Brand new to the board...and wanted to introduce my little family!
We acquired lil Maddie in August from a breeder. She was born 5-26-08, on Memorial Day. Amazing how these lil puppies steal your hearts so quickly! As some ppl will roll their eyes, Maddie is like another family member to us...not just a "dog".
Maddie was just spayed on Monday, and is doing great! I knew we wouldn't breed her, that was not our intent when we bought her....but she also has proven to be on the small side, so it would have been impossible. She is only 2.7 lbs...at 7 1/2 months old. (Her parents were both 4 lbs.) She had 6 baby teeth pulled, and was microchipped.
The rest of the family....I have a husband, a 17 year old daughter, and a 12 year old daughter. I provide child care in my home for 6 full time babies/toddlers. I am home full time with Maddie.
I've read some posts...and so thought I'd just throw all of this in one email:
Maddie is paper trained.
We set up a kennel/play yard in our kitchen for her little "mansion" so she has her own space to get away from the kids. She has grown to love the child care kids but I don't let Maddie have free reign of the house while they are here. She loves her kennel/play yard...if I can figure out how to post pictures, I will show you a picture of our set up. I keep her Kennel covered with a blanket so she stays warmer. I have a heated "cat" bed (but shhh she thinks its a dog bed
inside it. I removed the door to the "kennel" part and it opens up directly into the play yard, where we have the tray w/newspaper on it for her to potty on. She has her food/water on the opposite side of the play yard. She stays in this during my working hours and all night while we sleep. I get her out to play and snuggle throughout the day and she has free reign of the house in the late afternoon/evenings when its just my immediate family home. She has a kong and toys to keep her busy while she's "alone". Since she is such a lil dog, she can't jump out of the play yard, and this works perfectly for all of us. She is a happy lil girl!
Maddie eats Royal Canin puppy bites 3 x per day.
She just is spoiled rotten and has brought a tremendous amount of joy into our lives! =]
I look forward to getting to know you all and learning from your advice/stories!