Jake
Saturday, October 22, 2005
Janet said that her foster dog, Ben, has been panting a lot and can�t get up sometimes after a fall when playing.  We had already knew that Ben has some arthritis problems, but now both Heather and I thought Ben had heart and lung problems too.  So I offered to drive Janet and Ben to Heather�s vet in Atlanta for x-ray and diagnosis (Heather�s vet gives rescue discount).  Saturday is always very busy at the vet�s, but somehow Heather called the vet�s office and they fitted us in (Heather had to go to an ESRA fundraiser event in North Carolina that day, so she didn�t go to the appointment with us).  We wanted x-rays to be taken of Ben�s joints and heart/lung.  At first the vet said they x-ray machine were all booked up for that day, but after she heard that we drove an hour and half each way to get there, she was able to fit us in also.  It turns out from the x-rays, Ben has very severe arthritis, plus enlargement of heart and abnormality of the lungs also.  Before giving him any meds, the vet wanted to do more tests on him to make sure his body can withstand the drugs.  But the tests would take a whole day to perform, so we decided to take Ben home for the weekend, and I could bring him back for test the following weekend if needed (on my way to Knoxville).  Ben really doesn�t act like he has severe arthritis, he always acts like he�s five years old and very cheerful, even though he was tied outside to a tree for eight years.  But he�s very well taken care of by Janet and enjoy life as in inside dog.
On Monday, October 17, 2005, I received an email from Heather asking about helping to transport a dog from Montgomery to Birmingham.  I would be getting the dog from a woman who operates a Golden Retriever rescue and volunteers at an animal shelter and found the Springer, and transport the dog to his foster mom in Birmingham.  The animal shelter that had the dog didn�t have enough space in their kennel, so they just chained him to the fence.  After ESRA had agreed to take the dog, the rescue volunteer took the dog to her vet to board until he can be transported.  When I got in touch with Lisa, the woman from Golden rescue, she said that she has two other dogs to transport to Montgomery, so she has to coordinate with the two other purebred rescue groups too.  The foster mom in Birmingham couldn�t get the dog on Mondays or Tuesdays because she works long hours on those days, but Lisa said she would be taking off for the weekend from Thursday until Monday while her house was being fixed after the hurricanes.  However, Heather said if we have to transport Monday or Tuesday, it�s okay too, I�ll just bring the dog back to Opelika with me to board at the vet clinic until the foster mom in Birmingham can take him.  When I hadn�t heard back from Lisa on Wednesday, she said she didn�t have time that week to transport the dogs, besides, the trip to and back from Montgomery would be at least six hours for her.  So we waited for a few more days.  Heather didn�t know where Lisa or the dog (called Eager by Lisa, but Heather decided to call him Channing) was located, so I did a little search on Google with Lisa�s name and Golden Retriever rescue, and found out they are located near Mobile, just like we had suspected (because she talked about hurricane and six hours drive from Montgomery), AND I got her email address too (much easier to organize my thoughts when emailing than talk over the phone, because I worried about Lisa having to spend extra money on her cell phone bill).  Over the weekend, I thought I might sweeten the deal to get Lisa to transport Channing by offering to meet her somewhere an hour south of Montgomery, that would save her two hours of drive, and also I told her I could help transport the other two dogs to Montgomery too if they are okay riding in the car without crate (my car�s too small to fit in a large sized crate, one dog is Chesapeake Bay Retriever, the other an English Bulldog).  Then on Sunday, the foster mom in Birmingham emailed to say that she couldn�t take the dog anymore, because her car broke down, and that�s just a good time to take in a new foster dog on top of trying to get her car fixed.  On Monday, Lisa called and emailed back to say that my offer sounds great, and she would be willing to drive Channing to Greenville, AL (about 40 miles south of Montgomery) to meet me.  She wouldn�t be brining the other two dogs because she didn�t think any two of them could ride without crate in the car together.  So on the morning of Wednesday, October 26, 2005, I drove to Greenville and met Lisa at a restaurant parking lot.  Lisa got Channing out of a crate from the back of her van, so I�m guessing he�s okay being in a crate, at least when he knows people are around.  When Channing and I first met, I let him sniff my hand, and he mouthed it.  