Thursday, 26 May 2016

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 sidehowever 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 oxytocinthat in humans is involved with love and tendernesstherefore 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 oldA 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 oldVery 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 groundbad 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 additionthroughout 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 peopleThe 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 laughingand 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 voicingwhich 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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 I really love reading your comments its so much fun to see what everyone else is getting up too,
Hope to see you back here soon.

Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx







Thursday, 5 May 2016

Miss Mildred Furbaby Friend Sleeps Over


 Hello everyone today I would like to talk about 
Miss Mildred and her furbaby friend sleepover.
So just the other weekend we had the pleasure of looking after the handsome and adorable longhaired chihuahua Benji. What a fun time we all had , Oh did I forget to tell you that 
Miss Mildred really has not made friends with other dog that are not in her pack so this was a very interesting time in our household. 
Miss Mildred and Benji first got to see and interact with each other at a chihuahua playdate and Miss Mildred only warmed up to him while her furbrother George just loved running around with all his new furry friends. Little Miss Mildred was so very shy and timid. I would have never thought that she would be like that as she is the boss of all the other dogs in our pack of 6 furbabys so gee it was strange to she her like this but we stayed with her and she just was so interested with little cute Benji,




Now look at him just so very cute, and he is loving cuddly and so so sweet. The big day arrived and baby Benji was dropped off for the weekend now as things progressed Miss Mildred would run away from the 8mth old furbaby Benji   All he wanted to do was play with her so for the first 3 hours it was like a game of tag in the house I had three dogs running around chasing each other! Bugga me it was crazy and funny at the same time. Whenever the little cuddle bug Benji would come and sit with me on my lap 
Miss Mildred would growl show her teeth and she just was not happy with someone else getting cuddles from her mumma! Then it was bed time and as we have a great games room that is where the three furbabies were tucked in for the night it was with a heavy heart I left them to settle down.
I also thought by leaving them alone together they would sort out the doggie stuff!


And to my amazement hooray!! The Furbabys were now friends and we had three more days to play together so now the two chihuahuas were fast fury friends. At this time Sir George thought he would start to not like the new puppy and when the two furbaby chihuahuas started playing  (play fighting) with growling and barking George  thought they were hurting each other and he would come over to try and sort it out hence, He would try to stand over little baby Benji. 
Miss Mildred is a very vocal chihuahua so even though she wasn't being hurt it was distressing of him to hear it, yet its the same sound she makes when playing with him so gee. It was so much fun to have little Benji for the weekend and 
Miss Mildred got to make a new friend.
I can't wait to look after him again. So have any of you had a similar experience with a new furbaby coming into your home? Please let us know as we would love to hear about it! 


So thanks for reading about Miss Mildred and her furbaby sleep over. I love letting you all know about what Miss Mildred is getting up to and what new information we have found that could help you furbaby mum and dads out, My question is do you like the information blogs or the Miss Mildred update blogs? Let us know in the comments below!! 



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Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx


Wednesday, 13 April 2016

Chihuahua Colours and Markings Are Fun.



Colours are fun! Let's first though discuss leather.


'Leather' on a chihuahua is the colour of it's nose, pads of feet, eye rims, gums, etc on your Chihuahua. Please try to remember a simple fact. TRUE BLUE Chihuahuas have BLUE leather, not black. Chocolate Chihuahuas have Chocolate leather and all others have black.



If you have a "chocolate" Chihuahua with a black nose, it is likely a red, not a chocolate and if you have a "real dark blue" Chihuahua with a black nose, it is almost certainly a black Chi, not a blue one. Pigment should completely cover the nose leather.

When I refer to blue dogs, I mean the blue gene with blue nose that can also occur in the patterns of brindle or merle as well. Same goes for chocolate and all others including standard brindles or merles have a black nose (leather).

Follow me so far?  
smile emoticon


Tricolour (black, blue or chocolate with tan and white markings) bred to another tricolor will produce only tricolor puppies. 

Same goes with two dogs with Irish markings bred together and bicolors bred together.

Merles are always best bred to solid studs, bicolors or tricolors. You should avoid breeding a merle to a fawn, white or spotted on white and NEVER EVER EVER breed two merles together even if you think they are both healthy.

Brindle to Brindle or fawn will usually result in brindles being born and or other colors. Remember brindle and merle are PATTERNS not colors. 

