My name is Michelle and Cody was my six year old Labrador Retriever (he was five when I started this blog and he was two weeks shy of seven when he crossed over). We lived in a house with two other boys, an orange 13 year old cat named Jimi, and a four year old all black crazy cat named Albert. Since Cody passed I spent about four months dogless, but I could not handle it and I now have a “Black dog†named Oscar. I call him the Black dog because he is a rescue and a “Lab Mix†which basically means, they think he has Lab in him but who knows. I am completely outnumbered.
July 15, 2005 – June 29, 2012
This is the story, actually it started as a diary i had been keeping in another format on my computer, and is now an online diary/blog of our battle against Canine Lymphoma with Cody, since his diagnosis in mid-September 2010, and what is happening in our lives since he passed on. If you are not familiar with Blogs, the most recent posts are first, so page back to start from the beginning. I write here constantly, documenting his chemotherapy, diet, ups and downs, the costs and the steps I took to, if not cure him, at least put up a fight like no other. It is a terrible prognosis. This disease spreads rapidly in dogs, they can be dead within weeks, and it is highly prevalent. The statistics are shocking. My boy was only five years old and I could not with good conscience just let him go. So this is our story. I hope this in some way helps other pet owners facing this long road.
As you may have seen in my previous posts, 2010 had been a year of Cancer for me. It started with a friend dying of brain cancer in January, an Uncle dying in May of Lung Cancer, my own terrifying battle all summer, my step sister fighting breast cancer and having a double mastectomy in August and chemo, and culminated in September with my boy and his diagnosis. As much as i felt down trodden and beaten… this is not something I was going to take sitting down. I have never fought so hard and i sleep well at night knowing I tried my hardest to keep him healthy, happy and alive, and I tried EVERYTHING. I made him a promise that I kept every day to the last…
As long as he stays the happy boy I know and love, I will keep fighting for him. But if he ever starts to suffer, becomes so sick that he is no longer enjoying his life, i will not prolong his agony for my benefit. I will let him go.
So this is our story….
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During Cody’s chemo treatments I was collecting donations for his vet bills. Now I am putting any donations towards helping other pet parents who are going through this ordeal by sending them info and keeping this site going and updated. I am also putting myself through school right now as well. So if you feel inclined to help out it is well appreciated… or you could simply order a Pet Portrait! I would be happy to paint your best buddy for you!
We all thank you from the bottom, top, middle and all around our hearts!
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This is a post I had to share from an article last year… not sure if these beautiful amazing animals are still with us, but it is true… their faces say it all… Enjoy!
The Rescue Dogs of 9/11 – only 12 are still living. See how they look today
Look at those sweet gray muzzles! What cuties! And so very brave. These hero dogs helped search for people in the rubble following 9/11. Only 12 are still living.
Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas traveled to nine states to photograph the remaining dogs, now in their golden years, at their homes. She has produced a book of the photographs titled “Retrieved.â€
Here is the story and their photos. These are from a wonderful article we were sent that was written by Charles Mayfield. Unfortunately, even after much Google searching, we can’t find the original source. Below is the article. which includes pictures of all twelve surviving dogs.
Nearly 100 dogs worked at the trade center ten years ago; only 12 are left. THESE OLD WONDERFUL FACES SAY IT ALL… These are the surviving dogs that worked the trade center that are still alive but retired, they are heroes too.
Their eyes say everything you need to know about them. Just amazing creatures. True heroes of 9/11 still with us today.
Moxie, 13, from Winthrop , Massachusetts , arrived with her handler, Mark Aliberti, at the World Trade Center on the evening of September 11 and searched the site for eight days.
Tara, 16, from Ipswich, Massachusetts, arrived at the World Trade Center on the night of the 11th. The dog and her handler Lee Prentiss were there for eight
days.
Kaiser, 12, pictured at home in Indianapolis, Indiana, was deployed to the World Trade Center on September 11 and searched tirelessly for people in the rubble.
Bretagne and his owner Denise Corliss from Cypress, Texas, arrived at the site in New York on September 17, remaining there for ten days.
Guinness, 15, from Highland, California, started work at the sitewith Sheila McKee on the morning of September 13 and was deployed at the site for 11 days.
Merlyn and his handler Matt Claussen were deployed to Ground Zero on September 24, working the night shift for five days.
