Ziggy. (Who's Frankie?)

Zoe's having fun in TX. She's livelier on her walks, eats well, and loves Kirsten. She slept most of Monday, then played around most of the night and kept K awake. They were both groggy Tuesday.

I recommended a crate for Zoe, to be put nearby in the bathroom. When K gets up at night, she can take the dog out, then put him back until morning. It's an inner room, so no windows will wake Zoe. Otherwise, the crate could go in the LR where Jenn stays up until 3am. If she's willing to let the dog out and crate her in the middle of the night, we bet Zoe will sleep in until K wakes up.

K needs her sleep to keep her inflammation in check: this could be a deal-breaker if she can't rest at night. So far, they're getting up twice each night. That's quite unnecessary: when Zoe was here, she curled up with Missy in their doggie bed in the crate for 10-12 hours without getting restless or having to potty.

They go a lot of places together - Jenn, Kirsten, and Zoe. They've tried a lot of food trailers, famous in Austin for vegan, meat-lovers, Mexican, Oriental, and everything between.

Back in Seattle, we decided on a name for the new addition, who used to be called Frankie.

Ziggy. It was a tossup between Zippy (what a runner!) and Chippy (lively) and... Ziggy (chubby, energetic, funny). That's the new boy. He's on a diet of fewer calories... and has gained a half pound as of today. Hope it's water!

He's a keeper. He has great manners, has had no indoor "accidents," and loves people.

Yesterday Ziggy had his first visit to the groomer, who plucked his ears, trimmed his toenails, and shaved him into bare poodle feet. It's going to be a while before his hair grows into a full poodle trim.

Yvonne asked, "Shall I shampoo him and blow out his hair?" Nope, not long enough yet. He has a tiny stub of a tail where an over-enthusiastic snip cut his puppy tail. We'll have a lot of hair-growing before it is poodle-like, too.

"What the heck happened to his hair?" Yvonne wanted to know. "This is the strangest poodle clip I've ever seen." Guess it wasn't a poodle cut, just a trim. His inner ear hairs were as long as his ear hairs on the outside. I clipped those the first day, along with hair that was growing from his topknot into his ears. Yvonne is an amazing groomer - as she proved with Missy and Zoe. He'll look good when she's done with him :-)

Meanwhile, Yvonne found ear mites. "Treat them yourself. 7 days on, then wait 7 days while the next larvae hatch. Then do 7 more days, and you should be done." Off to Petsmart we went for ear mite drops. I took off the yellow bow in Ziggy's hair halfway down the second aisle. I keep forgetting to ask Yvonne NOT to put in bows. I think they look silly.

Both dogs have to be treated, since ear mites are airborne: if one dog has it, probably the other gets it. Yvonne thought Zoe had mites, so she was probably the carrier to Missy, to Ziggy. Kirsten's treating her in TX for those.

We're off to the vet to get Ziggy's dental cleaning tomorrow morning. That should improve his breath when he and Missy stay with friends part of the weekend. W and I do a college floor retreat, and no dogs are allowed in the church where the students will sleep. I'll feel deprived without my twin cushions on either side of me.

Everyone's happy tonight. Good doggies!