Frasier – Page 5 – This Old House 2

Free to Go

When Frasier adopted us I immediately noticed that he had a cough. Dry, hacking gag really. I googled it and it happens to be a sign of advanced heartworm disease. Ugh.

I had him fully vetted and the test came back positive for heartworm. Then the xray showed some damage already taking place in the heart itself… a sign of advanced disease. There is no specific protocol on treating heartworm… several ways to go about it. My vet and I opted to put him on Doxycyline (sp?) for 30 days to kill off some of the young worms in his system and softens the blow, then give him two intramuscular shots in the lower back of immiticide, which kills off the adult worms that have invaded the heart. Heartworm treatment is costly, and there is some danger. During treatment the dog must rest all the time besides just walking around the house and being walked outside to do his business. The dead worms can lodge somewhere they aren’t supposed to be and cause disaster if you’re not careful. He has a permanent hard knot at the sight of the injection and his back was sore for a while, but the hardest part was the waiting. This means two months of “rest”. HA! Tell that to an active two year old dog…. it ain’t easy! But we did it… and the ban on walking some distance is cleared. An important note: Give your dogs those heartworm chews every month…. the treatment is nasty.

Frasier was “free to go” for walks again last week… and so I took him to the beach. If he hadn’t come with a name that suits him, he would have made a nice “Sandy” too, don’t ya think?

Frasier is the type of dog that bonds very tightly to his human. Nowadays that would be me. If I’m in the shower he’s on the rug outside the glass door. If I’m out at the barn he’s laying on my flipflops in the hall until I come back inside. He sleeps in a bed right next to my side of the bed and if I get up at night to go to the bathroom…. he goes too. My husband says he’s neurotic… I say no, he’s just devoted. …..Or something.

Anyway!… So at the end of our walk I stopped at the waters edge and walked in just to get my feet wet. I didn’t ask him to join me because he looked apprehensive and the leash was long. Then he looked like he couldn’t stand not being RIGHT NEXT TO ME… and was trying to figure out how to do that without getting wet. He looked at the rocks as if he might try to jump, but he saw that it wouldn’t get him to where I was. So he sighed a big sigh, stared at me and waded in ever soooooo slooooowly. Stood next to me shivering the whole time, but damn it, HE WAS NEXT TO ME.

I love my rescue dog.

A picture says a thousand words….

Frasier at the adoption event in March….

I hadn’t seen this photo before, it was posted on the FB page of the

photographer who attended the Old Saybrook Event.

Oddly, Frasier escaped my radar that weekend

until he went missing from his new adopters home

just 25 minutes after leaving the adoption event.

Funny.. but not really….the man came back to get his money back,

because the dog “isn’t a house dog, I don’t want him if you do find him”.

That information couldn’t have been further from the truth.

This Dog is one of the most loving, cuddly dogs we’ve ever had.

If he could sit in your pocket all day, he would.

Totally house trained too.

I can’t express enough what a great feeling it is

to save a dog’s life, and watch them flourish as

they learn what it is to be loved.

So next time you’re considering a dog… first look into Adopting before you shop.

Frasier thanks you.

Goin to the Dogs

I couldn’t take it anymore.

The shame was just too much.

.. most difficult were the constant disappointed looks from my family.

I called the helpline and begged..

Can you meet me? Anywhere? I NEED YOU..

I’ve messed up and I can’t fix it…

it’s just getting worse

every.. time… I try.

The reply was immediate.

“Meet me at the XXXX parking lot at 6pm,

no one will bother us there and I think I can help you

but it might not be pretty at first.

These things take time”

If you live in Connecticut

and are in need of Mobile Dog Grooming Unit services…

Let me introduce you to Lillian,

owner of Goin To The Dogs …

203-481-3994

She’s awesome 🙂

She’s also one of my new friends who volunteer

for Shelter Dogs… has a few herself!

Thank you, Lillian ~ Frasier thanks you too.

A Hair raising experience

Frasier is a poodle spaniel mix, we think. What’s definite is his poodly hair. I’ve never had to deal with poodle hair before because in general I’ve never really been a poodle person. This I have learned with Bailey and Frasier… (both are poodle mixes, but Bailey has terrier hair)… Poodles are the smarts in this mix. I’m amazed at the intelligence of these dogs. When Frasier looks at you, it’s like he’s human…and they both wear their emotions on their .. proverbial sleeves.

So getting back to the hair. Frasier was definitely getting poofy in recent weeks, and it was clear that he was getting hot underneath the poof. I had an appointment with a friend who is a partner in rescue work and a dog groomer as well. She and I were the mobil unit looking for Frasier when he was turned loose by his adopter of 25 minutes.

But I’m impatient and Frasier was hot.

Although he looks so cute, like a stuffed animal with all that hair, don’t ya think?

I went to Petco and bought clippers, thinking I could just get this over with myself.

And I did. Felt like I was sheering a sheep.

It ain’t pretty… but it will do.

Just hush.

Scene around the Farm..

Barn swallows like to rest under the eaves of our kitchen porch…

Frasier in need of a haircut. He got it last night..

I’m not showing you the pictures.

Good thing I didn’t aspire to become a dog groomer.

I love my chickens…..

Happy Perennials instead of annuals in pots or urns… who knew?…

These are chocolate coral bells..

Waiting for the rain….

Coady and Lacey wondering when it will be their turn for pasture time…

Have you done a ladder garden sculpture yet? If so.. submit photos to me!…

New batch of tomato plants in the ground…

first batch killed by frost.

Live and learn.

Squash, cukes, broccoli, lettuce, beans, peas….

..and finally.. the rain.

…and then there was Frasier

very time I head out the door for a Dog Days Event I’m reminded not to bring anything home. My family knows how hard that is for me…. all these dogs with hard luck stories, rescued and looking for homes. So far I’ve volunteered at three events… and although tempted 100 times, falling in love atleast five or six times.. at the end of the weekend the dogs were all adopted by good people and I could go home empty handed and feeling good about it. Husband, I’m sure, breathed a sigh of relief.

Last weekend, an older gentleman, a little scruffy looking… came in and wanted to adopt a dog as a companion. His neighbor, a well dressed older woman, came in to vouch for him as a good dog owner. On paperwork he filled out, he looked good. Dog Days requires references before they will adopt a dog out, and most of the time there are also home visits when possible. He chose Frasier….and off they went. Frasier was in his company for 25 minutes, when he turned him loose and the dog ran away. The woman who vouched for him came back to the event and told us the dog ran away, and if anyone finds him they don’t really want him anyway….so could he please have his money back. Unbelievable.

For two days volunteers put up flyers and searched the area where the dog had been lost… just a few miles from the event. There were a few sightings…and on the second day I returned to the area to give it one more look… and flagged a cop down that I saw on the road. I asked him if he had seen the dog over the weekend and he said.. “I just came from a house where construction workers have him trapped!”

YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I went to the address and there was Frasier, scared, cold… and so happy to see a friendly face that he leaped into my arms as the construction guys let him out.

I called the husband, crying, and said…. I FOUND THE MISSING DOG!!! HE’S IN MY CAR!!!! and then I proceeded to tell the rest or the Dog Days crew that had been looking for him. I think we all cried. He came home with me, as his rescue crew was already on their way back to Georgia. The idea was just to “FOSTER”… but if you’ve ever done this sort of thing, you’ll know that when the dog just fits right in… …. enough said.

And this time? It’s me who has the husband of the year.