Rory's Story

After haircut!

Before haircut...

Rewind to February 2019. It'd been almost a year and a half since Phinneas died and we had about zero interest in fostering since then. I'd fully immersed myself in my new job as a veterinary assistant and had nothing in the way of extra energy outside of work. Drew's travel took a serious uptick and fostering honestly didn't even register as a blip on our radar. Then came Rory.

Rory's story began as a puppy named Ross, when Ruff Dog Rescue found him and his sister abandoned in a metro Atlanta park. Rory got adopted from Ruff Dog at about six months old. His mom loved him dearly and Rory never left her side. Rory received his regular veterinary care from the hospital I worked at, so all my co-workers knew him well. I met Rory in November 2018 under very sad circumstances: his mom had a brain aneurysm and Rory came in to our hospital for emergency boarding while she had surgery. Rory's weekend stay quickly turned into a long-term, indefinite situation; his mom's recovery was not going as planned. After living in our hospital kennel for two weeks, we were able to contact Ruff Dog Rescue and secure a temporary foster home for Rory. He deserved a comfortable home environment for the holidays while waiting for his mom to recover. Not all rescues would have come to Rory's aid like this just because he'd fallen on hard times; there isn't always a space in foster care available or enough resources at hand. Ruff Dog pulled together and made it happen for him - thank you, RDR.

 

Rory sporting a blue mohawk at an event

Those butt pads though...

Unfortunately, Rory's mom's health took a turn for the worse. Three months after surgery, she still required a ventilator and had only just begun to sit up in her bed. She transferred to an acute care facility and Rory was not allowed to visit. His first foster mom needed a reprieve, so Drew and I tagged in to take Rory for a while. As Rory stayed with us in a state of limbo, we all dedicated ourselves to working on his weight problem. At his heaviest, Rory tipped the scales at a morbidly obese 102 pounds. Proper nutrition and adequate exercise made all the difference. While in boarding, Rory lost the first significant chunk of weight just from having structure: this is what you get to eat, when you get to eat it, and how much of it you get to eat, the end. No more people food, no free grazing, and no Big Gulp sized food cup. His first foster mom, Kristen, brought his weight down from the upper eighties to 76 pounds in the three months she had him. Three more months with us brought him all the way down to a svelte 54 pounds, his goal weight. You read that right: 102 to 54 in six months' time. That's 50% of his body weight - HALF OF RORY - chiseled away. Weight loss like this has to be done carefully, slowly, and in a calculated manner in order to be achieved safely. It's a lot of shock on the body to lose that much, and losing too much too quickly can be dangerous for the heart.

Rory's extreme makeover!

Keeping Rory on a low calorie food and constantly adjusting his food calculations as he continued to lose proved key. It's not like we ran marathons or anything - this is simply the difference appropriate feeding makes. I say all of this without judgment; we live in the South where food equals love in many people's minds. We call them "love feeders". All the veterinary consultation in the world sometimes isn't enough to make folks understand that dogs will almost always try to convince us they're starving - they're not. We had clients come in concerned that their obese family lab wasn't finishing his meals. My boss would tell them that he's "pushing away from the table" (i.e., he's full!) and that's him telling you he's had enough. No, you don't need to add gravy to entice him to finish his kibble. Really, he's good. There truly are only two ways an animal gets fat, excepting medical conditions: too much food and too little exercise. It's a straightforward concept, yet companion animal obesity is a pervasive problem we continue to see. Rory wrote the book and earned lovingly rude nicknames from us such as "house hippo" or "the great white whale" or "roropotamus". We actually had to pen him out of the dining room while we ate dinner to keep him from begging at the table!

I remember the first time Rory solicited a game of fetch. He'd never done this before; I threw the rope and he brought it back, giddy to repeat the process. I realized this meant he finally felt physically GOOD. That was a really rewarding moment as a foster mom. From this point on, there was no stopping him. Rory had arrived - and what he'd lost in body weight, BOY, did he make up for in personality! This boy trucked over everything in his path like the proverbial bull in the china shop. He found his voice, too. I'm still not sure what his breed mix is, but I have to think there may be some husky in there with the way he talks! [For the record, I think he is a pit / wheaten mix]. Rory has something to say about everything that goes on during the day. He is a talker, a lover, a people person, a real mush. During the time he spent with us, Rory became my shadow; he followed me around like a fluffy white cloud. Every time I'd have friends over - particularly girls - Rory plopped himself down right in front of them and shamelessly begged for love. He knows no such thing as personal space or too much affection, but now he knows structure and a healthy lifestyle!

