Miss Squeaks Fun Christmas Ideas For Your Furbaby!

 Okay lets talk Christmas, and our furbabys now its my first Christmas with Miss Mildred and gee I can't wait to get her new dresses from Ebay that we ordered I know I am excited to get them she has a few coming and I have a red and white one picked out for her to wear for the big day! Its so very cute a frilly just like the pretty princess that she is aww I mustn't be the only one who is excited about Christmas even Sir George has a outfit a little green elf costume that he looks so fantastic in and yes I will post pictures of them in their Christmas digs, Because I know you will want to see them haha! But i thought of a few ideas that you might like to do with your furbabys this Christmas! And we'll  get straight to it now.

If you're  like me , you think about your dog a part of your family. Then Christmas  is simply another occasion to solidify that relationship and embrace your dogs in all of the season’s commotion. Should you not break down before Christmas Eve, here are some gifts and activities that might make this Christmas extra, exceptional for you and your dog.

1. Get your dog a stocking.

That is, if they do not have one already. If this is your dog’s 1st Christmas with you, this can be a extremely nice way to commemorate your 1st of the many Christmas holidays together and solidify his or her place in your home.

There are 2 choices for this small activity. you could run out to your local Target or Kmart Red Dot or BigW and find a cute little stocking with their initial on it. That’s fast, easy, and totally counts. Or, if you have got a while to do a small homemade project, create one! Decorating a stocking that matches your dog’s temperament is something fun to do while you and your dog are sharing time watching crummy Christmas movies over a chewy bone and some wine/punch.

2. Lend a homeless dog a hand.

If your dog is dog friendly, this feature may be for you. wherever I spend the holidays, many shelters and rescues would love nothing more than to get their dogs out of their facilities or boarding to get a much-needed night in a home. Just  a day or 2 in a nice, warm home goes a long way towards helping out  a dog who is not as lucky as your own dog. Run a rescue or work with a shelter? Contemplate making a short-run fostering program for the holidays.

3. Take fun photos.

Earlier this season, one amongst my dogs gave up the ghost. Not to  get momentarily morbid, however having a lot of photos of him has positively helped Me and my family grieve. The Holidays are the simplest time to form those recollections and capture them so you mostly have a token of happy, silly, spirited times.

In my house, we’ve invested in jingle bell collars. The collars look laughably goofy on my  furbabys and create a lot of noise, however in a photo it’s too cute for words so worthwhile.

4.Participate in a very special activity together.

December is one in all the few months where everyone probably gets a while off of work. To make up for all those busy days throughout the year when your pup waited with patience for you to get home, do something exceptional together that you just might not get to try to to the remainder of the year. We are thinking of taking our furbabys to the beach Yay they'll like it.
Less-intensive activities are even as special. It could also be  a special trip to a doggy playground, or a walk on a brand new path you don’t take each day. This is just one nice way to show your dog how much he or she means to you and may make the holidays even more special for each of you.

Once again I would like to thank you all for coming and reading all of my blogs this is truly a passion for me and I enjoy doing the blog posts its fun and gets my brain moving in and on the right path but if we ever seem to be talking about the same stuff and you get bored just leave a comment below on what you might like Miss Mildred and I to talk about! We would love to keep everyone happy and up to date with whats going on with us over here in Perth Western Australia!
  
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Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred

Chihuahua Tear Staining and How To Remove It.

Tear Staining, The Cause and Correction

 Brown or pinkish brown streaks on the cheeks of dogs is a common sight.  When tears overflow from the eyes, they run down the face creating wetness that provides the perfect environment for bacterial growth.  As bacteria replicate they cause skin irritation and produce pigment that stains the hair brown or pinkish brown.  In dark-coated dogs this colour change is of little consequence, but in white furbaby's tear staining is obvious.

There are two causes of tear staining.  The first is tear-duct blockage.  In the normal canine eye, tears leave the eye via two small openings called “puncta”. One is in the upper eyelid and the other is in the lower eyelid.  Once through the puncta, tear fluid enters the tear duct that carries it to the nose.  This occurs in people as well, that’s why your nose drips when you cry.

