Same Silly Dog, Different Day

Annie in full winter coat

Annie the rescued Australian Shepherd is a smart dog. But she has her moments and she is outrageously silly at times. She is super sensitive to her owner’s (my daughter) moods. And with the approach of summer  she is clipped or shaved, or what ever other name you care to give to a dog’s coat of hair that is removed. Annie hates to be groomed. She is so rambunctious that she requires light sedation just so the groomer or who ever undertakes the clipping process can keep the clippers on that rusty red hair to get the job done.

Annie waiting for me to throw the ball.

Annie with her favorite toy

Annie looking watching her mama through the clinic door. Summer of 2011 after getting a “summer clip. The short hair makes Annie look like a different dog.

Dancer, the Aussie Saved From Euthanasia (click photos to enlarge)

Dancer, Australian Shepherd

Dancer waiting for my cue

Australian shepherd – high intelligence

Tagged for euthanasia the next day. This was the fate of a beautiful shiny black and tan australian shepherd. Had it not been for a lady named Nancy,  I would never have known the dog that has been mine for the past 8 years.  The little Aussie had been named Sadie by the workers at a Fort Worth, Texas, animal shelter – a kill  shelter. The animals that were not adopted after a certain length of time were put on the list to meet the grim reaper. Sadie’s fate lay in the hands of a lady named Nancy who “pulled”  dogs from the shelter when ever she had room at her home for a dog/s. 

 Nancy belonged to a small rescue group who used their own money to foster dogs until the dog could be placed in a forever home. Nancy was allowed by the shelter to take any or as many dogs that were doomed for euthanasia as she could manage. Nancy personally could only handle up to four dogs and generally she only took small dogs because she had life threatening medical issues. and these were easier for her to foster. However that day she happened to see Sadie as she made her way through a maze of huge cages.  Nancy had met her personal quota of dogs to “pull” but decided at the last-minute to take the dog named  Sadie, because, “her eyes spoke to me as if begging me to take her.” So that day about 8 years ago Sadie went home with Nancy.  That afternoon, Nancy began making phone calls to her “dog friends.” The first call was to her friend Shirlene, another rescuer of dogs. Shirlene an acquaintance, of mine,  in turn called to ask if I would foster an Australian Shepherd.. She said the dog  was one day away from euthanasia. Of course I was not going to turn her down after she told me the dog was destined for euthanasia.  “Sadie”  so named by the shelter staff was believed to be about 1-2 years old.  I spoke to Nancy in Ft. Worth on a Wednesday and the next day, Shirlene arrived with Sadie, at my house, 100 miles south.  

 

Shirlene opened the back of her vehicle and a black dog lay curled up near the door. The dog was wearing a tiny collar with a small frayed leash attached. I called her name and with a gentle tug of the leash she jumped to the ground.  As Shirlene and I stood talking, Sadie began licking my hands and then my shoes. Finally she stopped, looked  directly into my eyes. lowered herself to the ground and began crawling on her belly as she made circles around and around my feet. I had never observed a dog exhibiting such total submission. Finally I said, “you know Shirlene there is no need to foster her. I’ll adopt her but I am going to change her name right now to Dancer. The name popped right from thoughts. And, Dancer still dances around me to show her happiness.

I felt a strong connection to Dancer and her bond to me was immediate. She has shown her gratitude by being incredibly loyal and obedient. I only have to call her once and she is at the back door.
I really did not need to train her to do anything. She possesses high intelligence and is very quick to learn whatever I choose to teach her.

How could a person be so cruel and release her to the shelter? I will never comprehend man’s inhumane treatment and total disregard for a lesser creature, who has been a part of one’s life. How do you make the decision to dispose of the animal as if it were nothing.  

I think this is a good place to include one of my favorite quotes.
“We can judge the heart of a man by his treatment of animals.”
by Immanuel Kant

Dancer is much more laid back than my other dogs. But she thrives on my attention. I’ve taught her to sit, roll over, and of course to crawl since this was a natural proclivity. She will absolutely crawl for yards until I tell her to stop.  Dancer has proven to be one of my best watch dogs. She has keen hearing and usually barks before the other dogs hear a new sound. She becomes very agitated at the sight of any man. Possibly she was mistreated since she is especially distrustful of men. 

I am eternally grateful to Nancy for listening to her heart the day she pulled Dancer from the Ft. Worth kill shelter. And, whoever took Dancer to the shelter that day was the loser for I consider myself the winner, the day I gave her a forever home.

 Post  and photographs: Yvonne

Annie, the Aussie Clown- Learned How To smile (Monday, October 22,2012 @1016am)

 You can find Annie’s  rescue story in the category The Vets Pets

Annie has the stocky build of an Australian shepherd but to me her ears are not quite right.  But everyone that meets Annie thinks she is a pretty dog. And for the most part she looks like an aussie. Her coat is a beautiful russet red and that color is sort of rare among aussies. 

