Be Careful What you Wish For.....

Hanging out with the girls

Can you believe it's the end of May already?   Volos has been with us for 4 months and this dog is unrecognizable. 

I just re-read day 3 & day 4 entries about him and just had to laugh.    Don't know who that dog was, but it sure is heck not Volos.     

Now, not all has been rosy and Peryn & Volos did get into recently that required Peryn seeing the vet because of an injury.   It's been touch and go with their getting along, however new circumstances may actually change that.

So, I used to comment how when I worked in my office, Volos wouldn't come in to lay with the rest of the pups.   Then eventually it happened.  

I used to wish Volos would be a bit more playful. He would sneak a toy here or there, but wasn't really all that playful.   Then he discovered the wonders of his Wobble Wag Giggle Ball.  That dog is insane over that ball.    It is his most favorite thing.    Additionally, he loves collecting toys.   
Yaay--another wish fulfilled.

We went for months not hearing a peep out of him.  He barks now.  Yay!

Thanks to this stay at home/quarantine thing, I've been working from home every day since the end of March.    For awhile it was good. I would work from home and the days that there was no play care, they all slept until my lunch time or end of day.  (Or a conference call).     IT's been pretty good and funny that they know my schedule enough to start bugging me.   

Getting comfy in his sleep

WELLLLLL....   Volos has decided as of late that he'll sleep the first part of the morning and then around 9-10 am he becomes animated and playful.   When he plays, he barks.  He barks at his ball or whatever toy he's playing with.       So it'll start with him playing for a bit with his ball across the hall.   Then he gets up and comes over to me wanting me to play with him.     

This in turn, riles up Peryn & Lada and then we have 3 hyper dogs wanting to play.     It was cute the first few times...... NOT SO MUCH NOW.           

This has led us to begin working with the Play Care to get Volos used to them.   Last Friday, he went in for a few hours and then I picked him up to bring home.   

He went again for several hours on Thursday.  It was a slow day, so he was there for 6 hours.   He did very well.      Yesterday he went the whole day.       

Wanting him to start going to day care has a few motivations behind it.   First, it helps him socialize in a different setting with different people and dogs.        Secondly, it gets him out of the house and away from bugging me to death.   Thirdly, I had a hope.       When he went last week, it was when Peryn was stuck at home because of his injured paw.   He was at day care with only Lada. 

My hope was that this week with Peryn returning, they might bond. I saw it with the dogs when it was Duchess, Athena, Peryn & Lada..   They tended to bond  and hang out together at day care.   I think that is one reason that pack was the most bonded and got along so well.   They relied on one another all the time.   

Well, below you will find photos taken by the day care of yesterday's outcome.   Let's hope things stay that way!! 

Athena's doing well. Still full of life and energy.  Her body's been cooperating for the most part.   We really did not think she was going to last this long based on how things were going in January.     We're happily surprised.   We love this girl so much. 

Peryn & Lada are the same.   Hyper as always, but loving and trying to figure out how Volos fits in.

One thing that has truly helped is that Volos is now a regular in the basement.  They run down, he often times is right behind them.       

He's often playing fetch down the stairs as well.    He really is such a happy dog and obviously knows he's part of the pack. He sleeping in the bedroom often and wanting to be in the middle of E V E R Y T H I N G.

This dog is definitely not the dog we brought home. 

Volos' admirer

Hanging out

Hanging out

Add caption

Brothers

The Family

SAY IT AIN'T SO!!

One Year

Yesterday we celebrated one year of Athena being with us.   It's amazing looking at her and seeing the differences in her.

While she still has the large patch on her back that is hairless, she's a happy healthy girl.  She is very loving and friendly.

She loves people, but loves other dogs even more.  She has a sister in Duchess, best friend in Master Chief, & tons of friends at the dog park.

She has her own bed (two spots actually) and where she once couldn't climb stairs or jump up on things, she easily does so now. 

She's very vocal in her emotions. She either whines, hums, squeaks, barks, or moans.  She is a healthy 63lbs and very active.

Can't wait to see what the next year brings.

Long time.....

Hi! 
Sorry it's been awhile. 
So much has been happening, time got away from us.

First off, Athena Update.

Athena is doing VERY well. She's quite happy and healthy.  She LOVES her life.  Her life includes walks with her sister (s), trips to the dog park (2-3 times a week), and just a general appreciation of life.

She is very well loved.  She's still the sweetest thing and still incredibly cuddly.  Her Daddy & I love her to pieces. 

Our only concerns are she is a little bit territorial with the food bowl and treats.  She growls at Sheba often when she wanders to close.  We've done all we can & still continue to correct that when we can.

Additionally, she's a barker.  An annoying barker.  Good thing our neighbors love us otherwise, she'd get us in trouble.   I've nicknamed her Barky Barky & the Furry Bunch or Sir Barks A lot.   We are addressing this and working on reigning it in. A definite work in progress.

I will upload photos later today. They're either on my phone or tablet and I prefer to write this on my laptop.  I need to download those photos to share.  I'll be generous with the photos when I do.


Secondly, I'm going to rename the blog.  The first part will always be about Athena from the time we rescued her to now.  From this point on, it's going to be about Duchess and Athena.  The two of them are cohorts and deserve their spotlight.  Plus it's going to be more fun.


So when you come back in a few (days? weeks?) Don't be thrown when the name is new and Athena is no longer the sole focus. Besides, two dogs instead of one? Winner!

Thank you for all those who cared enough to follow Athena's adoption and rehabilitation.  WHICH reminds me...back to Athena...


Item#3...
Her healing/rehab.
It looks as those the patch of missing fur is permanent.  That's ok. It's not really noticeable.  It is much healthier and 'black' like the rest of her affected areas are.  It's part of who she is and we really do not get questioned on it.    She is no longer on meds other than Fish Oil.  Her coat is gorgeous. She is so shiny and soft.  A big furry sweetheart.

Her back legs are strengthened. She jumps more easily and runs all over.  She has an awkward gait, but it's just who she is now.   She doesn't appear to have the normal strength in her back legs that a normal dog (gsd) would, but she is stronger than she was.

We're headed to the dog park in a few. It is by far her most favorite place. She gets so excited when we get there. She never stops the whole time.  It's really a joy to see.


Here's one pic of her, her sister, Duchess, & Daddy from July.  I will add more later on when we're back.

Thanks for checking in on her.

 

Athena's Update

Hi. Today marks the 2 month mark that she's been with us. 
 
My only complaints:  she still urinates in the house and she barks...a lot.   Other than that she is absolutely wonderful still.   
 
Her surgery is scheduled for Thursday. Both she and her sister, Duchess, are going in. Duchess needs to have a small benign tumor removed.  So yay to that.
 
As far as the physical issues she had when we adopted her:
Both ears were infected. She had a yeast infection on her back & had a strip of hair gone. It was all scabbed over and white. 



First 5 mins we had her. 4/3



Underneath her she was all black. Her underside & her 'elbows'. She had loose skin where it appeared she was underfed.   Her teets were large & distended, possibly over bred.
 
Some pictures (found in an earlier post) for a reminder:

At home getting comfortable

First Hour

See the 'black' underneath her and on her elbows

A back view of the missing hair

 

Close up of her elbow

  



 

Another view of her elbows & her hanging skin underneath
 
 

 
 
 

Her 'hanging" skin & teets

 


Her Back



 So, here she is today. A healthy weight, the scabs gone, the black is slowly fading but it's still there.  Plus she's just happy.

 

Yum! I stole sissy's bone.

 

Filled out.  Nice size girl.

 






Another view of her.

 












 

Her Back today

Her elbow

 

Underneath

 

With Mommy!