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| Photo from SDDAC |
In the yard he sniffed around, peed and pooped. Whenever I touched him he froze and flattened his ears and licked his lips, which are all signs he was uncomfortable with me touching him. So I let him be. I watched him walk his stiff old man waddle, sniffing, exploring. He was really stinkin' cute!
I ended up carrying him back to his kennel. While petting him I noticed he was thin, but carrying him I felt just how skinny he is. His spine and ribs are much too easily felt. When I put him back in the kennel he snapped at his poodle mix kennel mate. Very appropriate snap, old guys don't want to wrestle and play with young dogs!
I didn't get him out over the next week, but by the following Tuesday it was bothering me that Higgins was at the shelter. I still didn't know anything about where he came from but I saw how stiff and sore he was, and had glimpses of how quirky and charismatic he was. I hurt when I see old dogs at the shelter. Regardless of if they were intentionally dumped or simply got lost, they used to have a family. Someone who took care of them. Snuggled them, played with them. Loved them. And now all that is gone. Years of attention and love, and now nothing but a concrete floor and a feeder. I got out many dogs on Tuesday (Nov. 26th) including all the housebroken dogs. Then when I had about half an hour left I got Higgins out. The poodle mix was gone but he had two new kennel mates. I carried him to the interaction yard, as the back route has a rocky path that I didn't think his paws and sore legs would appreciate. After a few minutes I knew it. I was screwed. I texted the husband, "Would you be ok if I brought home a certain Mr. Higgins?" I waited, and watched Higgins. I waited. No answer after about 20 minutes. I put his leash back on, carried him back to his kennel. While carrying him I felt a lump on the front of his right shoulder but I couldn't tell if it was matted fur or under his skin.
I dunked my leash in the TripleTwo, washed my hands, and went to the office. I told one of the lovely staff ladies that I wanted to foster a dog. She was excited of course! I asked about any known history.
He was found as a stray on October 2nd. He'd been there since. They didn't know anything about him. No microchip, no history, no information. All they knew was what I knew: an old terrier mix. They guessed his age based on his teeth, and I'm guessing from the way he moves and waddles stiffly in an arthritic manner too. I asked if he could have the lump checked, his nails trimmed and eyes cleaned up before I took him home, she said of course and he had to be chipped and get his rabies vaccine too. I clenched my teeth on that one.. no way does a 10+ year old dog need a rabies shot, but I know it's the law here so no use arguing. I asked if I could tag along and she said sure. She got Higgins back out and carried him into medical. They checked the lump first. About the size of a marble, hard, but easily moved. They said it was odd. Not a good word for me to hear. Odd. It's weird. They got him up on the table and got a syringe. They poked the bump a couple times, pulling out whatever they could get out. A little bit of fluid came out, and the tech said she'd put it on a slide [under the microscope] later to see if there was anything notable. Then he got his rabies shot and microchip. He was a little squirmy but not bad. Next was his nails, which he didn't enjoy having clipped but other than a couple wiggle fits was pretty still. The tech did quick him once (cut too short and hit the blood vessel in the nail) and he squeaked and squirmed but calmed down pretty quick. After the nails she got out electric trimmers and he held his head still without a fuss as she trimmed the rock hard goopy crusty ick from the corners of his eyes.
The staff lady carried him back to the office, then went to get food for him. I started rummaging in the drawer of collars and harnesses to find one that fit. I found a couple that were too big, I'm used to bigger dogs! The staff lady came back with the food and found a great collar for him. I left him in the office while I set up the soft crate in my car. I went back, all set, and put him in the car to take home.
I got home and rushed inside. I set up Diesel's old crate in the living room. I grabbed our old sheets and piled them up in the crate. I put Denali and Kaytu outside. I went back out and put a leash on Higgins and carried him inside.
Zebulon walked right up to him, face to face. OH CRAP. I FORGOT ABOUT THE CATS was my first thought. I kept the leash loose but just barely any slack in it. They sniffed noses for a moment and then Higgins kept on walking. Whew! He explored a little and when he got near the back door I pulled the curtain back. I let just Denali in first. It went exactly as I expected. She excitedly went to sniff him and he barked a single strong bark and snapped at her. (When I say he "snaps" I mean an air snap, no physical contact). After they'd sniffed a little I let Kaytu in and the same thing happened. Good! Higgins is not being mean at all. He is old, stiff, and sore, had just been poked and prodded and such, and no way in Hell are my dogs ever going to wrestle and roughhouse with him. They need to know from the first moment to give him space. I think of it as the equivalent of an old man on his front porch yelling at the kids, "Get off my lawn you young whippersnappers!" For the rest of the evening there were bouts of the girls getting too close and him barking, lots of bared teeth that come before the snap, and he even barked at Zebulon when he sniffed his butt too long. I don't see anyone else ever having that problem, Zeb is such a strange cat. Overall Higgins has ignored the cats but he doesn't want to walk right next to them so I wonder if he previously lived with a cat that was quick to swat at him.
I put the girls back outside and carried Higgins upstairs where husband was sleeping. I woke him up by standing in the doorway, asking if he got my text. He hadn't. I said, "This is Higgins," and set Higgins on the bed next to him. I asked him if it was ok, he said he wished we had talked about it but it was fine. We've since discussed it further and while I wish we had discussed it too, Higgins is here to stay for at least the Thanksgiving weekend. The shelter is closed Sundays and Mondays so if things aren't going well by then I have no hesitation in taking him back. Our lives and our pets will always come first no matter how much a certain dog is tugging my heartstrings.