BLUE BRINDLE and/or REVERSE BLUE BRINDLE ise the most unpredicatable gene. This colouring may appear when neither parent is either blue or brindle. 

Brindling oftentimes (especially in the case of reverse brindle) does not show up right away in the coat colour of the Chihuahua and is commonly not seen until the adult coat starts to come in.  

Merles are BORN MERLE evenwhen hidden with only a couple merle hairs on the whole puppy. Their merle may fade over time (particularly in fawns and reds) but will not increase as the pup ages.




Chocolates & Blues are NOT RARE. However, if you have lines carrying dominant colors it is harder for you to pull these colors from your lines. Remember, as with brindle, you must have blue on both sides of the line for blue pups to be born even if that blue gene is a ways back. The blue can be in brindle (standard or reverse), merle, spotted on white or with bi or tricolours. 


You MAY breed a chocolate to a blue but these are both dilute colours and breeding them together will almost always dull the colour. You can get blue (if on both sides), chocolate or what are now referred to as lavender or lilac pups which are really just a diluted chocolate. 





Now do we wish to start on the markings gee whizz this is going to be fun as there are so many different combinations, So where do we begin and remember not all markings and colours are approved by the show ring but gee if you love your furbaby that is all that matters. 

Lets begin !



A marked chihuahuaA marked chihuahua
Marked: A marked Chihuahua is any solid colour with a few markings on the face or body that are not common enough or specific enough to warrant a named marking.


splashed chihuahuasplahed chihuahua
Splashed: A splashed Chihuahua typically has large splashes of colour over a solid coloured body. Splashes can come in any color, but usually involves white or tan - Black & Tan, Blue & Tan, Fawn & White, Black & Red, etc.
Merle ChihuahuaMerle Chihuahua
Merle: A Merle is actually not a colour but a pattern of mottled or marbled colours in a dog's coat. Merle's usually have blue or uniquely coloured eye.




Sable ChihuahuaSable Chihuahua
Sable: Sable pattern colouring happens more often and more dramatically in long haired Chihuahuas than in short haired ones because it requires an undercoat, although short coats can also have undercoats. A Sable has darker coloured hair in the top coat, and a lighter coloured bottom coat. Sometimes the hair itself is lighter at the bottom and becomes darker towards the top of    hair shaft. They usually have a black top 
Brindle ChihuahuaBrindle Chihuahua
Brindle: A Brindle is a series of stripes or streaks of a darker color than the base coat. It is also called tiger striped. There is a reverse brindle which is just an over concentration of black stripes making it appear black till close examination.
Irish Marked ChihuahuaIrished Marked Chihuahua
Irish Marked: An Irish Marked Chihuahua is any color combination of a darker color with a white chest, legs, neck ring, and sometimes a blaze. The neck ring does not have to be full ring.
Piebald ChihuahuaPiebald Chihuahua
Piebald or Pied:A piebald happens when only the head, a small part of the back, and the base of the tail have colouring  the rest will be white. Often times versions of the Piebald are called a Black Mask. The white hair in a Piebald dog happens because the dog's hair has no pigment. The hair that has pigment is usually black, but can be any darker colour.
Tri-colored ChihuahuaTri-colored Chihuahua
Tri-Colored: Is a combination of three colors with the major color being black or brown variations along with some shade of tan, showing up around the eyes, ears, belly, legs, tail tip. The white is on the underside of the Chihuahua dog such as the chest and feet, a lot of the time the dog has a blaze or spots of white on face.




 Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred 

Thanks so much for reading my blog 
on Chihuahua Colours and Markings.
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and if you have any suggestions just leave them below in the comments. Once again thankyou for reading !







Sunday, 10 April 2016

What specifically are Merle chihuahuas?



Merle chihuahuas are said to be the newest ‘style’ or ‘designer colour’ to gain popularity among chihuahua breeding throughout the past fifteen years, however because of potential health issues, merle chihuahuas are seldom mentioned in credible books about genetic colouring patterns of the breed.  Chocolate and long haired merle chihuahuas also are a rare find, therefore making them more fascinating to people that are more concerned about creating a ‘fashion’ statement.

How does merle breeding work?


