*January 2003 Newsletter will be mailed this coming week! Anyone who's not on our mailing list who would like to receive a printed copy of our January 2003 newsletter please email (or U.S. Mail) us your address, and we'll send you a free copy.
Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
SUNDAY JANUARY 12 2003
Millie is at her new home!
Millie was officially adopted last Saturday, and yesterday her new mom was ready for Millie to come to her home.
After Guy dropped off the other dogs at both Adoption Day stores, he took Millie and Dallas to their families.
Millie was the first to be "delivered," and Guy told us later how much Millie loves her new mom and what a pampered house pet Millie will be! She has a beautiful big fenced yard to play in during the time she chooses to be outside and a big doggie bed to sleep on in the house and lots of new toys to play with. "It's just wonderful for her," Guy said.
Dallas is at his new home
Next Guy took Dallas to his new home, where Pam and Gary were ready for their new fellow to come and be a companion to their dog, Maggie. All went well with the introduction between Maggie and Dallas, and we already know Dallas's new mom and dad really well as they adopted Maggie from our shelter last year.
Since seven-year-old Dallas is "a bit set in his ways," Pam and Gary will see how all goes with the fellow for the week. It takes Dallas a long time (sometimes) to become good friends (and to become playful) with a new dog companion, and sometimes he chooses not to interact at all with other dogs. Since Maggie needed a friendly and playful companion, we're all hoping that Dallas will warm up to Maggie. The new mom and dad fell in love with the little fellow and are hoping this will work out for both dogs. They'll keep in touch about how Doggie Dallas is doing.
Amber was adopted and is at her new home!
Later in the day a family came into the Petsmart at Central and Parker in Plano (Texas) hoping to find a family pet, and they fell in love with one-year-old, Black Lab mix, Amber! Yea for Amber! The mom and dad bought lots of new doggie stuff for their new little friend, and then the home visit was made with Amber and her new mom, dad and three adorable children, and all went beautifully. We are all so happy that Amber found her forever family too.
Dobie is at his new home too!
Millie, who went to her new home today, and Doberman mix, Dobie, had been kennel mates at our shelter for several months. Guy, our General Manager, has been planning to adopt Dobie for a long time, but he wanted to let Dobie stay with Millie (since they were best friends) until the day Millie was adopted. Now that Millie has found her forever family, Guy was finally able to take Dobie home with him Saturday night. Dobie loves Guy and his wife, Kim, and Dobie was very, very happy to go home with his "new dad and mom"!
Another new arrival will be here soon--OLD DAVEY
With four of our dogs going to their new homes Saturday our total shelter pupulation came down to the FULL level (we had been over the limit for the past few weeks) and we now had room at our shelter to squeeze in another fellow who was in desperate need of a safe haven. His name is Davey.
I first heard about Davey this past Thursday evening. It was another desperate plea for us to please help save his life. His story was very sad: the owner had died, and this German Shepherd was left homeless. The rescuer, Sara J., has been a long-time supporter of our Happy Home for Strays, and when she heard about this dog from a friend, she called us hoping we would be able to take him to save his life. Sara told me Davey had only this one day left to live before he would be euthanized.
I told Sara we'd take Davey, but we would have to have the fellow boarded at our vet clinic until we had kennel space, and with Millie and Dallas scheduled to go to their new homes Saturday, this would allow us to be able to move a few dogs around to open up a kennel spot for Davey. (Sara and her husband want to further help Davey by taking care of his medical expenses.)
We often take dogs in sight unseen. If there's kennel space, it makes no difference to us what the rescued dog looks like. What does matter is that the dog get to a safe place as soon as possible. The plan was for Sara to bring Davey to our vet clinic Friday, where he would be boarded and given a checkup, while we rearranged things to make room for him here. Since I would be at the clinic Friday morning to pick up Molly, I was hoping to be there when Sara and her husband arrived with the big Shepherd pup.
Sara gave me what little information she had about the dog, which was that he was a big, sweet fellow named Davy, about 18 months old, and that he would surely be the type of dog that would be easy to find a good home for.
The next morning, Friday, I went to the clinic with Doodles, who was due to have a mini checkup and her stitches removed from her spay surgery incision. Ol' Pup went for follow-up blood work, and Sunny, who needed another blood test, accompanied us as well. While there I picked up Molly from her several-day stay following surgery to remove a benign tumor from her thigh (as reported in the Friday update). I had just gotten all these fellas in their crates in the van for the ride back to the shelter when Sara and her husband arrived with new dog Davey.
