Snow Dogs!

The view from my desk

This is a common sight for me during the day, particularly between 3 and 5pm, as the dinner hour approaches. Caramelly brown eyes and a soft muzzle, ready to endure as much back-scratching as I'm willing to administer, leaning into it for maximum effect.

Sofi is a joyful, hoppy presence who chooses solitude with less and less frequency. I worry about her mountain goat antics in the back yard, doing superdog leaps off tall rocks and screeching around corners on two wheels, but she has not hurt herself and I don't ever see her limping. Her cornering is much more effective on the left side than the right, and she does fall occasionally, but for the most part her leg doesn't slow her down a bit.

We've moved her bed into the bedroom next to Tucker's and she has adopted this as her new spot. The two of them can be found there each night, snoring and making dog-dream noises (and manufacturing gag-inducing odors) alongside each other. She is learning to play more gently and is getting more playtime with the kids, now that she is not trying to gnaw off their appendages and facial features. Not as often, anyway.

One cute behavior she has picked up from the cat apparently, is rubbing up against our legs as she walks by. She kind of arches her back and leans, then keeps on walking. Very sweet.

She still definitely has her "turtle" moments. I've given up on walking her altogether for the time being, and she had a panic attack when Bear, the 120lb sheepdog came over for Thanksgiving. We will keep working on that relationship, because I think they will enjoy playing together tremendously once she is a little more accustomed to him.

I'm looking forward to the first respectable snowfall--I know she is going to love that, and I will have my video camera ready.

Tis the season for soft cozy beds

I had my doubts during the first couple of months we had Sofi that she would ever set foot on a soft, cushy surface. She was wary of the foam pad we gave her to sleep on, opting instead for the cool tiles. So when I ordered a bed for her, I figured Tucker might be getting a stylish daybed. But within 12 hours of pulling it out of the box and fluffing it up (and after kicking Tucker out of it a couple of times), I came around the corner to find a little dog deposited in the bed's soft center.

Since then, her "princess bed" has become her nighttime sleeping and daytime lounging and napping spot. I still have to kick Tucker out of it a couple of times a day....

Placement is very important to Sofi--I've tried moving the bed out of the congested corner of my office where we first placed it, to closer to the bedroom, where it's warmer at night. No dice. She will curl up behind it, but not in it. So it's back in the corner, wedged beneath my printer and in front of all my office supply drawers.

Sofi continues to do well, although I notice her limping a bit now if she doesn't get her dose of Rimadyl. She's off the anxiety meds, is totally house-trained (I just jinxed that for sure), and we're trying to do a 15-minute evening session of "make the dog lie down and be petted on the living room floor while we all watch something on TV" which is helping her be more social in the evenings.

We're trying to figure out what we are going to do for Christmas--we are in need of a highly sensitive and committed housesitter who is willing to be aware of and deal with all her idiosynchracies for about four days while we go to Denver....oh yeah, and take care of the five other labor-intensive souls hopping and lounging about our house. Good luck with that.

In Honor of Eliot Day

Our dear Eliot left us a year ago today--All Souls Day. I've felt his presence frequently during the past year--it seems like he's never too far away from us. I began feeling his presence more during the time when we were considering adopting Sofi, and I believe he had a hand in sending her to us. I think of him as her guardian angel.

Eliot had all kinds of unique personality traits, one of which was coming up under my arm when I was working at the computer and flinging my hand off my mouse in an attempt to get my attention. He also dearly loved getting a big sloppy drink and then wiping his drippy libbits on the pants of whoever happened to be closest to him. I didn't see it as any coincidence when Sofi began doing the arm-flinging behavior this past week, or when she went over and got a big drink just now, then came over to me and rubbed her face on my leg. I just know that Eliot is still communicating his love in little ways all around us. It is said that the veil between the worlds is thinnest around All Soul's Day, so perhaps it's just easier for us to be aware of him right now.

I can't even put into words how special Eliot was. He was an old, wise soul who taught me all kinds of lessons about myself. I miss him very much, but every time I think of him free from the limitations, pains, and challenges his body confronted him with in his final years, I can't help but smile and be grateful. I believe his soul is happy.

Home from being spayed!

I'm relieved to report that Sofi's spay is over and done! She went in Tuesday morning and we picked her up on Wednesday. The experience didn't seem to set her back at all, actually.

I expressed some concern about her anxiety around barking dogs, and Dr. Bradley gave her a private exam room for the whole day while she waited for her surgery (an emergency pushed surgeries to the end of the day). We had planned to bring her home that night, but ended up waiting until Wednesday.

