Angel & Friends

Arn't I just adorable ? Mum says all puppies are and thats why lots of people go and buy Bichons as "cute" as I am,  but we are very different to lots of the other dogs that I see in the park when I go for out for my walkies.

I have very special fur that keeps me cool in the summer and warm in the winter , some of my non Bichon doggie friends fur makes their owners cough and sneeze ( I think its called asthma?)

I don't moult so I rely on my Mum to brush me everyday day to keep my coat from getting tangled and matted and thats why many people want a dog like me, but you need to know more about Bichons before you decide I am right for you .

Some Bichon friends I see  had to have all their fur shaved off at the doggie hairdressers because they weren't brushed every day, I  need to be bathed , cut and dried every 4-6 weeks that keeps me looking gorgeous and smelling lovely.... Our coats do need alot of looking after and it can be quite expensive to keep us looking good.


I love to have everybodys attention, I hate being left alone and have worked out that if Mum does leave me I can show her that I'm not happy, me and my Bichon buddy Thomas were talking about this the other day at training classes, and we all said the best way to get attention is to pee or poo whenever we are left in the house for a long time or bark our heads off.

Jon Jo says he sneaks off when his Mum isn't looking and does a pee up her curtains or up the sofa if he thinks he is being ignored..and he told me he hates being left at home all day without seeing anyone, I did feel sorry for him as he says he gets lonely, bored and sad.

I'm lucky because Mum dosn't leave me for a long time and I love hearing the car pull onto the drive after she has been out shopping , if I have been well behaved Mum buys me new toys but I really do prefer chewing tissues, papers and letters.

Another game I love is stealing laundry, pulling clothes off the radiators and kicking the pillows off the bed and sofa.. its just so funny watching Mum picking it all up.

Our favourite places to be are on the sofa, usually sitting on the back of your head on the cushions!, or snuggled up on the end of your bed, some of my friends arn't allowed on the bed so they bark all night or pee and poo in the kitchen to let their owners they are not impressed with being left alone. I love to sleep on Mums bed I feel safe knowing she is near me.

I have a very loud bark, I love to bark! - in fact all my Bichon buddies do, we bark looking out of the window, we bark when somebody comes to the door, and we don't really like the postman but love to rip the mail up when it comes through the letter box, thats just the best game ever.
 
Mum has now had a letter box fitted outside the front door because she couldn't read her bank statements after I chewed them ( I thought I was doing her a favour!)

One of my buddies George says his new name is " be quiet" .. thats a weird name isn't it ? but he said thats what his Dad says all the time to him...

I was looking at Mums laptop yesterday and read that we are "family dogs", well...I really don't like little children and neither do many of my friends, they grab at our fur and it hurts! and we do like all the attention  which we don't get when there are other " little people" about, we like to be number one.

Mum says " Angel , you are like a 5 year old child in a fur coat " so I'd rather be with bigger people in the house who have lots of love and attention to give to me.

I don't want to share a lap with a little person, thats just for me, we don't like changes in the household so when some owners have a new baby, or even another dog is brought in our owners go back to work fulltime and leave us alone it makes us very unhappy, and we start to change our behaviour because we want more attention, its the only way we can show our owners that we are sad, we just love attention from our Mums and Dads, and we can get jealous if we have to compete for attention!

Some of my Bichon friends really don't like visitors and become very jealous when other people come into the house
this can make some us bark alot , grumble or snap, also when people try and take things out of our mouths when we are under tables or beds, we can bite if you stick your hand in!!

Our teeth are sharp and its a good way of letting you know, we don't want to do something, give you something, or dislike a person coming near our Mum or Dad... its protective or territorial dominance ( don't know what that means though)

Thats why some of us growl when Mum or Dad tries to take us off the sofa or bed.. we think we own that space, what better way to let you know we don't want to be moved by growling.. we don't all do that but my friend Humphrey can be very naughty if his Mum tries to get him to move, thats called being " territorial" too I think.

Mum says its the " little dog syndrome" we love to think we are top dog because we are so cute ......... but Mum says we need boundaries for us to be happy, and that needs to start from a very early age otherwise we can become aggressive to show you we mean business............





I love my food, but Mums says I have to be careful with what I am fed, as some foods can make me hot and itchy especially foods with gravy and beef in it, I also can get itchy with some shampoo's when I havn't been rinsed out properly or have an allergy to fleas.

So I like a good diet which is pale in colour & good quality,  unlike some of these nasty bright red dog foods supermarkets sell in tins and poochy pouches, they can give you red staining on your mouth and eyes,( which ruins my pretty face)  and can also cause my skin to become itchy and sore, "hotspots" I think they are called.

I also like to be fed two small meals a day, it was four meals a day when I was a baby, but I'm a big girl now , I still wasn't allowed to try the tea and scones ... so unfair.


I do love going for my walkies, I go twice a day on long walks some of Bichon buddies are very fast and love escaping or don't come back when they are called, so Mum says that its better for those dogs to be on a long extender lead so they are kept safe, or walked in an enclosed area when they go out, so we can come back home safely.


We are very quick and love to see our owners chasing after us, so Mum has made my garden very secure so I don't find a hole to escape from.. but heres one I made earlier!.......