Xavier (Bones) Update

Bones is doing really well here.  His name isn't going to fit him for much longer.  The weight is coming on easily, as I expected.   I started adding puppy food into the regular dog food.  He is responding well to the extra calories that it provides.  He is still pretty boney, but definitely looking much better.

Jonathon thinks we should have called him B.J. for Buddy (Jax) Junior because he reminds us so much of young Jax.  He is all legs and totally clumsy.  He runs into things and slips and slides across the floor.  During chase, his long legs often outrun the rest of him which sometimes results in total wipe out.  He is just a hoot.

My buddy and me!

Despite his not so intelligent antics, he has wonderful attention and is very eager to please so leash training has been easy.  His loose-lead walking, sitting, and watch me are near perfect in this short time.  He is also learning to read the dogs more and is playing a little more respectfully with them.  He spent an entire day at the office wearing out Derby (Yes, Derby my previous foster) last week and joined in on a play date with the neighbor dog as well.  He loves everyone.

We are still struggling with separation anxiety.  Although he is safe in the new crate, he is obviously still very stressed out about it.  He chews and salivates so much that his blanket is completely soaked when I return, which makes me feel horrible.  Therefore, he comes to work with me every day.  Yesterday, Jonathon and I were over in the neighbor's backyard helping her fix her fence and our dogs were in our backyard.   Bones knew we were there, but couldn't see us.  Within minutes, he scaled the fence to get to us.  He just hates being away from us.  I have ordered the famous "Thundershirt" to help alleviate some of the anxiety. I am skeptical, but some of the rescuers I know, as well as big-time animal behaviorists, swear by it.  The idea is the same as the pressure wraps and weighted vests used by doctors to treat people with autism, etc.  Fingers crossed.  I am at a loss on how else to help him overcome this issue. 

If I was unsure before, it has become clear to me that the poor puppy was surely beaten in his old life.  We have seen him absolutely melt down, flattening to the ground and whimpering, just waiting to get hit when he thought he was in trouble.  This reaction is not normal of a dog that has been merely "spanked" (I personally don't believe any physical punishment is appropriate for dogs because that is not how they learn, it's just a human way of releasing anger or frustration) but the reaction of a dog that is expecting serious physical pain.    It's enough to break any decent person's heart.   Being shot in the gut was awful for him, but it may have been his one and only ticket out of an unfortunate life.  Perhaps a blessing in deep disguise.

Meet Xavier.

First of all, I did not name this dog. I find it to be a rather awkward name for a dog.  Imagine me at the dog park "Here Xavier!"  Right?   We call him "Bones" because he is so boney.

Bones is a 15 month old male dark brindle boxer.  He comes to us from Hot Springs, AR.  His story is one of irresponsibility and neglect.  He was very sick and vomiting for at least two weeks before his former family decided to bring him to a vet.  By then, he was weak and frail from malnourishment and extremely ill.   His prognosis was poor.  With the approval of the owner, the doctor did an emergency exploratory surgery.  The poor dog was septic because he had been shot and there was a bullet sitting in his abdomen (we have the bullet).  The owners claimed that they had no idea.  It had been inside of him for so long, that the doctor couldn't even find the entry wound.  "Who shoots a dog?" is the obvious question.  More importantly, I ask "How in the hell does someone not notice that their own dog has been shot?"  Obviously they paid him very little attention.  But even when they knew something was wrong, they chose to ignore it.  He suffered for a long time because of their indifference.

After the surgery, the owner decided that he was not going to pay the bill.  It was too much money to spend on "just a dog."  Keep in mind, the doctor had already given them an estimate and had gotten approval to perform the surgery.  This put her into a tough situation.  She just spent hours trying to save this dog's life and now they were refusing to pay the bill and wanted her to put him to sleep.  She stuck her neck out for this dog.  Kudos to her.  She told them that she would not put the dog to sleep, but she would nurse him back to health and find him a good home.  They did not like that.  Their response was something like "If you'll do a free surgery and give the dog to someone else, why don't you just give it back to us?"  To which she responded  "It doesn't work like that. This dog got into this situation because of your lack of care and now you don't want to pay for him to get better."  She knew that he had a long way to go to recover and wasn't comfortable giving him back, money or not.  Legally, she didn't have a leg to stand on.  Had they insisted that she put him to sleep, she would have either had to do it, or try to get animal cruelty charges filed against them and turn the dog over to animal control and let them sort things out.  Lucky for her, they didn't fight her too much, but they were clearly angry.  We have these people's names and have been told that they may be watching for their dog to resurface.  He will not be eligible for adoption in Hot Springs.  My preference would be to get him as far away from here as possible. 

