Day 15: Two weeks from adoption date

We are back to Friday (thankfully) and it has been exactly two weeks since I adopted Brook. I think it is safe to say that her life has changed drastically, some for the better, and unfortunately, some for the worse.

Last night she quickly lapped up and entire bottle of store brand "ensure" vanilla drink. She loved the stuff and I am so happy I found a link to a "ask the vet" website where a vet tech had suggested this to someone else whose dog was not eating. So we also gave her some Hill's Prescription A/D canine/feline wet food mixed with water. We were able to get her to eat about 30ml, so thought that was good and didn't force her to eat anymore. She also took her amoxicillin liquid without much problem.

We thought since she had been "cooped up" all day at the vet, it might be nice to let her get some fresh air. We walked outside and then carried her about 5 houses down the street. She is so calm and sweet, that she just rested her head on my shoulder. The body spasms subside slightly while she is eating or concentrating on something, so we hope she will be able to get enough rest to overcome those.

The vet not only gave her 1 liter of subcutaneous fluids (so those are still slowly being absorbed by her body), but also an antibiotic injection, a B vitamin injection, and a rimadyl injection. All of these combined perked her up a bit, but we were cautious to not let her over-exert herself. She is shaky/wobbly on her feet, so we made sure the bowls of food/water and bones in her room are moved to the edges to give her enough space to move around on her own without getting injured.

For now she doesn't show any interest in dry food, or wet food, but will swallow when we give her soft/liquid food. She drank another half bottle or so of the nutrition drink before we all went to bed last night.

I woke up multiple times in the night worried about her. The first time was about midnight, and when I first woke up I freaked out because one of our other dogs, Ruby, was laying on the bed between Dave and I and for a split second I thought she had somehow gotten into the room where Brook was (I must have been dreaming about sitting with Brook). Since I was awake, I went to check on little Brookie, and she was fine. Just laying there, mostly peaceful, sleeping. She opened her eyes and wagged her tail. I stayed with her for a minute but then went back to bed. I woke up again maybe 30 minutes later (no idea why), so it was sort of a rough night. I hope tonight will be better.

Dave has officially earned the nickname of "dog nurse" because he was so sweet and willing to take his "birthday day" off to stay with Brook and keep feeding her every few hours. That little dog sure has got a lot of people supporting her. I know she is extremely grateful!

So back to today; so far she drank another nutrition drink (quite willingly, yeah Brook!) and licked about 20ml of wet food mixed with some water out of my hand. She took more of the drink about 9am and Dave helped her to eat more wet food with the syringe. He'll be trained in animal feeding in no time!! :-)

I will try to update tomorrow so that everyone following the story can know how Brook is doing. Thank you to everyone for their kind thoughts and wishes and it is really great to know that this blog is reaching so many people.

News from the Vet

Well, the vet said Brook was not too dehydrated, but she has lost almost 5 pounds because she is not eating. Dave and I are heartbroken and unsure of how to proceed. For now we have asked the vet to take blood and run a full panel to check organ function. The valley fever test will have results early next week. When I pick Brook up from the vet later this afternoon, I will be getting a few cans of specialty wet food from the vet. It is very high in vitamins and nutrients so that everything that goes in her body will be used. I will probably have to syringe feed her. At least I have done that before with cats at an animal shelter (and dogs don't have claws and sharp teeth like cats, so that is a bonus).

Dave has graciously offered to take time off work tomorrow (he gets 8 hours of paid time because it was his birthday Monday, but it fell on a holiday, so his boss said he could take a different day). We'll see how everything goes tonight, but I believe he will work half a day, so that Brook won't be left alone for 9-10 hours...only about 5.

I have done a lot of reading on distemper and most of it is not good at all. Here is a useful link for those who are curious:

http://www.animalhealthchannel.com/distemper/index.shtml

I think my biggest question about all of this is: why doesn't the county immediately vaccinate all dogs with the distemper/parvo vaccine? Yes it is a cost issue, but couldn't it make their dogs more adoptable because they aren't sick?

Spring Garden Safety

For all of you out there who want to put your green thumb into action, take a look at this list of plants that are poisonous to dogs:

For your pup's safety, fence off your spring garden from the rest of your dog's stomping ground. Otherwise, your gorgeous greenery may pose serious health risks for your pooch.

