The Dog House

Let me start out by saying, I love The Dog House! The Dog House has a retail store and offer grooming & doggie daycare. What they continue to do to help homeless pets in need is, simply put, unbelievable. The Dog House helps out both K&R Small Animal Sanctuary & Wish Upon A Paw in so many ways. They provide foster care for bunnies, guinea pigs, hamsters, cats & dogs until they are adopted into loving families. They have an entire room set up for Wish Upon A Paw kittens. The dogs they provide foster care for get to play in daycare where they get to learn social skills with both dogs & people. When daycare is closed the dogs get to rest in a nice kennel.

Wish Upon A Paw had their first dog adoption (Toby) a few days ago. Toby was given so much love & care when he was at The Dog House. He loved daycare & loved the staff there. It was a wonderful experience for him. Toby was provided with a clean kennel, blankets to snuggle up & rest on, bones to chew on, toys & (as if that wasn't more than enough) The Dog House provided him with high quality food as well!

The Dog House also lets K&R and WISH hold adoptathons at their store. They put up a Christmas tree for the rescues to make a giving tree, for people to drop off some much needed donations for homeless pets. To say they go above & beyond is putting it lightly. I am just amazed at their generosity & willingness to help out.

Here is a picture of the giving tree The Dog House set up for us to decorate.

Here is a picture of the first dog adoption for Wish Upon A Paw, a day that would not have been possible without The Dog House.

                  Thank you to everyone at The Dog House for all of the lives you are helping save!
           
                                                        The Dog House & Pet Center
                                                        2230 Nordale Drive
                                                        Appleton, WI 54914
                                                        920-832-1001
                                                        www.doghousepetcenter.net/

Wish Upon A Paw's First Adoptable Dog

Wish Upon A Paw (WISH) was started in May 2011 & has found wonderful homes for over 50 cats already! WISH took in their first adoptable dog on 11/11/11. His name is Toby & he is approximately 7 years old. He is a 60 lb Lab/Border Collie mix.

Toby is a super mellow dog! He gets along with other dogs, cats & is great with kids of all ages. He is staying at The Dog House in Appleton (LOVE THE DOG HOUSE). We brought him home with us for the weekend & he is doing great with us. All he wants to do is snuggle & dish out love. He is an easy going foster dog & an absolute joy to be around. We took him to an Adoptathon at The Dog House & then to Community Days at the Fox River Mall yesterday & he was so well behaved. He charmed everyone he met.

Toby came from a humane society up north where he was surrendered because his family had to move & could not take him with. It's such a sad reason for a dog to end up homeless, but even more heartbreaking when the dog is as sweet & gentle as Toby. He is truly the perfect dog & whoever adopts him into their family will have a pal for life!

On a side note, having Toby here at our house has been great for my dogs. Miles has gained a ton of confidence as he shows Toby the ropes. Miles & Riley seem to be closer than ever. Toby has brought a certain calmness to our house. He's an amazing boy!

Miles Is Getting Huge!

Miles is doing so much better! He is getting thick. Muscles are building. He is up to 43.2 pounds now. We haven't seen any weakness, diarrhea or vomiting in a while now. He is a bundle of energy, as any 8 month old puppy should be. We continue to work on his fear of people, and he has come a long way. We had friends over with their 3 little girls (ages 2-6) yesterday & he did very well. Miles likes to warm up to people on his terms. If you give him attention or approach him he wants nothing to do with you & "shys" away, but if he is ignored he will come up to you & sniff you. Honestly, I think this is a self esteem issue. He doesn't seem to have the confidence he needs. I took him for temperament testing at doggie daycare & he passed.  I am hoping to start bringing him to doggie daycare soon so he can build this confidence.

Two Weeks Later

Friday we gave Miles his last dose of Metronidazole, so we thought. He was doing well until Sunday. He started getting a little sick, so we ended up giving him a half of a pill. He did have some diarrhea & threw up once, but it was the first time in 2 weeks. Miles has gained 4 pounds in the last 2 weeks. That is fantastic! His litter mate is up to 43 pounds & Miles is up to 38 now. He's catching up! I'm hoping if we have to keep him on the pills, he may only need half of a pill every other day, which is not bad at all. He does seem to still be doing paw chewing every now & then. I do remember our Vet saying the allergy symptoms can take about a month to subside though. 

