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Age: 10.5 years
Size: 40-55 pounds
Medical Condition: Spinal arthritis
Reason for surrender: Moved, couldn't take dog |
Gender: Male
Good with other dogs: Yes
Good with cats: Yes
Good with children: Yes |
September 22, 2008
Rusty has had a pretty uneventful couple of weeks. He has had one milestone. He now knows "sit." That's the first command he has learned. He's not exactly thrilled with this new knowledge, but he performs it with some reluctance. He's just never had any one make demands of him and he's not all that sure he likes it. But for a "cookie" it's worth his effort. He's pretty good with "come." Well, I guess it's not really "come" - it's more that he comes when you call his name, so I guess I need to start pairing his name with the word "come." I've worked with him some on "down," but he seems to have some pain doing that, although he doesn't seem pained when he lies down on his own. Anyway, I haven't forced "down" because of his reluctance to do it. Maybe he's just pulling the wool over my eyes and just doesn't want to get into a vulnerable position on someone's command. We'll explore that over the next couple of weeks. We are working on "wait" at the door, and that's one he's also not too fond of. He likes to burst out the door into the hallway. Then he'll wait for me to get into the hall before he tries to head for the outside door.
His next big lesson is going to be stairs. He only knows to do one or two steps at a time. So my plan is to take him out into a public area that doesn't have a lot of traffic but is outside where there's room to turn around and teach him to do 4 or 5 steps at a time. Then we'll progress to more stairs at once, then stairs indoors where there's an enclosed feeling, then the stairs upstairs that are see-through. There's carpeting on the stairs, but you can see out the ends of them. Then he'll be an accomplished fellow.
Next Saturday he's got a Meet & Greet at Bad Dog Frida. He's such a wonderful representative of our fosters. There won't be another one there until November so hopefully he'll be adopted and won't have the chance to make it to that one. What it does mean is that he's going to get a bath this week. I'm going to take him to one of those dog wash rooms and see how we do. His last bath was with the groomer when I first got him and as I recall, he didn't like it. Maybe this time will be better because it won't be his first and because he'll trust me more than he trusted her. It was all new then. Then again, it could be he just doesn't like them. I'll report in later. He is a little stinky and could benefit from it. We'll see who breaks first - him or my back!
Oh - I almost forgot to tell you - he's now playing with some of his toys! He won't play with them with me, but he's playing with them on his own. He'll just grab one and toss it around and chew on it. It's a delight to watch. He's continuing to come out of himself and evolve into the dog he's going to be. That's really neat.
September 5, 2008
I learned today of the passing of a friend's dog. It has shaken me deeply. It's brought the loss of my own dog to freshness. And mostly it makes me want to find Rusty a home even more so he can feel the kind of love that causes that kind of pain.
Life is such a precious gift. And the gift of a home is priceless, as it is indeed the gift of a new life. Rusty has spent many years in pain and GRRoW has freed him from the physical pain he had in his eyes and mouth. Now it's time to find him a home that will replace the ache in his heart. He is ready for a home of his own. He is ready for a family he can become an integral part of. He wants to share short walks with you. He wants to share his love with you. He wants to bring a smile to your face that only he can. He wants you to play with the curls on the back of his head as you pat the back of his neck. He wants to lie near you and follow you from room to room. He wants company. He's looking for the home where he can be the most precious thing in your line of sight or at the feel of your foot.
The last two weeks have been good ones. He's now overcome his fear of rain. It used to be that he wouldn't go out if it were raining at all. He still hates storms and is unsettled during them, but regular rain is now okay. I guess he knows he's going to be able to come in out of it and get dried off now and resume the position of his choice in the room of his choice. He's learned there is respite from the drizzle and that it does indeed end. And gentle rain doesn't echo in his ears the way it did in his doghouse.
We've been spending quite a bit of time outside with the nice weather, and he fully enjoys it. He likes keeping track of what's going on in the area he surveys. He's particularly fond of watching the chipmunks scurry around taking care of their business. He likes their quick movements and follows them intently with his eyes. He doesn't try to dash after them - even when he's inside and only has a screen between him and them. He just watches - because he can. He's really been enjoying the cool of the past couple days. It's cool without the cold of air conditioning and lacking the heat of our one 90-degree day this summer.
We're currently having some work done on the street out front and he's enjoying watching the trucks and graters and steam roller but especially the people directing traffic. Unlike the neighbor dogs, he watches them in silence. He likes watching people. He likes people and being near them. Like most Goldens, he figures people are here to greet and pet him. He's fortunate that quite a few of my neighbors are obliging. He's becoming quite confident with people.
