Off to the vet for a check up

We went to the vet today just to get Kiwi all checked out. The shelter diagnosed her with hypothyroid which is a condition easily maintained with medicine. We wanted to run a thyroid panel to see how her medicine may need to be adjusted if at all.

First big suprised as the vet was that Kiwi had gone from a whopping 91lbs when admitted to the shelter mid-October to 74lbs!!!! This is probably a combo of her exercise, change in diet and also the thyroid medication.

Vet said seh looked great otherwise and ran the full thyroid panel. We did have to increase her thyroid medication and will re-do the test in another month..but she is in great health and on her way to being a much more fit girl :)

Another day at the dog park

Kiwi had another fun day at the dog park

Exploring at Freedom Park. she was interested in the water but did not venture in.

Long Day for Kiwi..shes sleepy.

Even Grayce is sleepy too on the car ride home. Grayce on left and Kiwi on right.

Happy pups on their way home for a nap.

Bones Yum!

Tonight Matt and I had friends visiting the house so I decided to give Grayce and Kiwi each a small rawhide stick to eat and keep them busy while we all ate our pizza. Grayce of course finished her bone first than insisted on watching Kiwi finish hers and giving me the evil eye.

Immediately after Kiwi finished her bone and got up..Grayce walked over (right in front of me) sniffed out where the bone was, squatted down and marked the spot!!! I was stunned..Grayce has not peed indoors in over 2 years!! Although the last time she had done it was when the first time I brought her to my parents house she ran around and when she came to the spot my childhood dog used to have accidents as she got older she squatted and marked. Grayce knew she was in trouble after that and moped behind Matt for the next hour haha.

At least I got some funny pictures out of the whole thing..Grayce's expression is pretty classic right before she did the marking.

Kiwi and her Dumbo ears enjoying the bone

Nom!!!

Grayce giving me the evil eye

Grayce: "wait until you see what I plan on doing when she finishes"

Happy Thanksgiving Kiwi!

For Thanksgiving Matt and I took Kiwi and Grayce to the local dog park where we met up with my brother and his puggle, Maddy. It was the first time taking Kiwi out and about and I was hesitant to let her off leash but after a bit took the risk and she was great. She obviously loves being around other dogs but she doesnt quite seem to know how to play with them. She just wags her little nub tail, walks up to them gives a sniff and hangs around. Everyone once in awhile I would do a double take and think I lost Kiwi ..give a quick look around and find that she has just wondered over to the closest person and nuzzled up against them looking for a good pat on the head. Everyone at the dog park loved her!! We are going to get her an "Adopt Me" bandana so she can wear it anytime we go..maybe her forever family will find her there since shes such a love bug.

She suprised me when my brother picked up a stick and she went crazy bouncing around barking excitedly for him to throw it. She only fetched it once because if any other dog went for it she just gave up...but it was great to see her happy and playing.

We had a blast!!!

Kiwi comes "home"

Kiwi was being fostered by the local Camp Bow Wow but my boyfriend and I decided we would be able to make space for her in our home until she was adopted. Camp BowWow was a GREAT place for her but as an older girl and the fact that it may take a bit longer to find her a home we thought it would be better for her to be able to spend her time in a home environment.

I picked her up the day before thanksgiving and she immediately made herself right at home with my weim. Grayce is a 4 and a half year old female that can sometimes be a bit dominant but since Kiwi is such a mellow girl I figured it would be just fine and it was. They already cuddle and snuggle up on the couch together.

Grayce on the left and Kiwi on right

Kiwi's Arrives in Nj

Kiwi foster plans changed a few times over the first few weeks she was in NJ. She spent her first week in a temporary foster while we finalized plans for her long term foster. An opportunity came up for us to partner with Camp Bow Wow and they offered to foster Kiwi for us long term. We decided to give this option a try and since the Camp Bow Wow was located near me and I would plan to pick Kiwi up some days/weekends to make sure she still got to spend time in a home environment and get a break from the daycare environment.
Kiwi was extremely nervous when she first arrived at Camp BowWow but quickly warmed up and seemed to enjoy mingling with the other dogs. All of the staff at CBW instantly fell in love with Kiwi and found that she was so mellow they were able to use her to calm down some of the craziest and most high strung dogs.
I went to visit Kiwi today to meet her and get some pictures for her petfinder. I was surprised when I met her that she did not seem nearly as large as the picture I had seen of her made her look. She was a bit nervous and skeptical of me at first but very quickly warmed up and began to nudge up against me wagging her nub looking for attention.

Here are the pictures

Kiwi's Past

A wonderful woman named Marie contacted Tri-State Weim Rescue and informed us of a senior weim located in the Coastal Humane Society in Maine. They do not have a local weim rescue and she was willing to personally drive Kiwi out to us if we would take her in.
Kiwi's background is a sad story of being used as a breeding machine. We are unsure of how many litters she had but her poor belly shows it was def quite a few (shes in need of a tummy tuck!). In 2007 she apparently stopped "taking" when bred. She was spayed and than given up in 2009 because she was "getting older"..this was the actual reason written on her surrender paperwork.
Kiwi's skin and fur are a bit of a mess as she had a flea allergy and apparently had fleas...she also was diagnosed by the shelter vet with a hypothyroid condition which she is now on medication for. The first picture of Kiwi that Tri-State received make her look like one of the most overweight weims we have seen yet!

It took some work as the shelter Kiwi was at had a Distemper outbreak scare that turned out to only be Canine Flu outbreak so all dogs were quarantined and put on a hold. We thought we were going to have to wait months to bring Kiwi to us but it turned out she tested negative so the shelter allowed Marie to bring her to us. So Kiwi began the journey to her new future.