Pittie Pick-me-up!

Tired of looking at the poor emaciated faces of pitties waiting to find a home? Well now you can check out StubbyDog's Rescue Dog of the Week to see all the amazing transformations of lucky and adoptable dogs all over the country.

Check out this week's doggy, Dumpling, a four-month-old who was abandoned, emaciated, only 24 lbs and had the worst care of demodectic mange and secondary infections that the vets had ever seen. He has made such an amazing recovery!

Dumpling BEFORE

Dumpling AFTER

Now he is 1 year old, 47 pounds and is happy and playful. He loves to play with his foster buddy, loves to cuddle and is available for adoption! Check out more pics of Dumpling enjoying life!

Dumpling is available for adoption through Rocket Dog Rescue, which is located in San Francisco, CA. You can check them out on Facebook or see Dumpling on PetFinder or check out his blog.

Winnie got Surgery

Finally, after waiting a few months, we made the difficult but necessary decision to do Winnie's ACL repair surgery.

Since she ruptured her cruciate ligament some months ago, we were trying to save up money for the expensive surgery as we watched her leg improve. She was walking without any limp at all, when all of a sudden (probably after joyfully romping up and down the 4 flights of stairs at Grandma's house)- she began hopping around- barely using it.

Since we have moved to central NJ- we were able to find a great vet at the recommendation of both our apartment's former tenants and the Pet Rescue of Mercer, where I currently volunteer--They both suggested Dr. Petraro at Twin Rivers Animal Hospital.

Everything went completely smoothly and the staff there kept me updated and took wonderful care of her.

Today she is even "toe-touching" -something the doctor wouldn't expect for two more weeks- which means she is somewhat comfortable with her new knee already. (Although full reovery will take 6-8 weeks).

Although she looks pretty gloomy with her cone on- she has pretty decent spirits. Now the only challenge is how to get her to take her pills-any suggestions?

San Francisco

This past week I took a 3-day trip with my friends to San Francisco. I had never been to the West Coast at all and enjoyed seeing the Pacific for the first time, biking the Golden Gate Bridge, and eating amazing food.

Of course I visited what I consider to be the dogs of the sea-- Sea Lions! They are super social creatures, who love lazing around all day, barking at each other and growling when their sunny sleeps get interrupted.

 

 

As I am an obsessive dog-watcher, I looked out for dogs everywhere we went. I loved watching the dogs romp on the beach and play off-leash at Alamo Square. We came across this lovely girl, Luna- who hammed-it-up on the grass by rolling onto my feet and gently nipping at me to get more affection-- Look at that smile!

We also met bunches of other Golden Retrievers, Labs, French Bulldogs, Collies and other great dogs- Unfortunately, I was sad to find that there weren't many mixed breed dogs or pit mixes around. I figured that this meant that there are fewer unwanted/unplanned litters in SF and therefore, fewer shelter dogs. In New York, pit bulls are everywhere- when I stepped out of the path station I was excited to see not only more dogs, but more mutts and more pitties- I guess I am a little biased against pure-breed dogs because I figure they need less help in this world.

I did run into one Pit bull while in San Fran and happily sat down with his owner, a homeless ex-U.S. marine.

 

San Fran has a surprisingly large homeless population- I've been told because of the nice weather and friendly people. When I met this man and sat next to him- his dog (Tyrell), instantly climbed out of his owner's lap and gave me plenty of kisses. He laid down (belly-up) next to me on the side-walk and enjoyed getting his belly scratched.

Tyrell's owner told me that he gets all the vet care he needs because in SF, it is illegal to turn away an animal in need, just as it is illegal to turn away a person who needs emergency care. This makes it financially possible not only for Tyrell to have a "home" of sorts, but also for his owner to have companionship. He told me that Tyrell is his best friend in the whole world, and inspired him to get off the streets and to buy a van for them to sleep in. Together, they share a sleeping bag. Tyrell even protects his owner at night and has bitten another homeless man who tried to steal their things. It seems like a wild life, but the more I heard about this duo- the more sure I became that they really needed each other- and that neither of them would get by without the other.

