It's been almost a year since we started the search for our Suki. That was when a little Lhasa Apso that we immediately dubbed "Maggie" showed up on our back porch. Afraid that someone who loved her was looking for her, and wanting to do the right thing, we took her to the city animal shelter - with the intent to adopt her if her owners didn't claim her. Well, thanks to some convoluted shelter policies, that didn't work out so well; if you're interested, you can read about it at
http://rowlettcitizen.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!6077540523515428!193.entry

"Maggie," who showed up on our back porch last spring and started us on the hunt for the perfect dog

But it did get us thinking about getting a dog. We didn't want to just go out and grab the first cute puppy we saw, though. I love them all, but we have a certain lifestyle that's pretty quiet and two cats who are firmly ensconced in their roles in the family. We didn't want to upset the "order of things," and we wanted to make sure that the dog we brought in would fit in - for its own happiness as well as ours.

We'd had a dog before, but he was a bigger, outdoors dog. In fact, all my life I'd owned large dogs: chows, shepherds, afghan hounds, wolf hybrids, even a St. Bernard once, for a very short time, a long time ago. I had never had a small dog; I'd always thought of them as "yappy" and hyper. But we knew that, at this point in our lives, we wanted a little dog that could stay in the house all the time and go places with us. In March of last year, I started researching small breeds.

Dolf and Diana, my wolf hybrids (1993)

Finding the Right Breed

We first considered a Lhasa or a Shi Tzu, and I visited a rescue and wanted to bring them all home. But they were just a tad larger than what we were thinking of. We next considered a Pomeranian. I think they're beautiful little dogs, but their personalities can be a bit more "yappy" than we really wanted. Ditto for the Pekingese. We also thought about a Yorkie, but a terrier is a terrier, and we were afraid it might "terrierize" the cats a little too much. I read about the Maltese and thought it just might be the one - then in the midst of that reading, I ran across the mention of a Maltese/Japanese Chin hybrid. The description sounded like the perfect dog.

I had never heard of the Japanese Chin before, so I started looking into the breed. The more I read about them, the more excited I got. When I found them referred to, over and over, as "the most cat-like dog," and read that they were one of the calmest, quietest and least energetic of the small breeds, I knew we had found a match. I went to a dog show to see some in person, and I liked what I saw: a very small (7-12 lbs. when grown), regal little dog with an intelligent demeanor. I wanted one.

Japanese Chin at the Dallas Market Hall dog show, 2009

I started looking for a local breeder. I didn't want to have a dog shipped from some far-away place. I wanted to be able to pick out my puppy in person, to see its mom and dad. The first DFW area breeder I contacted was super nice, but he was breeding show dogs and they were priced accordingly. I didn't mind paying several hundred dollars for the dog I wanted, but going over a thousand was stretching it a bit.

Finding the Right Breeder

After making good use of search engines and the contacts I found there, I came across a Chin breeder just twenty minutes or so away, in Wylie, TX. I got in touch with her, and really liked her from the beginning. Kathi Rogers and her husband David, of Rogers' Rascals, raise their Chins (and Poms and Cavaliers) "underfoot" and seemed to really care about each individual puppy. And although the pups were registered and some were show quality, they focused on breeding dogs to be great pets, putting temperament above perfect appearance and markings. By the time I had gone through all this process and found them, it was November. They had a couple of puppies ready then, and another litter on the way. We decided to wait so we could bring the puppy home after the hectic holiday season, when we had more time to spend with it and get it settled into its new environment.

I had already decided that, if possible, I wanted a female and I wanted a red and white one. Kathi, the breeder, later told me that redheads almost always pick the red and white pups and brunettes pick the black and white ones. Since both the mom, Blondie, and the dad, Riley, were red and whites (Blondie is actually a lemon and white, which is considered a variation of red), I thought there was a good chance I'd get my wish.

Riley, the proud father of our little girl

Picking the Right Puppy

On December 1, I got an email from Kathi, telling me that Blondie had given birth to five baby girls. On December 20, we went to see them for the first time. Kniki was in town for Christmas and she, Tom and I made the journey to Wylie on that Sunday afternoon. The puppies were the tiniest things I'd ever seen. At first I was afraid to hold them, they were so little. When I did, one of them just sort of called out to me. She was neither the biggest nor the smallest, but she did have the biggest "Buddha's thumbprint," which is what they call the expanse of white fur on the top of the head between the eye/ear markings.

In the meantime, Tom was mightily tempted by one of the older black and white pups. She was a very sweet little thing, too - but I convinced him that it really was better to wait until Christmas was over, and I really felt a bond, already, with my little red and white handful of fur.

 
Tom with a 9 week old black and white Chin

So we reserved our little red and white girl, and left her to get bigger while we enjoyed the holidays. I couldn't wait until she was 9 weeks old to see her again, though. On January 10, I went back to Wylie (by myself this time) to see how she was doing. I took her a little blanket that we had slept on, so she could become familiar with our scents, and I took another baby blanket that I rubbed on her and took back home to the cats, so they could become familiar with hers. By then, she was more than a little mound of fur; she was bright eyed and active and already developing a personality.

