The Cellar » Dogs

bbro · 10/25/2020 9:15 am

In August, things got bad enough with my parent's health that my father finally agreed to let me rescue these two from them. I drove 8 hours on Saturday and stayed with my brother. The next day, I grabbed them and drove immediately back to NC. I was 100% NOT prepared, but I wasn't going to let them stay there a second longer

Neither of them had seen a vet or groomer in at least 3 years if not longer. They're both about 7 years old

Meet Tess. She's an Irishdoodle. She was so badly matted that you couldn't really pet her. She had a skin condition, ear mites, and a huge infection growing on the underside of her jaw that took 8 weeks of antibiotics to cure. But she was pretty happy to be here

Meet Max. He's a Labradoodle. He looked like a teddy bear and was always happy. He wanted to climb on the chair with me. He ended up with ear mites and a skin condition

You can see the extent of the matting on poor Tess. Max wasn't as bad, but was still covered. It must've been so painful. They had no way of regulating their heat, so I couldn't even take them for walks. I tried and I got scared when it took Max over 30m to cool down.
I didn't realize until later that their side nails were so long, they were curling up next to their paws. Tess even had matting covering one of her feet. She did NOT like walking much and hated stairs

I had to get them shaved by a vet because the matting was so bad.
Poor Tess. They had to go so close to her skin that she had cuts all over her face (she was waking up while they were finishing up). She only had a puff on the end of her tail left. I put t-shirts on her for about a week since the air conditioning was on inside.

Max fared a little better. They left his ears because they weren't matted. I had to clean them up since because there were small knots in there. But not as bad as his body was. He got some t-shirts too, but I stopped them earlier than Tess because he produced so much heat. I don't think he liked them much

And these were at the beginning of October. I let them on the porch to sniff around and smell the air. Max shows his age a bit more on his muzzle. I'm trying to keep him active, but I think he's getting arthritis. His joints crack and he's slow getting up. Interests include eating stuffed animals (and apparently cleaning sponges), snoring, and getting pet. See the tail blur?

The BIG change is right here with Tess. Look at that fur! That face! She's still not allowing me to cut her face, but we're working on it with positive reinforcement. She can stand outside and sniff the air for a LONG time. I can't wait to buy a place and give her a yard. Interests include "sneaking" into my bed at night and running like a spazzy giraffe. Another tail blur makes me happy.

fargon · 10/25/2020 9:20 am

Good Doggies.

bbro · 10/25/2020 9:21 am

fargon wrote:
Good Doggies.

Sometimes

fargon · 10/25/2020 9:23 am

A lot like Kittehs.

Limey · 10/25/2020 9:56 am

Well done! And good to see you here!

bbro · 10/25/2020 11:14 am

Thanks all! It definitely hasn't been easy. They've had zero socialization so whenever they see another dog or person when walking, they go a little crazy trying to go see them. They are getting slowly better, but I can't wait until I have a yard I can just let them out in. It's also crazy hard to do games or training with just one dog. They kind of let the dogs compete for attention. They definitely preferred one over the other because my mother said I could take one, but not the other. I didn't want to do that to them since they'd been together their whole lives.

griff · 10/25/2020 11:55 am

Excellent job, they look great!

Clodfobble · 10/25/2020 3:28 pm

Proud of you for insisting (and proud of your folks for agreeing, even if it was their fault things got so bad). You have done a massively good deed for these poor puppers, and they clearly appreciate it. Were the nails able to be shortened all in one go, or did they have to do it in stages to let the quick recede inside?

bbro · 10/25/2020 3:58 pm

Clodfobble wrote:
Proud of you for insisting (and proud of your folks for agreeing, even if it was their fault things got so bad). You have done a massively good deed for these poor puppers, and they clearly appreciate it. Were the nails able to be shortened all in one go, or did they have to do it in stages to let the quick recede inside?

Yea, It was originally going to be temporary, but I kept bringing it up and he agreed to it permanently. The vet did their nails at the same time as their shave. Tess's seem to be growing quicker than Max's, but I can eventually get her to let me cut them. It is A LOT of patience. They used to wrap her up in blankets and lay on her and who knows what else when they actually would groom her, so there's a lot of fear there. I'm using positive reinforcement with treats and reassurance and petting. It is getting better. The other day, she actually let me cut her face hair a little. And just now she let me put musher's secret on her paws. Sometimes it helps to get her when she's sleeping ;) Max doesn't seem to protest to much. He'll try to hide, though. And glare at me - lol.

