WELCOME TO 'MY BUFFY's WORLD'

Doggie-Breath

2009-09-05T13:39:00.004-04:00

Sorry haven't been posting for the summer.....Buffy and I have been so busy with other projects, just haven't had time. Now that our 'lovely' non-summer in Ontario is now just about over and the fall season beginning, will have more to time to devote to our blog site. Want to touch on the subject of 'doggie-breath' this time. Most dogs get it.....some sooner than others....Buffy's been really lucky so far. She's now 5-1/2 yrs old and I've just started detecting it a little bit over the summer. I went in search of 'natural' products for her because of her allergies and didn't find too much (as usual). Did find some really great biscuits in 'Pet Smart' by Pedigree called "Breath Buster" with eucalyptus oil and parsley in them. They sort of smell minty and she will eat them after a few hours of playing with them and throwing them around. I tried cleaning her teeth with a toothbrush to no avail.....did not like that at all! I know you can get their teeth cleaned now at the vets, but it does cost quite a bit, unless your pet insurance covers it which I think mine does once a year (Pet Secure). I'll have to look into that further and maybe start getting it done before it gets worse. Anyway, we'll sign-off for now and be back soon!

http://dog-care.suite101.com/article.cfm/how_to_get_rid_of_doggie_breath
http://www.dogremedies.com/catalog/item/4707494/476636.htm
http://vetmedicine.about.com/od/caninehealthdogs/f/FAQ_badbreath.htm

Car Sickness

2009-05-27T21:17:00.011-04:00

Today Buffy & I will touch on the subject of 'car sickness'! We've been really lucky, Buffy loves the car and has never got sick, but I know several dogs do. I guess you just need to go prepared and have a bag or box ready just in case. Now, I understand that there are meds available from the vet for this purpose and also natural alternatives. Back soon with some great links about this article! Here are some great links I found about car sickness!

http://www.pets.ca/articles/article-dog-car-sickness.htm
http://www.petfriendly.ca/pet-travel/car-travel.php
http://www.dogsinmotion.ca/en/owners/get_motion_sickness/

Barking

2009-05-15T17:59:00.012-04:00

Wow, how time flies! I can't believe another week has passed already. Buffy's laying at my feet right now and says 'Hi' to everyone. Bichons are really wonderful companion dogs. She is so loveable that it is very hard to get or to stay mad at her for any reason. Her only fault is barking when I say to stop, and that probably is my fault and not hers. She barks on and on at the squirrels out the window or cats and people, especially the poor mail lady! The only time she will stop is if I actually go in and confront her.....no sense yelling 'no' or 'stop' from another room because she just won't listen. Hopefully, one day, she will have had enough and just stop on her own! I've bought several dog training books and tried several different techniques to no avail. I remember her groomer telling me when she was only 6 months old, that she was unrelentless......so I really think it's something she has inherited from her parents. For example, when she wants up on my lap, and I don't respond right away, like now when I'm on the computer, she gets her little paws and legs scratching on my knee '50 miles an hour' until I finally give in and pick her up. Now how can I be mean and not pick her up? I guess I've spoiled her!!! Anyway, will sign-off for now and write again soon. Happy Victoria Day long-weekend to our fellow Canadians!

http://www.resteddoginn.ca/bark.php
http://www.peteducation.com/article.cfm?c=2+1551&aid=153
http://www.ehow.com/how_5216520_cure-dogs-barking-habit.html

Allergies

2009-05-08T10:03:00.030-04:00

I'm still working on this blog daily, but haven't posted again til now. Just wanted to touch on allergies a little bit. As you can see in Buffy's pictures, when she was a puppy she had badly stained eyes. I think back now and realize that was probably my clue that she would have allergy problems when she grew up. I thought her eyes were brown because of teething, so it may have been a combination of both. She outgrew most of that problem by the time she was a year old, but she has never outgrown the allergy problem. At first, she had a lot of upsets with her tummy, and was throwing up her food. We tried different brands and combinations, until her vet said she had better stay on their hypo-allergenic type dry food. That did the trick and the throwing up problem resolved itself within days. Apparently, a lot of dogs have allergies to chicken & beef, so her new food was a combination of pheasant & duck (gormet eh)! I think she has other allergies besides just food too....she sneezes quite often, especially this season, so she also has antihistamines that the vet gave me for her as well. The links I've searched and attached below are a lot of wonderful sites with lots of information on them, so click-on them and find pretty much anything you want. Hope you enjoy! Thanks for reading!