Red, 11, from Annapolis, Maryland, went with Heather Roche to the Pentagon from September 16 until the 27 as part of the Bay Area Recovery Canines.
Abigail, above, was deployed on the evening of September 17, searching for 10 days while Tuff arrived in New York at 11:00 pm onthe day of attack to start working early the next day.
Handler Julie Noyes and Hoke were deployed to the World Trade Center from their home in Denver on September 24 and searched for five days.
Scout and another unknown dog lie among the rubble at Ground Zero, just two of nearly 100 search and rescue animals who helped to search for survivors.
During the chaos of the 9/11 attacks, where almost 3,000 people died, nearly 100 loyal search and rescue dogs and their brave owners scoured Ground Zero for survivors. Now, ten years on, just 12 of these heroic canines survive, and they have been commemorated in a touching series of portraits entitled Retrieved.
The dogs worked tirelessly to search for anyone trapped alive in the rubble, along with countless emergency service workers and members of the public.
Traveling across nine states in the U.S. from Texas to Maryland, Dutch photographer Charlotte Dumas, 34, captured the remaining dogs in their twilight days in their twilight years in their homes where they still live with their handlers, a full decade on from 9/11. Their stories have now been compiled in a book, called Retrieved, which was published on the tenth anniversary of the attacks. Noted for her touching portraits of animals, especially dogs, Charlotte wanted Retrieved to marknot only the anniversary of the September 2001 attacks, but also as recognition for someof the first responders and their dogs. “I felt this was a turning point, especially for the dogs, who although are not forgotten, are not as prominent as the human stories involved, “explained Charlotte, who splits her time between New York and Amsterdam .†They speak to us as a different species, and animals are greatly important for our sense of empathy and to put things into perspective.â€
Charles Mayfield
Today is my little monster’s first birthday! Oscar is now ONE! It is actually hard to believe how fast the year has gone by for my fellow Virgo. My birthday is in a few days as well so we share our celebrations. In fact I have a niece and nephew who share Oscar’s birthday today as well. So Happy Virgo Birthdays to all my loved ones, and especially my sweet growing boy who is of course handsome as ever!
Let’s look at the year in review a bit and see how much this nutty dog has grown and changed since I got him… so tiny and sweet…
He was a teensie lil thing and so adorably cute in all his puppyhood. That small cute puppy belly does not last very long and I did not have that with Cody, so it was a great treat to have it with Oscar. I may have spoiled him a bit too much and created a Mama’s boy, inadvertently. He absolutely needs to touch me when he sleeps. I am sure this is all my fault. Guilty! But the good thing about holding him so much as a baby is that he lets me cuddle up to him still as an adolescent and that makes me happy. It was one of my favorite things to do with Cody and I am glad Oscar likes it.
Some things that he started life with that I did not teach him, he has kept and has grown into which is very interesting. Born into him I guess, is his vocal ‘talkingâ€, which he has done since the day I got him. He growl talks; not at all threatening and pretty funny actually. Although if you did not know him you may take it offensively. He wags his tail while he does it too. I think it is hilarious which probably encourages it but he is all mine, so it’s ok. He also whines. A LOT. This is something I do not really understand but he has always done it and has yet to outgrow it. He does it when he is in the car THE WHOLE TIME… and even when he is chewing a toy at times. Very odd. But all Oscar.
He hops. He jumps on tables and chairs. He is a really good hop/jumper, and he gets really high in the air and effortlessly too. I feel I need to channel this into some kind of activity but I have yet to find what that will be. I would like to take him to an agility course at some point but most are only available if you are taking a class for it, and i am not that committed yet. He does jump into the pool now and is learning to swim a lot better.
The swimming has gotten SO much better and we are sans life vest now. I actually trust him and his ability enough to let him swim freely which is a relief. He still rarely uses his back legs unless he is motoring to get a tennis ball, and mostly he just cruises around lazily and lets the back legs hang so his ass sinks. It is hilarious and causes his front legs to do a lot more work. He either has not put it all together yet, or he doesn’t care.
I am curious if he will outgrow any of his weird behaviors like the whining. I HOPE!!! That is the only one I would like to see less of. Maybe the separation anxiety too but that is slowly getting better.