xoxoxoBruce · 10/26/2020 9:58 pm

Kudos, hosannas, and bravo, you done good madam, very very good.
Doing it the right way is so important in the long game.
Fortunately you had a slight head start in that they knew you, but still had to learn to trust you..
Max is still trying to figure out what your angle is. LoL

bbro · 10/28/2020 5:21 pm

xoxoxoBruce wrote:
Kudos, hosannas, and bravo, you done good madam, very very good.
Doing it the right way is so important in the long game.
Fortunately you had a slight head start in that they knew you, but still had to learn to trust you..
Max is still trying to figure out what your angle is. LoL

Max doesn't like to leave my side - lol. He's a big goober. Tess is a little more skittish. She's gotten better though, but any surprises makes her run. She used to tremble constantly, but that's stopped, happily

footfootfoot · 10/28/2020 8:27 pm

Excellent dog repair!

xoxoxoBruce · 10/29/2020 2:52 am

Yes, a little Bondo, coat of paint and tires around, they're good for another 100,000 miles.

bbro · 10/29/2020 6:06 pm

Thanks foot!

I wish I didn't have to bribe Tess to eat. What kind of dog is that?? Luckily, a sprinkle of cheese will do the trick. I just need something to get her going. Also, she just burped at me

(Pic from another day)

bbro · 11/01/2020 2:11 pm

Heh - Halloween
I put them halfway in my onesies and took pictures. I freed them after :D

Limey · 11/01/2020 2:25 pm

D’aaaawwwww!

fargon · 11/01/2020 3:15 pm

What Limey said.

xoxoxoBruce · 11/02/2020 4:21 am

bbro wrote:
Heh - Halloween
I put them halfway in my onesies and took pictures. I freed them after :D

Your onesies? Where do you wear those?

DanaC · 11/02/2020 12:59 pm

Help ...the cute ..I can't even..

Seriously though, that dog's face is making very clear he expects a treat in return for this onesie madness

bbro · 11/03/2020 8:35 am

@Bruce - around the house when I'm feeling like it. The giraffe one was used as a costume a few years ago

@DanaC - They definitely got some treats after :D

xoxoxoBruce · 11/06/2020 5:41 am

bbro wrote:
@Bruce - around the house when I'm feeling like it. The giraffe one was used as a costume a few years ago

I'd love to be a fly on the wall when the Jehovah's Witnesses or Mormons ring your bell. LoL

griff · 11/06/2020 7:42 am

DanaC wrote:
Help ...the cute ..I can't even..

Seriously though, that dog's face is making very clear he expects a treat in return for this onesie madness

zactly dis

bbro · 11/18/2020 9:50 pm

Latest in the drama of owning dogs. I took them to the apartment off leash area Friday. I noticed that Tess was limping on her back leg that night. I didn't really think anything of it because the next day it was better (or so I thought). I took them again on Saturday. All of the sudden, Tess yelps and starts limping on one of her front legs. I immediately take them home and shoot an email to my vet. After a couple hours, I didn't hear anything, so I called and they're CLOSED on the weekends. Meanwhile, she starts limping on the back leg too. I emailed another vet (one I had been considering in the beginning). I got an almost immediate response and she got an appointment Tuesday. Decide to get Max in one to check his ears (he rubs and scratches them A LOT). He got an appointment tonight. I also asked them questions I had asked the other vet, but never got answers. Mostly about their weight and food.

Turns out that Tess likely has a torn ligament in her knee (kind of like the ACL in humans). She's on anti-inflammatory meds for it, but will need surgery eventually. She's restricted from running around and jumping off leash, but he encouraged me to keep walking her on a leash. She also got compliments about how perfect she is - lol. Great weight, etc. But he still suggested that I switch them both to senior food.

Before the injury

Max on the other hand is a fatty. He needs to lose about 10-15lbs. They said they were more concerned about his shape than his weight so we're shooting for 10lbs first. The good news is he's lost 6lbs since his first weigh in. They gave me calories to figure out how much food he should be getting. I need to do that tomorrow. Meanwhile, the other vet said that he was an "ideal weight". They said losing weight will help with his snoring and his slowness getting up when laying on his side. He also has yeast infections and inflammation in his ears. He is on medicine for 2 weeks and goes back for a check to see how it's going for both. He also decided to drink too much too fast when he got home and got sick - just for me!

This was his face the last time he got sick. It looked similar tonight

And his fat silhouette

xoxoxoBruce · 11/18/2020 10:42 pm

Oh boy, you're in deep now. But those loving faces make it all worthwhile.

bbro · 11/19/2020 12:40 pm

xoxoxoBruce wrote:
Oh boy, you're in deep now. But those loving faces make it all worthwhile.

Oh yea. The surgery for Tess is going to cost 3200 and I'm currently working on a feeding spreadsheet with grams on it to get Max less fatty boom batty. The weight loss will be beneficial because they expect him to snore less - LMAO