Alana Atkins

I have a Shih Tzu

He recently has developed a problem with tear staining.

I mean, he has always had a little bit of an issue with it, but the medicated wipes I got from the vet, plus just washing with warm water and a teacloth every day helped a lot.

Now, I just cannot get rid of the staining at all.

I'm wondering from other owners who have had or currently have shih tzu's... what you have used on your them for their tear stains and if the products have worked.

Have you ever tried giving them bottled water instead of just tap water?

What has been the most successful for you?

He's a beautiful dog regardless of his tear stains, but I'd really prefer them to not be as bad as they are now.

Thank you!

I need breakfast idea's for this morning.

I don't usually cook breakfast because I do not like eggs, or really any kind of breakfast food. But I would like to make "the boy" something great when he comes home from his night shift!

I'm usually just the kind of person to cook lunches and dinners, so this will be something new and exciting.

Share with me some of your favorite things to cook for breakfast, or any really neat recipes you have! He likes eggs, and meats, and cheese... and pretty much everything, so send away!

I have a real knack for making soups, but generally I stick with the same three kinds of soups to make.

I would like to start experimenting with different ingredients and doing more flavorful and complicated soups.

What are some of your favorite soups to have? Do you have any recipes for some soups that you could share? (Hot, Cold, Meaty, Lots of Vegetable... whatever!)

Thanks!

Our little Shih Tzu is 5 1/2 months old, and 9 pounds. He's wonderful and healthy (although he was a very sick puppy when we first got him).

He's never had trouble eating, and he just would devour his kibble. We feed him Royal Canin Puppy chow at the moment, since that's what he was started on.

In the last two weeks, he's started eating less and less. Sometimes his breakfast will be left in the dish until the next day. He will slowly pick at it through out the day, but not large amounts. He only gets a cup of food a day!.

He's interested in his cheerio's though. He's active. He's eliminating normally,

but I want to know if it's normal for a puppy who is normally food motivated to go through a stage like this?

Should I be changing his food again to something he might be more interested in? Or does he just have to suck it up and eat what he gets?

He's going to the vet tomorrow for a check up... so we'll be asking questions about this, but I'd just like to hear if anyone else has had issues like this.

He also has quite some problems with his teeth, as they are not developing at the rate they should be for a puppy his age. He barely had teeth until he turned 5 months old... The vet wasn't too concerned about it because of his breed, and the fact that he was eating normally, and gaining weight, but I'm wondering if this could be starting to affect him.

Poor Toby!

I would like to ask a question about microchips.

I've been doing some research about the long term effects that microchips can have on dogs, and it doesn't seem to be a harmful process... but I also on the other hand realize that these 'facts' can change within years time... so I'm really stuck on what I should do.

Should I microchip my puppy? No dog I have had before, or now has a microchip, and I'm not really worried about them not having one.

I'm just really curious about what others think about the invention, and if you think it's right for animals to have these implants?

Is it worth having the potential risk of these products in our animals vs the 1 in a million chance that they get lost?