Changes For Cocoa

I have questioned poor Cocoa and her hormonal issues for a long time now. She is our only female that yearns and whines to the point of exhaustion to be near any puppy in the house. She will rip through the door to get to them if she could. Then came her possible very delayed first heat and now her lengthy false pregnancy. She is still producing milk!!!!

Since hormones run a plenty in this house, we have questioned if it is really fair to keep her surrounded by potential misery. Don't get me wrong - she is a very spoiled little girl - living in the lap of luxury! But a female in heat - let alone several at one time - throws her mind into a tizzy. Poor thing.

Since our friends already have her sister, Foxy, we asked them if they would be interested in keeping her as well. The two already get along so well and are so much alike in temperament - they would make ideal forever playmates. The trial period started last night and so far so good! She is loving the new home and the lack of puppies and hoo-haa juices.

If all continues well, Cocoa will remain in her new home. Once she has stopped producing milk, I will take her to Doc to be spayed so that she can truly live in peace and utter joy. We are sad to not have our sweet cuddle buddy here with us but know this is the best choice for HER! Plus, we will still get to see her on our camping trips and family events - the best of All worlds!

False Pregnancy

Poor Cocoa! Her female parts are all whacked! First a delayed first heat and now a false pregnancy. Doc and I talked at great lengths about her and we are convinced that she probably had a silent heat back at her 7 month mark and then her second heat back in April. Cosmo, our very horney neutered boy, did tie with her once and that is what helped bring on her intense and NONSTOP whining for the last three days.

She hasn't left my side and if I do try to move, the whining increases (As if that is even possible) Today she has started expressing milk and has taken an old quilt that we have as her "baby".

Needless to say, she is not a happy girl right now. Any stimulation that expresses milk will just continue the cycle and we have had to keep her from licking herself. We are hoping that she will dry up in a week or so. It only took Baby a couple days - So let's pray Cocoa gets through the weekend on a happier note!

Kinda Interesting

Ace has been given full range to the house now - he has moved in with the pack without an issue - he actually reminds me a lot of his daddy as a puppy.

The puppy playpen sat empty this afternoon and the door wide open. I had to stop for a moment when I noticed just WHO was actually in the pen! J.B. Cocoa and Dewy - Three of our dogs that actually started out in that very playpen. The rest of the dogs could have cared less - not these three! It was as if they were rekindling their puppy memories. Interesting aye?

Cocoa's Back - Back Again....

The heat that NEVER seemed to come then never seemed to end has ENDED! Wheeeewwwww. And just in time too. She so missed her play buddies and they missed her. Apple and JB played with her for a straight 30 minutes and she napped in our kitchen doggy bed heaven for the rest of the afternoon.

All of the whining has ceased (about to drive us insane) and everything is back to normal. This means we can now start bringing down the new puppies!

FINALLY!!!!

I noticed the swelling over the weekend and then today the intense cleaning began - COCOA IS IN HEAT!!! Well - the first stage at least - but I am so happy it finally is here!!! Our late bloomer is finally a woman!!!

She spent the day cuddling with Baby in horney-girl solitary. This is a whole new experience for her and I can't say she is really enjoying the adjustment. She is so "one of the boys" and doesn't seem to like being away from them. With them whining for her from the other room, she has started to whine back. Oh My - this is going to be a LOUD and annoying two to three weeks.

Cocoa the Cat???

Of our nine dogs, we have three gate jumpers. Cocoa is one of them. Her and JB can jump our standard gates while Blue can jump even higher. Her jumping was brought to an entirely new level when she got herself up onto the window ledge this afternoon - all for a spot in the sunlight. It's about as high as our standard gate but this takes some major talent and balance!!!! Quite impressed I must say!

Fatty McFatFat

Cocoa is such a fattie! Of all of our dogs she is the only one with weight issues. Perhaps that is what's holding up her first heat? Dunno, but we really need to watch her food intake. Her head is so small but her body is chunk-o-rama!

Our Late Bloomer

Our sweet Cocoa just recently passed her 10 month mark and has yet to have her first heat. Generally, small breed dogs have their first heat by 8 months of age. (they can occur as early as 6 months)

I have never had a female go this long - especially since she had been around several heat sessions. When a female goes into heat they often throw the others in the home into heat. I really expected hers last month with the other girls. Not worried so much - just noticing an interesting factoid - she must be one of those late bloomers!

Capi's Last Day Here

Tomorrow Capi is going to his new forever home so we are soaking up every ounce of him that we can today. He honestly is the sweetest puppy on the planet. Very loving and affectionate, friendly with everyone that he meets and uber smart. The cock of the head when he looks at you and the apparent smile on his face when you walk into the room. He reminds us so much of his mommy, Baby when she was puppy.

This afternoon, he has spent the majority of his time napping with the other dogs. He has really taken to Cocoa. This should make his transition to his new home an easy one. They have an adorable little female named Lilly that he will be able to nap with there!

Cocoa Puff

That's what Brad and the kids call her - cute nickname aye? And puff seems to be the perfect word. Cocoa is from our Margie/JB line - who both have a very thin frame. But Cocoa didn't get that trait.

