Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary

We're In Bark Magazine!

The November/ December issue of Bark Magazine has just come out with a wonderful feature story on the sanctuary. In the magazine's preview of the article, they described it as "A visit to the amazing Rolling Dog Ranch -- a sanctuary for disabled animals in Big Sky country -- get inspired!"

We actually haven't seen it yet (!), but people who have tell us it's a six-page article illustrated with lots of photos, some of them full-page.  I'm heading into Missoula tomorrow and will get a copy of the magazine then.

You can find Bark at Barnes & Noble, Borders, Books-A-Million, Chapters (in Canada), Wild Oats, and Whole Foods, among other retail outlets. Bark does not post their articles online so purchasing a copy of the magazine is the only way to read the story.

To find other retailers near you who carry Bark, click here.

Surveying His Domain

I was out scooping poop in the Widget's House dog paddocks this morning when I looked over and saw Travis -- a.k.a. "Perch" -- surveying his domain from on top the big wooden reel.  The reel is left over from last year's construction project, building Beauty's Barn, when we had to lay in more power cable.  We moved the reel into the paddock to give the dogs something to climb up on.  As it turns out, Travis is the only dog who takes advantage of this. 

A few weeks ago I posted a photo of Travis perched rather precariously on top of an igloo dog house.  He loves heights, so if there's something to climb, he's all over it.  (I'm just glad we don't have any trees in that paddock!)

If it looks wet in the photo, it sure was.  The "Pineapple Express" that's hammered Washington state with flooding has been dumping lots of rain on western Montana, too, along with warm temperatures.  It's been raining for days, and as you can see from the photo, our snow is now long gone.  Today we were in the high 50's ... a long way from the 10 below zero we had just a week ago today, on Halloween!

(Click on photo for larger image.)

I'll Just ... Bury My Face

I walked out into the living room tonight and saw Bailey the miniature Dachshund asleep with his face buried inside his stuffed bear.  Well, it once WAS a stuffed bear -- and a big one at that, twice Bailey's size -- but over the past several months he's happily ripped out all the stuffing.  ("I'll show this pesky bear who's boss!") 

He still loves this thing, even though it's only a shadow (a rug?) of its former self, so we continue to launder it and give it back to him to beat up some more.  Or sleep in.  Whatever.  He'll drag it all over the living room floor, just to keep it near him.

Anyone with Dachshunds will tell you they love to burrow under things.  Bailey does, too, but he's also content sometimes to hide just a part of his body.  So tonight simply burying his face met the "burrow quotient" for the evening.

(Click on photo for larger image.)

Willie and Spirit Come Home From The Hospital

One of our wonderful volunteers, Laura B. from Helena, brought Willie the blind Beagle and Spirit the paralyzed Yorkie back to the ranch from the vet clinic this weekend.  I took this photo tonight of Willie in our living room, enjoying the wood stove.  And making yet another appearance, over on the right is the sleeping geisha herself, Widget. 

Willie, who arrived recently from a Beagle rescue group in Atlanta, had a bad case of heartworms that needed treatment.  Before we could begin the treatment we needed to assess his heart function, where the heartworms were lodged in his heart, and whether he had any related pulmonary issues because of the compromised heart.  He also was dripping blood from his urinary tract, and it hadn't responded to antibiotics.

All this meant chest X-rays, an echocardiogram of his heart, a heartworm test, urinalysis, a blood panel, and an ultrasound of his urinary tract and prostate gland.  Oh yes, and the heartworm treatment itself.  Total cost:  $511.44.

The good news is that Willie's heart was in good shape and he's already had his heartworm treatment.  Our vets kept him at the clinic to monitor because the treatment can be risky, but he came through just fine.  The blood in his urine is a prostate issue related to the fact that he isn't neutered yet.  We have to get him clear of heartworms before he can go under anesthesia for neutering, so one thing at a time!

Spirit's cornea in her left eye had an ulcer that is now healing successfully, thanks to surgery last week to speed the corneal healing process.  However, it turns out the lens in that eye is partially detached.  We won't know for another 10 days to 2 weeks whether it will become completely detached or remain like it is.  So we're not out of the woods yet, but Spirit was glad to be home after a long stay in the hospital.  Her bill came to $196.86.

This gives you a good example of why we've spent more than $30,000 so far in vet bills this year, huh?  Willie didn't seem too concerned about the cost, he just wanted to make sure I kept adding logs to the fire. 

(Click on photo for larger image.)