After it became clear that Rory's mom was not going to recover to the extent that she'd be able to take him back, we began to look for a new forever home for our scruffy white ward. Rory came to us with zero leash manners, zero dog social skills, and zero understanding of how to act in group settings. Despite our hard work, he just did not show well at adoption events. People's fascination with his unique looks and the emotional pull of his sad story quickly evaporated into horror if another dog approached. Rory became possessive of his admirers, felt socially pressured, and exploded into high-pitched shrieks and off-putting snarls. Instantly, the endearingly quirky Heinz 57 who looked a mutant Jack Russell terrier morphed into a pit-mix scruff dragon who could convince anyone that he'd in fact eaten a whole family of Jackies. Sigh. All the creative marketing in the world, all the volunteer hours spent at events, and all the meet and greets I could muster would not matter an ounce if it wasn't the right fit for Rory...and then my sister spoke up.

 Ashley and Shawn met Rory a handful of times over the spring and summer, both with and without their three dogs: Bubba, Bellatrix LeStrange, and Sirius Black. They both were clearly taken with Rory's goofiness and affectionate nature, but I had no idea how serious they were about him until I'd just about given up hope. They'd fallen hard - and did I mention Rory didn't mind their dogs? Quite the opposite: he actually PLAYED with their dogs and for some reason blended right in like the fourth member of a zany jazz quartet. It hit me: my sister and her pack are exactly Rory's brand of crazy. After a whole lot of real talk and some logistical planning, Drew and I jumped into the car and hand delivered Rory to his new home in Florida. It was a seamless transition and it was right under our noses the whole time. Sometimes when it works, it just works. And that's the conclusion of this former white whale's tale. Happy forever, Rory! You deserve this so much!

Epilogue: We'd never done a foster case quite like this before with regard to the surrounding human element. Rory's former mom transferred to an assisted living facility up north near her family.  I don't want anything I've written here to come across as insensitive toward her circumstances or her love for Rory. Rory's - and his mom's - situation absolutely broke my heart. I can't imagine her sadness, her worry, her fears for him. I grappled with the implications of all of this for some time, hating that life dealt her such a terrible hand. All I can hope is that she knows Rory is happy, healthy, and loved forever.

Double Update: Rory's mom passed away in May; we didn't know until September, after he'd been adopted. I didn't know what to make of this at first, but I quickly chalked it up to Rory's serendipitous fate. Heartbreakingly sad as it may be, Rory's story worked out in the end. I'm so glad we worked proactively to give this guy a chance at a new future. Dogspeed to his former mama, and dogspeed to Rory and his future!

Douille: Sausage King of San Jose

Douille at 10.4 pounds - yikes!

Douille at the shelter

Douille's story very nearly had an entirely different ending. I was sent to the shelter with a list of dogs to look at for rescue. As I walked from kennel to kennel with one of the shelter staff members, I asked her if she had any super tiny Chihuahuas that needed out. It's easier to find rescue for Chis that weigh less than 4 pounds, so I always ask. She thought for a minute, said not really, then showed me this perky brown blob of a Chihuahua that was WAY over the "ultra teeny" mark: 10.4 pounds. Rescue only due to obesity. Picked up as a stray on Branham & Pearl. I must have looked at her like she was nuts because she shrugged, said he's really nice, then took me to the next kennel on the list. I did my assessments for each dog on my list and made my way to the front to say goodbye. She asked me, "What about that chubby brown chi I showed you?" and I told her he didn’t fit my criteria, but I'd ask around. After I got home and wrote up my notes, I thought of chunky chi again. I added a super short blurb to my assessments just mentioning his A#, stuck in a photo of his kennel card, and called it a day.

Love that scrunchy little nose!

