Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary

The Morning Nap

I took this photo of Claude the blind Great Dane and Tyler the deaf English Pointer this morning in Widget's House.  We had just finished feeding everyone breakfast and then turned them out again for some romping and play time before bringing them back in.  (It was 12 degrees this morning so they're not out for long in that kind of weather.)  Tyler was already on the bed when big Claude came lumbering in the back door, headed straight for the "sofa" and plopped down.

I realized I have been remiss in not posting any updates on Claude since coming back from WSU's veterinary teaching hospital.  We have been managing his Wobbler's Syndrome medically, following the treatment plan given us by the neurologist.  Somewhat to our amazement, Claude is doing a LOT better!  He's not slipping and falling nearly as much as he used to, and he seems to have a better idea of where his feet are.  He also doesn't seem to be as uncomfortable as he was.  He still has a great appetite and now that the medical management is working, he also has some of his old spark back.

Coincidentally, Claude's neurologist, Dr. Fred Wininger, called this afternoon.  He happened to see Claude's photo in the People magazine article while traveling earlier this week and wanted to check on how Claude was doing.  He was pleased to hear that Claude was responding well to the treatment, although we know this will not be long-term.  Still, it's a huge improvement over how he was just a few weeks ago, and every day is a blessing.

So Claude settled in for his morning nap next to Tyler, who -- much to Claude's relief -- surrendered the entire sofa to the big guy a few minutes later.  When a Dane stretches out, there isn't a whole lot of room left!

(Click on photos for larger image.)

Will The Real Beagle Please Stand Up?

Alayne and I were eating lunch when blind Widget decided to climb up on the cot and join blind Willie the Beagle, a recent arrival, for a siesta.  The cot is right next to the dining table, so Alayne went to my office to get the camera and handed it to me.  I got out of my chair, knelt down and took this photo.  That's Widget on the left and Willie on the right.

The first thing that struck me about this scene is that it's the first time we've ever seen Widget and Willie together.  When Willie first arrived a few months ago he was a bit "in your face" about cot time with Widget, Callie and some of the other cot-aholics.  They didn't want to necessarily share their space and he'd keep on pushing, trying to climb up and move them off.  This set off fireworks, needless to say, and Willie finally learned cot manners.  He also learned how tough some of our blind girls can be!  (Note:  There are four cots in our living/dining area and five other dog beds, so there is no shortage of comfortable places to zone out!)  Thus Willie and Widget have never exactly been pals, so this cozying up on the cot was a new thing.

But the other thing that struck me was that Widget, who is a Beagle/Dachshund mix, is the real Beagle in this photo.  Vocal, confident, playful, energetic (when not sleeping), fearless, and a complete character.  Oh, and very bossy.  Willie, on the other hand, is a shrinking violet and very un-Beagle-like in personality.  In fact, if he didn't look like a Beagle, you'd never know he was one, because he doesn't act like one.  He will occasionally bay like a Beagle, but that's about the only sign there's a Beagle in that body somewhere.

So we assigned Widget a new job:  teaching Willie how to be a Beagle.  Or, as Widget says, "He's got the uniform but he doesn't have the moxie!"

(Click on photo for larger image.)

A Note About Spirit

Alayne and I are very grateful for all the heartfelt comments about Spirit that so many people posted on the blog or emailed to us today.  This little paralyzed Yorkie touched a lot of lives.  I wanted to share with you a beautiful note that Nicci Bennett, Spirit's new Mom, emailed us last night:

We are so thankful that we were allowed to be her parents no matter how little the time was here on earth.  We know we will see her again and we know she will be waiting for us with open paws.  Even if we had known the outcome to this journey beforehand we still would have flown 3000 miles to get our little girl.  Thank you for opening your hearts and home until we could find one another.  We will always miss our sweet, sweet Spirit, but it is not forever.

And finally, I wanted to share with you an equally beautiful note that one of the sanctuary's friends, Karen F. in Missoula, emailed me this morning after reading the news about Spirit.  I think Karen's note perfectly captured the sentiments we heard from lots of caring people today:

As I sit here at my desk crying for our little Spirit, I know deep in my heart, she had a wonderful life with her new Mom and Dad.  Please pass on to them that there are so many who loved Spirit and were overjoyed for her.  And add that we all know there was no other decision to be made.  By releasing Spirit from her pain on earth, she is running free at the Bridge.  Spirit is on God's lap now.

Spirit Died On Saturday

Spirit, our little paralyzed Yorkie who we adopted out in early January to a wonderful couple in Florida, died this weekend after a sudden deterioration in her spinal condition.  Nicci and Glenn Bennett, who flew to Montana to adopt Spirit, told us on Friday that she had begun to exhibit pain last week, along with increased anxiety and rapid breathing.  They had taken her to the vet, who said X-rays showed Spirit's spinal condition had worsened and was now affecting other parts of her spinal cord. 