So this morning for his first birthday I left him alone in the house with a brand new antler and the promise that I will spoil him rotten when I get home from work. Just like every day. Hopefully he will be good (which he has been for the most part) and not tear anything up in the house. Like i said he is getting better. Every day he is improving in the Destructive Department. That makes Mama happy…
I am thinking we will go in the pool and play after work… he loves that. He takes breaks from swimming by jumping into a lounge chair and hanging his head off it dripping wet, and smiling. I need to get a picture of that sometime! He has a very distinctive smile and being all black with the whitest of white new teeth, it is priceless! You have to laugh when he grins at you…
So Happy Birthday my sweet baby boy!!! One years old and counting to a long long life!!!
Cheers!
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Update: I ended up picking up some Frosty Paws doggie ice cream for the boy on my way home from work. So we went in the pool, had a blast, ate dinner and then I broke out the ice cream. YOU SHOULD HAVE SEEN HIS EYES!!!! HAHAHAA!!!
I swear I don’t know if i have ever seen his eyes that bog or his tongue move that fast. He loved it!!!
I came across this on my Facebook feed this morning from Clint Moore Animal Hospital. It is a jingle that was apparently made for this wonderful man a few years ago… and it is hilarious!
It really sums it up. And just in case you forgot, Dr Butzer is Cody’s Vet and savior for the years he was in chemo… and before. He is also Oscar, Albert and Jimi’s vet too.
And I absolutely love him. Always.
Oscar is spoiled. I know this and I am ok with it.
The first step to recovery is admitting your problem…
I can’t get mad at him for his destructive behavior because it is a direct result of his separation anxiety… which is a direct result of ME.
It is all my fault…
It used to be, when I was working from home. that a typical day went something like this:
6am- wake up to either a cat screaming bloody murder to be let out, or one walking on my very full bladder to wake me up to get fed, along with a dog punching me in the face with his stretching front paws
6:30am – throw cats out of the house onto the back porch and TRY to doze off for at least another half hour with no luck
7am – make coffee, take Oscar out for his two poop and one pee, then feed the troops breakfast and read some news
8am – take Oscar on our 3 mile run/walk for his exercise and mine
9am – cool off with the boy either in the house or pool… and start my work day.
10am-1pm somewhere in here I shower, run an errand or two and hang with the dog while I work. Sometimes working with my laptop on the couch and the boy’s head on my lap… but always in sight of each other.
1pm – lunch time for the troops. Yes they eat three times a day. I cannot leave food out for the cats because they are gluttons and Oscar will help himself as well
1:30-7pm More of the same hanging and working with the dog… Taking him out periodically, but always spending the day together in some capacity…
7pm dinner time for the troops… play time for Oscar…
And then more of the play and hang time til bed. Oh and Oscar sleeps on the bed, mostly in my arms til we pass out and then somehow he ends up at the foot.
See… spoiled…
So when I got my new job five weeks ago it was a huge transition for all of us that Oscar will be alone for hours at a time… and as I mentioned he had become very destructive.
I tried the crate for a while but my heart wasn’t in it… so that lasted a morning. At lunch that same day I couldn’t put him back in it. So… it was a bombardment of even more toys all over the living room instead! TOYS EVERYWHERE!!!!
Rubber chickens! Squeaky Kongs! Rubber bones! Antlers! Stuffed animals!!! Frisbees! Balls! Puzzle toys!!!
And that worked!!! I was so proud of myself that he had a great run of no destructive behavior of anything that was mine. Just his toys! I would spread out the bounty as i was still getting ready for work, turn on the TV (Fresh Prince Of BelAire on TBS every morning at 8am) and he would get distracted by the wonders of a puzzle toy filled with yummy treats and Will Smith in the background. I would come home for lunch and then again after work and nothing was amiss! He did so good!
I was a proud Mama and even more proud of myself for finding a better solution than crating him like a prison sentence.
