Welcome Tucker…

We have a new foster dog and his name his Tucker. Tucker has lived all of his 15 years in a pen. His senior owners could no longer care for him and he was brought to SAINTS by the couple’s daughters. Apparently Tucker was no longer content to remain in his pen and had started to actively try and dig his way out. It was also suspected that the aged parents were not remembering to feed him everyday.

As I have said before fostering senior dogs is a joy. They don’t ask for much and they are a pleasure to have around. Tucker is a totally different story. Fostering a dog who has never known the comfort of a soft dog bed, the smell of pizza, the taste of peanut butter or liver brownies is enough to bring tears to your eyes. He was also never socialized with other dogs and tended to meet new dogs by humping them. Not the best social skills to use when meeting a new pack. Tucker is desperate to please. He learns quickly and he no longer humps everyone - after less than a week. He is learning his name and to take treats with a soft mouth. He is figuring out that there is always lots of food here. Tucker is a very good dog.
Tucker asleep on a bed:

If you have room in your heart consider fostering or adopting a senior dog.

We are ecstatic!

We just checked Mabel’s leg and it is looking so much better! It is not a goopy mess anymore. The fur seems to be growing in around it and it is not bleeding any more. The lump is still there and she is still 17 years old but we will take any progress we can get. Oh and she ate 3 times between 11 am and 7 pm! Way to go Miss Mabel.

The interesting thing about having senior dogs around is that every day is a gift. You don’t take them for granted because you don’t know how long they are going to be with you. Dogs like Mabel, who have not known much kindness in their lives, seem to know and appreciate a soft touch. Deb was combing her today and her eyes were closing she was enjoying it so much. Mabel is not a dog who asks for much besides going outside and eating. When she asks for these things there is no doubt about what she wants and she makes it clear she isn’t going to wait. I am so happy that she feeling better after the scare we had at the beginning of the month that it is joyful when she barks and I seeing what she needs is a pleasure. In these moments she is so full of life and herself.

If you have room in your home and your heart think about adopting a senior dog. Yes, there can be issues (like incontinence) or giving meds or going to the vets and yes they may not live all that long but it is so worth it! I can tell you that they will live much longer in your home than they will in an animal shelter. The rewards are too many to list. Just know that you will be helping an animal finish out its days in comfort and peace and you will reap the rewards. check out SAINTS or your local shelter for a senior animal who needs you today.

Mabel update

As some of you know Mabel has a cancerous tumor on her leg. It is open and icky. This follows the cancerous mass we had removed when she had a dental last fall. We had been trying to come up with things to do to help Mabel feel a bit better. (some ideas were a bit better than others and we got a lesson in ‘palliative care’ from Carol at SAINTS - where we adopted Mabel from). We took Mabel to vet on Thursday to get more tramadol and metacam to help with the pain and inflammation. We also got antibiotics as her leg is infected again. We will no longer be covering her leg or keeping a cone on her head to stop her from licking it. Hopefully, she will be able to keep it clean.

By yesterday she had finally recovered from being at the vet (it was just a short visit and a ride in the car) and was her usual barking self. I took a roast out of the oven and she was barking at me for some. I told her she had to wait so she went over and barked at the roast. Too funny. Her spirit and her will to live (and eat - the dog eats 3-4 times per day) is inspiring. She has gained a pound since the last time she was at the vets. We don’t know how long she has - we hope for a long time.

Adopting senior dogs was one of the best things we ever did. It has been incredibly rewarding. We have learned so much from Mabel and Mollie.

Bowling for blind dogs…

Piper has a new game. She spys Cliio down the hall and then runs into her full bore. In short, the pug is an asshole. Poor Clio is blind and can’t see her coming so it is really not fair. I am not sure why the pug is doing this to her except maybe jealousy. Of course, all that happens is Clio then gets more attention and Piper gets in trouble. She likes to harass Mabel too but at least Mabel has the ability to sort of see it coming (Mabel is a little blind and a little deaf). Piper leaves Mollie alone because I think she is not sure what Mollie will do to her. Mollie has this fierce shark attack routine she does where she jumps out of her bed and barks and growls like a demon. What the rest of them don’t know is that Mollie has no teeth. it is really kind of funny. They all think she is crazy and they give her a wide berth. Mollie’s favourite creature to shark attack is the cat. Mollie weighs 7 pounds and the cat about 27 pounds. It is really quite hysterical.

Life with 9 dogs can be very interesting. Sometimes, no most of the time, I feel like a slave. It is like this house is run for the sole convenience of the pets. It is not far from the truth. They go in and out as they would like, they eat when they demand it. Well, Mabel anyway. She barks and we have a Pavlovian response to go and look for chicken. I guess when you are 17 years old and you have a cancerous tumour on your leg you pretty much get what you want. Here is a great pic of Mabel doing her thing:

Mabel really enjoys going out on patrol in the yard. Even if she goes all the way to the back of the yard she seems to find her way back into the house. For a dog who was quite ill when she came here a year ago she is doing just great now. She is bright and alert and doing well on tramadol to manage her pain. She is still very engaged in life (when she is awake) and makes her needs known.

There is never a dull moment when you live with 9 dogs.

Happy New Year and Happy Birthday to our SAINTS

Happy New Year everyone. Our SAINTS, Mabel and Mollie are now one year older - 16 and 18 respectively. Both are continuing to do very well. Mabel sleeps a lot but she wakes up whenever someone goes into the laundry room because they could be delivering a treat. She gets lots of treats delivered to her and she loves it. For some reason she prefers to lay in the laundry room. A couple of times a day she will troop out and lay on another bed. I think she likes the laundry room as it is quiet and out from underfoot of all the other dogs. And never doubt that an old dog can learn new tricks. Mabel has figured out that everytime she goes outside and comes back in she gets a treat. So sometimes she asks to go out, goes out on the deck and comes back in and looks up at you with her deep brown eyes and mouth wide open. Mabel tries so hard to be continent. She lets us know when she needs to go out by trotting around the kitchen quickly. We have to be fast because she doesn’t have much staying power but what more can you expect at 16!

