Wizzo Gets a Haircut!

Wizzo's hair was getting pretty long, and since it is slooowly getting warmer outside, I decided to go ahead and have him groomed. It still surprises me every time how different his "before" and "after" looks are. So, since he's my "baby," here are some pictures for you to enjoy. :)

BEFORE...

Holy shaggy-ness!

...and AFTER!!

I guess he didn't want to have a photo shoot at first...

...but then he warmed up to the camera!

So handsome. :)

...and to show you how much of a stinker he is, take a look at this picture. He was on my lap and decided he'd rather lay on the curtains I was sewing. I love him. :)

Wizzo Has Surgery

A few weeks ago, Grant noticed a small lump on the back of Wizzo's front left leg. I called the vet the next day and made an appointment for the doctor to look at it. The doctor suspected it is something called a histiocytoma, which is just a benign cyst-like growth in younger dogs resulting from something going on with the immune system cells. He suggested having it removed, though, because of the chance it could get bigger and be bothersome to Wizzo. Plus, if it did get bigger and we needed to remove it, there might be less skin to work with (cover the "hole") since it was on his leg (as opposed to say his back or belly).

So we made the appointment for today, and I dropped him off this morning. The vet called me after Wizzo was awake and told me that he did well and that he was nearly 100% sure it was the histiocytoma and not cancerous. He didn't think we needed to send it off to the lab to be tested, so I went with his recommendation and we didn't send it out. I picked him up this afternoon and he was still groggy...it was cute though! :) He was whining a bit, which was actually kind of funny because I don't think he was in pain...just being a big baby!

He gets his stitches out on Friday the 29th, so hopefully he can leave it alone until then! He has tried licking at it a bit, and I didn't get an e-collar, so I'm going to trust him! ;) And now that I look into/research about histiocytomas, it sounds like they typically go away on their own in 2-3 months, so I wish I would have researched it more before making the decision for surgery. Maybe he wouldn't have had to have the surgery! Oh well, I guess. Such is the "Wonderful World of Wizzo."

Happy Birthday Wizzo!!

Wizzo turned "1" today! I had picked up a new toy and a doggie cookie from the pet store on my way home from work. So we put on his birthday sweater and posed for some photos before giving the birthday boy his treats! Needless to say, he loved the cookie (which we split in half) and had a good time with Lil' Buddy too!

Happy Birthday Wizzo! We're so happy you're in our lives! :)

Are You Sure That's My Dog?

That's exactly what I asked the lady when I picked Wizzo up from the groomer. Obviously I knew it was him, but he doesn't even look like the same dog!!

Before...

After...

I seriously hated it the day it was done. It was just SO short! Although, the bandanna is too cute! I told them to take only an inch off all over and trim up his face a bit so his hair didn't hang so much over his eyes. Clearly, they didn't listen! It makes his face look so "boxy", and I miss his long hair! Next time I will be sure to tell the groomers that I was not happy with how it turned out this time. And now that it's so short, he probably won't need to go back until January! I'm not even kidding....it had been 2 months since his last groom, so he can go at least four.

But now, after uploading these pictures, his new 'do does look kinda cute. It was definitely long before. I still miss his darker hair, and I still think he looks like a different dog. It's amazing what a haircut can do!

Back in the O-H-I-O

...first let me just say that I can't believe I actually titled this post with something somewhat related to Ohio State University...gag. ;)

I thought I'd post a few thoughts and photos from my trip back "home" to Ohio. I left Wednesday June 24 around 10:45am and drove with Wizzo as my passenger straight through, arriving at my mom's around 11:00pm. Wizzo did really well in the car...he slept most of the time, and we only stopped a few times. It was interesting to see him interact with the cat...well, try anyway. She hissed and ran away, like the mean cat she is! I think Wizzo would have loved to just play with her!

Thursday morning I slept in and then hung out with Wizzo. I visited with my grandma that afternoon, and I think she enjoyed having Wizzo around. He loves ice cubes, and Grandma and Mom loved giving them to him so they could watch him play with them. Anyway, we tried to go for a walk that evening, but were rained out.

Friday I headed over to my Dad's to visit with him and Sheryl. Wizzo met Maddie, their 2 year old St. Bernard! Unfortunately, Maddie has bad hips and can't run around much, because Wizzo wanted her to chase him!! It was cute. They mostly just layed around in the shade since it was pretty warm. I left there and headed to Findlay to get my eyebrows waxed. Mom, Grandma, and I headed back into town Friday night to do some shopping at Kohl's, where I got my throw pillows and a couple other things, (oh how I miss that store!) and then picked up Bellacino's for dinner...yum!

