Dave Update

The other day I was thinking about Dave and wondering how he's settling in to his new home, so this email update from his forever family had perfect timing:

Carolyn,

We are not sure Bo and Dave are getting along very well.  (J/K) Please see attached photos.  Jake, formerly known as Dave, is doing great!  He fits in perfectly.  Him and Bo are best buds.  The kids love him and he is becoming quite the Momma's boy, following me around all day and cuddling on the couch.  He has been walking 1.5-2.0 miles of mine and Bo's walking route everyday and loves it.  His stamina is not quite there yet to go farther and I don't want him to burn too many calories.  Our vet feels confident that the palsey he has from the head injury could heal itself.  Already, because of all the mouthing and stuff him and Bo are doing, his eating has improved dramatically.  Thank you again for everything.  We love him.

 Bo on the left, Dave (Jake) on the right

Dave (Jake) on the right again

 Dave (Jake) on the left - look at how muddy they are!

To say that this email and pictures give me the warm fuzzies would be a serious understatement.  I can't even put into words how happy it makes me to see Dave (well, Jake) snuggling with his new brother Bo and to hear how much his family loves him.  I mean, look at them!  You can just tell that they're inseparable and totally best friends (and well cared for).


Yay, Dave!

Dave is home!

In his forever home, that is.  It's exactly the type of home I wanted for him.  The family has a dog, two kids, a fenced in yard and they weren't phased by the idea that Dave may have had a head injury.  Their bouncy yellow lab that's just a little bit younger than Dave was all wags when we arrived for their home check, and when we introduced them it was love at first sight.  After the requisite sniffing they starting running around the yard playing chase and having fun as if they had been friends forever.  The kids and Dave had already taken to each other when they met yesterday.  Dave gives them kisses and then rolls over so they can give him tummy rubs, and they happily oblige.  And of course his new mom and dad are totally smitten.  I could not be more thrilled about the family that adopted Dave.  More importantly, Dave is thrilled about his new family.

The Cone of Shame

Today Dave lost his manhood, but more than that, he lost a little bit of his dignity.  Since I promised Dave I wouldn't show the other dogs, please have your four legged friends avert their eyes from the screen for the moment.

And behold, The Cone of Shame:

Okay, it's actually called an Elizabethan collar (E-collar for short).  But I'm pretty sure dogs use words to describe it that none of our grandmothers would like to hear us say, so we'll leave it at that.  It's to keep him from licking or biting at the incision from his neutering to help make sure he won't get an infection.  Dave is still pretty drugged up right now, as evidenced by his tongue's attempted escape from his mouth.

After some pain meds, a little dinner and a good night's sleep he'll be feeling much better by tomorrow.  He'll get the hang of walking around with this contraption on his head pretty soon, too.  Until then I'll just have to stifle my giggles when he gets stuck going around corners or sniffing the floor.

 

Get well soon, Dave!

Meet Dave!

Dave is our very first foster dog of 2010 (we had to go on a brief fostering hiatus due to Lenny's allergies, but that's a whole other post in and of itself).  I have to say, Dave has one of the best dog names ever - completely hilarious, but fits him perfectly and he already responds to it!  Dave is a yellow lab (mix?) and is about a year old.  He was rescued from a high kill shelter in Southern Illinois February 9th and came to our home on February 17th.  Dave has one of the sweetest temperaments I have come across.  He is very loving and gentle.  Great with kids, other dogs and knows that cats aren't snacks!

Check it out, Dave's enjoying a doggy cupcake from one of our favorite places, Bentley's Corner Barkery.

Mmmmm....tasty!  Looks so yummy I even wanted to take a bite!  Don't worry, I restrained myself (although it's made from human grade ingredients, so I could have if I wanted to).


Really, you don't notice right away that there is anything different about Dave.  He's very responsive to commands.  He walks so nicely on a leash and even sits or lays down for you to clean his paws when you come back inside.  Just all around a fantastic dog. 

But Dave is special.  Dave likely has some neurological damage; this causes his tongue to always go out the right side of his mouth and makes eating a bit difficult (and messy!).  His pupils don't dilate properly either.  He probably has damage to his 6th, 7th or 8th cranial nerve.  There is no way to know for sure (except perhaps an MRI), but given how young he is, the most likely explanation for his neurological damage is head trauma.  I can only hope that Dave was involved in a terrible accident and didn't suffer at the hands of a human.  But even if Dave was abused you would never guess it if you met him because he is so loving and friendly.  And now that he is rescued and safe, the journey begins to find the family that can look past what some might call imperfection for a wonderful dog.