The vet put Spirit on steroids for inflammation and pain medications, but cautioned that the prognosis was not good.  The vet said that given the type of degenerative problem Spirit had, surgery probably wasn't an option.  By Friday she couldn't hold her head up and couldn't sit up, and her back legs -- once the little powerhouses that propelled her along -- were suddenly weak, too.  On Saturday morning Nicci and Glenn took Spirit to see a neurologist at Florida Veterinary Specialists, who reviewed the X-rays and concurred with their primary care vet's findings.  During the course of Saturday the pain increased even as the pain meds were causing Spirit to throw up.

By Saturday evening Nicci and Glenn decided they didn't want their tiny girl to suffer, and their vet came over to the house to let Spirit go peacefully.  Nicci emailed us a short while later to say, "We love her so much and miss her so much already."

Alayne and I talked with Nicci and Glenn this evening.  We told them how sorry we were and that our hearts went out to them.  But we also told them that they had given Spirit the best life she could ever have enjoyed ... even if it was so short.  The Florida sunshine, the rides in the convertible, the rolling around on green grass (in February!), the round-the-clock love and care ... and being treated like a princess.  The top photo is one Nicci took of Spirit in the convertible just two weeks ago.

For a little no-name dog who was being kicked down the street in Butte, Montana ... well, Spirit had come a long way.  Dogs live very much "in the moment," and I think how they spend their final weeks or months -- even after a lifetime of misery -- can more than make up for everything that went before.  And I know that's certainly true in Spirit's case.  When Spirit took her last breaths Saturday evening, all she really knew was the life she had just enjoyed with Nicci and Glenn ... and that's all that mattered.

We told Nicci and Glenn that we couldn't imagine Spirit being with anyone else ... and she couldn't have been in more loving hands. 

This last photo is how we'll remember Spirit the most ... the sheer thrill and excitement of her first wheelchair ride.  We took this photo shortly after she arrived at the ranch, on the day she was fitted with her new wheels.  The wheelchair gave her mobility and independence after years of hopping on the ground.  It was the start of a new life.  But Nicci and Glenn gave her the rest ... and the very best ... of that new life.

Bless their hearts ... and Spirit's, too.

(Click on photo for larger image.)

We're In People Magazine!

The issue of People magazine that goes on sale tomorrow, Friday the 23rd, has a special section of stories called "Animal Rescue Heroes."  We're one of five different individuals or couples (well, we're the only couple) profiled in this feature.  The section begins on page 85, and the article on us is the last one in the series, on page 88.  It's a short piece and is titled "Creating A Sanctuary For Disabled Pets."  A reporter flew up from People's L.A. bureau last Monday, February 12th, to spend a day with us, and their photographer came out the following day.

We haven't seen the magazine yet; the reporter who did the story was kind enough to fax us the article from the advance copy he received today.  This is what the magazine cover looks like; the edition is dated March 5, for some reason, but it comes out tomorrow.

Brynn Has Her Surgery!

The senior equine surgeon at Washington State University's veterinary teaching hospital, Dr. Claude Ragle, called this afternoon with some great news -- he performed Brynn's surgery today and said he was "very happy" with how it went!  The operation, called a urethral extension, should fix our little blind girl's leaky plumbing that has left urine scalds all over her backside and thighs and down her legs.  Dr. Ragle cautioned, however, that it would be two weeks before we'd know for sure whether the surgery was a complete success, although we'd have a pretty good idea within a week if she was "springing any leaks."

So we have to be careful not to get our hopes up too much in the meantime.  Because of her small size (she's only 8 months old) and her abnormal plumbing, Brynn is not a typical urethral extension case.  Moreover, Dr. Ragle is now pretty certain that after two ultrasounds it appears Brynn's right kidney is no longer functioning, so we can't afford to have anything go wrong with her remaining kidney.

But overall Dr. Ragle was pleased with how the surgery itself went, and I think we can allow ourselves to be cautiously optimistic at this point.  Brynn has been in the hospital at WSU for three weeks, and we're anxious to get our girl home.

To everyone who contributed to our special surgery fund for her, THANK YOU for making this new day for Brynn possible!

Just Don't Call Me Goofy. Or Pointy Headed.

This rather odd looking fellow is, yes, our boy with a fused jaw, Travis.  I took this photo a couple of weeks ago after he "escaped" again from the dog yard and went zooming around the ranch at 90 miles an hour.  I forgot I hadn't posted it on the blog and re-discovered it tonight.

