Waiting, waiting, waiting

Well, I took Adrien to ATA to see Dr. Lewis on Wednesday and he confirmed that she has a swollen knee (he actually said the left also felt a bit swollen), but didn't take any xrays and wanted to see the one we had. I got the xray from Dr. Mouser and took it over there on Thursday and now we are waiting to hear back on what the next steps are. I have no doubt that she needs ligament surgery, just need to get it scheduled. In the interim, she keeps taking anti-inflammatories.

Mugshot time

I didn't have any Adrien photos (gallery) other than the one on the shelter website. I need to get some during daylight so that I can get some a bit further away, but I have posted some mugshots on the Picasaweb link over there on the left side of this page. Just click on Adrien pics and it will take you to the album.

Another week, another bottle of pain meds

Adrien seems to be doing well with her meds. It looks like we have straightened out the question of surgery. She has an appointment on Wed. to see the surgeon (a different one) and then we will set the schedule of surgery/recovery. Looks like she will be with me for a good long time.

I was thinking the other day what a good apartment dog she would make. People see a 60 pound dog and don't think apartment dog, but she hangs out here all day and just goes out to go to the bathroom. She has wonderful house manners, doesn't chew up stuff and is happy to lay on a blanket or the floor. She has all the characteristics an apartment person could want.

Today was bath day. I did a differential weight with Adrien and myself and then without her and she is just over 60 lbs. Then I tossed her in the deep tub. She wasn't wild about getting in there, but made no move to get out. I washed her and then did a bit of drying and she wasn't hopping out of the tub so I had to lean over and lift her out. She smells much fresher now and I didn't have to use Febreze :-) .
After bathing her, I was thinking to myself, when is her heartworm pill day? I hadn't given her one and she has been with me for 3 weeks now. I checked the meds log at the shelter and sure enough she was due last week. Monica gave me pills for 3 months which is a reasonable bet if she is just getting scheduled next week and then there is whatever lead time for surgery plus 8 week recovery. She will be here into the summer which means I better start thinking ahead as I have a summer diving trip booked already. I guess she will be doing her final recovery in late June at the shelter or with another foster.

This and that

Adrien and I went to Petco last weekend for my adoption day event. It was just me so I took her and panhandled a bit for her surgery fund. Things are looking up on that front though we still need to close on the exact details. She did great with all the people we met though I had to keep a tight leash on her when a few other dogs walked in. There was a pair of boxers, a goldendoodle and a Weimeraner that got her interest (read: growling).

She has been a good girl when I leave her at home though has gotten in some minor mischief. She is apparently stepping up onto the living room sofa as evidenced by the throw pillow on the floor. After surgery she will be staying in her crate, so no issue there. I left a bag with a couple of small bags of jelly beans and some papers on the counter the other night when going out and when I came home, the bag was on the floor with a couple of teeth marks in the papers and the jelly bean bags (unopened) were on the floor in another room. She also got into a box of cheese crackers that were on the counter another day but just spilled a few and didn't seem to be interested in them. Other than that, she has been a near perfect guest. She comes over for some petting/licking and then is content to lay down and hang out.

Will write more when we have specifics on surgery.

CCL repair

The doctor took x-rays and even before doing that confirmed the diagnosis of a torn/stretched/ruptured/whatever cranial cruticate ligament in her right rear leg. Dog's don't have knees, they have stifles. The CCL is akin to the human ACL. Based on what he saw and felt, Dr. Mouser put the injury at about 6 months to 1 year ago. She has quite a bit of inflammation and from the x-ray, quite a bit of calcification building up on the bones which means that even with surgery she will be arthritic in her older age (though supplements and anti-inflammatories will help). Right now, she needs surgery. The are 2 main types of surgery. One involves using a nylon line (like fishing wire) and some holes in the bones to create an artificial replacement for the ligament. The other called TPLO, Tibial Plateau Leveling Osteotomy® (TPLO), is a more complicated (and twice as expensive procedure) where the tibia is fractured in surgery, rotated for correct orientation and then fixed in place with a metal plate and screws. TPLO requires a more specialized surgeon and is much more costly but yields quicker near term recovery. The doctor can provide us with a discount on the first type of surgery but it will still cost the shelter about $1200 and there may be other costs including medicines for post op and perhaps rehab therapy sessions. The outlook 2 months out from a successful surgery would be complete range of normal motion and no noticeable loss of function in Adrien. Now we just need to come up with the money.

