I've got a new blog going now...Loving An Old Dog...to take the place of this one. I will link back to Aggie's section over there so people can read the history, but new posts will be made over there now.
Please join us there.
http://lovinganolddog.blogspot.com/
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Saturday, December 15, 2012
Archiving the blog
The last entry for the blog was back in March.
On December 4, we lost Padre very suddenly.
On December 12, we lost Haley, my 17 year old dachshund who was the last of my breeding while I was still actively showing dogs.
It's time to archive this blog, rethink what the purpose is and, if it seems like a good idea, start up a new one based on the changes that have taken place over the last few years in our fostering.
We will still foster. And we are still VERY committed to fostering seniors, but the times have changed and the blog needs to reflect that. So once this post is published, I'll head over and see if I can't figure out how to archive it.
Thanks for coming with us while we've fostered the seniors here. We're not gone for good. :)
On December 4, we lost Padre very suddenly.
On December 12, we lost Haley, my 17 year old dachshund who was the last of my breeding while I was still actively showing dogs.
It's time to archive this blog, rethink what the purpose is and, if it seems like a good idea, start up a new one based on the changes that have taken place over the last few years in our fostering.
We will still foster. And we are still VERY committed to fostering seniors, but the times have changed and the blog needs to reflect that. So once this post is published, I'll head over and see if I can't figure out how to archive it.
Thanks for coming with us while we've fostered the seniors here. We're not gone for good. :)
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Birthday Boy!
We want to wish our senior foster dog, Padre a very happy birthday. Today he turns 15, but you wouldn't know it to look at him.
Happy. Sassy. Much loved.
Happy Birthday, Padre!
Happy. Sassy. Much loved.
Happy Birthday, Padre!
Saturday, February 18, 2012
Why we do what we do...
(Warning: There are some graphic images here, so please be warned.)
Sometimes a situation is so horrific you're compelled to act. Sometimes, even if it's not your breed, you're sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what the ending is going to be like; and hoping against hope an angel will step forward where you can't.
This week, that happened to me with a Chihuahua boy that was being warehoused at the Humane Society shelter here in Waco. He had a horrific eye injury and his 3 day stray hold was nearly up...and we all know what that means. It was pretty obvious he needed medical attention, but he wasn't getting it, so as the clock ticked down, an out of town angel stepped in...actually two out of town angels.
Kristen Vilardi from the Beaumont area, who had adopted a blind Chihuahua from this shelter last fall, began posting little Frodo every where on Facebook she could think of. And in the process she tagged Kris Scally from the DFW area, and between the two of them, Frodo was going to get his second chance at life.
This was the photo that began the whole thing:
And when Frodo was picked up from the shelter by a local rescue group member to be transported quickly to a local vet for surgery, the eye was found to be much worse than anyone thought from the photo. Blood and puss were leeching out from the eye. And to make matters worse, the poor boy was horribly flea infested with bloody sores from the bites.
Pretty obviously this little boy was going to lose that eye. But even through the pain, he was wagging his tail and wanting attention. A happy boy despite his discomfort.
Here is the photo from the operating table. Under anesthesia, cleaned up and prepped for surgery:
Friday evening after his surgery, Frodo was reported to be doing well. He was wanting lap time with his rescuer and very happy to be out of the shelter and out of pain.
And this morning? Frodo was on his way to his new home in Ft. Worth. He'll be living as a foster with Kris and enjoying a happy and pain-free life while she looks for his forever home.
Seeing this little boy go from the horrible condition in that first photo to the one that follows is the main reason I think we do what we do. We may not be able to rescue and save them all, but we tackle it one by one and each time, we make a difference.
Sometimes a situation is so horrific you're compelled to act. Sometimes, even if it's not your breed, you're sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what the ending is going to be like; and hoping against hope an angel will step forward where you can't.
This week, that happened to me with a Chihuahua boy that was being warehoused at the Humane Society shelter here in Waco. He had a horrific eye injury and his 3 day stray hold was nearly up...and we all know what that means. It was pretty obvious he needed medical attention, but he wasn't getting it, so as the clock ticked down, an out of town angel stepped in...actually two out of town angels.
Kristen Vilardi from the Beaumont area, who had adopted a blind Chihuahua from this shelter last fall, began posting little Frodo every where on Facebook she could think of. And in the process she tagged Kris Scally from the DFW area, and between the two of them, Frodo was going to get his second chance at life.
This was the photo that began the whole thing:
And when Frodo was picked up from the shelter by a local rescue group member to be transported quickly to a local vet for surgery, the eye was found to be much worse than anyone thought from the photo. Blood and puss were leeching out from the eye. And to make matters worse, the poor boy was horribly flea infested with bloody sores from the bites.
