Mochi is now 9.4 lbs! 33 weeks, just shy of 8 months old.

Thursday, May 26, 2016

Mochi is doing well.  Her scar from surgery is virtually gone, and her shaved hair on her leg and belly is slowly growing back.

She attended a Havanese Meet-Up in Vancouver.  If you have a Havanese, check out Buca's Havanese Group.

Buca's Havanese Meet-Up

Mochi at the Meetup

Here's Mochi with her uncle, Oscar.

Mochi has a new video.  Check her YouTube channel here.

Mochi is 30 weeks old, just shy of 7 months. 9.0 lbs!

Sunday, May 1, 2016

It's been 10 days since Mochi's spay surgery and it was time to visit the vet for her follow-up check of the spay incision.  She is healing well, the stitches are dissolving and they said the small lumps should go away soon.  She's cleared to jump and run!  She was already jumping and running the 2nd day and it was tough stopping her.  Finally, able to give her a bath.

We also inquired about flea protection and they suggested Sentinel flavor tablets.  We'll do some research before purchasing it.

Mochi after bath, she can barely see :)

Mochi is 28 weeks old and 8.5 lbs. She was spayed yesterday and recovering well.

Thursday, April 21, 2016

Mochi was spayed (ovariohysterectomy) yesterday.  We dropped her off at 9am and pickup was 4pm.  We delayed her surgery to allow time for her baby teeth to come out and a quick inspection at the vet confirmed no baby teeth needed to be removed.

Here's the medication they gave, Tramadol 10mg (pain killer) and Metacam 0.25ml (anti-inflammatory).

She had some pain doing number 2 when she got home, but she was fine this morning.  So far, no other problems.  She's eating and drinking well.  We are told to limit her activity for 7 to 10 days till her next vet visit.

We opted for the more expensive laser surgery option.  They said swelling, bleeding and inflamation are generally decreased. 

Mochi's belly was shaved, no more black hair.

Head collar, but we chose to use the baby onesie instead.

Mochi in her onesie.

Mochi is growing fast.  Here's her first rain coat before and after.

We also needed to get a new carrier, her old one is too small :(  Here's Mochi in her new Pupsaver safety seat.

Notice Mochi's new bow?  We bought them from Bowbiz Dog Bows.

Mochi is now 25 weeks old and 8.0 lbs. (nearing 6 months)

Monday, March 28, 2016

We just read a dog food review here, and basically, anything with corn, soy, wheat, grain and flour would not be considered a good food.  Fromm is in the top 10, but the blend we were feeding contained pea flour.  Also, the new food we switched to, Now Fresh, also contains flour.  Oh well, overall it's okay since it's a puppy blend with no chicken.  We'll try it for now and being for puppies, we would need to switch to an adult food after the 1st year.

Sunday, March 27, 2016

Mochi vomited bile once last week, so we decided to put her back on Famotidine / Pepcid for another week (but only one dose at night).  We also switched her kibble to Petcurean Now Fresh for puppies, and cut back on her treats to rule out any food intolerance or allergies.  She's been on her new kibble for a week, so we will be stopping the Pepcid to see if there's any improvement.  Now Fresh is free of grain, gluten, wheat, soy and chicken. 

Mochi bought a new No-pull harness from Sporn.  I thought I'd mention it since it was inexpensive and fits Mochi.  It's been very hard finding a no-pull harness that fits a small puppy.  Does it solve Mochi's leash pulling?  Not yet, unfortunately :(  But it helps and we continue to train.

Notice Mochi getting lighter? 

Beautiful Cherry Blossoms in Vancouver

Mochi is now 23 weeks old and 7.6 lbs. Mochi's baby teeth are falling out!

We are relieved that Mochi has not vomited since stopping her medication (since last week).  I think she is okay now.  We are continuing to feed her a small meal before bed and make sure we don't sleep in late.  We didn't change her food, just limiting the variety for now.  She gets a bit of Stella & Chewy mixed in with her Fromm kibble.  We also add a bit of FortiFlora powder (Canine Probiotic Nutritional Supplement) as recommended by the vet.