Fortunately, due to a law that forces pit bulls to be neutered- Tyrell was neutered at the age of only 2 months to prevent over-population and he cannot contribute to more homeless pets, although the law apparently does not apply to other breeds of dogs. I gave his owner $20 for dog food and wished them luck and was so happy I saw a pit bull before leaving San Fran.

Does anyone know more about the shelter system there and why pit bulls must be neutered so young?

Canine Anxiety

We have had Bruno now for six months (YAY! Half a year with a stable happy home :)) and have been working on his anxiety issues. When he goes out for walks, he wears a backpack and a gentle-leader and we bring treats mostly to distract him from people in the elevator who stare at him. He doesn't bark at anyone unless they stare at him- usually smiling, or make a sudden movement or noise. We try to preempt this by placing him in the corner close to us, sitting, and focus him on our faces, so he doesn't get scared.

While walking, his backpack helps him focus on his job- and we have trained him to walk closely by our side and sit whenever we stop walking. He usually doesn't have any trouble on this part of the walk- even though he used to jump and bark whenever someone ran by or children shouted. The gentle leader really helps get his attention quickly because it raises his muzzle towards our faces.

However, while we feel that this helps Bruno feel calmer on his walk and definitely scares our neighbors less, we still feel like walks and new experiences make him super nervous and anxious and that anxiety is always ready to bubble up from under the surface if someone startles him.

 

(Bruno at ACC-Manhattan)

When we brought him to Petco to have his portrait taken, he did not enjoy being kept on-leash in a small enclosed area with us ordering him around for a half hour. He actually broke out in hives on the backs of his ears and elbows and his eyes began running with tears as he barked incessantly. My mother suggested that this was high-blood pressure caused by stress, and I agree. I've started to notice he tears-up whenever he is in a new situation. Even when we walk him a few blocks away from his usual route, he gets very anxious and begins tearing up, whining, fidgeting, tugging and acting up. Unfortunately- he also scratches his ears until they bleed- something we think is tied to the anxiety.

Children of a certain age scare him with their spontaneous nature and someday I want him to be comfortable around our own kids. (Luckily babies don't scare him at all- he even licked a girl's bare foot in a stroller in the elevator once.) Usually he doesn't mind when we leave him in the kitchen during the day- he doesn't seem to whine or have separation anxiety. I think he feels comfortable there because it is dark and quiet and no one bothers him. His fear of sleeping alone has really improved and now we can kick him out of bed at night without him peeing on the floor out of fear.

I'm sure if he was left out in a large area, he would be very destructive when left alone- but having the kitchen to himself really seems to be the answer. He is comfortable with strangers after the second time he meets them (one time he barked at a friend every time he saw him for a whole weekend- one time even peeing himself out of fear- but the next weekend when he saw him, he wasn't scared at all.)

The only thing we need to fix is how Bruno experiences new things. want to be able to sooth him and help him enjoy new experiences and places and people. Today he got upset when a security guard outside out building clicked his pen a few times. Bruno barked at him, and proceeded to bark at everyone on the way inside. In other words- something sets off his anxiety and he can't stop.

Since we saw the hives, tears and bleeding ears, we have been thinking about bringing him to the vet to have him put on anxiety medication. We have used non-medical techniques to manage his anxiety and keep him calm and happy and for the most park they have worked- but we don't know how to help this. Apparently, they are meat flavored versions of human anti-depressants. I know if I felt the way he does about the world- I would never want to leave the house, and I don't want him to live like this. With children, you can explain loud noises and scary people- but dogs can't really learn and understand that these things won't hurt them- especially if they have hurt them in the past.

Does anyone know about this or have any suggestions?

Rescue of a Pit Bull named Valor

Here is a chance to see a real rescue of a dog that desperately needed love, medical care, and a home:

Valor is currently recovering but in a boarding facility in Los Angeles- if you are interested in adopting, go to A Day in A Dog's Life Rescue Group's facebook page.

Winnie needs Surgery.

Bad news everyone...

Winnie has a torn ACL!

This explains her persistent limp, why she sits in uncomfortable positions like this:

and why she always seems to be sassy or in a bad mood:

"i is sassing you..."

