The Best News!!

Guess what!?!?!?  There is a signed adoption contact for me!  Yes, that is right!  A wonderful couple have stepped up and chosen ME out of all the dogs in the world who need a home!  

How about that?!?!  I feel so special, and so loved. 

In early October, I will be going HOME.

In the meantime, I am enjoying sniffing around the yard here at my foster home. And trying to be patient!

This will be my final post. Thanks so much to everyone who has been reading my blog and caring about me.  It has meant a lot!

And the Blind Dog Rescue has many other great dogs who need a forever home. Right now their website is not functioning correctly, so check out their Petfinder page:   

https://www.petfinder.com/pet-search?shelter_id=PA689

Thanks again!!

Steps!

Here I am going up the steps on the front deck here at my foster home, and then back down.  My foster mom is pretty terrific in many ways, but she is not so good when it comes to getting a video clip of me on the steps from her phone to this blog.  So, you will have to trust me that I zipped right up, walked across the deck, and zipped right back down on the other side. I can handle these steps very easily!  But I would be a little concerned about a long flight of steps.

There have been some questions about my age!  That seems a little personal, but I can understand why those who are interested in adopting me would wonder how old I am. The paperwork from the Texas shelter says around 12 years old. That guess was made when I was in very, very rough shape and in poor health.  I get many comments from those that know me now that I could not be 12 because I don't act like a 12 year old dog. I don't know what a 12 year old dog acts like, but I can share that I have a spring in my step and a song in my heart.

That is the thing about adopting a rescue dog.  Our pasts are almost always a mystery, and there are things that just won't ever be known. What I do know is life is so much better now for me than it has ever been, and I am excited about my future. 

Another update:  Right now I am being treated for a mild ear infection, and my foster mom has noticed I seem to be hearing a bit better!  How about that? I am not hearing everything but am hearing a few more things than I was.  

But I am a happy boy no matter what.

And that is it for today.  Check in again soon for another blog post.  I will keep blogging til I head on to my forever home.

Waiting!

Hi! Here are a couple photos of me!  My foster mom said I can post all the pictures I want of myself because, after all, this is MY blog.  :)

I am waiting for my dinner!  I love to eat!  But I am being patient.

I am also waiting for the right person to put in an adoption application for me! 

And just like I can be patient about waiting for my dinner, I can be patient as I wait for the right person.  If you are the right person, please make sure you first read all my blog posts so you know all about me, and then fill out this adoption application:

http://fs8.formsite.com/blinddogrescue/form758585118/index.html

And now it is dinner time!

I am a Good Dog Looking for a Good Home!!

I have finished my breakfast and am settling down for a nap.  But it is a little hard to sleep because I am FINALLY ready to be adopted! My heartworms are gone and my cough has almost disappeared!  I cough a cough every few days, maybe.  But nothing like before!  And I am not on any medication for my cough right now!  The vet said yesterday I am ready for a forever home.

So, here is a summary about me, for those of you out there who are looking for the best little dog there is.

I am mostly a Westie. Maybe 100% Westie. The vets and the groomer think I very well might be. But my foster mom and the Blind Dog Rescue won't promise I am a purebred.  But, really, could I be any more handsome?  :)  And, really, does it matter whether a dog is a purebred or not?  

I am 17 pounds.  I have cataracts in both eyes but I can still see pretty well.  I can't hear but it doesn't bother me at all. And a bonus is I can sleep quite well when the other dogs are barking!  :)  I have some arthritis in my hips, so my gait can look a bit stiff (hardly noticeable), but I still enjoy going for a walk and sometimes I even break out into a short bit of a run.  My knees are great (no luxation!). My teeth aren't so great, although I just had a major dental procedure and right now they are squeaky clean.  But I only have thirteen teeth left.  My foster mom brushes them every night and I am so good about it!!  I begin to lick my lips when I see her coming with the toothbrush because I like the toothpaste!  I will need another dental in six months, so anyone who adopts me needs to be ready to take care of the few teeth I have left.  I have a few tiny (tiny!) bumps on my face that the vet said are no worry, and then a small lump on my side, about the size of a lima bean, that was biopsied and is benign. Because I had heartworms, I may cough from time to time.  And some dogs who have had heartworms can have issues later on with their heart or lungs, but many do quite well. 

The bottom line is I come with some medical baggage, and the future for me is unknown. Anyone who might want to adopt me needs to understand that.  But the future is unknown for any dog or cat or person!  Right now, today, I am doing better than I have been in a long, long time.