She has finally reached her adult weight and it's all in her belly. She has this tiny head and a buda-belly. When you watch her play like a young pup - which is the ONLY way that she plays - she jumps up and walks on her backs paws to get your attention. She seems to balance that belly for a while but often times falls - on that extra cushion. Our sweet Puff!

Jbers and His Line

The more I look at him, the more I see his mommy. He definitely has his very own version of his daddy's temperament - but he totally has his mommy's body and face.. The things that are totally JB are his curly tail and his turned up nose.

The line he is from has very strong traits though - the line that brought Lisa and I into each others lives. Her Sassy and Peanut are parents to Lacy, Peanut, Zoey, Lacy and our sweet Margie - and from a more recent litter, our Cocoa.

They are all rambunctious and playful as well as loyal and loving. They are all barkers - some more frequent than others - and they are all gate jumpers. EVERY ONE OF THEM!!! SO when they say its all genetics - it truly is!

Aunt Flow is FLOWING!

As I predicted, Blue's heat has thrown the other girls into their heat too. Ginny was the first and now Sweetie too! I expect Cocoa to start next week. Lots of hormones in the house and the boys are going NUTS! Poor Sweetie has been through so much these past few weeks - and now her hormonal urges! EKKERS!

LOVIN the Life Now

Now that her pups are set on puppy food, she only feeds them at night and has truly enjoyed her daytime freedom. She peeks in on them periodically but mainly spends her days with her bestest buddies, Blue and Cocoa. This has actually worked out great since blue has gone into heat, which will probably throw cocoa in too. Thing is, Ginny is suppose to get her visit from Aunt Flow in February so this may throw her in early too. We may have a house full of hormonal gals.

The Chi's Rocked The Parade!

The RV Park that we are staying at had a holiday golf-cart parade tonight. We had the lights and decorations but the dogs were the true hit! Foxy fit perfectly into our Elf costume and her sister Cocoa, she was awesome in our Santa suit that even had a beard! Blue wanted to come along for the ride too and I slipped her into a Mrs. Clause costume. There were many carts that threw candy in the parade. We unfortunately forgot ours but did get several request for us to hand out chis!! :)

On another note, I have to say how cool it was to spend the weekend with one of our other past pups. Very close friends have Foxy Lady - a puppy from one of Lisa's past litters and the sister to our sweet Cocoa. Those two are SO much alike it is scary. They whine when they are away from us and can hop a gate in 2 seconds flat. I have seen over 30 different pups/dogs from this line (J.B. is from this line too!) and they all have such distinct traits. It's neat to see personalities and traits pass from generation to generation - this line is so much fun. I cant wait to finally be able to breed Cocoa!

Cocoa is Going to be a GREAT Mommy!

All she wants is those babies - non-stop whining and scratching to get in with them and when she does, it's all about cleaning and loving on them. As sweet as it is to watch, the noise is getting unnerving. I finally took her out for a very long walk around the RV park to burn off some energy and take in some of the thousands of new smells. It did the trick for tonight - lets see what tomorrow brings.

We Know It's Winter When....

...the dogs have found that single ray of sunlight and follow it throughout the house. They won't move for anything! Here I am calling the girls (and the no-name pup Cool-Dewey) and they just sit and stare - looking at me like - Lady - Are you CRAZY?? I ain't going nowhere! It's all good - warm up girls - cause we are heading out for another camping trip tomorrow!!!!!

Mother Hens On The Case

Blue has always loved her puppy patrols but we have finally allowed Cocoa to join in the fun. She is so rough when she plays and the pups are just so tiny in size - I have been reluctant to let her in for Puppy Play sessions.

Today I let her in and I will say - to my surprise - she was really sweet and gentle with them. She herself is still a pup at 6 months old so she enjoyed the chance to play but you could also see her motherly instincts kick into gear around the pups.

The two were the happiest mother hens in the house and loved every second of their chance to be aunts to Ginny and Mo's precious pups.

Poor Cocoa

She is so missing her bestest buddy in the world. Mo and her played for hours and were inseparable! Now that Martini is back in the pack Cocoa has tried to play with her but it's just not the same. Blue of course has her playful moments but is a bit off due to the hormones in the air. I am sure she will be back to her spunky self once the puppies are old enough to play - and maybe we will find her a new bestest buddy! ;)

She Isn't Going Anywhere

After all of her one-on-one lessons and the extra time that we have spent with her, we have decided that Cocoa is staying here with us. She is so close to J.B and Mo and has really bonded with Blue and even Baby. Of course, we just adore her! She sleeps with us and wouldn't have it any other way! She is totally part of the pack now!

Sticking with our traditional naming, her registered name is Figgy's Chocolate Mocha Surprise but we will still call her Cocoa!

She is almost 5 months of age - Chihuahuas usually stop growing around 6 months. She was the runt of the litter but really started shooting up last month. Now that she has slowed down, I would say she will be around 5lbs full grown.

Non-Stop

These two are always at it - constantly playing tug-o-war with any and every toy they find. The growls and barks are contagious as it always inspires at least one other dog in the bunch to join in. After several minutes of this they will finally crash in a dog bed or on the couch for at least an hour. I guess that's their work out?