He's working on learning to play. The other day there were some guys out back with a soccer ball they were kicking around. He stood and stared at them and watched the ball go back and for with puppy ears and intensity. So I went out and bought him a soccer ball for dogs that has a strap attached thinking that maybe a bigger ball would engage him because he'd already shown interest in one, and if he couldn't get his mouth around it he could carry it by the strap. A former foster had one and LOVED it. So out we went with the soccer ball. I put it on the ground and kicked it around some and he nosed it and started pawing at it. That was a big deal! But he lost interest in it in favor of chipmunks quickly. So in we came, he and I and the soccer ball. I put the ball on the floor. He backed up against the patio doors as hard as he could press himself there and stared at the ball. Apparently it had become a different entity indoors. Now it was scary. I was laughing watching him. I shouldn't have done that. I think it somehow made it scarier. He summoned all his courage and soon was barking at the ball and then growling lowly between barks. This was the first time I heard him bark when it wasn't in his sleep in the past two weeks at least; poor Rusty. Learning about the world is so hard. Now he's lost interest in it outside and inside it has to stay under the coffee table because if it's loose in the room it's apparently a very dangerous thing he has to keep me safe from. I'm going to keep trying though. I see glimpses of the puppy that used to be in him before people stopped playing with him and his interest went away. I did find a "bone" he likes that he chews on and occasionally tosses in the air and plays with his paws. So some progress. He has a toy he seeks out.
August 16, 2008
I'm pleased to report that Rusty is happy, healthy, and lying by my side. Last week he gave me quite a scare - and himself too. This is why you should never leave your windows down with your dog in the car.
I had done just that, and went into the gas station to get a drink. This is something I've probably done fifty times with Rusty and nothing has ever come of it. He's a good boy and is always just sitting where I left him with the same uninterested look on his face when I get back. Well last Thursday night when I came out of the gas station I got to the car and Rusty was gone. There had been some teens goofing around when I went in so they may have let him out of the car, or else Rusty had somehow managed to get up both nerve and energy jump through the window and take off.
My heart fell to my stomach and I panicked. Where was my sweet boy and how terrified was he? If he had been taken from the car and stolen, then at least he'd be calm but probably confused. If he jumped out on his own then he had probably been scared by something and considered the car unsafe and now he was out in the great big world and scared and not knowing where to turn to get back to me. I asked a woman if she had seen a Golden Retriever and she thought she'd seen one across the street at a car dealership. I raced (for me) over there and kept calling his name. This dealership is huge - they have something like 5 different makes of cars that have their own buildings and display areas, plus the service area and body repair areas. The thought of him being lost among the rows of cars was overwhelming. I saw 3 men talking together and they said they had not seen a dog. So I ran back to the car, calling for him all the way, with no sighting of him. I drove around the dealership calling for Rusty. Nothing. Home is just down the street from there so I rushed there - all the way calling for him and looking between buildings - until I got in the parking lot. I ran inside and picked up my cell phone so I could call some friends to help me look for him. I took my "contacts" section of the notebook I keep with all my GRRoW information in it with me and drove back down to the gas station. Still no sighting.
I parked and called him some more. I called three of my friends to come out and help me look for him. Then I called the first number I found in my contacts sheets and it happened to be Carly Penn, one of our Placement Team members and also the Temporary Foster Home Coordinator. In that capacity it made sense to call her. I was absolutely stricken by this time and could hardly think straight. She asked me if I thought he'd been stolen and I just choked back the tears. I didn't know. The gas station doesn't have cameras up except on the pumps. She told me to call the non-emergency police number and gave me that number. Thank God for her.
I immediately called that number and while I was on the phone with an officer explaining the situation and my location, etc., a call came in to her from another officer who reported he had a "found" dog. By this time one of my friends had arrived and we both drove over to the other side of the gas station from where I'd been looking for him and he had somehow gotten inside the Popeye's restaurant and Juan had called the police about him. He gave him a couple pieces of popcorn chicken and then stuck him in between the 2 doors going in and out of the restaurant. When the police arrived they had found Rusty's tags on his collar, so they knew what to call him to help calm him down. He was totally freaked out by this experience. They also called the GRRoW emergency contact number on the big gold tag and reached Betsy Sande, our VP of Operations, who was able to look up his number and give my information to the officer. The officer I had been speaking to told him I was on my way, so when I pulled up, he called me by name and I thought that was weird because I hadn't given him my name. I didn't know that the GRRoW contact system had been in play and had worked so well. He explained that he and his partner were just about to drive him home when they heard I was on the other side of the gas station. He pointed out to me that poor Rusty was one freaked out dog.