It's been a bit of a challenge to keep her from over-exerting herself, but she's getting plenty of rest and lots of hugs. Her zipper looks pretty good at this point. And, you can tell that her dog suit is filling up with proper dog stuffins!! The scale at the vet confirmed my own crudely-conducted weigh-in at home--she's gained 13 lbs.

Dr. Bradley thinks she is finished growing, at least structurally. We will make a plan to move her off the puppy food, and hopefully onto the food Tucker is eating in the coming weeks.

I'm trading voice mails with someone at K-State, and I have lots of "what if we don't do this" questions to ask them. Dr. Bradley added a consideration this week--since the head of the femur is actually above the hip joint at this point, with lots of established muscles keeping it there, would she be a worse candidate for the hip replacement, since the muscles would have to stretch a greater distance during recovery than in typical cases?

All food for thought at this point, but I'm just glad to get this first surgery obstacle marked off the list!

Update long overdue

What a tremendously long time it's been since I posted an update on dear Sofi. I keep meaning to write a few lines, then life and work gets the better of me. Also, it seems like the triumphs these days come in very gradual progressions, as opposed to the dramatic breakthroughs of our earlier days together. But looking back at the last few weeks, I can see that our progress is pretty dramatic.

Highlights:

• Sofi now weighs 57 lbs, up 13 lbs from when she came to us
• Sometimes she gets so excited to see one of us after a short absence that we are afraid she will hurt herself jumping around
  
• She has recently started to seek out affection pretty assertively--pawing at me until I give her a good rubdown
• She will actually come over to me while I'm working at my desk and rest her head on my lap and gaze up at me with tail wagging
• We've had hit and miss success with walks--ranging from happy-go-lucky trotting to full-fledged panic attacks when there is too much dog and car traffic around us
• She's lost most of her interest in poop-eating, though every once in a while she falls off the wagon
• She is spending more time in the living room if we are all out there, although she still ultimately prefers her "room"
• She loves to be hugged!

OK, when I look at the list, I do realize we've come a long way together in a relatively short time. We have all fallen hopelessly in love with Sofi, and I think the feeling is at least somewhat mutual. It is beyond gratifying to have our affection returned by her.

She is still on anti-anxiety meds--we will start backing off of them after she goes in to be spayed on 10/21. I have a message into K-State to discuss a plan for the hip replacement. I hate to do it to her, since it seems she is doing so well the way she is, but who knows if she is in pain? The X-rays indicate she should be, though you'd never know it by watching her move. I'm still not 100% convinced it's the best course of action.

Sofi and the rest of us made it through a four day stretch of me being gone without a single hitch! She did great with Andre and she even learned a couple of new tricks while I was out of town. All in all, she is turning out to be a well-behaved, eager to please, cheerful, sometimes very Tigger-esque dog.

We are nearing the date when we need to schedule her for a spay and also decrease her dosage on the anti-anxiety meds. I need to call K-State to discuss the possibility of the hip replacement. Right now it seems insane to subject her to something that would require her to be severely limited in her actions for 6-8 weeks!!!! What on earth would she do with all that energy without being able to bounce around the yard several times a day? And, it just doesn't seem like she is dealing with pain issues at this point, or if she is, she sure is not letting on. One thing at a time I guess--and the spay is next on the list so I'm going to shelve the other surgery for the time being.

Sofi still has a few things to conquer before she earns her certificate of good citizenship around here....she did pee in the living room yesterday, while I was making my lunch. That was disappointing because I thought she had that one wired. And speaking of wires, she chewed the one for the overhead lights in my office (thankfully they were unplugged at the time) to shredded bits. I guess my rabbit-proofing skills are going to come back into play here. We've still got to get her comfortable on a leash again and some car rides would not be a bad idea either. All in good time I guess. In the meantime, I think we are all just enjoying a predictable routine with her each day and her smile, which she displays with more and more frequency.

I guess an update is long overdue! We are settling into routines around here and things are going pretty smoothly overall, with minor glitches here and there.

The morning routine is getting better, Sofi is responding to gentle corrections when she does things like almost gnaw my hand off during a play session or engaging in a little session of "nuisance barking." She did pee on the floor in the living room on Sunday, but I caught her in the act and I think she "got it" that the location was not acceptable. Since then I haven't worried so much about that happening because it seemed to click for her.

