Baby Teeth; she's growin' up, folks!

Well, yesterday I couldn't figure out what was "off" with Lil Bit.  We snuggled a lot on the couch (I was waiting for an abysmally long render to finish - for more on what I do, visit: http://harmoniccreatrix.blogspot.com/  ), we played games on the floor, we played mock-wrestle with the kitty.... yet, she still looked sad, and lost.  She also wasn't eatting like usual - even with her unusual dog dish considered.  (it's out of molded plastic, and looks like three inverted knobs on the bottom sized and shaped like upside down shot glasses; it forces her to slow down when eatting).  Lunch took her two HOURS to complete - dinner, took 3.

Meanwhile, something else was developing, and it rather alarmed me.  I even mildly fussed at her, asking her how many dust bunnies did one puppy have to eat in a day anyway?  I really thought, the way she was acting, that she had something like a popcorn husk caught in her throat.  You know that horrible feeling, when you cant get it to GO.

So, I checked her.  Checked her about 5 times before bed, each time she went nuts and started digging at her face, or clacking her teeth together, or doing that strange sucking and wiggling of the tongue movements... all told me she had SOMETHING going on, and I was being too blind, or SOMETHING.

Finally, fell asleep.... and was woken numerous times to the SAME THING.... nothing calmed her until i stuck my hand in her mouth and messed, trying to figure out if it was a fuzzball or WHAT.  She never BIT me or even snapped directly at me, but that was one concern, as she WAS snapping and getting more irritated at whatever was going on with her mouth.... so I was cautious.

Finally, morning came - and she actually let me SLEEP IN!  (well, for me...) - an hour and a half!  We got up, and she's been such a lovey... not ONCE since she's been here has she failed to poo on her potty pads.  Piddles on the other hand... well, she's a lot better with those, too.

Anyways, not a half hour into being awake... she's doing that thing again.  I had enough and grabbed the flashlight, and then spent 5 minutes struggling with her to look inside her mouth.  It wasn't the flashlight that revealed the issue, however... but a brainstorm.  I was looking for something that shouldn't have been there... instead, I should have been looking for what WAS supposed to be there, but was no longer needed.  Sure enough, found it - a loose molar!  Took me another few minutes to get a good hold on it - she was NOT liking it one bit, until I yanked.  She didn't even YELP, and she was so good, she didn't snap down on my hand (i expected it).  She just gave me a startled look, ran her tongue over the spot and i SWEAR - she grinned at me.  She sure did jump up on my chest and wrap her legs around my shoulders and gave me a huge hug.

I fed her breakfast then (to help get the icky blood taste outta mouth... didn't know if it bothered her, but it always made me queasy - yet i love a good rare steak LOL).  And she was back to eatting quickly, digging to the bottom of her special bowl in under 10 minutes..... I've discovered she loves it if I sprinkle the wee bit of kibble on the bottom of the bowl, add in one of her treats somewhere, and then dump slightly warmed rice-mash on top, so she has to hunt to find the crunchy parts =D

Problem solved, and I have been gifted with a precious memento of her puppy-hood... a molar.