A Mama Forever

Our Springer, Libby, was sick. She doesn’t often get sick, and so I’ll admit that we panicked a little. Our last Springer developed pancreatitis and died from it, so we sort of freak out when stomach issues arise.

But Libby will be fine, and her meds have taken hold and we’ve had 12 straight hours of no issues so everything will be fine. But what is funniest to us is Duchess responding to our dogs when they are sick. She mothers them.

She licks their eye goop away. She licks their heads. She nuzzles them. She gets in the middle and cuddles them.

It’s ok children, I’m here.

It’s hilarious, but also another reminder of where she came from. My husband pointed out it’s the only way she can relate to other dogs. A puppy mill mom only ever deals with her puppies, and so she sees Libby and Gus as her babies.

Libby is easy – she looks like Duchess, she probably has some sort of ancient Springer smell, she plays like Duchess does. When Libby was sick the other night it wasn’t Libby who alerted us, it was Duchess.

Gus on the other hand…well, Andy says Duchess thinks, “I don’t know what happened to this baby! He got SO BIG!” It’s hard to mother a 75 pound giant, but she manages just fine.

I’m awfully glad to have her help. She’s a good mama and I think our dogs have started to feel like she’s their guardian too.

 

 

Heartworm Treatment, Vacation, and the All Clear to Play!

My oh my what a whirlwind beginning of the year it’s been for Duchess!

She had her second heartworm treatment on January 11th, which went much better than the first time and she was much more comfortable than before. She’s sailed through it with flying colors.

I still steal shoes and then play like I didn’t do anything wrong.

So the Nice Lady and Nice Man had planned on a big vacation to Europe many months back and Duchess got to go stay with my parents and the other two dogs for a week. They were greatly spoiled. My dad fawned over Duchess and gave many belly rubs and my mom cuddled her when Duchess felt like being cuddled. So it was a bit like Duchess got her own vacation.

Now we’re back and we have to wait another few weeks before UGA will let her have her hip surgery. This has been a loooong road but we’re starting to see the light at  the end of the tunnel.

We also have a family interested in Duchess, and will be exploring that more now that we’re back from vacation. I don’t mind saying in public that this development has left me with very mixed emotions, which I did not anticipate. But I’m keeping an open mind and trying to keep Duchess’ best interests at the forefront so we make the best decision.

She has been given the ALL CLEAR TO PLAY, though, and she’s wasted no time getting right back into the thick of the fun. Andy took this little video of Duchess playing with her best friend, our Springer, Libby. Enjoy and thank you to everyone who keeps making donations for her care!

Christmas and a New Year

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! The holidays were good overall, and we’re pretty certain that Duchess enjoyed (what we believe was) her first real Christmas in a home where dogs have stockings and get treats from Santa.

Let’s start with Christmas morning:

I want ALL of the antlers.

Santa brought the dogs new antlers and bully sticks. Now, Duchess is a little afraid of stuffed toys which is fine because we can’t really have them in the house due to Godzilla Gus’ propensity to actually ingest squeaky toys. But boy oh boy does she love a good antler.

The quietest they were all morning.

They were quiet for about two hours. It was amazing. And my parents came over and Duchess got to lay in her bed in front of the fire pretty much all day.

Since July, we have had multiple moments where we look at this sweet dog and can’t understand how anyone could mistreat her. She is funny. She is cute. She is playful. She never growls, or even barks. We’ve never heard her bark, except in her sleep (she has wild dreams!). But here she is in our home, looking forward to the day when she has her own family to lavish attention and love on her.

Moving on to New Year’s Eve, we were supposed to go to Florida but The Nice Man came down with shingles so the trip was cancelled and Duchess didn’t have to go stay at the vet’s boarding facility. Which is good because even though the people are really nice there, I hated the idea of her being by herself in a crate.

So we stayed in and watched TV and Duchess got to ring in the New Year with her foster sister Libby, who we’re pretty certain is her favorite pack member in the house.

Happy New Year!

On behalf of all of us caring for Duchess, thank you to everyone who reads this blog, talks about Duchess and everyone who made financial contributions to her care in 2012! We are very grateful to have you on this journey with us.

Here’s is to a bright 2013 for Duchess and all of you! Happy New Year!

 

 

 

The Springers were nestled, all snug in their beds

So sleepy. So very, very sleepy.

Duchess is super excited about Santa. So excited that she needs extra nap time to prepare for the morning.

Merry Christmas Eve everyone!

Almost back to normal…

Who’s there?

Well, things are getting back to normal at the Cobb house. Duchess did fine with her first course of treatment, but she came home out of sorts and not herself. We looked online and saw that Immiticide (the heartworm treatment) can cause lethargy, and apparently it’s pretty painful to have injected so she was on a short course of steroids as well. So really it’s not a wonder that she wasn’t feeling good.

She’s done well not rushing the door to run out with Libby, and going potty on a leash instead of just cruising around the yard. Today was the first day she really wanted to play and got a little excited, but she calmed down quickly when I told her to and so I’m thankful she’s a good listener or we’d have some issues.