Suki at 5 and a half weeks, when I went back to visit her

Homecoming!

Finally, on January 30, it was time for her to come home. We were so happy to finally have her with us. Tom went with me to pick her up, and I held her on the way home. We went over some bumpy roads, and she threw up a little (the only time that's happened since we got her). We had bought quite a "layette" in preparation for her homecoming: a nice crate outfitted with a comfy doggie bed and litter box filled with Feline Pine. I was amazed and thrilled when she slept through the whole night that first night, despite being away from her mom and siblings for the first time ever.

 
Suki, all curled up in her crate

We soon realized that the crate was a godsend, and bought two more. So now we have one in the bedroom where she sleeps, one in my office upstairs where I work all day, and one in the media room where we spend most of our leisure time. Before long, though, she was wanting to come out and play more and more. The cats still weren't too sure about this new creature that had suddenly appeared in their midst. Bobble, the Siamese, was a little wary but generally okay. Big Kitty, the tabby, was openly hostile and hissed and growled every time he saw her.

Every time I let her out to play on the floor, even though I was right there with her, I was tensed up because I was worried that the Big Kitty might sneak in and try to attack her. He never did, but - overprotective mom that I am - I couldn't enjoy her playtime much. I decided to get one of those folding dog pens so I could keep her confined to a smaller area (and signal the Kitty to keep out).  That worked out even better than expected, and I found myself going back for a second one of those, too - so I could permanently set one up in the office and one in the media room. I'm thinking about getting a third one. When the weather gets warmer, I can set it up outside so she can get some time to play in the fresh air. At her size, she could go right through our wrought iron fence.

 
Suki's upstairs and downstairs play areas

Here's a small plug for the company that made all these crates and pens: Midwest. We were amazed at how nicely their stuff is engineered; no tools are required to assemble any of it, and it's particularly cool, the way the crates fold out and snap together, then fold back down for storage.

The Eyes Have It

Not quite a week after we got her home, we noticed that Suki was having some discharge from her right eye. We thought it was just "sleepy," the gunk that we all get in our eyes sometimes overnight. The next day, though, it was worse - she woke up with that eye crusted shut. That didn't seem normal, and I called the vet and made preparations to take her in first thing the next morning. Thank goodness I did. The vet took one look at it and then scared the heck out of me when she said the cornea was in danger of rupturing and Suki might lose her eye. She said the best chance at saving it was to take her to a veterinary ophthalmologist. I hadn't even known that such a thing existed. The vet called the specialists and got me an emergency appointment. I swung by the house to get my checkbook (our vet also warned me that it would be expensive - $210 just for the office visit) and to tell Tom what was going on. We were both so afraid for her.

I made the long drive to the other side of Dallas with her in her little carrier. She was very good, and slept most of the way. The veterinary specialty center (in addition to the Animal Ophthalmology Clinic, they also have a veterinary dermatology clinic, veterinary radiological offices, a veterinary dermatology practice and a veterinary surgical center) is at 4444 Trinity Mills in northwest Dallas. The doctor we saw was Jeff Studer, and he was just great with her. All of the folks at the clinic made a big fuss over her and how cute she is, and all obviously really care about the animals, as more than just a job. If you're in the DFW area and you ever have a dog with eye problems, I highly recommend them.

He put my mind a little more at ease after the exam. Although he said it was indeed bad, and he would have recommended surgery if she were bigger, he wanted to treat it medically because he felt the anesthesia would be too dangerous for her. He also made me feel much better when he said that even if it did rupture, that didn't necessarily mean she would lose sight in the eye. He gave me four different types of medications in the form of drops that had to be put in her eye three times a day, plus a lubricant drop for both eyes. As for what caused it, he noted that she didn't seem to be producing tears properly or shutting her eye completely. It's called keratoconjunctivitis sicca (dry eye) and apparently it's pretty common in dogs.  He scheduled another appointment the next week and I went home a little less panicked.

All this happened on Feb. 3. So we began the routine of administering the eye drops every six hours or so during the day. We were both supposed to be going to the annual Microsoft MVP Summit in Redmond Feb. 15-19, and Kniki was going to come stay with the pets while we were gone. With all this going on, and more vet visits scheduled, I decided to cancel. It's the first time since I became an MVP six years ago that I would miss the Summit, but I knew I needed to be here with my "baby" during this difficult time. And putting the drops in without a second person to help would be difficult at best, so I couldn't leave Kniki alone with that duty.

Meanwhile, Suki didn't seem to be aware that there was anything wrong. She continued to play and eat and grow and be a sweet little doggie. She did get more active after starting the medications, so I guess she did feel better. I took her back to the ophthalmologist the next week, on Feb. 9, and the doc was pretty pleased with her progress. The cornea hadn't ruptured, the eye had started healing and she was doing, in his words, better than he expected. We had to continue the drops, though, and he added a drop for her left eye as a preventative measure. We scheduled another appointment for Feb. 23.

Now she was turning into a dog - developing more dog-like stances and expressions, as opposed to the puppy look.

