Thursday, October 31, 2013

More run time

Chloe has lost enough weight that she's
pretty fast now, at least for short spurts.
Franklin is very independent.  The other six
stayed with me pretty well, he did his own thing
but would check in occasionally.  He didn't come
back to the dog  yard with the others though and
I found he had gone over the fence for a little
unauthorized walkabout.
Nothing new here, just another romp through the pasture.  It makes such a difference for those dogs who get out to run.  They are quiet in the evenings and even the next day as long as we do it regularly.  I'd like to get back to the hiking trails, but right now I've got too many dogs who need exercise to take just one or two dogs out for a hike.  I've been walking in the pasture while they run.  Today was a good group of seven:  Vince, Anna, Franklin, Chloe, Max, Ochie, and Toquima, who came back this morning to spend a week with us.  I didn't bring Maya out because she jumps over the fence and would have taken Franklin with her.  Maya and Trooper joined us back in the dog yard later.
Anna in front, and Vince, partially airborne.




Vince being trailed by Franklin
Franklin kicking up his heels.

Toquima met the new fosters,
said hello to the old ones, and
made himself right at home.

Franklin, Max, Toquima

We went down to the brush pile and I found
sticks for Max and Ochie to run after and carry.

Trooper in repose




Max was better with a stick in his mouth.  It seemed to prevent some of his neurotic
tail chasing by giving him something else to focus on.

Six dogs on Playstation K9
Ground level, left to right:  Max (at rear, barely visble), Toquima (front left) and Ochie
Mid-level:  Franklin, Maya, and Trooper
Fewer dogs but a better picture.
Franklin, Trooper, Maya, and Ochie

Wednesday, October 30, 2013

Fall colors

Max
Spring flowers are pretty, but you really can't beat fall colors.  Patch is doing very well post-op today.  He is even coming up and down the stairs on his own, readily and without difficulty.  He's getting a healthy dose of pain meds along with his regular antibiotic, anti-fungal, and antihistamine drugs.  I did not take him out for the pasture romp today, but I had to get Max, Anna, and Ochie out.  It makes a big difference in the evening noise level around here.  Vince and Maya came along too.

Vince, on the move

Maya and Anna.  The two girls seem to get
along although Maya did let her know that
she was in charge today.



I walked Max for a while and then let him
run while I did some mowing.  
This isn't the two girls just being friends, Maya
is pushing her to assert herself.  She's a bitch
but she's subtle about it.
Vince, with Anna behind him, and that's Maya's
tail in back, heading the opposite direction.



If I had a tail (and I often wish I did),
I'd want a tail like Maya's.  
I was too far away to get a sharp picture of Anna,
but just look at her confirmation and movement.



Next week it will be dark by late afternoon, so I figured
we'd better get in as many days as we can.
This is Max with a kong in his mouth, that helps but still
doesn't stop him from chasing his tail all too often.

Max is such a good looking dog, I still hold out some hope, but it comes and goes.

Tuesday, October 29, 2013

Patch is special

Walking but still drunk after
the surgery today.
Patch is crashing in a crate downstairs
until he's able to do the stairs again.
Everyone who meets him says that Patch is special.  Today we found out just how special he/she is.  (Cue Lou Reed music here.)

We had known that Patch was cryptorchid.  That's a condition, not too uncommon, where there is an undescended testicle retained inside the body.  His low hanging scrotum only held one lonely testicle so we knew the neuter surgery would be more involved than usual because they would have to go inside to find the other.

The supposition was that the retained testicle was producing an overabundance of estrogen rather than testosterone because, being inside the body, it was being maintained at a higher temperature.  That would explain the large nipples on this male dog and the mixed up hormones were thought to be causing his skin condition as well.  At least that's what we were hoping.

We moved a crate downstairs to make Patch feel secure and
comfortable until he's able to climb stairs again.  He really doesn't
need a crate anyway, I've been leaving it open up in the office.
They did an ultrasound before the surgery but were unable to locate the retained testicle.  He was in surgery for over two hours, had multiple incisions, and the missing testicle was nowhere to be found.  What they found instead was what appeared to be a partially developed uterus.  The vet said it looked like a cat's uterus.  They decided, wisely I think, to leave well enough alone and they closed him or her back up.  It seems that Patch may be inter-sexed, a hermaphrodite as it were.

He's gaining weight, she's growing hair, and his or her skin is improving.  As long as that continues, that's all that matters.  Patch is still quite lovable.