We got her a stocking today. It occurred to use that anyone who would treat her poorly and not give her the medicines she needs to be a healthy dog was probably someone who didn’t involve their dogs in Christmas, and so we plan to do just that! She’s very interested in the tree and likes to lie down at the foot of the tree skirt, so we think she’s figuring it all out on her own.

More updates to come!

Round One Done!

Hey all! A quick update to let you know that Duchess received her first round of heartworm treatment on Monday and came home yesterday evening. Dr. Phillips said she had a fair amount of pain at the injection site (a common side effect) but otherwise she did great. She was super happy to be back at our house with her pals Gus and Libby, so much so that I thought her nubby might just wag right off!

We have received some amazing support and I encourage you to help keep this going. We essentially need an extra $1,000 to get her through this treatment. Even $10 will help. Please, please consider making a donation today.

So close, yet so far away

We apologize for the lack of updates during the month of November. We sort of went about our merry way and there wasn’t much to update, but boy oh boy have the last couple of weeks been a roller coaster.

The good volunteers at English Springer Rescue America had a great holiday fundraiser for Duchess, and they featured her on their website to encourage donations. The surgery Duchess needs will be about $5,500, so fundraising is critical to get this done. Let me tell you that we were so close to that goal that we got the go ahead to schedule the surgery!! WOOHOOO!

I love this part of the couch.

I called up Dr. Phillips and he made the call to UGA for her referral over Thanksgiving. So exciting, such elation! Our sweet girl was about to get the surgery that would make it easier for her to walk and run and play, and hopefully find her Forever Home! We took her in to get her shots up to date, get her heartworm and fecal tests – the full work-up in preparation for her big trip to Athens!

Then her tests came back and all of that excitement blew out the door: Duchess tested positive for heartworms.

Now, when Duchess came into foster care she was tested, and then tested again two weeks later and both tests were negative. We’ve had her on preventative the entire time she’s been with us, too. But according to our GA Coordinator for ESRA this is pretty common. They often retest our fosters at the 6 month mark to make sure, but we’ve been so focused on her hips it never came up. It sounds like her worms were in the very beginning stages of infestation and the preventative killed any new ones, but we now need to treat her for heartworms before she can have her surgery.

So tomorrow, Monday December 3rd, Duchess will head over to VCA Pets Are People, Too and start her treatment. Fortunately she’s a pretty chill dog and we think she’ll sail right through, but she’s definitely going to be with us a good while longer. Long enough that we included her in the Cobb family Christmas card:

Friends, family, readers we don’t know: Please, please, please consider giving a donation to help this sweet pup. I know many of you haven’t met her in person, but even if you didn’t like dogs I know she would steal your heart. Duchess is silly and playful and gentle and loving and really just one of the best dogs we’ve ever had in our house. I know it’s not nearly as impactful as, say, feeding a starving family or helping a sick kid at a hospital, but I promise you that you will be helping a deserving dog that could find a home with a family who needs her just as much she needs them.

MAKE A DONATION HERE. (P.S. It’s tax deductible!)

Thank you to everyone who has helped so far. We are so grateful to be surrounded by so many awesome people. We will post more updates throughout this month as she gets her treatment started. Please share this blog with as many people as you can.

 

Santa hats, Xrays, and Belly Rubs

Aaaa, to be Duchess…

Rub my belly.

We’ve had a pretty quiet weekend. I had to do a long run on Saturday, which pretty much took me out of doing anything productive the rest of the day. Duchess was happy to hang out in the back yard and let me rub her belly.

ESRA is doing a holiday-themed fundraiser for Duchess and one task I had to do was “Christmas-her-up” and take some pics. Turns out Duchess does not love dressing up and does not particularly care for Santa hats.

Nice Lady, take this damn hat off me.

But the biggest thing we had to do was go to VCA Pets are People Too and get a test to make sure her UTI was gone, get a refill of her pain meds, and get some flea/heartworm preventative. We got to see Dr. Phillips, Duchess’ favorite vet. Dr. Phillips specializes in canine orthopaedics and actually helped to perfect the surgery that Duchess will ultimately have. So he’s super smart, super nice, and went to UGA (GO DAWGS!).

If I just stay up here, I know Dr. Phillips will give me a treat.

Dr. Phillips gave me a couple of Duchess’ Xrays so I could post them on here. And since you probably don’t know what a normal hip is supposed to look like, I found one online:

Normal canine hip joints.

The picture above tells you what’s normal about it, so I’m not going to go into a lot of explanation here, but basically you’re looking for the ball and socket to fit snugly up against each other. But this is what Duchess’ looks like:

The circles are around what her ball and sockets look like.

You can see how the ball and socket don’t fit together, and on her left hip it’s much more pronounced than the right. The right is pretty bad, too, though, which is why we’ll replace both hips when she has her surgery.

Thank you to Dr. Phillips for sending over these Xrays and for taking such good care of Duchess. We’ve been taking our dogs to Pets Are People Too for nine years and we’ve had really amazing care for all of our dogs the entire time. From Hank crossing the Rainbow Bridge, to Gussie’s parvo, to Gidget’s losing battle with pancreatitis (and the entire vet staff working overtime to find her a cure), to all of our fosters and the various needs they’ve had, the staff at VCA has been super helpful and we thank them.

