Pat, Please tell me Klouse's story. It will make my heart feel warm.
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I took Vasha back to her pen at the old lady's house this morning. Very sad. I was on the heating pad yesterday even resting my back. Vash was on the bed nest to me. When I saw that it was getting dark we got up to lock the chickens in their house. I don't know what set her off but she got in full kill mode. Yelling at her had no effect. When she ran into the chicken house and grabbed a hen I ran in and tackled her. The hen got away but didn't come back all night long.
I beat Vasha and said NO!!! but she had no clue what I was beating her for. She ignored the beating. I had to drag her on her back by her front legs back into the house. She turned into her normal lady like self immediately. When I took her back she seemed just as happy to be back in her pen as she was living the good life here with me.
Sorry to hear that but sometimes no matter our best intentions it is just not feasable. One of our latest fosters (or should I say failed fosters as we are properly adopting him) does have a bit of a chase instinct after our runner ducks and some cats but he does not harm them once he makes contact. We have had 2 or 3 killed over the years and it is not an experience I want to repeat in a hurry. Take care
Here you go Liz...
My daughter growing up always wanted a "BIG" dog. At the time we already had dogs. So Diana grew up, went to college and meet Mike, her man friend. After college Diana went to work and a couple years into her working life she accepted a job transfer to Maryland. She and Mike packed up and moved. After living there a couple years Diana and Mike bought a house and it was time for her "BIG" dog. She did some research and decided on a Mountain Swiss dog and starting looking.
She actually managed to find one at a local rescue. So she and Mike went and meet the dog. He was calm, relaxed and huge. They liked him and decided to adopt him. So they make the arrangements with the rescue and bought him home a couple days later.....then all heck broke loose. At the time Klause was a under a year old but already 110 pounds or so.
Once home Klause turned into the energetic puppy he actually was. Apparently it seems the dog was sedated during their first visit with the dog at the rescue...oops but bad form. Diana fell totally in love with the dog and Klause fall totally in love with Diana but suddenly Mike had a competitor for Diana's attention.
So the good thing it appeared Klause was housebroken but the bad thing was what to do with all that energy. Plus Mike discovered that dog had one very bad habit. The dog would run tight circles around Mike and jump up on Mike and grab his tee-shirt. So the dog would liberally shed the shirt off Mike. So Mike and Diana had to figure out ways to drain the energy which helped to calm the dog. Two or four hour bike rides became the norm, sometimes twice a day. Adding a dog friendly pack allowed Klause to carry his own water. They slowly got a handle on the dog clothes shedding dance. Mike got a handle on on being the pack leader with Klause. Sometimes Klause would go into "protection mode" against Mike when Diana was around. I know there is other stuff Diana did not tell me as I suggested that she NOT get such a large dog due to health issues of large dogs plus not being a great fit for their lifestyle.
I finally got to meet Klause one Christmas. Klause had calmed down considerably and was more or less a decent dog. Having never been around a large dog I found Klause a bit intimidating plus Klause would run into people sometimes. Now I am not even five foot tall so a run in with a 130 pound dog would lay me out flat and perhaps sent me to the hospital. I did find my mojo with Klause and we get on quite well.
Since that Christmas Diana and Mike have moved back to Florida and we get to puppy sit every now and again. So I did not have grand babies but grand puppies instead.
A couple months ago Klause fell and started to limp. After a couple weeks Diana and Mike took Klause to the vet for x-rays. When Diana and Mike went to pick Klause up and get the results of the x-rays the vet said he has never seen such a bad set of knees and hips. :( Plus he said if he tried to fix one (knee or hip) it was make the other (knee or hip) worse. So the bottom line it was 20k to try and fix with no guarantees. This broke Diana's heart. So the bottom line the dog will be on anti-inflammatories the rest of his life. The vet gave Klause a couple of years of comfortable life and he is currently three. So Mike and Diana will enjoy him and be careful with him. Basically Klause ended up in the best situation possible.
Klause the mini-horse.
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Diana and her doggy crew.
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That's a beautiful story, Pat. What a shame that a dog just 3 years old has such a short time left. He's a handsome boy.
Veterinary care is terribly expensive where you live. If you lived closer I would send you to my vet. He charges $800 to $1000 per knee and 10 years ago when he removed the femoral head on my Standard Poodle it was $800.
Liz, who knows how long Klause may live...hopefully longer then the vets suggests. Diana's other two pups are poodle/chihuahua mixes named Ben and Jerry. They are bothers and Jerry was born with rotated kneecaps (has bowed legs). Vet told Mike when the dog was two that Jerry needed surgery in order to be able to walk in later years. Jerry did not have the surgery (Mike couldn't afford it when Jerry was two) and today Jerry is 15 and walks fine. So who knows...
Pat
Wishing Klause all the best. In my experience if hips or knees are going to be a major issue you would notice by the age of 6-12 months. If he got to 3 years and just noticed then because he tweaked something then it should bode reasonably well. The really bad joints are those that are so mis-shapen they can pop out almost on their own. If his have not done so it is encouraging. His joints though may be still far from ideal and so wearing down the cartilage. As you have probably been told try and prevent him from putting weight on, reasonable exercise but discourage him from sprinting, jumping etc. Always happy to share what little I know
It's a hard life...
You know when I said we were trying to halt taking in more dogs....it ain't working! The dog protection league begged me to take in another one, we were her last chance, bla bla bla... So here is Luna, 10 years old Collie cross, passed from pillar to post the last 4 years, 3 failed adoptions. Lots of weight to lose. Here she is this morning with Sandra and Dylan, the dog of the owner of the beach establishment (we have been borrowing him most mornings for the last 13 years)
That's very kind of you, Sue. Paul used to be around here all the time telling us about his house full of dogs and his home life. He was going through a hard time back then and then suddenly he quit posting. He is a retired veterinarian and a truly kind soul. BTW, my 6 dogs get bones, too. Bones are good for dogs.