He pulls on the leash when walking, but definitely not as bad as Jake�s ripping-your-arm-off type pulling.  Both Lisa and I had Channing on cheap slip leads (collar leash combination), and we were able to control him with those flimsy leads. Lisa said they think he�s potty trained, because the shelter and the vet clinic people told her that he never soils inside his cage and kept his cage very clean.  On his records, the shelter had given him vaccines and neutered him, and on the vet record, it says he�s about 8 months old, 39 pounds, dewormed, had heartworm test and preventative.  Channing has demodectic mange (not the contagious kind; he probably got it from his mom when he was born, and the stress of being a stray and in the shelter brought the symptoms out; dogs with demodectic mange should not be bred!), but Lisa�s vet has dipped him once, and Lisa said no more dipping is needed, and the hair around his muzzle is already starting to grow back (although it still looked a bit pink and raw to me).  Lisa also said he had ear infection, but the vet clinic gave him all his ear medicine, so he�s not traveling with any medication.  Also Lisa showed me the mats around Channing�s ears.  Heather had said that she�ll probably have me drive Channing to her vet on Friday when I pass through Atlanta on my way to Knoxville, because it would be easier for her find Channing a foster home from Atlanta.  I thought about driving straight through and drop Channing off in Atlanta that day, but I got a little tired just with three and half hours of driving, so we just drove to the Opelika vet as planned.
Heather had asked me to go visit Channing as he�s at the vet�s, so we could learn more about his personality and behavior, and it would be easier for Heather to find a foster home that can take care of Channing�s needs that way.  When I dropped Channing off at Cathy�s vet in Opelika, and I asked them to check Channing�s ears again, and his eyes too, because his eyes were red and had a lot of discharge.  And Channing was licking his behind when he was in my car, so I asked them to check his anal glands and empty them if they were full.  Channing also jumped on the reception desk and me and the vet tech who came to take him to the kennel.  But I told them that there�s no need to give Channing a bath.  He had some doggie odor, but not shelter smell, so it wasn�t that bad, I was thinking maybe his foster family would give him a bath in a couple days.  As we were waiting in the reception area, I told Channing to �Sit�, and he did!  But he did not appear to know any other obedience commands.  Around 5 PM, I brought Anastasia with me to visit Channing at the vet office, to see if he�s okay with cats, and to clip out the mats around his ears.  The vet tech left us in an exam room.  I had Channing on a short lead, then I took Anastasia out of her carrier.  Channing kept sniffing Anastasia, for about 60 seconds, during most of this time, Anastasia just stood there and let him sniff.  Then she walked very slowly back to her carrier.  Channing lost interest in the cat after 60 seconds.  So I started brushing Channing, and I found two large mats on his thighs by his tail.  So I started clipping mats from his thighs.  Channing was moving a lot, and I brought a Nylabone to entertain him, also to keep him from becoming bored in the cage.  He gnawed the Nylabone for about five seconds, so I think he knows what it is.  After I clipped off the first mat, he was very interested in playing and licking it.  When I wouldn�t let him play with the mat, he would stand up and walk around, so I let him lick and chew it to keep him still, so I could clip out the mats.  He mouthed and nipped my hands many times as I was grooming him.  It took me about thirty minutes just to clip out the two mats on his thighs and most of the mats around his ears, but then he started to scream whenever I touched him, trying to clip the mats out.  I think he found a way to prevent me messing with his ears (very smart dog); I think he was just getting bored.  So I had to stop (didn�t want the vet office people to think I was torturing him), and took him and Anastasia outside for a short walk.  The vet tech gave me a note from the vet about his examination.  The vet said both ears and eyes appear normal.  But if more discharge from the eyes, then bring Channing back to see the vet.  Also he said the mange was not contagious, but Channing should be dipped SIX times every two weeks!  They found his anal glands to be very full (typical of a dog who had lived in a confined space for more than two weeks), so they drained it.  The vet said, �Channing is full of life.�  Indeed he is a very sweet puppy, but comes with it are also puppy behaviors.  But I�m sure his foster mom and his adopters will teach him the proper ways of living with humans.  Besides, his nipping and mouthing aren�t biting, so he does have pretty good bite inhibition.