Unperforated puncta can be surgically opened but success depends on the rest of the tear-duct system being intact.

Many tear-stained dogs have a subtle eversion (turning out) of the lower eyelid, which compresses the puncta, preventing normal tear drainage.  Surgical correction of the eyelids can reverse tears overflowing in these cases.

The second cause is excess tear production, too much volume for normal tear ducts to handle.  Any eyelid deformity that causes chronic eye irritation (rubbing on the eye surface) such as an inverted eyelid or extra eyelashes along the edge of the eyelid or fur from the dog’s body, stimulates increased tear production.  Many of these conditions are simply flushed out by themselves and when this does not happen, can be corrected surgically.

If you’ve ever seen a dog with red or brown marks in the areas around and just under the eyes, you’ve seen a dog that is suffering from Tear staining . The staining can matte around the dog’s eyes and leave a gooey, thick mess that is hard to clean. Most people assume that the stains are caused by excessive moisture from the dog’s eyes and that they’re just a fact of life. In fact though, tear stains have many different causes, and figuring out the root of the problem could end up saving you some work and also improve your dog’s life.

 Ear Infections

Tear staining can be linked back to ear infections, so it’s important to keep your dog’s ears as clean and dry as possible. If you notice that your dog is getting a lot of ear infections which also coincide with excessive tearing, the two are probably related. Use a good cleansing product to make sure the ears are clean and your dog’s tear stains might be reduced as a result.

Allergies

Dogs can experience reactions to thing just like humans, and tear staining can often be a reaction to allergens or irritants. In fact, some dogs will suffer reactions to their food which will change the pH level in your dog’s system which in turn can cause excessive tearing. If you notice that your dog’s Tear stains get worse in certain situations than it might be an environmental factor that is adding to the problem.

Blocked Tear Ducts

Some dogs are born with tear ducts that are closed which need to be surgically opened by a vet, but this isn’t the only way a duct can be blocked. At times, a dog can develop clogged tear ducts which can add to excessive tearing, and unfortunately, a trip to the vet will be needed to irrigate the ducts. Luckily, this isn’t a very common problem, but if you suspect clogged tear ducts, it should be taken care of, lest your dog suffer unnecessarily.

Red Yeast

One of the biggest causes of Tear Stains is from a dog having an excessive amount of tears. This high level of moisture can keep the hair around the face wet, which then becomes an area where bacteria can breed. One of the most common forms of this bacteria is called Red Yeast, which causes a yeast infection around the eyes and leads to the brownish-red stains that you sometimes see on dogs.

 Water

Some waters contain a high mineral content, which can cause staining on a dog’s entire face and beard. A lot of moisture can remain on the face trapped in the hairs after a dog drinks, which can be moved to eye level by the dog trying to lick his face clean. And, if the mineral content is high, it will increase the level of red-brown staining on a dog’s face. If you notice both tear stains and a discoloured beard, try switching your dog’s water to combat the problem. Red or brown Tear stains are not attractive to look at, and they can be a symptom of a larger problem. If your dog has excessive staining around they eyes and on its face, it might be worth looking into what the cause of the staining is.

Most furbaby owners of small light and white dogs take great pride in keeping their furbaby spotlessly clean. You can imagine then how frustrating it is to have to deal with those annoying tear stains below the eyes.

Tear stains can occur in any breed of dog, it’s just less obvious and therefore not as big a problem on dogs with darker coats. While the tears are initially clear, bacteria can grow on the moist hair, and that’s what’s responsible for making the stains the familiar red colour.

I’ll Cry If I Want To..

There are really only two causes of epiphora, which is the scientific word for tears spilling down the face. Firstly, it can be caused by excess tear production which doesn’t drain down the tear duct. This little duct goes from the inner eyelid to inside the nasal cavity, and carries excess tears away. That’s why when you cry, you usually get a runny nose too! The tear duct is narrow, and if there are too many tears being produced, it just can’t cope with them all, and the tears trickle down the face.

