The story:  So, we owned Phoenix the shih-tzu, and Eli my original, older German Shepherd.  They were good friends, yet it was obvious the Eli missed the multitude of smaller dogs she was raised with (two dachshunds and a westie).  As we were about to move to a house with a large yard, we started thinking about adding one more small dog to our collection. 

While out simply doing "field research", I fell in love with an Anatolian Shepherd puppy.  He wasn't exactly a puppy at that point - he was at least 16 weeks old and hard to sell (yes, I realize Anatolians don't fall into the "small dog" category).  Even though he came from a Westminster champion line, he was born with hernia problems and a mildly deformed ear, so he was being sold very cheaply.  I loved his face, loved his size, and also knew we'd have the sort of space he'd require to be happy.  While processing the paperwork to buy the Anatolian for about $200, I picked up a teeny, tiny, little black puppy and asked what breed she was as she snuggled into my arms.  "Oh, that's just some mixed breed that no pet store wanted, so I said she could stay here.  She's pretty sick.  If you buy the Anatolian, you can have her too."  You know what our answer was... we drove away with a huge Anatolian shepherd and a miniscule little mutt of mixed heritage who weighed about 3 lbs.  After watching her bounce around in the grass, we named her Cricket.

Cricket came home with a very bad case of kennel cough, and we fought it with antibiotics and cough medicine for a couple of weeks before we got it under control.  She was just the cutest little thing, though... she was so small you would practically lose sight of her in two or three inches of grass if you took her outside.  She was pathetic looking during her illness -- ears drooping, eyes sallow -- but as soon as she recovered from the kennel cough, her ears started to stand straight up and she really developed a personality.  We still have no idea what mix of breeds she is.  She started out a dark, dark black, but is now three years old and essentially silver or grey over most of her body.  I'm sure she's part poodle, and part terrier, but there might also be something else mixed in there too.  She's very bright and extremely photogenic.

Cricket was never a particularly sociable dog for the first few months we owned her.  She tolerated us fine, but she had no interest in cuddling.  Then we took her to be spayed, and she had an allergic reaction to her sutures.  She was put on pain meds and antibiotics, and we had to apply "hot packs" to her belly - warm washclothes to help promote healing.  Cricket loved hot packs.  She learned to curl up beside me, and fall asleep while I held the washcloth against her belly.  To our surprise, Cricket became a new dog, and to this day we can't lie down for even a quick nap without Cricket insisting on joining us.

Cricket remained in great health until just a couple of weeks ago.  She started to limp, and to hold her back right leg completely off the ground when running or walking.  When the limping didn't subside, we took Cricket in for an appointment with the vet.  (At this point, we should have our photo on the wall as "Clients of the Century").  The vet diagnosed Cricket with luxating patella in both knees, and said that when her leg is bent, the knee cap slides completely out of position.  We'd noticed that Cricket had begun to "lock" her rear legs in the straight position and to use them almost like a pogo stick, rather than bending them to run, and this was the reason.  We were given the choice of using medication to delay the inevitable surgery Cricket would need to repair this problem, but were warned that the longer we delayed, the more we risked permanent damage and arthritis.  Also, the suggested medication was quite expensive, and it didn't make sense to throw money at a problem that wasn't going to go away regardless.  So... on Monday, January 26th, Cricket had bilateral knee surgery and the total bill came to $1908.  We picked her up today, January 28th, so that's where we now stand.

Eli, the German Shepherd, and Dante, the Anatolian Shepherd, remain in good health, knock on wood :)

Update as of 1/28/04: Cricket came home from surgery and we're trying to keep her as comfortable as possible.  As you'll see from the photos, she's shaved down and looks like a little piglet, and she has minimal movement in her hind legs.  She has trouble standing up by herself, but if we give her a lift, she can hobble around small areas.  She wears a Fentanyl patch until Friday to help with her pain issues, which I imagine are substantial.  I thought the surgery would involve small incisions in her knee area, but I can see that the line of stitches extends almost from ankle to hip.  She had enough energy to pee on the carpeting, but isn't really interested in eating.  She reluctantly ate her Keflex pill after it was wrapped in a cheese slice, as well as two tiny dog snacks, but that's about it.  She is drinking, though.  The most difficult part is trying to figure out how to lay her down so she's in the least amount of discomfort.

Unless problems arise, Cricket will remain at home, recuperating, for 14 days.  We'll then take her in to have her stitches and bandages removed.

Update as of 1/30/04:  The pain patch is off, and the patient can now stand up and lie down without assistance.  She's shown remarkable (and admirable) resilience, and I'm sure that in a few days we'll be trying to figure out ways to keep her still so she doesn't injure herself with excessive activity.  She's still not really eating well, although has no trouble scarfing down small pieces of ham and spitting out the pill we've tried to hide inside.   I appreciate the information I found on this site regarding "pilling", as the "puffing in the nostrils trick" really does work.  Well, it works today, anyway -- we'll see how long it takes for Cricket to figure out what I'm doing so she can avoid me.

Update as of 2/09/04: Look Mom, no bandages!  Cricket had her bandages and stitches removed, so she's slightly less stylish than she was last week.  I'd imagine it's a relief to have the bandages gone, although they never seemed to cause her any discomfort.  She is limping a little now, but I think that's because she misses the support of the bandages.  We have to keep her "confined" and on "restricted activity" for at least six more weeks!  Ack!  She's so small that it's hard to find any area small enough to constitute "confinement", and she's not used to being put in a crate.  We're limiting her to half of the master bedroom and hope that will suffice.  She's definitely not happy about the confinement, and wants to run and play in the yard with Phoenix.  Her next checkup will be in two weeks.  In the interim, she's on daily Cosequin and Rimadyl.

Update as of 02/23/04:  Another checkup today, which is unfortunate because there's nothing Cricket hates more than riding in the car or visiting strangers.  She turns into a pathetic, whining, trembling ball of fuzz, and none of us have any fun.  I think even Phoenix gets stressed out when she has to ride in the car with Cricket!  In any case, the recovery is going well.  We've had a lot of rain here in Vegas and Cricket is feeling it in her legs, so much so that she doesn't want to put any weight on her right leg at all.  She's gone back on Rimadyl for pain, and continues to take Consequin.  Thank goodness for chewable pills.   She still has to be "confined" and on "restricted activity" for two more weeks, and after that she'll be allowed short walks.  In four weeks she should be able to start playing in the yard again.  I'm sure she's pretty tired of being cooped up in the bedroom all day and looks forwrd to being able to run around!

Update as of 03/13/04:  Nothing much to report, as we're a week late in our vet checkup.  It's now scheduled for next Tuesday, although Cricket really does seem as good as new.  This past week we were pre-occupied with the unexpected death of our parrotlet, Bubbe :(

Update as of 04/22/04:  Cricket is doing very, very well, although still on a daily dose of Cosequin.  Her right leg still gives her some discomfort on damp or rainy days, but Rimadyl seems to help.  She's become a bit, um, "chunky" during her days of inactivity, so we're trying to encourage her to be more active around the yard.  We've also taken her swimming the bathtub, which results in a bath for Cricket, the bathroom floor, and the person holding her.  The hair on the butt still hasn't grown in -- a client at the vet's office looked at us strangely and asked us why we shaved our dog in such a strange style :)