I have perfected my recipe for "poop seasoning" that sends her running in the opposite direction (a heavy lacing of black pepper was not even enough to deter her from her problem behavior...) The base is black pepper, and I added cajun seasoning and ground cloves! It works! But I still have to creep around and spy on her, then descend upon her with my little shaker while she is pooping and before she gets a chance to eat it...hopefully this will not have to go on indefinitely, because it's not one of my more dignified skills.

And, the news we've all been waiting for...the verdict is in on the surgery plan. The toggle wire plan is not an option, according to the orthopedic surgeon. This leaves hip replacement and FHO. I am not feeling comfortable with the FHO option, given that the hip replacement is far superior in several ways. So, we will plan on spaying her in about a month, then we'll wait another month or so before we do the hip replacement. This would be a K-State deal, and just the transportation part seems very daunting to me, let alone the expense, but I know we can get through it. And hopefully, we will have given her the gift of a long life without pain in her rear quarters, at least.

Sofi still has bouts of low self-confidence and fear, and she now refuses to go for a walk at all. We're backing off of that for a while, but I really hope we can get her back on track with that. Her progress far outweighs her challenges at this point, which makes me very happy.

Old Fears Persist

I'm doing my best to embrace Cesar Millan's philosophy that dogs want to live in the now, and it's our job to help them leave behind whatever happened to them in the past and be the dog they want to be right now. Overall, that is working well. I have more confidence in dealing with her and encouraging her to confront her fears. Sometimes my confidence and encouragement are not enough though.

She did not want to go on a walk last night AT ALL. After much coaxing and a little dragging, she did come along, but was anxious and reluctant for most of the journey. When we arrived back home, she retreated and withdrew for the remainder of the evening. Also, she still will not come when called (except for coming inside, for which I am extremely grateful!) and still cowers whenever someone walks towards her. She has not sought out any affection yet, either. I am willing to accept these things if they don't change, but I really hope things will continue to improve.

Some Recent Photos

Settling In

I think we are on the verge of normalcy! Sofi shows improvement each day in her level of comfort and well-being in our household. I gave her a bath on Saturday, which took a lot of courage on my part and hers, but we made it through, and by the time I finished brushing her, she had transformed into a beautiful dog! She smells sooooooo much better too.

She is loving the nightly walk and is already getting comments from people stopping us on the street and asking what kind of dog she is. She's doing well on the leash, and with any other skill we've worked on with her. She catches on quickly. She still doesn't really want to spend time in the living part of the house, but I hope that will change as she gets more comfortable.

I'm still looking forward to the day when she will come seeking some affection on her own, or when she will hang out in the living room without being coerced, or not run the other way when someone walks toward her.

A Good Week!

Sofi is doing very well! Each day she gets just a little more comfortable with us. She can now sit for a cookie and is willing to spend short periods of time in the living room/kitchen areas. She's been on three short walks now, and on each one we've gone a bit further...hopefully we can make it around the entire block tonight.

She is still waking very early (4:30 this morning, although she went back to sleep for a while after I took her outside) but she seemed to understand when I shared with her my feelings about her early morning barking.

Sofi can dismantle a tennis ball in less than five minutes and she's destroyed one throw rug so far. We will have to keep her constantly supplied with chewing supplies I guess.

She still freezes up occasionally, near doors and when I call her to come to me, but each day seems to bring slight improvements. Her favorite person right now is Carter, whom she will follow anywhere. She's making progress in her relationships with each of us though.

Still having problems with poop-eating :( even with the For-Bid.

By the way, I can't seem to find any photos on the internet of a Bernese MD with no white area between the eyes. I'm just wondering if she has uncommon markings for this breed, and perhaps if that is why she was still at the puppy mill--maybe she wasn't "marketable" because of this "flaw?" Just one of many theories I guess.

Back on track, somewhat

Well, I didn't adhere completely to the umbilical cord approach for three solid days, but I think my modified approach was still productive. Sofi came out of "turtle" mode on Day 2 (Sunday) and I started giving her (OK, myself) some freedom when she began demonstrating a bit more willingness to engage with me.

We switched over to the retractable leash, which she appreciated. Dr. Bradley approved an rx for anti-anxiety, and within an hour of taking one tonight, we had her walking down the sidewalk out front with her tail up! We went halfway down the block and back. When we came back, she burned off plenty of energy in the back yard, then followed me around the house (inside) several times--no leash involved. My biggest concern about her outside is the speed with which she launches herself through the yard, sometimes clipping a tree with her shoulder or coming dangerously close to the edge of the pond. She has a lot more speed and energy than dexterity at this point, and I just cringe when she is zooming around out there.