Suki, on her journey from puppyhood to small dogdom

Kniki's Visit

Kniki came to spend the week with me and the animals while Tom was out of town. She got here on Feb. 13 and she wanted us to all go out to eat before Tom left. It would be the first time that we had both left the house at the same time since we got Suki, and I suffered from more separation anxiety than she did, I think. I had left her in her pen in my office, and at the restaurant, I started worrying that I might not have closed the office door completely and the Big Kitty might be able to get in there and "get" her. I didn't enjoy the meal at all. I was very relieved when we got home, the door was shut, and she was okay. The others teased me mercilessly about my OCD.

She did exhibit some signs that she'd had some anxiety of her own, though. She was much shyer and quieter than usual that evening, and seemed afraid of something. I guess it was because, for the first time, she had cried and nobody came. Over the next week, though, we left her alone for an hour or two several times, gradually increasing the time, and she started to get used to it, and stopped acting that way. She was still glad to see us when we got home, but didn't act as if she had thought we were never coming back.

On the 16th, I took her back to her "primary care" vet, for her second round of puppy shots. She was very good, again, and quickly became the darling of the whole office. She seems to do that everywhere she goes. They warned me that she might have a mild reaction to the shots (parvo, canine hepatitis, distemper) and/or be sore the next day, but she never exhibited any symptoms at all. She was her old self, playing hard and eating everything she could.

Kniki was a huge help to me in taking care of her, but on the 20th she had to fly back to San Diego. We gave Suki her morning eye treatments, then I took her to the airport. Then, since Tom wasn't getting home until late that evening, I had to give Suki her noon treatment all by myself. I was afraid it would be a disaster, but by then she was so used to getting it done that she let me put the drops in with very little fuss.

The Continuing Story

Tom got in that night and wow, was Suki ever happy to see him. I don't know if she thought he was gone for good or what, but she obviously remembered him and was thrilled that he was back. I took her back to the ophthalmologist on Feb. 23 and once again, he was happy with her progress. So much so that he discontinued two of her medications and dropped the other two back to just once per day (along with continuing the lubricant 3x). After doing five drops three times a day, that seems like nothing to both me and her.

Tom and Suki

She's growing like the proverbial weed. At her first vet visit on Feb. 3, she weighed 1.9 lbs. On Feb. 16, she weighed 2.6 lbs. I would lay odds she's close to 3 lbs. now. The Big Kitty is slowly coming to grudgingly accept her. Now he doesn't hiss every time he walks by her. He even got close enough to touch noses with her yesterday, while I was holding her. Bobble stays pretty close by her (albeit on the opposite side of the fence) and watches over her, but she'll still give a little motherly type of hiss if Suki gets too rowdy and starts running or barking around her.

 
Suki and Bobble

Bobble sleeping on the chair; Suki is sleeping inside the little playhouse

She is a joy to have around. Expensive - yes. A lot of work - yes. She's changed my whole schedule; I used to stay up 'til the wee hours and sleep until 8:30 or 9:00 a.m.  Now I'm up when she wakes up, which is usually between 5:00 a.m. and 7:00 a.m. (and most often closer to the 5:00 a.m. end). I can't just take off and go someplace whenever I want now; I have to think about Suki and how long she'll be left alone and when her eyes will need to be treated. I have to be very careful to watch where I'm stepping when she's on the floor - she's way too small and I'm still always afraid I'm going to step on her. There's another mouth to feed and thus one more dish of food to prepare at meal time (she loves chopped cooked chicken best of all, just like her "big sister," Bobble).

And she's worth every bit of it. At first, we wondered "Why did this have to happen to the one puppy that we got?"  But I believe things usually happen for a reason, and after we thought about it, we realized that this turned out for the absolute best. Some people would have seen her as "defective" and taken her back, demanded their money back or traded her for a "healthy" puppy. Some would have loved her but might not have been able to afford to take her to the specialist. We are blessed in that we're able to give her what she needs to get better. And although we loved her already anyway, I think we've actually bonded more with her than we would have otherwise, because of all that she's been through (that we've been through together).

Friends (including the four-legged kind) often show up in our lives when we need them most - even if we didn't know we needed them until they got here. As much as I adore my cats, I've missed also having a dog. When I was growing up, my family always had both. It feels as if Suki has made our family complete, and after less than a month, she is inextricably entwined in our hearts.

UPDATE: May 15, 2010
Suki has been with us for three and a half months now and we love her more every day. She is growing into a beautiful, good dog and a wonderful companion. We walk every day, and Tom has even started coming with us on weekdays. We explore the neighborhood, get some exercise and fresh air, and it's a wonderful bonding experience - for all of us.

Her eyes have been clear and she hasn't had to go back to the ophthalmologist for a while. She has a checkup in June, just to make sure all's still well. She's finished all her shots, and is scheduled to get "fixed" in July when she's seven months old. She loves to play outside, yam and duck jerky are her favorite treats, and she still uses her litter box (with no accidents) and sleeps through the night - until 7:30 or 8:00 a.m. now.

She even has her own Facebook page!  You can be her friend; just look for "Suki Shinder."  She whispers her updates into my ear and I type them for her. :)

Back to Suki's Homepage

Copyright 2010 Debra Littlejohn Shinder