Pretty obviously this little boy was going to lose that eye. But even through the pain, he was wagging his tail and wanting attention. A happy boy despite his discomfort.
Here is the photo from the operating table. Under anesthesia, cleaned up and prepped for surgery:
Friday evening after his surgery, Frodo was reported to be doing well. He was wanting lap time with his rescuer and very happy to be out of the shelter and out of pain.
And this morning? Frodo was on his way to his new home in Ft. Worth. He'll be living as a foster with Kris and enjoying a happy and pain-free life while she looks for his forever home.
Seeing this little boy go from the horrible condition in that first photo to the one that follows is the main reason I think we do what we do. We may not be able to rescue and save them all, but we tackle it one by one and each time, we make a difference.
Tuesday, January 17, 2012
Padre's big day...
that would be this Friday. :)
Padre came in here back in October needing a dental very badly. One delay after another and here it is mid-January and he still has a nasty mouth.
Sunday things started moving into more critical territory when his face began to swell a bit on one side, and lifting up the lip showed some ulceration on the upper gum line by a tooth I *know* is going to have to come out.
So off to the clinic we went yesterday morning, and came back armed with antibiotics and Metacam and an appointment for Friday morning for a dental (and at least one tooth extraction I'm pretty positive). And the pain med is making a BIG difference for Padre. I got enough for three days which should give the antibiotics time to start working well on the infection and helping with the pain from it.
Friday morning we'll take him in around 10. Considering his insecurities - and they can be considerable - I'll be there when he goes under and then when he begins to come out of the anesthesia. I used to have to do this for Elvis (the puppy mill refugee foster dog we lost last summer), so I have no problem doing it for Padre. He just about shakes himself to death when he thinks he's being abandoned, and there's no point in putting him through that for no good reason.
If I'm right, this dog's mouth has been causing some of the interpersonal relationship issues. I think he's been in low grade pain for quite some time, and having the Metacam here is showing me a very different, and positive side, to this dog. Generally around 4:30, he becomes very animated and outgoing. That's about an hour before he gets fed, and he's hamming it up. I never see that at any other time. This morning, I'm seeing it, and I think it's the pain meds giving him the relief he's needed.
It will be interesting to see how he comes out of the dental and if the changes I'm hoping to see happen. I sure hope so. Padre is a sweet, sweet boy, and he deserves to be happy and pain free.
I'll post again on Friday after the dental.
Padre came in here back in October needing a dental very badly. One delay after another and here it is mid-January and he still has a nasty mouth.
Sunday things started moving into more critical territory when his face began to swell a bit on one side, and lifting up the lip showed some ulceration on the upper gum line by a tooth I *know* is going to have to come out.
So off to the clinic we went yesterday morning, and came back armed with antibiotics and Metacam and an appointment for Friday morning for a dental (and at least one tooth extraction I'm pretty positive). And the pain med is making a BIG difference for Padre. I got enough for three days which should give the antibiotics time to start working well on the infection and helping with the pain from it.
Friday morning we'll take him in around 10. Considering his insecurities - and they can be considerable - I'll be there when he goes under and then when he begins to come out of the anesthesia. I used to have to do this for Elvis (the puppy mill refugee foster dog we lost last summer), so I have no problem doing it for Padre. He just about shakes himself to death when he thinks he's being abandoned, and there's no point in putting him through that for no good reason.
If I'm right, this dog's mouth has been causing some of the interpersonal relationship issues. I think he's been in low grade pain for quite some time, and having the Metacam here is showing me a very different, and positive side, to this dog. Generally around 4:30, he becomes very animated and outgoing. That's about an hour before he gets fed, and he's hamming it up. I never see that at any other time. This morning, I'm seeing it, and I think it's the pain meds giving him the relief he's needed.
It will be interesting to see how he comes out of the dental and if the changes I'm hoping to see happen. I sure hope so. Padre is a sweet, sweet boy, and he deserves to be happy and pain free.
I'll post again on Friday after the dental.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Not a big fan :)
Just about every longhair I've known and every smooth carried the longhair gene at least liked water just a little, teensy bit.
Not Padre. Definitely not a fan.
Not Padre. Definitely not a fan.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
Penny Update, December 20, 2011
Man. Last update on Penny was back in October. I am REALLY bad!
That said. Let me get this out of the way....
Yep. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on Penny when Randall and I went to pick her up to start fostering her. Matter of fact, those were the first words out of my mouth. Self-fulfilling prophecy. :)
It will be sometime early next year before we make it official, but I figure I might as well put it out there now.
So this is where I get mushy gushy.