A rare, almost still moment.
Even when her head was
still the back end was
still moving.
I took Chloe and Anna along when I went in to pick up Patch.  Chloe just had a quick recheck on her eye and it looks fine, although the vet wants her to wear the cone for a few more days.  She's really pretty cool about it so we will just leave it on for now.  Anna had her initial exam and vaccines.  I set up a spay appointment for her for next Tuesday.  Chloe needs to lose 10 pounds and Anna needs to gain 10 pounds.  I wish they could just trade, but if that were possible I would have given Anna 10 or 15 pounds myself, and another 10 for Patch.


Anna finally laid down by the door as we were discussing Patch.











Monday, October 28, 2013

More pasture pictures

This is a very pretty time of year for having dogs and enough fenced land for them to run.  They can do it during the summer, but not for long because of the heat.  They enjoy it more on a nice cool day and so do I.  Here's a few from the past few days.  (Natalie's placement isn't official yet, but so far, so good.)


Left to Right are:  Vince, Maya, Franklin, Max, and Ochie

Smiling Patch, he had a bath again
today and he has surgery tomorrow.

Gigi in grass taller than herself.

Max, left, and the new girl, Anna, on the right.

Maya herding Max, and Vince bringing up the rear.

Chloe, in her cone.  Her eye surgery seems to have been successful,
and she's dropped about 10 pounds.
This was Anna's first day in the pasture.  She enjoyed it,
but she doesn't need to lose any weight, she needs to gain it.

Max may be crazy, but he takes a nice picture.
It's too early to tell yet if the meds are helping.  I've been leash walking him mostly,
but today I let him run in the pasture because I needed to mow some grass.

Sunday, October 27, 2013

Anna

I needed another foster dog like I needed a hole in my head, but this one was in a local shelter and needed out asap.  A year old, drop dead gorgeous, and seems very nice.  She screamed her head off the first night out in the shed until I went out and doped her up so we could all sleep.  The next night was much better.  She's good with other dogs.  We are calling her Anna.  She is very thin, ribs are showing, but she's got a very slim, slender build anyway, even her head.  She's simply stunning, one of the prettiest female fosters we've had.  She isn't spayed and I need to get her to the vet for vaccines next week.  I'm worming her now, just assuming she may have worms.  She acts like she wants to come indoors and so may have been an indoor dog, I sure hope so.  I don't know much about her yet except that she's good with the other foster dogs.  People should be lining up wanting to adopt her with no questions asked if they can see even half of the potential I see in this dog.












Friday, October 25, 2013

Back to Harlan

Dog days don't get much fuller than this one was, and it ran pretty much the full gamut of good and bad in the rescue world.

Ever start your day off with a good cry?  I hadn't been sitting here long this morning after doing the round of morning food and medication when the phone rang.  It was a former adopter, the adopter of one of my favorite former fosters, Harlan.  He had been renamed Barth but I had called him Harlan, pulled from Emmylou Harris' cover the McGarrigle sisters' song, "Goin' back to Harlan."  Today was Harlan's last day.  He's been sick.  The guy was hoping against hope that I'd have an answer but of course I didn't although the illness sounds like one that is plaguing another former foster that I heard about yesterday. 

Hearing of a former foster's passing is always bittersweet.  I'm touched that some people feel compelled to call and let me know.  Sorrow shared is sorrow eased.  I'm sad, of course, but also happy and grateful that the dog had a good life after rescue.  Harlan is a gorgeous shepherd with a goofy side.  He would sleep on his back with all four legs in the air, often with the remnants of his stuffed bunny lying right beside him.  His adopter got into fostering himself and Harlan helped many other shepherds through the process.


Chloe, the black lab, had surgery yesterday to remove a growth on the inside of her eyelid.  At first I didn't think it was bothering her, but it soon became apparent that it was causing some infection in the eye so we had it taken off.  She's back home today, doing well, and tolerating the cone.  The surgery site looks good and I was even able to put the ointment on it today.


I took Max out for a walk in the pasture with just Vince and Patch.  It was a walk, not a run, because I had him on a short leash to keep him under control.  He fought the gentle leader a bit at first but soon came around and we had a nice walk.  Patch and Vince ran about but stuck with us pretty well.  Max started his Prozac today too. 

Patch had a bath indoors after the pasture time and he has now moved indoors, up to a crate in my office.  He seems pretty content.  He has surgery next Tuesday so he'll have a few days to get used to an indoor routine before the surgery.
He's not crazy about the bath,
but he was good about it.








Indoors, at last.








Patch, looking pretty happy romping through the pasture




Patch also had to come in so I could put Ochie back with the dog yard gang to vacate the kennel for this new girl who arrived today.  She was in a shelter and needed to move out sooner rather than later.  Pretty girl.  Very pretty girl (don't tell Gigi).  She's fine with the other fosters and with Maya so I don't expect a problem with anyone else.  She's underweight but she's got a very slender head and body anyway.  Tall girl but not very wide.