Pommy Mommy of the Week: Sandy Browning

I used to be a Nail Technician, and also cleaned homes, always self employed, so I made my own hours. I have been off work for the past year, so am home 24/7. I was able to only be gone 4-6 hrs a day when I worked, so I have always been able to leave my Poms to run free in the house, and the 3 have never have gotten into anything while we both are gone. I had always had BIG dogs. I mean, really big, as in 120 pounds or so!

After losing my beloved “Timber”, I knew we couldn’t have a large outdoor dog again, because we moved near a highway… and knew it would just be too dangerous. I have always loved and wanted a Pomeranian, and just never could afford one. I finally was able to afford when I received a big Tax Rebate check. I can’t tell you how much joy I had in my heart!!!

Within weeks, we both knew we wanted a male for our female, so we could enjoy some litters of puppies. We loved and wanted to keep each of the 7 pups from the 3 litters, but of course we couldn’t! So we kept Peanut, the sickly runt, as we not only adored him, we worried someone else wouldn’t take care of him like we would.

He is the only one of our 3 Pomeranians that chooses to sleep in a doggy bed! His Mom Lexi sleeps on the back of the couch, or on my pillows! Daddy Kodiak prefers the cool floor, and won’t even lay on a blanket! They all 3 are so different personalities, we absolutely adore them! Daddy Kodiak warns us when Peanut starts to have a seizure, by barking this different bark from normal, waking us if we are asleep, alerting us to Peanut in trouble!

Peanut was from the middle litter, and was sickly from birth, nearly dying on us at 3 weeks old. I recall holding his tiny weak body, and fearing he was taking his last breaths… it was very sad and exhausting. I took little Peanut to the Vet, who told me that there was really no hope for him. He reluctantly gave us anti-biotics and send me on my way with Little Peanut. I hand fed him supplement milk and to our surprise the little fighter pulled through. I kept up the supplement milk feeding until he was able to fight his much larger sisters for his mother’s milk… and he did a great job.

At around 1 year old, he developed debilitating seizures, and some people told us it would be better to put him down. We, as a family could never even entertain that thought because we love him too much, and so we work with 4 or 5 vets in our area, trying treatments, medications, and foods, to keep the seizures at bay.

In addition to Peanut’s seizure’s the Vet suspects he has a liver shunt, (click here if you don’t know what a Liver Shunt is) but we don’t have the necessary funds to spend the thousand’s of dollars for tests and treatment. So we treat the symptoms. Peanut’s diet can not be too high in protein… I know, it’s tough because a Pomeranian’s diet is mostly protein. So Peanut gets plain rice, chicken broth, and a teaspoon of cottage cheese. Although cottage cheese is higher protein, it is easier digested, so it doesn’t seem to cause any problems.

Peanut still has break through seizures once every 4-5 weeks. I usually catch him right when he starts. He circles first and I run him to the bathroom, where when the full seizure hits, I hold him over the toilet because his bowels and bladder let loose.

After the foaming and seizing fades, he can’t yet stand, so I hold him for the next 45 minutes, while he lunges and kicks and runs uncontrollably… something called “running” after. I have discovered that if I wrap him like a little Burrito in a towel it keeps him from hurting himself. When it is all is over, he is very tired, and just rests next to me. I’ve spent many hours holding this precious little guy!! The times/weeks in between seizures, he is a normal, happy, sweet little guy! He is on 4 different meds 2X a day now, down from 4X a day, and doing well.

He only weighs 4 pounds, but is a ferocious little guy if the other dogs mess with him! He will growl and they step back, haha! He also barks like a rooster sometimes… I need to video it!

The bond between me and Peanut is very strong… but the bond between Peanut and my man, Ron, is even stronger! Peanut follows Ron EVERYWHERE in the house, like a little shadow, and also loves to cuddle on the couch. We feed all 3 twice a day, so every evening, the dogs get hungry a little before time, and they all 3 bug RON, not me!! Peanut will climb on top of Ron’s laptop, and bark his little Rooster bark! I have been disabled this past year, and have been so grateful for my 3 Pomeranian’s company.

We love their small size, and trained them all from pups to use a pee pad, but we also take them outside twice a day. They are so portable, too, and I can’t imagine life without them. We hope and pray that Peanut gets to continue enjoying as normal a life as we can provide for him, for many years to come. I am so glad that I am able to be a Pommy Mommy to all three of my adorable Pomeranians.