The merle gene can change the pigmentation of their base color causing them to possess a lighter coloured spots throughout their coat.  Merles will produce very intriguing and distinctive colored chihuahuas and from time to time can often have blue eyes.  The merle gene is also a dominant gene. This suggests that one parent should be a merle for the gene to be passed on to their offspring. Therefore the gene won't remain dormant for several years then suddenly surface.

Are merle chihuahuas more vulnerable to health issues than other chihuahuas?

The most controversial  and debatable issue with merle chihuahuas is if there exists an increase in potential health issues.  if a breeder doesn't breed responsibly, then there undoubtedly exists an magnified health risk with merle chihuahuas, however if a breeder breeds responsibly and is credible, merle chihuahuas are generally happy and healthy similar to all other chihuahuas.

A breeder doesn't breed responsibly if they mate two purebred merles together, where each parents are merles.  By doing so that they suppose they're strengthening the merle color, however in actual truth they're making a recipe for disaster because the double merle gene will produce chihuahuas with serious health defects that include visual defect, hearing impairment and even severe deformities.

Are there any other health issues in merle chihuahuas?

Sometimes merle chihuahuas are sensitive to daylight when they have the blue eye color, therefore it’s necessary to keep this in mind when outdoors on those bright and sunny days.

So what will all this mean?

Merle chihuahuas are even as cherubic as other chihuahuas. Its  unaccountable breeding practices that cause major health issues in merle chihuahuas. Therefore do your research and make queries if you're considering obtaining a merle chihuahua.  Don’t be afraid to research the breeder.  We’d additionally suggest that you simply think about rescuing or adopting a chihuahua from a shelter because those are the chihuahuas that require you the most!


 Okay so thats a little about the Merle Chihuahua. Miss Mildred and I hope you enjoyed our blog on this subject I really love doing this kind of information blog as while I am  doing my research I learn so much more every time I do so. We would love some ideas on other blogs to do as that would be fantastic.



  Miss Mildred and I Miss Squeak 
would love to thank you all for reading! 
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Monday, 15 February 2016

Miss Squeaks Update on Miss Mildred


                          
Okay today I am just going to do a update on little Miss Mildred as a few things have changed, We have moved and she knows the house very well and is normally very good.
But lately she has started to poo in the house and gee it's not that big of a problem but it's still annoying lucky she is cute and her poos are small so I just pick them up and flush them away in to the dark unknown! So I have started to do the alarm training again so every hour we go outside and I place her on the toilet and say go wee wee or go poo poo she will wee no problems but getting her to poo on command is a little difficult. She like to poo near the spa now yes its outside but not on the toilet baby steps and least she is not pooping in the house yay that's I small victory to say the least. I was thing it's because of her furbrother 
Sir George and it smells like him so I am going to get her a toilet of her own and put it near the spa as that's where she is going to the toilet at the moment. Chihuahuas are a hard breed to potty train anyway and I thought I was out of the woods but we have been given a curve ball and we are dealing with it. She is so smart and picks up new tricks very easily so I am thinking we will so have this in the past. The key is not to get angry as its really not her fault. Did any of you have this problem? As I think it is a common problem with most dogs when they are used to a regular routine. Many changes have happened like now 
Miss Mildred and Sir George sleep out the back not in the cold we have a games room where we spend most of our time so they have a aircon beds toys and access to outside if they wish to go out there. We decided to do this as Miss Mildred was barking at midnight and then again at thee in the morning just to go and get a drink of water or because she could her the kids gaming in the bedroom next door it was like having a toddler again we went through this for a month and because my Monster works twelve hour shifts it was becoming a problem with broken sleep for me. I just wasn't having a restful sleep and I was getting grumpy. I felt so bad for making the furbabys sleep in the back room. What I forgot to mention was when Miss Mildred wanted to go out I had to carry her downstairs so she would not wee on the floor as everyone knows when a puppy wakes up in my experience they will need to wee so I wouldn't let her touch the floor just in case she might wee. I believe it was just a habit she had formed. So now when we get ready for bed our beautiful sweet little furbabys jump into their own beds and wait for us to tuck them in and it's much better as we are all getting a better sleep and it's has helped the furbabys remember that they are dog are are lower in the pack then us. Because dog are really good at training their humans to do what they want us to do. So Miss Mildred and Sir George are happier and more content with the control shift dig like to know their place in the pack and they like rules and boundaries it makes for a happy home. 

