I hope you guys are feeling great and having a wonderful day! For this blog I’m going to be talking to you guys about my love for animals and how I got on the path to becoming an RVT. Let’s get started!
Starting off when I was just a little girl, I have always loved dogs. I loved every kind of dog out there. If I saw one walking at the park, then you best believe I was trying my best to pet it. Their faces are just so kissable!! I would fight an army to get to the dog just to be able to say, “Hi!” My parents taught me from a young age not to run up to a dog, always ask before just petting them, don’t right off the back make eye contact. and show the back of your hand first and let them sniff you. This is a good habit to have for young kids. Startling a dog who does not know you can always go south real fast. As a kid I always hated all those steps because I immediately just wanted to run up and hug them. I was also a VERY shy kid so asking if I could pet your dog was a struggle. There would be sometimes where I would just sacrifice the pet because I was too scared to ask. I’m still like that sometimes, although my shyness is not nearly as bad. When it came to seeing my own dogs, well then I was all over them.
Growing up I had a siamese cat named Sheba, a black lab mix named Zoey, and when I was about 3 we got a dachshund name Gidget. I was so young when we got Gidget that I don’t remember the time before we had her, so I consider my childhood dog. I don’t remember much about Sheba, mainly that he would eat our house plants and throw up. We had to put him down when I was still a fairly young age. I mainly just remember him being there, but not so much any memories of him.
My parents got Zoey as a stray, this was their first pet together. They had her for 3 years before I was born. She was my baby. I was just a short tiny kid so whenever I hugged her it would be around the neck. Zoey tolerated that for approximately around 10 seconds then it was time to growl to warn me to let go. I remember Zoey a little better than Sheba because Zoey was around till I was about 9. Although I have some memories not all are very clear anymore. I mostly just remember her last year or so. One memory I do have of her is when it was bath time for her. Zoey hated, and I mean HATED, bath time. There was absolutely no way we were getting her in the tub. My dad came up with the idea that he was going to hold her on a leash while I take the hose and spray her down. It worked relatively well, she still tried to fight the water, but we got her at least semi-clean. Mission accomplished I’d say! In 2010 we had to put Zoey down. It was a very sad time, but she had such bad arthritis and hip dysplasia that she couldn’t get up to use the bathroom. She will always be my baby girl, and I keep a picture of her to this day in my room.
The first memory I have a Gidget is the night my mom brought her home. I was 3 at the time and my dad and I were upstairs in their room watching TV. I heard mom come home, I ran to the top of the stairs to see her carrying a puppy up the stairs. I freaked out and yelled, “Mommy got a puppy!” Gidget had the biggest ears for a puppy, almost like a basset hound with their long ears. When my mom got her they said she was supposed to be a miniature dachshund, we later learned as she grew up that was not the case. I’m not sure if she was just a huge miniature dachshund or was just a normal dachshund, but she was not tiny. We enjoyed spoiling her with treats so she put on a few pounds, but still adorable! When Gidget was still young she blew a disc in her back from jumping up and down (common for dachshunds due to their long back.) She wasn’t able to walk or move due to the pain and nerve damage. The vet performed surgery to repair the damage. That surgery went great! She got her motor skills all the way back to 100%! The goal afterwards is to keep her from jumping, and if you would have met her then you would know she is STUBBORN. I can not exaggerate enough on the stubborn part. There was no keeping her from doing anything she didn’t want to do. Whenever we would try to lift her up and down off the furniture, or carry her up and down the stairs, she would beat us to it and go by herself anyways. She did not even care that she hurt her back and can’t do that. Since she was so stubborn, the injury happened again. She was back to not being able to walk or move. We couldn’t afford the second surgery so all we could was keep her in a crate to keep from moving for about 6 weeks. The vet told us that however she was walking wise now is how she is going to be without the surgery. We felt awful and started to look up “doggie wheelchairs.” due to being paralyzed. Now you remember me telling you how stubborn she was...yeah well she was determined she was going to walk and miraculously gained control over her back legs again. She was wobblier now, but she could walk. Whenever she would run she would put both her back legs together and hop like a rabbit. She no longer could jump up on anything, but she would still jump down at any chance she could get. Luckily she didn’t hurt her back anymore after that. I absolutely loved her stubborn butt. Unfortunately after that, she couldn’t control her bowels anymore on her own. If she had to go, then she was going. I’d take that if it meant she was able to walk again.
When Gidget came home, Zoey and her did not really know what to do with each other. After a few weeks of Zoey realizing that Gidget was not leaving then they eventually became friends. When they used to get into “fights” it was mainly little Gidget nipping at Zoey from underneath her. They were silly. A few months after we had Zoey put down I got my first dog for my birthday! It was every little girl's dream. My birthday was coming up, Gidget was lonely, and one of my mom’s coworkers was giving puppies away. All the pieces kind of fell into play (plus I was nonstop asking for a puppy!) This is when we meet Dixi! She is a dachshund yorkie mix...a dorkie! Dixi was born on January 25th and we were able to get her when she was 8 weeks old. I got to go over to the coworker’s house and pick out a puppy. Dixi and I just gravitate to each other. She came up to me and hasn’t left my side since. Now in the beginning Gidget wanted absolutely nothing to do with Dixi, that was until we had to leave them together to go on vacations. We had a cruise coming up and this was the first time they were going to be stuck together. We left with Gidget snapping at Dixi everytime she went near her, and came back to them being inseparable! I have no idea what happened during that week we were gone but they made a strong bond. All the way up to when Gidget was put down they stayed by each other's side.
