The good, the bad and the UGLY

The good... Johnny got his wheels in!! As soon as we opened them and set him in he took off to the door. He could not get out fast enough, he's so happy and free in them! Eddie's wheels did a great job, they fit like a glove.

The bad...The very next day Jason and I step outside to build a compost box(which excites me way more than it should) and I put Johnny in the yard with the other dogs to play and run. That evening he didn't eat (RED FLAG) the boy has never turned down a meal. We had big plans for him the next morning which we decided against since he was sickly. We had decided to bring him to New Orleans with us to the Black Keys concert (Jackson's FAVORITE band, crazy I know). It was an outdoor concert, the weather was great and we found out it was a family event so we thought he would do great. Little did we know he was very sick, good thing we left him behind.

Jackson sang along and had a blast but would have had more fun with his lil buddy. Johnny would have had fun too, there were SO many little kiddos around and Pit bulls are accepted pretty well in NOLA. Next time!

All he did was sleep and wimper for days...so sad.

 So Johnny doesn't eat for several days but he does drink alot so I don't panic. After several days I bring him to get checked out for a possible bowl obstruction. The vet doesn't seem to worry about it and gave him anti nausea meds then sent us home. I'm not really ok with this but I don't what else to do at this point, I'm very confused. Reluctantly, I give him the meds and only feed him a tiny bit and pump lots of electrolytes in him. Something is not right, I felt that meds were not the answer, yes it stopped the nausea but I wanted to know WHY he was nauseated.

Of course he feels better over the course of the next few days but then the meds run out. He immediately stops eating and is just not "right". We are now going on two weeks of this off and on. He is becoming super skinny and weak. I decide that I won't be going back to the vet here and had an idea that I would try, if it didn't work then off to LSU we would go.

NEVER has the boy turned down food.

My crazy idea?? My Chinese medicine doctor!(who is brilliant) Yes, I called her and told her what was going on. She asked when his last BM was and I said about a week ago. She explained that until he gets everything out he will not want to put anything in. She then gave me tea to give him to help clean him out. I asked if I could guasha him too and she said absolutely! (If you're not familiar with guasha then google it, it's amazing! I guasha myself, hubby, kids and now my dogs as well!)

The UGLY...the very next morning I heard him bark at the door and I knew instantly he was better. Sure enough, he had a major blowout along with a wad of "stuff"...yes, a bowel obstruction!

Your guess is as good as mine!
 I definitely see a little army man leg, and wire maybe? fishing line possibly?  And wool or stuffing of some sort.

Where did he get this from you ask? I've no clue?! We keep the yard pretty clean, AND we were keeping an eye on him while we were building that really cool compost (composting excites me so!).

So after two weeks of eating very little and feeling horrible he instantly felt better and was begging for food like his old self!

We are so bummed that he missed the road trip and concert BUT we are so relieved that he is back to his old self and feeling good! Now I have a skinny lil pup to fatten up!

This was just an hour or so after "THE" B.M. He is begging for soup, and yes I saved him some :)

Gimpydogs to the rescue! (video)

Its about time for an update, isn't it? Let me start by saying I have not forgotten about all of you! When I say I've been super crazy busy, it's an understatement. I even gave up facebook (gasp!) and no not because someone was ugly about my boy or anything like that. Simply because I found myself wasting SO much time there! Then to add to my craziness my momma had open heart surgery last week. She lives next door to me thank goodness, and I am so thankful she is doing great, but times like these I wish she had given me at least one more sibling to help me care for her GIANT mastiff "Suki" (remember her?) Well, she's been our house guest and will be until mom can handle her again. She's such a good girl...thank God, lol!

   

So Johnny is doing great! He has outgrown his PVC cart, will be done growing very soon, and is now ready for his professional cart. A HUGE thank you and sloppy dog kiss goes out to Penny from gimpydogs ! She stepped in, took over, and raised enough funds for Johnny's brand spankin' new cart plus a little extra to help the next gimpy dog in need of some wheels. Pics and video coming as soon as his wheels arrive! 

