Let me start by confessing that I forgot Charlie and Abby’s birthday and so we ended up celebrating a bit late, and since Zoe is born in June, well, we decided to make it one “big” party! I know, I know. How could I forget their birthdays?

When Zoe came to us as a foster doggie, we noticed that she had a really stinky breath and so I started to brush her teeth at night time like I do with my other two doggies. Time went by, and that stinky smell did diminish but not much. I mentioned this to Cynthia, she used to be a registered dental hygienist, and she said that it could be, just taking a guess, the fact that Zoe drank very little water during the day, and this made her mouth dry, which in turn made it stinky.

Aha! Found the problem. Now, let’s get Zoe to drink more water. I watched Zoe around my other two dogs and she always seemed in a hurry to drink water, 3 licks of water, so she could get back to them. What did I do? I started by filling their water dish and getting Abby to drink first, then Zoe, and finally Charlie. Why Charlie last? Because he could drink gallons of water in one shot. I also added some water in her food. As time went by, Zoe started to drink water without my assistance and I’d venture to say that her stinky smell went from 100% to less than 10%. Yay!

Zoe came from, I assume, well meaning people, but she didn’t get the stability she needed since she was a puppy so her anxiety was to be expected, and it shows in the way she behaves around dogs and people. Just so we are clear, anxiety is not something a dog will get over in a matter of hours or days. It takes time and every dog does it at his/her own pace. Is Zoe better when it comes to anxiety compared to when we just got her? A resounding yes!

Zoe is a wonderful addition to our family and I know that there are a lot of things she will learn in the future from all of us just like we will learn from her. Our journey with our dogs is certainly full of interesting things, don’t you think? Stay safe and enjoy your week.