HW POSITIVE

Updated 5/5/11

Going… going… over the bleacher seats… over the stadium lights… It’s gone! It’s a home run!!! Slugger has done it!!!!!

It’s not every dog who can take a swing at an impossible pitch and knock it right out of the park (metaphorically speaking, of course), but that’s exactly what we expect this handsome Golden to do!… with plenty of help from his GRR team.

Though we don’t know any details about his history, we can sure tell that Slugger has lived a rough life with little care. Brought to the pound as a stray, he got low marks for health (more about that in a moment) but an A+ for personality—“sweet, couldn’t get close enough. Just a mellow old soul.” And personality is what matters most to GRR! The minute his stray hold was up, he was whisked out of the shelter and off to the vet.

Now, about that “difficult pitch”:

* Skin: terrible! Scabs, scales, inflammation—likely due to long-term flea issues, as he was crawling with fleas when we brought him in.

* Matted fur

* Infected, runny eyes

* Painfully infected ears

* Ruptured ACL in one knee

* Obese

* Heartworm positive

Yikes! Yet despite his woes, Slugger was cheerful, social, and happy-go-lucky, a perfect example of that classic Golden optimism. We set to work:

Skin & coat: A series of baths made an incredible difference right at the start—the clinic was stunned at the filth & dead fleas they washed away. “Has he EVER had a bath?” they wondered. Lather, rinse, repeat… clip, comb, dry… When Slugger at length emerged from the “salon,” we were all in awe. You can tell this blond gent was a stunner in his youth, and soon he’ll be totally gorgeous again. At his foster home, his foster mom continued the spa treatment with a long brushing session, which he adored. “He LOVES to be brushed. He’s got a lot of scabs from old fleabites and we’re putting medicated ointment on the sore places. I used the Furminator on him and he looks so handsome!”

Ears and eyes: Rapidly clearing up with medication.

Bad knee: He’ll be seeing a specialist soon for advice about that; we’ll find out if he’s a candidate for surgery in the future. Meantime, he’s getting pain meds to help him get around more comfortably. In fact, he’s trying to jump right into the SUV (he loves car rides), but “we’re teaching him to use the ramp instead.”

Obesity: “This is the number one issue we need to address,” says his foster mom. At 97 pounds, Slugger has around 20 pounds to lose—critical if he’s to round those bases on his way to home plate! (Right now he’s a bit better suited to BEING a base bag than running over one; when he lay down behind a door, his foster mom had a very tough time opening it. “Good thing I have tile,” she said. “I was able to slowly slide him forward until I could squeeze through the opening.”) Weight loss will make everything better for him; it will ease the pressure on his knees and hips, make it easier for him to get up and down without the “o-o-o-ooofff” factor, and give him more pep. He’s getting low-cal kibble with fresh vegetables to bulk out each (measly, in his opinion!) 1-cup portion; so far his favorites are spinach and zucchini.

Heartworms: We’ll cross that bridge later… first order of business is to build up Slugger’s overall health.

Slugger has settled into his new household without a blip. He’s calm and just goes with the flow. He gets along well with his foster Golden siblings Mason and Zoee (another GRR foster dog). Zoee is blind (see her story), so intros were slow and careful, to let her get used to Slugger’s scent…. now she sleeps with her head on his front paw!

“He is a real lovey,” says his foster mom. “Low energy now, but as his weight drops I bet his energy will rise.”

Slugger needs a family willing to exercise him gently and work to pare the weight off, so he can get more mobile and stay that way. He’s a companionable guy—and it’s going to be so rewarding to see him reach his All-Star Home-Run Hero potential!