Weepy eyes often occur in dogs with allergies, infections or irritation due to dust. Some dogs have eyelashes growing in unusual places, such as inside the eyelid. These will rub on the eye and cause pain and increased tear production. A similar problem occurs in short nosed breeds such as British Bulldogs or Pugs – their short nose may result in the facial skin being pushed up towards the eyes, which can also lead to hair rubbing and irritation.

The second reason tear spillage occurs is because the tear duct is blocked, and doesn’t drain tears from the eyes. This is usually a conformation, or head shape, problem. Some breeds of dog such as the Bedlington Terrier or Lhasa Apso may be born without a tear duct opening in their eyelids, so the tears can’t drain at all. Other breeds have very prominent eyes, and this doesn’t leave much space for tears to collect and drain down the tear duct. This may happen in Chihuahuas, Pekingese and similar breeds. 

Why So Sad?

If your furbaby  has a chronic tear staining problem, it’s a good idea to have him checked by your veterinarian. You need to find out if there is an underlying medical problem. Hair rubbing on the eye is painful, and may lead to more serious conditions such as an ulcer on the cornea. Infections usually need a course of antibiotics to clear them up. Stray eyelashes and skin folds which cause hair to rub on the eyes may need corrective surgery. If your dog has any of these problems, you’ll probably notice other symptoms such as squinting, or rubbing at the eye with a paw.

If your furbaby has a blocked tear duct, sometimes flushing it can help. However, because the problem with the duct is usually related to the dog’s conformation, this doesn’t often improve the situation. 

Your only real option is to control the staining.

Dry Those Tears

Your first step is to keep the hair around the eyes trimmed nice and short. This helps the hair dry out quicker and slows the growth of any bacteria.

Some vets recommend using antibiotics to control the bacteria that cause the staining. This isn’t a good long term solution because you may end up with the bacteria becoming resistant to the antibiotic. 

There has been some suggestions that changing a dog’s diet can reduce tear staining. It’s not known if the change in diet has a direct effect on the staining, or whether the tear staining is secondary to a food allergy, and the dietary change reduces the symptoms of that allergy.

There are also many anecdotal cures, such as giving your dog demineralised water to drink, avoiding foods containing beet pulp, and adding buttermilk to the diet. None of these have been proven to consistently make any difference.

Chihuahuas experience problems with tear staining at the corners of the eyes. Tear stains typically manifest in the form of dark yellow or brown stains. Such stains are typically the result of some kind of eye irritation, which may be caused by long hair, ingrown eyelids or blocked tear drainage holes. If your Chihuahua shows signs of tear stains, try a home remedy to clean them. Once you have cleaned your dog's eyes, you can take a few simple steps to prevent the stains from coming back.  

 This is what I use and do, Items you will need.

Damp Cloth, Milk of Magnesia, Corn Starch Cotton Swabs Peroxide and Ophthalmic Ointment.

Check your Chihuahua's eyes to be sure there isn't anything stuck in it, causing irritation and tearing. If your furbaby's eyes are red and swollen, or if deformities are visible, take them  to see your vet immediately.

Step 2

Wipe the area around your Chihuahua's eyes gently with a damp cloth to remove any buildup of crust around the eyes and to soften the dried stains.

Step 3

Use a cotton swab dipped in warm water if your furbaby's eyes are particularly crusted and they need a bit of extra attention to clean. This is not uncommon when you haven't been maintaining the dog's eyes regularly. Avoid making contact with your Chihuahua's eyeball, and do not apply enough pressure with the swab to cause discomfort.

Step 4

Combine equal parts milk of magnesia and peroxide with enough corn starch to make a paste. Spread a small amount of the paste on the tear stains around your dog's eyes, working it into the fur.

Step 5

Let the milk of magnesia mixture dry for up to four hours, then wash it out completely and let your Chihuahua's fur dry. Apply a thin layer of opthalmic ointment to the area around your dog's eyes after washing out the milk of magnesia mixture, to prevent irritation.

Step 6

Repeat the milk of magnesia treatment every other day for one week or until the tear stains have lifted.

Step 7

Trim the fur around your dog's eyes using a pair of blunt-nose scissors. Fur growing too close to the eye is one of the most common causes of tear stains, so trimming the fur should help prevent irritation and thus future stains from forming.

