Tag Archive | Fitz

PNW Corgi Picnic 2014: The Waterlogged Corgi

Last year we missed the corgi picnic but we made it this year! There were over 150+ people who RSVP’d and brought their corgis. Can you even imagine what it is like to have 150+ corgis in one spot at one time?! Corgi chaos and it is amazing! Think of all the little low rider, herding critters bark-a-larking (that’s what we call it in our house) around a huge fenced area while their humans mull about trying to capture photos and converse over the loud barking of their little beloved Corgis. That is what it was like in a nutshell. 🙂

The picnic is held every year at a private home in Woodinville, WA. It is a get-together for Corgis and their corgi-fanatic uprights (humans) as well as a fundraiser for CorgiAid, Inc., a financial organization that raises money to help out corgis in need. Over $2000 was raised in donations alone! This year was the first year of the event being catered by the Dogfather Catering out of Woodinville. What a perfect name!

This beauty is Dagmar and belongs to the hosts. I suppose this would be one of the hosting corgis! 😉

This was Fitz’s first official corgi outing and he had a blast! Gwen mingled and made friends but Fitz, he gathered a following! Fitzy is OBSESSED with water. I can’t water the flowers, let alone turn on a hose, with him around. He goes nuts and barks and bites at the water. When the pool is full he goes in and won’t jump out til you make him. It was no different at the picnic since there were two little kiddie pools set up for corgi enjoyment.

Gwen in the pool before “little brudder” took over…

Photo by Elizabeth Roth. Fitz in the pool. I love this shot!

Fitzy and his water buddy

The “ferocious” water corgi-beast!

Every bit the gentleman!

Fitz likes to try to steal the show. While he was being a goof in the pool Gwen was schmoozing the humans with her Pink Lady friends. I tried to pick a fabric that was bright and pretty so I could find her in the pack and it turned out some others had similar ideas! I thought the fluffy to Gwen’s right was one of the prettiest there. Look at that fluff!

The Pink Ladies

Fluffy corgi pants!

And lest we forget the Corgi Jail! Yes, there were a couple of pens set up in case any corgis were naughty or needed a time out. At one point there were over 10 corgs in jail! A few were youngsters that were in there just taking a nap, but it did offer them a nice little refuge from all the mayhem. Though there were some who refused to stay in the pokey…I witnessed a Cardi hop out of jail!

Gwen and Fitz made a bunch of friends! We even met some of the local celebreties, Sherlock for example!

We also met Devyn but did not realize it was her until afterwards! Devyn, if you recall, is the Corgi that I think looks like Gwen’s twin!

Gwen, Bella, and Cappy

Fitz

The event was so big that it even received coverage from the local news station! Here is the link to that! Try to find Gwen and Fitz, they’re there! 🙂

I also recommend checking out the write up on Devyn the Corgi’s blog page about the Picnic! She did an awesome write up with some awesome pictures. Of course there is an absolutely adorable one of Fitzy in there that you should check out. 🙂 Here is the link to that one.

And last but not least is the “Official” page detailing the picnic and how you can get on the email list to be reminded of next year’s picnic if you are looking to attend! Here is the link for the 2014 Picnic aftermath (photos, etc.). I am also including the link to the Corgwyn website as I believe you should check out that for the full low-down (pun indended!) on the picnics, past and future. 🙂

If you are in the Seattle area or Western Washington and are looking for a great way to meet up with other corgi owners or looking for other fun events like this one, you may want to checkout and join the Corgis-R-Us meet up group on meetup.com. There may even be meet up groups in your area, who knows!

Cappy

Best of all, we made new friends! We are looking forward to next year and are so very grateful to Leo and Kathy and their Corgis to opening up their home for such a great event!

All photos are property of Elizabeth Roth. You may share these but please give credit to the photographer.

Four-hundred Dollars Later…

Jul3

Yesterday marked the first visit to the vet (for us) with Fitz! Both Gwen and Fitz needed to head to the vet for various things and one thing we didn’t really think of was how much TWO dogs will cost at the vet: over $400! But what the vet talked to us about Gwen is really the reason that I wanted to share this in a post.

Let’s start with the easy one: Mr. Fitzwilliam. Fitzy had to get his rabies shot and get an exam so we could get him Trifexis — the flea/heatworm/internal parasite prevention & treatment that Gwen has been on since she was a puppy. We went back to the vet that Gwen had seen when we first moved here. Initially I wasn’t too impressed as I didn’t really like the lady vet. I’m not entirely sure what it was but I didn’t really like the way she talked to me or answered or rather didn’t answer my questions. Either way, this time around we were scheduled to see the man vet. He was a lot more easy to talk to, liked both dogs, and answered all of our questions!

