Ziggy: A Designer Dog in Need of Rescue

I got a call from St. Francis Animal Protection Society one afternoon, saying that they could use my help figuring out a quick solution to a sensitive case. After a couple phone calls and some speed dial networking, I was on standby to receive another foster dog under Jake's Wish Dog Rescue. Without sharing details, here's Ziggy's story. It's a great example of rescue networking and folks working together for animal welfare.

Ziggy came to us from a domestic violence situation. Although Ziggy was never harmed, his human mom had to flee her home and leave him behind. She bravely had a family member reach out to St. Francis APS and put together a plan for Ziggy's rescue. It took almost three weeks to get Ziggy out of his home and into foster with us, and once it happened it was very sudden. I had about an hour's notice before Ziggy was dropped off at my work in his crate, confused and stressed. 2 years old, 15 pounds, unaltered, full of fleas, overgrown nails, and eating grocery store food. Sigh.

This is his "I'm fancy" pose

Oh yeah, Ziggy happens to be a papered Designer Dog! He's a Pugillon - his sire was a Pug and his dam a Papillon. I wish I could share their full names because they're hilarious, but I'm afraid that might shed light on identities. I gave Ziggy a new name along with his fresh start in life. His old name was nowhere near as great as his parents', anyhow. Ziggy is a registered AKC Hybrid. In other words, he fancy. That underbite, that curled tail, that smushed face? Somebody paid big bucks for that mess. I'll admit - part of me took a small thrill in neutering a "designer dog". Hah. So here's this fancy pants breeder dog who came to me in worse shape than a lot of stray mutts I pull from the shelter. Frustrating.

We had some serious work to do with this little dog. He was very loved by his people, but I think when your husband is beating the crap out of you, bathing and training and caring for the dog takes a bit of a backseat. Ziggy was infested with fleas and had a terrible skin infection from scratching constantly. He was absolutely miserable. He also had crazy separation anxiety, no doubt as a result of being in a turbulent home environment for some time and now suddenly ripped away from his people. Barely a moment went by without Ziggy shrieking at the top of his lungs. I couldn't even shut the bathroom door without him losing his mind. The fact that we didn't receive any complaints from neighbors that first week is nothing short of a miracle sent from the dog gods. So, we got to work setting strict boundaries and teaching Ziggy proper manners. He needed to learn his place and figure out what it meant to be in a stable home where rules apply to everyone.

a structured Ziggy = a happy Ziggy

Our second week with Ziggy was much better. He'd gotten neutered and seemed to feel more confident around the house with us. He slept nicely in his crate next to our bed and no longer had a panic attack if I disappeared around the corner for a moment. He picked out some favorite toys and learned which of the dogs in our house enjoyed playing with him. He also learned which dogs didn't enjoy playing with him, which was an important lesson for him to grasp. I grew pretty darn fond of Ziggy while we had him, despite his neuroses. Someone else saw past the quirks and fell in love with his crazy mug...Ziggy was adopted after two weeks with us!

So, rescue isn't restricted to mutts in need. All breeds of dogs end up in shelters, sadly, and/or in need of rescue assistance from time to time. Looking for a specific breed? Get in touch with a local rescue group. They can help do some of the legwork for you. Obviously, we don't get Pugillons in the shelter every day, but as long as you have patience you will find what you're looking for. Hardly a week goes by where I don't see a Golden Retriever or a Boston Terrier or a ShihPoo or a Maltipoo stuck in the shelter. Hard knocks don't discriminate. Ziggy can tell you that firsthand, although he luckily avoided having to go to the shelter. Cheers to Jake's Wish & St. Francis APS for saving a life together!

Happy Tail: Lucy!

Everyone loves Lucy!

Ah, the contented relief accompanied by a bittersweet pang that comes along with saying goodbye to a foster. It's a very rewarding feeling, even though it's always tough to give that final backward glance as you leave the dog you cared for in the arms of another. It's a bit sad going through all the photos of Lucy and moving them into archival on our hard drive. People always ask how foster parents do it, how we let them go. We just do it. It's not always easy, but it's part of what you sign up for when you commit to fostering. And you know what, it's really not that bad. Right now, I'm relishing the feeling of accomplishment I have knowing that Lucy's leg is in good shape and that she's in a truly wonderful adoptive family. I'm taking deep breaths and enjoying the peacefulness of my own pack; we have a moment to ourselves for the first time in over a month. This is a special moment - the glow of a job well done and the closing of another chapter.

