Finding the right Chester Food

Chester as Santa

Chester found us.  He was running around on the road, and Cassy found him.  She then searched for the owner, who could not keep him, because the family was moving to an apartment not allowing dogs.  We had had Chester for over a week, and grown terribly attached.  Chester was almost a year old, and a crazy pup.  Not really what you would recommend for me, pulling and attacking everything in sight.  Full of energy and like the puppet "Animal" from "Muppets", just going to the beat of his own drum.
We all tried to find his name- Sir Hops-A-Lot, was one, as well as Fluffy, and Blacky.  Weslee wanted him to be "Weslee" which I nixed on the grounds, that no one would know which I would be calling...."But we're both black with curly black hair!!!!" shouted Weslee.  I refused, even on those logical grounds.  Kids thought it would not be a problem, since I run through every one's name anyway, trying to call the right one-  "Cassy, Jason, John, oh YOU there....help with supper(or whatever the issue)."  It turns out I call Weslee "Chester", and Chester "Weslee" a lot!!!!!  Maybe he was onto something?  One day Liz came home with the name, "Chester" which I really liked.  It has a bit of a regal sound, and just fit him to a T.  He also responded to it.  His ears perked up and he came.  When you name a pet, you have to realize it does NO GOOD if you like the name, and they have no clue it is their name.  They have to respond to the sounds.  He did, and it was his name.

 We started teaching him tricks from the start, but he had issues.  For instance, he was afraid of his food dish.  No matter what I fed him, he cowered and ran off.  I knew he was hungry, he was just skin and bones.  He was tiny, about 10 pounds. We decided to use different dishes for his food, and what worked best  was a paper plate.  It made no sound, and he seemed  less afraid.  He still would not eat, unless I was not near the area.  We decided he had somehow had some feeding issues.  He ate huge amounts of food, but was very thin, so we decided he had not been fed enough.  Since he was mostly toy poodle, I had him groomed regularly, and finding a reasonable, experienced groomer, to take a timid skittish puppy, was trial and error.  I would brush and comb Chester regularly, and he would snap and growl, but I would not stop, so that I tried to get him used to the procedure.  When going to the groomer, I warned, "He will snap and growl", so that they know what is up.  Each time I knew it would be less difficult, as he got used to the grooming.
Several times he got shaved too closely.  I never asked for skin close shaving, but once the face was so close he got an infection.  If the groomer does the rear or the face with dirty shaving instruments, or does the rear first(?????) and then nicks the face, or anywhere, you will get an infection.  Weslee, I mean CHESTER got a bad infection, and I had to go to the vet.  The infection lasted weeks, so the vet advised an antibiotic, and one of those big white collars.  Well, Chester was mortified!
A few days after we were taking the meds, and the infection finally was getting better.  Of course, you always need to continue the course of meds exactly as prescribed.  The infection was gone, and Chester's little face was clearing up.  It took a few weeks, but now we had another issue.  He was not able to keep any food down.  The usual amount of food, which I had learned to feed a small amount three times a day so he would not overeat and barf, would not stay down.  The source for these issues was Annalisa, who called another friend, a specialist in dog food and well being somewhere in Pennsylvania, I think, and we held a three way conversation.  She wanted to know EVERYTHING about little Chester from the time he had come to our house!  Well, she decided, that the meds had made his stomach sick, and that he needed to be off them, and to change dog food to something less harsch.  She also prescribed a natural balm for his face, which would be used for incidents like these in case we needed it in the future.  Of course, I would not let it go so far the next time.
That is how I found "The Honest Kitchen".  It is a dog and cat food factory in California that makes dried food, good enough for human consumption, and when you get it, you reconstitute it with water, to the amount your dog needs.  Since Chester has eaten it, he has never had a problem with keeping food down.  I checked on the Internet, and that medicine, is know to be causing toy poodles irritation.  Why did not the vet know that before he had my dog take a long dosage of it?  I can't recall the name now, but before I have Chester take meds, I will check what the history is, since I already know he is so sensitive, and has so many issues.
Chester now eats out of a regular dog dish, and he does a lot of neat tricks, "Bark", "Park it", "Raus", "Pirouette",  as well as the usual, "roll over", "sit", "come",  "down",   "toy", "bring it here" , "touch bells", "look at me" and "such(search)".  He goes to his bed, and waits for "treats" and especially loves those stinky ones by "The Honest Kitchen" called "Wishes".  They smell horrid, but he LOVES them.  I have trained him not to sleep in my bed, which he did at first, but I was having an allergic reaction to him.  He sleeps in anyone's bed, but mine, and is just fine with that.

Now I have to figure out how to train him not to "butt bounce".  He will jump up and trampoline bounce off your butt when he is excited.  It is hard getting around back there to correct him.  I have not yet figured out a way to move quickly enough to change that nasty habit of his.  I just barely can turn around while I'm laughing my head off.  One thing at a time, at least we have figured out the right Chester food!