Bones

#12-167 Bones, update 1/13

Weight: 45 pounds, age 1 1/2

AVAILABLE SOON

HEARTWORM POSITIVE

  Happy news! Though Bones did test positive for microfilaria (the immature stage of heartworms), he’s negative for adult worms. (Since he is such a young dog, that makes sense.) So, the vet says that we can very likely do without the heartworm injections. We’ll just  provide monthly Heartgard, which kills microfilaria, for about 5 months, and then retest—and hope for a negative test result. But no need to wait until then for an adoptive family!

 And “happy” describes this dog to a tee. With just a few tweaks, the song “Happy Girl” suits him perfectly:

 Oh! Oh! Watch him go!

He’s a happy dog

Everybody knows

That the sweetest thing you'll ever see

In the whole wide world

Is a happy dog!

 He’s healing up well from his amputation and, at around 50 pounds, is at the perfect weight for him (he needs to stay trim, since he doesn’t have full support at his hind end). “When he plays a lot or is active on his legs for a while he starts dropping his back end as if it is a little sore,” say his foster parents. “We have tried to not get him too excited and limit his play while still getting him exercise to help strengthen his legs, but he has the tendency to run around the backyard flipping his toys. He IS just a big puppy, and who wants to stop a puppy while he’s playing? He’s just too cute!”

 Bones gets very “chatty” when playing or if he thinks you should be paying more attention to him. “We’re trying to get him to talk when he needs to go outside, too.  We’ve installed a hanging bell on the back door, and we are training him to nudge it with his nose, but he hasn’t quite got the system down yet. There have been a few accidents, but we’ll get there.”

 This charming pup has shown excellent social skills with other dogs, and of course he’s fantastic with people. “We have introduced him to a few dogs, and he’s good-tempered with them and seems to be able to judge their character pretty well; he plays with the dogs that want to play and keeps his distance with the dogs who let him know they would rather notget rowdy. He loves people and never meets a stranger Everyone loves him—especially at Petco!”

#12-167 Bones, age 1 1/2

“This boy just came in off the Animal Control truck. He was hit by a car (AC thinks) and has a broken left hind leg. You can see the bone sticking out. They were going to euth him due to his injury but I thought I would try first to see if you all are interested in him.” The photo showed a red Golden with a cheerful smile despite his distorted leg – and the staff confirmed that he was waggy and friendly despite his injury. To snuff that out was unthinkable  -- and what a  “lucky break” for Bones that his shelter director is so rescue minded & always on the lookout for dogs to save! Every week of the year finds her team shuttling dogs to rescue groups around the state, and on November 30, it was Bones’s turn.

The specialty vets looked him over immediately. Besides the obviously broken left leg, X-rays showed a pelvic fracture and damage to the hip socket—and the changes in the bone revealed that this wasn’t a new injury. “We COULD attempt  repair,” said the vet, “but that would require a long rehab, he’d always have a limp, and there’s a 25% chance that further surgeries would be in his future.” Bones’s white count was high, too, so they were concerned about bone infection. With all that in mind, they recommended just removing the leg: zero rehab and no worries about complications down the line. And when they performed the surgery, they discovered that Bones’s left thigh muscle was loaded with scar tissue.  The surgeon commented, "It was good that we did surgery instead of attempting repair."

Proving the “no rehab required” comment, Bones was up and about and exploring from about the minute he came out of anesthesia! He did so well so fast that he went right home to his foster family 24 hours later.  As you can see from the photos, this guy is probably feeling better than he has in ages minus the painful leg. His foster mom says:

“I can’t believe how happy Bones is!  I have never seen a puppy smile so much.

On the way home, we learned that he rides very well in the car and enjoys sitting up and watching out the window. He  is all puppy.  When we got him home he wanted to play – we are trying to keep in from getting too excited as per the vet but it’s kind of difficult to stop a puppy from having fun.  You will see in one of the pictures that he enjoys rolling around and showing his belly.  He loves belly rubs.  He is also quite the tail wagger.

Bones is very gentle when accepting treats and  for a pup, he is pretty well behaved. shows him to be very well behaved.  Puppies will be puppies, though, and he definitely likes shoes and fluffy slippers.  He does understand the word  NO and listens very well when we verbally correct him. He appears to understand SIT and STAY as well.

Bones loves attention and loves being close.  Because he is still healing we are trying not to get too cuddly, but he is so cute and enjoys hugs. He’s eating and drinking well, and taking his medicine as directed.”

Lucky Bones has been going into the office with Mom and Dad so they can watch him closely and make sure he is feeling comfortable.  So far, so good. He does have heartworm treatment in his future, but that will likely wait for the new year. In the meantime, he is having a very happy holiday season! Oh, and you can follow him on Facebook, too!