Since she is my grandpet, I’ve been around Annie a fair amount of time. During one of my visits in early  summer I noticed that when she wanted my attention she would show her teeth as if in a ” smile.” I under estimated Annie’s intelligence.  A few times a day when ever Annie wanted to be petted, “I would say smile for grandma,” and Annie would dutifully obey.

Well it seems that after I returned home she began performing her new trick for my daughter. Not long ago I was visiting again and my daughter said,” Mama you turned Annie into a pest. She shows her teeth where ever I go and wiggles and gets in my way until I give her some pats on the head. I finally sort of broke her of that because it became down right annoying.

The problem with Annie is that once she learns something she contiunues to ” act out” what ever she learned as a means of gettting more attention.  Sort of like a kid that learns something new and keeps it up all day.   

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Annie, a smart Australian Shepherd

Annie loves playing with this orange toy

Annie looking dreamy-eyed in this pic. (Required sedation for grooming)

Saving Annie

Annie      March,2011      Age: 4 years

This little story was told to me by Dr. D., my daughter. I wrote the story as she would have written it (first person). It seems that I can only write these stories in this manner. Maybe the wording comes easier for me this way. This is also one of my favorites and actually to do justice to Annie and my daughter there is another story to be added to make Saving Annie complete. Sometime in the future I will write another.

Another week-end day spent working at the emergency clinic. Known to most veterinarians as plain EC. I worked part time at the EC with the intent of learning from veterinarians who worked there as a steady job. All EC vets are extremely smart, fast, and know their stuff. Most of them thrive on the fast pace and the adrenalin rush. I can honestly say that I learned a great deal during my part time stint there. But it is not my steady cup of tea. It takes a special person to work in EC just as the nurses and MDS that work in the human version of the emergency room and the EMTs that bring in the sick and injured.

The day began fairly routine with some animals that were very sick and others that were not so sick or hurt. I always tried to mentally prepare myself for any and all challenges but if a vet needed help there were three or four of us with great vet techs who were super fantastic at their jobs. Two lucky veterinarians are on the job from 10pm until 7:30am. Those hours are not necessarily slow. The EC in Austin is almost always busy, regardless of the time- day or night.

About mid morning I was about to take a short break when I was told I had a case waiting for me in one of the exam rooms. As I entered the room I saw 4 children that appeared to range in age from toddler to about 10 years of age. Their mother was standing with her back to the door. She did not turn around to look at me as I spoke her name, Mrs—– , nor when I introduced myself. I maneuvered through the maze of four children so that I was facing Mrs —. Her dress and demeanor exuded the quintessence of wealth.

After speaking to the lady I then saw a small red puppy that was sitting on top of its carrier. The pup made direct eye contact with me. I have no idea why- but I knew this puppy was going to end up as my dog. I’ve been told that I have ESP but I do not always have the special gift. This day, the feeling about the puppy was quite strong.

The lady said that she had bought the puppy from a breeder and paid $700 for her. “I have her registration papers and proof of vaccinations that the breeder gave me. We’ve only had the puppy for two days. Yesterday, late afternoon, she began having loose stools with a little bit of blood. She has been eating but not very much and this morning she did not want to eat her puppy chow.” So I explained to the lady that first we would get a fecal sample and test for parasites and also test for the parvovirus.

In the mean time the lady showed me the pup’s papers. I quickly scanned the papers and they were really nothing. There was no AKC registration and no proof of vaccinations. To be honest the lady had been had. As I waited on the test results I questioned the lady about the breeder’s home and if there were lots of dogs, cages, etc. She told me what I suspected. The breeder’s home and set up, sounded as if it were a puppy mill. The lady appeared angry after I told her that the puppy was not an AKC registered dog.

A tech brought me the results of the fecal and the parvo test. Well there was good news and bad news; as far as the lady was concerned. The parvo test was a weak positive. The fecal test- well that was a doozie. I had never seen such a wide range of parasites in a dog before. But this was just an example of what you get when you buy a dog from a pet store or a puppy mill. The lady’s facial expression changed from horrified to total disgust as I continued to explain the parasites and the parvovirus. The puppy had roundworms, hookworms, tape worms, whip worms, coccidi, and giardia. After telling the lady the news of the worms she then said, “well the breeder said I could bring her back when I talked to her this morning. That is really what I should do.” At that point I wanted to yell. So I then had to convince her that all was not lost because the parasites would be fairly easy to treat and since she had a mild case of parvo, the puppy would be on the road to improved health within 4-5 days if not sooner. Her stay at the EC would just be overnight and then she would pick up the puppy in the morning and take it to her regular vet to finish out a round of IV fluids and medications. During that process she would receive other instructions and medications for further treatment of the parasites. But the lady persisted that the puppy should go back to the breeder. “I don’t want to spend any more money on this dog.” I then said, “if you take her back, the breeder WILL NOT treat the puppy and she WILL DIE! Please understand that her treatment will not be that expensive.” Then the lady said, “I’ll call my husband and ask him what to do.” I left the room and when I returned a few minutes later, she told me that her husband had given the okay to begin treatment.