The rest of Tuesday was spent making sure the girls didn't get in his face too much, and having him relax in his crate. He ate well which made me happy because a very stressed dog will not eat. I went to bed at about 1:00am which is normal time for me. I crated him, leaving the crate in the living room. I figured he hadn't really been upstairs and that would be stressful to change locations again, and I want him to be comfortable sleeping by himself since I have no idea what a potential future family would be doing with him at night. Better to not have him used to being in the bedroom. Higgins started barking at 1:30. I immediately got up and went downstairs and carried him straight outside to potty. He peed, I praised him, then put him right back in the crate. He started barking again about half an hour or so later. I went down and repeated the process and he peed again. Well, at least he peed. Back to bed.. and almost immediately he started barking again. I knew he didn't have to pee again so thought maybe putting him in Kaytu's crate in the bedroom would work. Nope. He was panting really hard and started barking again. Husband had work in the morning and by now it was about 2:30am. No sleep for the last hour. I apologized to husband and took Higgins back downstairs. I put him in his crate and turned the TV on. I have dozens on episodes of The Twilight Zone recorded and started watching those. He didn't make a peep the rest of the night. I didn't sleep much in my comfy chair that normally knocks me out- and all our friends who come over and sit in it- so when husband came down in the morning at about 7:00am, I went back upstairs. I figured if Higgins started barking I could ignore it now and wait him out. He didn't make another sound and I slept until about 10:30.
Wednesday he seemed a little perkier. His tail lifted a few times, I had only ever seen it hanging down with the tip curled up. He had a little more pep in his step. He only snapped at the girls a couple times during the entire day; they had worked things out really well. I emailed the staff to let them know he was doing ok, and asked about the lump. I got a reply pretty quickly saying it was determines to just be a cyst. Good news for Higgins! I brushed him some, and I tried to get him to play. He's not interested in any kind of toy. Ropes, balls, flirt pole, cat toys, nothing. I figure he's still too stressed, and maybe too stiff to play well. I got a board to put as a ramp out our back door, it's about a 4-6" drop from the door to the patio but seeing him struggle to hop up it was sad and he used the board right away. He was getting more adventurous and got into the trashcan in the bathroom (which I heard right away) so I put the trashcan out of reach. I had no idea what to do to entertain him, so modified the muffin tin game which is normally played with tennis balls or plastic Easter eggs.
At first I made it super easy by having uncovered treats in the pan before covering any of them. I used the fabric strips I'd cut for the Hol-ee Roller game for my girls. He seems to love this game!
I went to bed at the same time Wednesday night (Thursday morning), and the same thing happened. After going down the second time, I left the TV on with the channel turned to music "soundscapes" and he didn't bark again.
Thursday was very busy cleaning and cooking and getting ready for our Thanksgiving meal. After letting him out in the morning, he came back in and wagged his tail- the first time I'd ever seen it wag!! He was even better than Wednesday, perkier and peppier, more active. Our friends were coming over with their male husky who is 8 months old. I had Higgins completely covered in his crate when they arrived. We let the huskies outside to romp and play. I told our friends that Higgins would snap at their dog, they have an old pug too so their dog is used to being snapped at by old dogs! After letting the dogs run around a bit I let them in, and sure enough Higgins snapped at their husky but he got the hint very quickly and they left Higgins alone. I could tell Higgins was stressed by them playing so I gave him breaks covering him up in the crate and made sure to not leave him "stuck" in a corner. Overall he did great! My friends really liked him. By this point he was much better about being petted too, not so nervous about it, which I think is due to him being in less pain.
That night I put him in his crate about an hour before I wanted to go to bed. I turned the soundscapes channel on and covered his crate. He barked once, I immediately got up, he barked a second time as I was uncovering him, and I took him straight outside. He peed. I put him straight back in his crate and covered it again. When I was ready for bed I sat outside his crate and lifted a corner of the blanket. He was sitting up. I yawned and sighed, and blinked heavily. He laid down. [It's like magic! Check out Relax On A Mat by Nan Arthur]. I pulled the blanket down again and waited. I heard him sit up after a couple minutes so immediately lifted the corner and repeated. Sigh. Yawn. Blink sleepily. Yawn. He laid down. I put the blanket down. I sat and waited for a good 5 minutes. I peeked. Still laying down. Another 5 minutes. I stood up quietly and went upstairs. He didn't make a sound all night!!
Today he was great. So active! I can tell he's feeling better physically, and his stress is coming down as he settles in. Perfect day for a bath!
He shook the entire time, I think from being scared and maybe a little from simply being unsteady on the slippery tub floor. His legs shake sometimes anyway when he's standing still on the floor. I kept one hand under his chest the entire time to support him. He let me wash him all over, and then I used my hair dryer to get him mostly dry. He was doing so well that when he was finally getting impatient with the drying I let him go. I carried him downstairs and out to potty, then once inside I combed him. He seemed to really enjoy the combing! I used a flea comb and backcombed him to get all the fur separated so nothing would get matted. It worked really well.
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| Licking his legs dry next to Denali |
I had him do the muffin tin game again, this time with all the fabric strips folded flat. Took him a while and he had a great time! I took him on a walk to get the mail. I snuggled him and pet him a lot. On my way home from mushing Kaytu I stopped and got him a smaller Kong and put his dinner in that. He had a hard time with it so I ended up scooping most of it back out, but I think with practice he'll love it. I don't think he had to snap at the girls at all today.
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