Help the Michigan Humane Society!

This Sunday, June 3rd, my company is participating in a Mutt March to help raise money for the Michigan Humane Society.  We like to do community service a few times a year to give back, and because we are all such big animal lovers here, we decided to help the humane society.  We will be participating in the walk with all of our dogs, but in order to really give back, we are looking to raise money for this walk that helps over 100,000 animals every year!  This is especially needed in Detroit where a lot of animals are given up just because of the economy and owners are unable to afford to take care of their pets. 

Our company goal is $1,000, and mine and Macho's personal goal is to raise $156 as the MHS says that $156 is the amount it takes to help one animal get rehabilitated and ready for adoption. I've personally started the ball rolling by donating a quarter of the amount that Macho and I want to raise, and our entire team is over a quarter of the way to hitting the $1,000 goal.

Would you like to help us out?  Any amount will help me and Macho reach our goal and help our entire team reach our overall goal.  Any $5-$10 helps a lot!  If you'd like more information about the walk or would like to donate to Macho's page, you can do so here

Help us out and you will make Macho very happy :)

 

Cinco de Macho!

Ok, ok, I'm a few days late for a Cinco de Mayo post.  But in my defense, I've been sick the past week and have been feeling like not doing anything besides sleeping and cuddling with Macho!  Anyway, I decided that Macho needed to celebrate his heritage and do a little Cinco de Mayo photo shoot.  So I put his Mexican poncho on him and let him run around the backyard. 

Isn't he cute?!  Every year the animal shelter where Macho was rescued from has an event they call Mutt Strut.  You can create a team and raise money for the shelter, and then everyone is welcome to bring their dog to go on a massive dog walk together.  The event also has a lot of other things to do and see each year for the whole weekend.  The year after all of the chihuahuas were rescued from the house, they invited each chihuahua to Mutt Strut to have a reunion for all of them.  When you registered for the event, they gave each rescue chihuahua one of these ponchos.  It was the most adorable thing to see all of these chihuahuas running around and playing with each other in these sweaters knowing that only a few months prior, they were all living in horrible conditions together.  It was a happy yet sad moment to realize that the last time all of these dogs were in one place, it was in that terrible house.  

I'm happy to say that Mutt Strut is also this weekend, so Macho wearing his little sweater was also a reminder to me of that day and to celebrate how great the Dearborn Animal Shelter is.  If you want more information about the Mutt Strut or wish to donate, all the information is here 

Loving the Leash!

Macho's most hated object in the world was the leash. Well, the leash and the nail clippers are probably tied, but he sees the leash more than once a month. Getting him to feel comfortable on the leash was never easy. In fact, he never really was comfortable on it. He liked to fight me the entire time I tried to put it on. After working with the dog trainer, this got easier. But even after he let me put it on without a fight, he never really walked well on the leash. That is until recently.....

A few weeks ago we had beautiful weather in here Michigan. We had about two weeks of 70-80 degree weather, and Macho was loving being outside in the yard. I thought it would be good to take him for some walks then. It took a few weeks for him to remember the leash and how it worked. And he was still absolutely freaking out whenever a car would drive by. But after one particular walk that went very well, I could tell that Macho loved it. I even think he is smiling below!




Apparently a good walk is very tiring. Enough to lay with your tongue hanging out. He's still doing great on the leash and doesn't get scared when cars drive by! For some louder cars, he will stop to look at them, but he no longer runs away or spins in circles. We're slowly making progress over here, and I'm excited to see Macho doing better every day!

VetDepot and CET Chews Review!

A few weeks ago the friendly folks over at the Vet Depot website sent us a nice email saying that they ran across Macho's blog and really enjoyed the content. They asked if I would want to test out some of the products that they sell on their website, so of course I had to check them out. I got some information on the company, which said that they are a rapidly growing internet retailer of pet meds and supplies which an A+ rating with the BBB and excellent customer reputation. When I checked out their website, I did notice that their prices for medications were cheaper than what I usually pay at the vet. I also noticed that they have tons and tons of products! And the big plus is that you don't even have to leave your house to go buy them, you just order online :)

They sent me these CET treats, which I had never heard of before. They are a like other dental dog chews that fight against tartar and plaque. They can be used daily, which I think it great!

