Heart Dog Day

Almost three weeks since my last post.....sorry friends.  Things around here have been crazy.  Good news is that Rusty is ALL better and is back at a healthy weight, we moved into a large house with a nice yard so he doesn't even know what to do with all of the extra room! Zoomies all over the house! Another happy story is that Ms. Honey was adopted two weeks ago and it looks like her furever home!! If it isn't then she's coming back to live (foster) with us...already arranged with the SPCA if that happens, but I don't think it will!

Anyway....the real reason I am posting today is that today is our Heart Dog Day.....the day our Heart Dog (Russy) adopted us...One year ago today he changed our life.  Now he has two little brothers, a big house, a nice yard, and all kinds of doggie neighbor friends who love him.  Such a turn around from the little beat up pup roaming the streets of the big city. We don't know his birthday.  The vet estimated sometime in December...so it's kinda hard to celebrate that.  But Russy picking us does call for a celebration, so today we celebrate! I'm glad you found us little boy. 

And now a look back in time....


Day 2, after his first bath.  About 5-6 months old. He cleans up well!



It's hard to believe how little he was....he's almost double the size now.

This past spring at the park.  All grown up.

Not So Wordless Wednesday...

Just an update on Rusty.  He stopped eating and drinking for almost 2 days, and just when we were about to take him to the animal hospital, he perked up and ate something!! So good news is that he's eating.  The bad news is that he is still really sick to his stomach.  He has been so good about waking us up to take him out in the middle of the night, rather than going in the house.  Now I know (almost) what it feels like to have a child with feeding/toileting needs every few hours throughout the night.  He also still has a lot of blood in his stool.  The vet thinks it is just stress related.  She tried him on a few new medications, so if in the next 24 hours he doesn't get any better, back to the vet we go.  He's loosing weight fast even though he's been resting most of the day.  Keep praying for my little boy. 

Sensitive Little Pittie

This weekend Russ had a bit of a medical scare.  A few weeks ago at the park Rusty was acting as if he got stung by a bee on his chest/stomach.  We brought him home, took out what we thought was a stinger (not sure what it was now), cleaned it and gave him some benadryl.  He was fine but we kept an eye on the "sting".  What went from a small red bump soon turned into a large red tumor like growth.  So, this weekend we went for a mini anniversary vacation to the beach, and left Rusty with my mom (a vet tech at our animal hospital).  We scheduled an exam for him and it turns out that the growth was called a histiocytoma.  The doctor decided to remove it because Russ was starting to scratch at it with his back paws. We weren't really too worried.  He had been put under anesthesia before for his "snip snip" surgery and he was fine.  We should have known though that all would not go as planned.  He has had funny reactions to certain meds in the past.  Anyway, he ended up having a reaction to the anesthesia (ketamine) and had seizures for over 2 hours as a result.  They were able to remove the tumor and it did end up being benign as expected.  Thank goodness my mom was with him....I can't imagine how scared my little boy was having seizures for so long.  Now, because of the physical and emotional stress endured by his body over the last few days he is having a hard time keeping food down and has some blood in the stool (the vet assures me it's probably from stress and we will be keeping an eye on it for the next day or so). 

For such a strong dog, he really is sensitive to medication and very fragile when it comes to the few medical issues we have experienced with him over the past year.  The only difference this time is that he was at a very healthy 80lb weight for his size, so the fact that he has dropped a few lbs is not as scary as a few months ago when he only weighed 60lbs and dropped lbs really fast because of the steroids he had to take for a skin infection. 

My poor little boy...has no energy and all he can do is sleep.  We will be taking it easy for the next few days and hope for the best.  Does anyone have similar experiences or any advice?

Wordless Wednesday

It's been awhile...

Hi friends.  So it's been awhile since I was able to post anything.  The last few weeks have been super busy and the next month will only get more hectic.  I've also had some technical issues with my blog that I'm still trying to work out, so I hope people can actually read this!  Good news is that we are moving to a house, with more space (and that hopefully means room to be able to foster!)  This weekend I volunteered with the SPCA to take Ms. Honey to an adoption event at Dan Grinde Cycles in Staunton, VA.  He is a long time supporter of the SPCA and despite the drizzly weather he hosted a great event with good food and music and a lot of dog lovers.  I think I may have even found Ms. Honey a furever home!  There was one couple that was extremely interested in her and she seemed to love them too, so I hope they come and pick her up soon!  If not...I may have to talk to hubby into letting us foster her.  She and I definitely have developed a special connection over the past few weeks of volunteer events and evening walks.  She also got to meet Rusty at the Harley event a few weeks ago and they love each other.  Ms. Honey looks great, shes lost a little (needed) weight thanks to all the great volunteers who walk the dogs on a daily basis at the SPCA, and her skin and coat look super shiny compared to last time I saw her.  She has a lot more spunk too! 

Soaking up some attention while staying out of the rain.

Love this face.

Beyond the Myth

So last weekend I told you about the very first Pittie Rescue in the Valley, called Virginia Paws for Pits.  On Monday April 30th, (one week from today!), Augusta Dog Adoptions is hosting an event at Mary Baldwin College in Staunton, VA.  They are showing a documentary about Pitties and Breed Specific Legislation, called Beyond the Myth, to help raise awareness about the breed and their rescue.  The movie starts at 7pm and the tickets are $10 with all proceeds going towards Virginia Paws for Pits!  You can click here to purchase tickets.  They are also having a silent auction starting at 6pm.  Come out and support this great group!  If you aren't able to make it out to see the movie, you can still donate by visiting their facebook page or their website!  I hope to see you there!

If you're trying to raise awareness in your area you can contact Beyond the Myth to host a screening in your area. 

Sirius-ly Handsome Pittie

Today Rusty's new collar from Sirius Republic came in the mail!  He was sooo excited.  When I got home from work the mail man was at our building and he had our package! When I walked in the apartment I told Rusty he had package and he must have known what it was because he started the wiggle butt's, and got super excited and started "talking" to me until I put it on him!

We decided on the chain martingale, Texas Two Step pattern (which benefits Love-A-Bull), with red fleece lining (for the sensitive pittie skin). 

Check out the pics.....such a handsome boy, and a great collar too!

Emery was jealous of our photo shoot and the treats Rusty was getting so he jumped in too!

Rusty likes to walk himself on the leash for the first few minutes of our daily walks.

Don't mind me....I'm just soakin' up some rays!

Thank you Sirius Republic for making my boy such a beautiful collar!