Vet Appointment!

Stella went to the vet today. She walked in on her leash (instead of me carrying her) and she was really good waiting. When the vet came in she did everything short of climb onto the ceiling trying to get away from her. At 3 1/2 months Stella weighs 21.2 lbs. She's starting to get her grownup fur down her back and her back grownup teeth are coming in.

Stella has been pretty itchy lately so we talked about food and what treats she's getting and the possibility of allergies. Something to keep an eye on. She also got her last round of puppy shots.

The vet recommended that I start giving her cow hooves instead of rawhide to chew on. It seems fairly gross to me, but I got one tonight and Stella has been chewing on it for something like 30 minutes now with no sign of stopping. She LOVES it. It makes her so happy she's been rolling onto her back with her feet in the air chewing on it. And she's also been rolling on it- I guess to get her smell on it? And although it's a little stinky when you get up close to it, she hasn't even gotten the edges soft yet. I also got a couple of bully sticks (the ingredients list says "Beef Pizzle" which cracks me up and if you want to know what that is check this out) because those are supposed to be better for dogs to chew on as well. Something about the way rawhide tears into big chunks isn't good for dogs.

That's fine by me, things like bully sticks and cow hooves and pig ears are way more natural than the Busy Bones I keep seeing in the store (and that Stella can eat in about 10 minutes).

Anyway, it was a really good visit to the vet. My little puppy is growing up so fast!

Update! So Stella started throwing up this evening. I'm not sure if it was the shots, the stress, the cow hoof (EW!) or what, but everything that has been in her system has to be out now. She was really lethargic and pitiful looking. I gave her some icecubes and she perked up, now she's chewing on peanut butter flavored rawhide (because at least they've never made her puke) and keeps doing her thing of running back and forth between the living room and the dining room, tail up and very proud of herself. Her energy isn't quite what it should be yet, so I guess I'll keep an eye on her tonight and see if she continues to improve. Otherwise we're taking a trip to the emergency vet. I feel like a new mother taking her baby to the emergency room for hiccups.