Penny is an absolute doll. And she knows it. Pretty, cute, personality plus...and OH SO manipulative. This is the pretty girl who plays up her looks to get what she wants. She has Randall wrapped around her little paw, and while I'm not quite that bad, she can work me over pretty good, too.
Frankly, I cannot believe she was a) in a shelter and b) her people didn't come for her. Of course, she had been at a vet's office for awhile before she hit the shelter, so it's possible there was an attempt but it never went anywhere.
And before someone says, "Love is blind." I'll be the first to admit she has some faults.
Her bathroom habits leave a lot to be desired. Where Padre is very housebroken, and Aggie isn't quite as good as him, but definitely on the plus side of the line, Penny is only marginal. She will potty in the house unless we're diligent in getting her outside. The main problem is she loves to be comfortable and doesn't like to leave her basket/pillow/blanket or whatever the comfort provider of the moment is. And there are a lot of times when her preferred potty spot outside is the patio or the gravel path leading to the yard. These habits don't endear her. They're manageable, but I don't like them and with physical disabilities, I can't get out the door in time to correct her.
The second is rather related to the first, because she seeks comfort and doesn't want to be outside, she has a bad habit of going out the door, turning right around and barking to come back in. I keep a spray bottle handy, and that does help, but I suspect this will be a lifelong thing.
She is quite excitable, and when excited, uses her voice. Which isn't too bad, and isn't something that bugs me like it does with Skeeter, my husband's Chihuahua, but she gets wound up and barks to express her feelings. We're not too consistent on this problem, which means it's something that will probably always happen.
One of Penny's great loves (besides comfort and being with her people) is peanut butter. Got to REALLY watch her waistline because she gets peanut butter to hide pills she gets daily. She's definitely a Peanut Butter Princess.
Overall, she's about where I thought she'd be with us. Spoiled rotten (and getting more so every day) and cute as a button. No surprising the failure here. We've fostered several dogs, and though we're sad/happy to see them find new homes, Penny is our first foster failure...there is just no way we could see her leave.
Like the other updates, this one suffers from camera absence but here are a couple I've taken over the last month or so.
That said. Let me get this out of the way....
Yep. I knew it the first time I laid eyes on Penny when Randall and I went to pick her up to start fostering her. Matter of fact, those were the first words out of my mouth. Self-fulfilling prophecy. :)
It will be sometime early next year before we make it official, but I figure I might as well put it out there now.
So this is where I get mushy gushy.
Penny is an absolute doll. And she knows it. Pretty, cute, personality plus...and OH SO manipulative. This is the pretty girl who plays up her looks to get what she wants. She has Randall wrapped around her little paw, and while I'm not quite that bad, she can work me over pretty good, too.
Frankly, I cannot believe she was a) in a shelter and b) her people didn't come for her. Of course, she had been at a vet's office for awhile before she hit the shelter, so it's possible there was an attempt but it never went anywhere.
And before someone says, "Love is blind." I'll be the first to admit she has some faults.
Her bathroom habits leave a lot to be desired. Where Padre is very housebroken, and Aggie isn't quite as good as him, but definitely on the plus side of the line, Penny is only marginal. She will potty in the house unless we're diligent in getting her outside. The main problem is she loves to be comfortable and doesn't like to leave her basket/pillow/blanket or whatever the comfort provider of the moment is. And there are a lot of times when her preferred potty spot outside is the patio or the gravel path leading to the yard. These habits don't endear her. They're manageable, but I don't like them and with physical disabilities, I can't get out the door in time to correct her.
The second is rather related to the first, because she seeks comfort and doesn't want to be outside, she has a bad habit of going out the door, turning right around and barking to come back in. I keep a spray bottle handy, and that does help, but I suspect this will be a lifelong thing.
She is quite excitable, and when excited, uses her voice. Which isn't too bad, and isn't something that bugs me like it does with Skeeter, my husband's Chihuahua, but she gets wound up and barks to express her feelings. We're not too consistent on this problem, which means it's something that will probably always happen.
One of Penny's great loves (besides comfort and being with her people) is peanut butter. Got to REALLY watch her waistline because she gets peanut butter to hide pills she gets daily. She's definitely a Peanut Butter Princess.
Overall, she's about where I thought she'd be with us. Spoiled rotten (and getting more so every day) and cute as a button. No surprising the failure here. We've fostered several dogs, and though we're sad/happy to see them find new homes, Penny is our first foster failure...there is just no way we could see her leave.
Like the other updates, this one suffers from camera absence but here are a couple I've taken over the last month or so.
The comfort seeking mini-long bunks next to the comfort seeking Chi-Chi
Persistence...don't need teeth to clean a bowl
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