Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Good News, Bad News on Hope

"Baby Hope" is back from getting shaved and showered. Good news bad news.

The good news is that she looks a lot better, and smells better. And she's still smiling, as the photo shows. Doesn't she look great? She's eating well now too, two bowls of dog food so far, in one sitting.



The bad news is that with all that matted fur gone, Pam and her friend Kim (both vet techs) found a tumor on her side. From the flash photos I've taken, it also looks like she has cataracts. And we still think she has arthritis on her back end. She's on the downhill side of life, for sure. She probably only has a year or two left.

This grand old lady deserved better than to be abandoned and left to fend for herself. She's up for adoption to a good home with no stairs to climb, and carpeting. But no fears, if we can't find her a home, we'll keep her. A shelter would, by necessity, put her down.

What's interesting are how our other dogs act towards her. They're all fairly young and playful, and like nothing more than wrestling and playing rough with each other, and other dogs when the opportunity presents itself. But alll three sense that they shouldn't wrestle with Baby Hope because of her infirmities, I guess. Dogs are truly amazing animals.  I love dogs.


Pam and I were talking last night.  I need something to occupy my time besides arguing politics on the internet in my retirement years.  It seems that every few days I read a story about someone who moves away, leaving their pets behind.  I don't understand how or why anyone could do this, but regardless, it happens.  Anyway, after building a house and a barn for the horse, I'm thinking of building a pole barn to house homeless old dogs.  The ones no one wants, who would be euthanized if brought to a kennel.  We wouldn't use cages or crates, but would build rooms with carpeting and old furniture to sleep on to make it as homey as possible.

We need to think hard on this and sort out the details, the finances, and legal requirements, but any advice would be welcome.

7 comments:

  1. Baby Hope is lookin GOOD!!! You and Pam just rock!!!

    Our Old Winnie is half yellow lab and half golden retriever. We rescued her 10 years ago next month and she's got arthritis in her stern too. But she is the most committed dog ever! Follows me everywhere and always wants to please. Too bad they have to get old too.....

    Like your idea. Especially since you're way out in the country and don't have neighbors for the dogs to bother. You could set up a website and I'm sure that all your committed followers would help support you. If we all gave $20/month that would be around $2,000. I'll be the first!

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  2. I knew there was a reason I liked Mark J. We would also sign on and help.

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  3. Sorry MarkJ-- I beat you to the first donation...

    Hay Dave-- Maybe you could set up a PayPal account just for this purposes... I'm sure you don't want everyone to know your Email for PayPal that I know from back in the day of the Navi Nut "Pat Pending" Corp...

    I'm sure Baby will have the best care through the rest of her days-- We just can't save all the abandoned dogs though... It's sad-- I know...

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  4. Dave, There's a local outfit that does the same as you're considering. Might be worth a call to see what hoops they jumped through, although I'm sure Florida and New York requirements differ. www.journeysendsanctuary.org
    We'd be glad to be a contributor to your sanctuary.

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  5. A diagnosis like that should motivate people to grab her and make sure the last years of her life are the best.

    Your idea of a homeless doggie shelter/retirement home is interesting. I especially like the idea of furnishing it with old discarded chairs. We have two such chairs we call "the dollar chairs" because that's what they cost at a neighborhood moving sale some years back. They sit in the wood shop near the potbelly stove.

    Cheers
    Tom

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  6. A diagnosis like that should motivate people to grab her and make sure the last years of her life are the best.

    Your idea of a homeless doggie shelter/retirement home is interesting. I especially like the idea of furnishing it with old discarded chairs. We have two such chairs we call "the dollar chairs" because that's what they cost at a neighborhood moving sale some years back. They sit in the wood shop near the potbelly stove.

    Cheers
    Tom

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  7. There's a place in western Wisconsin called Home For Life that takes old/disabled dogs and cats that would otherwise be put down, and gives them a home for the rest of their life. You might want to check out their website for some ideas!!

    ReplyDelete