Poor Rusty had totally reverted to the dog he was when I picked him up from his surrendering home. Only I couldn't even get him to walk with me - to take even a couple of steps toward the car. His butt was stuck to the sidewalk like someone had nailed it there. He was trembling in waves. I brought the car up to the door of the restaurant and still I couldn't coax him in. Finally, the only answer was to pick him up and carry him into the car. He shook in my arms. I got in and my friend and I drove back over to the gas station to their parking area. She was headed for home with my grateful thanks for coming out at night and helping me try to find him. About that time, my two other friends pulled up - they had driven through the dealership looking up and down the rows of cars for him since that's the direction I thought he'd gone in. We talked for a little bit and then I thought it best to get Rusty home into his apartment where he knew he was safe and sound. When we got to the parking lot, he did manage to get out of the car on his own, but he was still shaking. He got inside, I unhooked his leash (he'd had his leash attached to him this whole time) and he immediately when and curled up under the computer table and didn't move until it was time for me to head for bed about a couple hours later.
There was a message on my machine from Betsy saying what was going on and to try not to panic. I called Carly back and let her know that Rusty was home safe and sound, if worse for the wear. She suggested I write up an "Incident Report" for the Board of Directors explaining what had happened. I was more than happy to do that. Anything to get the experience out of my head and heart because I was totally freaked out too. Then I decided that I had been so irresponsible with him that GRRoW would send someone in the morning to take Rusty away from me. Of course they did not do that. That was my imagination running a little wild. As a matter of fact, everyone I spoke with or got an email from was wonderful and saying how he's not the first dog to get lost/be taken and he won't be the last, and for me to not beat myself up so badly about it. They were all so nice. I personally thought I should have been strung up by my thumbs.
So folks THIS is why we have the tags on our dogs that we do. I was really lucky that he hadn't gone far away and that somebody found him right away and more or less took care of him. I was really lucky that he has fully recovered from his experience. I was lucky no one stole him. While it was really unlikely that 10 and a half year old Rusty was going to jump out the window of the car, he did. Now we have the windows rolled up at least half-way when I get out of the car if he's in it and I lock the doors. Either that or I don't take him with me if I'm going to have to stop and go in somewhere. I've learned my lesson. I hope you can learn from my mistake and never have to go through this on your own. It's a horrible, horrible feeling. You feel helpless. The dog is traumatized. And there's no need for any of it.
Now, on a brighter note, last weekend Rusty and I went to the Pet Fair that Pet Corner in Madison was putting on. Sunday from 12-3 they gathered a bunch of different rescue groups, a couple of dog training people, the Capital K-9s and invited the public to bring their dogs to this fair. Part of the plan was to get some adoptable dogs adopted. They had an Adoptable Dog Parade which Rusty led off. It was really cute - they had the dogs go up on a cloth draped table and stand while they announced their "likes and dislikes" and what they were looking for in a home. I didn't have time to get creative with this writing exercise. It could have been really cute. Anyway, Rusty was there, and he represented himself well, but we came away with no applications to adopt him. As a group, GRRoW had lots of inquiries about becoming volunteers and foster homes and possibly adopting, but no one wanted a dog as old as Rusty.
I just don't know how else to let folks know how wonderful this dog is and how much life he has left in him. If I could afford to have a dog of my own, I'd keep him in a heartbeat. I can't afford vet care for any dog. I'm just not financially able to take this dog. But he's such a sweet, gentle soul. You could only be made better by having him as part of your life. Rusty would really like a forever home.
August 3, 2008
Well, today is Rusty's half-birthday. We celebrated big with a couple of Snausages which I realize are not the best snack in the world, but he just loves them. And he's so cute eating them. He takes all treats gently and tentatively (like he's not sure if he's going to like it or not) and has to have them broken in two because of his "delicate" teeth. I think it started out that way - they really were delicate what with the abscessed tooth and all - but now he just likes getting two instead of one big one. And they do kind of stick to his teeth some. We woke up late for a Meet & Greet this morning so he didn't get his breakfast right away - just a quick snack of Snausages and off we went. He also had a couple treats once we got there. He was ready for brunch by the time we got home!