Problem plants and flowers: If consumed, many garden picks can be poison to your dog, including autumn crocus, azaleas, bird-of-paradise, buttercup, Christmas rose, daffodil, day lily, iris, oleander, foxglove, morning glory, mountain mahogany, lily of the valley, rhododendron, and periwinkle.

Vegetable-patch pitfalls: Onions, chives, and garlic, which pets find quite tasty, contain compounds that can cause anemia. The leafy green parts of potato plants also can be toxic.

Frightening fruits: The seeds or pits in apples, plums, cherries, peaches, and apricots contain cyanide, which can cause seizures.

Chemical concerns: A 3- to 4-foot wire-mesh fence should keep your pooch from munching on your garden favorites. But if you think there's even a slight chance that your pup could jump over or dig under the fence, treat your plants, flowers, vegetables, and vines with products that are pet-safe. All-natural fertilizers and organic weed killers are available at many nurseries. And along with keeping your best friend out of harm's way, you'll be protecting the environment.

Source: http://www.dogage.com/care/tipoftheweek.aspx

Distemper Facts

I sure hope they can find something else wrong to prove it isn't distemper.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canine_distemper

Day 14: Thursday - back at the vet

Brook is not doing better. Plain and simple, unfortunately. She has lost her appetite completely, except for vanilla ice cream. I don't want to feed her to much though fearing that it could upset her empty stomach, or that the cold could make her stomach/body spasms worse. I brought her back to the vet this morning and we are awaiting test results. They will be doing a full blood panel and expect the results no later than Saturday. Also, the valley fever test will be back by Monday. Please pray for peaceful sleep for Brook so that her body has a chance to fight whatever this is.

Day 13: Wed - unforgiving illness

This morning was pretty rough. At about 5:30 I went to Brook's room and she greeted me with a happily wagging tail. I must say that dogs are amazing at hiding their true feelings and problems. I know that she feels like crap, but through it all she manages to greet me with a tail wag. She was laying on the floor and the humidifier had stopped producing steam. I believe it ran low on water, but she wasn't laying by it anyway, so I don't think it would have made a big difference.

I refilled the humidifier tank and put Brook back on the futon. Her nose was blocked up again, but after maybe 10 minutes of sitting with her and making her lay by the steam it started to soften. We took a quick trip out front to go potty. She finally pooped (it has been probably 2-3 days), and it was mostly solid (only a little diarrhea). She is very wobbly on her feet; she can walk, but sways from side to side. I haven't figured out if it her body is weak from lack of food or if she has another illness.

I mentioned all these symptoms to the vet yesterday and they believe she could have valley fever. If it gets worse, or she hasn't shown improvement by Saturday morning, she will be going to the vet again. I have an appointment for our oldest, Snoopy, for routine vaccinations, and they said it wouldn't be a problem if Brook came along too. They would start by testing her blood, and possibly do a culture of the mucous. I sure hope it doesn't come to that because I don't want her to suffer anymore. Also, the medications to treat valley fever are costly.

Through all of this, Brook has remained very calm and always looks at me with the clear, trusting eyes. I think this is why it hurts so much to watch her have trouble breathing and not wanting to eat. She trusts me completely to help her and right now I just don't know what else to do. It also stinks to not be able to stay home with her for the next few days (if only working wasn't required).

I tried to get her to eat this morning; I heated up one of the leftover containers from last night; she wouldn't eat. I even tried putting a piece of egg her mouth, but she spit it back out. Same with the ground beef. A few minutes before I left the house this morning, I offered her some yogurt, but she didn't want that either. I gave her the liquid antibiotics and had to leave. I hope she decides to eat again tonight, or I am not sure what we can do.

Day 12: Tuesday

Tuesday morning, we woke up to Brook having trouble breathing again. One of her nostrils was completely blocked by mucous. Her nose dries out and the mucous hardens and then she can barely breathe. It sounds like she is whistling through her nose and her breathing is very labored. I set to work with a towel soaked in hot water to try and soften it up. It helped a little bit, but her nose is getting to the point where it is so raw, that is is starting to crack a little bit inside her nostrils and bleed. For this reason, Brook is not too happy with us trying to clear up her nose.

I got her to eat a scrambled egg and she drank some water. Then I had to leave for work.

