Saturday, April 26, 2014

Park Time!

Took her for the first time to the dog park.   She LOVED it!




 
Afterwards, at home:
 

Appointment Follow Up

Happy Saturday.

Let's get this started.  Yesterday Athena went for her follow up at the vet.  They were EXTREMELY happy with her progress.

She gained another 4 pounds! A dog that weighed 47.7 pounds at the shelter now weights 55 lbs.  The vet noticed it right away. She definitely filled out and appears to be bigger than she was.

She no longer requires her ears to be cleaned daily.  We only need to do it every 3 days.  I can tell you a certain doggy is quite HAPPY to hear that. She hates that part with a passion. 

For her hair & skin, she no longer requires any solution.  Her back is healing very well. She only has a few scabs left and the rest is receding.  She is healing quite nicely.

She still is on some antibiotics for both her ears and back, but it's just to make sure we get it all. Once completed with this round she should not require anymore.  She is now going on heartworm/flea & tick prevention.

Her last round of shots is in two weeks. Once she is finished with her antibiotics and prednisone, we can schedule her spaying.  

Last night, we bought her a bigger bed.  Since she loves her bed so much AND she was a bit big for the one we had, we bought her the canine version of a queen sized bed. She took to it right away and she now may spread out and still be on the bed.

Come back later this weekend and I'll post a bunch of new photos of the girl!

Thanks for checking in on Athena.

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

WWE all the time

Yeah, it's safe to say Athena is L-O-V-I-N-G her new life.   No doubt about that.

Her life now consists of:

--her place in front of the window in the upstairs office.   We have an ottoman placed in front of one of the windows in the guest room/office.  Athena has taken this spot over and can be seen at the window when we come home from anywhere.

--her bed in the bedroom.  She walks in the master bedroom and plops right down on it. She stays there until she decides to look out the back window, jump up on the bed to cuddle with Mommy, or if we decide to move to another room.   She is quite comfortable on her bed.

--wrestling with her sister.  The WWE has moved to our house. What once started as an occasional thing has turned into a 24/7 thing.   It MOSTLY starts when Duchess gets jealous and uses it to get Athena away from us.  Athena occasionally starts it.  The girls seem to love playing with one another.   What was once very very cute is bordering on annoying as they tend to get loud and interrupt Rich's TV time.    Over all I'm very happy that they're there for one another.

--A family that loves her.  Athena has melded into the family quite easily.   She gets along with both of her sisters. She is very gentle with Sheba. She is affectionate with Duchess. She is super affectionate with the both of us.  She is a very sweet girl.

--Loves her walks. She loves her walks with Mommy/Daddy & Duchess.  She gets her additional exercise in that way.   Between the wrestling and the walks, she appears to be very content.

--Loves the outdoors.  She can sit outside for hours.  She loves to bark at nothing, squirrels, cats, dogs, etc.   She's also content to just sit out in the back and watch.

--She loves to eat.  She doesn't have to fight with anyone to eat. She doesn't have to starve, food is provided and she loves to just settle down and just chow away.  The increased activity I think keeps her appetite healthy.  She's put on some pounds but looks fabulous now that she is filling out.


Really, she's been very easy to incorporate into our home.  

Another very obvious sign that she is doing well is how she holds herself.   Before she use to fold in on herself.  Her tails was tucked under and close to the body, she walked like she was slinking away, moved gingerly up and down the stairs, and tended to stay in one area like she was trying to avoid being noticed.   Now she walks around like she belongs. Tail no longer tucked under.  She moves pretty quickly up and down the stairs (awkwardly though), and she moves about where she wants. From onto her perch to the floor to into one of our laps, she has no hesitation.  

She is such a pleasure and so easy to love.

Friday, April 18, 2014

Completing week 2

Hello Again.

Athena is doing well.  She's definitely gotten some meat on her bones and is looking healthy (aside from the obvious issues). Her coat glows & she appears to be very happy.

She LOVES her bed.  She sleeps there when we are at work.  She loves her sister Duchess.  When we adopted Athena it was our hope that they would be playmates.   We've definitely achieved that.

I'll get to that again in a minute.   Athena also LOVES being outdoors.   She loves to sit or lay out there and just watch or bark at whatever she sees.   Yesterday I worked from home and it was in-out. In-out. In-out. 