But it couldn’t be that easy right? Of course not. He is a smart dog. He knows the drill… so just to let me know that he knows that I am not in control and he is… he has picked a few interesting things to destroy in the mix… just to shake things up and keep it interesting. Like my iPod station remote. Totally destroyed…
Can’t win ‘em all…
and it is funny, my guy and i talk all the time about his separation anxiety. I am in denial (at least in front of said guy) until he walks in on me on the couch with Oscar splayed over my lap with his head on my chest snoring away… and he just shakes his head at me…
I have created a destruction Monster. A Mama’s Monster. A loving and adorable and cuddly and sometimes destruction whiny needy silly Monster… and he is all mine…
All us pet owners know our animals have saved us from countless things… sadness… loneliness… boredom. But when I saw this article I had to share it. This is exactly what your pets are capable of, no matter how big or small, as long as you love them…
Pet Saviors: 11 Animals Who Saved Human Lives
For many of us, the animals in our lives are faithful pals who make us laugh, keep us company and love us no matter what. But in times of danger and tragedy, can we also count on them to save our very lives?
If dozens of incidents are any indication, the answer to that question is, pretty reliably, yes. Click “Next†for 11 outstanding examples of animals who saved the lives of humans.
 Dog saves 11-year-old boy from cougar attack
TODAY
When a hungry cougar came calling, an 11-year-old boy named Austin Forman had Angel on his side.
It happened on a dark Sunday evening in British Columbia, Canada, when Austin went outside to collect wood for his family’s wood-burning furnace. He noticed that Angel, his happy-go-lucky golden retriever, was acting much more cautious and guarded than usual. Within moments, a cougar tried to pounce on Austin from less than 10 feet away. Angel jumped directly into the big cat’s path and bore the brunt of the attack instead.
“She was my best friend, but now she’s even greater to me. She’s more than a best friend now,†Austin said after the attack, which almost certainly would have killed Angel if a local police constable hadn’t managed to shoot the cougar.
The 18-month-old dog had surgery to repair extensive injuries to her head. “I was just lucky my dog was there, because it happened so fast I wouldn’t have known what hit me,†Austin said. “I bought her a big, nice juicy steak.â€
Cat protects couple from deadly gas leak
Ryan Hall  / Great Falls Tribune
Schnautzie was still just a kitten when she did something big — really big — for her owners. At about 2 a.m. on a cold night in October 2007, Schnautzie ambled up onto the chest of sleeping Trudy Guy and began tapping Guy’s nose with her paw. The first time it happened, Guy ignored the adorable annoyance and went back to sleep. But Schnautzie was persistent: Tap. Tap. Tap.
This time around, the pats on the nose woke Guy up, and she noticed the way Schnautzie was sniffing the air. She awakened her husband, Greg Guy, and they both heard an ominous hissing noise. A gas pipe leading into their Montana home had broken and was filling their basement with fumes.
The Guys and their trusty feline fled the house. Firefighters later told the couple that if the furnace had kicked on — highly probable on such a cold night — the whole house could have exploded in flames. Schnautzie’s efforts earned her a Purple Paw award from the Great Falls (Mont.) Animal Foundation.
Dog leads owner to elderly man freezing in snow
Brett Grinde
On a frigid afternoon during a cold Minnesota winter, Brett Grinde took his 15-year-old German Shorthaired dog Effie for a walk. Just a regular walk along their regular route — until Effie began behaving strangely.
“At the ‘T’ we always go left,†Grinde told the Pine City Pioneer newspaper. “She started pulling to the right. Effie has never, ever done that, and hasn’t pulled in a long time.â€
Effie was so beside herself that Grinde, an investigator with the Pine County Sheriff’s Office, decided to let go of her leash and let her run. She sprinted straight to a driveway about 40 yards away, where a 94-year-old man was frozen to the ground. “He had serious exposure and blood underneath him,†Grinde said. “I have seen plenty of deceased people and thought he was dead.â€
He wasn’t dead, though, and because of Effie’s intervention he was able to get emergency medical care. The man did die a few days later, but Grinde remains grateful that Effie ended his misery in the cold. “I think the one above heard the man suffering and pointed Effie in the right direction,†he said. “It’s all in God’s hands one way or another.â€
Dog brings help to burning home
TODAY
Remember how, in all those old TV shows and movies, Lassie the collie could always be counted on to run and get help? Well, Lassie has a new understudy: Buddy the German shepherd.