Bones is a hand full.  At barely over a year old, his energy seems limitless.  His dog play is extremely rough, especially with Jax.  I don't think he had ever really played with other dogs before.  No aggression at all, but he doesn't pick up on the signs that he is driving the others insane.  My guess is that he was probably taken from his mother too early as well.  That would explain his lack of social skills and bite inhibition when it comes to dog play.   He is lucky that Dixie and Jax are about as tolerant as dogs get.  He would get his skinny little ass kicked by most dogs.  We are trying to work on his dog to dog manners, but he will learn most of that from them. 

He destroyed my wire crate day one, literally chewing through three metal bars!  I feared for his safety in the crate, but he is not potty trained, nor did I trust him loose in the house with the others yet.  Every dog has their limits, and he definitely tests theirs. For the next couple of days, he came to the office with me and spent much of the time in the crate there for supervised practice.  I got him a solid-sided plastic crate in place of the metal one (safer if he does try to break out again).  He also now wears a pheromone collar to (supposedly) help with his crate anxiety.  I throw in a knuckle bone and a peanut butter stuffed frozen Kong to keep him busy.  I have also been putting Dixie in a crate right next to him so he has a support system.  She has helped me crate train several of the fosters.  I think she understands why she is suddenly being kenneled because she never complains.  This combination of things seems to be working for him so far. Knock on wood. 

Besides those little issues, he is wonderful.  When he isn't crated, he shows no signs of anxiety at all.  His personality couldn't be sweeter.  He loves to cuddle, with us and with the dogs.  He does pretty well out and about, being very social and friendly to everyone he encounters.  He is good in the car and fine on leash.  He is quite submissive to people and he hates being scolded.  I think his former owners were harsh with him.  He practically melts when you tell him "No!"  He barks at the door like any good guard dog does, but it never goes too far.  He will be a great family dog.

What they say about horizontal stripes adding pounds is true!  His coloring really hides how skinny he is.  He has put on a couple of pounds already, but you can feel every bone in his body.  I would like to get him about 10lbs heavier.  He eats like a horse, and plays like crazy, so both fat and muscle should come quickly.  With a little meat on his "bones", he will be even more gorgeous.

D.C....meet Enzo.

Friday morning:

This morning I have a heavy heart.   Yesterday I put sweet Enzo, who I had fallen in love with, on a bus to his new home.  Don't get me wrong, I couldn't be more pleased with his new home, but out of state adoptions are harder for me to deal with and Enzo and I were extremely attached to one another. 

He is going to be a big city dog, living it up in our nation's capital.  His new home is right in the heart of downtown D.C.  A very dog-friendly area, his apartment building even has it's own dog park where residents gather each night to socialize and let their dogs play together.  The lobby  has a supply of treats sitting out for it's four legged tenants.  He will have the best of both worlds, being a spoiled "only child" yet getting to play with his friends every day.  He is such a character, I'm sure he will win everyone over and become popular quickly.  I have a vision in my head of a well dressed doorman opening the big fancy door with a cheerful "Good morning, Enzo!" as they head out at the start of each day.  Perhaps I watch too much tv, but it makes me smile, so that is how I picture his future. 

He will get picked up in Hagerstown, Maryland (about 3 hours from his new home) between 3:30 and 5:30a.m. tomorrow morning.  Until then, when I get that phone call from his adopter, Chana, that he has safely arrived, I will continue to be a nervous wreck.

Saturday evening :

Enzo arrived in all of his glory!  Apparently, he was not "broken" by the transport.  He bounced back quickly and on day one, has already embraced city life.  Their first day together included a six mile walk, stopping in at not one, but two doggy boutique/bakeries and even dropping by to meet her dry cleaner, who always has yummy treats on hand.  I am impressed, as is Chana, at his ability to adapt to such an enormous change so quickly.  Her original plan was to bring Enzo home to rest and recover from the stress that is transport.  She expected him to show up exhausted and a bit scared.  Not so.  He was ready to explore his new world right away. 

