It's Dolce's World..and I'm Just Living in it

Dolce is most definitely on the up and up and coming to life. He is a HUGE fan of belly rubs and will come sit next to me on the couch, look at me, place his head on my lap then flip over and assume the position for belly rubs to commence. The photos above show the amount of fur Brett was able to brush off of Dolce and how great he looks since Brett brushed him.

If Dolce had his way he would walk all over Pasadena, sniffing and lifting his leg. In true Chihuahua fashion, Dolce enjoys taking his time sniffing what seems like our entire block and he does not appreciate being rushed. Apparently he believes that there is a method to his madness. Anyway, it happened to be cold a couple nights ago and he had finished his business and was still sniffing and lifting with little to nothing coming out so I opted to pick him up to take him inside...big mistake. Dolce was not happy with me for messing with his sniff and lift routine and let me know by growling at me for about 30 seconds. The funny thing is that I was so happy to hear him growl because it meant that he's coming back to life. Not long after we got back inside, he seemed to be embarrassed by his behavior and he came and snored with his head on my lap for about an hour.

Also, Dolce and I want to say thanks to Ginger Rooksby Grable for sending him a cute little Valentines Day fleece blanket. We cover him in a blanket at night when he sleeps, so this will be his new blanket. Thanks for caring Ginger!

Heading to the Vet

Dolce and Brett are headed for West LA as I type this, to see Dr. Adams and have Dolce's neck wrapping redone. Since Dolce has gotten here he's really become quite active when we take him outside and it has become evident that he is one stubborn boy. He has specific spots that he must go to each time he goes outside, and he doesn't care if you want to go to that spot or not, cause he's going there! So with all of the outside potty trips we've been taking him on, the neck wrapping must be redone. Poor little Dolce did the little doggie shake last night and cried out in pain because his feeding tube pulled a bit...that told me that we needed to tighten up the loosened neck wrapping as soon as possible.

Other than the neck wrapping, Dolce has become much more alert and even gives the tiniest of tail wags when you greet him after being away. We're getting somewhere with him and I think things can only get better once his feeding tube is a thing of the past.

Oh and the picture included on this post is of Dolce last night while he and I were hanging out on the couch. He's a cute little guy.

Baby Steps

Dolce and I got up at about 6am this morning while Brett, Rico and Chico were still sleeping. After we went outside I reintroduced him to the water bowl to see if he would use it rather than his feeding tube, which he did. One of the hard things to watch with Dolce is how he acts like a zombie dog. After having water from the water bowl he just stood there in the exact same spot in the hallway, not sure what to do next. I sat down on the floor and began to slowly pet him. I would slowly pet him for a few minutes and then stop to see if he even noticed what I was doing, then repeat the petting. We did this for 45 minutes (time got away from me) and eventually when I would stop he would take 1 step forward, as though to let me know that he wanted another pet. In the course of 45 minutes he ever so slowly walked up to me and even put his two front paws on my legs. My goal is that eventually he will feel safe enough to walk right up to me without any hesitation and curl up on my lap. Baby steps...baby steps.

The beginning

We've had Dolce since Tuesday night (and today is Thursday) so obviously he has only been with us for just a short time so far. Before Dolce came home with us I had this fantasy that he could just come strolling into our house and with enough love and affection he would be the worlds most confident dog within a few days. Who was I kidding??

For one, I 100% believe that Dolce was used as a breeder and spent 95-100% of his time in a cage and had a terrible life at the hands of some awful humans. Why do I think this? Dolce refuses to make eye contact; he doesn't even like to look in your general area. The first night we had Dolce, Brett and I were worried that he may be blind; which he isn't. He will now look at us from the corner of his eye, but definitely not interested in looking at us in a way that would require him to turn his head and make direct eye contact. Dolce also has an issue with other dogs, he doesn't dislike them but he does treat my 2 Chihuahuas like two very much in heat females...Rico and Chico do not appreciate this since 1)they're not in heat 2)they could never be in heat considering they are males. Poor Dolce boy has clearly had little interaction with other dogs other than to mate and create cute little Chihuahuas that can be sold to an unsuspecting moron. Another reason I suspect he spent most of his life within the confines of a small cage is because of how he chooses to eliminate. He basically just goes all over himself, that is, he did until we got a hold of him. We now have him going outside to potty every 2 hours. He seems to be getting used to going outside and lifting his leg, which is a great because Brett was worried we had an 8 year old puppy on our hands.

So with all that said, I'm hoping that one day I can look back at this blog and read through all of the posts on Dolce and look back on what he had been before he came out of his shell and enjoyed the good life, like every doggie should.