He was great again today. He's such a genial fellow. He just loves other dogs. A little Border terrier came in today and he was beside himself, as was the 15-month old pup. The pup was jumping all over him and in his face and around his neck and chest and he just kept his ears up in interest and tried sniffing when the pup held still long enough for him to get a good quick sniff in. Of course, that set off his need to mark (I don't know how to deal with this so if anybody has any suggestions I'd be really happy to get them) in the store. So out we went and he peed again and was then ready to return inside and had no further accidents. He's accident free at home, and he's been accident free when I've taken him to two different friends' homes (who have not had dogs of their own or other animals). Yet whenever he goes to the vet he marks, and he marks in the stores and he pretty much marks whenever he's greeted another dog. So I'm at a loss with this. This may be something that is just with him the rest of his life.
I'd be really interested to see him play with another dog. He only gets to meet and sniff on lead. I wonder what he'd be like if he were able to run and play with another dog. My curiosity comes in part because I'm wondering how much his neutering has taken away his urge to mount anything that's canine. The vet said that the neutering usually decreases the mounting and the marking, except sometimes in dogs that are older and it's become an entrenched behavior. So I still don't know what effect it's had on him.
I see him play so rarely, and can't get him interested in toys, so the other day when he had a piece of newspaper that he was chewing on and tossing in the air and tearing up I thought it was so cute that I just let him go ahead. I apologize to his eventual adoptive family for that. Seems he's become quite fond of the behavior. Still, this is only the second time he's been destructive (ruling out the unplugging of the lamp and the keyboard from the computer when he had his cone head on). The other time was when he got hold of an empty toilet paper roll and just had a blast with tossing it and then grabbing it with his front paws. This is all done from a lying down position. He'd toss and grab. Like with the newspaper. Well, I've been babysitting a friend's cats and when I came back from there today, apparently the Rustman was bored while I was gone. I brought in the groceries and got them put away, then leashed him up and took him outside, and then it wasn't until I came back in and faced the patio door that I saw what looked like green ribbons all over the floor. It seems he took 2 of the 3 boxes of poop bags that I had sitting on the coffee table, got them opened, and threw them all over that end of the living room. Two boxes! That's continuous sheets of 40 bags per box! I just picked them up in a pile and figure tomorrow while watching TV I'll address the issue of how I'm going to get these back in boxes or into some reasonable semblance of usable sheets of doggie bags. I may end up having to tear them all apart and just having a pile of them lying around somewhere. There was one box he didn't get to that was unopened and one open box that's in current use that's out of his reach. Guess I should have gotten those off the coffee table and into the cupboard, eh?
He's just such a good boy otherwise. I've got to find a way to get him interested in appropriate toys!
Rusty is now ready to be adopted! All his major health issues that could be resolved are resolved. He can see and his eyes no longer hurt him, his teeth are clean and healthy, and his pain from his arthritis in his spine is being controlled with two daily doses of Rimadyl. Unfortunately I was a little too optimistic with my last report including the statement that it could be years before his spine bridges entirely. After further discussion with my vet I learned that this process is only going to take a year to a year-and-a-half. As his pain increases so can the amount of the Rimadyl, to a point. Acupuncture may help, I don't know. Chinese herbs may also be of help with this, I don't know. So people who are considering adopting this fine fellow need to be aware that he does have this disease and their relationship will not last to the 14 or 15 year mark we all hope for with our goldens. But in so many ways he's just now coming to life and has so much to give and share. Each new day brings him more out of his shell. He's so completely thrilled with himself to be able to see things clearly. He loves rolling in the grass and rolling down the incline in the back area. He loves to go for walks. He loves going outside and lying down and surveying the territory. He loves watching the action on and across the street. He loves tearing up newspapers! And he loves to be near you. Not necessarily to be petted, but to be in the same area of the room you're in. He doesn't often ask for affection, but is pleased with it when offered. There's just so much that he still needs to get used to. And I just know that somebody out there is going to be the person to provide the special home this very special dog needs. Just look at all he's accomplished.
He's gone from having to be hauled into a car to getting in by himself. He's gone from being afraid to cross a threshold to not even noticing them now. He's gone from peeing everywhere he wanted to being housebroken. He's built up enough muscle mass in his back legs that he can now stand and pee for more than 2 seconds at a time before he'd fall over. He's gone from matted to the skin to enjoying being brushed and getting that attention. He enjoys attention now. He enjoys snacks now. He didn't used to know what a treat was. Then we discovered cheese - squeeze cheese, lump cheese, and cheese cookies for dogs. We discovered cheese. And he loves hot dogs. I think he'd do just about anything for a slice of mildly nuked hot dog.
Does is sound like I'm trying to sell this dog? Well I am. I know he's got a lot going against him - his age and his arthritis and its eventual outcome and his lifespan being reduced, but he's such a good, gentle, sweet, loving, wonderful dog who appreciates everything he gets/has. Please consider making this boy a part of your family.
