by jennifer on May 31, 2006
Dolph had his first appointment today with our rockin’ vet, Joe Fong, over at Arguello. It was a rough appointment for a first-time visit with a newly adopted dog.
First off, Dolph is not 5 years old as the pound has "estimated". We knew he was older, so that is not too surprising. Dolph’s more likely in the range of 8-10 or perhaps a better way to think of it is that he’s in his later middle age years, considering his plans for retirement. That is retirement as in golden years, not retirement from life completely.
Dolph has a few worrisome cysts which are pigmented black like sun spots. One is troubling enough that we took a sample and sent it to the lab. It’s possible melanoma, but also possibly benign. We’ll find out Friday.
That’s the biggest concern right now. Dolph also has a heart murmur. As you may know lots of dogs and humans live with heart murmurs for years, decades even! Our guy’s is mild — a 1 or 2 on a scale of 1-6. Something to watch over time, nothing to get our knickers in a twist about right now.
We’ve also learned that our new boy has mild arthritis in his hips. It’s not too bad, not too discomforting but one can see him struggle a bit heading up the steep stairs to the house.
One last thing — I saw that the Dolph had some traces of blood in his urine. Rosy looking urine and this time I was without my rosy cycling glasses! He’ll go in for an ultrasound tomorrow and get on an antibiotic regimen. This is quite likely a urinary tract infection or possibly a kidney stone. More on this later.
Clearly the big guy (he’s a standard after all) was not taken care of. Awful, awful. This is apparent in his physical health, but also in his eyes and the way he doesn’t quite know what to do with all this care.
Here’s what I say to all this news: so be it. All we can do is care for the guy as best as we can and make sure he’s as comfortable as possible as he heads on into the golden years. These years will truly be his finest.
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
Consider keeping him?
and looking at this?
Pix sez: "Don’t let him go, he’s gotta STAY!"
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
Thursday. I call the pound, let them know I’m coming to pickup Dolph. They mention that he was groomed the previous day. NIce! But you know, I have to say that’s a little annoying. Dolph had been at the pound a MONTH and clearly was not bathed or groomed. He gets an adoption pending flag and they groom him? Yes, it’s cool and convenient for me (and Silvia) — but what about the previous month? Don’t you think it’s more humane to be bathed upon arrival? It’s also likely that Dolph would have been adopted much sooner if they had attended to this earlier. tsk tsk
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
After the Pixel/Dolph meetup, I chatted with Silvia, of Kosita’s, about possibilities. Was this crazy? Should I adopt and then place Dolph in a loving home? This was the path I was thinking most about. Silvia hooked me up with Pali at Rocket Dog Rescue. So we were baking a plan of action. The idea was to adopt and foster Dolph until we found him a permanent loving home. If for some reason, things didn’t work out between Dolph and Pixel, Pali knew of another foster home available. So, it seemed like a win-win, no?
Joel and I met up at the taqueria and discussed this in detail. We had one full day to come to a resolution as the pound was closed the following day for staff development. Before dinner was over, we decided to go for it. I’d pickup Dolph on Thursday, bathe him and Silvia would groom him.
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
We let the idea of adopting Dolph go. Though I tossed an turned about it all night trying to put it out of my mind. The next day I drove out to Ptown for a meeting and came home in the early afternoon. I called the pound to see if Dolph had been checked by their vet yet. They said no, but he can be checked out in the next hour and they’d get back to me. So I said, "Sure, in the meantime I’ll drop in with Pixel to introduce them to see if they get along." You know, just to see.
On the way in I receive a call from the vet tech, explaining that Dolph’s bumps are lipoma (sp?) — fatty deposits resembling small tumours. Nothing malignant, only cosmetic. Fair enough. I walk in with Pixel and we meet with Dolph and Donna, a dog behaviourist. The goal of the meeting is to understand if and how the two boys get a long. Two boys. You know the potential for disaster here.
The boys got along fabulously. The only minor problem is that Dolph likes to hump. He’s a "humper" as they say. Pixel was great at letting Dolph know what was cool and what was not so cool. The dog communication is amazing and they work these issues out over time. If not, then some one on one training will come in handy. Below is a shot of the two of ‘em. You know who’s who.
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
So I have a habit of checking out randomness on Craigslist. I find CL posts entertaining and it’s truly miraculous the gifts this massive marketplace can bring into your life. Needless to say, I found a post which mentioned there was a mini schnauzer at the sf pound. It was more like this:
————–MINI SCHNAUZER AT THE POUND!!!—————-. Truly, the anonymous poster recognized what a crime it is that a schnauzer would be at the pound! A purebred who is not only at the pound, but has been there a bloody month already. I had to pay a visit. The first photo here is what was attached to the CL post.
I drove 10 minutes to the pound and had a look at the guy they called "Dolph".
Upon our first meeting, Dolph was very excited to be getting attention, this was obvious. He was also a little shy and extremely filthy. His fur was obviously a dreaded mess and he just so badly needed a bath and some grooming that if I didnt even consider adopting him, I’d probably have volunteered to wash him at the pound myself.
Dolph was a sweetie, this was clear. Still without resolution I went home and chatted with Joel about him. Immediately we were concerned about Pixel.
Would they get along? What about Disco? We can’t have three dogs, can we? No, that’s crazy. So we let the whole idea go and continue on as planned with Disco. Below are couple snapshots of Dolph upon our first meeting.
by jennifer on May 26, 2006
Disco is/was the name of our puppy. While visiting a fantastic breeder in Tracy, we decided to go ahead and put a down payment on the not-yet-born Disco. We were very excited about our forthcoming family member and mentioned her often to Pixel.
Four litters were in the making, all fathered by Twister, the top winning Schnauzer of all time! This incredible canine has accomplished 312 Best of Breeds, 151 Group Placements, 78 Group 1sts, 27 Best in Show Specialty Shows (including 7 National) and 11 All breed Best in Shows. That’s some serious talent!
A couple weeks ago I had a chance to visit the four week old puppies. There were four separate litters. All beautiful pups as you can see here.
I had never seen Schnauzers so young! Amazing little creatures, they couldn’t even walk yet and had only just opened their eyes a few days earlier.
The shot below is who we like to think of as Disco. That was until I happened upon Dolph on Craigslist on Monday.