    

So little Miss Mildred has started to become a even better furbaby just by changing a few little things in her day to day life and gee a new more in control puppy I now have. I was so guilty with myself because I was not allowing the furbabys to sleep in our room or should I say our bed but look at the photo above they don't look half mistreated do they hmmm, Nope look very happy and comfortable they are up in the morning at 4.30am as I make Monsterface his breakfast and cuppa tea before he goes to work so then the furbabys come and have a nanna nap with me in the bed (but don't tell Monsterface) After having 
Miss Mildred in the bed with me for over a year it was just like putting your baby in to the cot or in to their own bedroom and gee my boys Zachary and Quentin both slept with me until they went into big boy beds at the age of four or so. And it's just a habit I passed on to 
Miss Mildred naughtie Miss Squeak! Chihuahuas love to be warm and loved having her smuggling up to me but now I have my Monster to cuddle at night and our furbabys have each other. And I don't have to get up three times a night to sort Miss Mildred out because now if she wants a wee or a drink she can have one yay!

   

So like I said before today's blog was just a little update on the going on's of the 
Monster and Miss Squeak household hope you enjoyed it , and if you have any stories you would like to tell me please do so in the comments below as I would love to read them or if you have a issue you might want me to blog about I would love to know! 
Thanks very much for reading and Please Remember to Like +1 Comment and Share! 

Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx 

      


 

Friday, 12 February 2016

New Puppy Its Potty Training Time !

       ..New Puppy Its Potty Training Time..

   Okay now we have a new puppy in the 


house and well first we 
have to let her get to know her new surrounding ,
so allow your puppy to walk around and smell out 
all the new things in the environment .

House training your puppy is about consistency, patience, and positive reinforcement. The goal is to instill smart habits and build a warm bond along with your pet.

It usually takes 4-6 months for a puppy to be absolutely house trained, however some puppies could take up to a year. Size will be a predictor. for example, smaller breeds have smaller bladders and better metabolisms and need additional frequent journeys outside. Your puppy's previous living conditions are another predictor. you'll notice that you simply ought to facilitate your puppy to break recent habits so as to help your  puppy make new ones.

As I got my Chihuahua Mildred from a breeder she was penned with her brothers and sister in a play pen and they were allowed to toilet in the same place where they slept so we are constantly on the ball watching her and by the time you have had your puppy for around 
2 weeks you should be able to see your pup smelling the ground and well my little fur baby walks around in circles and smells the floor 
so i know that she wants to go outside to the toilet ,
But don't be fooled you must go and place your puppy in the area you want them to go don't just place the pup outside as they will want to be with you so they might want to wee and poo at the backdoor . 
My little girl still has a few little mishaps but what can you do !
All you can to is be on your toes and if an accident happens its not the pups fault they are still learning ! 


When to Begin House Training Puppy

Experts recommend that you begin house training your puppy 

when he is between 12 weeks and 16 weeks old. At that point, he 

has enough control of his bladder and bowel movements to learn

 to hold it.

If your puppy is older than 12 weeks when you bring him home 

and he’s been eliminating in a cage (and possibly eating his 

waste), house training may take longer. You will have to reshape 

the dog’s behaviour -- with encouragement and reward.

Steps for Housetraining Your Puppy


Experts recommend confining the puppy to a defined space, 

whether that means in a crate, in a room, or on a leash. As your 

puppy learns that he needs to go outside to do his business, you 

can gradually give him more freedom to roam about the house.



  • When you start to house train, follow these steps:
  • Keep the puppy on a regular feeding schedule and take away his 
  • food  between meals. 

  • Take puppy out to eliminate first thing in the morning and then 
  • once every 30 minutes to an hour. 

  • Also, always take him outside 
  • after meals or when he wakes from a nap. 

  • Make sure he goes out 
  • last thing at night and before he’s left alone. 

  • Take puppy to the same spot each time to do his business. His 
  • scent will prompt him to go. 


  • Stay with him outside, at least until he’s house trained
  • When your puppy eliminates outside, praise him or give him a
  •  
  • treat. A walk around the neighbourhood is a nice reward. 

Thnaks for Reading !

Miss Squeak and Miss Mildred xx

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