Only a few days after speaking with Kim at VetDepot, I received the CET Chews in the mail. It was nice to have a quick shipment because you know you can expect that fast of a shipment in the future if you're ordering medications that you dog or cat might need as soon as possible! I gave the chews to Macho about every other day for two weeks. The first day that I gave him the chew, he just looked at it and let it sit there for a few minutes. I was nervous that these super nice people sent me these chews and Macho won't even eat it. Great. Then he picked it up and started chewing it. It was all over from there. After that first time, he would eat the chews right away and they would be gone in record time.

Don't you love how dogs hold treats and bones like this between their paws?

Yup, he sure likes it.


Then he really gets down on the chewing.


I think this is his look of approval-


Yes, Macho likes the treat, but the real test is whether they help his dental health. Macho's teeth are especially bad as he never received proper dental cleanings in his first few years of life. I try to check them regularly, especially after I paid over $300 to have them cleaned last year! But he is fussy and doesn't love me touching his mouth. But for this test, I felt around in his mouth a little bit and noticed that his teeth did feel pretty smooth. I was disappointed at first because I noticed his breath still smelled like a dog. Macho doesn't have terrible breath, but it still doesn't smell clean. So I checked the website to see if the CET chews were supposed to help with dog breath, and it just says that it helps maintain fresh breath between brushings. That made sense to me that it just keeps the dog's mouth clean by removing plaque and tartar, but doesn't necessarily clean their breath. After I read that, I didn't mind that they don't clean the breath, as long as they are keeping Macho's teeth cleaned.

If I had to rate the CET Chews, I'd give them an A-, just because I want to continue to use them for more than 2 weeks to see if I see an even bigger difference in Macho's teeth. As for VetDepot, I would give them an A+ rating! They were friendly, helpful, and I was surprised how quick everything shipped to me. I also thought they had great prices on their website, especially when you can get the same products on the site that you can get at the vet. But here you get them without having to pay for the vet visit as well. I will definitely be visiting them again when I need to buy Macho's heartworm medication!

Macho is Lazy

I know, I know, all dogs are lazy. But I swear, Macho could win a laziest dog award. Last Friday I got a terrible migraine, so I took my meds and went to bed. Next thing I knew, I was waking up 12 hours later! I couldn't believe I slept that long, but I know that the meds can knock me out for a bit. The funny thing is, Macho slept in bed with me that whole time and STILL didn't want to get up when I did. I got up, did a few things around the house, and Macho was still in bed. When I peeked in on him, he sat up and was looking half asleep.

I made myself a cup of coffee, sat down on the couch, and started our new weekend ritual of watching The Golden Girls from 8-10 AM on Saturday and Sundays. I know I'm being lazy in those two hours, but still, Macho looked like this afterward-



In other news, back in 2011, we were talking about our dogs at work and how photogenic they all are. That was when we came up with the idea to create an office dog calendar to hang up in all of our desks. Each dog has their own month to be featured, and Macho's is this month! Check it out below!

Macho in the Snow and Q&A

This weekend we got a bit of snow, and Macho was excited for it! I snapped a few pictures of him running around in it.

Tagged Q&A

Also, I found out that over the weekend, Macho was tagged in a Q&A post by a blog we follow by Tucker, another chihuahua! We are supposed to answer these questions about Macho, so here goes!

1. Describe yourself in 7 words.

Let's see. Macho is brave, quiet, goofy, snuggly, timid, curious, and quick

2. What keeps you up at night?

Nothing keeps Macho up at night! All that dog does is sleep, especially when he is cuddled up in bed with me.

3. Who would you like to be?

I don't know who Macho would like to be like, but I am guessing he would like to be someone bigger/taller. He is always very curious about what I'm doing, and I sometimes think he would like to see things that I get to see that he isn't able to see because he is so small.

