Rosemary T.

Please welcome Miss Rosemary T. to our Thulani Program.  Rosemary was rescued off the streets of Fremont and not reclaimed at the shelter.  She is the perfect dog for us, with the right temperament, and an endearing quality that will melt the heart of the most lithified curmudgeon.  Check out her story by clicking on her picture.

Buddy D. Joins the Thulani Program

Buddy D. should really be named Ballgame Buddy.  He will be your friend forever if you only throw the ball for him.  His owner was wearing out her arm with the ball throwing, so her grand kids bought her a tennis ball launching machine.  And Buddy, being the smart German Shepherd he is, learned to use the machine himself–while the humans just sat off to the side and watched.  Buddy would grab a tennis ball, drop it into the hopper, and then wait for the machine to do its thing.  When the ball was launched, Buddy would chase after it, retrieve it, and drop it into the hopper, etc., etc,., and so forth.  Until, of course, the ball got so slobbery that it gummed up the machine.

Buddy had the greatest life possible, but sadly his keeper needed to find him a new home.  We took Buddy back, into the Thulani Program, where he now has a permanent foster home, with a couple who know how to throw a tennis ball.  Although it is a bittersweet chapter for him to move to a new home, he now has a warm and loving home that will keep him for as long as he will permit, and his former keeper can visit him as much as she wants.  Not the best of endings, but one that everyone can feel very good about.

And Buddy will continue to keep those tennis balls entertained.

New Lease on Life

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‘RIP’ T

Euripides VI (‘Rip’) is a bright-eyed, alert 11.5 year old male German Shepherd who has lived a great life since being adopted from San Francisco Bay Area German Shepherd Rescue in 2002.  Unfortunately, recently Rip’s luck turned bad, he lost his home, and he had an appointment to be euthanized.  Upon seeing Rip and the amount of ‘life’ he had left in him, the Veterinarian that had been called to euthanize him refused to do it. Instead German Shepherd Rescue of Northern California was called and he was welcomed into the Thulani Program.

Rip is good around people and was big brother to 2 children. He is dominant around some other dogs, but loved playing with his sister Carly. He has a great sense of humor, and is a typically smart GSD.

Rip is all German Shepherd, with a purposeful walk, a bright face, an intense interest in the world around him, and a truly impressive ‘roar’ for a bark.  He is a people’s dog–wanting nothing more than to be always at his special person’s side.  That is not to say he does not appreciate all the people he meets, he does!!  He comes quickly up to new people with ears forward, only to put them into a soft, submissive posture as he gets close to the meeting.  That sort of a greeting is probably the only case where you would describe him as submissive.  He is strong, both in body and mind, can be dominant, and prefers to have his people all to himself.  He is not inclined to invite any doggie buddies to the local beer pub with him.  But he does love walks, as long as they are only about a 1/2 mile or less, and preferably on flat ground.  He rides quietly in the car, although he often needs help while getting in.

Rip has hip dysplasia but is otherwise healthy.  His hip dysplasia is being managed by pain medications, but results in him being stiff in the mornings when he wakes up, being limited in the length of walks he can take, walking with a bit of a wobbly gate that can result in falling if negotiating steep stairs or steep uneven ground, and having difficulty getting in and out of vehicles.  That having been said, with proper care and foresight, Rip is quite mobile and anxious to partake of everyday activities to the utmost of his capabilities.

Rip has basic obedience commands and house-manners mastered. He enjoys carrying around and playing with tennis balls. He will retrieve them when they are gently tossed or rolled not too far away and actually gives them up when asked. Rip takes treats gently and enjoys a good scritch. He is generally quiet around the house and yard. He enjoys curling up at your feet while you’re reading and sniffing the yard while you’re gardening. But if he sees another dog he will let out his “roar” of a bark.

Rip is not comfortable sleeping in a crate but he will enter an x-pen upon request and sleep on a dog bed within. Rip can be left in an outdoor run or x-pen with shade and water for several hours and he is not disruptive.

Unfortunately, Rip lost his battle unexpectedly, probably to an internal cancer.  Rip’s ashes have been scattered along a peaceful stretch of the Sonoma coast.  We will miss him, but he gave great happiness to all that interacted with him.

Kassidy–The Power of Love

Please read the update from Kassidy’s (Marie’s) fosterer, Sharron.  She reported this morning that crater #2 had appeared in her lawn–ground squirrels beware!!!

Bob

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Hi Bob,

I wanted to give you an update on Kassidy after our vet visit on Thursday.  Her poor ears are still massively infected.  The vet gave her a wash and antibiotic drops as she was not keeping any food down and didn’t feel that pills would stay down either.  We also got some ointment as her eye infection was back and her eye was not looking so good.  He could tell she was in pain and did some cursory tests to find that she has some arthritis in her knees for which we got a new pain med to try to see if it would help.  Nothing major nor un-fixable until we got the blood work back.  Everything was primo except her liver enzymes which are off the charts.  The vet said he can’t be sure without x-rays, but the cause is likely liver failure or that the cancer as metastasized to her liver.  He saved that for last and I was feeling good until then, when my heart completely sunk.  It didn’t seem fair that she could be so fine one day and so deathly ill the next.

We made it through Friday and by Saturday morning I thought I would be calling you to say it was time.  I curled up on her bed next to her with my head on hers and told her I wasn’t giving up on her yet, that she was my girl and we just weren’t done with each other yet.  Well, she barely made it outside, peed and came back and went to sleep.  I checked on her a few times throughout the day.  At about 3:00 she came out and walked to where her bowl usually sits.  I’d tried to feed her each time I fed Katie, but she hadn’t had any interest since Monday night.  I cut her up about 1/4 of a small chicken breast which she devoured and was looking for more.  I gave her half of a hard boiled egg which she again devoured.  I gave her the second half and told her no more.  About 30 minutes later when she had kept the first food down in days, I gave her about 1/2 cup of kibble – which she devoured and wanted more.  I didn’t want to push it so told her that was enough.  She went outside with Katie and a couple hours later I looked out and could only see her butt out of a crater she had dug in the lawn.  I went out to ask her what she was doing and she grabbed her squeaky toy and came running to me to play.  This dog went from what I was sure was her death bed to the same old Kassidy I had come to love in a matter of a few hours and never in my wildest dreams would I ever have thought I’d be happy at seeing my lawn destroyed.  I have no idea what happened and I know from the liver tests along with the cancer that brought her to the program to being with, that we are living on borrowed time.  But for now she is back and just as full of it as the day she came to live with me.  I got down in her face, told her how happy I was and how much I loved her and for the 4th time since I’ve had her, she kissed me.  The only answer I have is that it was a lot of answered prayers and the love between a dog and her human that brought her through.  I don’t know if I will have one day, one week, one month or one year, but whatever it is, each day from here on out is truly a present.

Please keep her in your prayers.

Sharron