You should head on over to gimpydogs.com and check them out. They do awesome work and have tons of information there and best of all they have huge hearts and help out families and their dogs just like us everyday. Having a handicapped pet is not cheap...at all. It's SOOO worth it, but can be hard sometimes. Thank God for people like Penny and you all that donate to help people like us :)

So I'm digging through my old pics on my laptop (over 11,000 of them, yes did you read that right) and I found videos that I forgot I had!(love when that happens) This is obviously when Johnny had his horrible case of worms, right before his blockage when we almost lost him. He and Bella played like this all the time. And the only difference now is she is rougher with him. I love how gentle she always was with him. He could not have asked for a better momma....enjoy!

Johnny needs his cart

http://gimpydogblog.blogspot.com/2012/03/johnny-needs-his-cart.html

Bye Bye Peanut and Hello New Year!

     Yes we are still alive, just have been incredibly busy! For starters, several weeks ago we saved this lil guy from the gas chamber. This was one of the most rewarding things I personally have ever done! Remember my friend Amy who sent Johnny a big o box of fun ? Well she saw "Peanut" online and realized he was near my house and agreed to adopt him sight unseen if I could help. Sam and I were so excited to go rescue this lil guy from the hell hole he was in. When he was handed over to us he was terrified, dirty, stunk to high heaven and was all scabby (possibly a fight or tossed from a car?)

Here we had just picked him up, he was terrified.

1st stop was the vet. He was such a sweet boy even through the needles, micro chips, and all.



Second stop...A BATH! Whew, he stunk!

"Yea, I was in jail once too...congrats on getting outta there man."

This is where he spent his first night, safe and sound...

Sweet dreams

He is on a plane on his way home to Illinois as we speak. A very excited little girl is waiting on him right now. Congratulations Peanut, we are going to miss you very much, yet are so excited for your new happy life!!

 

Hope Santa was good to all of you!
Santa must have been really tired because he only left one of Reggie's favorite toys (you know the loooong stuffed toys with the squeaker? He's slightly addicted) Well Johnny insisted it was left for him, but Regg knew better. Christmas morning was interesting.  Peanut, Bella, and Toby stayed out of the way...

Santa left the bone for Johnny being that he is a heavy chewer and the squeak toy for Regg because he takes care of his toys and just enjoys that darn squeaker so much.

You just don't mess with Reggie's loooong stuffed toy ESPECIALLY if there are squeakers involved...he could careless if you're a pit bull or not...

"What? I let him have it...he was crying like a girl"

I didn't think he would speak to us again after picture day....


Sam expressed my feelings exactly about the holidays being over...
I hate this time of year when it's all over, but I am very excited to see what the new year holds for us!


Speaking of excitement, Sam came to me last night and said,"Mom I edited some pictures of Johnny that you might like for his blog with my new camera" So I thought being that she is 11 his head would be cut off and she would make him pink (I would've made him pink at 11yrs old) This is what she presented to me...


This is gorgeous! I'm so excited to see this talent in her at such a young age, this is definitely a framer! Needless to say I will be dedicating a blog entry to her art. Yes, this momma is proud :)

Until next time...

Moja's new wheels...

We were so excited this week to meet Moja! I saw her sweet,beautiful face (and then her skinny, crooked body) on facebook. She had just been rescued from the streets by a wonderful rescue SNARR SPECIAL NEEDS ANIMAL RESCUE & REHABILITATION.  So check them out when you get the chance and drop them a dime or two because they do amazing work and special needs pets cost SO MUCH! All animal rescues are wonderful, but the special needs are dear to my heart for obvious reasons.
Ok, on with Moja's story...
When reading her story we learned that she needed wheels asap because her poor little legs were so beat up. You may not already know but dog wheelchairs are VERY expensive ($400-$800) this is why Johnny is in a PVC chair while he grows. One day Moja and Johnny might not need wheelchairs, but if so then these will do until they get their "real" wheelchairs. My husband has made his since he was 6weeks old remember this??...

Moja really wants to walk (we can tell from her movements) and she is standing briefly. The way we made Johnny's wheels is we let his feet touch (he's mostly inside and in the grass). So he constantly stands up and pushes on them and it has built some muscle (his vet was impressed). So we also allowed Moja's feet to touch and we just set them on the bar if she's on concrete. I'll let you "see" the rest of the story...