They took Fitz back to get his rabies shot, bordetella vaccine, and to microchip him. We could hear his little puppy screeches and it was so pitiful! We tried to guess which was which…we knew from prior experience with Gwen that the microchip was painful (but over in a second!) so that, we figured, was the biggest screech. The poor little guy was so happy to be brought back to us and given a cookie that his big sister tried to steal.

When it came to Miss Gwendolyn she was only supposed to get an exam and her bordetella (kennel cough) vaccine. Then the vet asked us if we had any other concerns and at this point we brought up her paw which she keeps licking and itching at. One paw, one toe. Back in January or February, I had a friend of mine that is a small animal vet take a look at Gwen’s paw when we were at the barn. She prescribed her an antibiotic, some bendaryl, and told me how to clean it and recommended keeping her from itching it. She also recommended that I put Gwen on fish oil. Gwen’s paw cleared up pretty well but then after awhile she started up again. I have some spray stuff to put on it which seemed to make her feel temporarily better. Only problem was, it would never go away completely.

So Mr. Vet took a look at her and said he would like to shave the toe and get a better look at what was going on there. Gwen was taken into the back to have her toe shaved. When they came back he said it looked like she, again, had an infection in that one toe/claw and that it needed to be treated and cleaned. The infection, he told us, could have either come from her having had a little fracture in the nail or a cut in the skin. Either way he strongly advised that we get this taken care of ASAP or she could lose that claw in the long run! Neither of us realized how serious her obsessive toe licking had become! 😦 He talked to us about the different options with the strengths of anti-inflammatory medicines and he recommended the stronger steroidal one that way she would not be itchy and it might speed up the healing.

Gwen went home with a baggie full of special paw soak cleaner, long-term antibiotics (21 days worth!), and some Prednisolone (the steroid). (Plus they both got flea medication.) Gwennie also has to go back in for a recheck in 2 weeks to see how her itchy toe is fairing.

All in all, these little twerps cost over $400 to go in for their routine visits. I should have known it would be more expensive than we had planned. Oh well, got to keep the Corgis happy and healthy!

Drinking water out of the same water dish at the same time! We are making progress!

Dog Food:

One of the things we talked to the vet about was the food the dogs are eating. Fitz is eating Puppy Wellness Complete while Gwen is continuing to eat Purina Pro Plan. When we broached the subject of Gwen’s itchy paw we brought up the question of “do you think it might be a food allergy?” and the vet said, “honestly, I highly doubt it.” She is at the age where it would become apparent if she did but the itchiness is only manifesting in one paw, she does not have the chronic yeasty ears, hot spots, raw spots on her face from itching, and her hair is not falling out. Her skin isn’t dry and itchy everywhere, only in that paw. We talked to him about the current trend of total grain free dog foods and he told us he thinks of the grain-free foods as being more of an off-shoot of the human dietary fad of gluten-free everything. Yes, there are some people that cannot handle gluten in their diets. Yes, there are some dogs that cannot handle grains or wheat or corn, etc. BUT not all dogs/humans are like that. What he told us was that the food we are feeding Gwen is not a bad food and that her weight is not bad and we have no reason to change her diet unless it is really bothering us that she isn’t on something fancier.

Fitz came to us eating a really nice food called “Go!” which is a grain-free and overall really good food. The reason we did not stick with that food was that it was going to be hard to find. Only one store in the area carries it, unless we were to go over to Seattle (a ferry ride away) just to buy dog food. That was when we decided Puppy Wellness would be the way to go with him. If our Natural Dog store was closed for the day then we would still be able to swing by Petsmart or Petco and get puppy some more food. I suppose that would make it about convenience (and a little of cost effectiveness too) more than anything. Either way, the vet was happy with our choice in puppy food.

Both dogs are a healthy weight and have good looking coats and are nice and active! Gwen weighed in at 30.8 lbs and Fitz weighed in at 18.4 lbs!

Introducing Mr. Fitzwilliam

Jun28

Guess what! We got a puppy!!!

I am a little late making this post but it has been quite the week with little Fitzwilliam joining us! That is Fitzwilliam as in Mr. Fizwilliam Darcy, Master of Pemberley (Pride and Prejudice).

His name is Fitz/Fritz (depending on who you ask…) since Andrew wanted to call him “Fitz” but I like “Fritz,” good news is that the names are so similar that he answers to both!

