Rolling Dog Ranch Animal Sanctuary

Pappy: Getting Up, Getting Around

Today was a big day for Pappy.  Our beloved old Shepherd has spent the past few weeks recovering from pneumonia and then a brush with death from meningitis.  He has been gradually gaining strength and mobility.  This morning as I was grabbing my gloves and hat to head out the door to start barn chores, I heard him stirring in the living room.  Pappy had seen me ... he knew the routine ... and he wanted to go out on barn chores with me.  He got up on his own and went straight to the back door, looking over his shoulder at me as if to say, "well?"

Before he got sick, he always went with us on our barn chores.  He'd follow us everywhere, back and forth, trudging along.  He loved going out for the morning and evening rounds.  It was always his favorite time of the day.

So off we went this morning, his first barn chore jaunt since he came down with pneumonia.  It was already a hot morning and I knew he would overdo it if I let him -- his back legs are kind of feeble still -- so I picked him up and put him in the back seat of the truck.  That's his favorite spot anyway.  He got to ride along as we moved two tons of hay this morning.  He seemed absolutely tickled.

A Tiny Dog with 'Brain Damage'

Volunteers from the Spokane Animal Control shelter contacted us over the weekend about a tiny Papillon mix whose family dumped her there last week.  They dropped her off on a day the shelter was closed, so no one was around.  On a card all they wrote was 'brain damage.'  They left no other information ... not their name, not the dog's name. 

Here's a photo of her they took at the shelter yesterday.  This little girl tips the scales at 3 pounds ... the shelter volunteer who spent time with her Saturday thinks she's about 5 or 6 years old.  She appears blind and mostly deaf.

She is doing some circling, which can be a sure sign of neurological problems.  However, blind animals in new environments also circle to map their surroundings and get a fix on their boundaries ... and newly blind animals do the same thing.

The volunteer said the dog had pretty much stopped circling by afternoon, and also loved to be held.   She e-mailed that this little girl "totally snuggled on my lap and licked us when petted." 

We're going to try and get a specialist in Spokane to evaluate her on Monday or Tuesday before deciding what to do.  If she has some kind of debilitating and progressive neurological disease that we can't do anything about, we probably won't bring her out to the sanctuary.  However, if her circling is vision-related or caused by a treatable condition, we should be able to take her.

Old Pappy: On The Road To Recovery

Pappy, our old German Shepherd who survived both pneumonia and meningitis earlier this month, continues on the road to recovery.  He's had no relapses since coming home July 15.  His temperature had remained normal and his appetite is great.  He is clearly glad to be home.  (See the post about his  homecoming here.)

Although still very weak, he can now walk unassisted for short distances before his back legs give out.  He is still struggling a bit with bowel control, but gradually is regaining it.  This dignified old fellow looks downright embarrassed ... even mortified ... when he has an accident.  It really seems to affect his pride. 

He can't get up on his own, so he now wears a harness on his chest and we slide a wide strap under his tummy to help lift him up equally at both ends.  Once up, he can get going under his own power.  Sometimes he is so eager to go exploring again that he overdoes it and his hind legs drop.  Then we scoop him up, turn him around, and help walk him back to the house.

The only thing I miss -- and he does too, I know -- is that he can't join us on our morning and evening barn chores.  This was always his special time of the day.  He eagerly followed us everywhere as we made our rounds.  A wonderful friend of the sanctuary suggested today that we get him a little wagon to ride in so we can pull him along.  What a great idea!  Of course, Pappy would rather be in the back seat of our Chevy pick-up ... it's folded flat, padded with cushions ... this is his favorite spot in the universe.  He loves to go for drives in that truck!

His next favorite spot is on his thick foam bed in the living room, where he can be in the center of things.  That's where you see him in this photo I took today.

A few short weeks ago we thought we were losing him.  Every day we have him now is a gift. 

You can see his original story on our Web site here.

Scooter and Sugar Arrive at the Ranch

Scooter and Sugar, the two disabled dogs we agreed to take from the Hayward (CA) animal control shelter, arrived at the ranch last night.  Their trip to Montana was made possible only because of incredible volunteers.  Garrett and Delores, volunteers from the Hayward shelter, drove the dogs all the way from the Bay Area to Spokane, Washington.  Our own wonderful volunteer, Jerry B., drove over to Spokane from Missoula, picked up the dogs and brought them all the way back to the sanctuary.

The deaf white female was originally named Delight, but Alayne took one look at her scooting around the yard last night and named her Scooter on the spot.  She's a sweet, affectionate, frisky thing.  (Scooter, although the same could be said about Alayne.)  The nice thing about deaf dogs is it doesn't matter if you change their names, since they can't hear you calling them anyway.  Scooter is still very much a puppy ... zooming all over the place. 

And, as you can see from these photos we took today, she figured out right away why we call this place the Rolling Dog Ranch.  As I write this, Scooter is out in one of the big dog paddocks, playing with our deaf English Pointer, Tyler.