July 24, 2008
Rusty has had another rough couple of weeks. He has now had his neuter and dental done with one tooth extracted. He handled it pretty well. Except for the anesthesia. He has a really bad reaction to the anesthesia used for surgery. It happened after he had his eyes done, and it happened again after these procedures. Once he starts to really come out of the anesthesia - after he's home and has slept for about 4-5 hours, he becomes incredibly restless, disoriented and panicky. He paces and pants and can't find a "safe" place. After his neuter was particularly hard on me because he has walking restrictions and had orders not to walk except to go to the bathroom. So he couldn't do his usual frantic trotting from place to place all night. He had to be kept on leash so he couldn't just roam. This meant I had to stay up with him all night and hold the leash and try to keep him from rushing from side to side in the pacing he could do on a 6-foot lead. So he essentially had a 12-foot roaming space. I'd try to get him to lie down and he would for maybe 30-60 seconds and then he was up again. It was a long night for both of us. At about 6:00 in the morning he started lying down for 5 minutes at a time now and then. Finally, at 7:40 (not that I was paying attention) he laid down and went to sleep. He had made it through the night and past the worst of his surgical experience.
I had mentioned to the staff prior to the surgery that he had had that kind of reaction after the first surgery. That time it didn't matter if he roamed, so I got to sleep through it after about 2 am because I realized that my laying on the floor and having him lay next to me was of no comfort to him - he was just out of his mind. So the vet looked at what pain medication they had used during the first surgery and she thought it had been a reaction to that because her dogs react that way to that particular medication so she decided to change the pain medication up and had high hopes that would prevent the same situation from happening again. Unfortunately it appears that it is the anesthesia and not the pain medication that caused the problem. So I am really, really glad that he's through with all his surgeries. He's really, really glad too!
While he was under the vet took an X-ray of his spine to see if we could tell where his pain was coming from - his hips had passed as looking really good and healthy with no arthritis in a previous X-ray. His lumbar vertebrae looked just fine, and then she found the culprit. His thoracic vertebrae (up by his lungs) have arthritis and he has the beginning of spinal bridging in that area. Spinal bridging is where the bones in the backbone start to grow together - bone forms bridges between the vertebrae. This causes lack of flexibility and eventually movement breaks in the bridges causing a great deal of pain. So this boy's pain is coming from the arthritis and that. So it will only get worse from here, but the pain can be controlled for quite some time. It takes time for the bridging to become complete (it can take years) and there are all kinds of pain medication to try that will keep him comfortable. He is currently on Rimadyl, 1/2 tablet twice daily. We took him off the tramadol (pain killer in the opiate family) he had been on along with the Rimadyl. We're going to give it a week and see how he does on just the one medication. So far he's doing just fine. Actually the boy's showing more life to him now that he's not sedated all the time and is feeling less pain from his eyes and his neutering. Only two more days and the conehead comes off!!! He's had to wear that thing for a month! If he didn't open it up 4-5 times every day, he'd forget what it's like to see without it - without looking through hazy plastic for his side vision. He'll be glad to be able to walk without running that cone into things, thereby pushing it back into his neck. Saturday his walking restrictions expire also so we're looking at Saturday as FREEDOM day! Then we'll see what this boy is really made of! I can hardly wait. Neither can he. I think he's decided he was freed from a kennel only to be inside and the conehead is the price he has to pay for that! Boy is he going to be surprised.
July 12, 2008
Rusty has had another busy week. He saw the eye doctor on Monday and had his stitches removed. She said he's got NORMAL eyesight now! Except in dim light where he'll have trouble due to the changes in his eyes due to age. But he can really see now. And he keeps his eyes open all the time. We'll go outside and he'll stand around and just look at things. He follows all the activities across the street, and when we go out back he watches everything going on at the neighbors'. He's just so clearly enjoying being able to see. He'll still have his "underground" stitches in which will dissolve over the coming week or so, but until then he still has to wear the conehead to keep him from rubbing and pulling at the corner of his eyes because he can rupture the stitches and that would result in the eyelid turning inside again and we do not want that. That would result in needing to do the surgery again. His eyes do look good though. They had to reduce the eye opening to close up the outside corners of his eyes to turn the lower lids out, so his eyes look small, but there's definitely somebody home these days!
