Carlie

Updated 5/24/10

Here's Carlie with her favorite "toy.” She just likes to carry that shoe around! Carlie blossoms more each day.  Her good manners and gentle disposition are the perfect qualifications for therapy work.  She's just waiting for her paperwork & then she can begin.  Meanwhile, Carlie watches her mentor #09-048 Chester and is loving life with her foster brothers and sister.

Update 5/7:

Carlie looks beautiful! At 76 pounds, she is at her perfect weight, and the curve in her back is hardly noticeable. Looking at this active, pretty, prancing girl, you’d hardly recognize the scruffy, scrawny Golden who arrived in GRR care just a couple of months ago. She loves to look out the window, chase the squirrels in the backyard & carry a toy or slipper in her mouth as she strolls around the house (this helps her feel secure).

Carlie was emaciated when she was found stray, and she still keeps an eye on any and all food and has a tendency to counter-surf. A few weeks ago she managed to knock a full container of kibble off the counter and on to the floor. Oh my!All the dogs went to town. It looked like bees swarming after honey because Carlie had four other Goldens helping her gobble up kibble. Funny thing, she was NOT interested in eating dinner an hour later.

The only trace of Carlie’s former life is that she’s still a little insecure. I think that in the past she had to fight just to stay alive. She’s settled right in here with many other dogs and is a true member of the pack, but she’d be great as someone’s only dog & best buddy. She’s the first to greet you when you get home & she loves to cuddle up as close as she can & keep you company, inside or outside. She really likes attention, and if one of the other dogs is getting petted, she’ll nudge her way in to get her share. She has so much love to give!

Update 4/11/10:

What a beautiful girl!  Carlie is filling out, and her spine problem is hardly noticeable.  She loved being in the bluebonnets.

“I found this old gal just wandering down the road. I can’t keep her though.” The Good Sam couldn’t bear to drive right past a Golden who was clearly all alone and in need, so she collected the dog and brought her to the shelter. Nobody came looking for the scrawny, tired girl—not a surprise, since Carlie was probably a dumped dog—so the call came to our Hotline: “We have a 9-year-old Golden & her out date is tomorrow. Can you help?” Volunteer Pat headed right out to meet her, and said, “Very cordial gal, likes to give little kisses, LOVED being out of her kennel run and put the brakes on when we tried to return her there. But I can’t believe anyone thought she was 9 years old—teeth, face, etc. just don’t show that much age (I put her at 5-6, if that). Her spine looks funny and she is really skinny, but nothing seems to bother her mobility-wise. She can can trot along, no problem. Sure will be interested to see what the vet has to say.”

Turned out that the vet had a quite a lot to say once the curly girl showed up at the clinic! First of all, he found she was on the brink of a uterine infection, but spay surgery took care of that in the nick of time. Second, he agreed with Pat – Carlie is probably only about 5 years old. A rough life & likely starvation (she is definitely underweight) can make anyone look a bit older than their years at first glance. Third, Carlie has two spinal conditions. First one is called spondylosis deformans —she has bone spurs that can cause the vertebrae to fuse together. Second one is cauda equina syndrome (degenerative lumbosacral stenosis); as the vet explained it, it’s as if the nerves get “entrapped” in calcium as the body attempts to deal with vertebral degeneration. That all sounds pretty dire—but Carlie is perfectly mobile and not showings signs of impairment. “The spinal stuff does not seem to slow her down in any way,” says her foster family. “She can get right up on the kitchen counter to help herself to a snack, & I have concerns that a 4-foot fence might not stop her!” And the vet says: “No further treatment is needed right now. Dogs can live with these conditions for a long time before they become problematic.Just make sure her family knows all about it.”

There’s a lot more to know about Carlie, of course! Read on:

Carlie was a little nervous when she first arrived here. For the first week or so we used the crate to get her acclimated to the other dogs; she needed a safe place to have “time outs” or she’d get overwhelmed & snarky. Now she’s allowed to roam free with the other dogs and is even learning to play with them. She loves car rides and will go anywhere with you for as long as you want. She loves to snuggle up to you as close as possible. Sleeps thru the night under the bedside table. She likes to sleep with one of my slippers!

Since she is a skinny bones, we are feeding her up. At each meal she gets two cups of Wellness Super 5 Mix Complete Health, plus some green beans and carrots and 1/2 peanut butter sandwich for “dessert.” It’s working! She’s beginning to fill out. Ribs are not so apparent.

In just a month, Carlie has come a long way. She has settled in as a member of the pack. When anyone comes to visit she is the first one to greet. She stay close by so she can get as many head rubs and pets as possible. She is an adorable “curly locks.” She needs a family or couple that can give her lots of love and attention.
 

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