Step 8

Consult your veterinarian if excessive tear stains persist. This is what I do for Miss Mildred and it does work, But like I have said if you think there might be a problem with your fur baby's eyes and tear staining take them to the furbaby doctor and have them checked over, Because they might have a tear ducts that are blocked or maybe eye lashes causing problems.

 

  Miss Mildred and myself Miss Squeak really hope this information has helped you understand tear stains and why they can occur and what you can do to keep them at bay the trick I use works well for Miss Mildred and her fur brother 

Sir George, I also put white vinegar in the water that they drink as it helps balance the ph level in the water and another thing I use a stainless steel water bowl as I was using a red plastic bowl and was told by Miss Mildred's Furbaby Doctor that the dye might leach out in to the water hence adding to the red stain on her face, So once again I hope my blog as helped you a little more in understanding why this happens and what you can do to prevent it from getting to bad.

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Chihuahua Tear Staining and How To Remove It.

If you have any other suggestions on how to remove the tear staining let Miss Mildred and I know in the comments below so we can share this information with other furbaby Mums and Dads, Once again Thankyou for reading and we will see you back here on our next blog, 

Sending Love, Laughter and Light to you all.

 xx Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx

What Are Our Furbabys Thinking?

 Okay this is what I have been thinking about the over the last few days so I thought I you share my thoughts with you and yes I can make my little chihuahua 

Miss Mildred laugh can you make your furbaby laugh and smile? So lets get started.

Your canine companion slumbers by your side, however is she dreaming of you? Will she feel guilty regarding stealing your cut of meat off the kitchen counter and eating it for dinner? What's she attempting to say with that annoying bark? 

After decades of analysis, neuroscientists have begun to answer such queries, giving us access to the once-secret inner lives of our canine companions and even translating their barks and wags therefore mere humans can comprehend them.

Do Dogs Experience Similar Emotions as People?

Dogs have the same brain structures that manufacture emotions in humans. they have the same hormones and endureidentical chemical changes that humans do during emotional states. Dogs even have the hormone oxytocin, that in humans is involved with love and tenderness. therefore it appears reasonable to recommend that dogs also haveemotions kind of like ours. However, it's necessary not to go overboard: The mind of a dog is roughly similar to that of a human who is 2 to 2½ years old. A toddler that age clearly has emotions, however not all possible emotions, since several emerge later within the path to adulthood.

Dogs undergo their developmental stages far more quickly than humans do, attaining their full emotional vary by the time they're four to six months old. Very similar to a human youngster, a dog has the essential emotions: joy, fear, anger, disgust, excitement, happiness, distress, and even love. A dog doesn't have, and can not develop, additional complicated emotions, like guilt, pride, contempt, and shame, however.

You might argue that your dog has shown proof of feeling guilt. In the usual situation, you come home and your dog starts slinking around and showing discomfort, and you then realize his foul-smelling brown deposit on your kitchenfloor. It is natural to conclude that the dog’s actions show a way of guilt concerning its transgression. However, this is often merely the more basic feeling of worry. The dog has learned that once you appear and his droppings are visible on the ground, bad things happen to him. What you see is the dog’s worry of punishment; he can never feel guilt. He will never feel shame, thus feel free to dress him in that ridiculous party costume.

Do Dogs Dream?

Many people believe that dogs have dreams. Most dog furbaby owners have detected that at varied times throughoutsleep, some dogs could quiver, twitch a leg, even growl or bite a sleep-created phantom, giving the impression that they're dreaming about something. At the structural level, the brains of dogs are kind of like those of humans. In addition, throughout sleep the brain-wave patterns of dogs are almost like people’s, and they exhibit identical stages of electrical activity that are observed in humans—all of that is consistent with the thought that dogs are dreaming.It is an odd proven fact that little dogs have more dreams than massive dogs do. A dog as little as a Chihuahua mightdream once each ten minutes, whereas an oversized dog like a working dog or a great dane could have about anhour between dreams. On the opposite hand, the massive dog’s dreams last longer. 

Do Dogs Smile?