Lucy has a wonderful home. Her dad is retired, so she'll rarely have to be home alone. Her mom is head over heels in love with her and is super excited to have her own personal snuggle buddy. Lucy also has two canine sisters: Rosie (labradoodle) and Lucy (Rat Terrier). The three girls get along swimmingly and are going to have a blast romping around in the yard together. Lucy's dad keeps an aviary in the backyard and she is fascinated by the birds. Rosie is already excited about showing Lucy how to use the doggy door...she also thinks it's great fun to hide on the inside and ambush Lucy as she enters! She's going to have the greatest life. By the way, Lucy's leg is doing quite well. She's going to continue to gain strength playing with her sisters. She'll be full out running on all fours before long. She's also up to a full 15 pounds, hurray! No more skin and bones. I am so glad for her!

Aside from being our first California foster, Lucy is also our first local adoption. All of our previous fosters went to different states and are mostly scattered up the eastern seaboard. We've never actually met the adopters of any of our fosters until now. It's nice knowing she's just across the valley. Makes me sleep that much easier tonight. I'm a little nervous about how quickly she'll adjust and whether she'll have any separation anxiety, but hey - I just tell myself that if Pickles can do it, anyone can do it! I know she'll be in hog heaven with her sisters, her parents, and their wonderful yard in no time flat. We love this girl a whole lot and we'll certainly miss her. After all she's gone through I'm just so thrilled she finally has the "furever" she deserves. We love you, Lucy! Enjoy the good life, sweet pea.

To learn more about St. Francis Animal Protection Society and how you can help us continue to help animals like Lucy find their furever homes, click here: http://www.stfrancisanimal.org/

Pupdate: Lucy's FHO Recovery

Incision 1 day post-FHO (left) vs. 1 week post-FHO (right)

Here's a quick pupdate on Miss Lucy, now nicknamed Lucille when we're feeling fancy. Her FHO was one week ago today and she's recovering beautifully. I am always amazed by how smoothly and quickly dogs recover from FHO. We've been doing the little physical therapy exercises with her for a few minutes each day. It's simple stuff: rotating the hip like she's riding a bicycle and gently shifting her balance so she puts weight on the healing leg. After her surgery, she kind of let her leg just dangle while standing or walking. Yesterday I saw her stand firmly on all four feet when she was outside. Hurray! She's beginning to put a little bit of weight on it when she walks now, too. So that's great news. The incision looks awesome; Liza wasn't kidding when she said Dr. Scherrer is a suture wizard. He didn't even have to use staples. Check out the picture of how great it looks. Her spay site looks great, too. Dr. Tyson's incisions are always SO TINY, it's completely nuts. Lucy's is no exception; it's practically invisible. So all's well on the post-op front. Here's the link to my post about her surgery if you haven't seen it already: http://ohfortheloveofdogs.blogspot.com/2014/04/behind-scenes-lucys-fho.html

  

As for everyday life with Lucy, things are going quite well. Lucy is very much a part of our pack at this point. She knows the routine and is gaining more confidence each day. You'll remember I mentioned Lucy had pretty intense separation anxiety. She's improving. Although we finally gave up on crating her overnight (she sleeps in our bed now with us and the other three dogs, oye), she is learning to become more independent little by little. She definitely still prefers to be snuggled up on top of me whenever possible, but she no longer totally freaks out if I walk around the corner. She'll run right outside with the other dogs now when it's time to potty, whereas she used to insist one of us went outside

Catching some rays with foster mom

first before she'd follow. Occasionally I'll find her curled up in a dog bed or on the rug across the room rather than right under my feet. That's major improvement. She's learning how to be a dog. I credit my three dogs with guiding her through a lot of this. I find it's very helpful to have other pack members show a new dog the ropes and help them fall into routine. The new dog draws security and comfort from the confidence of the established dogs. By emulating their routine, Lucy is feeling more comfortable with each passing day. We're super proud of her. She's going to be a really great little pup for someone. Keep up the good work, Lucy! You've got this in the bag!

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