4. What are you wearing right now?

Macho is almost always naked. I force him to wear a sweater when it's cold outside, but if I leave it on him for too long once he is in, he will pull it off.

5. What scares you?

Oh Lord, everything scares Macho! He's afraid of loud noises, new people, men, and his carrier

6. The best and worst of blogging.

The best thing about blogging is reading other blogs and seeing all the cute animals out there! It's also really great to read all the good stories about animals. I hate reading the news because it's all sad stories about animals, but here I am able to read all good things (most of the time)! The worst thing about blogging is when I have nothing to talk about. I hate when I am in a posting rut!

7. The last website I visited.

The last site I visited before this was my email to download all the above pics of Macho

8. What is one thing I would change about myself.

I would think that Macho would like to be a bit more brave than he already is. He is such a curious dog, but I think he sometimes ignores his curiosity because of his fears.

9. Slankets yes or no.

I had no idea what a slanket was until I Googled it. Macho definitely would not like to use this as he doesn't love wearing clothes! But he might like it because he does like to cuddle on his blankets.

10. Tell us something about the dog that tagged you.

Tucker has one of the newest blogs we are following! He is a chihuahua like Macho, and he kind of looks like Macho if Macho was a little smaller.

I am supposed to tag some blogs that I would like to have answer the Q&A, but I want all of them to fill it out, so I'm not going to pick anyone in particular. Feel free to steal it and fill it out!

I also have one more update on Macho. On Christmas Day, I was gone for a really long time due to spending the day with my family. When I got home, it was already dark. I was walking up to the door when I heard a dog inside barking. It freaked me out, although I knew that if someone was breaking in, they wouldn't bring their dog. Of course, only Macho was in there. I assumed that I was just hearing things. But every once in a while, I hear him bark when I walk up to the door. He has learned that he can see me if he stands at the window, so he likes to do that now too. However, I've never actually seen him bark or had him do it while I was in the house. That was until last week! One day I got home, I heard him bark while I was on the porch. I walked in and, like usual, dropped my purse and ran to the back door to let Macho out. As I was unlocking the back door, he barked at me! It's the cutest thing ever. I keep trying to get him to do it whenever I get home so I can catch it on video, but he hasn't done it that good since. I got a quick little bark one time, but not a good one. I'm going to keep taking videos when I get home until I catch him barking. I'll post it when I finally do! Who knew there would be a dog out there that you had to wait to hear him bark?

Again, we're still here!

I've been a blog slacker recently, and my excuses are lame. Work has been very busy, and when I get home, the last thing I want to do is look at a computer any more. I have time to sneak in some blog reading when I want to take a 10 minute break at work. But once I get caught up, there's no time for posting!

Macho is also sick of my working. He tries to make me stay by snuggling up next to me in bed like in the picture above. Who can get out of bed when you're cuddled like that?! I think that's his goal.

In addition to being cute when he cuddles, Macho has been ridiculously adorable at everything lately. He loves going outside still, but now he runs around more than ever. His tail is always wagging, I hardly ever see it stuck to his butt like it used to always be. He seems happier, as if he is a different dog. He's more curious than ever, and I often catch him sniffing around in my purse. I don't know what he thinks he will find it there, but it's quite funny watching him try to find whatever it is.

Macho has even begun to enjoy the snow! We haven't had much this year, and I'm not complaining, but I think Macho is! One morning I took him outside, and there wasn't even a flake on the ground. It started snowing pretty heavily, and by the time I took him out again, there was a few inches on the ground. At first he just stood there, not wanting to move. I think he was in disbelief. Then he just took off running. Surprisingly, it was pretty warm that day too with the sun out. We probably stayed outside for 20 minutes just running around in the snow. He loved it, and so did I! He came in and passed out, as you can see below.


I promise it won't be so long before my next post. And that I'll get caught up on all the other blogs soon. Hope all is well with everyone else.