The next morning I had an email from my shelter friend asking if I'd come up with anything for chubby brown chi. I realized I'd screwed up - this little dog really mattered to her and I'd missed all the signals. When you work at the shelter, it's really hard to let yourself get attached to any of the animals because it so often doesn't end well. You have to maintain a certain edge, a level of callousness, a protective shell. This particular lady is probably the toughest person they've got working there. She does her job really well and does rescue work on her own time, but she's not exactly warm and fuzzy. I asked her to show me any tiny chis and she casually pointed to the exact opposite of what I'd asked - like it was no big deal. Hello! I didn't even bother to take him out and snap a picture. Fail. All of a sudden, I couldn't get this dog out of my mind. Cue mad rampage of desperate networking for chubby brown chi! Wait, I probably need a better photo than his intake mugshot and I should probably come up with a name other than 920830 or "fat brown chi", huh? Back to the shelter I went to meet the chunk.

Looking trim, Douille!

The shelter lady was super excited that I’d come back to check out her chubby friend. She was talking about him the whole way to his kennel, telling me how he may be overweight and just another Chihuahua, but that he’d wow people with his personality. She was right. We brought him out of his kennel and he was just nothing but happiness and wiggles. He went up to every dog we walked past with a tail wag and kisses, trying to make friends with everyone. His personality certainly won me over and I knew I had to get him out. I snapped some photos, got a video, & got to work.

The handsomest sausage that ever lived

Days went by with no foster or rescue offers for the fat brown chi. I’d extended his date twice and really needed to get him out ASAP. With the help of a rescue friend and Drew’s go-ahead, I pulled him under a cat rescue and brought him home with me. He needed a name, stat. Fat brown chi wasn’t going to net him any adopters. Drew wanted to name him Sausage Cakes, but yeah…so we settled on Douille, short for Andouille sausage because he was so porky. Of course he ended up with a slew of nicknames: Dooers, Doodle, Sausage Cakes, DooDoo Brain, The Chocolate Flab, Sausage Pants, and of course THE Sausage King of San Jose. I created a Facebook page for him, took a photo of him wearing a bow-tie, and started sharing his story like crazy.

Douille out on a walk

First things first: we needed a weight loss plan. Douille weighed 10.4 pounds when he should have weighed more like 6-7. That is a monstrous percentage of his body weight. We started with daily walks. Douille couldn't make it very far at first, like to the end of the block and barely back. We slowly worked our way up to down the block and around the corner. I changed his diet to Blue's Senior Turkey Basics. Turkey is super lean and eliminating grains helps with weight control. I chose a senior formula (for a 3 year old dog) because I wanted Douille to have plenty of joint and heart support while losing weight. Such a dramatic weight loss can be tough on the body. Between the walks, a change in nutrition, and playing with our dogs, Douille began to shed weight. We noticed he had more of a neck, more energy, and breathed easier. His luxating patellae and hip mobility also improved greatly as he continued to lose weight. His "fast mode" as my shelter friend called it was actually kind of fast now! We were making big progress.

The Sausage King of San Jose

We enjoyed having Douille around the house immensely. He was just such a jolly little character and so, so, so sweet. I'd never met such a happy go lucky Chihuahua before! He'd make friends with everyone - people, dogs, cats, anyone. He absolutely loved other dogs, particularly big dogs. He'd run right up to any dog - stranger or not - and just smother them with kisses right off the bat. Stupidly adorable. He became BFF with our Hound/Lab mix, Oliver, and they spent their days romping around like goons. He also enjoyed the heck out of Boomer, another foster we had for a bit. You can see for yourself just how endearing and playful he was in the video below.

My friend at the shelter was absolutely correct: Douille had one of the most winning personalities I've come across in a dog, especially in a Chihuahua! He was dumber than a bag of rocks, but just so adorably loving. Then there's that incredibly kissable overbite, OMG. Love it! He's just a fantastic little critter. Really, truly, genuinely extra special.

Douille with his new family!

