.  There is no particular season of the year  that brings it on because he has been doing it routinely.  Magoo will literally spend thirty minutes just licking and licking and licking.  Sometimes you wish the little guy could talk and just say “Hey!  my legs are itchy” or “It’s nothing, I’m just keeping up my appearance”.

All in all it doesn’t look to be causing any damage to his legs, he never draws blood or irritates the area that much.  On our next vet visit we’ll bring it up and see what the doc has to say.

This past Monday I was put on the DL (disabled list) when I opted for foot surgery to help fix some problems that have come back from an old injury.  Seeing that I won’t be able to drive for the next few weeks, I’ll be working from home.  This brings the added benefit of spending some wonderful time with our 2 year old Borkie (Yorkie Bichon mix).

Jack has been nothing short of great!  Every time I sit down he’ll curl up on my lap and just hang out with me.  He’s usually a playful dog, but I think he realizes I’m a bit injured and has just settled down next to me and kept me company.  Jack is afraid of my crutches though, as I think they remind him of a broom or something.  He hasn’t started barking at them just yet, but I can see it coming.  You should see the way he barks at my wife when she sweeps the kitchen floor…he goes nuts!

Right now I’m sitting on the couch (I hooked up my computer to my 42 inch TV so I could keep my foot elevated on the couch) and Jack is laying behind my head on the cushion.  I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, that dog gots some cat in him.

Some things Jack has been doing since I had my operation..

• Sitting on the couch with me
• Follows me to the bathroom
• He brings his toy to me, instead of trying to get me to chase him
• Barks like a crazed lunatic when someone is coming in (well he does this all the time but I like to think he is being extra protective.)

Next week I’ll try and post a cute video or pictures of Jack doing some doggy tricks

Have a good rest of the week!

The Yorkie Bichon mix of dog, also called the Yochon, are generally an active breed.  Not too active though.  You are probably asking, “what exactly does active breed mean?”  Yorkie Bichons are a small dog, between 7 to 15 pounds… so they won’t need long walks several times a day. A few 30 minute play sessions throughout the day will do just fine.  A great way to tire out little Jack Magoo is to let him have a towel and just chase him around the house. Heck, it’s good exercise for you as well.  Lets see… some of Jacks favorite games are…

1. Keep away, where he keeps his toys away from you
2. wrestling.  He loves to play rough.
3. tug-a-war.  Get a nice rope toy or a towel and he’ll pull for hours
4. Chewing on his toys
5. running around the house, squeaking his toys
6. Going for Walks!  <- Jack’s Favorite

Yochons love to go for walks. Just mention the word “walk” and they will be at the door giving you that cute smile.  Their short legs mean you won’t have to walk them far, but get ‘em in grass and it’s a blast!  Watching Jack jump up and down, hopping through the grass…you can tell he just loves it!  If there is a choice between walking on the sidewalk or grass, the choice is always grass.

One of my wife and mine favorite places to take Jack is to a local baseball field that is enclosed by a fence.  We take Jack off the leash and just let him run around.  He usually doesn’t stray too far, but it’s fun to get on opposite sides of the field and have him run back and forth between us.

For those wondering, here is a typical day of exercise that we know makes Jack a happy and tired pup at the end of the day.

Morning: Take him out for a short walk (about 10 minutes) .  Main purpose is to go to the bathroom, but we extend that a bit.

Noon: Play about 20 minutes of fetch with him inside.  You can really get him going if you want to chase him, but most times I’ll just throw the ball and wrestle around with him for a bit

4pm: Chase him around the house after he grabs one of my wife’s shirts.  If you don’t chase him, he’ll drop it and get something else he isn’t suppose to have.  I really should train him better, but it’s kinda fun

6pm: Take him for about a 30 minute walk if it’s warm outside.  If it’s not I’ll play with him for about 30 minutes inside.

He is usually good for the night, except for one RUUUSSHHHHH of energy when my wife comes home from work at midnight.  You should see how fast he can tear around the house.

We know we did a good job of exercising him if he is in bed before we are and dives under the covers, out for the night!