On a cold, night in Alaska, a fire erupted at the home of Buddy’s owners. One of them, 23-year-old Ben Heinrichs, got Buddy safely outside and told him, “We need to get help.â€
That’s just what Buddy did. He dashed off and eventually encountered the vehicle of a state trooper who had gotten lost on rural roads while trying to respond to the blaze. Buddy got his attention and began running at top speed down snowy streets, directing the trooper right to the fire. During the rush to the inferno, the dog kept looking back over his shoulder to make sure the trooper was keeping up.
Buddy’s entire rescue effort was captured by a video camera on the trooper’s dashboard.
Video: Alaska state trooper speaks out on TODAY
Dog saves blind owner from blood-sugar crash
Roxanne was carefully trained as a guide dog for the blind — but she received no training at all to sense an impending medical crisis. The faithful Labrador retriever figured that part out all on her own.
Her handler, Joe Mauk of Brookville, Pa., had lost his vision after enduring Type I diabetes for years. In early 2010, he got all set to take Roxanne out for her evening walk, but she resisted. “She wouldn’t get in her harness and kept laying down and putting her head on her legs,†Mauk told PeoplePets.com.
Mauk finally managed to coax her outside — and during the walk, he collapsed. “My blood sugar crashed,†he said. “It was pretty much a crawl back to my house — I was fighting for consciousness.†Roxanne madly licked his hands and dragged him back home by her leash. “I remember getting my front door open, but from there it went blank. When I came to, a syringe of glucagon still in my leg, I was saturated from sweat — and from Roxanne licking my face and arms. I’d never felt her react to anything that way before.â€
Since the incident, Roxanne has been exceptionally protective and attentive with Mauk. “I’ve never felt safer in my life,†he said. “She has one eye open all the time.â€
Read the full story from PeoplePets.com
Cat saves couple pregnant with twins
Some cats, like Baby the 13-year-old tabby, tend to be timid all their lives. But on a night in January when multiple lives were at stake, Baby’s personality changed.
Josh Ornberg and Letitia Kovalovsky — who was seven months pregnant with twins — had fallen asleep on the couch in their suburban Chicago home. The couple’s house was stocked with baby gear and recently assembled cribs.
A fire began in a back bedroom, and the house began filling with smoke. Baby jumped on Ornberg and woke him up. “It’s kind of embarrassing that I needed my cat to wake me up, but she was my fire detector,†Ornberg told PeoplePets.com. “She’s usually not a very social cat, but she jumped on my lap and was jumping around.â€
The fire destroyed nearly all of the couple’s possessions and made the home uninhabitable for a time — but everyone survived. Wonder Lake Fire Protection Assistant Chief Mike Weber called Baby a hero. “We don’t know what the outcome would have been if not for the cat,†Weber said.
Read the full story from PeoplePets.com
Chihuahua saves elderly women from drowning
TODAY
Chihuahuas are known for being tiny, adorable and, in some cases, a little yappy. In October 2008, one 13-pound Chihuahua named Chi Chi yipped and yapped so hysterically that he couldn’t be ignored.
His owners, Rick and Mary Lane, had taken Chi Chi with them to the beach on North Carolina’s Outer Banks. The diminutive doggie was resting in his own beach chair (and restrained with a leash) when he suddenly went berserk. “He leapt out of his beach chair, still attached, dragging the beach chair, and he started sending out an alarm,†Mary Lane said. “He was making a sound we never heard before. Rick said, ‘Hey, what’s the matter with the dog?’â€
Chi Chi had spotted something horrible happening about 100 yards down the beach. “There was a storm surge, and there were two elderly ladies — one had fallen on her back headfirst into the surf,†Mary Lane said. “The other lady … was trying to hold her head up, and she was in danger of being washed out.â€
Thanks to Chi Chi’s warning, the Lanes rescued the women from the riptide.
Video: Owners chat with TODAY hosts
Dog helps paralyzed owner escape fire
Jake Vernon was groggy and in pain. The 32-year-old had been paralyzed in a car accident 10 years earlier, and he had recently broken his right leg. On the morning of St. Patrick’s Day, he took some medication he had been prescribed and tried drifting off to sleep.
But his dog Gracie Bean really wanted him to wake up. She yipped and yowled and ran around and around. Vernon told her to knock it off. “I even swatted her a few times and told her to lay down and be good,†he told PeoplePets.com.