After fostering Douille for a month, we got a great adoption application from some folks in San Francisco through Jake's Wish Dog Rescue. They were kind enough to courtesy list Douille on their website and Petfinder so we could spread the word about this cheerful little chunker. The applicants drove down to San Jose on a rainy evening and met me and Douille at my store. They totally fell in love - Douille definitely wowed them with his personality, just as my shelter friend said he would! He snuggled into his new mom's neck right away when she picked him up. He fell asleep there while I helped them pick out some good food and supplies. He seemed right at home with all of them, which put my heart at ease. We placed Douille on the scale in my store before saying goodbye. He weighed 7.4 pounds - three pounds lighter than when we pulled him! That's 30% of his body weight lost in only a month's time, which is a bit faster than I would've liked it to happen, but really great. The vet said his ultimate weight goal should be 6.8 pounds, so I felt good about letting him go to his forever home at this point. He lives in San Francisco with his mom, her two roommates, and the roommates' Mastiff puppy, Chester. Remember how much Douille loves big dogs? I was so excited to send him home with Chester! They can be lazy buddies forever.

Love that overbite!

Before leaving the store, Douille picked out his very own bed. His mom put a bunch of cat beds on the floor and Douille climbed into the most expensive one, naturally. He refused to get out. In fact, they had to carry him to the car in the bed. His mom put her scarf around him and he cozied right up, settling in for the rainy car ride home. His new name is Dewey, same pronunciation as Douille, but easier to spell and no longer an ode to fatty sausage. I think it's perfect. We got an email from Dewey's mom just after Christmas. She said he's doing great so far and fitting in beautifully with the family. When I shared her email and photos with my shelter friend, Douille's #1 advocate, she said the news made her entire year.

Hugging Douille goodbye

Douille was super special and I had a hard time saying goodbye, but the hardest part of all was thinking about how close I came to not saving this little nugget. I so almost missed the boat completely and cost Douille his precious little life. Thank goodness for my shelter friend's heart and for her persistence. If it wasn't for her, I wouldn't have noticed Douille. I passed over him and he almost paid the ultimate price. That's the thought that made me shed a couple tears, not the goodbye. Douille's story will always be a great reminder to me of how delicate this rescue business really is, how we are the only voices for these guys, how we carry the power to save or end their lives, and how we must never get too busy or jaded that we make such costly oversights. I almost failed Douille, yet all he knows is happiness and love. That's one of so many reasons why I love dogs. Thank you for your love, Douille!

Pet obesity is no laughing matter. Being overweight can severely affect your pet's health. This goes for both dogs and cats. Chunky pets may be cute, but honestly it's not ok. Douille, for example, was suffering from breathing difficulty and mobility challenges. His joints were strained, his heart was working overtime, and he was unadoptable because of it. These are serious issues that shouldn't be taken lightly. Make sure you're feeding your pets a proper diet, following the feeding guidelines on the bag/can (they differ from food to food!), providing adequate exercise opportunity, and attending regular vet check-ups. The Association for Pet Obesity Prevention has two great illustrations that are useful for knowing how your pet's weight stacks up against medical ideals, as well as several other informative resources. Check it out here: http://www.petobesityprevention.org/pet-weight-check/

100th Blog Post Surprise: Meet Lucy!

Intake photo, volunteer photo, & FREEDOM RIDE PHOTO!

I can't think of a better way to celebrate my 100th blog post than introducing our very first California foster! Meet Lucy, a ridiculously sweet 1 year-old beagle mix from San Jose Animal Care Center. Lucy came into the shelter on St. Patrick's Day. An officer picked her up as a stray on the 87 (a major freeway) right by our house. She has a fractured pelvis and femoral head, likely from being hit by a car. In addition to that, she's very underweight. It was love at first sight for Drew, despite her awful intake photo. We planned to take a break from fostering for a while, but Drew couldn't resist so I pulled the trigger. We sprung Lucy from the shelter Monday night courtesy of St. Francis Animal Protection Society, a fabulous local rescue group I've begun to get involved with.