On Thursday, October 27, I went to visit Channing around 3 PM.  Originally I had planning to bring him back to my apartment for the bath, but I was just too tired to have to clean up the bathroom afterwards.  So we stopped by Petco�s grooming department on the way home.  I asked to use their self-wash service.  I�ve used the self-wash service of a locally-owned pet supply store with Lexi before, but I just wanted to see how Petco�s work.  Petco charges $10 for the self service, the pet supply store�s $5.  While we were waiting for the groomer to write up the ticket for the service, I got some doggie biscuit from the counter, and told Channing to Sit.  With treats, he did it right away, and boy did he love the treats.  I forgot to ask how�s his eating at the vet clinic.  When we were paying for the service at the main store�s cashier register, there were three or four other customers there, and a male customer asked to pet Channing.  Channing loved the attention, so he�s okay with males.  I told the guy that the dog�s for adoption, but his wife made a comment and sounded like she was a little impatient.  Petco had plastic aprons by the stainless steel bathtub, but I didn�t use it, it just looked too bulky.  But they did have a rubber brush and ladder for the dog to walk into the waist-high tub.  And four shampoos to choose from.  I used the odor control one.  I asked the groomer if there�s a pair of scissors I could use to cut out Channing�s mats, but they said it�s against their policy to lend out scissors.  Channing just had two small mats on his right ear, so I thought I would wait until we get back to my apartment to cut them out.  Channing wouldn�t walk on the ladder, so I had to carry him into the tub, and I used the loop hook on the bathtub to prevent him from jumping out of the tub.  He was very good throughout the bath, didn�t move at all, except he backed away once when I started washing his face.  I shampooed him twice, just to make sure I got as much doggie odor out as possible.  He was okay in the tub also when I towel dried him, and he figured out how to use the ladder to walk out of the tub.  When I started drying him with the blow dryer, however, he freaked out.  I admit it was pretty loud, but Channing kept getting out of the loop even though I hooked it onto the wall.  So I just took him home, even though he was still damp.
When I opened my apartment door, Jake ran toward us and Anastasia was by the door also.  As soon as she saw I brought back another dog, she walked away.  Jake started sniffing Channing, and Channing took on the submissive role, tail tucked in and just stood there to let Jake sniff him all over.  When Jake was done, Channing sniffed him for a few seconds.  I left Channing�s leash on him, so I could separate them easily if they don�t get along.  But Jake and Channing started playing right away.  They were running in my apartment for about five minutes, Anastasia stayed in her bed and watched the dogs play, so Channing didn�t even notice her.  Then after five minutes, I separated the dogs, took Channing to my bedroom, closed the bedroom door, and took Jake out potty.  During the five minutes we were outside, I did not hear Channing whining or barking in my bedroom, and he did not potty or poop inside of my apartment the entire 30 minutes he was there.  After Jake and I came back, I went back to the bedroom to finish clipping out Channing�s mats.  He was moving around a lot still, excited, energy level typical for a Springer puppy.  He nipped me about three times on that day, a lot less than the day before.  I didn�t have a lot of time before having to bring him back to the vet clinic before they close, so I tied Channing to a table for him to settle down faster.  He did still try to move around, but after a few minutes, just like when I first groomed Brenna, he realized he couldn�t move and calmed down a lot.  It took me another 25 minutes or so to finish clipping out the mats, clean his ears, put gel in his eyes, blow dry him some more.  He moved a lot when I brought out the ear cleaner and bag of cotton balls, but he settled down and lied on his side once he realized that I wasn�t going to hurt him with them.  When we were all done, we still had another 30 minutes before I had to take Channing back to the vet, so I decided to take Channing and Jake to the tennis court to play, so they wouldn�t annoy the neighbor downstairs.