Finally, though, Gracie prompted him to wake up enough to see that his bed’s headboard was on fire. The flames were spreading to his pillows and blankets, and they would soon engulf his entire Spokane, Wash., home. Vernon had to struggle to get out of bed, into his wheelchair, out his back door and down his home’s only wheelchair ramp. Gracie, an American pit bull terrier, stayed completely calm and remained by Vernon’s side throughout the ordeal. Vernon survived with some minor burns and wounds on his legs. “What was so crazy was my dog was not afraid of the fire,†he said. “My dog walked right between me and the fire and stayed right there.â€
Read the full story from PeoplePets.com
Dolphins rescue surfer from shark attack
The shark attack was horrific. A great white had mauled surfer Todd Endris’ right leg and removed the skin off his back like a banana peel.
Just then, a pod of bottlenose dolphins came to Endris’ aid. They circled the surfer and blocked the shark’s access to him, making it possible for Endris to catch a wave back to shore on his board and get medical help.
The attack happened in August 2007 at Marina State Park off Monterey, Calif. The dolphins had been playing and frolicking in the area that morning while Endris and his friends surfed. Endris has no doubt that their intervention at just the right moment saved his life. “Truly a miracle,†he said.
Video: Todd Endris speaks out on TODAY
Family dog kept missing 3-year-old girl safe
Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office
Arizona is known for its warm temperatures, but in the month of February, it can get downright cold after dark. It was on just such a night that a 3-year-old little girl named Victoria Bensch vanished while playing in her yard. She wound up spending the whole night outside in 30-degree temperatures wearing little more than a T-shirt — but fortunately, she had a friend with her to keep her warm.
One of the Bensch family’s dogs, a Queensland heeler named Blue, stayed by the girl’s side as she wandered off at about 5 p.m. Victoria walked and walked with her lifelong pal and apparently got lost. Her disappearance triggered a massive search that continued throughout the night.
A rescue helicopter crew finally spotted Blue, then Victoria, just before 9 o’clock the following morning. She was rushed to a hospital and treated for frostbite. “We have to give a lot of credit to Blue,†said Kim Rayfield, Victoria’s aunt. “He pretty much stayed with her all night.â€
Dog stayed by deceased owner’s side for 7 days
The animal chosen for the concluding story in this feature wasn’t able to save the life of her owner. But she absolutely tried.
Lady, a 6-year-old golden retriever, was a loyal companion to 81-year-old Parley Nichols of Hartville, Ohio. The two were always together, and Nichols never left his home without his dog. So when Nichols, who had dementia, wandered off and went missing, Lady stayed right by his side.
“Dad had been wandering around, and we kept looking for him for a solid week, sending out flyers, doing whatever we could,†Terry Nichols, one of Parley’s two sons, told PeoplePets.com. A neighbor alerted Nichols to a dog barking and apparently trying to get attention near a creek outside of town, so he and his family investigated. “We found Lady and my dad, who was already dead,†Nichols said. “Lady was standing by his side protecting him. We are sure that she never left my dad for seven days, staying alive by drinking water from the creek. …
“I don’t know how dogs perceive things but she knew she had to stay with dad no matter what. And she did.â€
Read the full story from PeoplePets.com
Oscar is being incredibly destructive lately. INCREDIBLY destructive. There have been minor incidents prior that i have mentioned in older posts but the bar has now been raised. Prior it was just a shoe here and there sporadically… But this is different.
It started after his three and a half day stint at Camp Canine while i was away for the weekend. He is always totally wiped out when he comes back from time with all the other dogs, which he was.
He was so wiped out he had absolutely no interest when I would go in and out of the house or try to play with him or engage him in any way. I don’t know what they do to the dogs when they hang out at Camp Canine but he was dead to the world! I had dropped him off on Thursday and picked him up Sunday afternoon around 1 PM, so all afternoon on Sunday it was like I didn’t even have a dog in the house!
Monday morning getting ready for work he was not at all interested in our usual three-mile walk, still exhausted. So I left for work and when I came home for lunch this “exhausted†dog had torn up all the mail that I had on my kitchen counter all over the house. It was like confetti all over my living room!
He knows he does something wrong, soon as I walk in he is cowering in the corner with his ears down and his tail tucked. Of course I know that at the point that I walk in it is been so many hours since it actually happened that it is pointless to correct him. He watches me clean it all up and i know he reads my mood. What else can I do?
It’s always in the morning too. The afternoon by himself from after lunch until I get home from work is fine. No destruction. The next morning I took him on our long walk/run to get him a bit tuckered. Came home for lunch and he had torn apart shoes, and one of my lunch bags (small portable soft cooler). The next day I puppy proofed. At least I thought so. He got napkins off the counter, the cat bed… This went on all week. On Friday I was going out to lunch with coworkers and left a different soft cooler lunch box on the counter to dry after I cleaned it out the night before. He completely destroyed that one!
Now comes the discussion of whether to crate him again. I understand the value of it, but I hate it. Oscar will be one years old on September 5 and he had been really good for a while. I haven’t had to crate him in months. But this is getting ridiculous. Friday night I went out with some friends to see some music and I was only gone for maybe four or five hours. It was long enough to be the last straw and seal the deal for him.
He tore up my rain coat which was hanging on a coat rack by the front door, all over the house. Completely shredded. He destroyed his collar, ate the plastic clasps to nothing and his leash had been chewed. But the topper… the pinnacle…. He got my reading glasses and absolutely destroyed them. I found lens glass all over the house and gathering it up i realized, he either hid some really well or ate it. Now it was a matter of him possibly hurting himself… Totally dangerous. Not to mention getting home from a night out and having to clean the entire house. Ugh!
So crate it is. It sucks and hurts me but it has to be done for his own protection. And hopefully it is only a small temporary bump and we can be back to free range in no time. It is a tough call when it is ok to stop crating… Trial and error… But it is even tougher to proof the house. He finds things! And of course i cannot risk it…
I will keep you posted.
And here is another one… just when you think there is no hope some loving soul takes the TIME and effort to TRY… it is all that it takes…
Watch the video…
Mick, Boston Terrier Born With ‘Swimmer Puppy Syndrome,’ Miraculously Learns To WalkÂ
Since the day Mick was born, the odds were against him.
The little 8-week-old Boston Terrier was born with “Swimmer Puppy Syndrome,†formally known as pectus excavatum, a condition in which dogs are born with flat chests and abdomens, leaving them with splayed legs. This deformity typically causes them to be unable to stand or walk.
Mick’s breeder in Oklahoma was overwhelmed and on July 16 sent him to The Mia Foundation, a nonprofit organization based in Rochester, N.Y., and focused on helping animals born with birth defects.
“The minute she handed me that puppy I just wanted to cry because I didn’t think there was any way possible to help this dog,†Sue Rogers, founder of The Mia Foundation, told The Huffington Post in a phone conversation Tuesday. “And you can’t tell from the pictures how flat [he was].â€
She began doing some research and even asked a veterinarian for help, but she still knew the road would be a rough one.
“Ninety percent of all animals born with birth defects are euthanized at birth. They are a lot of work and sometimes they are very expensive, so sometimes people think it’s just easier to put them down,†she told ABC affiliate WHAM. “When he first came, I didn’t know if there was anything I could do for this puppy, but he proved me wrong.â€
Rogers posted a video of Mick’s miraculous recovery on YouTube. Titled “Amazing Mick – Must see to believe!!!!,†the footage shows the pup resting flat on a blanket when he first arrives at the center. Gradually, he begins therapy — he goes for swimming lessons and hangs by a harness to get his legs used to being in the right position for walking.
Rogers did 15 minutes sessions with him four times each day to help build up his muscles.
“It was a little frustrating at first, but I’m persistent … and finally one day he just took off,†Rogers told HuffPost. “I have to give most of the credit to Mick because he was so determined. He was so anxious.â€
Then something amazing happened — Mick began to move on his own. First, he started swimming. He later was able to sit up and stand. He started walking, and then he was able to run!
Each animal that comes into The Mia Foundation “is a miracle in their own way,†Rogers said Tuesday. “Each one of them fights every day of their life to recover. But you’ll see with a special needs animal that it’s almost like they’re a totally different breed. They have so much to give back, so much to offer. Just look at the smiles Mick has put on people’s faces over the past two days.â€
Mick will be available for adoption within the next few weeks.
Visit The Mia Foundation’s Facebook page to follow Mick’s recovery and see more stories.
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