The person who did our home visit for us (pre-adoption) adopted from our rescue about two years ago and lives only a mile from Chana and Enzo.  At the time of the inspection, they hit it off so well that they actually set up a play date.  Perhaps it is the champagne that I have been drinking (judge me if you will, it's been a rough week),but it just blows my mind when I think that two dumped dogs from central Arkansas are now neighbors across the country, in Washington D.C. of all places!  And it's an area where dogs are treated with a great level of respect and welcomed, wholeheartedly, by the community.  This is success in it's highest form. 

Good Bye, sweet friend.  I will never forget you. 

There is someone new in my life who's arrival has been over shadowed by Enzo's departure.  Their stays here overlapped by a few days and they bonded immediately.  Stay tuned...

Ouchy!

Friday evening after work, I was outside doing my evening poo pick up (always a highlight of my day) when I looked over at Jax and Enzo, who were wrestling as usual.  I could see from across the yard that Jax's neck was covered in blood.  I went to examine him but could find no wounds.  First instinct is always to check the dog with blood on him, but in my experience, he usually isn't the injured one.   The blood was coming from Enzo's mouth.  Somehow he had broken his top left canine tooth almost entirely off and it was bleeding like crazy. 

5:00 on a Friday usually means emergency clinic, which means big bucks.  Not ideal.  Still, I knew that this was potentially extremely painful for my little buddy.  I only live about a mile from our regular foster vet and the doctor's truck was still in the parking lot when I drove by.  I called them and they were still there dealing with another emergency.  They told me to come on in, which really impressed me.  We waited for quite a while, until the other emergency (acute vomiting) was taken care of.   Doc finally came in and took one look and declared what I had already assumed.  "No saving that tooth."  Enzo needed surgery.  To my surprise, Doc offered to do the surgery Saturday morning so we wouldn't have to wait until Monday. 

The surgery was more complicated than a simple tooth extraction, which is normally done on rotten or loose teeth that come out pretty easily.  This was a young, healthy, growing tooth.  In addition, it had broken off so close to the gum line that there wasn't anything to grip with the extractor.  Because of that, the gum had to be cut down and the result was a huge hole and tons of sutures.  The doctor actually cut a slice of inner lip into a flap and sutured it across the hole to protect it.  I had never seen that done before, and was a bit skeptical, honestly.  Our instructions...antibiotics, pain meds, and soft food for a week. 

He is still on his mange medication and had started treatment for his bladder infection earlier in the week, so the poor dog is now consuming a pharmacy full of drugs everyday!  Tonight I was checking his suture site and discovered with frustration that the protective flap of lip tissue that I was worried about coming undone, had indeed come undone.  So, back to the vet we go in the morning.  I am really hoping that we can avoid putting him back under anesthesia, but we may have no other option.   He has been such an easy dog these past two months and suddenly he is a mess.  Bless his little heart, though, he is still just as happy as ever.

All of this comes in what may be his final time with us, as we have a new potential adopter.  More on this after it's official.  I'm hoping that the third time is the charm, although I will be very sad to see him go.  Have I mentioned how much I adore him?

21 Days Later.

Wow.  21 days since my last post.  I guess the extended time in Orlando for work took a toll on me because I was barely home for two days before becoming sick and spending another entire week out of work and away from pretty much everything else, including blogging.  I am finally feeling almost back to normal.  I took all three dogs out to the dog park yesterday to get some much needed fresh air.

Back to business.  Enzo has made a dramatic improvement.  He has been with us for about seven weeks now and about 80% of  his hair has grown in!  He is looking quite handsome.  He is also very sweet and friendly and cuddly.  I am really loving this dog.
 

This was Enzo back on December 3rd...about 7 weeks ago.

This is him now!

He is still having a few potty training problems.  I'm actually planning to take him in to the vet this week just to be sure that he doesn't have any urinary tract issues.  He doesn't always seem to be aware of his pee.  He'll just be playing and peeing at the same time (thankfully, we don't have carpet).  I'm not sure if it's some kind of urinary incontinence or if he just gets so distracted having fun that he forgets to stop for bathroom breaks.   I'm hoping that it's nothing.  As cute and sweet as he is, an incontinent dog is obviously not highly adoptable. 