His jaw is fused from a rare muscle disease called masticatory myositis.  (Go ahead, say it fast three times.)  As a result, Travis can't even open his mouth to pant.  So after he's had a really good work-out, this is what he looks like.  In this photo he is actually breathing rapidly through his cheeks because there's a gap between his upper and lower jaw in one place (this is also where he can get his tongue out to slurp his food).  I just didn't capture the "poof" part when he was breathing out.

When this happens he ends up with this clown-like look, along with the funky pulled-back-ears thing.  His head is pointy because the jaw disease also affects the muscles on the top and sides of the head that are used to close the jaw.  (Interesting tidbit: There are different muscles  to open the jaw.)  What people usually first notice about Travis is his pointy head, but then we have to explain that's really not his main issue, it's the jaw.

Because panting is the primary way dogs cool off when they get hot, we really have to be careful with Travis in the summertime.  Of course he doesn't realize he can't cool off by panting, so he's at risk for overheating because he never slows down.  On hot summer days we keep him indoors a lot, even though he'd much rather be racing around outside. 

So not being able to pant is mostly a summer problem.  Being pointy headed ... well, that's a year-round problem.

(Click on photo for larger image.)

Show Me The Kibble

Little Daisy gets really worked up at meal time.  She gets so excited she acts like she's going to blow a gasket.  She also gets terribly bossy with the other dogs who are crowded around the dining table where we fix their bowls.  Daisy couldn't get care less that she's the smallest dog in the house ... actually, the smallest animal on the ranch!  One minute she's barking and growling at all the dogs around the table ("Back off, bucko, that food's for me!"), and the next minute she's jumping up and down on my shoes, urging me to "Hurry up!" with the food preparation business. "Hey, mister, what's taking so long up there?!"

So we came up with a new routine to keep her occupied while we fill the dog bowls ... I toss one piece of dry kibble across the floor.  She'll race to track that thing down and gobble it.  Because Daisy is so small, she can follow the kibble anywhere -- under the chair, under the cot, wherever it goes -- and retrieve it.  The only place that stumped her was when an errant toss on my part landed the kibble under the stove.  (Oops -- had to fish that one out ourselves.)  As soon as she hunts down one kibble and starts heading back to the table to give the other dogs what-for, I toss another piece of kibble in a new direction ... and off she goes!

(Most of the other dogs in the house are blind, so they're a bit mystified by what's going on around them at this point.)

Because of her spinal problem Daisy walks with a distinctive clump-clump-clump sound, her rear legs sometimes fishtailing sideways on her.  Thus even with my back turned I can tell when she's found her piece of kibble.  The clump-clump-clump sound is replaced by a crunch-crunch-crunch sound, and when I hear the clump-clump-clump start up again, I know it's time for another kibble toss.

I took this photo of Daisy this evening to show you her expectant pre-kibble toss look.

(Click on photo for larger image.)

Good News On Brynn

The equine surgeon at WSU, Dr. Claude Ragle, told me this evening that Brynn's kidney values remained normal AFTER they took her off IV fluids for 24 hours.  This means she is not in renal failure, which is such a relief.  He also said Brynn is back to her normal, chipper self.  They were not able to do the ultrasound today because Brynn got bumped from the schedule by an emergency case, so we still don't know the status of her other kidney. They plan to do that tomorrow.  But overall this was very encouraging news.

Time To See The Doctor

Alayne took three of the animals to the vet today -- blind Penny, old deaf Pappy and blind Turtle.  I took these photos this afternoon just before Alayne left for Helena with them.

Penny has a growth on her chest, kind of a weird lump hanging loosely under her skin.  It didn't feel like a routine fatty tumor.  Soon after she arrived here from a California shelter we had to have a mast cell tumor removed from her chest.  The operation was a success, but of course we always worry about these things coming back.  So when we discovered the growth, it was one of those "uh oh" moments. 

Our dear old German Shepherd Pappy has a skin mass on one leg that he has licked and licked until he's become almost obsessive about it.  It's benign and our vets have looked at it before.  But he's been working at it so much recently it's really become rather, um, gross.  Now we have to put a cone on Pappy to keep him from licking it.  Of course, that makes him a bit grumpy.

Once the camera came out, so too did Bailey the miniature Dachshund, who LOVES to have his photo taken (really!).  So as soon as he heard me start taking photos of Pappy, Bailey came scurrying over from the other side of the living room.  First he posed right next to Pappy's head (photo came out too blurry to use), then -- realizing Pappy isn't wild about having other dogs in his face -- he hopped over to the other bed to pose.

Finally there was blind Turtle, who needed to have her stitches removed following her eye surgery and also to get a T4 thyroid test.  We've noticed she's been losing weight, even though she seems to have a normal appetite.  We hope that's as simple a problem as being hyperthyroid and not something more worrisome.

(Click on photos for larger image.)