Dr. appointment

Adrien has a doctor's appointment today. She is going to see Dr. Mouser at Lakeline which is just around the corner. She had been limping off her back right foot last week which was not a new thing and I took her to LoneStar to see Dr. Barnett. Dr. Barnett said that she didn't have a foot issue, but really had a knee issue. She suggested that we take Adrien to someone who did orthopedics to get xrays and followup, so we will be doing that today. Right now she is on some pain/anti-inflammatory meds and she is staying at the house so that she just lays around and doesn't do too much on her leg. The other option was to send her to the infirmary at the shelter and she could stay in a crate there all day except for a few bathroom breaks. As much as I would like to have KD back, Adrien has a greater need. Hopefully later today we will know how great a need.

Yes, another visit from Emma

Emma came over with my friend Lori last night. Emma is a tiny little toy poodle and Adrien's profile says she was living a small dog at her last house. We met outside on the sidewalk and everything looked cool so we went for a short walk with the 2 dogs and then took them through the house into the backyard. Some marking ensued and things were smooth from there. Adrien kind of looked at me when Emma laid down in the middle of her comforter, but later they figured out how to share.

I tested Adrien with a puzzle today. I gave her a Powerade bottle with some little treats in it. She sniffed one end and then checked the other and that was the level of her interested. I put some spray cheese in the grooves of a Kong and set that on the floor and she went to town on that. She is all tongue so that was a good one for her.

60 lbs of love

Adrien is so sweet. She isn't submissive, but she isn't dominant. She has a tongue that just won't quit, but she will go lay down on her comforter or in the doggy bed when she is not following you around the house. She seems to like to go out in the backyard and wander around a bit, but is still a bit tentative, so won't go on out by herself.

The Austin Boxer Rescue (http://austinboxerrescue.com) event on Saturday was pretty good. They have a lot of Boxers in foster. They had a number of folks who were pre-approved through their process who came out to find the dog that they liked the best. We will have to wait to see if a spot opens up for Adrien with them in the next few weeks if we don't place her first.

I got a call from Monica at the shelter yesterday asking me to bring Adrien over. I would normally have had her there already, but I was doing other shelter stuff in the AM and bruised my hand and was home icing it. I took her over to the shelter and ran some errands. The family that wanted to meet her seemed very nice and they liked her a lot and put in an application. We will have to see what the adoption counselor says about them.

From taking Adrien for a few walks, I know she is good on a leash though she will cross in front of me every so often which is a trip hazard but I just walk on through her. She isn't interested in birds, but squirrels make her pull at the leash. Her shelter information says no cats though she didn't pull at the leash when looking at a cat the other morning and I took her in the little cat room and she and Peter just stared at each other. I have left her inside and gone out to run errands with no ill effects. She has looked up at the couch a few times but hasn't jumped on while I was here. Overall, a very sweet girl if you don't mind a lot of kisses.

Short Term Foster - Adrien

I brought Adrien home last night from the shelter. She is 60 pounds of solid boxer muscle and a non-stop tongue. She is so people friendly having been in a house with 4 younger kids for the past 1.5 years. She seems to be adjusting and laid down on the comforter I had for her on the floor after a while of coming over to me every minute or 2 for reassurance. She wasn't very happy to be put in her crate at night. At the shelter, she has been in the big dog room and had an indoor run. These things are only about 6'x3', but it is bigger than the XL crate that I put her in with her comforter. She settled down after a while and went to sleep and slept through the night. She is house trained, but as I was reminded by a good friend, it is best to ease the transition.

We are headed to an Austin Boxer Rescue http://www.austinboxerrescue.com/ adoption day event this morning and then back to the shelter because there has been interest in her and she just hasn't gotten an app yet. There was a woman looking seriously last weekend who needed to discuss with her husband and was going to come back this weekend, but let's see what happens. Monica is working on getting her placed with ABR in a few weeks if she hasn't been adopted and until then, she is home with us and KD is very upset staying at the shelter.