Looking back at Lacey’s first year:Health and all

Name:Lacey Princess Maltipoo Akamine
Current Weight at one year old:7.11 pounds according to vet records,7.6 according to home weight
Birth Date:March 13 2009
Born:Kailua,HI
Breed:Maltese/Toy Poodle
Mom:Poodle
Dad:Maltese
Adopted:july 17 2009
Age of adoption:16 weeks old
Found on:Kijiji.com
Price:$600
Name of Vet:Dr John Kaya
Vet Hospital:VCA Animal Hospital aka VCA University Hospital
Weight at first vet visit:4.5 pounds
Dog Food:Science Diet & IAMS,Beneful Prepared Meals till December 2009
Puppy Pad Training:9 weeks
Health Issues:Yeast infection in ear,worms,UTI,Spaying(February 2010)
First Heat:November 2009
First Treats:Nutro Dog Biscuits,Pupperoni,The Goodlife Recipe treats
First Walk:November 2009
Shortest Walk:<<<than 5 minutes
Longest Walk:62 minutes on her birthday
First Time Out: December 2009
First Thanksgiving:Thanksgiving 2009:Family Dinner
First Christmas:Christmas 2009:A new top,Waggin Train
Brands of dog food we tried:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Chicken Soup for the Pet lover's Soul,Wellness Super5Mix Small Breed/Super5Mix Complete Health Chicken,Halo's Spot's Stew
Current Dry Food Brands:Solid Gold Just a Wee Bit,Halo's Spot's Stew(Wholesome Chicken & Wild Salmon flavors),Earthborn Holistic Primitive Natural
Brands of Can Food we tried:Natural Balance,NV Instinct & Prairie can food,Wellness Can Food then lost interest,Halo's Spot's Stew Can Food,Merricks
Current Brands of Can Food:Merricks
First introduced to Raw(Freeze Dried):January 2010
Started accepting Freeze Dried Raw:Feburary 2010
Brands we tried:Stella & Chewy till APril 2010 then we'll be switching to Nature's variety Freeze Dried
First Freeze Dried Raw Treat:Primal Pet Turkey Liver(A birthday present)
Organic Treats she's tried:Trader Joe's,Waggin' Train,No Grainers
First Boarding Facilities we considered:Di Ventus Dog Hotel & Spa
First Boarding Facilities we looked at:The Ohana Doggie Day Care,Pets in the city
First Starts understanding people conversations:7-8 months old
First Command:SIT
Commands she knows:sit,stay,don't move,time out,sit & stay,shake paw/hand,"eat",hi5,shake your tail,down aka sit,lay down,kiss,learning roll over,"wait",inside,outside,table manners at the table
Uses Common Sense while walking:About 8-9 months old
Checks for cars like a human(right,left,right,left,center,then walk)about 10 months-1 year old
Goes outside for afternoon poop:December 2009-learned by example of aunty's dogs
Vaccinations:Distemper,Parvo,Lepto
First Carrier:casual Canine
First Crate:Pet Mate Kennel Cab
Characteristics:A definite mix of Maltese/Toy Poodle.Brains of the poodle.Looks of a maltese.eyes are poodle.Loves to play.Loves to sample food
Types of food she tried:Mexican,Italian,Japanese,Chinese
Favorite Fast Food:KFC chicken skin
Shops we shop at:Naturally Pet,Halo’s Purely for Pets,The Pet Spot,Kalihi Pet Store
Misc:Also tried Hartz Oinkies
Able to climb steps:10-11 months old
First Shampoo;Sergent’s Puppy Shampoo
Current Shampoo:Halo’s Cloud Nine Herbal Shampoo/Earthbath Shampoo
Grooming:Cardinal Pet Gold Metal Pets Unicoat Professional Spray

Ohana Doggie Day Care,Pets In the City & VCA University

When we got there Lacey hopped out of the car and started wagging her tail.As we entered the facility,she wagged her tail but as soon as the staff tried to be friendly to her according to my mom,Lacey’s tail went straight down to the ground & stopped wagging!The other thing was that they would not let us see take a tour of the place & all they showed us gave was a small glance of the place.When there was an altercation between some dogs(btw all sizes of breeds were in one play room although they may have as many as three),the staff didn’t let us watch the altercation but instead of shutting one of the “half doors”.As for Lacey’s reaction to me that was a big selling point:NOT TO BRING HER BACK THERE!If she isn’t wagging her tail & happy when we even take a visit why pay the $$$ to send her there a few days if she doesn’t even like it when we visit…
**Oddly people say they have issues w/Pets in the City and not Ohana Doggie Day Care & Spa.For us it was Ohana Doggie Day Care & Spa with the issues and not Pets in the City**
Our first choice WAS Di Ventus but since we have no clue what’s going on with them it was Ohana Doggie Day Care(next closest)followed by Pets in the city(next closest),Tails of Hawaii(farthest)& VCA University(LAST RESORT)
After visiting Ohana Doggie Day Care,Pets in the City & VCA..now it’s between Pets in the city & VCA.
Here is the prices for Ohana Doggie Day Care & Spa:
Small Breed up to 20 pounds:$36 per night +$25(for evaluation & processing)+$30($10 per day for walks)=108+25= 133+30=$163.00 without tax
Pets In the City
Small Breeds up to 20 pounds:$30 per night/$35 for holiday ie school vacation etc(walks included,healthy dog food:Solid Gold & Natural Balance,healthy dog treats)=$90 +(so far no processing fee/evaluation)$19 for half day.=$119 without tax
1)Staff seems good.Discipline is about the same as I have at home:You call the dogs name up to three times then in the kennel or at home time out
2)Feeds Solid Gold & Natural Balance(Wouldn’t need to bring her Halo’s or Solid Gold since they feed healthy brands)
3)Treats are Natural & Healthy for dogs(Wouldn’t need to bring treats since they feed healthy treats)
4)Walks no charge.About 3-4 walks a day
5)Takes dog out for potty about every hour(Could bring her puppy pads though if they go out every hour I doubt she’ll need but we may bring some just in case)
6)Good size room to run around & play with other dogs
7)Got her distemper & bordatella shots.
Negatives:Not sure how she’d do with Kennel but I am sure once she learns she’ll get it
My beef w/VCA BOARDING not MEDICAL NEEDS
1)Feeds Science Diet although you can bring your own food & treats 2)Treats could have Euthoxyquin in it 3)Not enough place to run around 4)Takes every 2-3 hour potty breaks

At first we were debating on basing it on behavior at Pets in the city:Go for 4 hours & see how her behavior is when she’s there & when we pick her up.Her emotions will tell us how it went emotionally speaking anyways & VCA have her stay one night,see her behavior going there & picking up.Again if her emotional needs were met she’ll greet us with flying colors.If not I can tell how it went for her judging by her reactions/expressions

So in the end although my mom wants VCA we decided to do a compromise:We’ll place her at Pets in the city for this trip after the evaluation depending how that goes & thereafter if it’s not a go depending what pets in the city says we’ll go with VCA for boarding.