Saturday morning, we got ready and headed up to Brighton, Michigan (Wizzo too!) for the Margraf family reunion, which is one of the reasons I made the trip back to Ohio. We got there around 12:30 or so, had lunch and hung out for a bit. My cousin Jodi hosted the reunion at her house, which is right on the river. It was such a cute place! It was good to see everyone, and I would have liked to stick around and take part in the water fun later that afternoon (Wizzo got to go out on a pontoon boat for a ride...he liked it!!), but I actually had plans to head over near Detroit for a wedding! My friend Anja, from grad school, was getting married about 45 minutes away, so I thought it was perfect to be able to go to both events. It was great to see some of my friends from grad school, whom I hadn't seen since my wedding in September and some since graduation in May 2008! The wedding was beautiful and I wish I could have stayed longer, but I couldn't! I headed back to the reunion so Mom, Grandma, my brother, and I could head back home that night. Wizzo was passed out when I got back...I think he had had a fun, but tiring, day! My cousin's daughter kept him busy, I'm sure.

Sunday, I met up with some of my girlfriends from high school at Panera (yum!). We didn't have a Panera in Mississippi and we don't have one here in North Carolina, so I was excited to get a cinnamon crunch bagel! It was fun to meet up with them and share stories and happenings in our lives. Hopefully we can all get together again sometime soon!

After we left, I headed over to the mall to look at a few things and then headed back home. I also made it over to visit with my grandpa and grandma at their house for a little while too. That evening, I stopped by Grant's parents' house to say hello and pick up a few things. I took Wizzo along too and ended up staying for dinner. Grant's sister, Karli, has a cat there, so he and Wizzo "met" through the screen door. This cat was nice and I think it would have been funny to watch them play together. They were both very inquisitive!

Monday morning I packed up, and Wizzo and I left around 10:30am. We didn't stop as often this time and made it back to North Carolina around 9:30-10:00pm.

It was really nice to be able to make the trip back home, especially since I hadn't been back or seen my family since Christmas time!! At the same time, though, it was weird being back "home." For the first time, I didn't really feel like I was home. My stuff was no longer there, and I was just "visiting." It is hard to explain, but I guess I just felt that now my home is with Grant in North Carolina. I'm sure I'll always refer to it as going back "home", but now it's different. I am glad to be back in North Carolina!

Surgeries

Just wanted to mention that my mom and Wizzo are both having surgeries today, so keep them in your prayers!

Mom is having 3 moles removed that the doctors said were basal cell carcinoma. They are just using local anesthesia, so she will be awake! Hopefully they won't have to do any skin grafts, especially for the one on her face by her nose. She may be in surgery now, actually. I'll give her a call this afternoon to find out how it went.

Wizzo is getting neutered and having some baby teeth pulled that haven't fell out yet. I dropped him off at 8:30 this morning and get to pick him up at 4:00 this afternoon. Poor guy hasn't eaten anything since 6:00 yesterday evening! I took some food with me this morning in case they were going to feed him after his surgery, but they said not to feed him until tonight! I felt so bad because he just kept looking at me like "Feed me lady!" Hopefully his surgery goes well and he does okay with all the anesthesia!

...and actually just as I finished that last sentence, the vet called me to let me know Wizzy did great! He said his neutering surgery went well and they pulled 4 baby teeth. His stitches are dissolvable, so that's great...I won't have to take him back to remove them! The doctor said he did well with the anesthesia and he's in recovery. Aww poor baby...he's such a good dog! I'm excited to pick him up this afternoon! :)

Keep both of them in your thoughts as they recover!

Wizzo Wednesday

Yes, I'm posting on Thursday. I forgot that yesterday was Wednesday! Anyway, here are just a few pictures from the past week.

See why we need a new couch?!?

Wizzo Wednesday

He's out.

He loves his mommy so much that he has to be on my lap even while I'm exercising! ;)

He has figured out how to jump up on the couch all by himself now...so I found him sleeping there today while I was cleaning in another room!

And another random Wizzo fact: He rarely barks...unless he sees a spinning wheel. He will chase and bark at the garbage cans as we roll them to the curb, and he barked at our rolling cooler today while I was moving it to the closet. Silly dog. :)

Oh and new pictures are up on his website, as well as this new video, which I thought I'd just post here.

Wizzo Wednesday...on Thursday

Matching Shirts! :)

(P.S. Grant already had this shirt, so we couldn't resist when we found the dog one.)

Shows off just how fluffy he is...his butt looked so funny!

Family photo...too bad we couldn't get Wizzo's attention, haha.

