Hello there! I'm Mrs. Nix, and I live in Okinawa, Japan with my husband and my four year-old daughter. I tend to be long-winded in places like this. I apologize for that in advance. Some people like that...others hate my famous "walls of text." I'm just so appreciative to find this community to talk to. I really hope that someday, I can add something positive and helpful.
So...here goes:
We just brought our new beagle princess home four days ago. She is a 7 month-old tri-color JKC registered Beagle, and we have named her Kioko (which means "greets the world with happiness"). We bought her from a woman who was recommended to us by friends.
In the U.S.A., I would never have gone to a "registered puppy sales" place, but this shop has a good reputation here on Okinawa. Things are very different here, and it seems that people don't typically buy straight from the breeder like we do at home. My eyebrow went up after meeting my Kioko for the first time when I realized that she was so old to still not have a home...AND she had an engorged tick behind one of her ears. I grew up on a farm so I'm familiar with ticks, and it takes DAYS for a tick to get that large on a dog. This indicated a lack of care to me, but the handler with the pups acted shocked and embarrassed, and after handling several other pups, I found no other ticks. They seemed clean, playful, and well-fed. Based on that, like an idiot, I wrote it off as an isolated mistake on their part. Like I said--this place came highly recommended. I thought I was dealing with reputable people. Plus...you all know what it's like when you meet your beagle baby for the first time...you're just in love and it's all over. I'm fully willing to admit that I was a bit overcome with that puppy smell and the lovely personality I found in Kioko. Perhaps that dulled my judgment.
I have, in the last 48 hours, discovered that I was duped. I fear...and this makes me sick...that our darling came from a horrible place. I have researched and studied for so long to determine what breed was best for our little family. We were so careful for so long to wait until we had the right choice made and the right home situation to raise a dog. I have always preached (as a former kitty cat mommy to several long-loved feline angels who are--as Dylan Thomas wrote--no longer whinnying with us) against pet stores and puppy mills. Now, I really believe I've gone and made a tragic mistake. Little Kioko Lily has several illnesses and problems that were invisible to us two weeks ago when we first met and selected her. Now, there seems to be some problem with her papers, as well. Due to all this, I can only conclude that she came from a puppy mill type of outfit somewhere here in Japan.
I can’t undo this, now, so my focus is getting Kioko better. She is going to be alright. We have a wonderful and supportive, ethical veterinary staff. They are just a miracle, and they have helped us get Kioko the health care she needs.
So. We have her at home, now. Both my husband and I have spent several years selecting the breed and trying to understand what will be required of us to be good beagle parents. So far, she has been a perfect beagle. That is to say...she follows that nose wherever it leads her, and she's stubborn as a proverbial mule! Oh, but she's so affectionate and playful and loving--a real snuggler--and she's fantastic with my daughter. She is really surprising us with how uncharacteristically “lap dog”-ish she is. We didn’t expect that from a beagle, and we’re prepared for it emotionally if she becomes a bit more houndishly aloof once she is no longer sick.
All that said, I am a new puppy owner. Kioko is our first dog as grown-ups. My childhood furry companion was an English Setter named Sugar whom my parents bought when I was 5 years old. She was a magnificent quail dog for my parents, and she was my companion in life until she died at the age of 13 years...shortly after I graduated from high school. My husband grew up with a terrier mix named Zach. Zach died only last year. So...we know and love dogs, but we've never raised one before.
Now, we are raising a headstrong beagle...and she's ill to boot. I figured the best thing I could do to aid myself in helping Kioko become the best beagle she can be was to find a group of people who know and love their own beagles. So here I am.
I hope you all don't mind questions. I am pretty sure I'll have a lot of them in the coming weeks. If any of you have suggestions or advice, I'll be happy to read it and very appreciative of your time and interest.
Here's what we're doing:
1.) We have her spay scheduled for the end of next month. I am praying that her first heat will not come before then. She needs to get well before the surgery...which is the reason we're waiting so long to have it done.
2.) She is on a week-long course of antibiotics for a nasty urinary tract infection, and she is scheduled out for getting her vaccinations updated--including, among others, a corona, parvo, distemper, and rabies. She's clean for heartworm, and we've gotten her on the appropriate heartworm preventatives and flea/tick treatment.
3.) She is successfully crate-ing for us. No accidents of any kind in her crate since the antibiotic started, and she voluntarily goes into it throughout the day. We close her in it at night and when we leave the home (which is never more than 2 hours or so at a time). We have her crate in the living room with all of us during the day and in our bedroom next to our bed at night. It's working very well. No separation anxiety so far, and no crate accidents. So the crate thing is fine.
4.) We are taking her outside at LEAST once per hour during all of her waking hours (the poor thing has to piddle constantly because of the infection)...to the same spot. She is also walked twice daily around the block. She loves that, and the vet said there was no need to closet her in the house...just to keep her from close contact with other dogs until she's well and totally vaccinated.
5.) She is fed twice per day, with a training session that involves food treats as reward in the midday between meals. She is making good eye contact with me when I call her name, and she's learning "sit," but you can tell she thinks it's beneath her dignity.
6.) She has been bathed. She took it like a man. HA HA HA.
7.) We’ve brushed her teeth (which she resists but is warming to because the toothpaste tastes like chicken), and brushed her all over, including paws (which she does NOT resist) every night before night-nights, and I‘m already seeing that this night time routine calms her down and prepares her for sleep. When we’re done brushing, she gathers up all her toys and takes them to her crate and then goes to lie down in the middle of her blanket with all of them. It’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.
8.) We’ve signed up for basic obedience classes, and the school will call me with my options for start dates on that very soon.