On a note of housebreaking, we took a step backward this week. Last Saturday I got up and he had pooped in the living room. That's only the second time since he's been with me that's happened. I knew he had not gone the night before, but no matter how long I kept him outside he was not going to go. Kids in the neighborhood were setting off firecrackers and he was scared stiff. I felt so bad for him. So I'm going to give him a pass on this one because he was too scared to go outside. Still, it was disappointing.
He continues to improve on his skill in getting into the car. He still has to stop and study the situation and think about it before he makes his move, but he thinks about it less each time. Pretty soon he's going to be a regular riding dog. Once we get going he tends to turn his head toward the back. I don't know if that's his way of escaping car sickness or exactly what. I know that horses who face backward in their trailers tend to ride better - maybe it's the same with him. He does still pant a lot, but it's hot and I don't have air conditioning - so it could be just the heat or it could be a combination of heat and nervousness. Anyway, he's in and out like a pro these days.
He's stopped wanting to chase the cat. Apparently now that he can see her she's not nearly as interesting as he thought she was. They're getting to be friends. She'll lean right inside the conehead to sniff his nose now. And he just let's her. So they've reached their peace. He still thinks her butt smells good though.
We had another first this week. I came home one day and he was genuinely excited to see me - not just because it meant he'd go out, but because it was me coming home. It was wonderful. He's still a pretty repressed dog - doesn't act really excited about much except rolling down the hill in the morning and once in a while he gets bouncy about getting to go out, but not much in the way of responding to human interaction. In fact, many times he'll be wagging his tail and as soon as I start to pet him he stops wagging. It's like he just doesn't know how to be in relationship with a human. It's not that he objects to it, he just doesn't respond happily to it. It's the same with high squeaky voices, or excited voices, or playful voices - he just doesn't know how to play. So we're working on that some.
It's also time to start working with him on obedience skills. He doesn't ACT like he recognizes the word "sit." It's like working with a puppy to have to push down on the rump and hold a treat above his nose and move it back toward his back while saying "sit." Even then he resists. I don't know if it's from pain in his hips or back or if he's just resisting it. While he doesn't pull, he doesn't know how to walk on a leash either. He kind of wanders back and forth in front of me, stopping occasionally, causing me to kind of stumble to keep from knocking into him. I think he'd be really good with elderly people except for when they were trying to walk. He moves in front of me and stops. That could easily trip someone. So we're definitely going to start working on the walk.
On Tuesday he gets neutered, his dental done with removal of at least one tooth, and some X-rays which will hopefully give us some insight into his limping. It seems to be lessened, but it's still there. And with exercise it becomes pronounced. So we'll see what we find out.
I'm sure he thinks he's destined to spend the rest of his "indoor" life in a conehead. It should only be about another week before he's out of that - a little more than that. Then he's going to feel a lot better. He sure is going through a lot. A lot of procedures. But in the end he's going to feel much better. Hopefully his urge to mark things will be somewhat reduced once he's neutered. He actually went to a friend's house yesterday and didn't attempt to mark anything! That was a first. I can't get him in and out of a vet's office without him marking the desk - no matter how long he spends outside before hand. Somehow not peeing in his apartment doesn't seem to translate for him into not peeing in buildings in general. So much to work on with this diamond in the rough.
July 2, 2008
Well, it's been about 2 weeks since I've caught you up on what's happenin' with the Rustman. A lot's been happening.
Last week he had the surgery for entropion lower eye lids. The surgery was a success! He holds his eyes open all the time now, except when sleeping of course - which he does quite a bit of. He is so much more comfortable now. His eyes aren't draining constantly like they were so maybe some day we'll actually be able to get rid of stains around his eyes, or at least the worst of it. Next Monday he goes in and gets his stitches out and will have a brief exam. I'm hoping we'll get an idea of how much he can see. I can tell that he can see better, but it's not as good as I had hoped for. So I'm anxious to find out what he can see.
He's got pain meds that he's on to help with the pain from his hips/back/front legs and eyes. His attitude, especially first thing in the morning is amazing - the dog is just so obviously filled with joy. He prances, he bows, he wants to roll and roll (which he can't do with his eye situation), he shakes his head, he doesn't want to come in. He just loves the morning.