Mochi got her bath today and her fur is so soft now.  We also tried to do a topknot, but it only stayed on for about 2 hours. :(

Mochi's 1st attempt at a topknot. Her hair needs to get longer.

We found some of Mochi's baby teeth.  We want them to all come out before 6 months so we can proceed with her spay. 

Can you guess which one is a grain of rice?

We found more teeth.

Mochi vomited 2 days ago and now feeling much better. Now 20 weeks and 6.8 lbs.

Update for Tuesday, Mar. 1, 2016

We had to visit the vet again :(  Mochi was still vomiting yellow foam in the mornings, even after having food before bed.  She did not vomit on the one day I woke up at 5am to feed her biscuits. When I woke up at 6am, she vomited.  She should be able to have an empty stomach for more than 5 hours without vomiting!

Mochi had a blood-test and x-rays, both were normal.  Mochi was given Drontal Plus (a dewormer) and prescribed Famotidine (Pepcid) to reduce stomach acid and Cerenia (again).

Mochi's did not sleep the first night after the vet visit.  She was so active that day, so we can not imagine how and why she could not sleep as she normally does.  She had Femotidine and Cerenia around 10pm and Drontal Plus earlier that afternoon.  The drugs shouldn't cause insomnia.  Mochi was so alert, wide awake in her crate, eye's wide open and looking around all night.

Moch was sleeping as usual the next night.  We stopped the Cerenia.  Mochi hasn't vomited so far.

Wow, I just found other posts about dogs that have had a reaction to Drontal Plus.  Hyperactivity and hyper-alertness!  Link to their posts are here and here and here.


Update for Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016

Mochi has been eating her Fromm kibble once again, but she has been vomiting in the morning, on an empty stomach for the last two days.  Looks like yellow foam, which I'm told is bile.  It could be due to stomach inactivity over night leading to gastric reflux.  We are going to try feeding a small amount of kibble before she sleeps and will try to feed her earlier in the morning.  So far, she has a good appetite and good energy levels.


Sunday, Feb. 21, 2016

Mochi vomited 3 times last Friday and the last two were within the span of an hour.  So we decided to take her to the vet immediately.  Mochi was still full of energy, but dehydrated.  The vet gave her "Subcutaneous Fluid", the term for injecting fluids under the skin to be absorbed slowly into the blood and body.  They also injected Cerenia and provided Cerenia tablets for us to give the next day to prevent further vomiting.  Mochi hasn't vomited since, but has not been eating much.  We don't have a reason for the vomiting, but we are assuming it was something she may have eaten on a walk. Fortunately, she's okay, otherwise, the next steps would be x-rays and blood tests.  The vet did mention pancreatitis.

She seems to have suddently stopped liking her Fromm kibble since getting sick.  She eats it only when she's very hungry.  We are trying to resist giving her the good Stella Meal Mixer's and Turkey treats and try to get her back on the kibble.  Let's hope she goes back to normal.  Could she be associating her vomiting to her kibble???  That's a possibility, but she still eats it, just very little.

Mochi has also completed her puppy socialization class.  Looks like we are on our own to find more puppies for her to play with.  

I added new videos on Mochi's YouTube Channel here.

 

Mochi is now 18 weeks old and 6.5 lbs.

Mochi just had her 1st Rabies vaccine today.  So far no adverse reactions.  She will need another rabies shot next year and then every three years after that.

Mochi has one more socialization puppy class.  She is still pretty fearful of the other puppies, but slowly improving.  She seems to be a bully outside of class when she meets older calmer dogs.  We have to practice her 'polite' walking (no pulling).  Dogsmart has some videos here.

She is also eating a new flavour of Fromm.  Surf & Turf.  Fromm has so many flavours.  Mochi also seems to love chewing elk antlers.

Happy Chinese New Year!

Mochi and her lucky money.

Mochi is now 15 weeks old, 5.1 lbs, and just had her 3rd shot.

Mochi is doing well.  She is now 15.5 weeks old, 5.1 lbs.  She just had her 3rd set of shots, which means she can now officially go outside.  The vet could feel her ribs, so Mochi is a little underweight. We will be giving her more food and also going to move to a new flavour of Fromm, Surf and Turf. Mochi was normal after this shot, no after effects unlike the last time.