Today (Saturday) has been one week since we made the 7.5 hr drive to meet mister “Winston” (his previous name). We traveled all the way from the Seattle area down to the Rogue River in Oregon to meet him! Thankfully we started out the night before and stayed in Salem, OR and then only had a 3 hr drive the next morning. Of course that 3 hr drive took longer since I was suffering from food poisoning. (For some reason Andrew never gets food poisoning!) Gwen traveled great though! She slept on the floor behind the driver’s seat and only woke up and got annoying when it was time for Corga Potty Breaks.

We met Winston and his sister Daisy, the last two puppies from the breeder’s January litter. Going down there I had wanted another girl puppy and Andrew had wanted a boy puppy (he was feeling out numbered in the house) but when we met the pups, we both fell in love with little Winston! Daisy was a little firecracker. She and Gwen were two peas in a pod! Daisy is exactly like Gwen was at that age (and sort of still is!). Little Daisy hopped up on the couch and popped her head up over the back when you’d walk by the couch, like a little jack-in-the-box. So adorable! And she had huge upright satellites (ears)!

We got to play with the puppies and meet the puppies’ parents and the other Corgis that the breeder had in her home. It was a lot of fun! And then Gwen was introduced the the puppies. At first she ignored them and checked out the place (fascinated by their waterer) then she started a game of chase where she and Daisy hit it off! Of course Gwen would choose the more rambunctious puppy! But we liked little cuddly Winston! 🙂 After a little while of watching the girls play, he decided to join in for a bit. After we saw Gwen play nicely with him we knew for sure that he was the one for us!

I didn’t think I could survive having Gwen and her dopplegangger running me ragged! Plus, Fitz is a little cuddle bug!

The car ride with an almost 5 month old corgi pup is so much easier than a long car ride with a 9-10 week old pup (Gwen’s age when we got her)! He was quite nervous leaving his little sister and the place he knew as home, but he sat on our laps and finally fell asleep when we switched drivers and Andrew held him. We eventually got home a little before midnight since Andrew had duty the next day and had to be at work at like 6am!

Fitz and his floptacular ear.

Week 1 with Puppy:

Only a couple of accidents in the house on the first day and then after that we figured out his I-need-to-go-outside-now signals and with the help of Gwen, he has figured out that outside is the potty place and which door to go out.

Walking on a leash is a hoot! He is learning but the first couple times he walked on a leash he would hop around and grab hold of it. I don’t remember Gwen’s first leash experiences but I am sure they were not nearly as funny as his! He is doing a lot better about it now since every time he goes outside he’s on a leash.

Mastering the 4 steps from the porch down to the yard has been a little slower. Going up them, no problem! Going down them…well, some days he’ll brave them and others he needs help. Just yesterday he went up and down them all by himself, so he is getting braver! 🙂

Gwen loves it when he plays chase up and down the hallway with her! She is not very fond of the fact that little Fritz likes to steal her antlers. She in turn has claimed his puppy Nylabones as her own.

He has already gone out to the barn with me and sits nicely with Gwen! I take the x-pen out and set it up half under the picnic table so he has shade but can lay in the sun if he chooses, while Gwen sits in her usual area near the picnic table. I tied him once when I was just making a quick stop and not wanting to leave them in a hot car, and he did fine! He tried to follow me but other than that he just curled up next to Gwen to wait.

Fitz doesn’t want you to be out of his sight at all. He loves to snuggle, sit on your feet, and give kisses! So much more than Gwen who is just like a cat… His crate training is going well, and Friday was the first day I decided to leave both dogs at home so I could run some errands by myself. Freeeedooooom!!! (Not to worry, I came home and played with them both and was only gone for a total of 3 hours.) It is nice having an older puppy though! We couldn’t both leave the house for very long when we first got Gwen since she was not master of her wee little bladder quite yet.

Snoozing in his new harness.

Gwen:

Gwen has been quite jealous of little Fitzy. I think she wanted us to take him back for a few days but I think she figured out that he is here to stay. She has started to try and get him to play tug of war and is getting a little better about sharing toys. The world has revolved around her for so long that she is not used to this “sharing” concept. {Don’t worry, Gwen, I get it! Only child here! Sharing attention with others (e.g. husband) = horrible, horrible experience!}

Yesterday, after Andrew got home, I took Gwennie to the park by myself while he stayed and bonded with Fritz. It was so nice to just be out in the park with Gwennie. We watched some people flying kites, she rolled in something dead, and we sat and watched some boats on the water. After Gwen’s 45 min of solitude she was ready to be patient again since she started pestering Fitz to play with her when we got home.

Gwen’s favorite sans puppy activity is still to go play soccer in the backyard. For now, we are playing soccer without him so she still has one chance of running around without worrying if he is going to steal the ball or us worrying about where he is going. Pretty soon, though, he will be out there running around with her and stealing the soccer ball!