Mollie is still a going concern. She is like the energizer bunny spinning around our house. Because of her strokes Mollie tends to go in circles and she kind of does everything to the right. She has enhanced her pilates moves with some yoga now. She regularly does downward dog and a new move I have called the frog as she sticks her back legs flat against the bed and twirls around on her front legs. If she thinks no one is paying attention to her she starts to do speed pilates which is absolutely hilarious. We are hoping to get it on video one of these days. Mollie has also learned that the best treats are given out in the living room at dinner time. This has meant that she has had to conquer her fear of our new laminate. She enjoyed salmon last night.

Welcoming Mabel and Mollie into our home has been a gift. Everyday they add something to our lives. If you have ever thought about giving a senior a home I encourage you to do it. They are different from younger dogs. They give so much in exchange for so little.

PS - it is also Kirby’s birthday today. Happy birthday brown puppy, we love you.

My life with an almost 2 year old Pug

So, it would appear that Piper has hit the terrible twos. She officially turns two at the end of November. She appears to be taking the terrible twos to a new level. Lately, she has been horrible. She would rather eat grass than pee in the morning. Now, when it is not raining this is annoying enough but in the rain it is almost intolerable. I am not sure why she thinks she needs to be a cow but last time I checked pugs don’t graze. I have had to put her back in her crate twice in the last couple of days as she just won’t cooperate. One does not want to let her roam the house until she has gone outside. It seems like this sets her behaviour for the day.

So, once she pees and is given freedom in the house and then the asshole behaviours start. She harrasses Molly (17 year old pom). I guess she enjoys the shark attack. Then she is on to Mabel - who she likes to chase around the house. Sometimes Mabel will play with her but I don’t think she is to into it right now given that she just lost 11 teeth and had a mass removed. Then there is poor Clio. Piper has dragged Clio around by her tail since she was 6 weeks old. Clio is blind and brain-damaged and it is truly unfair. We came up with a strategy that basically involves put the pug into a time out. I have done that the last couple of days. I really, really, really hope this behaviour passes soon!!!

Other dog updates - Mabel came through her dental and mass removal with flying colours. She was eating chicken and most importantly barking for chicken within 2 days. She is totally back to herself now, bright-eyed when she is awake, sleeping hard and going for her walks in the yard. Molly is well and is stretching more for us now. She is hysterical - she will go into a whole stretching routine when she wants attention. Everybody else is doing really well too.

Joyful Moments

I went to Dairy Queen to indulge my weekend caramel sundae addiction and picked up an extra cone for the dogs. As many of you know we have several rescued dogs. For some of our dogs, especially the seniors, joy and pleasure have not been in great abundance. Some have come from abusive backgrounds and others sufferred neglect. One of our dogs, Clio, was a backyard breeding disaster. She is blind and brain damaged and I am not really sure she knows she is a dog most days of the week. Clio’s world is quite small. It is us and the house. She is not all that fond of the other dogs but she will cuddle up with Kiefer and Kirby. Madison has been seen cleaning her from time to time.

I came home with the ice cream cone and sat down in the dining room and proceeded to let them all have a lick, one at a time. The big dogs licked the cone fairly well. Then I gave it to Clio. Well she started biting at the ice cream and the look on her face was one of pure joy and ecstasy. When the ice cream went down she started biting at the cone. Her enjoyment was palpable. I think we will have to do this more often.

Here is a picture of her from last fall:

Today, we made it official…

Today we made the decision to officially adopt Mabel and Molly from SAINTS . Mabel came to us as a foster dog at the end of February. She had some issues the main one being that she was peeing blood. We did some exploratory testing at the vets and stopped as the only way to determine what was wrong would be surgery and you don’t do surgery on 15 year old ShihTzus. Turns out it was likely only a bladder infection which has been cured by a long course of antibiotics and the switch to a raw diet which lowers the pH of the urine making it less likely to have recurring infections.

Here is Miss Mabel Mae or Maybe Baby as she is affectionately known here:

Mabel has taken over our house and our hearts. She loves her raw food and her cooked chicken even more! Welcome home Mabel Mae.

Molly is a 17 year old pomeranian with no teeth. She came to us a week before my mother was coming to visit in April of 2007. In hindsight, not really a good plan as she is incontinent. She has a had a few strokes and she kind of leans to the right in everything she does. She tends to go around in circles. But her main claim to fame is that she is the original pilates dog. This dog stretches her legs out many times a day. She does it when she is happy and excited and sometimes we can get her to do it on command. What is really funny is when she does it because she wants attention.

Molly has also embraced raw food. She does not let lack of teeth slow her down either. She will tackle pieces of meat larger than her head. I have seen her strip a chicken leg in under 15 minutes. Molly loves people so much at times it seems like she can’t get herself close enough to you for a snuggle. Welcome home Molly!

We are honoured to have Mabel and Molly join our family. So many people throw away their senior animals for one reason or another. Sometimes it is incontinence, a new baby, moving to a pet-free building. We need to remember that it is a privilege to have the love and companionship of an animal and when we take on that responsibility it is for life. Mabel and Molly, for whatever reason, lost their homes. We will make sure that never happens to them again.

Adopt a senior animal.