When I got home last night, after stopping at the vet to pick up liquid amoxycyline, and to Walmart to buy a humidifier and some ground beef, I found Dave sitting with Brook. Her nose was almost completely blocked up again and she looked very sad. We quickly set up the humidifier and I used the hot towel to try and relieve some of the mucous in her nose again. Once the humidifier started producing steam, it really helped to clear up her nose. She laid on the floor, and just let the steam go by her face. We moved her onto the futon so the steam would be more direct at her nose and face. It finally loosed up her mucous and I was able to gently use q-tips to clear out her nose.

I cooked up about a 1/4 pound of the ground beef, then as it cooled, cooked a scrambled egg. I also mixed in half a can of wet dog food (those small cans that are the size of cat food cans). She happily ate about 1/4 of the mixture I created.

I left it with her for a little while and came back about a half hour later and she ate a little bit more. I packaged up the rest into two containers so it would be easier to eat them up for the next meals.

Day 11: Monday

This morning, Brook did not want to eat any dog food, so we gave her the pill and then offered her some lunch meat. She only ate half a piece. Not more than two hours later, she threw up. Yellow bile and a little bit of food remains from the previous night. She seemed very upset about this, so I just cleaned it up and sat with her for a while. She is already suffering enough with not feeling well, and if there was a way she could have gotten outside, I know she would have. I went to the grocery store later in search of some different foods that she might be interested in. We ended up with some cottage cheese, eggs, and plain yogurt.

She willingly ate the cottage cheese (just a few spoonfuls to make sure she didn't get sick again). Then she ate an entire scrambled egg, licking the bowl over and over even when it was gone. I was a little weary of giving her any more food just to make sure it didn't come right back up. We withheld the doxycyline to give her stomach a chance to settle down. Ever since she threw up her stomach has been having spasms. It is like she has the hiccups but they don't follow through. Her whole body jumps, whether she is standing up or laying down. I only hope it subsides soon so she can truly rest.

Day 10: Sunday

After discovering that we were putting a pill in her food, Brook became more concerned about finding the pill and spitting it out. I had to put the pill in her mouth and make her swallow and then we fed her lunch meat to make sure the pill was getting into her stomach.


Checking out an edible nylabone.

She has no interest in dry food right now, but ate a half can of wet food. Her nose is getting to be stuffy again, even though we had thought it was clearing up.

Day 9: Relapse

Last night, Brook had no interest in dinner (some wet food and rice) even though she has been eating all week without a problem. A day or two ago it seemed like she was really getting over the kennel cough, but her nose is back to being green (not as bad as the original sickness though). She still didn't want to eat this morning, but tonight she showed interest in a new kind of wet food (this time we didn't add any rice either).

She has also discovered the antiobotic pill in her food (I suppose another sign she is doing better) and knows how to eat the food and spit the pill back out! So I have to resort to the old fashioned way...sticking pill down doggy's throat and rubbing until she swallows. Then we have to make sure eats something because the vet warned us that doxycycline is harsh on the esophagus. She wanted to make sure the pills never get stuck in Brook's throat, or it could cause other problems.
We are also trying to introduce some bone-type treats. We figure it must be boring sitting in a room all day with nothing to do, so maybe Brook will decide to try one of the treats tomorrow.

She is turning into a bit of a snuggle bug. She enjoys laying on the futon in the bedroom and also really likes it when one of us sits or lays with her. Also, since she seemed to be feeling a little more ill the past 24 hours, I helped her up onto my lap, and she actually liked it. She just lays on her side, puts her head on my arm, and relaxes.

The other thing that seemed to help her breathe a little better was to wipe her nose with a warm, wet rag (not sure why I hadn't tried that sooner). For now, her nose is clear and she isn't having a trouble breathing. The coughing seems to stay away as long as she doesn't move much. The minute we stand outside (so she can go potty), she will start to cough again. Hopefully by next week, she will be all better health wise.

Day 8: We chased a Bird!

