A Chubby Dog's New Year's Resolution

The number one new year's resolution that most humans make is to lose weight.  Last year at this time my owners were doing a special diet program, and both lost weight, and when they stopped the program, the weight started coming back on, which seems to be the way it goes. 

Dogs like me gain more weight than we should, too.  How do you know if your dog is overweight?  Here's a couple of general guidelines:

• When you pass your hands gently down our sides where the ribs are, you should be able to feel them, but shouldn't necessarily, depending upon the breed, be able to see them...that means we are starving.  We should have a thin healthy layer of fat over our ribs.


• Our belly area, which is the tail-end 1/2 or so of our body, beyond/below the ribcage, should not bulge out on the sides, our bodies should narrow out in that area. 

My owner and I are making a resolution before New Years, and that is to get outside and walk more...she used to take me out when the weather was warmer, but we tend to get lazy when it gets colder.  I can't walk as far as she does, so first we go out for my short walk, then she goes for her longer walk.   Walking is really the best exercise we can get, especially if you live in an area where your dog doesn't have free run of a yard or large piece of property.

For some dogs, you may not be able to leave food down all day...some dogs you can and they will only take from it when they are hungry, others will eat all that they are given.  If your dog is the later, then give the dog a couple of meals a day...most packages of dog food have instructions on how much to give by weight.

Of course, always leave water for your dog available 24 hours a day.

Dog Care During Winter and Christmas

I've left my owner inside typing (lucky owner) while I'm outside barking because we hear guns going off in the woods....it's hunting season!  We feel sorry for the deer and other animals that are being hunted, which is kind of strange, because both my owner and I like eating meat. 

It made me think of pet safety...around here small dogs have to be careful not only of hunters if we decide to wander off in the woods, but also of bears in the summer, and other animals....even dogs....that are bigger than us.

We have done some posts in the past about pet safety in the winter and during the holidays, and thought we'd give you links to them to save my owner a little typing...the information is important and the same whether it was typed in 2008 or now:

Pet Safety During the Holidays

Keeping Outdoor Dogs Warm

Shopping for Dog Christmas Gifts

We'll be back to add more links, I know we have some, we just have to find them.

Hope you had a nice Thanksgiving, and wishing you a happy Christmas season!

Watch a Dog Giving Birth

If you've read my blog, you know that my owner was there when I was born.  She saw the whole thing!  It was a beautiful site in many ways, but if you are squeamish, it may be hard to watch. She was looking to see if she could find any videos of Yorkies being born.  She found a couple, but none that looked as nice and interesting as this video of a Maltese puppy being born.  What a good mommy she/he had.

My owner watched me being born, I was the first of the litter delivered, but my Mom walked around while she was delivering...it was a warm day, and she even walked outside.  In the post before this one you'll find a link to pictures of me back then, and there are some on this blog. 

Enjoy this video:

My Yorkie Pictures and Yorkie Art

I have been putting together a place for you to look at my pictures, and also look at some nice Yorkshire Terrier art.  We had fun putting together "Yorkie Pictures and Artwork" and hope you'll stop by for a visit.

There are pictures of me all through my life, and we had fun matching artwork with the pictures.  You'll find other Yorkie things there, too, so we hope you'll stop by for a visit and let us know what you think.

My Dog Neighbors Were Lost in a Fire

Last night was a sad night in our neighborhood.  It all started just after it got dark, we saw flashing lights, and looked out the window.  Across the street there was a police car and some smoke.  Before we knew it there were fire trucks and fire men all over.  No one was home...except the dogs, one a large labrador retreiver and the other a sweet grey pit bull that we've been watching grow up for the past few months. 

The neighbors that owned the dogs were out at the time, and drove in behind a fire engine knowing that someones house was on fire, but didn't know it was theirs.  A neighbor stopped their car before it got up the street to warn them that it was their home.

It was so sad to watch the mother, daughter and her boyfriend as they wanted so much to get into the house to get the dogs, the firemen had to hold them back, and they just hugged and cried.  Moments later the house burst into flames that lept up into the trees, and the firemen had to get the fire under control.  It was a small cabin, so the damage was extensive.

Sadly, the two precious dogs were found later in the evening during the cleanup.  We heard that the firemen said that they were able to find the source of the fire because the young dog's little body was faced right towards it.  Oh, it hurts to even tell the story, we are all so very sad about the whole thing, even though we're happy that no people were in the house.

Neighbors have been giving and helping all day, and there is a little cross with flowers for both of the dogs out in front of the house, that is now all boarded up, no one can live in it now.

I don't know that there is anything that anyone could have done to save the dogs or prevent this, it was just one of those things, and we are all mourning the loss, but no one more than the young woman and her boyfriend who were always out in the yard with their dog, training it and playing with it.

So give your dogs and extra hug tonight, and think about how safe your home is when you leave your dog alone in the house.