Well it's a week since we got Harley out of the situation he was in and he has come quite a long way since then. In the last week he has gained just over 1 kg in weight and his ribs, spine and hips no longer stick out so much which were making it look like we had been starving him, in fact he is starting to look a picture of health. He has really settled in and is getting much better behaved by the day. Harley has learned to walk (On the lead) to heal and go to his bed when told, he will sit, lie down, give you his paw and a high five when asked to and he is now perfectly clean in the house letting us know if he needs to go out, in general Harley is showing himself to be a very loving and gentle little dog. His main fault now is that he still barks at other dogs when out on a lead and pulls to try to greet them (Lack of socialisation when a puppy) - We are currently working on that fault which is showing a good and steady improvement. Harley really is showing that he is quite intelligent and very willing to learn and tries hard to please us! I have an appointment with the vet on Wednesday to have part of his tail amputated as it has an old wound on the tip that wasn't treated by the former owner. However I am now questioning that decision as it looks to be healing perfectly well and only bleeds very fractionally if he knocks it on the coffee table or whatever when he gets excited. However I have found something called "Dog Ends" on line which should help to stop him knocking it while it is healing - Harley shows no signs that this old and small would is irritating or hurting him and it shows no signs whatsoever of inflamation or infection so I want a second opinion from a different vet on this. I made the mistake of registering Harley with a veterinary practice before I checked out their feedback on-line - Their feedback is really terrible and they seem to be very well known for charging for treatment and surgery which isn't necessary just to take as much money from their customers as possible without caring much about the animals welfare - They initially quoted me £343.73 for the operation but because I questioned the price they straight away admitted that they had added on tests which were not needed so reduced the written quote to £258.53 - You read into that what you will! On the whole though we are extremely pleased with Harley's progress and are delighted that we were able to take him on as we are sure that he is going to make a perfect family pet for us. Here's a few photos that I took today which show how much better he is already looking after just a week. p.s. Please excuse the dust sheet on the floor, I was working with some slightly muddy pigeon decoys just before I took the photos.
Well, Harley has just been dropped off at the vets a short while ago to have a partial amputation of his tail and to be neutered. He's turning out to be quite an expensive little dog with vet bills but well worth it as he is proving to be a very intelligent little dog that learns remarkably quickly and is perfect in every way in the home.
Fingers crossed all goes well and you can get back to building him up again. House will seem quiet without him already?
Ah, yes, It's fair to give the pests a sporting chance, which is why I always let them land before opening fire
Yes, we've just got back from shopping and the house seems empty. As for the vet, I doubt if Harley will ever forgive me - He thinks he is only going in to get his tail sorted, I didn't have the heart to tell him he would was going to wake up as a "nutless wonder"!
He won't worry about being plumless - it's us humans that make a big deal of it. He'll love you to bits as long as he gets love in return.
I know what you mean. The comment about him not forgiving me was somewhat tongue in cheek, but if anyone did that to me I wouldn't be delighted!
Fwiw Tango never used to like being petted or cuddled whilst sleeping when he had nuts. Now he seems to like curling up next to us.
This is a most heart-warming story and very cheering. Reading it from such a first hand source puts it ahead of the stories which I watch of Prof. Noel Fitzpatrick in his 'Supervet' programme. Thank you, Pete for sharing this experience.
No, the NHS offer a better service than my local vet IME. They are available I believe and could be why the judges at crufts feel a dog's nuts to check they are real and not just there. I gather they need to be intact for competition.
I don't think that the opinions of Crufts' judges matters to the dog. What matters is that the dog feels happy when he licks his scrotum.
It would appear they do. Sadsacks don't seem to bother them and it made them easier to control outside.... Tango was trying to teach Bravo to run away to hump bitches and challenge other dogs. Also one less thing to go cancerous.
Thank you for your kind words David but I don't think that my wife or I have done anything other than what anyone else with a little care and compassion would have done. All we have done is to get a young dog out of a pretty poor situation and tried to do our best for him. OK it is costing us money that we could do without having to spend on vets bills but when all is said and done it really is only money - And it is already being paid back in so many of the way that Harley treats and looks up to us. Edit: The comment about Harley costing us money with the vet isn't meant as a complaint, we know all too well that when you take a dog on you have to accept the possibility of vet bills.