Well, this morning was off to a good start. Brook noticed a bird sitting on the sidewalk one house up the street from ours...and then she decided to run after it! I figured, 'why not' and ran with her. We got past the driveway (by this point the bird had flown away, so no animals were harmed) and then Brook turns around and looks at me with the expression that said "was I supposed to do that?" I reassured her that everything was fine and we turned around and walked back to our house. She was quite happy this morning, wagging her tail and then she went bonkers for the lunch meat I gave her with her pill...jumping around and licking my hands, even after the meat was gone. Only to have a life as simple as a pampered pooch! :-)

Day 7

"People need to realize that they don't need a super-hero cape to make a difference in one animal's life...just a heart!"

I can't wait till next weekend when Brook is done taking antibiotics so she can meet our other dogs (as long as her nose is cleared up). She has seen the cats and doesn't seem to care about them, so that is good :-) They also don't seem bothered by her, just curious.

My oldest dog, Snoopy (the 16 year old) can't figure out why I step over two baby gates and disappear a few times a day to a part of the house where she is not allowed. Even with her failing eye sight (cataracts) and failing hearing, she always seems to know that I have walked out of the room and follows me. I don't think she will mind having Brook around since Brook is so calm and quiet. I can't wait to post photos of all the dogs together :-)


Snoopy (in her younger years, 2003)

The two younger dogs, Ruby & Amy, are excited every time they see Brook through the baby gates. Amy is about 2 years old, by our best estimate, and Ruby is about 3. Ruby was a rescue from PACC in 2006...she was very thin and had to be on antibiotics for 3 months for tick fever, after she had been treated for a cold (aka kennel cough). We learned quite a bit about tick fever, and were very relieved after getting another blood test from our vet to find out that Ruby had completely fought of the disease. She will always be at risk for a relapse if she gets bitten by an infected tick or does not get enough nutrients, but we are not concerned about that since she lives inside and always gets dinner. To find out more about tick fever, follow this link: http://www.sunrisepetclinicaz.com/tick_fever.html. Ironically enough, this was the vet clinic where Ruby's foster dad had taken her 3 years ago to double check the diagnosis he had received from PACC.


Ruby (after Dave added a background)

Amy was a stray dog that we found in our old neighborhood two years ago August 14th (so 2007). It was early in the morning (before 6am) and Ruby and I were walking around the neighborhood. I believe it was a Monday, or Tuesday, and the previous Saturday night I had seen a dog running loose, but it was dark and very scared, and I was not about to chase it. Well, I truly believe it was the same dog that re-appeared that morning. She was still very scared, but at least I could see she was foaming at the mouth or anything, so I wasn't worried about approaching her. Ruby and I ended up sitting in the middle of the street and Amy crept very slowly towards us. As soon as we could reach her, I grabbed her by the collar and then noticed she was literally hopping with fleas. One of my neighbor's was outside, so I asked him to take Ruby so she wouldn't get the fleas too. Amy came home with me, a bit reluctantly, and she got a bath in the backyard to get rid of the fleas. I took her to my vet and she stayed there all day while they worked to track down the owner. Amy had a microchip, but it had not been registered. It is truly amazing to me how many people will pay for a microchip, or adopt a dog with a chip, and then not take a few minutes to make a toll free call, or go online, and register the chip FOR FREE.


Amy (playing with her "moo")

Oh well! Long story short, they finally got a call back from BARK (Baby Animal Rescue Koalition) who had found Amy and her two brothers as 3 week old puppies abandoned in a wash. They had adopted her the moment she was old enough to be spayed, but she didn't even have a rabies shot at that point. I was asked by the BARK volunteer what I was planning to do with the dog, to which I responded, "Not give her back to you because you couldn't find her a good home to begin with!" So that is how Ruby and then Amy joined our family.

Local Rescue Groups Need Assistance

Click the image to view full size (so it can actually be read)

Day 6: Discovering the Couch

As you can see from the photo, Brook has finally realized that laying on the couch (or futon in this case) is very comfortable. It took an entire day of asking her to join me, and then helping her up all the way, and then I walk in the room and see she has figured it out! It must feel so much better to lay on a soft surface, especially since she is so bony right now.

And speaking of bones, she also took a couple looks on a rawhide chew flip! It seemed like she was going to chew on it, but since she was tired, maybe she will later.

Also, this morning we walked through the whole front yard, down the sidewalk, and to the vacant house next door (she came with me to check on the wasps nest that is expanding over there). She didn't lay down once (came close a few times, but with a little encouragement kept walking). I think she is getting her strength back and is actually getting a little tired of being picked up and carried around; all good signs of a healing puppy! Once she decides walking is her only mode of transporation my back will thank her! :-)

Impressive Response from Oro Valley

Wow! I must say, Oro Valley is on the ball!!