The blind Springer Spaniel is now named Sugar.  The volunteer at the Hayward shelter who contacted us about these two dogs, Terry D., decided to name her Sugar after learning we had just adopted out a blind Springer Spaniel named Cookie.  So ... Sugar ... Cookie.  Cute, huh?  We thought it was perfect.  Here she is with Alayne this evening.

Sugar is an older girl -- probably 7 or 8 -- and she can't see a thing.  She's blind from a combination of cataracts and glaucoma.  She's very timid at first, but as soon as she realizes you're going to pet her, she just starts wagging her tail.  She usually has a 'concerned' look on her face, but I think she'll develop confidence pretty soon.  This sweet dog must have gone through so much upheaval in her life recently ... it's hard to imagine what's going through her head now.  But she'll quickly realize she's safe and loved ... and she'll start to blossom. 

Two Disabled Dogs Coming from California

We agreed today to take two disabled dogs from the Hayward, California animal control shelter.  One is a deaf female hound mix named Delight.  She's young, about 8 months.  The other is a blind Springer Spaniel ... she was dumped in their holding pen overnight, so she doesn't even have a name.  The shelter believes she's probably about 7 years old.  Both of these dogs were facing euthanasia.

We're working now on travel arrangements with a wonderful volunteer named Terry D. who first contacted us about them. Terry is responsible for rescuing blind Penny and sending her our way earlier this year. 

At this time of year flying dogs via the airlines is tricky because of the temperature restrictions and summer heat.  So we're also looking at ground transportation options. 

Ironically, we just had a blind Springer Spaniel named Cookie who we adopted out to a young lady in Seattle several weeks ago.  We always are glad when we can adopt an animal out to the right family, because it frees up a spot for another disabled dog.  Here's a photo of the Springer from California.

Pappy Comes Home from the Hospital

Our old German Shepherd, Pappy, is well on his way to recovering after 10 days in the vet hospital in Helena.  I had taken him in one morning after finding him listless, with no appetite, and a high fever (105.7).  Turns out he had pneumonia.  Last Sunday, July 10th, our vets had called and said he could come on Monday.  But on Monday morning they called to say Pappy had suddenly come down with meningitis and that I should come over to be with him "just in case."  Just in case he didn't make it.  I hopped in the truck and drove like mad the 70 miles to Helena.

A spinal tap and analysis of his fluid confirmed the meningitis diagnosis.  Our vets gave him a 20% chance of survival.  He looked and felt awful.  He didn't respond to me, didn't even seem to realize I or anyone else was around him.  Just a blank look.  I waited until a vet tech arrived from St. Peter's Hospital with the special meningitis drug and watched as they injected it into his IV and trickled into his veins.  I kissed and petted this special old boy and left in tears, afraid I would never see him alive again. 

All that night we waited for the phone to ring.  It didn't.  The next morning the report was astonishing.  Pappy was alive, alert and eating ... and his temperature had plummeted.  Every day last week we waited for the twice daily call from our vets with the update.  Each day came and there were no setbacks.  Only slow, steady progress.  Gradually we allowed ourselves to hope.  Our vets cautioned against too much hope.  Meningitis is a killer.  In an old dog, it can be especially lethal. 

Last Wednesday I drove over in the evening to be with Pappy at the clinic.  I wanted him to know we were still there.  Then, on Friday, our vets said we could bring him home for the weekend if we wanted to.  But it was our call.  Clinically they would prefer he stay in the hospital, but they also recognized the therapeutic value of being home.  And they thought the risk was reasonable.  There was no doubt in our mind.

I drove back to Helena Friday evening and picked him up.  When I got back to the ranch with him, Alayne and I both cried.  We didn't think Pappy would ever be coming home again. 

So far Pappy's doing great.  He's eating, drinking, and alert.  He's still very weak and needs help walking.  He is struggling with bowel and bladder control ... less of the former, more of the latter.  We have to get up during the night to help him.  But he is steadily gaining strength.  His temperature has stayed in the normal range.  Our vets caution that he can still have a relapse ... the chances are as high as 50%.  So every day is a blessing.

You can see Pappy's original story on our Web site here.

 

Allie the Wobbly Puppy

Allie is a four-month old Lab/Retriever puppy with a neurological condition called cerebellar hypoplasia. The part of her brain that controls motor skills and balance -- the cerebellum -- didn't fully develop because her momma probably had distemper when she was pregnant with Allie. So Allie can't walk in a straight line and is quite wobbly on her feet ... but she can get anywhere she wants to go (eventually!).

The Humane Society in Sault Saint Marie, Ontario found her as a stray and took her to a vet clinic. There, the vets diagnosed her condition. This made her 'unadoptable' at the Humane Society. The clinic staff fell in love with this happy puppy and didn't want to see her euthanized. A vet tech heard about us and asked if we could take her in. We agreed if they could raise the money to fly her out to Montana.

A local newspaper then did a story on Allie and the donations came in. A week later, Allie flew out to Great Falls, where we picked her up at the airport.