Lucy's first evening with us

Miss Lucy is scheduled for FHO surgery on April 1. We didn't want her to sit in the shelter all that time, so St. Francis got us the go-ahead to bring her home and then take her back in next week for the procedure. The shelter is bringing in a surgeon from SAGE, a highly regarded veterinary specialty group in town. This is the same operation Cap'n Jack just had with us back in Atlanta, so we know pretty well what to expect. It's a quick and simple recovery, all things considered. With some easy physical therapy exercises, two weeks is the typical recovery time from an FHO. Remember, this is the surgery where they remove the round head of the femur bone that fits into the hip socket. The result is a free-floating femur, which sounds weird but is MUCH better than a splintered, fragmented, fractured bone that is painful and prone to infection. Lucy will adapt in no time flat. For more information on FHO surgery, check out the blog post I wrote when we went through this with Cap'n Jack: http://ohfortheloveofdogs.blogspot.com/2014/01/lefty-on-road-to-recovery.html

Somebody's a snuggle bug...

Unfortunately, FHO is not the only obstacle Lucy has to overcome. She's also got a fractured pelvis. The only thing that will help it is time, but pain meds and rest certainly don't hurt. Lucy is on Tramadol and Rimadyl for pain management. The Tramadol makes her a bit sleepy, so that also helps for healing. Basically, this poor girl's entire back end is a mess. We had an 18 hour window during which Lucy was off her medicines between leaving the shelter and visiting the vet St. Francis uses. The combination of no pain meds for broken bones plus the transitional stress made for a pretty rough night. Despite her severe pain and confusion about her new surroundings, Lucy integrated well with our pack. Normally we'd hold off on the introductions, but Lucy requires constant monitoring right now so this way is safer.

A handmade blankie, just for me!

On top of the stress and pain, Lucy's got significant separation anxiety. She had herself panicked into a frenzy in her crate, so Drew sleeps with her in the guest room to be sure she'd quiet down and not further injure herself. We'll continue this until she begins to feel more secure here, then we'll face the uphill battle of transitioning to crate sleeping. This is rather backward, but Drew gets up for work super early so sleep is sort of a must around here. Her anxiety should improve as she continues to settle in with us. After the vet, Lucy and I stopped by Miss Melissa's house to pick up a wonderful care package put together from St. Francis donations. Lucy wants to thank everyone who donated these items to St. Francis. She has some great supplies now, including a Thundershirt, Pet Naturals of Vermont calming chews, and a DAP collar to help with her anxiety. Someone even made her a super cozy fleece blankie! She's finding comfort in all of these items so far. Miss Melissa also included a shrimpy squeaky toy, tasty treats, a pretty pink harness / leash / collar, and glucosamine to help support her good leg while it endures extra strain. How awesome! So thank you, St. Francis folks, from the bottom of little Lucy's heart.

I think we have a Thundershirt model in the house!

Last but not least, we're slowly helping Lucy regain weight. She weighed a measly 11.7 pounds at the vet yesterday. That's less than what my [albeit porky] Chihuahua weighs. Although we see [and hear] a lot of beagle in Lucy, she's mixed with slighter framed breed. Whippet? Chi? Italian Greyhound? We'll never know for sure, but she really is cute with those long legs. So although she's not going to be as big as your average beagle, I'd like to see her hit 18-20 pounds. It's important that we help Lucy increase her weight gradually in order to avoid shocking her system. Her shelter paperwork has her recorded at 16.8 pounds when she arrived last Monday. That's five pounds lost in six days, probably due to extreme pain and stress. We've got her on Merrick Thanksgiving Dinner canned food, which is one of the highest calorie premium foods available. She eats four small meals per day, totaling one cup each day. She also gets a spoonful of Nutrical gel each day for some bonus easy-to-digest calories. This feeding regimen should start to make a difference before long. Then we'll be able to transition her to a normal meal schedule based on dry kibble. 

Lucy definitely had a home before she wound up at the shelter; she came in wearing a nice collar and remnants of pink toenail polish. I don't know which is more sad: the ones that had a family and lost them or the ones that never had anyone at all. Anyhow, she's been through a ton in a very short time. It will all get better for Lucy from here, thanks to St. Francis.

If you'd like to help St. Francis continue saving animals from SJACC in honor of Lucy, please follow the ensuing link. Their website provides options for paypal donations as well as an Amazon wish list: http://stfrancisanimal.rescuegroups.org/info/donate