I have ordered a plug-in diffuser with pheromones for dog calming, so between that and the anti-anxiety meds, she should be the picture of placidness! I know the anti-anxiety meds are not to be taken lightly, but I just feel like this is an appropriate situation for them--she wants to move forward, and I think this will help her do the things she wants to do. There is a happy dog inside there, if she can just dig out through the fear.

Hostage situation!

OK, this is Nikki again. I returned from my guilt-ridden travels to my distressed family and a wild outdoor dog. I did manage to lure her in so that she spent the night inside, and she actually came back in willingly after her 5am pee break. After that, she refused to come back in. After putting out a distress call on a puppy mill survivor forum and lots of consideration, we (mostly I, but with lots of family support) decided to commit to a three-day nonstop stretch of "umbilical cord" therapy--she and I would be joined by the leash for intensive bonding therapy.

This began yesterday morning with me "catching" her just outside the door with the leash. She panicked!! Her little heart was about to come out of her chest as I held her there. Then I carried her inside and she let loose with a torrent of urine. It was obviously deeply distressing to her, but I found it distressed me so much that I had a pounding headache afterwards and it took a while before I could calm myself down and not feel nauseated. Thus began a really long, difficult day of carrying her places in the house, sitting in a sea of mosquitoes in the yard, waiting for her to pee/poop (on most occasions unsuccessfully). She finally had some bathroom success late last night after Andre had her out for a pretty long time.

This morning began on a happy note with her wagging her tail as I followed her around the yard in my bathrobe. I was so tempted to just let her off so she could run and play without her captor, but I knew it was critical to let her know that she and I were together no matter what.

She has now withdrawn back into "shelter dog" again today. Dejected, eyes following me everywhere, not willing to play, barely willing to take a treat. Hopefully we'll make a small breakthrough today.

Day 17 - Outsider part 2

Not much new to post...
The For-Bid seems to be working with the poop eating!!!! Yeah For-Bid!!!!
Wednesday went pretty good, Sofi ate and went out, did her business, then Addison got her to came in before school. Sofi spent most of the day inside, she enjoyed some good sleep, petting and attention. She ate her dinner went out for a while and Addison got her to come back in. She slept very well(so did I).
Thursday was not ok. After breakfast she went out and would not come back in, it was very hot and I worried about her. At this point she enjoys it when I come outside and am concerned about her but she will not come to me. She will snatch a treat from my hand then run away(which makes me feel rotten) She will put her head in the door but that's it. She spent the whole day outside.
Yesterday afternoon Addison came home from school and got her to play but was only able to get her in for dinner. After dinner Sofi went out again and Addison went out to play with her, it was fun to see Addison, Tucker and Sofi running around in the yard. It reminded me of when Addison was little and she would spend hours playing with Tucker. It made me happy and sad at the same time. You could just see what was going to come next.... Sofi has come to see her relationship with Addison as a playmate in the game of catch me if you can.
We could not get Sofi to come in at bedtime, Addison tried and tried, but Sofi just wanted to play.
It started to rain at around 10 pm, Addison tried to get Sofi to come in again, no luck. Thankfully it did not rain very much, but we still felt bad about leaving her out!!!!! Well let me rephrase that"Sofi chose to be out", she spent the rest of the night outside. Addison got up at around midnight and tried again, I got up several times to check on her.
I really do not know what to do, other than to try to keep building trust, and hope that eventually she will decide that she would rather be inside with us. I do know that I will need to build a shelter for her if this is going to continue. We have never had a dog that was really interested in being outside or for that matter very far away from us.
Andre'

Day 16 - Outsider

The trials continue....

After we returned from our event last night we all spent time petting and being nice(cookie giving) with Sofi, she seemed pretty much at ease. I of course had to put her out again before bed, which I really did not want to do but felt like it was necessary. She went out fine…. But as you can probably imagine, coming back in is the problem now. I spent an hour and a half sitting on the floor inside the sliding door waiting and encouraging. She would stand at the door and look at me (she is not afraid of me…she is afraid that if she comes in I will get her) of course I am also trying to portray myself as happy about the whole deal so I am not sending negative vibes(need to enroll in some emotional acting classes).

I finally gave up 1:15, when I did not think that I could possibly tolerate another mosquito bite(I did not want to soak myself with deet before bed).

Sofi alternated sleeping(quite comfortably) by the office door and the dining room door, by the gate. I got up every 45 minutes to check on her throughout the night, no real issues.

