Those DallasDogLife.com readers who follow the DDL Facebook Page are probably very familiar with the story of Edward, an emaciated pit bull who was rescued from a Houston Animal Shelter.

Here’s the short version of his story (the longer version is available on Edward’s very own Facebook Fan Page): Edward was a starving stray who was living on the streets of Houston. He happened to wander into a dog lover’s garage and, although she wanted very badly to help him, she had to turn him over to the local animal shelter. Knowing that pit bulls don’t have a chance of being adopted from that shelter, Julissa posted on Craig’s List to see if anyone could help him. A DDL reader saw Julissa’s post and posted it to our Facebook page. From there, a flurry of activity - including contacting Houston area rescues, the shelter, and anyone else we could think of - ultimately resulted in Edward being sprung from the shelter but his medical state meant he was far from safe.

We got him to Dallas and to an experienced dog rescuer, foster, trainer, and vet tech (all rolled into one) for safe keeping. Edward was so emaciated his skeleton was clearly visible through his skin. His first vet checkup revealed that he was heartworm positive, had sarcopic mange, and infested with fleas and ticks, among other issues. For the past six weeks, the generosity of DallasDogLife.com readers and other dog lovers from around the country have made Edward’s recovery possible - almost 100% of his care has been funded by donations.

As you may have noticed, I’ve been pretty close to this story as it’s developed over these past few months and I feel like Edward and I are close homies, although until yesterday I’d never seen him in person. So when Edward’s foster mom and my friend Beth Bowers texted me to see if I wanted to help give Edward a bath and dip, I eagerly agreed.

I arrived at Beth’s and after settling in and getting Edward’s stinky sulfur and lime dip solution ready, Beth retrieved Edward from his kennel. I was overjoyed at seeing him and made a RIDICULOUS rookie move. She brought him out and instead of letting him come to me on his own, I…this is so embarrassing, I’m supposed to be a professional…I actually attempted to hug him around his neck. Geez. OK, before anyone gets the impression that it’s not safe to hug a pit bull, let me clear something up. A person should NEVER approach a dog they’ve never met by crowding their personal space, whether it’s a pit bull or a Pomeranian. Anyway, Edward, who was understandably irritated, gave a quick warning bark as though to say, “EXCUSE ME???” Of course, I stopped my incredibly rude behavior and backed up. After my own personal time out (consisting of both Beth and I laughing at my lapse in judgment), Edward forgave me and came up to me and nuzzled my face. I imagine he was saying, “I hated to bark at you like that, but how else would you learn?” Such a smart doggie.

So on to the bath - since Edward is still undergoing treatment for mange and ringworm, Beth and I both used rubber gloves (which Edward must think are yummy or a bad fashion choice, because he wanted to take them off me during the whole process). The funniest thing was Edward’s cute little game of “eat the water.” Every time Beth got the stream of water close to Edward, he tried to eat the water (not drink, not play in, but EAT) - much like this picture. Eventually we got Edward all lathered up and just had to wait a few minutes before we could rinse it out. Edward used this time to really let me know how it feels to have your personal space invaded. He’s such a love bug, and we had some good cuddle time. He actually got so comfortable that he walked behind me and gave me a few bear hugs. (Yes, I know, not good doggie manners but how can you resist this face?) Of course, Beth snapped some photos for me, and I’ve been looking at them all day.

After his bath, we had to stink him up all over again by applying his ringworm dip. It’s an orange solution that smells of sulfur and apparently doesn’t feel that great when it’s being applied to any spots on Edward that haven’t healed completely. Beth used a sponge to put the solution all over Edwards body, paying special attention to his paws, legs, and undercarriage. For the most part, he did really well and after he was all orange (the color fades after a day or so), I took him for a walk to air dry while Beth cleaned out his kennel. We worked on leash manners and jumping, and he learns so fast! I didn’t have any treats with me or he would have done even better. I had a moment of trepidation when we encountered a couple working on their yard and pushing a wheelbarrow towards us. Edward was curious, but not fearful, and simply looked at the couple as they passed us. There were dogs on their afternoon walks all over the neighborhood and he showed no signs of aggression. We also saw a couple pushing a baby carriage and again, he only seemed interested, not fearful - great signs.