Playing with my stuffed Yorkie dog...he found this on his own in our bedroom.

Caught in the act!

Wizzo Wednesday

I thought I'd try something new and start posting some pictures or funny stories about Wizzo on Wednesdays. I've also updated Wizzo's website with some new pictures.

His head looked huge since it wasn't wet, so I had to take a pic. I forget how tiny his body is since his hair is so fluffy!

He went into his crate on his own (first time ever!) to lay down for a bit while I was doing some things around the house. I thought it was so cute. :)

Update on Videos

The videos should work now. They were set to private, but I thought you could still view them if I gave the link. There are 2 that are still private...I have to clear it with Grant before posting them. Enjoy! :)

Videos

I uploaded some videos on Wizzo's site last night. In case you don't remember the web address, you can click on his picture to the right and it should take you there! To watch the videos, click the play button and it will take you to a YouTube page to watch the video. Let me know if it doesn't work. (P.S....some of them are long, and I'm sure we say embarrassing things, but I thought I'd post them all in case you were interested.)

I'm off to Tupelo for the afternoon to go to Kohl's and possibly the mall. I have a 30% off coupon for Kohl's, so I'm hoping to find some good workout clothes and a couple kitchen items. And of course I'll browse the shoe and purse selection. Would I be a true female if I didn't?? ;)

Have a good day! Stay warm, too...it's in the 40s-50s here...brr!

Wizzo Love

I finally uploaded pictures to a website so you can check out all of the pictures we have of our little baby. :)

http://wizzo.shutterfly.com/

It's more like a blog of it's own, but it might turn out to be pretty nice to use to share pictures. I think I might even be able to put videos there, too. I hope it works and I can post some videos soon, because I definitely have some funny ones! I'll be sure to let you know whenever I update the site. You can even order prints of your own if you want. ;)


Edited to add: I didn't upload the pictures to the site correctly when I first posted this, but if you visit now, you should see the pictures and should be able to view the entire album. Sorry!

Random Wizzo Happenings

• As I was holding Wizzo outside today, Grant called his name so that Wizzo would chase him. Well, Wizzo got really excited and didn't want to wait for me to put him down, so he basically jumped and flopped onto his back, falling probably about 4 feet! He looked a little surprised when he stood up!



• He loves getting into the trash can in the bathroom and also pulling at the toilet paper. One day as I was sitting in the living room, Wizzo had walked back toward the bedrooms and bathroom. All of a sudden he comes running out with a long strand of toilet paper hanging out of his mouth!



• Any time I have the vanity doors open in my bathroom, Wizzo usually tries to grab my headband and run away with it. The other day I saw him take off out of the bathroom, and after I finally caught him, I found 3 cotton balls stuffed in his mouth! He had pulled them from the cup under the sink!



• Tonight we ordered pizza and we took Wizzo with us when we picked it up. Grant went in to get the pizza, so I let Wizzo out of the car in case he had to pee. While he was out, he picked up a piece of gum and was chewing on it...which I had to pick out of his mouth, gross! And then as we were getting back in the car, he was chewing on something, so I tried to open his mouth to get it. I thought it was a rock, but what did I find?? A small piece of pizza or cheese bread!! He had his jaw so clenched that I almost couldn't get it open!!



• Wizzo likes to grab at any piece of clothing or shoes laying around. He will try to stand up and reach into the laundry basket to get something. One day I walked into the bedroom and there he was, IN the basket chewing on clothes.



• Everytime he eats and drinks, he lets out super burps. It's pretty funny.

• His farts are lethal...Grant says they impress even him. And they're always SBDs...Silent But Deadly. ;)

Hope this helped you get an idea of his personality! I wish he could meet all of you back in Ohio!!

Bath Time

I gave Wizzo another bath last night, and boy was it a struggle! It has been rainy here the last few days, so he was stinky and definitely in need of a bath. It's supposed to be nice this week, although of course it's raining today, so I thought last night would be a good time for his bath.

I always start by brushing him with the slicker brush, which he doesn't really like...actually, he hates it. Then I put him in the tub and use a cup to wet his hair, which takes a while because the top hair gets wet, but it stays dry closer to the skin. Once he's pretty much soaked, I massage the doggy shampoo onto his back and belly, then his feet, and then his head. He stands up on the edge of the tub, trying to get out obviously, so I have to put my arm under his belly to keep him from jumping out. His claws are getting sharp...here is the aftermath:

I guess you can't really see it that well, but it was worse right after his bath and is not that bad anymore, but still! Anyway, after I rinse all the shampoo out, I'll let him shake off a few times to help get rid of the water. He then proceeds to go crazy and rub his head along the floor, maybe trying to get water out of his ears? I don't know, but it's pretty funny. I wrap him up in a towel like a burrito and let him dry for a while. He usually falls asleep then, so I'll wipe/pick the mucous away from his eyes and trim the hair on his ears so they will stand up! Once he's a little more dry, I brush him again. I used a fine tooth comb this time and he didn't hate that as much, so maybe I'll use that more often.