I explained the treatment of the parasites and parvo. The puppy would need some IV fluids that contained some special meds that would help knock out the parvo. The IV fluids would provide electrolytes, re-hydrate the puppy and as a bonus, IV fluids help a sick animal recoup faster and just plain make the animal feel better. I told the lady that she and her husband could return for a visit to see the puppy or they could just call. I assured her that the puppy would respond very well to treatment.

The puppy’s owner finally left with her unbelievably well mannered four children in tow. I called for a tech, who helped me weigh the puppy, I calculated the drops per minute for the IV fluids and set the rate on the pump. I then shaved a spot on one front leg a few inches above the paw. I applied the tourniquet so that the vein would be easier to find. I palpated for a vein (sometimes the vein is not visible, so you feel (palpate) for the vein and I was in luck when I found a tiny vein on my first try. I pushed the needle in and then removed the metal needle leaving in place a small plastic pliable needle (this plastic needle stays in the vein better than just a metal needle). I then connected the IV tubing to the plastic cannula. The IV fluids with the added meds were then ready to begin flowing. (I’d like to add that it is no easy feat to start an IV on a puppy or tiny kitten. It requires a steady hand and lots of patience.) Medications were then given to the puppy by mouth to treat the wide range of parasites. The tech and I were still in luck because the puppy readily swallowed the not so good tasting medications. We then carried the puppy with the attached IV and pump stand to the back and placed the puppy on towels in a cage. I asked the tech to watch the puppy for a few minutes to ensure the puppy did not vomit the medications. With the puppy cooperating with the meds and the IV, I left the treatment area quickly since I had another case waiting to be examined.

That evening I checked on the puppy before my shift ended. She was sleeping peacefully. My day had been tiring. Dealing with the puppy’s owner had been an ordeal. When I got home I tended to my brood of pets and ate a bowl of cereal before falling into bed at 8:30 pm. I was in deep sleep when my cell phone rang. I looked at the time on my phone before answering. It was 11:30 pm and who in the world was calling me this late. It was one of the vet’s from the EC. He said that the parvo puppy’s owner was there and wanted to have the puppy euthanized, “because his wife feared that they would get attached to the puppy and it would then die.” With those words, I was then fully awake. I almost shouted, “What did you just say? That puppy is not critically ill and she will be just fine after a few days.” Dr. C. said, “well, all of us here tried to persuade him not to have the puppy put down but he said his wife was adamant that she no longer wanted to get more involved with a dog that could die. We have called several people and tried to get someone here to take her and then we thought of you.” Holy cow! I could not believe what I was hearing. “Okay. Tell the man to wait there, have the release papers ready for him to sign the puppy over to me. I’ll be there soon.”   

Hastily, I got dressed and drove the 30 minutes it takes to get to the EC. The man was waiting. I greeted him as I entered the waiting room. He merely nodded his head in response. Someone handed me the papers to sign and then he signed his name to release the puppy to me. He handed me the paper, and without saying a word, walked out the door. I went to the treatment area and asked one of the techs to get the puppy ready because she was leaving with me. I did not want the expense of the EC and I could easily treat her at home.

As I drove home with the puppy in a large dog crate in the back of my SUV, I remembered my thoughts when I first saw this little red dog. My ESP had been right again. Since this is proving to be a long post, I’ll continue with the puppy’s story in a future post. By the way- the former owners had named her Annie, which I thought was a fitting name for this little red haired Aussie.

Post and Photograph:  Yvonne

Dr. D’s Dogs Getting A Summer Trim

These photos were taken late spring of this year.

Dr. D. had decided to have her two dogs wear a “lion” clip for the summer.  And she wanted to leave more mane” than what a “lion’s clip” should like. This “dog do” is a bit odd-looking. I guess this is a hair cut that has to “grow on you.” At least there is not so much hair to sweep up each day. Dr’s dogs really shed a lot but that is the price you pay when you own a dog with long hair.

Annie the Australian Shepherd is a hyper dog and her mama helps makes things easier for the groomer as well as her dog. Dr. D. uses a  short acting sedative and Annie is cool as a cucumber while being groomed. Annie appears dreamy-eyed with her eyes sort of half closed in these photos. The medication wears off in a little more than an hour. This grooming session went smoothly and did not turn into a “hair raising” event.

Annie: “I’m so sleepy.”

Annie looking very sleepy

Marley: “There went most of my hair.”.

Marley is always cooperative when being groomed

Post and photographs Yvonne