She does whine a lot.  I do not know the reason but she'll just be lying there and start the whining.  It makes me sad as I do not know what the issue is yet.

Duchess and Athena definitely are bonding. We adopted Duchess 10 months ago and from day 1, sleeping in bed with Mommy has been her thing.  No one sleeps next to Mommy except her.  No one gets Mommy's attention except her.

That has changed over the past week.   Duchess has now taken to sleeping on the floor right next to Athena at night.   It makes me sad, but it warms my heart that they're getting close.  

They play with each other once a day.  That relieves me.  Finally Duchess has a way to burn off some of that excess energy and she and Athena bond even more.

Athena is definitely not afraid to get what she wants.  For example, just a few seconds ago Duchess was on the throne looking out the window. That is normally Athena's spot. Athena wanted it and just went over to get on it.  Duchess chose to leave.

One thing Duchess still has issues with is that with Athena being so affectionate, she just crawls on your lap or snuggles in next to you.  Duchess does not like that, sharing attention.  In fact she is sitting next to me pushing at my hands because they're not rubbing her.

Overall-Athena is doing very well.  
Below is a video I shot this morning as I was trying to work.  It started with Athena cuddling into me...

Monday, April 14, 2014

One Week Later

Sorry to make you wait for another part.  I had to go out of town for a wedding.   Athena was left home with her sisters and Daddy.
 
She's doing extremely well.  Had her first round of shots and was given more medication.
 
The vet thinks she'll do well. The patch of skin on her back is 'healing'. We're still not sure if hair will grow back or not, but everything is healing nicely.
 
Her spaying is being put on hold for awhile. They really would like to see the ear infection & her skin heal more before we get to that point.
 
She has bonded well with her sisters.   She is very sweet with them and she and Duchess play with each other often.   It was exactly what we hoped.   

Athena loves to sit out side and be on guard (to protect us from all those squirrels and cats that roam
Athena watching for local wildlife.
out there).  She's very gentle with kids and adults.   Very sweet.  

She's navigating the stairs better.  She still looks a bit awkward climbing stairs, but she has picked up speed and confidence in climbing them.  She also doesn't crouch low to the stairs as she originally was.  She still is no Duchess when climbing (or running in Duchess' case), but there is obvious improvement.

She loves looking out the window.  She has taken over Galen's old thrown. It's very bittersweet to watch.  

The "throne" was Galen's for the entire time he lived here and it was very saddening to see it empty as his body wouldn't allow him to climb on it anymore.  I think he might approve of her taking it over.


Galen on HIS throne
 
Athena, taking over Galen's spot

Actually, both Galen & Goldberg both use to love looking out the window. They could sit there for hours. Only Galen had claimed the spot and no one was allowed to sit there when he wanted it. Not even Mommy.  

 He would make you get up so he could rest upon it and watch outside if that's what he wanted.    I really think Athena and Galen would have gotten along.   We're just glad she's enjoying it.

I was sidetracked! Let's get back to the vet visit. Athena has gained approximately 4 pounds since she was weighed in at the shelter.   We're glad that she's putting on the pounds.  She has a very healthy appetite.   I have yet to see a sign of any food aggression and that makes me happy. After dealing with it for years with Goldberg and Sheba (no one tried with Galen), it is nice to see a dog eat with a healthy appetite and no issues.

Unless the hub failed to tell me, we haven't had any more incidences of her going in the house.  She's very good with holding it.

I'm extremely happy with the progress she's made.  I also love that she is extremely affectionate.  The other dogs, not so much. I haven't had an affectionate dog since we lost Goldberg 2 years ago.    Athena definitely wins the title of most affectionate ever though.

We're very happy to have brought her into our lives and I think it's safe to say, she's happy too.
Say cheese!

Close up of Athena in the back yard


Tuesday, April 8, 2014

Days 3 & 4

Athena is adjusting well.
She's doing much better on the stairs. She still looks awkward going up and down, but she's got speed now.

Monday I worked from home, to give her more time to adjust to her surroundings. She slept on her bed right next to my desk the whole day. 
Once I finished, I brought out the puppy puzzle toys for them to play with. She got into them.  She was rather impatient with the one & broke a piece, but nothing major.
She also played a little bit with Duchess.   That made me smile.  