After Edward was dry, Beth and I sat on the porch with him and gave him lots of belly rubs and rewarded him with affection when he remembered to “sit” instead of jumping on us. He’s a goofball - tons of quirky habits and lots of personality. He needs a lot of training, and he’ll hopefully put on some muscle after his rehabilitation is complete, but for the most part Edward is an awesome dog. Beth hopes to be able to schedule a Meet & Greet before his heartworm treatment starts, so his benefactors can see how much their donations have helped him. Just remember, you may know him, but he doesn’t know you, so be sure to introduce yourself when you see him.

I’m a bad dog mom. OK, maybe that’s a little extreme, but looking at my precious babies this morning let me know that I have been a bit neglectful. Of course they have their basic needs taken care of, and then some. These guys are never hungry and never without a million toys and are well exercised. Definitely need more training, but that’s another post. My two Chihuahua mixes, aside from being very clingy, pretty much take care of themselves in the grooming department. And I mean that literally. I rarely clean their ears, because they do such a nice job on their own. Click here to see what I mean.

But Chewy is another story. He refuses Fudge’s offers to clean his eyes, turning away in complete annoyance. He loves to be brushed, however, and he absolutely LOVES going to the groomer. But with stray dogs on LBJ and conventions in San Antonio and work and life, I have neglected to pay attention to Chewy’s ever-growing coat. And with the temperatures in the upper-90s for the last several weeks, it’s time for him to get a haircut. No self-respecting Peke should have to walk around the neighborhood looking like this.

However, I think it’s time for a style I haven’t selected for him in years - the popular and sometimes controversial “puppy cut.” Now when Chewy was first rescued, he had a style of his own, albeit completely involuntary. His beautiful coat was so matted that it was hanging off of him like dreadlocks, and while much of it was saved, I knew I needed professional help. The groomer who saw him thought it would be best to “start over” and I agreed. Chewy seemed a lot happier and cooler, and I hate to admit, a lot CUTER. He looked like a puppy, which I didn’t get to experience with him because he was around 2 years old when I adopted him. Now I don’t think the cut was specifically a puppy cut, but it was probably a close relative.

So I’ve been researching puppy cuts and want to try it this weekend. I haven’t found many photos of what the cut should look like (and googling “Pekingese puppy” just about sent me on another rant about irresponsible breeding, but again, that’s another post), but in the end I just want Chewy to feel like his normal freshly groomed self, and have a lot less hair so he can handle the Texas heat a little better. If you are or know a groomer who will give my 5-ish year old Pekingese a trip back to his puppy years, I’d love to hear from you!

Since Thursday night, I’ve been dog-sitting a cute little 3-pound Chihuahua named Bridgette. She’s tiny but feisty, loves people and animals (including cats), and is a model canine citizen. She is also a littermate of Buster and Fudge, so I already had a bond with her. It was a great weekend, since my three (male) dogs treated her pretty well over her three days at Casa DallasDogLife. Bridgette’s master came home today and picked her up, and Bridgette was thrilled to see him. Me, not so much. Read the rest of this entry »

Wow - over 2 weeks since my last post. Bad girl!

Saturday was definitely a productive day for me. As I mentioned in my review about UNLEASHED, I was able to walk away with some interesting information about dogs that I had never heard before. But the learning experience didn’t stop there! After I took a very tired Pekingese home from playing at UNLEASHED, I swapped him for the two little ones and went to a much less fun place (for them) - the vet’s office. Read the rest of this entry »

I consider myself to be semi-bright woman, who learns quickly and retains information well. I guess it only takes a few unsupervised minutes for my dogs to convince me otherwise. You would think that this post is going to be about a single lapse in judgment when I left my dogs unattended and they got into some mischief. Oh no…this was several occasions over the course of a few weeks when I couldn’t seem to learn my lesson. Even after the infamous MacBook power cord incident, it seems I still needed reminding. Read the rest of this entry »

My prayers have been answered! Last Thursday, Chewy and I took the morning off for our appointment at the Center for Veterinary Specialty Care with Dr. Julie Ducoté. I was actually wondering if I should cancel the appointment because Chewy seemed to be improving so much. He wasn’t quite back to normal but he was walking faster - almost at a trot - and had begun to stretch his back legs, which he hadn’t been able to do in a while. But I knew if I did, as soon as I canceled the appointment that Chewy would have another relapse. So there we were, in the waiting room, waitin for our turn to see the doctor. (Side note: there was a sign next to the coffee machine that said, “Unattended children will be given a free puppy and a cup of coffee.” Hilarious!) Read the rest of this entry »