This is a long post, but important, so please read:

Dear Megan,

Thank you for taking the time to express your support for a humane community.

When we had a study session on animal control in December, we discovered that the County handled only 24 animals for Oro Valley last year. We can reuinite 24 lost animals with their families without a dedicated shelter until the economy improves.

By Arizona state law, stray dogs and cats only need to be held for 72 hours. However, state law also allows the County pound (PACC) to kill animals sooner if they are sick (even sneezing) or dangerous (even hissing). And PACC often does this. Virtually every cat that hisses is deemed feral and killed immediately, even if it turns out to be someone's beloved pet who got out of the house and is hissing because it is scared.

Because we have only a handful of animals who end up in the County pound, we could easily contract with a local kennel to take those animals for the state-mandated three days. If the owner claimed the animal directly from the contract kennel, the owner would pay all the kennel fees plus (possibly) Town-imposed fines. If the animal was not claimed in 3 days, the Town would pay for the 3 days of kenneling, and turn the animal over to a no-kill rescue group for adoption. So it is possible to start this program without a shelter initially.

Many constituents have told me that they have called PACC and nobody answers the phone. Others have told me that they are told to call the Oro Valley police. The Oro Valley police have told me that when they do find an animal that they can't reunite with its owner, they are told that they must drive the animal down to the pound on Silverbell, that none of the 77 tax-paid employees of the County pound will use a tax-paid County vehicle to come get the animal. We must send one of our Oro Valley tax-paid police officers in one of our tax-paid vehicles. I would much rather have that officer performing public safety services in Oro Valley, instead of driving a dog all the way down to 4000 N. Silverbell.

According to the American Veterinary Medical Association, towns of 45,000 people have an estimated 11,376 dogs. According to the American Pet Products Manufacturing Association, 28% of owned dogs are not spayed or neutered. Therefore, Oro Valley has an estimated 8,191 altered dogs and 3,185 unaltered dogs. Pima County currently charges $11 to license an altered dog and $45 to license an unaltered dog. The County claims to have licensed only 2,854 of those estimated 11,376 owned dogs, indicating that compliance is probably low for Oro Valley.

And in fact, a fellow Council member told me that he had never licensed a dog in Pima County until he adopted one from the pound itself and they forced him to pay for the license. An Oro Valley police officer told me that they never ticket anyone for license violations, because the fine would go to the County and they're doing all the work anyway. If we charge what the County charges for licenses, and we got closer to 100% compliance, Oro Valley could collect $233,436 in license fees alone. I think that we would be able to educate people towards that higher compliance rate if they knew that their animal would be safer. I think that we could also institute a differential fee for animals who are microchipped to help guarantee that every animal will find its way home, with or without a collar.

I'm also in touch with the Second Chance Canine program to possibly have young offenders and at-risk youth train shelter dogs to assist people with disabilities:

http://www.secondchancecanineprogram.org/broadening-mission.html

The picture on that page is of my neighbor with her Second Chance dog who was trained by prisoners in Florence.

You may wish to attend tonight's Council meeting at 6:00 p.m. at 11000 N. La Cañada Drive, and address this issue during the Call to the Audience that happens at the begining and end of each meeting. To speak, please complete a blue speaker card located on the small table to your right as you enter the Council Chambers, and hand the card to the Town Clerk, who is seated immediately to the Council's left. For "item number" you can write "CTA" for "Call to Audience." You can thank the Council for considering a progressive, humane approach to animal control. You can bet that the special interest groups will be there and will want to lobby to get taxpayer dollars for their own causes. When your name is called, go up to the podium, and speak into the microphone. You have 3 minutes, as indicated by the green, yellow, and red lights on the podium.

Whether or not you can attend, you may want to express your opinions as a letter to the editor of the Star (http://www.azstarnet.com/opinion/64475) or the Explorer (http://www.explorernews.com/shared-content/perform/?domain_name=explorernews.com&form_template=letter). The deadline for the Explorer is Monday at noon for the following Wednesday.

Thank you for caring about our animal companions.

With best wishes,

Salette Latas

Councilmember

Town of Oro Valley

11000 N. La Cañada Drive
Oro Valley, Arizona 85737

Phone: (520) 229-4992
Fax: (520) 297-0428

slatas@orovalleyaz.gov

http://www.orovalleyaz.gov/Town_Government/Town_Council/Council_Member_Salette_Latas.htm

Oro Valley to Look at Other Options besides PACC

The Town of Oro Valley will be considering a no-kill feasibility study for their 2009-2010 fiscal year budget at their town council meeting tonight. More details can be seen at this link: http://www.nokilltucson.org/OroValleyStudy

Below is the email that I sent to them, since I am not able to attend tonight's meeting:

Oro Valley Town Council:

I am writing with my support of the proposed No-Kill Municipal Animal Control Feasibility Study. I just recently (last Friday) rescued a dog who was on the "euthanasia list" at Pima County Animal Control. It is such a rewarding experience to give a second chance to an animal who has not had a good life thus far. Even though I live in Marana, I greatly appreciate the consideration that Oro Valley is giving to these animals in need.

Thank you for your time,

Megan

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If anyone who lives in Tucson or surrounding areas has a chance, please email them also and let's work together to try and get some help for the animals!

Just remember, it is worth a few minutes of your time to send an email and help more dogs and cats!

I have discovered rawhide and it is good!

Blog Feedback

I received a very sweet and encouraging email this morning (actually last night). Please see below:

Great post and awesome blog! Brook looks like a border collie/ Aussie type dog. She is SO cute! I rescued my Border/Aussie mix girl from PACC in 2006. She is the love of my life! I've since rescued another dog - a young male shep/pit mix from a rescue group (Cold Wet Noses). Thank you for your strong commitment to this dog and showing others how rewarding it is to rescue a dog that may not be perfect at first. Your blog shows people the good that could come from offering patience and good care to a dog in need! Some dogs have a bad history and just need some TLC and patience. Thanks for saving a life! :-)

Bless you!

Shawn

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shawn,

I wanted to thank you for providing feedback and taking the time to look through my blog! I hope you have a great day,

Megan

Day 5 - Wow! Much better

Well, just to make sure that everyone realizes there is hard work involved with caring for a sick/neglected animal, even though it is extremely rewarding, I woke up this morning to the largest poops I have ever seen come out of a medium sized dog!!

At least Brook feels better. Going on at least 5 days without needed to poop is never good, and even though she is very thin, she has been eating regular meals twice a day. I believe she was afraid to go in the bathroom where she currently stays, even if she couldn't hold it anymore, because her bed is in there.

Yesterday I came across a great deal on Craig's List to get two wood/plastic baby gates for $10 total...so I jumped at that offer. We not only needed a way to keep our dogs out of the cat's room (dogs like cat poop...yuck!), but thought we could offer Brook a little more space and room to roam if we have a way to keep her separate from our healthy dogs. Dave arranged the two gates in the hallway last night, so Brook can now move between the bathroom to the bedroom across the hallway. She slept in that room last night and this morning was walking around very happy (besides the poop incident). I made sure not to say anything or tell her not to go potty inside, because what other choice did she have?! I am just glad that everything 'looked normal'!

So after cleaning up our little 'accident' on the carpet, we ventured outside (me carrying Brookie over the 2 baby gates) into the front yard. Brook was much more interested in her surroundings and walked around through the gravel and onto the driveway. She then sat down and looked at me before she cautiously jumped up and placed her front paws on my leg. What a sweet gesture!

Dave ran inside to get the camera to capture our morning adventure :-)


So we walked around this morning...


And even stood up!


But then it was time to take a rest :-)

Day 4: Kissing Daddy

Brook was very happy to see me this morning, and greeted me with tail wags! She seems to understand that each time I enter the bathroom (where she has to stay until the kennel cough is gone) it means something good; a bowl of wet food, petting, or even another foot massage!

She actually stood up on her own and came to see me when I crouched down. She does not want to walk outside of the bathroom yet, so I put the leash on her collar and carry her out into the front yard. She walked around quite a bit today, and even wandered to the side yard. She laid down and then heard the neighbor's dog bark; she didn't seem to care about it, and just looked at the dog like it was silly (after all, it was before 6am!). I picked her up again and brought her back near the sidewalk leading to the front door. She wandered around in a circle, sniffing the rocks and bushes and then went potty again. She is starting to pick up on this routine. We kept walking around the front yard and then she even walked from the bottom of the driveway all the way up and into the house!

After Dave & I took the other 3 dogs for our usual morning walk, he went to check on Brook. He was also greeted with tail wags and she kissed his hand. I believe Brookie has won daddy over!

Day 3: Sunday (05-17-09)

Sunday morning, I took her out front and she walked to the gravel, squatted, and went potty. Then she laid down again, but after I picked her up, she sat next to me on the sidewalk for a while...just observing the birds. She didn't really shake and seemed okay with the whole thing.

Brook has decided she is good with standing up to eat. After eating though, she usually has a coughing spell, but thankfully that has not diminished her appetite!

I think part of the reason Brook doesn't want to walk is because the pads on her feet are so dry and almost cracked that it must hurt. My guess is that she was dumped by someone after they bred her. It appears as though she has had a litter of puppies. It is amazing there aren't more things physically wrong with her, especially if that is how she ended up at animal control.

So Brookie has gotten a nice foot massage and really enjoyed it. I used this non-petroleum jelly...safe for animals...purchased a little while back from this holistic animal store. When I moved from her right front paw to the left one, she picked up her right foot and tapped me with it :-)

Then she sat up and ate all of her dry food. I think tonight we will try going outside again and see if she feels like walking a little bit.

Also, as you can see from the photo, Brook is now comfortable enough to roll over and expose her belly. She really enjoys tummy rubs, so we'll keep those coming!

Day 2: Saturday (5-16-09)

We had an appointment with our veterinarian on Saturday morning. The vet said temperature, heart rate, and lungs were all normal. Thankfully the kennel cough is only in her head and throat, so she gets 2 weeks of antibiotics. She finally peed yesterday morning after holding it for about 17 hours. I mentioned to the vet that I was concerned about her not having to 'go', and she said, "Well her bladder is full, but she'll go when she can't hold it anymore." Sure enough, after we got to our next destination that morning, she belly-crawled under the door of my car and then went for about a minute straight...poor thing!

She accompanied my mother-in-law and me to my appointment with the lymphatic therapist (old sports injury that I am getting help with). Brook slept on a towel on the floor and at the end of my appointment, the therapist even spent a few minutes massaging Brookie! She still won't really walk, but has stood up to eat, so we are making progress.

Day 1: Friday Night (5-15-09)

Here is a photo of Brook (I figure it is suiting because it was the Garth Brooks' lyrics that convinced me) after she ate about 2/3 can of wet food and had a bath :-) She is still scared, but her eyes are very trusting. Poor puppy has green boogers and the occasional coughing spell. I am 95% sure that she has Kennel Cough, but I'll find out from the vet tomorrow.

The Craig's List Ad

*** LET'S GET TOGETHER, ONLY ONE DOG TO SAVE TODAY!! (LET'S TAKE A CHANCE NOW!!)

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Date: 2009-05-15, 8:54AM MST

We here on Craig's list have worked miracles, about 6 months ago on a Saturday, the rescue groups got emails from PACC stating that there were over 20 dogs on the euthanasia list for one day; meaning, we had just ONE day to save over 20 lives. You know what ?? We did it !! We could not have done it without your help but I really consider it a miracle. Well, today we've got just one little lady whose time has
sadly run out, she will be euthanized by 5pm tonight unless we can find a wonderful person to open their heart and their home to her. It does not cost a thing to foster, just a little dog food and your time.

If you can help this wonderful, deserving young lady today please give our rescuers a call right now, they are standing by to help you get this dog !!!

The Change by Garth Brooks

One hand
Reaches out
And pulls a lost soul from harm
While a thousand more go unspoken for
They say what good have you done
By saving just this one
It's like whispering a prayer
In the fury of a storm

And I hear them saying you'll never change things
And no matter what you do it's still the same thing
But it's not the world that I am changing
I do this so this world will know
That it will not change me



CALL: COLD WET NOSES AT: 520-235-6309
CALL: SMILING DOG RESCUE AT: 520-977-8000
CALL: ANIMALS GONE WILD: 520-971-2226

• Location: LET'S TAKE A CHANCE NOW !!
  
• it's NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests