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| Schatzi and Chance |
Late Sunday night, March 26, our friend Whitney sent us a text message that
Chance, her beloved Weimaraner passed away. We are heartbroken, but so thankful to her for adopting Chance in 2012. Whitney and Mike gave Chance the greatest life a dog could ask for, and Chance was so bonded and loved by his sister, Schatzi, who always cuddled with him.
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| Whitney and Chance June 2016 |
Chance was our foster dog that we
pulled from a shelter thanks to Karin Bakkin of DC Area Weimaraner Rescue. Chance
needed hip surgery when we brought him home and we made sure he got it. We then
worked on rehabilitating his leg and he was adopted. This is a compilation of
Chance's life as we wrote about him on our blogs. He will be forever in our
hearts. Rob and Tom, Dolly, Franklin and Tyler
Our note to Whitney: Whitney,
Mike and Schatzi- Tom and I are just heartbroken. Chance has always
been a part of our family,too since we rescued him from the local
shelter. . We were fortunate enough to foster him through Karin and the
rescue, and we knew that you would be
the best mom, ever- and you are. Chance had an amazing life when you
adopted him. His gentle spirit will always be around you, and he'll give
you signs he's still with you (as Buzz and Sprite have done with us).
Schatzi will also be lost in grief, so hug her tightly for us.
Remember his smile because YOU were responsible for giving him the best
time of his life. We are always here for you. Love and hugs, Rob and
Tom.
Follow the blogs below (in date order) from the time we were lucky enough to rescue Chance and share in his life experiences that we were fortunate enough to be part of:
We continue to support the Dachshund and Weimaraner rescues and as a result,
we have a new foster dog. It
all started two weeks ago when we got a notice from our city alert
system that an 8 month old beagle puppy was found in our neighborhood.
So, being the dog activists, we created a flyer with the dog's info,
where he was found, and a picture of him. Rob distributed the flyer up
and down the street where the pup was found and called the county
shelter days later to check if he was claimed. Fortunately, he was! -
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| At the Shelter earlier this week |
However, when I (Rob) called the rescue, the shelter coordinator asked
why I was interested in the dog's well-being, so I told her we work with
the two rescues. That's when I learned they had a Senior Weimaraner (11
years old) in the shelter. The shelter had already called DC Weimaraner
rescue, and talked with Karin, the coordinator. The rescue already has
25 dogs, and we offered to take this guy to help out.
Saturday
at 5pm we picked up the male Weimaraner, whom the shelter called
"Snoopy." But we've renamed him "Chance" because now he's got another
chance. He did well on the ride home and sat up in the back for most of
the ride.
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| Chance now resting comfortably with us at home |
Here's the interesting part - His left rear leg is
lame, but he can still walk around. He'll be 11 on August 4th (he had a
microchip in him that had vet info on it, but not the owner's info).
So, the shelter got his records. The shelter also gave him all
vaccinations, etc.
He's so calm. When we got him home, Tom
bathed him in the backyard (he smelled of the shelter), and it was so
sweet to see Tom taking care of him. Rob washed his ears and clipped his
nails and he just laid down and let us take care of him. Poor thing is
also dealing with
severe diarrhrea, but we're treating that. He's very passive and hops
around and gets along with our other kids.
TOUGH FIRST NIGHT - Chance had a really tough night. He got up during the night and had severe diarrhea all around the
room and on himself. .
LEG ISSUES: ** The strength of his good leg (his other is apparently useless) is weak in the morning, so after we got him out he tried
to pee and collapsed on the ground, peeing while laying down.**
-
I was able to bathe him again outside (it was 5:30 a.m.), clean his bed
and put a towel on it, and clean up the entire room. We gave him the
metronidizole and Imodium last night after several runs of severe
diarrhea. I've made sure he's had plenty of
water and he finally ate a little this morning when I put tuna fish on
his food,
but I hear his tummy roiling. He was also shivering, so I covered him
with a blanket. Right now we're waiting to hear from the rescue to get
some guidance on what to do next for him. He's such a sweet dog. We want
to get his hip and leg back in place to see if he can walk on his back
leg again.
Today, Chance, our foster dog (and a Weimaraner) is going to have hip surgery today to enable him to
walk on all fours again. He has a dislocated hip and leg, that the doctor thinks is the result of a car hitting him when he was wandering the streets.
He checked into the hospital this morning at 7:30am and will be in
surgery this afternoon. The doc said it will be good for him and has a
good "chance" for success.
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| Chance getting ready for surgery at the hospital this morning |
Tom
and I have got it covered (its a lot to ask of the rescue, when they're
taking care of 25 dogs- so we're happy to cover it) We want him to
be healthy and enjoy the rest of his life. Thanks to DC Weim rescue for
allowing us to foster and
rescue him
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| Franklin, Dolly and Chance on a walk yesterday (Chance Hops) |
and
for the Prince George's County, Md. shelter for taking him in, giving
him a place to stay, vaccines, medications, and contacting the rescue.
I've (Rob) been picking him up in the mornings because his
good back leg is weak.I've also carried him up and downstairs (Glad
he's only 66 pounds!).
Healing
will take several weeks, including physical therapy, so when he comes
back we'll be working with him. Its such a great feeling to be able to
take a dog that may have had "no chance," and giving him a "Chance" for a
new life. - Tom was the one who gave him the new name. Watch for more
updates, and thanks to all of you for your support and encouragement.
WHAT KIND OF OPERATION IS HE HAVING?
They're removing part of the femur, which is separated from the hip. It's called
" Femoral head ostectomy" and it will create a "false joint."
