Two in, two (almost) out

Saturday I drove down I-81 to the Natural Bridge exit to meet a woman who regularly brings me dogs from the far southwest corner of Virginia. This time she brought me Ricco, who was given up by an elderly man who couldn't care for the dog any more. Ricco is a great dog, he's friendly and outgoing, he seems glad to be here. Unfortunately, Ricco has Pannus, one of many diseases common to German Shepherds. It's an inflammation of the cornea and can lead to blindness. Ricco hasn't been on treatment for it and his eyes look like he has cataracts. Our Zachary has Pannus and it's well controlled, but it does require daily eye drops. I'm hoping we can get Ricco's condition under control.

Saturday's other arrival was Jerry, from South Carolina. His name was Jerry Lee, presumably named after Jerry Lee Lewis. I dropped the Lee and am just calling him Jerry because I didn't see a reason to have a dog named after a white trash, cousin-marrying pedophile. Jerry is a bit shell shocked from the changes in his life. His family moved away and left him and two other dogs behind. The other dogs were also saved, but they were separated and Jerry ended up with me. He will be fine in a few days, but he's still a bit traumatized by it all.

Both the new arrivals still need to be neutered, vaccinated, and tested for heartworms.

Speaking of heartworms, Bear has them and needs treatment, which I hope can happen this week. As of today, he has a home to go to when his treatment is completed and he gets neutered. Unfortunately, that's probably going to be 6-8 weeks yet.

Rocky, on the other hand, found and went to his new home today. His adopters had applied with VGSR to adopt a shepherd. They live in Charlottesville and I did their home visit. When I met them, I immediately thought of Rocky and they were open to the idea of a non-shepherd or a shepherd mix. They came out today to meet him and fell for him immediately. They went shopping for dog supplies and came back this evening to take him home, so Rocky has a warm new home of his own this evening.