Quite the process sometimes, depending on Wizzo's mood, but how could you stay mad at this handsome face? :)

Thank Goodness for Hardwood Floors

I'm so glad that I have hardwood floors. Cleaning up pee is much easier. Wizzo is still working on the whole potty training thing. Sometimes he will go outside, but it seems he gets too distracted and forgets why he's out there. He loves chasing and playing with leaves and biting at the weeds and long patches of grass. A minute or two after bringing him back inside, he gets bored and remembers and then goes on the floor. He has only gone poop once inside since he's been over the diarrhea, and I was gone, so Grant had to clean it up! ;) Luckily, part of it was on the pee pad that we're trying to use to help potty-train him.

Friends of ours told us they trained their chihuahuas to use a litter box, so I picked up a litter pan and some cat litter to try. I was researching it a little more today and found that they actually make dog litter. I am considering trying some, but they only sell it in specialty pet stores, so we'll see. I also bought some chew toys and a stuffed animal for Wizzo while I was out last night. He loves them! And now he can stop chewing on my sleeves/jeans/shoes. :) I got him a chewing bone and put it in his basket last night before bed, but now it's nowhere to be found. There is no way he could have ate it, or at least I hope not.

As for his diarrhea, he is doing much better. I still don't think he's "regular" yet, but at least he's not going every 10 minutes anymore. He keeps farting now and then, haha, and it smells so bad. (I know you were wanting to know that...) I bought some new food (Purina Puppy Chow) at the commissary today, and I hope he will like it and it will be good for him. I'm not really sure what the best kind is, and I was looking for Pedigree, but they didn't have it for puppies, so I opted for another kind. The bag is so big that, honestly, it will probably last us a good 6 months! The breeder gave us some food, but I forgot to ask how much to give him. The new bag of food says to give him 1/4 to 1/2 cup per day. I've been giving him almost 3/4 cups for the past couple of days, so I think I'll have to scale back! Wizzo has a pretty chubby belly anyway, so it can't hurt. :)

We're going to give him a bath today, so hopefully that goes well. I'll have to take some pictures and post about it!

As for me, my shoulder is doing better. I ended up sleeping on my stomach a couple times last night, so that must mean something. I've been trying to stay on my back since the surgery. It still hurts now and then...it feels like a burning. Sometimes I worry that I move a certain way and the incision will pull apart. We'll see what the doctor says Friday when I go to get the stitches out. Right now, my shoulder looks a mess because fuzz from my clothes has stuck to the stickiness left behind from the bandage. It's so hard to get off!

Introducing...

WIZZO!! Meet the newest member of our family!

He is an 8 week old Yorkshire Terrier, and we think he is absolutely adorable! He was born December 11, 2008, so he will be 9 weeks old this Thursday. We bought him from JJ's Lovable Pets in Woodland, MS. I have been looking (and researching) Yorkies for the past couple of weeks, and I had found a few that were going to be available right about now. I didn't want to spend an outrageous amount of money, but I also wanted one that would stay a darker color as an adult, as opposed to silver. All Yorkies will change color as they age, turning from black to brown/blonde and a "steel blue". I saw this little guy and decided to just call the place and find out details. On a whim, I asked her if we could stop by (yesterday) and so we did and ended up leaving with our little baby! :)

Everything was going well last night...he was playful and slept for about 4-5 hours before he was whining and I took him outside to go potty. He then whined for 10 minutes straight when I put him back in his basket beside our bed, but he was okay after that. About an hour later though, he started whining and never really stopped. I smelled poop, so I checked him and he had gone again! At 6:30, I decided to see why he was still whining...he had peed and pooped again. I got up and realized that he was now having diarrhea. Great. I basically followed him around for 2 hours with newspaper trying to catch anything. He was also dry heaving every now and then. I felt so bad. I was able to make an appointment at a vet, so off we went. She said he should be fine and gave me some medicine to give him. She also said he weighs 3.25 lbs! Wizzo has basically slept most of the day, but he did get to play outside with some of the neighbor dogs. He's so funny to watch run around because he's still learning how to run and jump!

This is his favorite sleeping spot...right on my lap. :)