http://allergicpet.com/
http://www.sniksnak.com/doghealth/allergies.html
http://www.purina.ca/mydog/article.aspx?article_id=605
http://www.canadasguidetodogs.com/health.nutritionarticle17.htm
http://www.all-natural-dog-treat.com/dogallergy.html

INTRODUCTION TO BUFFY

2009-05-02T23:44:00.037-04:00

Hi Bichon Frise Fans:

I decided to write this blog about Buffy.....our little Bichon Frise who is already 5 -1/2 years old! We love her dearly and don't know what we would do without her. She's adorable, loveable, mischievous, unrelentless and the cutest little dog in the world (as far as we're concerned), but I guess everyone thinks that about their own pets, don't they!

She came into our world at 7 weeks of age as a little white furball; weighing about 4 or 5 lbs. and you could hold her in one hand. It didn't take her very long though to take over the house and start to own us! We didn't care, she made us laugh again after going through several years of some unexpected losses in our family and she brightened our days again!

We'd previously had a miniature poodle for 16 years, also named Buffee, that we adored and loved dearly. After we lost her, we vowed we didn't want another dog, as it was so hard to have to put her down when she became very ill. We didn't want to ever have to go through that pain and sadness again with a pet. I'm sure anyone who has had to go through the same ordeal knows what that feels like.

Over the years though, you forget what you went through and we started missing all the fun we had with our poodle. We changed breeds so that we didn't feel like we were replacing our most favourite pet. I had worked with someone who had owned 3 different Bichons over the years and told me what a loving, sweet dog they were and that she would buy no other. She showed me a picture of hers, and I couldn't get over how cute he was, and how much the breed looked like our previous poodle. In fact, Bichons are a cousin to the poodle family. So, the search was on one day to find one. I kept looking at the ads in the paper and nothing, all kinds of other small breeds, but not a Bichon Frise. Then one day a few weeks later an ad finally appeared: 4 Bichons for sale, 2 male & 2 female. I called the number right away, and the lady told me there had been 5, 1 sold, and someone was coming that night for 2 more. I quickly made an appointment to go see them at 4:30 that day.

When I walked in the door, 2 little boys about 3 & 5 were racing around the house with all these puppies chasing after them. It was sheer chaos! Then the puppies' parents came over to greet me. One little puppy came right to me as if to say: "Save me" .... so I picked her up. She wanted to snuggle right away and didn't want down. I now think, she was probably glad to get up & away from all the noise on ground level. It was a female, which is what I wanted. The lady told me all about them, etc. and said I could have my pick of the four. I knew right then I wanted to keep the one I was holding and said: "I think I'll keep this little one, she seems to have taken to me and doesn't want down". I made out a cheque; got the details of her feeding schedule; and a can of the food she was on; and away we went out to the car!!!

On the way over, I had stopped at a pet store and bought a little pink sweater for her as it was January and cold. I got the smallest size available, but it was still way too big for her, she kept putting her little head through the arms, but she looked so cute in it. I had taken my Dad with me, so he could hold her on the way back home, and she took to him right away too. I made another stop at the pet store, bought dishes, leash & collar and a kennel cage and of course, toys....lots of toys! Forgot, how much this was all going to cost and it sure added up! Took her in to show the staff and then on we went home.

She never really made strange at all at home. She was quite happy to get in her cage after playing for quite awhile, fed her, pottied her, and she was ready for sleep. To this day, she still sleeps in the same cage at night. I really don't remember her whinning, or crying much at all for her mother and litter mates that night; not like our other puppies had over the years! I really think this little one was glad to be away from all the noise. We gave her lots of cuddles and she was spoiled from then on!!! And so here starts my tale about Buffy our Bichon Frise.

I'll just start my topics going down the alphabet for now....that's the easiest way to remember what to touch on! DON'T FORGET TO LOVE YOUR PETS!