Okay…that’s it. I told you I was long-winded. Hehe. Anyway…thanks so much for being here. I hope to get to know some of you and contribute to the community. I will be posting Kioko pictures very soon.
Good day to everyone,
Mrs. Nix
So...here goes:
We just brought our new beagle princess home four days ago. She is a 7 month-old tri-color JKC registered Beagle, and we have named her Kioko (which means "greets the world with happiness"). We bought her from a woman who was recommended to us by friends.
In the U.S.A., I would never have gone to a "registered puppy sales" place, but this shop has a good reputation here on Okinawa. Things are very different here, and it seems that people don't typically buy straight from the breeder like we do at home. My eyebrow went up after meeting my Kioko for the first time when I realized that she was so old to still not have a home...AND she had an engorged tick behind one of her ears. I grew up on a farm so I'm familiar with ticks, and it takes DAYS for a tick to get that large on a dog. This indicated a lack of care to me, but the handler with the pups acted shocked and embarrassed, and after handling several other pups, I found no other ticks. They seemed clean, playful, and well-fed. Based on that, like an idiot, I wrote it off as an isolated mistake on their part. Like I said--this place came highly recommended. I thought I was dealing with reputable people. Plus...you all know what it's like when you meet your beagle baby for the first time...you're just in love and it's all over. I'm fully willing to admit that I was a bit overcome with that puppy smell and the lovely personality I found in Kioko. Perhaps that dulled my judgment.
I have, in the last 48 hours, discovered that I was duped. I fear...and this makes me sick...that our darling came from a horrible place. I have researched and studied for so long to determine what breed was best for our little family. We were so careful for so long to wait until we had the right choice made and the right home situation to raise a dog. I have always preached (as a former kitty cat mommy to several long-loved feline angels who are--as Dylan Thomas wrote--no longer whinnying with us) against pet stores and puppy mills. Now, I really believe I've gone and made a tragic mistake. Little Kioko Lily has several illnesses and problems that were invisible to us two weeks ago when we first met and selected her. Now, there seems to be some problem with her papers, as well. Due to all this, I can only conclude that she came from a puppy mill type of outfit somewhere here in Japan.
I can’t undo this, now, so my focus is getting Kioko better. She is going to be alright. We have a wonderful and supportive, ethical veterinary staff. They are just a miracle, and they have helped us get Kioko the health care she needs.
So. We have her at home, now. Both my husband and I have spent several years selecting the breed and trying to understand what will be required of us to be good beagle parents. So far, she has been a perfect beagle. That is to say...she follows that nose wherever it leads her, and she's stubborn as a proverbial mule! Oh, but she's so affectionate and playful and loving--a real snuggler--and she's fantastic with my daughter. She is really surprising us with how uncharacteristically “lap dog”-ish she is. We didn’t expect that from a beagle, and we’re prepared for it emotionally if she becomes a bit more houndishly aloof once she is no longer sick.
All that said, I am a new puppy owner. Kioko is our first dog as grown-ups. My childhood furry companion was an English Setter named Sugar whom my parents bought when I was 5 years old. She was a magnificent quail dog for my parents, and she was my companion in life until she died at the age of 13 years...shortly after I graduated from high school. My husband grew up with a terrier mix named Zach. Zach died only last year. So...we know and love dogs, but we've never raised one before.
Now, we are raising a headstrong beagle...and she's ill to boot. I figured the best thing I could do to aid myself in helping Kioko become the best beagle she can be was to find a group of people who know and love their own beagles. So here I am.
I hope you all don't mind questions. I am pretty sure I'll have a lot of them in the coming weeks. If any of you have suggestions or advice, I'll be happy to read it and very appreciative of your time and interest.
Here's what we're doing:
1.) We have her spay scheduled for the end of next month. I am praying that her first heat will not come before then. She needs to get well before the surgery...which is the reason we're waiting so long to have it done.
2.) She is on a week-long course of antibiotics for a nasty urinary tract infection, and she is scheduled out for getting her vaccinations updated--including, among others, a corona, parvo, distemper, and rabies. She's clean for heartworm, and we've gotten her on the appropriate heartworm preventatives and flea/tick treatment.
3.) She is successfully crate-ing for us. No accidents of any kind in her crate since the antibiotic started, and she voluntarily goes into it throughout the day. We close her in it at night and when we leave the home (which is never more than 2 hours or so at a time). We have her crate in the living room with all of us during the day and in our bedroom next to our bed at night. It's working very well. No separation anxiety so far, and no crate accidents. So the crate thing is fine.
4.) We are taking her outside at LEAST once per hour during all of her waking hours (the poor thing has to piddle constantly because of the infection)...to the same spot. She is also walked twice daily around the block. She loves that, and the vet said there was no need to closet her in the house...just to keep her from close contact with other dogs until she's well and totally vaccinated.
5.) She is fed twice per day, with a training session that involves food treats as reward in the midday between meals. She is making good eye contact with me when I call her name, and she's learning "sit," but you can tell she thinks it's beneath her dignity.
6.) She has been bathed. She took it like a man. HA HA HA.
7.) We’ve brushed her teeth (which she resists but is warming to because the toothpaste tastes like chicken), and brushed her all over, including paws (which she does NOT resist) every night before night-nights, and I‘m already seeing that this night time routine calms her down and prepares her for sleep. When we’re done brushing, she gathers up all her toys and takes them to her crate and then goes to lie down in the middle of her blanket with all of them. It’s the most adorable thing I’ve ever seen.
8.) We’ve signed up for basic obedience classes, and the school will call me with my options for start dates on that very soon.
Okay…that’s it. I told you I was long-winded. Hehe. Anyway…thanks so much for being here. I hope to get to know some of you and contribute to the community. I will be posting Kioko pictures very soon.
Good day to everyone,
Mrs. Nix
