Meet Eloise!

It seems like this is the season to get a quarantine puppy, I can’t deny my puppy has been the best time filler during the past few months, so I understand why people are getting one. Here’s the whole story behind getting my Maltese pup Eloise.

The first time I saw her little face!

I had been scouring the local pet boutiques at the start of spring break, as I was anticipating the closure of school. As we all know, school shut down and I found myself booking a flight to Florida at the end of the week. While still in Mexico laying on the beach with a spicy marg in hand, I had found who I knew was my dog. A perfectly snow white Maltese popped onto my screen and I called my parents to immediately go to this boutique in Boca and see her in person. This was on Wednesday and the litter of Maltese were just released from their breeder the night before at 8 weeks old. Mind you, I wasn’t coming home until that Friday evening, so my Dad went and played with my future puppy.

My Dad’s first pictures the day he bought her

The owner said many families had called about this specific Maltese and she couldn’t put her on hold until I came home, so my Dad bought her that day and we scheduled her pickup for Saturday afternoon. After a FaceTime call with this fluff ball, I named her Eloise. Flash forward to Friday evening once I landed in Florida, I couldn’t contain my excitement that we would finally have a dog in our home again in less than 24 hours! My childhood dog Ellie passed away 2 years ago when she was 15 and it hasn’t been the same without a dog greeting you at the door. It was always in my plan to get a new pup before my senior year, so Eloise fell in at the right time and since school ended early, I was able to have her sooner than expected.

Sorry for the quality, but this was from our FaceTime!

Saturday morning slowly rolled around and we loaded up our car to finally bring Eloise home. Upon walking into the dog boutique, I knew exactly which crib my puppy was in, her 1.7lb self couldn’t go unnoticed. She was given a bath while we shopped around for all of her accessories. After she was all fluffed and brushed, we headed home to our practically empty house. I forgot to mention, in addition to getting a brand new puppy, we were moving from the East coast of Florida to Sarasota in two days. So much transitioning over here!

Hanging around after the move

Her first night home went smoothly, but over the next few days she stopped eating hard kibble and would only eat wet food. I think she was stressed and confused from the move and all of her new changes. There was no reason for concern until she stopped eating entirely and social distancing had just taken effect, which made it a challenge to find a vet. We ended up at an emergency pet clinic where Eloise was taken out of our car window, normal when visiting the vet now, to be examined. Ultimately, the vet had her switch to prescription wet food for the next week and then we could slowly transition her back to kibble. The worst part was she was only 0.7 oz and lost over half of her weight over just two days. She took well to the new food and has completely transitioned back to her puppy diet and added those lost pounds on quick!

Rosé anyone?

The best thing I’ve found helps with a puppy is sticking to their routines. The even better part is that you are in control of what this routine is. For example, Eloise is now 4 months old and has been waking up around 8-9am to potty outside. She has been amazing about not having accidents overnight in her cage, house breaking has been another story. We then head to the kitchen for her breakfast, followed by going outside again. Once we are back inside, I spritz her coat with some detangler, brush it out and add a bow on top of her head. She plays the rest of the day away until eating dinner and going on our nightly walk. She is still quite small, but it’s surprising how long she walks. She has grown so much since coming home almost 2 months ago, she’s almost doubled in size!

Some odd quirks Eloise had in the first month of coming home was needing to be rocked to sleep (for almost 20 minutes sometimes!) and only staying asleep if the TV or music was on in the background. She started listening to my childhood Kenny Loggins lullaby CD to soothe her until morning. Thank goodness she just crawls into her bed now with no cries after the cage door is shut.

She is still warming up to the idea of bath time and grooming, but her coat is so fine that it is crucial to keep her on a regular brushing schedule or else her hair tangles like crazy! Her white fur would also be quick to stain without regular bathing. Regarding tear stains, her vet prescribed “Ocubrite” to combat those red eye stains. I really have noticed a difference, per instructions it said to give once daily for 30 days and switch to twice a week after that. I found that her eyes were tearing a lot when I only gave it twice a week, so we switched back to a half daily. If you have a white or light dog, Ocubrite is a must!

Her first at home bath

With our past dogs, we never used pee pads around the house, they were always just taken outside every 2 hours and after meals. We have never had a dog as small as Eloise will be (maximum weight is 7lbs) and our other dogs have been Shih-Tzu’s that have been closer to 12lbs. The breeder told us Eloise would always need to have a pee pad down wherever she was in the house and in her cage overnight even as an adult, so we followed those recommendations. I think this was a big mistake on our part because Eloise started to associate the pee pad being inside and thought it was ok to go potty inside whenever she felt like it. After some research, we found that pee pads encourage the behavior and hinder the pup from understanding they need to go outside all the time. Since we have taken those pads away, she has started to “ask” to go outside when she needs to. As I mentioned before, she doesn’t have overnight accidents and holds it until the morning. The first month she was waking around 4 or 5am to potty, so I am very happy she has started to sleep in later.

Overall, Eloise has been the sweetest addition and fills my empty days. She loves riding in the car after a few random rides that weren’t to the groomers or the vet, chewing on her curly bones while she teethes, and snacking on blueberries!

Heading to get a pupachino at Starbucks

More to come about Eloise in the future. Puppy kisses until then!

XOXO,

Kenzie Rae & Eloise