Contrariwise ramblings

Although he's still not teething, we thought Mooshu might enjoy a chew toy.
Rawhide is not supposed to be good for toy breeds; it can get stuck in their tiny digestive track and swell up. This little bone is totally digestible and Mooshu has been chewing on it for several days. He's probably nubbed off a couple of millimeters! (Let's just say that Indy, our black lab mix, would have chewed it up like a piece of popcorn!)

It's important to make sure that tiny puppies eat throughout the day. They have so little muscle mass that they can get hypoglycemic. So we've been coaxing him to eat, sometimes to the point of feeding him with a spoon. (Now can you understand why these little dogs as sometimes so spoiled!)

He's been eating well and we thought he grew a bit. That is, until we weighed him. After a few weeks with us, guess what!? He put on 2 ounces! Up to a chunky one and a half pounds!

Here's one more shot of Mooshu. See, he's standing my the computer mouse and helping me write this Mooshu Monday post!

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Yesterday, as I was walking by my window in my kitchen, I look out and stop dead in my tracks. What the heck is on my deck railing!?
I can hardly believe it! There's a hawk placidly sitting there!

I run and grab my camera to take pictures. When I aim the camera the bird turns his head in my direction. He sees me through the kitchen window and calmly looks me in the eye, allowing me to snap a few photos.

I've seen hawks overhead before, but never this close. I'm not sure what kind of hawk this is. (Red-tailed? Any guesses?) But what is it doing in my suburban yard?!

We live in Indianapolis but in a heavily wooded area near water. There's all sorts of wildlife co-existing with us. Groundhogs, foxes, and deer are regular visitors and neighbors claim to have seen a coyote. I can hear owls in the early morning and know that there is a nest of horned owls across the street. (They haven't been so polite as to pose for me though. They seem to take off every time I run for my camera.)

I never worried about them before. There is no way my 55+ lb black lab mix will ever be mistaken for a snack. But now that I have a 1 1/2 lb furball of a puppy, this puts a whole new perspective on things.

I've heard that a large hawk can lift up to 8 lbs. and sometimes more, so it could be dangerous to small pets. Hawks have fantastic eye sight and small animals are just prey to them. Mooshu could appear to be a rabbit, squirrel, etc., to them and they'll swoop. Even if a hawk can't successfully lift a small dog or cat it can leave some nasty punctures and tears in the skin which could require stitches.

We have never Mooshu unattended, not even once. Not even to answer the phone.

Seeing the hawk on our deck and having the photos to show to my kids, has really reinforced this.

I remember that when my children were babies, they were absolutely fascinating to watch. We could spend hours just being mesmerized by them - watching them discover their fingers and toes, the cute faces they made. They were just so darn sweet!

Having a brand new puppy has the same effect on me. I can just watch him for hours discovering new things - the wind in his face, the cracks in the sidewalk, a leaf blowing across the driveway...

Simply watching him play with his ball can bring on the giggles from me.Look at how intense he is. His entire focus is on getting that little ball. You can see how hard he's concentrating by his face. (Check out the little tongue!)

Yet at the same timel, he's keeping an eye on me. What's that black thing at my face that I keep pointing at him? And why is it clicking?

Maybe the ball doesn't have his whole attention, after all.

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Bathing a dog is like simple addition. You just have to get the equation right. For example

First you start with this. (Yes, you're right. He's sitting in the kitchen sink.)

Then you need this.

Finally, add them both together with some water, and it equals this:


Of course, sometimes the equation doesn't work quite right. For example, you might have too much of one thing or too little of another - which is exactly what happened. In this particular case, all we had to do was subtract a little water from an eye:

And then everything added up just fine!

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Definitely not.

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I think that I need a new feature in my blog: Mooshu Monday! Mooshu is our brand new yorkie / maltese mix puppy - and we've had him for about a week.

Isn't he a cutie!

He has his own toys and loves to play with them. Our other dog, Indy, who is a 55 lb black lab mix, has her own toys too, and it's funny how neither dog will play with the other's toys.

We tried to give Mooshu a tennis ball to play with but it was so huge that he couldn't do anything with it. (Plus Indy seemed to think it belonged to her, so off she went with it.)

But while I was shopping, I found these cute miniature versions of tennis balls that are about an inch and a half wide. Just his size! He can pick them up and carry them in his mouth. He loves chasing them and playing fetch.

He had his first vet visit yesterday, and weighed in at a whopping 1.4 pounds! And from the photo below, it's all in his bottom!
(Look at those cute little puppy 'tocks! All fluff!)

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Would you like to be a Contrariwise follower? (Mooshu and I love having more friends!) All you have to do is click on the link in the upper right on my side bar.