Bill Arnold's Daily Straydog Log

FRIDAY MAY 21 2004

NOON UPDATE

Rocky continues to do well

      Rocky moves kind of slowly, especially now that the temperatures are in the 90s outside. The old guy stays out just long enough to sniff around a little bit and go potty. Then he wants to come back inside and find a nice place to lie down. He'll sleep soundly for two or three hours, and then he wakes up, eats another bowl of whatever food appeals to him, and we go through the whole routine again. The most important thing is that Rocky seems very happy to be alive and to be back home recovering.

Erin reports on Patch and Angie ...

Patch's first surgeries are scheduled for Monday

      Patch will be having his neuter operation and first leg surgery on Monday. The doctor said that there will be a three-month recovery period, and then he will operate on the other leg. (We at Straydog are still requesting and receiving donations for Patch's surgery, and we thank all those who have pledged a contribution already.)

Original proposed foster home for Patch is not going to work

      After asking more questions of the proposed foster care person, Angie doesn't feel very good about that possible foster home for Patch. No one else to date has volunteered or is even considering fostering Patch during his recover period. We are running out of time trying to figure out the foster care situation for Patch, so it looks like Straydog (with our 24-hour coverage, seven days a week) will have to nurse Patch back to good health. Our overnight men, Randy Hopkins and his son Jason Hopkins, work three and a half days a week each from eight p.m. till nine a.m., and they are both looking forward to the challenge of caring for Patch through the night every night.

      Our newest rescue, Skipper, who's recovering from an infection after his neuter surgery, will be ready to leave our hospital trailer and go back outside soon, and Skipper's large, quiet hospital kennel will be a good spot for Patch.

      I imagine our caregivers (including myself when I'm on duty at Straydog) will have to carry Patch down the ramp to use the bathroom outside. Angie said Patch weighs about 30 to 35 pounds, not a very big Pit Bull. Patch is a very sweet dog, Angie said. We will have a lot of work on our hands, but this isn't a dog that my mom (Pat) would have turned down. We'll be picking up Patch from the vet on Tuesday.

Angie needs metal buckets, bungee cords, 12- and 15-foot cables and wooden dog houses

      When I first called Angie this morning, she said she had just come back from dipping two Pit Bulls in her neighborhood, and doctoring up their ears, irritated by fly and flea bites. Angie needs metal water buckets, and bungee cords to fasten the buckets to the fence so they won't tip over. She needs two cables, a 12-foot and a 15-foot (20 feet is too long). She needs a few wooden dog houses too. Tiger's dog house will be going to someone else in the neighborhood after Saturday when Volunteer Holly picks Tiger up in order to bring the dog to us at PetsMart in Plano. If anyone can help with any of these needed items, please call me (Erin) at 903-479-3497.

Possible Adoption Day roster

      Jeannie, Baby Girl, Kerry, Gretchen, Puppy Holly and possibly two lab puppies from Angie's rescue home. We will need a lot of volunteers tomorrow!

      This will be Tiger's first time out of West Dallas, first time in a pet store, and first time around a lot of people, so if Tiger gets scared, we will put her in a crate and put a blanket over the crate. We appreciate Holly taking the time to bring Tiger (and the lab pups just for Adoption Day) to us. This helps Angie and it helps us! Thank you so much, Holly.

We received an email from Henry's family

      Henry (now named Judd) is doing fine in his new home! (Readers may remember we featured Henry in our April newsletter.)