July 2016
On June 19 we picked up a young Sammy male about two and a half years old. The story was that he ran away from home, and his owner decided to teach his children a lesson in responsibility by not picking him up at the shelter. Just when you think you heard everything, something like this happens. We have a good relationship with the Everett shelter so they told us the exact minute his stray hold would be up so we could be there. Erin and Tom were able to get him and report his family never showed up. His name is Juneau, though he didn’t answer to it at the time. That says a lot about his previous life.
On June 27, our boy Jack developed a cough. It didn’t seem too bad, but on the 30th we found him on the floor, stretched out with his head up trying to breathe. We rushed him to the vet where they told us he had pneumonia. It’s usually bacterial, and sometimes happens after a dog aspirates some water while drinking. We left him at the vet for three days, picking him up each evening and returning him each morning because they have no overnight staff. They were going to be closed for three days over the holiday so we brought him home with fluids to give sub-q twice a day. Sunday he seemed to improve a bit, and our vet-tech friend was here to check on him. During the night he was restless, wanting to be carried outside about 4 am, then put back on the bed. Shortly after that his body gave up and we lost him.
Two days earlier we discussed the idea of getting him tested for doggie flu, just in case, because of the upcoming picnic. The results didn’t come until three days after he died, and we were stunned to find Jack had Canine Respiratory Coronavirus, an extremely contagious virus that was first discovered only in 2003. There is no vaccine and no treatment except to let it run its course. The only strange dog in the past couple months was Juneau, but he showed no signs of illness. It meant we had to test him too, which took another five days.
Of course that meant we had two days to cancel the Rescue Picnic. We tried to contact every person on the invitation list, all the club members, and we posted on several Facebook groups and pages. We put a sign at the head of our driveway explaining what happened and that nobody should proceed to the house because we didn’t know if any of the dogs might be contagious. As far as we know, nobody showed up.
We have three other dogs who showed no sign of illness. Unfortunately, we took in another foster dog before the test result was in, and he is 13 years old. For 8 more days, until the results came back, we held our breath waiting for him to cough. We are relieved to say he didn’t, and the test on Juneau was negative on the entire panel. Juneau will be going to his new home before you read this.
The new guy’s name is Herbie, and he is a love bug. Herbie is an enormous dog, 94 pounds, but also the tallest boy we have had here. If you have a long memory, he’s just a little smaller than Tramp. He arrived with a very matted coat, caked-on feces, bad infections in both ears, and he walked like he hurt. The woman who called us said a car turned around in her rural driveway and he appeared in her yard a couple minutes later. In only a week Herbie has improved considerably. Kathy is making progress with his coat, we are treating his ears, and we will have to decide whether he is too old to clean his teeth. We took him as a permanent hospice dog and he will live out his life here.
And now back to Juneau. His new family planned to bring their 11 year old boy to meet him the day before the picnic, but we called that off because of the indecision about the virus. They came to visit without their dog, and we could see it was a great match. Now that he is proven negative for a virus, they are planning to pick him up as soon as possible.
In tribute to Jack
We first met Jack at the Olympia Animal Shelter in November 2013, where he had been dropped off by his family. He was about 8 years old, but they gave very little information beyond that. We brought him here and discovered a big goofy boy who weighed 116 pounds. He had no hair on his back and his tail was nearly naked. Our vet suspected a thyroid problem, and when tests confirmed it we put him on thyroid supplements twice a day. A couple in Graham was interested so we placed Jack with them. The house was bit unusual, but we work with dog people and we’re used to eccentricity.
They called about nine months later and said Jack “wasn’t friendly.” Within a few minutes Kathy was on the way to pick him up, and when he entered the house again it was with a smile and a wag. Jack stayed here, and he was as affectionate, mellow, and happy as a dog could be. With lots of love and not nearly as much kibble, Jack’s weight came down to 60 pounds. He moved easily and without effort. He wanted nothing more than to be next to us, day and night. Jack was about 11 when he passed, and he leaves an enormous hole in our hearts.