What a Surprise!
The couple got out of their car with Davey on a leash, and what a surprise! This fellow was huge, alright, but he was also nowhere near 18 months old. He was more like a good 14 years old, and the description of him being a beautiful, easily adoptable dog did not fit him at all, which is not a problem for us, but the description originally given to Sara (who in turn gave it to me) did not fit this dog.
Davey had a very rugged appearance, like a dog who had lived a very rough life. His eyes were lifeless and dull, and his once white fur was filthy. The huge sores on his elbows indicate he must have spent much of his time on a hard surface. Perhaps he had been tied outside on a very short lead and had no choice but to lie in one spot. He showed no signs of being an affectionate dog when we petted him. It was as if this fellow had been a loner all of his life. He showed no expression to us, and it seemed to me as if he didn't understand the touch of a human when I petted him.
We took Davey inside the clinic, and the doctor was able to give him a short examination while we were there, part of which examination Davey did not like at all. Because Davey's fur looked so bad, Dr. Morton suspected he had some sort of a skin problem, and while the vet tech held Davey on leash, Dr. Morton (who was at the dog's side) gently brushed the hair back on Davey's rump. This brought forth immediate aggressive snarling as Davey suddenly jerked his head around and lunged at the doctors arm to try and "stop" Dr. Morton from touching his rump. (Donna had a good hold on Davey, and he didn't reach his "target.") It looked to us a though this slight touching of Davey's fur on his lower back was very painful to him, as was the fecal examination done next, which he also showed an extreme dislike for.
"He's a good 10 to 12 years old, and his rugged appearance makes him look as if he could be 14 years old," the doctor said after the initial checkup, which included examining Davey's teeth. Davey has no front teeth. They were completely worn down to his gums, but his fangs were certainly long. The fellow weighs almost 95 pounds and is not yet neutered.
We left "Old Davey" (nicknamed by Dr. Morton) at the clinic, and the doctor said he'd call me later after he had the time to give the fellow a more thorough examination.
The doctor called later and said that he had done blood work on Davey and had sent it off to the lab. Hopefully this will tell us more about Davey's health. The heartworm test that was done at the clinic shows Davey is positive for heartworms, "as if we didn't already know this just by looking at the fellow," the doctor added. After the test results come back from the lab, hopefully by Monday, we'll go from there. Also x-rays will be done on Davey's back and hip/rump area to see if we can find the reason for the discomfort Davey is experiencing. While they have Davey sedated for his x-rays, they will also give this big dog a much needed bath. We could very easily tell that Old Davey is not the type of dog who will go for any type of special handling, such as baths, toenail trimming, etc.
We'll keep you posted.
*Pat Arnold's Daily Dog Log
*Photo Pages
LAST WEEK:
WEEK BEFORE LAST:
(1) Doodle Bug, the parking lot stray
(2) 9-year-old "Pup" at the vet clinic + 3 starving pups in their kennel at the clinic
(3) Blind Puppy Chubs, a Chocolate Lab
(4) Chubs gets his first meal at Straydog
(5) Chubs meets Puppy Melinda.
(6) Chubs thinks Melinda is his mommy
(7) Chubs gets a bottle feeding
(8) Barbara Sucher and daughter and friends visit
*Adoption Day Saturday, January 18 - LOCATION(S) TO BE ANNOUNCED.
*Our Dogs for Adoption - Volunteer Shannon's page
*Our Dogs for Adoption listed on Petfinder.org
*Our Mission & How We Got Started
*"Goodbye, Danny Boy." - An example of the only acceptable use of euthanasia
Special-needs
dogs (including puppies) raise vet bill!
If you would like to help with the vet expenses, you may send your tax deductible donations directly to:
Morton Small Animal Clinic
1404 E. Tyler Street
Athens, Tx. 75751
and please make a note on your check that the donation is for Straydog Inc. so they'll be sure to apply your donation to our Straydog account. (Or you may send a donation directly to Straydog Inc., P.O. Box 1465, Gun Barrel City, Texas 75147.)
As always we thank you, very, very much, for your help.