Hi, I'm Moja...love me.

"So...I hear your daddy is going to hook me up. Cool."



Last minute tweaks

And she's off!

Look at that smile!

"Wanna race?"

Moja is improving by the day and we wish her the very best! Until next time...



Acupuncture

Johnny visited his new Dr. where he will be having acupuncture every week for the next 7 weeks. He could not have cared less about where we were headed...





Of course he made friends once he got there, he's so charming. There was also a sick little yorkie next to us that he was very concerned about, I really think he knew something was wrong with her. He kept going back to her but was very calm rather than his usual,"come on let's play!!"


So it's our turn...after a quick exam and lots of questions the Dr. hooked him up. This was the exciting part! She kept him in his cart so his back stayed straight and stable. His legs started dancing at first then remained very still. He's such a good boy. He never said peep or moved except at the very end only to spit out a big black toenail that he picked up right before the procedure (we tried to see what he ate but he obviously hid it well,lol!)


The tiny needles are connected to electric wires (sounds and looks horrible I know, but it's not) He stays like this connected for 15 mins. He was a perfect patient!


So after the procedure we set him down and there wasn't a huge difference excpet for the fact that he did stand twice. He will occasionally stand on his own but maybe once every 2days so this was"something". She said she likes to try 8 times before giving up, so our next visit is in one week. I was here to get him walking, but one of her goals is to give him bladder control! I said,"OMG! are you KIDDING!?!" I would be even HAPPIER if he never dribbled again!! It never crossed my mind that it was an option. So to say I am optimistic and hopeful is an understatement. Dr. Renee at Acadiana Vet Clinic was so wonderful, full of information, took her time, answered all of my questions about Johnny, Bella and Toby (accupuncture is all of their futures). She was very impressed with his cart (thanks dad!) She also said that she could see that he was well cared for (commented on him not having a diaper rash or sores and good muscle strength in his legs from home therapy) He is alot of work, and though very rewarding and SO worth it, it is still nice to hear from a professional that you're doing a good job.
So now all of you guys please say a lil prayer that his bladder stops leaking and that that he will walk soon(thanks!).

And here's a little blast from the past, remember this??

Until next time!!

Family Christmas Photos...Lord help us

It's that time of year! Not that we manage to do this every year, but this year I said we have to because it may very well be Toby's last Christmas so we HAVE to get a family photo with everyone this year.   

The only picture I could find where he isn't walking away

Toby is our old man, he's about 14 or 15 yrs old (we have had him for 11yrs) and he has good days and bad days. When his bad days out number his good days I'll have to make the dreaded decision. He is my shadow, as hard as it is for him to get up and down he will do it just to follow me around and be at my feet. He's such an obedient, loyal boy *sigh*. So for now, we just love him hard and feed him the best parts of the beef trimmings, give him dibs on the heated dog bed and let him do as he pleases. Basically he's the king around here and all the young whippersnappers rank second. You guys rarely see him in photos because I really think he thinks that bullets will shoot out from my lens. He literally takes off when I aim the camera at him.

    That's exactly what happened yesterday when we were all ready for our photo shoot. We are all sitting down, camera on tripod and poof he was gone. I'm yelling for him..."TOBY!!" ..."TOOOOOBYYYYY!" Well of course that was useless because he's practically deaf and only responds to sign language now. So this is how our shoot began, needless to say when you have four kids and four dogs it makes for an interesting time. I'm at a point in my life where I've learned that things don't have to be spit shinned and perfect to be great.

And so we begin....

At this point Toby is gone, then we hear him coming up the porch...

Johnny turns and sees Toby in my arms and is not having it. You can't see it but he is going OFF on my poor old man. Now Toby being the deaf, senile old man that he is doesn't care because he doesn't realize...(this was quite a moment,lol!)

Johnny calms down and we proceed...

Bella and Reggie are pouting over the stupid Santa hats.

As you can see you just aren't going to get the definition of "perfect" with this many people and dogs. Yet I still think this is our best Christmas card photo yet...

(No animals were harmed in the making of this Christmas card and all stupid hats and collars came off immediately following the photo shoot)