Mochi has finished her 3rd puppy socialization/training class.  They (very) slowly introduce other dogs and they stress having a break to lower their excitement before playing again.  They also introduced training using a 'platform'.  I found it helped in teaching Mochi to do commands from a greater distance.  Check-out Mochi's latest video while on a platform here.

Mochi's YouTube Channel here.

Read more about 'platforms'.

Mochi is now 13 weeks (3 months) old and 4.6 lbs.

January 6, 2016

Mochi is now 13 weeks old and attended her first of six puppy socialization classes for pups between 10 to 20 weeks old (at DogSmart).  There were 5 other dogs, but they all just kept their distance for their first day as instructed.

We were taught to use a clicker, touch and impulse control.  Mochi's already used to the clicker from the beginning :)  But the instructor wanted Mochi to stand, but we've taught her to sit for everything.  So we have to work on the stand.

Mochi has now started to like more food.  She now likes the beef toothpaste she didn't like a few weeks ago.  She also likes apples now too. 

We are switching her kibble from Canadian Naturals to Fromm.  DogFoodAdvisor gives Fromm 4 out of 5 stars.  Mochi also likes Stella & Chewy's Meal Mixers sprinkled on her food and as a training treat.  We aren't ready to go to a raw food diet just yet.

Switching to new food

Mochi at 13 weeks

 

Mochi at 12 weeks taken by friend with a much better camera.

December 29, 2015

Here's a photo taken by our friend with a much better camera.

Mochi is now 12 weeks old.

December 26, 2015

Mochi received many toys!  Thanks to everyone for making Mochi's first Christmas so wonderful.

Here's just some of her toys.

Mochi is doing well, she can now sleep for at least 6 hours straight during the night.  That means I can also sleep past 6:00am!  We are glad she is lazy.

Check out Mochi's video's here:
Mochi's Youtube Channel

Mochi is now 11 weeks old and 3.6 lbs.

December 20, 2015

Mochi is now 11 weeks old.  She's doing well and able to sleep for over 4 hours at night before I take her outside.  I am faster than her, so maybe she can hold it even longer.

We found more food she loves:

• Goat's milk
• Turkey balls from a doggie bakery

Our next task is to socialize her to the nail grinder and clippers.  She's okay with the sound except when it touches her :(

We found something she's scared of, Tickle me Elmo when it's turned on.  She barks at it.

Her next vaccination is scheduled for tomorrow and she's registered for a puppy class in January.

She's pretty lazy now

She's okay with Elmo when it's not on :)

Mochi is now 10 weeks old.

I can't believe it has only been a week since my last update.  We got Mochi at 9 weeks, and Mochi is now 10 weeks and 2 days old.  She now weighs about 3.2 lbs.  She's not a big eater and eating less than what the breeder has suggested.  She doesn't seem too thin, so we'll see what happens in a few weeks.

We had a hard time finding treats that she likes, but we finally found a few things she loves.  

• Cheese strings (this I can cut into small pieces for training)
• Cottage cheese (we gave her too much!)
• Frozen blueberries (only at 2 so far, and they are so messy)
• Organic Himalayan Yak Milk Dog Chews (Chew Churpi) (gift from goo goo) 
• Kong Easy Treat spray easy treat
• Peanut butter
• Coconut oil

Kong toys don't keep her attention for very long, but those Chew Churpi chews are amazing.  She just loves chewing those.

No luck finding a dog toothpaste flavour that she likes, but we found what she doesn't like, poultry and beef :(  

We've had some success poop training.  At least she's doing it outside without as much fuss.

Mochi's next vaccine appointment is next week and a puppy socialization class is scheduled for early January.  We've taken her to Rona and grocery shopping.  She loves meeting people and gets overly excited.

Mochi's first bark was at 10 weeks.  She was barking at me cleaning with a paper towel.  She can bark loud, I'm glad she rarely barks so far.

Oh... and me, I'm getting used to 3am and 6am pee duty.  I think Mochi is starting to sleep more than 3 hours without peeing :)  Now you know why there haven't been more updates.