I have tried to feed her several times now this morning, no luck on the inside. I really do not want to feed her outside because I feel that if I do so there is little chance I will ever get her back inside. I did make one brief attempt to get her to eat close to me outside, no luck through the rest of the afternoon.

Addison got home from school a while ago, she started feeding Sofi treats and within 30 min she had Sofi inside eating her breakfast(yes at 2:30 in the afternoon). Sofi went back outside and Addison kept feeding her treats and got Sofi to come back inside, lay down, and she closed the door.

Sofi is conked out on the floor below the AC vent.... I am sure she is quite tired. Addison the dog whisperer is my new hero, she will now be doing the feeding and bathroom trips.

Andre' (the very tired - unsuccessful - dog herder)

Dr. Visit Number Two

This is Andre' stepping in to update Sofi's blog in Nikki's absence.
Last Night's Vet Trip:
We got her in the car and she did not freak out or pull the stuffing out of the seats or Nikki... Good!!!!
She has gained 2.2 pounds..... Good!!!!
She does not have exotic parasites.... Good!!!!
She did not pee/poo in the car on the way to or back from the Vet.... Good!!!!
She walked on a leash for Dr. Bradley..... Good!!!!!!

Dr. Bradley preformed a very long and thorough exam of Sofi. Basically nothing substantially new to report, just more specific details about her joints, possible surgical options, and general guess at her age. Dr Bradley would estimate that she is between 12 and 15 months. Dr. Bradley encouraged us to focus on her successes and be patient with her and her challenges!!!!!!!
The whole vet adventure took about two hours and we came away feeling more informed about her issues and possible steps to move forward(although a 2 hour vet trip on a school night/pre travel night was less than ideal)

1. She received For-Bid, a medicine that is supposed to make her poop taste bad so she will stop eating it(yes that's right makes it taste bad!!!!)
2. She received joint vitamins(dasuquin - will need to take out a 2nd mortgage to pay for that)
3. We got some basic ideas of surgical costs(see note above regarding 2nd mortgage)
   

Unfortunately the trip to the vet further made her scared/skittish towards me(Andre'), the only way to get her to the car was to catch her, pick her up, carry her, place her in Nikki's lap. All of which are on the top of her list of reasons to be scared of people. She did settle back in ok last night.

Today:
We got up early, Nikki went on work trip, Sofi ate, did her business outside, came back in and went to sleep. I took the kids to school, came home, scratched her ears for a few minutes then put her outside. That was seven hours ago(notice I did not include any other details of her going in and out).
I have tried just about everything I can think of to get her to come back in, she will not!!!!! I have spent the whole day working on being calm, giving her some treats, trying to get to come to me, she will follow me around at a safe distance. Here is the crazy part, she is afraid to be caught, and basically I am trying to catch her!!!!!! Not real sure how this will end, we are supposed to go to an event tonight, but I will not leave her outside!!!!
Eventually she should become hungry enough to come in... I hope!!!!
As I type Sofi is right outside the sliding glass door, if I move she moves, she wants to come in, but she is very leary, it makes me really sad to think of what she must have been through in her short life make her so frightened of people!!!!!
Update:
She did finally come in for dinner, then I had to let her out to go to the bathroom..... I left the door open for her and she came back in..... WHEW!!!!! I had Addison sneak up from outside to close the door, we got to go on our evening outing. I am getting ready to put her out for the last time before bed, hopefully she'll come back in!

Progress and Frustration

Sofi had a good weekend--no accidents in the house, lots more exploring in the yard, and she even got the stoic and ever dignified Tucker to play squeaky toy with her for a while this afternoon. She learned to go up and down the steps in the back yard (she pulls her rear end up both legs at once, kind of like a bunny).

On the frustrating side, we started working with the leash today. This came after Andre gently tugged on her collar to urge her in the back door...which led to her losing it completely and utterly wigging. Knowing we've got to get her in the car tomorrow for her vet appointment, and also because so much of training involves being on a leash or gently pulling by a collar, we decided the time had come to help her confront her fears. It was sad to see her change before our eyes into the dog we saw at the shelter--back arched, ears down, terror in her eyes, and frozen in place. After a bit of work and lots of cookies, Andre did manage to get her out the front door and down the steps to the curb. He had to carry her back in though.

She did seem to recover completely from the experience and morphed back into the curious blanket and towel thief she has become--this time the victim was Carter's pillowcase full of nap things for school, which she snatched from the living room couch and dragged down the hall and back into her "room."

