I'm not a lemon, I'm a dog

I once had an allergic reaction to some medication that I was taking following one of my many surgeries. This was the one when I ate the rock. I told you about that whole thing in an earlier blog. Anyway, this was a pretty serious deal as I couldn’t breathe very well and it was really scary. My Mom had luckily taken me with her to work that day and took me to see the Doctors at Internal Medicine. They are in the same building that my Mom works in and they usually just pat me on the head and say hi, but this time, they had to save my life. I am so important that I was given 2 Doctors. And these aren’t just any Doctors, they are board certified super specialists of Internal Medicine. This didn’t mean anything to me at the time, but I now know what good hands I was in. They put me in the oxygen kennel. Have you ever heard of such a thing? I felt like the Chihuahua in the plastic bubble. I was there for three days and this was my second trip to Internal Medicine, so I was like a regular visitor. I was only snarky when they tried to examine me, or touch me, or take me out of the kennel. On this visit, they had to figure out what was wrong with me and it was pretty scary. They even asked people to stop coming to visit me cause I am pretty popular in the building and all of those people got me excited and that made my breathing worse. It wasn’t very fun, but I am still here and I thank Dr. Cannizzo and Dr. Hines for taking such good care of me. I’m glad to be back to head pats and hi’s!

Chuck

Difficult Patient         

Dr. Cannizzo and me (I love her)

Dr. Hines and me (he's so funny plus
he listens to everything I tell him)

With my coffee experience I’m sure Starbucks would hire me……..

When I come to Colorado Canine Orthopedics to visit, I get to stay in Becky’s office. She is the practice manager and Cayenne and I love her. She lets us hang out and help her with her work. I like to scratch at her legs until she picks me up. She seems annoyed by this behavior but it always works. She always says that she has to ‘Chuck proof’ her office before I come to visit. I am not sure what she means by this, but it all started after I had eaten a few staples off the floor for her. She thought she was pretty clever by vacuuming before I came to visit. One day, she left us in the office and I found the coolest plastic containers on her shelves. I pried one open with my little teeth and ate the whole thing. Well, Becky wasn’t happy with me. They took me to the Doctors next door who do Internal Medicine and they made me barf. Literally, I puked up the entire amount of Donut Shoppe Coffee that had tasted so good a few moments before. I had to stay in the ICU again for the day. Remember I have been there on other occasions. I was a little buzzed, but slept it off. If you eat coffee, be careful. Someone may be upset.

Chuck

Mr. Coffee      

“Wow I thought I was small!”

Chuck’s thoughts and observations….

“Wow I thought I was small!”

It always amazes me to see the other dogs that come to Colorado CanineOrthopedics. Yesterday there was a little Chihuahua and I mean little. She was tiny. I am just wondering what part of Mexico her relatives are from cause they must all be really small. Maybe she comes from a different country where they only make small Chihuahuas. Anyway, she had a fracture that had to be fixed. Dr. Riecks was the Doctor who did her surgery and I don’t know how he could fix that little bitty leg, but he did. When I had my hip surgery, I often wondered how they could fix my little hips, but after today I am even more impressed with these Doctors. I’m glad they can fix us little guys, cause some of us (not naming anyone in particular) get in more trouble than the big dogs if you know what I mean. I hope I don’t have any fractures or any other surgeries for that matter, but if I do, I can tell Dr. Riecks to get in there with his mini tools and fix me up.

Chuck

Small Chihuahua (not extra small) 

Tiny Teacup Chihuahua 'Ridge' after her fracture repair

Where is Chuck?

Sometimes it is hard to find me. I could be running super fast out the dog door or hiding under my blanket. The key to hiding is to not come out when someone is calling you. This behavior increases the drama and lets me be super sneaky when I am doing something I am not supposed to be doing. For instance, I have found something cool on the floor. You know a piece of paper or plastic or part of a wicker basket. I can take my discovery to an undisclosed location and chew on it as long as I don’t get caught. Call me all you want, I am busy. However, if you open a food item, I may abandon my contraband for a chance to get something better. I will then flee from my hiding place and run to the begging position below your feet. This is a good spot. Though it is out in the open and everyone knows where I am, I have increased my chances of getting something tasty. Once I have used all my begging skills to get something and am left empty pawed, I will then return to my hiding place and pick up where I left off. I will come out when I am ready or when I have eaten whatever it is I am not supposed to have. This is a good game and one that I made up all by myself. Though it does require participation from others, it is still all about me.

Chuck

Hidden Treasure

   

I am the only Chihuahua in my world!!!

I saw this picture of my dear friend on his Facebook page and I'm speechless.....well I have this to say-

I thought that I was the only Chihuahua for Dr. Woodward. We have a relationship and an understanding. I bite his fingers and he gives me ham.  I thought this was an exclusive thing. I am a little disappointed as he is passing himself around to all of the Chihuahuas that he can find. He and I are going to have to have a little talk about loyalty and devotion. Though if he stops giving me ham, I cannot honor my commitments either.

Chuck

Hopelessly devoted to ham, I mean Tony!  

The answer my friend is in the blowdryer.....

There are some cool things that go on in the bathroom. There is the funnest roll of white stuff that you can unravel and drag all over the house and even eat some of it if you get time before the screaming starts. There is a hamper that is super fun to chew on. There are poofy balls of cotton that sometimes end up on the floor and then they miraculously end up in my mouth. My favorite feature of the bathroom is the blow dryer. I stand right under my Mom’s legs so that she will point that thing right at me. It is warm. I like that. It also makes my fur look nice. I am not interested in the smelly hair spray that sometimes goes along with the blow dryer. Maybe I could visit a hair salon where they have those enormous blow dryers and I could just sit under it all day. Do you think my hair would be curly when I came out? I don’t know if that would be a good look for me. If they do nail trims at the salon, I will skip that part of the package, but the massage would be nice. Maybe I’ll just stay in the bathroom where there is more stuff to eat.

Chuck Paul Mitchell poser