Where did the time go???

I remember if it was yesterday, when we drove to a little house in west Dallas to check out the most adorable “Yorkie-Pom” puppies to add a new member to our little family. When we arrived is was nothing we expected. No “mommy or daddy dog”, two poor puppies in pretty bad shape… And there was this tiny 1.5pound black & white puppy snuggling into Douglas lap. Looking at us with the most precious & desperate puppy eyes… We quickly realized this was a rescue… We fell in love with this little sweetheart, while his brother was trying to convince me to take both puppies home… (and I still wish we had done so)! We took our little baby boy home and gave him some water & food, but we would not even attempt to drink or eat. We gave him a bath in order to remove as many flees as possible. Afterwards our little buddy fell asleep, basically until the next morning.

We woke up pretty early, because my mommy heart would not let me sleep. Something was wrong with our little boy. He still would not drink, nor eat. He started vomiting and we immediately wrapped him up in a cozy blanket to take him to the animal hospital.

The vet came back after a few minutes and kneeled down in front of us… I knew, from my own clinic experience as a doc, that was not a good sign. She explained us that our little baby has Parvo and needs to be treated immediately. Despite blood transfusions, antibiotics, and iv fluids though the prognosis for young (he was only 6 weeks old at that time) puppies like him is not good. We took him to the best animal ER/hospital in the area with the most experience in puppy-parvo infections in Denton, where he then was hospitalized and treated for 6 long days. During that time we were not allowed to see him (because he was highly contagious to other dogs), but I called several times a day to check on our little boy. After three days, the final relief over the phone: He ate for the first time and appears to be awake and more active. When we picked him up three days later, his energy levels were up and he was finally a happy, playful, little puppy wanting to explore the world around him.

Now it was time to give him a name. My husband wanted to call him “Vegas”, since this is where we met & our love-story began, but I was not fully convinced… Long story short, one thing you really need in Vegas is Good Luck and he definitely had some good luck during this time, thus the decision was made there and then: Our little boy was called “Vegas” ever-since.

After all this, Douglas and I knew, Vegas would be a spoiled little puppy. He has been such a blessing for us and I could not imagine a life without this little guy.

Even though we don’t know his true & actual birthday, we picked April 15th, 2016. And the day has already come, our little boy turned 1 !!!!!! I cannot believe he is not a little puppy anymore… He grew up so fast (and much bigger than expected), went through a long period of “puberty”, and now slowly is becoming a handsome “man”.

To make his first birthday extra special, we ordered him a doggy birthday cake from (@MyBestFriendBakery) with a hand-painted portrait of him. All his friends truly enjoyed every single bite (as you can see in the photos below) and I believe everyone (dog & human) had a blast at his little puppy birthday party at Mutts Cantina.

Here is to many more years of health, belly massages, doggy daycare, playtime with daddy, training sessions with mommy, and lots of cuddles & kisses with our Vegas <3

Love,

Luisa