In the minds of most of the people, the equivalent of a dog’s smiling is when he's wagging his tail. however there isactually one canine facial expression that comes close to what we mean by smiling in humans. During this expression, slightly opened jaws reveal the dog’s tongue covering out over his front teeth. Often the eyes take on a teardrop form at the same time, as if being force upward slightly at the outer corners. It's an off-the-cuff expression that is sometimesseen when the dog is relaxed, playing, or interacting socially, particularly with people. The moment any anxiety or stress is introduced, the dog’s mouth closes and you can no longer see the tongue.

Dogs also are capable of laughing, and they generally do so when they are playing. Canine laughter begins with the doggie equivalent of smiling however additionally includes a sound that's very like panting.

How To Make Your Dog Laugh

Humans will imitate sounds of dog laughter, but it takes conscious observation of mouth shape to get the sound pattern right. manufacturing dog laughter properly, says Coren, can make your dog sit up, wag his tail, approach you from across the room, and even laugh along.

Round your lips slightly to create a “hhuh” sound. Note: The sound should be breathy with no actual voicing, which means that if you touch your throat while creating this sound, you should not feel any vibration.

Use an open-mouthed smiling expression to create a “hhah” sound. Again, breathe the sound; don't voice it.

Combine steps one and two to make canine laughter. It ought to sound like “hhuh-hhah-hhuh-hhah.”

 I also think this is helpful too!

Dog Decoder

Perhaps the most common misinterpretation of dog behaviour is based on the myth that a dog wagging his tail is happy and friendly. Although some tail wags are associated with happiness, others can signal fear or even the warning that you are about to be bitten. 

The tail’s position, specifically the height at which it is held, serves as an emotional meter. If the tail is held at a middle height, the dog is relaxed. As the tail position moves up, it is a sign that the dog is becoming more threatening, with a vertical tail being a clearly dominant signal meaning, “I’m boss around here.” 

Similarly, barks say a lot about what your dog is thinking. Low-pitched sounds (growls) make the animal seem large and dangerous; they usually indicate anger and the possibility of aggression. High-pitched sounds mean the opposite, a request to be allowed to come closer or a signal from a large dog saying, “It’s safe to approach.”

Barks

Sound the alarm  A rapid string of two to four barks with pauses between is the most common form of barking. It means, roughly, “There’s something going on that should be checked out.” Continuous barking at a lower pitch and slower suggests the dog senses an imminent problem. It means “Danger is very close. Get ready to defend yourself!”

Hey there  One or two sharp, short barks of high or midrange pitch is the most typical greeting sound, and it usually replaces alarm barks when a visitor is recognized as friendly. Many people are greeted in this way when they walk through the door. The message is “Hello!”

Let’s hang out  A long string of solitary barks with a deliberate pause after each one is a sign of a lonely dog asking for companionship.

Time for a tussle  A stutter bark, which sounds something like “harr-ruff” is usually given with front legs flat on the ground and the rear held high. It means, simply, “Let’s play!”

Wags

Salutation  A slight tail wag, each swing small, is usually seen during greetings and can be interpreted as a tentative “Hello there” or a hopeful “I’m here.”

Satisfaction  A broad tail wag is a friendly “I’m not challenging or threatening you.” In many contexts it may also mean “I’m pleased,” and it is the closest thing to the popular conception of the “happiness” wag, especially if the tail seems to drag the dog’s hips.

Confusion  A slow wag with tail at “half mast” is less social than most of the other tail signals. Slow wags with the tail in neither a particularly dominant (high) nor submissive (low) position signal insecurity or uncertainty about what to do next.

Fight or flight  Small, high-speed tail movements that give the impression of vibrating are a sign that the dog is about to take action (run or fight, usually). If the tail is held high and vibrating, it signals what is most likely an active threat.

 Thanks so very much for reading my blog and my random thoughts sometime you just ave to let it out and it your thinking do i get down on the floor and make my furbabys laugh the answer is yes Miss Mildred loves it when I play and make the sounds above she will sit there with her tongue out smiling and making the funny laughing panting sound its so very cute, Give it a go I am sure after a little practice you will get the hang of it, 

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Hope to see you back here soon.

Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx