Delaware 1
8/3/14: About a year ago Louie was diagnosed with diabetes and they had hard time getting it regulated. His body didn’t seem to register the insulin. He also started having some neurological symptoms, including rear end weakness. He had tested negative for the Neospora Caninum back when it was discovered it was what caused Sasha’s deformities.
A couple weeks ago Beth looked it up again and the symptoms absolutely matched what was going on with Louie, including the resistance to insulin. She asked her vet to test him again & sure enough, he was positive. Nobody knows if the first test was a false negative, or if it’s cyclical and only shows positive if it’s in a certain phase or just what. He was put on Clindamycin and showed some improvement.
On July 29, Beth came home to find that Louie could not get up again, and it was both front and rear weakness. He went to the Emergency Vet and stayed overnight. Beth got to take him home after he was able to stand. He collapsed the minute he got inside the house, but was able to move after an hour with a towel supporting his middle. Later he made it into the yard on his own and seemed to like being on the cool grass. The next morning he could barely hold his head up and Beth took him to her regular vet to let him go.
Beth is peace with the fact that it was the only option other than waiting for the Neospora to take over his lungs. He truly was the embodiment of joy and love, fun and persistence. She says she has never loved a dog more and is grateful she got to have him for a year and a half.
Below are some pictures from the past year. The last one is Dr. Brown, Louie’s favorite vet. He was being silly with her.
5/11/13: Louis was being silly when he found an empty box in the garage.
2/12/13: I thought you would like to see pictures of Louie. We started out by running a mile in the park, until we saw the ducks on one side and the frisbee golfers on the other. We then passed the dog park so I thought I would take him for his first visit. The pictures tell the story better than I can. At one point, you will see Louie running, with all four feet off the ground. He thoroughly enjoyed himself. The last picture is what he looks like as I am typing this.
1/22/13: We had a good day. He is a perfect fit. Last night he didn’t sleep very well. I had him in the bedroom with the other two. He reminded me of a kid at Disneyland. He didn’t bother the others but just couldn’t sleep. Today he took a few short naps but he is starting to look very tired. I think tonight everyone will sleep well. 🙂
He found the laundry basket full of stuffies – probably about 30 of them and throughout the day walked to the other end of the house, carefully selected which stuffie to show Doug and proceeded to parade around the house and yard with it. After about 20 minutes, he would select a different one. The yard and house look like a dog toystore exploded. The first new toy I bought him seems to be his favorite one. He hasn’t shredded even one toy yet. Some of them are starting to show stuffing though because he and Doug have played tug-of-war throughout the day with a few of them.
I took him on a walk this morning. The interesting thing was, he did not want to leave the house. I had to almost pull him out the door. I think that means he likes it here and doesn’t want to be shipped anywhere else. He had a good time on our walk though. He saw another dog that he wanted to visit but when he saw a huge house cat, he ignored it entirely. So far, I haven’t tripped!
We have a couple of large mirrors in the house and he is fascinated with them. He also uses them to see behind him and at an angle which dog or person might be approaching. It fits into his 001 status very well.
Oliver tried to play with him earlier but Louie wasn’t interested – probably a very good thing. Betsy wanted to play a few times too and they played a chase around the chair game for awhile. Mostly, he wants to be petted and hugged, which is great with me.
Tomorrow, Louie and Betsy have a grooming appointment. He didn’t need it much but since I am already taking Betsy, I thought it wouldn’t hurt him to go also.
We didn’t work on the doggy door today. We were too busy getting acclimated and discovering new toys. Tomorrow is a new day. He will learn fast. Even with his enthusiasm getting in the way, I can tell he is smart.
(the other dog in the picture is one of Louis’s new dog siblings.)
1/19/2013: Louis has a new home in California. Ellen posted this as Louis was beginning his trip: Things at the airport mostly went smoothly. Apparently, the fasteners that hold the top/bottom together that came with the crate Louie was traveling in were not the kind that the airline requires, but the airline had some of their type, so we took the incorrect ones out & put in the new ones. The only other issue that arose was that I had the new owners’ phone numbers, but not their address with me but a quick call to Danielle got that oversight on my part taken care of. Louie, meanwhile, was making friends with everyone he could — I had brought a bag of treats for him and he was more than happy to accept them from everyone who was willing to give him one. (In fact, at one point, I had Louie on leash & had my foot on the leash while we were working on putting the new fasteners in. My foot must have come off the leash, so he stepped onto the scale and then back behind the counter and headed into the back office to flirt with the ladies back there.)
An update after landing: He has landed & Beth has him. I just got this pic in a text, with the message, “He’s perfect!”
Off the plane and on the way home (January 19), and in his yard playing with a new toy.
On the way at the airport (January 19)
11/18: More pictures in his foster home.
11/3/2012: Marlene calls One “crazy dog” and says he is the worst one she has to deal with. He gets excited and gets nippy. If this is the worst then we are darned lucky because he was pretty awesome. He didn’t get a bath today but we did get him ready for one so he’ll be easy when i go back Monday morning. His ears are yucky too and have been for a long time as he has old hematomas. One is sweet and will probably end up being another thyroid dog, has big black patches on his skin, greasiness and flakiness plus he’s a little chunky. I like this guy, Ellen says she wants to foster him cause he really does have personality plus, it just needs to be reigned in a little 🙂 I’m going to say this guy is 7-9 yrs old. Because of him i am going to ask the vet how long these dogs have had ear infections. I just can’t believe their ears were fine before the shelter.