This little guy's a Trooper

Newest little guy - Trooper! I pulled this guy last week for the rescue I volunteer with from the county animal control. He had been found as a stray with these terrible wounds, and I couldn't stand to see him euthanized after enduring all that, so I agreed to foster him. Aptly named, "Trooper" has been a champ through all of his vet appointments and procedures/meds and treatment.

Hanging out with me, waiting on paper work at Animal Services.

 

The vet is suspecting chemical burns, though we will never be certain exactly what happened. He is a little overweight and loving of people, so it is apparent he was a beloved pet at some point. The wounds on his body indicate something being poured over him, however. What that was, and whether it was malicious or accidental will never be known. He is on many antibiotics, pain killers, a topical ointment, and medicated baths 3x a week.

 

Day three in my home

He is a super happy guy, and is taking everything in stride. He loves the cats and seems very interested in my dogs, though due to his sensitive skin, he has not gotten to meet. He loves to go for walks and is very quiet in the crate. He needs a little work on housetraining, but it's not too bad. We have three vet appointments a week, currently. He went in this week and stayed the night to get all that skin trimmed away, and this was the result...

 

He's feeling so much better since then, and we have another appointment tomorrow morning. Everyone that meets him is falling in love. He's estimated to be about 5 years old, still intact, but so friendly and loving. He just wants to cuddle up and sleep next to you. We can't wait for his skin to heal up so that he can spend more time with us.

 

Billy the Pomeranian

Just as the title says, my newest foster is a 5 year old male black Pomeranian. A little chunky and heavily matted, he was pulled by our rescue from our local Animal Control last week and transferred to me yesterday. First thing on our agenda was a bath and trim! He was matted very deep and had poop stuck all over his butt because of his lack of upkeep. Nails were curling and the whole nine yards. Luckily, he was a trooper for it! (And I thought about renaming him Trooper!)

 

Before his groom
 



During his groom

After his groom


He's a very sweet little guy... settles well in the house, crates with minimal noise, likes to bark at you to play as you move around the house, but promtly stops once you acknowledge him. He sat still for the few hours it took me to groom him and showed interest in food as a motivator for training. He would make someone very happy just to be a lap dog, I think, but would likely keep up with a somewhat active family as well. We're working on shedding some pounds currently, but he's going to the vet Monday and will be up for adoption!

 

Little Tugit!

This little fellow I fostered from 4 weeks to about 13 weeks just a few months ago...

 

His name was Tug. A Pit Bull mix with maybe Jack Russel was our best guess. He was most certainly a terrier!  He was surrendered to Animal Control at 4 weeks after being bought on Craigslist because of his whining at night. He still needed to be nursing! Unfortunately, he was force weaned and AC was anxious to find a rescue to take him, so I took him in.

 

 

We did a ton of socialzation from kids, uneven surfaces, car rides, new people and places, loud noises, bikes, skateboards, etc. and he was a very well rounded puppy by the time he got adopted! I wasnted to give him the most training and socialization possible given his rough start to life.

 

 

He got adopted by an awesome single woman with no other dogs, and is really living the life! He comes to my training classes and he's getting so big and goofy, but still has phenomenal attention and is able to work fantastically through distractions! I'm so happy to have placed this boy in a great home, but secretly wish I would have kept him! ;)

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bogus Dogus

Bogey was an awesome little pit mix who was with us for about 2 months and just got adopted a few weeks ago. At five months old he spent 30 days at animal control before I pulled him. He was mouthy, jumpy, humpy, and very in your face, but a nice routine and tolerant dogs settled him down right away with great training.

 

 

He got all up to date on vaccines and neutered and went to just one adoption event where he had a family waiting to meet him. It was love at first sight, and they were very experienced bully breed owners with a pit bull and schnauzer at home. He was on his best behavior and got a fantastic application from them that day. 4 days later he was living in his new place with his new family. :)

 

 

Loki the terror

Appropriately named, this was our next foster this previous fall/winter. Loki, the 10 month old male Husky/Labrador mix. This dog was seriously full of himself!

 

Loki came from a university student who just didn't have the time for him. He was a wild child, had never gotten any real training or exercise. He was a MAJOR humper, and was more mouthy that a German Shepherd puppy! He got a nice course of "doggie boot camp" and changed his act real quick. After about a week of being tethered in the house on a prong collar and trained at every given moment, he was 10x less likely to mouth you (and would instead seek out a tug instead), jump on  you, or hump you, and he was not counter surfing anymore. 

We had him for about 2 months and worked on loose leash walking, calmly jogging next to us (which we was GREAT at!) and calm behavior in the house. It was just an overwhelming experience for him not to be crated, have interaction with other dogs, and space to run around in. He was adopted out to a young couple who lived on a lake, and seemed like he was going to be very happy in their active home.

 

Benny boy

Bennet is the mange puppy that I fostered last fall after Sophie/Lola got adopted. He was on the euth list at a high kill shelter so I stepped up to take him, since I had experience dealing with mange. The day that I picked him up and all of his medication from the vet, he was a mess. Carrying him out to my car (because the leash around his neck made him bleed) I ruined a nice shirt from his skin bleeding all over me. Every step he took, his feet would bleed. He was contained to the kitchen most of the time on the hard floor to make it easier to clean up. 2 medicated baths a week plus immune system and skin supplements, and oral antibiotics and meds for the mange cleared him up in no time. 

This is the picture of him I received from the shelter, the day I got him.

In this picture, you can really see how much hair he didn't have. This was after his infection was cleared up and his skin wasn't bleeding from walking/rubbing into things. Unless he itched or I picked at his scabs, he wasn't bleeding and irritated. This was 3-4 weeks into his treatment.

This picture was after having him for about 2 months... he was doing 10x better in this picture and he started getting peach fuzz all over, though it's hard to tell.

And this is a before and after photo from the rescue's site, of Bennet with his new family, and much of his hair back! He is a very loved member of the family, and we get updates all the time. He has a new little brother rescued from the same place, as well. :) I love happy endings.

The wee one

Kurt did indeed stay with Heather & her family after their trial weekend in Grand Rapids. He has been having the best time & is very spoiled there. I couldn't be happier for him.

This little lady is Sophie, formerly known as Lola to me.

Bowl is for comparison, this is a SMALL bowl & Lola was 4 weeks old in this picture

I got a call from the director needing help for two 3 week old Bull Mastiff mixes that were abandoned at a kill shelter in Michigan. I took the female and weaned/reared her like a momma would and she was the most fun and most work I've seen yet fostering.

Her favorite activity- She spent 85% of her time sleeping!

I kept her until she was 8 weeks old and she was adopted by a friend's cousin, so I get to see her frequently and watch her grow. She's very happy and just got spayed this week so she's growing up into a big girl! She's probably close to 30-40 lbs now at 15 weeks old.

Sophie at 8 weeks with her new daddy, Matt.

I'm getting another puppy from Lebanon this July, cannot wait to post pictures of him or her!