Our experience of raising a dog in China (page 2)

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Growth chart

(Our vet estimated that she was born in early October)

We measure her from shoulders to ground and collar to rear, as suggested at http://www.sonic.net/~cdlcruz/GPCC/library/measure.htm. But she doesn't exactly stand still to be measured, so these are rough estimates! It looks like she maxed out at about 26 weeks, with minor fluctuations (likely recorder error) after that.

(Left) Gimli likes to "dance" with towels, clinging to them by wrapping her front paws around the towel, which is also in her mouth. As we move the towel, she waltzes around the floor! It is really cute. The photo on the right shows one her many facial expressions.

     By the start of 2007, Gimli was still crying when she wasn't around others, so Michael fenced in part of his office--put promptly ended up with a puddle and pile on the floor. In fact, Gimli was still making daily mistakes (forgetting to go to a designated potty place). So, Michael constructed a tunnel between the laundry room and a large box in his office. He lined both with plastic, and also covered the hall rug with plastic. This let Gimli be near him while he was working.

      By the way, it gets pretty cold in the apartment at nights, and Gimli was always shivering when she was a puppy (she doesn't have much fur!). The solution came when we found a doggie-electric-blanket at a pet store. It isn't much bigger than the bottom of her crate, and Vivian made a soft cover for it (the pad is waterproof). Unfortunately Gimli liked to "dig" in her crate, and even to chew on the power cord, so we had to sew it into a heavier cover and tie it to the back of the crate so that the wire was out of her reach. Such projects sound simple, but take hours! (After a year or so, she stopped sleeping in the crate, and we stopped using the electric pad.)

     By mid January Gimli had outgrown her baby clothes (sorry, no photos), so Vivian bought this doggie jacket (mainly for it's size and design, not what it says!). It's rather funny to see those words on such a small bundle of fur! Too bad most of our neighbors can't read the sign!

(Above) The right side of the above photo shows Gimli's passage from the laundry room, through the dining room, to the kitchen. (I can't remember how long we used this; just a few months while she was still forgetting to do to the potty.) She often sat in this "run" and whined for attention when we started to eat--but that usually only lasted a few minutes. Chewing on the fence puts her in "time out," but she stopped doing this after the "terrible twos" passed.

     Once the "run" was removed, she was allowed to sit on a rug (in the same space) while we eat. Limiting her from being "anywhere in the dining room" keeps her from being under foot or begging for food.

      On January 20 (Gimli was about 15 weeks old), something changed; it was like Gimli entered the "terrible twos." She became more fussy, bit at us more while playing, stopped eating out of her dish, and seemed more hyper. We read that this is a two-week period when a dog tests it's limits to see who is boss. Fortunately, she was back to normal is less than two weeks, but similar behavior showed up at 21 weeks.

     From the very beginning, even until now, she has always liked to be with someone, and preferably on a lap--and Andrew's lap is her favorite.

      To get Gimli off Michael's desk (see above), we built her a two-story dog house (mid January) and put it in the box in Michael's room. "Downstairs," she liked to "hide" and play with chew toys, while "upstairs" she seems happy to sleep. Initially (as in the photo below) she was on top of her hot-water-bottle friend, but for convenience we replaced that with a hand warmer that could be plugged in, and once spring finally came we replaced that with a towel and pillow (that had to be nailed in place because she likes to drag her bedding to other rooms!).

       By April, she had dislodged the pillow from it's nails and had all-but outgrown this "penthouse", so we eventually replaced it with a bigger one (see below)--after her first year, we also didn't see a need to "heat" her bed.

      As you can see from these 2010 photos, the new penthouse is also an extension for Michael's desk. You can also see the cardboard "wall" between Gimli's area and Michael's area of the office. Gimli could easily jump this wall, but she knows she isn't supposed to, so she never has.

      Her "penthouse" is Gimli's preferred place when Vivian and Andrew are out or busy with other things. She also sometimes sleeps here while Michael works at his computer late into the night. The upper level is within Michael's reach, so Gimli feels close to a family member (she hates to be alone).

 In early February (17 weeks old), Gimli gave us quite a scare as blood appeared in her stool. Michael (and our housekeeper) took her to the vet, who said she had probably eaten something that was cutting her up inside (a piece of bone or rawhide, or one of the stones she loved to eat on her walks when she was tiny).

At the Vet

The Chinese medical solution to most situations is an IV (输液), but we were shocked that they even give IVs to puppies! (Our friends can't believe that we never had an IV until we came to China--they get them every time they catch a bad cold.) Michael and the housekeeper took turns holding Gimli still for about two hours on three days, and Gimli wasn't the only dog in the freezing animal hospital (which, like almost all Chinese businesses in Kunming, had the doors open and didn't have any heaters). Between the cold, and the cruelty (to our western minds) of forcing a puppy to sit still with medicine dripping in, three days was all Michael could take. He asked the vet if there were any alternatives to this treatment, and the answer was "no." Then he asked what medicine was being pumped into our dog, but the vet said he never tells pet owners what medicine is being used. Even though he asked us to come back for at least two more days of IV, we had had enough and didn't go back. Fortunately, Gimli's bleeding had already stopped and she was better within a few days. The problem has never returned.

      After Gimli was a year old we gave her more freedom. In fact, we just let her be wherever she wanted to be. That was a mistake! One day in October 2007 (soon after her first birthday), I was working in my office and heard a strange "bell" ringing over and over. It turned out to be Gimli's name plate, as she clawed her way through one of our seat cushions! By the time I decided to investigate, well, you can see what she had accomplished. On another occasion, she had jumped up on our bed (one of the few places she is not allowed to be without an invitation) and shredded some papers Vivian had been working on. After that, we decided that Gimli should not be too far from where we are!

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