I am housetrained and cratetrained.  I walk on a leash and every once in a while decide I want to go my own way but I do pretty well.  I rarely bark (maybe once a month?).  I enjoy attention and also enjoy a nap on a dog bed or even on the floor.  I don't chew things up. But I do eat well, and enjoy meals and treats. I should be in a home that doesn't require going up and down a lot of steps, although I can very easily do a few (like from the deck to the yard) quite well - just not a whole flight. I get along just fine with the other dogs and the cat in this house. I have impressed the staff at the vet clinic and also at the groomer's with my good manners and gentle personality.

And I am ready. I am ready for my forever home.  Please read all of my blog posts and then decide if you have room in your life for me.  And, if you do, fill out this application:

http://blinddogrescue.com/adoptionapplication.html

Right now, I am resting up for my trip to my forever home.  Will it be yours?

More Sofa Time!

Hi there!

I was relaxing last night with my foster mom on the sofa. Here are a few pictures.

And, some promising news!  I continue to step down on my dose of prednisone, and I have hardly been coughing at all!!

Stay tuned!  We are keeping all paws crossed here that the cough is going away!!

The Rug

This is my favorite spot to sleep.  By the air conditioning vent! I like it to blow on me; sometimes my hair is even blowing around in the breeze!  But, before I relax and nap, I like to arrange the pad, as you can see. I move it here and there, here and there, and then, finally, the pad wins, it flattens back out, and I fall asleep.  :)

An update on my coughing.  I have dropped down my dose of prednisone, and am continuing to do well!  There is still a small bit of coughing - I may always have some coughing - but it is a lot better.  Keep your paws crossed, and stay tuned!

News to Share!!

                             

I have a lot of news to share!  First, check me out!  I went to the groomer today to get a trim, and the groomer told my foster mom I was such a good boy!  I feel great with my hair cut, especially with the hair away from my eyes.  Of course, I am always handsome, but I am extra handsome now!

As you know, if you have been following my blog, I am now heartworm negative! That is the BEST news!  The treatment was long and hard.  

Once my heartworms were gone, I was scheduled for a dental, and I went for that last Wednesday. My teeth were in such bad shape when I came to Virginia from Texas. I had seven extractions, and now only have thirteen teeth left. The vet told my foster mom that my teeth must be brushed every night, and he said I will need another dental in about six months.  The vet also said one of the infected areas of my mouth came really close to the jaw bone, so I cannot be given anything hard to chew on, like a dog bone. Anything too hard could crack my jaw because it has been weakened. But, if I don't eat anything too hard, I should be fine.

My foster mom has been brushing my teeth every night, so I am already in that routine!  I didn't like it when she first started, but now, sometimes, I come right up to her when she gets the toothbrushes out.  I am such a good boy!

And my cough, which had disappeared when I was on the prednisone for the HW treatment, is back. :(  Sometimes I cough off and on during the day, and sometimes I even wake up to cough. The vet put me back on the prednisone to see if we can find a dose that controls the cough but has minimal side effects. So we are experimenting with that now.  The vet is thinking it is not trachea collapse, and we know it is not kennel cough or anything contagious. It could be chronic bronchitis, or the result of those darn heartworms, which sometimes can cause long-lasting damage to the heart and lungs.  The good news is all my bloodwork was within normal limits, and my chest x-ray was OK too - it was unchanged from the x-ray taken in April.

I am a little worried, though, because some of this news is not the best news.  I know other dogs have better teeth than I do, and I know other dogs don't have a cough. But I also know there is a home out there for me, with someone who can see beyond my cough and my teeth.  I know there is someone out there who doesn't mind a dog who can't hear and who has some trouble seeing. Someone who wants a well-mannered dog who is housetrained and crate trained.  A dog who enjoys a short walk, and who gets along with other dogs, cats, and people.  A dog who is happy getting attention and also is happy stretched out on a dog bed, taking a nap.  A dog who sleeps through the night and rarely barks. A dog who is quite handsome.  And a dog who deserves a chance to be loved just the way he is. 

Not just anyone is that someone. In fact, maybe most people are not that someone. But I know someone is out there who is looking for a dog just like me.  So, if that is you, I hope you will stay tuned to see how things work out with my cough and the meds.  Feel free to email the BDRA Adoption Team if you have questions about me - they will contact my foster mom, and get you the answers.  

Here is their email address:  adoption@blinddogrescue.com

And I will keep blogging!  So please check back here!