Once Dixi was about 5, Gidget was about 12, and I was about 15, we introduced our third dog named Reggie. You’re probably going to hear and see a lot of Reggie and Dixi. Reggie is australian shepherd and black lab mix. Mom was an australian shepherd and dad was a black lab. We received reggie from the same person we got Dixi from. She was giving away the puppies because it was not a planned breeding, so we got him for free. This was our first boy dog too. Before Reggie it was only my dad in a house of all girls. Reggie was going to be my dad’s dog. My mom had Gidget, I had Dixi, and dad was going to have Reggie. When we went to get Reggie I did not know we were bringing him home. My mom just asked me if I wanted to go play with the puppy and of course I said yes. When we got there I immediately fell in love with him. He was a little monster and I loved every aspect of that. I wanted a dog I could hug tightly and “wrestle” with. All I knew was that we were going to look at him. I took him out into their living room and played with him, next thing I know mom is saying that we are bringing him home! While I was distracted playing with him, mom was texting dad pictures of him and dad gave the big old thumbs up to bring him home. I was so surprised and ecstatic! I thought to myself, “I need to stop asking for things more often because we are getting to bring him home!” Little did I know my mom had planned this to go look at him because her and my dad were discussing about bringing him home previously. All I cared about was we were getting to take this little man home! We brought him home when he was around 8 weeks as well. My dad gave me the honor of naming him so I did what any logical kid would do and name him…”Sir Reginald Beef Wellington Hanshew the Turd,” but we like to call him Reggie for short. He only gets his full name when he is being silly.
The same went for him when we brought him home. Gidget wanted nothing to do with him, and since Gidget and Dixi were BFF’s now, she wanted nothing to do with him as well. I’d like to say they all eventually bonded but it was really a hit or miss on most days. Some days Gidget and Dixi would snap at him if he got near, and others they wouldn’t and would play. So there it was, the three of them, and it stayed like that for another 5 years. Sadly since then we have had Gidget put down due to old age. She lived till she was 17 years old, and was stubborn still. Dixi was a little lost at first because she never left Gidget’s side. Now her and Reggie tolerate each other better. Reggie in fact most of the time doesn’t even act like she is there and runs over her, but Dixi does not snap as much.
When Reggie was still less than a year old he got hit by a car. My family owns a plot of land that we have turned into our “campground.” We all keep our campers on there and stay there on the weekends during the warmer seasons. One weekend we were staying there and my dad decided to let Reggie come outside without his leash. Up till then he has been doing amazing at staying right next to my dad and if he started to stray away then my dad could just make him come back. Across the street from the campground is a park with trails. Right as my dad and Reggie were going outside, Reggie saw and heard another dog at the park. Reggie bolted towards the dog and across the busy street. My dad called for him and he was not listening. Right as he ran out in the street a car clipped his hind end and flipped him around. He managed to stumble his way back onto the campground property. I was inside our camper when all this happened. I remember hearing a yelp and when I looked outside my dad was with Reggie next to the street. I have never ran faster in my life than that day trying to get to him. Reggie was overall ok, but couldn’t walk since his hindlegs were hit. He wouldn’t let anyone pick him up without letting out screams. I felt so bad and just did not know what to do. I felt so helpless watching him cry out in pain. We got a doggie life jacket on him to use the handle and carry him in the car. We were finally able to load him in the back of the car and I just sat back there with him while we drove to the emergency vet. Once we arrived at the vet my senses were all heightened. I was watching and observing everything. I was watching the techs and how they worked with him(at the time I did not know what a vet tech was) and I watched the doctor with what he was doing. I was in full adrenaline mode with wanting to know everything they were doing and why. They took x-rays of his hips and lucky for him and us he had no breaks or fractures. They vet actually made fun of him saying that he was just being weak and had some minor bruising. I didn’t care for that vet because it doesn’t matter if it is just bruising, it still probably hurts like hell and he has a right to be whining from it. They kept Reggie overnight to monitor for any changes, but we were able to take him home the next day. They sent us home with pain meds and told us to basically make sure he doesn’t favor that leg for too long to where he gets used to not using it and then gets muscle atrophy (the wearing down of muscle from lack of use.) We were instructed to get his leg moving so he will use it. I watched and cared over him like a hawk in his recovery. I had to make sure he was going to be ok. I would work with him each day and move his leg while he was laying down. He did not like it one bit but it was his daily physical therapy the vet recommended. That’s when I had my first thought and made me curious in becoming a “doggie nurse” and started my path of becoming a vet tech. I enjoyed taking care of him, knowing that we can be the voice they don’t have so they get the care they need. He eventually healed and used the leg fully. He tried to favor it occasionally but I just kept it moving.
That was basically the backstory of my growth with dogs and where I first became curious in dog care. I’ve had other pets as well like rats, guinea pigs, birds, hamsters, and cats. In fact one year for Christmas my sister and I got a kitten together from PetSmart. My sister’s cat was named MooMoo Kitty and mine was named Fiona. They were from the same litter, and to this day we still have Fiona. MooMoo unfortunately got sick and was put down at the beginning of 2020. Don’t get me wrong I LOVE all animals (again maybe not sharks...it depends…) but I have always been drawn to dogs more. I will be posted a blog in the past sort of picking up right around here in my sophomore year of highschool. There I discussed my road and journey to now and becoming an RVT.
I hope you guys enjoyed the backstory of little Madi and the stories of all my pups growing up. I absolutely love talking about dogs and sharing any stories. If you or someone you know needs any help with their pup feel free to text, call, or email me! I am available for dog/house sitting, daily check ins, walks, helping with medications, and more. If you are curious as well about any help, then message me as well and I will see what I can do. Alright, I hope you guys continue on with another wonderful day.
Xoxo, Cupcakes & Canines
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