Here are few pics:

Mochi does remarkably well in her crate

Mochi is at home!

Dec. 7, 2015

A major success to report!  Mochi's first poop outside. Link to her pic if you dare. Poop 

We also visited the vet today.  Mochi is healthy and enjoyed meeting everyone at the South Burnaby Veterinary Hospital.   

at the vet, no fear

Mochi's crate training improved significantly today, for some reason, she cries a lot less today.  I still have to let her out to pee at around 2am and stuck on the sofa till 5am to let her out again.  


 Dec. 6, 2015

Tonight is Mochi's 2nd night at home.  She pooped a few times inside :(  We got most of the pee outside.  I'm working on getting a successful poop from Mochi outside!  Harder than it should be.

She can sure scream when crated or in the pen.  She does not like to be confined alone even when we are just steps away.  We are ignoring her as best we can and it should only take a few days, right?

She is so good otherwise, no fear of people, rain, blow dryers and the clicker.

We have a vet appointment tomorrow.

Here's a pic.  It's hard to take a good pic since her face is black, need the flash of a real camera.

used coconut oil to tidy the hair around her eyes

Picking up our pup December 5, 2015.

We are going to meet the breeder in Merritt, BC.  His drive is about 1.25 hours and our drive is about 3 hrs.  There may be snow along the way too.  We've selected the girl, Ursela. 

I'll update soon.

Pups born on October 3, 2015, 4 girls, 2 boys. Pics at 4 weeks old are now up!

Wendy and Beatle's litter born October 3, 2015
Go home date is Dec 5, 2015.

Nov. 20, 2015

New pics up.  Now 7 weeks old.  A little mix up, Lotus is a boy and Hugo is a girl :)

Nov. 1, 2015

Pics are up!  They are about 4 weeks old.

We have a preference for a lighter coloured pup so probably one of the girls (Lotus, Ursela or Sussie).  Sable will most likely change colour as they get older.

Check this gallery to see sable colour development.  Sable colour changes



It's Oct. 19, and just received a call from the breeder, there's 3 sable pups and a lighter boy.  They will do temperament testing around Nov. 21, 2015, and then we will know which ones are the most suitable for us.


 

We created our dog ID tag using the in-store machine.

Here's the machine at Petsmart.

Here's the tag with the name of our puppy.  Name works for both girl or boy :)

First puppy purchases.

Deposit paid!

We have just paid our deposit on a puppy from Wendy and Beatle's litter.  Take home is in December 2015.  Stay tuned for updates!  Some family history:

Beatle's dad, Coby x Kensie 
Wendy's dad, Peter x Julie

Info on Beatle.

Beatle and Wendy's previous litter.  2014 litter

Visiting our potential breeder

Great link on choosing a breeder:
http://havaneseworld.org/how-to-choose-havanese-breeder/


After confirming our visit with a potential breeder in Kamloops, we were ready for our roadtrip.  Weather was going to a hot 30 degrees C.  The drive was about 3.5 hours and traffic was pretty light.  We travelled through Abbotsford, Chilliwack, Langley, Hope, Merritt to Kamloops.  There wasn't much to see on Highway 5 (Coquihalla).  We did encounter some road construction/paving, but it was fine. 

We did see signs saying snow tires are required between October 1st and March.  This would be a potential concern for the timing of the pick-up our our puppy that we didn't expect.  Our GPS didn't get us to the right location, but after a phone call, we made it to the farm a few minutes away.  It is almost in the middle of nowhere :)  Google maps was also wrong!

Lots of dogs outside, so excited to see us.

I picked up one :)

A few of the latest litter at 5 weeks old.

They will have a litter ready for going home December 10, 2015, from Wendy and Beatle.  That may be the one we go for.  What should we do?  They did say that they could drop off the puppy in town if there were others also adopting. 

We stayed the night at the Riverland Inn & Suites.  I was surprised that it was fully booked.

Nice dinner at Mittz Kitchen.  We found Kamloops very quiet, probably since it's now fall.
 

Grilled Vegetable

Spaghetti

Sablefish

Lemon Tiramisu