One thing I did notice about her is the possibility she's going into heat. I've never had a dog that was unaltered, so this is new to me.  We're keeping a watch out and we'll definitely find out at the Vet on Friday.

Today, I returned to work.  Today was a real test as this is going to be the schedule she deals with during the week.  9+ hours without the humans.
I was running late, as was my husband, so I was anxious to what I would find when I came in the house.

Three happy excited pups greeted me at the door.   All my girls waiting for me.   While I let them outside, I searched the house for a sign of a mess. Nothing.  Nothing was amiss.  She did so well.

I played with them a bit outside and then brought them back in.   Once inside, Duchess tried to engage her in play.   Athena joined in. They were chasing around the large chair and having a blast.
It warms my heart that they've all started to bond and care for each other. 

Athena's back scabs are falling off. She has healthy looking skin underneath so that is good.   Rich & I both think her teets do not look as big as they did the day we brought her home. Whether that's from us getting use to her or they actually are, remains to be seen.

Right now she & Duchess are at the window right next to me watching the neighborhood.


 

 

 

 

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Adopting Athena

After we saw her picture, we immediately sent an inquiry about her.   We also sent in the adoption papers along with a request to meet with her so our dogs could do a meet & sniff.

I spoke to the shelter and one, we were approved to adopt her and two, we were scheduled to meet her and possibly take her home on Saturday April 5, 2015.

In the end, we decided not to bring the other two with us.  We knew Athena, would probably be a good dog, Duchess would be the problem.  We wanted her to have time with us before introducing her to the dogs.  

Besides, it was a 2 1/2 hour drive and did not need the headache of 3 dogs in the vehicle.

It gave us time to bond with her in the car. 


We arrived down there around 10:15 AM & they brought her out right away.   It was a bit of a shock to see her at first. Even though they tell you right there in the adoption post, seeing it in person was something different.

She has that patch of dry scaly hairless skin along her spine. Additionally the black belly & knees, and the extended teets, were a bit of the surprise.   It wasn't going to change our opinion, it just made us realize that this poor girl has been through much more.
They mentioned she was probably over-bred based on her teets. 

Looking at the other spots, it looks like she was kept on her belly or laying down quite often.   It seemed she may have been a puppy mill mom.    

While all the dogs were cautious when they met, they're pretty comfortable with each other. In fact, Duchess and Athena have played a little bit.

You can tell Athena was not a house dog nor did she have a good life prior to us. She tends to walk around with her tail down between her legs.  She isn't use to going outside.  We ask her if she needs to go & she waits at the door with the other 2, but then she goes right there.   We will need to work on the house training.


Athena with her new sisters
She was totally unfamiliar with stairs.  She had the hardest time walking up and down them. She still does but she is a bit better with it than yesterday at this time.

She is an absolute sweetheart though. Very affectionate.  She also took very well to her new bed.  
Sleeping on her new bed next to big sis, Sheba
 
We made an appointment with the vet to go over her issues, get her shots and schedule a date for surgery (she obviously needs to be spayed).  We also need to put some weight on her. She's way too skinny. I'd be happy with 5-10lbs but we'll see what the vet says on Friday.
 
 
We adore her so far and we're going to everything to get her healed and feeling safe and happy.  
 
We're going to keep you up to date on her healing & progress. 
 
 
Below are some pictures of her visible physical issues.


patch along her back

 


Knee

A view of her knee & underneath. Black & hanging low


Another view of her other knee & underneath.

Meet Athena

Welcome.  Let's introduce you to Athena.   Her information was shared in a Facebook Post by a friend of ours. It just so happened we were in search of a new dog.   

We lost our first fur baby in late January after 14 years together.  It was heart breaking.  We had two with us still. Sheba, Galen's (my first), bestie who is 13 1/2 years old.  She has slowed down in her old age and this is the first time she's ever been without him.   We also have Duchess, a four year old we adopted last June.  

We were looking for a companion for Duchess and someone to cushion the blow that is going to come.  When we saw this post, we fell in love with her sweet smile and story.   So this here is the beginning of it all.