Something I have learned during this time is that this is one determined little dog. We are on our 3rd conehead (E-collar). He broke the first two. Well, actually, first we got a second conehead because the first one was too short and he could reach his foot inside it to his eyes. Not good. So we went back and got a longer - much longer - conehead to protect his eyes. Good idea. Extremely long cone turned him into "Crash," as I affectionately call him. He just crashes into everything and has absolutely no idea of himself in a spacial sense. He can't place himself in relation to anything else and when he reaches resistance he just pushes until he crashes through. He really likes to chew his back foot - almost like sucking on it - and it seems to bring him some comfort when he's frustrated. With the longer cone he can't reach his foot to suck on it and that's frustrating to him. He also can't lick himself the way he wants to. So he's a pretty frustrated dog. Also, his eyes itch and are gunky from the surgery. So basically he wants to rub his head along the ground or carpet to scratch the itch. With the conehead he can't do that. But he really wants to. So he puts the cone against the ground and then throws all his weight on it until it bends. I pull him up and prevent him from doing it further, but over time it takes a toll. So one good last fling and it breaks. But that's okay, basically, because his eyes aren't quite as itchy anymore and we still have the 1st too-short conehead. So on that one goes. The very next day, he broke that one doing the same thing.
Those E-collars were very "high tech" compared to the ones I'm used to. They were made of a more clear plastic that was very "stiff" and they had padding along the neckline so it didn't dig into his neck or catch his hair up in it. It was secured with velcro. So all in all, he would have been more comfortable if he'd just left it alone. But no, he couldn't do that. So back to my own vet and the basic plastic conehead that has the tabs on it that fit into slots, the tabs at the base that kind of stick into his neck and the gauze around the neck to keep it on. So far so good. He has managed to dislodge a tab near the top, but this time I could just tuck the tabs back into the slots instead of having it break. So it appears we've foiled him. He's also happier because this one is the shorter length so he can chew his foot again and lick himself. It appears life is good. So far he's stayed away from digging at his eyes. So next Monday he gets to lose the conehead and then the following Tuesday he gets it back. That's when he has his neuter and dental surgery - on the 15th.
His housebreaking is going well - to the best of my knowledge. I say it that way because I thought he was doing so well before, and was bragging about how it had been 5 days since he had peed in the house and wasn't this the most spectacular dog! Next thing I know I'm changing my shirt in the bedroom and turn around and he's lifting his leg on the bedspread that covers the crate. I couldn't even believe it. My incredibly smart and clever dog was peeing in the house. Now I say that I haven't caught him peeing in the house - haven't found (visually or by feel) any place that he's marked. I'm pretty sure he's housebroken. At least in this apartment. I know for sure that he's a real marker and don't trust him in other buildings unless I've practically drained him before going in.
We did a Meet & Greet at the Ruffin' It Resort and we were set up outside. Thank God. With all the dogs coming in to party for National Take Your Dog to Work Day, and all the dogs that were there for daycare, he actually got to the point where he was marking and nothing was coming out! He also wants to mark at the vet's office. After he's had his appt he needs to go outside immediately. So he doesn't recognize that other buildings are to be treated as places that you don't pee inside. So he's basically housebroken but needs some concept refinement.
The most exciting thing that's happened in the last two weeks is that HE GOT IN THE CAR BY HIMSELF!!!!! Without any hot dog bribes or other bribes. He has to stand and think about it, and he needs verbal encouragement, but then he got in the car by himself! What a major FIRST for him. I called all my friends and told them - you'd have thought I had a baby who took his first steps - well, I guess I do in a way. I'm just so proud of him. He's still tentative but he's just started this. He'll become more confident the more often he does it. I'm so happy he's overcome yet another obstacle. What a good boy! What a GOOD boy!
June 12, 2008
Rusty has been with me now for 2 weeks. He was a mess when he came into GRRoW and went to a groomer that first day for a bath, tummy shave and good brushing and trim. He really needed it. He was very matted underneath and smelled horrible.
Rusty has lived in a kennel outside for all 10 years of his life. He is a total neophyte in this big world. The day I picked him up was his first car ride. I had to lift him into the car. He panted heavily but rode quietly. This has been the case since then. We're working on making nice associations with the car by getting hotdog pieces the closer he gets to the car. The other day I got him to put his front feet on the seat of the car and eat hotdogs. When the hotdogs were gone, we stopped for the day. This was a big step forward. Coming here was also his first time to step up into a building. This took some time to master but by the end of the day he was going in and out of the building without assistance. He is not housebroken yet but has a good start on it. If we're out and he's not done he'll stop me from taking him inside and we'll make another round of the bushes and he's usually right - he wasn't done. In this two weeks he has only pooped inside once. His peeing accidents have generally been my fault for not taking him out soon enough. He has begun to go to the door sometimes. Whenever he does that I try to reinforce that right away. The whole concept is new to him, but he's working on it diligently. He definitely tries to please.