Speaking of adoption, we did have two adoption applications on Enzo earlier this month.  As it turned out, the first applicant was trying to hide information from her landlord.  I guess she didn't expect us to follow through with the reference calls.  She was only allowed to have a dog under 25lbs.  The landlord told us "no exceptions."  He is 47lbs and not yet full grown.  This type of situation lands plenty of dogs behind bars and we couldn't take a chance on that!  The second applicant checked "yes" she has had a boxer before.  In the reason why she no longer has him she wrote "let him out to pee one night and he just never came back."  Um, yeah... not getting one of my dogs!  Luckily we have a "must have a fenced yard" policy that we can always use for an out in these situations. 

Aside from the peeing, he is a fun and easy dog to have around.  He is another diamond in the rough.  His time will come and he will make somebody very happy. 

Happy New Year!

I woke up on this first morning of 2012 and the very first news that I got was that Ezra is getting her forever home!  Her foster mom has chosen to officially adopt her.  I've had a feeling she might do that all along, but it is so great to know for sure.  My sweet Ezra has come full circle.  If this is a sign of how the rest of the year will go...I'll take it!

Merry Christmas 2011

This will likely be my final post of 2011.  I sincerely thank everyone who has followed me through the year  as I write of the craziness that is living with rescue dogs.  Although I started this blog for myself so I would always have the memories of my beloved fosters who come in and out of my life, I am very happy that so many others enjoy my stories as well. 

This year, as usual, has had it's highs and lows.  The deeper I dive into the rescue world, the more often I feel like the lows exceed the highs.  If I stayed out of the networks, and stopped viewing the "urgent" lists, focusing only on my personal foster dogs, it would be easier.  However, I know the problem will not go away simply because I choose to keep my head down.  So I keep up with the latest goings on, both nationally and locally, helping where I can and continuing to have my heart broken on a regular basis.

That being said, there were many successes in animal welfare this year!  Several new laws were passed throughout the country in favor of the animals.  Some of them seem so ridiculously obvious that one would never imagine a law would have to be created for such an issue.  Sadly, that isn't the case.  Like having to pass a law that you have to feed your dog.  That is a law in Missouri now, thank God.  Commercial breeders  are now required to provide adequate food and water to their breeding dogs.  Missouri has a long way to go, but at least this is a step in the right direction.   A few more states banned greyhound racing.   Many states have created more strict punishments for animal cruelty offenders.  Some states have even started in on spay and neuter laws, the absolute most important issue in animal rescue!  Until all states adopt some form of this law, we are fighting a never ending battle.  Hopefully 2012 will continue this trend!

There have been plenty of personal highs as well.  Of course, the biggest were having six dogs (Calista, Lincoln, Bindi Sue, Rheagan, Derby and Percy) successfully placed in forever homes and having Ezra thriving in a wonderful long-term foster home.  I will never forget any one of them.  I am thankful that our home was the bridge from their pasts to futures. 

Other high points are when I hear from the adopters of my babies.  Just yesterday, I got a Christmas card from Lincoln.  His mom sent me several pictures of him and he looks awesome.  She also reminded me of how much they love him and thanked me yet again for "bringing him up to be such a sweet dog".   I talk to Rheagan's mom  quite often.  I have been helping her with some training that she has been doing with Rheagan.  She also sends pictures.  Calista's mom isn't much of a talker, but  I got a video sent to my phone one day from a number that I didn't recognize.  It was titled "WWF...boxer style" and I figured it to be a silly forward.  In fact, it was a video of Calista wrestling around the house with her doggy friends. There were no words, but I guess she knew that the video said it all.  It brought both tears and laughter.  I think moments like these may be my most favorite part of rescuing. 

Enzo in his Christmas attire!

 Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all of you and all of your four-legged family members!

I have attached a Christmas video (created by a different rescue).  It's hilarious to me, because I have experienced nearly every scene of it!  If you have a naughty dog or two, you will agree!  If not, well it's still pretty darn cute. Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/embed/bYTK18xq4DA?rel=0