Tonight's picture was taken in July of 2004. Seeing photos like this actually make me laugh because I remember what it was like to try to hold Mattie, or contain him in any way! It usually did not go well. Mattie was a free spirit and as such did not like his car seat, a stroller, or to be picked up and held! As you can see in this photo, Mattie was squirming out of my arms and wanted to get down. Also notice the sippy cup! Some kids have a stuffed animal, mine had his sippy cup.
Quote of the day: No one appreciates the very special genius of your conversation as the dog does. ~ Christopher Morley
Of course there is the trauma associated with living in a high kill shelter, where Sunny is coming from. A high kill shelter means that more than 90% of dogs are euthanized who come to this shelter. So you can imagine the turmoil associated with living in such a facility! However, what the trainer prepared us for was the actual stress and trauma of just being transported up here to DC to be adopted.
Next Saturday, July 16, Sunny and 15 other dogs are being caged and transported in individual cages in a van from South Carolina to DC. They manage this 8 hour van ride without breaks. Naturally each of these dogs is highly stressed in their cage and some dogs are barking non-stop, some crying, and you get the picture of what this van trip must be like. As soon as the dogs are unloaded from the van, adopters pick up the dogs. So literally when we pick up Sunny, he will be in a state and as such we are told we may not see his true personality for days, weeks, or some dogs months until he gets comfortable with us. These dogs from high kill shelters are not used to living in homes or with people, so they need to be socialized. The trainer commented that since our dog is part border collie, this will be a mixed blessing. He will be very intelligent and therefore trainable, yet requires great mental stimulation. Such stimulation isn't necessarily associated with physical stimulation, which was eye opening to me.
I feel like I learned a lot in this session and first and foremost learned that dogs aren't like us. They don't have feelings in the same way we do, meaning if you set limits and structure, or try to correct behaviors, they don't hold a grudge or get upset with you. Dogs need to know who the leader is in the household, and not unlike raising a child require boundaries and love. I have great uncertainty about raising a dog, despite being the one who wants to adopt a rescue dog. Not having any experience with this always makes me nervous, but I figure if I can raise Mattie and deal with cancer, I will figure out Sunny as well in time. Also when in doubt I will hire a trainer. Because I can see it is about learning several basic behavioral techniques in order to have a happy dog, yet it is an art about how to apply them and to be diligent about doing it consistency.
When I got home today, I received an email about Sunny. I learned that Sunny has been diagnosed with heart worm. Typically dogs today are treated monthly with preventative heart worm medication, not unlike the monthly flea and tick medications they receive. These monthly medications prevent dogs from getting heart worm. In Sunny's case, he is living in a shelter that clearly did not provide him with heart worm medication. Some adopters refuse to adopt a dog who tested positive for heart worm, because of the expense and the fact that you have to administer medications and take your dog for three shots and further testing. However, given that heart worm is curable, we are continuing with the adoption process. But heart worm is a serious condition is left untreatable and while under treatment, we are required to limit the physical activity of the dog.
Heartworm Disease is a parasitic disease transmitted by
mosquitoes. It is not contagious to humans and cannot be transmitted from dog
to dog. Heartworm is easily prevented by giving the dog a preventive
tablet once a month, but unfortunately in the rural areas where most of the dogs being rescued are from, prevention of diseases is not a high priority.
Heartworms slowly grow in the dog’s heart and arteries over months and years of
infection. There are no symptoms at first but it eventually you may notice an
occasional cough, weight loss, and fatigue after minimal exercise.
Today we showed Indie, Mattie's stuffed animal of a Jack Russell Terrier. I entitle this.... "Round one, Indie versus Jack." If you look closely you will see that Indie is batting at Jack!
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