We are glad to have finally found out what was wrong with her leg (actually her knee, read more about it here) but we are blown away by the price-tag.

The estimate we were given by the Vet was $3,284. ($2,200 for the surgery itself and the rest for injections, check-ups and medications.) She said that people often wait longer to get it taken care of but that more scar-tissue and calcification builds up and making the chance of her being permanently lame and arthritic much higher. As it is now, she will probably always favor the other leg, but if the surgury goes well she could be a lot more comfortable in a matter of months.

I am really sad that my young dog (only a year and a half) already has a problem that usually faces elderly or overweight dogs. 

To finance the surgery, I am going to begin selling personalized dog items on Etsy. I am pretty artisitc and crafty, so hopefully it will go well. I was thinking of staring with personalized glass treat jars, labeled with the dogs' name(s) and filled with treats and decorated with ribbon. I doubt I'll sell much but any way we can chip away at that price tag will help.

Do you all have any ideas of some other items I could make and sell? Or other ideas of fund-raising for her surgery? What have you all done when facing high vet bills?

I have posted a chip-in in case any of you feel particularly generous, any tiny bit will help as we are two recent college grads living in NYC with two rescue dogs on paralegal salaries. (or wait until I've got my little craft business up and running!)

Scary Vet Trip

On Friday night, my boyfriend and I closed the bedroom door and went to bed. We usually let the dogs into the bedroom, but we decided that they were happy outside and we were trying to set up some boundaries in our apartment.

Bruno whined for a while but eventually we didn't hear him and assumed the two were sleeping happily. At 3:30 am, my boyfriend and I were woken up by more whimpering, and my boyfriend got up to go to the bathroom. When he opened the door he swore loudly and I jumped out of bed.

Bruno had gone to the bathroom and thrown up ALL over the apartment. We searched quickly and found that he had gotten into a bottle of pills that I had left on the dining room table and had eaten a whole box of jelly beans and destroyed a number of other things, including my earmuffs that I had brought less than 12 hours before.

We were terrified. I was convinced he was going to die because he had eaten so many pills. We called poison control and ran outside to get a cab to the emergency vet. When we got into the cab, the cabbie said a dog had just destroyed his cab and it was brand new. We said we'd be careful, and we had a roll of paper towels in my bag, but Bruno threw up again anyway, and the cabbie was outraged. Luckily he accepted $40 dollars and we made it to the vet.

When we got there we explained everything to the vet and she counted the max. number of pills he could have eaten and called poison control again. They didn't have to pump his stomach because he had thrown up so much already. Strangely, the vet said the pills weren't here biggest concern- if a human had ingested that many, they would have OD-ed, but dogs don't react the same way. The bigger concern, she said, was the jelly beans. Apparently that amount of concentrated sugar and high fructose corn syrup can cause the whole body to become dehydrated and cause the cells in the brain to rupture, which could have caused neurological damage. They pumped him full of fluids, so it looked like the had a giant hump on his back.

Due to costs, we had to decline the stomach x ray (Pitties have such deep chests, the vet couldn't even feel his stomach to check if it was distended) and luckily, he didn't need one because we walked him all the way home in the dark (the sun rose on the way) and he was in perfect spirits and everything was fine the next day.

The only good news (or bad news) that came from the experience was that we found out that Bruno has some sort of kidney or thyroid disease. We explained to the vet that he drinks a lot (and seeks out water in the tub/toilet/knocks over glasses to get at a drop of water), and after viewing his blood work, she said he has hypercalemia and probably PU/PD. We will have to get Vet insurance and take him to find out what is really wrong.

Vet bills are so prohibitively expensive. Our total bill came to over $600, but they recommended x-rays and keeping him for observation which would have brought the total to over $1500. Especially now that Bruno has health issues, we will have to get insurance, I just hope his PU/PD won't be a "pre-existing condition." It is really too bad that there are no Not-for-profit vet clinics for people who are trying to keep their pets but can't afford their care. So many dogs end up dying at the shelter because their owners cannot afford their vet bills and have to give them up.