Here’s to getting that referral, Dr. Phillips, and us being able to head up to Athens and get Duchess her surgery!

If you would like to make a donation to Duchess’ surgery, please click here. Thank you!

Daycare at Doguroo and other weekend fun!

After the excitement of World Arthritis Day, you’d think Duchess would need some extra rest. However, The Nice Man (my husband) had other plans when he decided this past weekend would be the weekend he and The Nice Lady (me) painted the back bonus room. And since all that dog hair would be a problem  for us painting, The Nice Lady got up early and took the pups to Doguroo.

Doguroo is a little bit like Disneyland for dogs. They play all day. And then play some more. And they learn to socialize with other dogs and nice humans, which has been a huge blessing to us in our ability to foster.

I know that Gus and Libby wouldn’t be as welcoming of our foster dogs if we didn’t consistently take them to Doguroo where they meet new dogs all the time. Likewise, my fosters are generally in need of the influence of pack behavior – the other dogs teach them what’s right and what’s wrong, who’s cool, who’s not. And their overall behavior and socialization is so much stronger once we start taking them.

Duchess goes in the small dog yard at Doguroo, as does our other Springer, Libby. I think Springers need the security of the smaller yard. She plays with the other dogs, follows Libby around, lays down for a rest, goes to play some more, finds Libby…you get the picture.

Doguroo is awesome!

But here is what I love about the people at Doguroo: they are so attentive to the needs of every dog in their care. I have them give Duchess a nap around noon or 1, because otherwise she starts to limp pretty bad because of the hip dysplasia. I leave a pain pill for her to be given at 2 p.m. and it’s given at 2 p.m. Whatever request I have they accommodate and I couldn’t give them higher praise if I tried. These people know what they are doing. They even called me at work once to let me know they were pulling Duchess from the yard because she was limping a lot and they wanted her to rest. They just wanted me to know in case I tried to watch her on their Doggie Cams (oh yes, a time waster if there ever was one).

We take the dogs every two weeks and sometimes in between if we have evening plans and need them to be tired. And when I look at everyone and say, “Do you want to go to Doguroo!?!” they all go BANANAS! Barking! Running! Jumping on the recliner! Jumping on the sofa! Running from the kitchen to the back door back to the kitchen and back to the door! And then there is the whining the whole way there and the exuberant nature of them once we get in the door at Doguroo. And then the occasional jump onto the front desk from Libby. The staff love my dogs almost as much as me (or they appear to, it could be an act. It’s not an act, right Doguroo Pack Leaders??).

But again, a day like that leaves Duchess in such a state of exhaustion. It’s a good thing The Nice Lady got a new cover for the sofa and let Duchess try it out.

I’d like another pillow, please.

If you are in the Atlanta area and have always wanted to try doggie daycare, please try Doguroo (www.doguroo.com or 404-350-PUPP). Our dogs play there and get boarded there and I really love every member of their pack. They also are among the growing group of friends of Duchess who are making a massive difference in her life.

P.S. Mention Duchess and she’ll get a re-fur-al bonus!
UPDATE: Upon reading this post, I am pleased to share that Doguroo has donated 10 daycare stays to us for Duchess! Thank you Doguroo!!

We’re the faces of arthritis (at least at the company picnic)

Tags

arthritis, make a donation, park, trips

Yes, we’re the faces of arthritis.

I work for the Arthritis Foundation and we are launching a new awareness campaign called The Faces of Arthritis. And sweet Duchess’ little mug is the face of arthritis too. While she only has some minor arthritis now, her hip dysplasia will make her joints degenerate faster, which is why she so desperately needs this surgery.

But let’s share our day, shall we?

I’m so cool I don’t care about car rides

Today was my company picnic at Piedmont Park and I decided to bring Duchess with me since there would be so many people there and ample opportunity to maybe market her a little to the general public. I put the Arthritis Walk bandana on her and off we went. She was by far the best behaved dog there and even though she is normally pretty timid with people, by the end she was letting all kinds of people pet her and love on her.

I don’t know who you are, lady, but keep rubbing my ears…

We watched as my coworker’s dog got loose and had to be chased and tackled, we walked around to judge the Pumpkin Decorating Contest, and generally just had a good day with the Arthritis Foundation, sharing Duchess’ story with as many people as we could. Even our Chief Mission Officer agreed that Duchess was the cutest face of arthritis at the picnic.

But all of this adoration and excitement made Duchess sooooo sleeeppppppyyyyy…

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

We haven’t taken her many places because she does get scared easily, but today I saw that she has really come out of her shell, has really started to trust that we surround her with good people, people that won’t hurt her. And if she smiles big enough, they will probably give her a treat.

In other news, Duchess’ Special Need designation has been approved by the good folks at English Springer Rescue! You can see her special page on their site by clicking here. We will also now only use the donation page through their site, which is in our links to the left, or you can click here.