Thunder Hill Great Dane Rescue

- FRASIER - --
A rescued dog story
**********( After pictures below and he looks good )**********

Frasier is a male Great Dane with a heart of gold. He first came to live with me on May 26, 1998. Frasier was found wondering the streets by a county dog warden and taken to the local pound. Susan Beeler with Hearts & Paws organization happened to be there rescuing a dog when she saw Frasier. She took one look in his eyes and saw his strong will to live and immediately adopted him. She had Frasier for about one week then brought him to me. She knew that I did some Great Dane rescue and I had two Dane's of my own. Susan told me that as starved as Frasier was, if any of her rescued puppies came up to eat out of his food dish, Frasier would step aside and let them eat first.

Frasier was in such bad shape that he needed constant care and Susan knew I could give him this needed attention. He was less then 95 pounds when Susan adopted him from the pound. He had put on a little bit of weight by the time he was brought to me. I took one look at him and said, "Oh my God." That's all I could say. I have never seen a dog that skinny and still be alive.

You could see every bone on Frasier's body. His fur was thin and brittle. His skin was dry, flaky and itchy. He had huge callused on his elbow, stomach, and the tops of him feet from living a life on concrete. His eyes were somewhat sunken in from being dehydrated. His skin gave off an odor from being malnourished. The good side was he didn't have heartworms.

I had to take Frasier to the veterinarian because he developed a yeast infection in both ears and he had an eye infection in both eyes. I had to cle an his ears and put medicine drops in his ears twice a day. I hated doing it almost as much has Frasier hated it being done. I knew that his ears were sensitive and they hurt probably like when a child has an ear infection. He was so sweet about it. He wo uld see me coming with the drops and he would drop his dead down low and stand there and wait for me to finish.

He wasn't as good about getting the medicine in his eyes. I had to put ointment in his eyes 3 times a day for 2 weeks. He would get yellow goop in his eyes that looked like someone smeared a big glob of Vaseline in his eyes. I had to clean out his eyes and put the ointment in. If I even mentioned, "Oh, I need to clean your eyes," Frasier would drop his head and hide. He actually knew what those wor ds meant. I had to then sneak up on him while hiding the ointment. Once I held his head, he would stand there like such a good boy. I'm hoping that he will not need eye surgery. I think his eyes keep getting infected because his eyes are slightly sunken i n from dehydration. With each passing month, his eyes seem to be improving.

I give him medicated baths to help reduce the itching. Most of the problem is due from the flies just about eating him alive. He must have been kept in an outside kennel full of piles of fecal. This would attract many flies and they would land on him and bite his skin until it bled. This would cause his skin to become bumpy and itch. By scratching so much, he rubbed off some of his fur. Now that it is growing back, it is like whiskers and itches terribly. I keep apply a medicated spray and it helps.

Frasier looks very old. He has very wrinkled skin, especially on his face. Several veterinarians have seen Frasier and they do not think he is very old. His skin is wrinkled from being dehy drated and loosing so much weight so rapidly. I have to limit his activity to give his bones a chance to become strong again. I can't let him run or jump because he could fracture a bone. It is sad because I know he wants to run and play with my 2 Danes. It may take a full year for his bones to be strong again.

Frasier is now, Sept. 5, 1998, 135 pounds and still putting on weight. He is doing great and he is the most gentle, easy going, loving creature I have ever had. He looks at you with those big goopy eyes as if to say, "Just love me." Frasier loves all living creatures. He is so gentle with my 2 cats. He is very obedient and willing to please. It will be hard for me to give him up but that is what I do. I rescue animals, get them well and find them lov ing homes.

To date, no one knows who Frasier's previous owners were. We can only guess that Frasier was kept outside in a kennel on concrete. His owners apparently didn't want to bother with feeding him so they just let him starve. He either got lose one day or they turned him lose because they didn't want to bury him when he died.

Frasier finally got a new home. A fellow bird rescue person, Tammy drove all the way up from Georgia just to adopt him. He immediately fell in love with her two children. They just love him. After all, he is so loving and gentle how could anyone not love him.

Animal cruelty laws need to be changed. Some states make it a felony. Please check your state laws. We need to make animal cruelty a felony in all states.

DONATIONS ARE ALWAYS NEEDED AND GREATLY APPRECIATED. YOUR GENEROSITY HELPS SAVE DOG'S LIVES.

( As you can see by these two pictures that his calluses are not as big and you can no longer see his bones. He has come a long way in a few short months.)

We need your help now. Donations are way down. No money means dogs DIE at shelters because rescues don't have the money to get them out and pay for vet care.

Send your donations to:

THGDR

PO Box 183

Medina, Ohio 44258-0183