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Intensive Care for Cheyanne

The Dogtor is in

Today Cheyanne went in for her final step in the medication for heart worm treatment: the second injection deep into her back muscles. The vet tech tells me that these injections are not very painful, so the dog is not sedated for each procedure, but the aftermath is. Cheyanne is in enough pain now that they sent some medication for that as well. Not all dogs require that, but Cheyanne is “delicate”. She’s more sensitive to cold than the rest as well.

Cheyanne, nice warm shirtIt’s cold today: 12° this morning, 22° as a high. After spending the day in the intensive care room at the shelter for her procedure and observation, I put her in an old Tee shirt when she came home and needed some leg stretching time. She seemed to appreciate that. She appreciated getting the breakfast she was deprived of this morning even more.

She seemed dazed and disoriented. She spent a long time just sitting on the boardwalk. It is not at all like her to be so still. When I called her to come inside where it’s warm, she turned and went to her dog house instead. “It’s too cold for that sweetie.” I had to carry her inside. I put an extra blanket in her crate for added cushioning on her sore little body. She curled up and went to sleep.

Marie and I decided it would be best to put Cheyanne into intensive care for a couple of days to be sure she was OK. Blondie and Cochise agreed and gave permission for her to sleep in their house for a couple of nights.

Rhonda: Queen of the Hill

The Dogtor is in

Having finished the weekly radio radio program I produce first thing every Monday, I took The Kids on a walk and went past the mailbox to send the program disk out to the radio station. Then we went up to the shop yard for some play time with Cheyanne and Rhonda."cochise,

Cochise refused to go through the gate: “I don’t want to get in the middle of their rough-housing.” These girls have not done any rough-housing, not like Blondie and Janet used to do or Cochise and Malachi for that matter. He’s just being bull-headed. Well; he is a bulldog. So I used the leash to tether Cochise outside the wooden gate (where he could watch, but not be involved) and he sat there, ears pinned back and his back turned to the fun, ignoring us.

Blondie and Cheyanne played together nicely. After a bit, Cochise started to whine, “I want to play too … I’m lonely out here.” So I let him in and off the leash. The three of them leisurely chased each other around for a while. Nice gentle play. Rhonda was still in her pen, watching everyone else having fun.

Cheyanne

Cheyanne is a really sweet girl who had a rough time with her heartworm treatment.  But she got through it and went on to be adopted into a great family.

Intensive Care for Cheyanne

Today Cheyanne went in for her final step in the medication for heart worm treatment: the second injection deep into her back muscles. The vet tech tells me that these injections are not very painful, so the dog is not sedated for each procedure, but the aftermath is. Cheyanne is in enough pain now that […]

More About Doug

Allan Douglas Allan Douglas was the pen name used by Douglas Allan Bittinger as a freelance writer in writing newspaper & magazine articles and web content on a variety of subjects from woodworking, to computers, from parenting to robotics. There are few topics that he could not write about. He went on to write several […]

Food Guarding In Dogs and How To Deal With It

Dogs tend to protect or “guard” things they feel are most important to them, things they feel they can’t do without. Some will guard toys, some food, some will “guard” or become vicious when others approach their people. Guarding is rarely a desirable trait. Food guarding is dangerous to other dogs and to the people […]

Piney Mountain Foster Care

Marie and I have been providing canine foster care to dogs since June of 2012. We find it to be a very rewarding experience. Some posts to this blog promote animal fostering, offer training tips and cover canine health issues. I will post the stories about our foster dogs, articles about what we’ve learned as […]

Hercules

Hercules is a Boxer mix on loan through the Foster Dog Program at Newport Animal Shelter. He tested positive for heart worms and was taken off the adoptable list. We’re trying to change that and help him get a loving forever home. When it’s cold, our foster dogs sleep in crates in my heated workshop. […]

Rhonda: Queen of the Hill

Having finished the weekly radio radio program I produce first thing every Monday, I took The Kids on a walk and went past the mailbox to send the program disk out to the radio station. Then we went up to the shop yard for some play time with Cheyanne and Rhonda. Cochise refused to go […]

Malachi: Foster Dog

Malachi is an unusual dog.  Highly energetic, very talkative, and when he barks, he sounds like a turkey gobbling.  He’s so funny! Search Results for: Malachi Speak! Do Dogs Talk? Understanding Dog-speak Posted on: August 3, 2019 by: DougB Comments: Leave a comment Originally published Feb. 14, 2017 When us dogs talk, most of what […]

Home Page

Piney Mountain Foster Care is a small, all volunteer, non-profit kennel facility located on 4 acres of mountainside property in Edwina Tennessee. We got our start in 2012 by caring for dogs going through heartworm treatment.  We still do this and other medical care.  We also work with dogs with behavioral issues.  But we are […]

 

Janet Rides, Blondie Mourns

foster dogs, dogs, janetThis morning Janet was loaded into the truck to accompany Marie into town. Janet will be getting her first Immeticide shot today to kill her heartworms. Blondie was on the porch watching. As Marie pulled out Blondie stood and made her low, mournful “ArrrooOOOmmm” sound several times (it’s similar to the sound of a cow lowing). I assumed she wanted to go for a ride too, except she made no attempt to get off the porch, and she never goes to work with Marie. She should not expect that.

Belle: Foster Dog

Belle’s story is a sad one.  She had a checkered history before she came here.  We found her to be cuddly and companionable, never aggressive.  She was heartworm positive and here for treatment.  I took her to the shelter so the vet there could give her the first injection, but she reacted to the needle stick by snapping at the vet, so he ordered Belle destroyed.

We were devastated.

Making a Break For It (Again!)

Blondie, dog, escape artist
My “baby girl” Blondie

We have had a real problem with Blondie exploiting any weakness she finds in a fence and making a break for the wild woods. As a result I have taken to tethering her in the shop yard or locking her inside the shop if I have to step away for a bit – like to go get the mail or do some gardening. After her last escape I spent a morning tightening up the fencing, bolstering posts, and sealing up the lower edges where she (or something) had pulled up the pins that hold the fence to the ground. I eliminated all the potential escape routes I could find. But she is strong as a bear, and it constantly surprises me what she’s capable of.

Faith: The Sad Tale of a Foster Dog

Faith was an exceptionally sweet, affectionate dog.  She was very calm and gentle.  And beautiful. We fell in love with her right away and were considering adopting her as a companion for Cochise.

She was heartworm positive.  They knew that, but delayed getting her started on treatment.  When she finally arrived she hadn’t been here long. I went in one morning to get her out of her crate and found she had passed in the night.  It was a very sad time.

Bella: Foster Dog

Bella is a sweetheart of a dog.  Gentle, cuddly, well behaved.

Unfortunately all the photos and adventures about Bella were posted to Facebook, so are long since gone.  She came before I started building foster dog pages, just writing Doggie Tales about their adventures, and some of those were published elsewhere, not on our web site.

Dolly

Awakened in the night by the need to urinate, I slide my legs over the edge of the bed. Instinctively I glance down, looking for the black and white blur, in my myopic vision, of Dolly’s sleeping form in the dim glow of the hallway nightlight. Dolly has taken to sleeping next to the bed. This started during storms; rain makes her nervous, thunder terrifies her and she seeks solace by snuggling up next to the bed where I can drape an arm over and scratch her ears. Lately she starts out sleeping on her snuggle bed in the corner of the bedroom, but after we’ve gone to sleep slinks over and curls up as close to me as she can get.