- From Wikipedia:
Unlike most other hip surgeries, the head of the femur is not
replaced, but is allowed to heal and develop its own fibrous scar tissue
so that the joint is no longer bone−to-bone, a pseudoarthrosis (also
called a "false joint"). The neck of the femur is usually removed at the
same time as the head. This prevents the post operative complication of
bone rubbing on bone and continued pain. This has led to the procedure
often also called "Femoral head and neck ostectomy".
Animals who have had FHO surgery are required to maintain a lower
weight throughout their lives to compensate for the loss of skeletal
integrity, and generally have less mobility than normal- but will be able to walk without the pain!
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| Diagram of the FHO procedure- removal of part of Femur |
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| Chance discovers he likes toys |
Chance is doing extremely well. He goes on walks with us
and the other three dogs now (we take them early morning and late at
night, if the night time isn't too oppressive). He's amazing and
determined.
DOGGY DAY CARE: - He went to Doggy daycare on Monday when we didn't have power (so he
and the others would be kept cool) and appeared to enjoy it. He gets
along so well with other dogs. He also came back and was using his back
leg (where the hip operation occurred) more, and putting it down more
while walking. He continues to improve at an amazing pace.
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| Left: Chance / Right: Sprite |
STAIRS: - He also learned how to come downstairs, as long as we gently keep his
behind straight. (We're still carrying him upstairs until he
builds up the muscle in that leg that he didn't use for so long).
STITCHES OUT TODAY:
On July 5th, he gets his stitches out from his hip surgery and
the removal of that benign fatty tumor. He's energetic, happy and
follows us everywhere. He also loves putting a ball in his mouth and
carrying it around or playing with it. I can tell he's getting better,
because now he steals Dolly's toys when she's playing with them... and
causes Dolly some Doggy Angst!
REHAB: We'll be talking with the doctor
about physical therapy and will work with him over the next
couple of weeks to get him healthy for a forever home. He's such a great
boy, and it will tear me up to see him go to another home, but we need
to continue our rescue efforts to help another dog.
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| A proud moment- Chance conquers Hill number 1! |
Our foster dog, Chance the Weimaraner is
making remarkable progress since his hip surgery, where the doctor cut
off the ball at the end of the leg, so that the leg would slide back in
place. Since then, Chance has shown remarkable progress and we've been
helping him use his leg.
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| One of 2 large hills Chance conquered! |
- During a lunchtime walk, Chance (and
the other dogs) went on a good 25 minute walk with me, and we went up
TWO hills. The doctor told us to get Chance to walk up hills. Chance did
a great job and used his weak leg (its weak because half the muscle
withered when it was bent behind his butt) the entire way! Here are a
couple of pictures and a short video to show the progress.
- Chance also can come down the stairs (13 steps) as long as I hold his
backside straight (his back tends to lean to one side, away from his
strong leg). This past weekend, with some butt support, he was actually
able to CLIMB the 13 stairs (treats helped)! Amazing!
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Our foster dog Chance loves the human touch.
He loves to cuddle and he always wants
to be with us. He loves laying down at our feet while we're sitting on a chair
watching television. Here's a pic of Chance at Tom's feet earlier this week.
On Sunday, July 29, 2012 our foster dog, Chance was adopted by Whitney
and Mike. It was a great day for Chance, and he was so happy his tail
kept wagging. We all became fast friends, too, so we know that we'll be
seeing more of Chance, Whitney and Mike. We look forward to hearing
about Chance's adventures in his new home with his new "sister" Schatzi
the mini-Dachshund. (Yes, it was really emotionally tough to see Chance
go, but he's going to be soooo loved!).
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| Whitney, Mike and Chance |
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| Tom and Rob give Chance a goodbye hug |
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| Chance got a pre-adoption bath |
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| Chance is comfy in the back of Whitney & Mike's SUV |
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| Schazi and Chance already comfy with each other in his new home! |
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| Chance relaxing in his new home! |
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| Tom, Dolly, Franklin and Sprite (Rob taking pic) all missing Chance on adoption nite |
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| Walking through the winery |
Recently we met Whitney and Mike at a
Winery near Gettysburg, Pennsylvania that was holding a "Dog Day." It
was a fundraising event for dogs, and people were welcome to bring their
dogs, so we all did. Whitney and Mike adopted (our former foster
Weimaraner) Chance and also have a mini-dacshund named Schatzi.
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| Chance and Whitney |
We left our elder Dachshund, Sprite
with Tom's folks, and took Dolly and Franklin on the ride. It took over 2
hours to get there, and 2 more to get back -but we had a wonderful time
together. We got to walk the dogs around the vineyard, check out a lot
of dog-related vendors, enjoy a lunch together, and the dogs got to see
each other again.
Chance looked wonderful! His formerly
lame leg had developed good muscle and he was walking with barely a
limp (he had hip surgery in June). Whitney and Mike are doing an awesome
job in Chance's recovery, and it was SO great to see them all. Here
are some pictures from that memorable afternoon.
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| Tom, Franklin, Mike, Schatzi |
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| Tom, Mike and doggies |
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| Chance, Dolly and Franklin |
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| Schatzi, Chance, Dolly, Franklin |
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| Schatzi |
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| Chance enjoys a little girl's attention |
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| Chance Close up! |
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| Chance and Dolly when told to look at the camera |
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| Chance and Dolly looking for bunnies |
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| Franklin and Dolly |
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| Schatzi and Chance |
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| Chance and Schatzi |
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| Schatzi and Chance |
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| Franklin posing |
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| Getting organized for the group shot |
We saw "Batman Vs. Superman" on Sunday, and although I really liked it, Tom not so much. But- GO SEE IT! It's really a classic. Comic book readers will appreciate a lot of things in this film.
- Ben Affleck's Batman- As a huge Batman fan, I can honestly say that he nailed the character in both Bruce Wayne and Batman characters. He was outstanding and convincing. He's a better Batman than all other actors. (Even Jeremy Irons was the perfect Alfred).
