Straydog UPDATE posted FRIDAY 4/11/03 at ~9:47 p.m. CT

Pat's Daily Dog Log

FRIDAY APRIL 11 2003

Update on new arrivals, Jack and Jill, the little white Aussie pups

      As I reported in the Thursday update, Volunteer Shannon delivered these little white Aussie puppies to our clinic yesterday afternoon. These are the little pups who were scheduled to be euthanized because of their birth defects of blindness and deafness. Our doctor wanted to keep the pups over night because Jack seemed so lethargic. The parvo test done on Jack was negative for parvo, but still the doctor wanted to keep an eye on him. His little sister, Jill, was the bouncy playful one yesterday, so we weren't worried about her one bit.

      This morning I was at the clinic by 9:30 to see if the puppies were okay, and the vet tech said that they seemed to be fine. Jack had perked up this morning and was ready to go home with his sister. Then the vet tech added that Jill was the quiet one today. This seemed odd to me since Jill had been so bouncy yesterday. I went back with the vet tech to help her take the pups to the examining room to wait for the doctor.

      Jack and Jill had had a bath early this morning, and their pretty white fur was all fluffy and clean now. When we went to their kennel, Dr. Morton joined us, and we saw the puppies curled up against each other, sound asleep. Neither pup woke up from the clinking sound of the door of the kennel when the doctor unlatched it, so to find out for sure if the puppies could hear at all Dr. Morton clapped his hands loudly many times, but this loud sound brought no response from either pup. They continued sleeping soundly. They are both totally deaf.

      When I picked up Jill she moaned a little as if she had a tummy ache (I thought), but I passed it off as maybe just a sound she makes upon waking. Jack woke up happy and "smiling," and I planned to get him after I put Jill in the van. No sooner had I gotten to the front desk on my way to the van than Jill let loose with watery diarrhea (all over my shirt). This was a sure sign of a sick little puppy. I looked at her gums and they were a pale blue.

Jill is a sick little pup!

      We took Jill back to see the doctor, and after he took one look at Jill, he took the parvo virus test which came up negative (but what scares me is the occasional "false response" that can be given by the test. ) Then the sweet little puppy had more diarrhea. Dr. Morton said Jill needed to stay there and be put on IV fluids right away, and then he immediately began telling the vet tech everything to do for Jill, and Donna whisked little Jill away to begin the IV fluids.

Jack comes home

      Since Jill had to be in a kennel by herself now, due to IV feeding, the doctor suggested I take Jack home with me so he wouldn't get tangled in the IV cord "worn" by Jill.

      I put Jack in the traveling crate, and off we started on the 25-minute drive to our shelter, but due to Jack's pathetic, frightened cries (probably because his sister wasn't with him) I pulled into the Wal-Mart parking lot just down the road from the clinic and got the little fellow from the crate, and held him for the ride home. This calmed him down immediately. He snuggled against my chest and tucked his little head beneath my chin and was happy!

Jack is a playful little puppy!

      Jack had a great day at his new home here at Straydog. Part of the time he spent outside in the puppy kennel to the right of the sliding glass door on the west side of our trailer house. (Rosie and her pups are in the kennel to the left of the sliding glass door.)

      Jack was extremely playful in his outside kennel--and this fella for sure is deaf and blind. (Yes, I know last August we misdiagnosed Helen [now a member of the Neal Forte family], but that's because we had been told by Helen's original rescuer that Helen was totally deaf and totally blind. Later our vet and an eye specialist vet both said that the optic nerve in one of Helen's eyes was functioning, although the veterinary eye specialist said that everything probably appears to Helen like things appear to a person with his glasses off who has very, very bad vision.) We found out that Jack loves to splash around in his fairly big water bowl, then run back and forth in the kennel, jump back into the water, and then comes the "digging exercises"! For such a little puppy the guy can dig some mighty big holes! He was having a great time, and what a muddy mess his previously pretty, clean fur had become! I tried to get some pictures of the muddy pup, but he was moving around so fast--running from the water bowl, to just running back and forth, and then to digging holes in the dirt floor of his kennel--that he was just a blur as he flew by me holding the camera.

      Jack knows when I'm near him by his sense of smell. We know he cannot see, and we're positive he can't hear, but whenever I walked into his kennel to feed him, or for any reason, he immediately sensed I was there and would come running up to me.

Jack has two types of barks

      During this short time being with Jack I've noticed that he has two types of barks. He has a playful happy bark of excitement when he is playing (by himself!), and he also has a "warning" bark, as he pounces toward me playfully if I don't pet him right away when I first go in to see visit with him. As soon as I touch Jack, he is a jumpy, happy puppy, just as precious as can be.

Jack comes in for the night

      It's 7:00 p.m. now, and I brought Jack into his house kennel, thinking he'd be "ready for bed." But no, it's still playtime for this adorable, muddy puppy. The bowl of kibbles I put down for him has been carried to the opposite end of his kennel, by Jack, spilling all the kibbles over his puppy-paper lined floor, and what fun this pup is having now, chewing on his overturned food bowl!

      I've read quite a bit now on these so-called "Lethal White Australian Shepherds," who are supposed to be such "unadoptable" pups, and it's just all pretty ridiculous reading! I totally agree that breeders (if they can't at least stop breeding until we get the population under control) should know what they are doing when they breed dogs, so this type of birth defect just will not happen. But people should not be leery of adopting puppies who do have handicaps such those of Jack and Jill. These puppies are the sweetest little pups in the world. They may need a little extra special care, but they are happy-go-lucky little fellas.

      Jack gets around beautifully for not being able to hear or see. He is no more trouble than any other puppy. Right now he is sleeping in the big pan of puppy kibbles I just put down for him ( to replace the bowl of kibbles he spilled all over his kennel). ... Isn't this a natural thing for a puppy to do?!!

Jill will remain at the vet clinic all weekend

      The evening update on Jack's sick little sister, Jill, is that she has improved a little bit. "She hasn't gotten worse," were the doctor's exact words to me this evening, and Jill was sitting up this afternoon, which showed a little improvement too, the doctor said. He seems to think Jill has some sort of bacterial or viral infection.

      If Dr. Morton is concerned about her when he leaves the clinic tonight, he will go to check on her as needed throughout the night, and he will also call me tomorrow morning to let us know how she is doing then.

      I'm calling it a night, but puppy Jack is awake roughing around again in his puppy bed as he buries his head beneath his soft towels and gives out muffled playful growly sounds and "fierce barks" while tussling with his stuffy teddy bear.

      Many pictures (computer photo problems), and more of this story to come tomorrow. And don't forget Saturday Adoption Day at PetsMart in Plano (Texas) tomorrow if you're planning on adopting a dog or puppy.