At the end of last week Miles did have some leg pain/weakness. He was playing hard with Riley & their pal, Vena when I noticed he started limping. He slammed into the patio table & wouldn't put any weight on his back left leg. I carried him in the house & rubbed his leg for a minute (which he liked & seemed to help). He limped around the rest of the night but has seemed fine since then. 

We have been working with him on his fear of people non stop. It's going well, just slowly. I take him everywhere I go. When I picked up my son & his friend from the movie theater I brought Miles with & he sat in between the boys with no issues. Glen & I took him over to our friend's house where there were other adults & kids. Miles was shy but seemed to warm up to everyone. He explored their house & ended up falling asleep on their couch. My parents came over with their 4 young kids & Miles did hide in the corner most of their visit. He seemed to get comfortable with my youngest sister, who is 4, and my step mom. He has a long way to go but is making improvements every time he is around new people. We are very proud of his progress.

One Week Later

I am happy to report that only one week after starting Miles on Royal Canin Hypoallergenic HP dog food Miles is feeling much better! No more vomiting, no more diarrhea. I haven't seen him limp or seem weak in several days. We suspect he wasn't holding his food in long enough to absorb any of the nutrients to help him grow & develop. Over the last week he has gained 2.6 pounds & his back legs look like they've doubled in size! Miles seems healthy, strong & happy! The only issue I've noticed (and it just started back up the other day) is paw chewing. I hope he's not having a delayed reaction to this new food.
In one week we will be taking him off the Metronidazole. He is currently taking 1/2 a pill once a day. Hopefully nothing will change when we do this. If Miles starts to have issues again, he will remain on a low dose of this medicine for a while, maybe permanently.
I am so thankful that Miles is able to take daily walks again, play with his brother Riley & is no longer having rough days. This weekend Miles even had a doggie friend over to play. It had been about a month since the Vet quaranteened him from other dogs since we didn't know if he had something bacterial (contagious). I'm so happy to be able to have him around other dogs again!

Miles' Diagnosis

We have a diagnosis! This IS food allergies. Blood work & urinalysis came back pretty good, except for the white blood cells were elevated. Usually this is a sign of parasites or food allergies. Since we've tested for every possible parasite, this has to be allergies. Miles still has the issues with his back legs where he seems weak, he limps & sometimes they just buckle & he can't walk for a minute or two. The Vet is hopeful that he will grow out of this since he is only 7 months old. The Vet is also very hopeful that he will grow out of the food allergy. In 2 weeks when he is used to his new food we will try to take him off the medication (antibiotic that curbs the diarrhea & inflammation). If his symptoms go away he will stay on his new prescription food (Royal Canin Hypoallergenic HP). If he is still having issues he may need to stay on a low dose of the antibiotic for a bit longer. This new food is $82 for 25 pounds!

The Vet did have a talk with me about Miles' behavior they observed. They are concerned that being quaranteened from other dogs set him back on the socialization that puppies need so badly. He was very fearful & nippy with them. The nipping is not a behavior I've seen before. He does seem to cling to us & be shy or fearful with others. So, the Vet gave the all clear today & Miles can be around everybody! We took Miles to the Dog Park today without his doggie brother, Riley. We wanted to see how he would handle the situation on his own. Miles did wonderfully. He ran & played. He did not stay close to us. He roamed & visited people as well as dogs. So, we will be taking him everywhere to get him used to people, as well as dogs. He has displayed no issues with other dogs at all. So, I will be asking my family & friends for lots of help on this one. We may need to stop over to different houses & get him used to all sorts of people.

Miles Update

I received the test results today on the first round of bacterial testing...NEGATIVE! Although this is good news, we were kind of hoping for a positive result so we could treat & move on. For now, Miles is doing great. We have begun the process of weening him off the medication. For the next 5 days he will get 1 pill once a day, then for 5 days he will get 1 pill every other day. If he gets diarrhea again, we will have more testing done. The next test is for 8 bacteria. If this is negative as well, Miles may just have an underlying condition & need to be on medication for the rest of his life. On a positive note, if he tests negative during the next round of testing, he can start playing with other doggie friends again. On the other hand if he tests negative & has to be on meds the rest of his life, it's a big bummer because the medication is an antibiotic. This is no where near ideal for a puppy to have to be on indefinitely.
I have complete faith & trust in my Vet that they will do everything they can to find the cause of the issues & help him be the healthiest puppy he can be. Miles has good days without issues & has bad days when he vomits & seems ill. All we can do is give him tons of love & keep searching for answers. Miles is such a wonderful pup! And we want to do everything in our power to get him healthy.