The biggest problem is storms. He is afraid of the thunder and lightening, and beyond that, won't go out if it's raining. Consequently he has not been out since early this afternoon and the storms are supposed to continue until 3 AM. Hopefully the rain will have stopped by then and I can get him outside. I feel so bad for him that he's spent his entire life afraid of storms and lived outside. He curls up in a corner under a table or endtable and just "hides" there. Sometimes he shivers for minutes on end. He likes having the lights on - I don't think he sees the lightening as much that way. Yesterday I had a friend come over to take his picture and the flash on the camera went off and that scared him and he went over to the door and just tried to stick to it and melt into it. I just never know what's going to frighten him.
Having said that, he's a game little dog. He really wants to do what I want him to do, he just can't get out of his own way to do it. When I leave the apartment he really wants to come with me - until it comes to getting in the car. I feel like it will be a real triumph when he will walk out and get into the car by himself and be anxious to go for a ride. Or at the very least, not dread it. I would have to say that getting into the car (he gets out on his own) and storms are his two biggest problems.
He's working things out with the cat. She's not very fond of him yet. He's never been around cats before and finds her very interesting. He likes to sniff her like he sniffs dogs - way up her butt. She does not condone this behavior. He'll catch her moving and he prances to where she was and tries to follow her, but with his poor eyesight he has trouble with that. At first he'd stand and whine at her. Now he's usually just into the sniffing and she's beginning to tolerate it. He does not try to chase her. Once he gets his eyesight improved by surgery that may be another story.
He's such a new puppy in so many ways. There were the first times he saw himself in a mirror and he got puppy ears at himself and whined and looked behind the wall to see if that other dog was there. He doesn't know how to go up and down steps. He can do one step now, but doesn't know how to do more than that so that's something we need to work on. He hasn't had basic obedience and yet does not pull on the leash when we're outside. He moves at a slow place but can work up a trot when he wants to. I don't know how much of that is not being able to see well and how much is his hips hurting and how much of it is just that this fellow is so incredibly mellow. What's most amazing is that for a dog that only had contact with people for an average of an hour a day when he was let out of his kennel, he loves people - and dogs. He went to a Meet and Greet last Saturday and LOVED the other dogs and loved meeting the people and getting pets. He was totally into the other dogs, especially the ladies (seeing as he's not neutered yet) and had his tongue in quite a few ears!
He is still fairly stressed from having left his home. Two weeks before we were able to get him into GRRoW his mother Angel (08-041) was taken in and sent to a foster home. It was the first time in his life he'd been without her. He spent two lonely weeks in that outside kennel. So I'm sure he was still mourning her loss when I picked him up. And now his whole world is turned upside down. He's starting to show some spirit and spunk though. He's started following me around the apartment to be near me. That feels like a really good sign of bonding beginning. Every once in awhile he gets really excited about wanting to go out or my having come home and he "pops" up and down with his front feet. He's so cute when he gets excited about something. It was a full week that I had him with me before I saw him wag his tail. He's learning to trust and that maybe this new life isn't so bad.
Rusty has some physical problems right now. The worst of these is that he has had entropion lower eyelids since birth. This means that the eyelashes on his lower lid turn inward and rub against his cornea constantly. This condition is corrected rather easily with surgery, which he is scheduled for on June 25, yet he has had to endure this pain his whole life. Soon that will be over and he won't know what to do with himself he'll feel so much better. Prior to surgery he needs ointment put in his eyes at least 3 times a day, and it's made him feel so much more comfortable. He used to squint all the time. With the ointment he holds his eyes open most of the time. The ophthamologist said that his vision will improve with the surgery.
In July after his recovery from the eye surgery he is scheduled to be neutered, have a dental done with removal of an abscessed tooth, and hip x-rays. He walks with a limp that becomes more pronounced with exercise and the vet suspects hip dysplasia. It will be good to know what's going on with them so that we can treat that pain. He can't stand on one leg to pee for more than 2-3 seconds before he loses his balance and has to bring his leg back down so he doesn't fall over. The muscles in his rear legs are very atrophied.
So Rusty and I begin our lives together. Each of us to learn from the other - hopefully he'll learn more from me. He needs a lot of basic education and introduction to the world around him and physical fixing. He is such a sweet boy and doesn't have a mean bone in his body. He loves kids. He likes living inside now. He is so tentative at this point but experience will bring confidence. We have a journey to travel to bring him to the people who will be his forever family and will give him a lifetime of loving. This dog is so deserving of all that GRRoW is doing for him medically in spite of his age. He has suffered long enough and now this dog will come into his own. I shall walk beside him as he does.
May 29, 2008
Rusty came into GRRoW on 5/29/08.