The next morning, Friday, October 28, I got a phone call from Heather as I was loading up the car for the Knoxville trip.  Heather said Karen, Snoopy�s foster mom, is going to foster Channing too, so I called Karen to ask her about dropping Channing off at her house.  Since Channing�s going to a home, I called and asked the vet clinic to put Advantage on him.  Anastasia stayed in her carrier in the front passenger seat, while the dogs stayed in the backseat.  Janet didn�t hear back from Heather about taking Ben to the vet in Atlanta, so I didn�t go to pick him up.  I had walked Jake earlier that morning, so he was a little tired, but Channing was full of energy, wanting to play.  They did play for a few seconds a few times while they were in the car, but they settled down and slept after an hour.  It was pretty funny, I know my car�s not big enough for them to sleep head to head, but I thought maybe they could snuggle together.  Well, they took turns sitting up and lying down.  One of them would sit and the other would lie down for about ten minutes, and then they would switch.  They did that for about an hour, finally Jake had enough of Channing trying to play with him, Jake even stuck his head into the center console and gave me a pleading look, and he decided to sleep on the floor board instead, and let Channing have the backseat.  Now they each have their own space, they slept the rest of the trip.  I decided to stop by a pet supply store in Atlanta on the way, to get some cat food for Anastasia and dog treats for the dogs in Knoxville.  Karen lives near Heather and Lexi, but I couldn�t find her address on the map, so I called her for her to meet me near the highway exit, and we went back to her house to get some supply for Ben that Heather was going to give me.  Karen asked me to help her to introduce Channing to Blue and Snoopy.  So Channing and I stood in the front yard, while Karen brought out Blue and Snoopy.  Snoopy looks all cleaned up this time.  Snoopy sniffed Channing for a few seconds and didn�t care.  The boys sniffed each other for longer time, but I think Snoopy was the top dog of the three, then Blue, then Channing.  Blue barked at Channing when Channing sniffed at him for too long, and Channing backed off.  Snoopy growled at the boys when they were circling around sniffing each other, but Karen said Snoopy tells Blue off too.  Sounds like Snoopy�s the matriarch of the three.  Karen said Snoopy�s really sweet, her husband just loves Snoopy�s affectionate nature, but both Snoopy and Blue are both pending adoption.  Blue is going to be tested to be a police dog (narcotic unit) in Maryland, and Snoopy�s new home is going to be in Long Island, New York.  Karen said she will miss both dogs.  (On November 5 and 6 weekend, Snoopy and Blue went to their new homes with the help of a large transport relay team.  I miss Snoopy already.)
On the way to the tennis court, we saw a group of kids, ages 5 to teenage, and Channing got excited.  So he�s definitely not afraid of them, maybe even wanting attention from them.  But the kids were not used to dogs, so they didn�t want us to come closer.  Jake and Channing run around and chased each other in the tennis court.  Channing has even more energy than Jake does!  But after ten minutes, I think both of them got bored and they just sniffed around.  Jake mounted Channing twice, so Jake was definitely the dominant one of the two.  When I drove Channing back to the vet, I took Jake with us as well, because if I had to take Channing with me to Atlanta the next day, I wanted to see if the dogs could get along in the car without crate.  Before I started the car, both of them tried to come up to the front seat once, but after I started the engine, they were both really good in the backseat, not even playing, just sitting or lying down, during the 10 miles to the vet clinic.  Heather emailed to say that Channing probably needs one more dipping, but that should be it.  Now he�s out of the shelter and boarding, his immune system should take care of the mange mites.  Lisa emailed to say that they did give him Capstar when Channing first arrived at her vet�s, but they didn�t give him any flea preventative.
Jake and Anastasia and I continued our Knoxville trip.  At a rest stop, I let Jake out for potty break, and gave him some water and the two Halloween cookies I got him.  I don�t usually give my animals treats, unless they are being trained to learn new commands, but Jake has been doing so well, helping me with Channing, that I just had to reward him for being such a wonderful dog.
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