Sofi the Explorer--the Sequel

Sofi started peeing in the yard (as opposed to on the patio) yesterday! Of course we also had an incident involving the carpet in the hallway...which required the services of our big carpet machine, but I think it was an honest mistake (this time her barking was meant to convey some very pertinent information, and we just weren't taking it seriously).

Sofi ventured further into the yard realm yesterday too...and she clearly enjoyed her adventures. With the high temp and humidity, it was also easier than usual to get her to come back in. I think she is getting used to this A/C stuff.

The barking is still an issue a few times a day (most notably pre-6am--not a pleasant way or time to be awoken). Sigh.

It's definitely time to start working on the basics with her--leash, wiping her feet, come, down, no....I'd better settle on a technique to get behind today.

Training Time

Although Sofi isn't to the point where she is fully trusting yet (and I think that point is a ways off), I do think it's time to start working on some basic expectations with her. She's doing fantastic with house training and is willing to have an errant sock or towel replaced with a toy, but there are some skills we really need her to learn sooner rather than later, e.g., walking on a leash, having her feet wiped off, and just having things done to her in general. She won't allow us to touch her anywhere but her face unless she is lying down. She is very fearful of being "caught." So I have no idea how we are going to get her to the vet next week!

Also, she is peeing and pooping on the concrete, sometimes right outside the door. We have just been happy that she is doing it outside, but it would be great if she would venture over to the newly discovered viney groundcover area to do that stuff, so I'm not constantly out there with the scoop and hose. On the other hand, if she has a big surgery, she will need the convenience of just stepping out the door to go. So I'm torn on whether to work on that issue.

The issue that is bothering us the most is occasional short bursts of really loud, confrontational barking that is causing us to just about jump out of our skin each time it happens. It's really unnerving and not an acceptable part of our quiet household culture. We are dealing with this behavior by turning our backs to her until she stops and lays down, then praising her. Hopefully that is enough to discourage it, because the other methods I've been reading about are a lot more complicated (teaching them to speak first, then teaching them to be quiet....not practical at this stage).

I did put the leash on her this morning and let her run around with it on. She freaked at first, but only for about 30 seconds. Then she settled in to chew on it.

So all you dog trainers out there, feel free to weigh in. I'm trying to carefully balance trust-building with creating structure and expectations, and I don't want to neglect or go too far on either.

Help! I didn't know we were signing up for a puppy!

Ever since Tucker reached that magical two year-old mark, I have said we would never adopt another puppy, and any future canine residents of our household would have to meet certain age requirements. So far, Sofi, with the skill of a Chinese gymnast, has eluded our efforts to guess her real age (< 1 year? 3+ years? no one seems to agree....). My feeling is that she is either an adult whose growth was stunted and whose puppyhood was stored away in a time capsule that sprung open about two days ago, or she is in fact a puppy.

It feels to me at this point that someone will need to be on Sofi Duty 24/7 for the foreseeable future to prevent random acts of stuffed animal maulings, sweatpant shredding, and Tinker Toy theft. Sofi has spent the last 24 hours bravely exploring the house and yard and is not the sleepy dog of last week. Whenever she does finally collapse into a deep sleep, I get flashbacks of when the kids were babies taking naps and wanting to turn off phones and intercept the UPS guy at the end of the driveway to prevent a premature awakening. (Note--observe the strange position of her hips/rear legs in the photo--this is her preferred sleeping position, even though it appears really contorted to me.)

Her legs are getting stronger each day, and sometimes it's difficult to see that she has a problem at all. She has developed some sort of a spot on a pad that bleeds when she runs around a lot, and I haven't gotten a chance to examine it very closely. That seems to be her biggest malady right now though.

Sofi the Explorer

Lots of developments in the last 48 hours! Each day she seems to morph into an altogether different soul....it's incredible to watch. I was wondering last night if we would wake up to her reading a book.

She hit another big turning point yesterday afternoon and evening when she started exploring outside her little sleeping area. She has started coming to us when we put our hand out, licking our hands, and she is going in and out of the door without freaking out. Last night she went around the corner into the bedroom and studied herself in the full-length mirror. This morning, she chased SlinkyBob down the hall, right out into the living room and kitchen. She stayed to sniff around and didn't seem uneasy at all!

I spoke with Dr. Bradley last night--he viewed her films with the radiologist yesterday and told me the two of them believe her pelvis was not previously broken, as his colleague told us last week, but he did say it was a bad view. We discussed the FHO (Femoral Head Ostectomy), and I want him to give her a thorough exam before going forward with it. As I type, she is zooming back and forth past my office window outside........

So apparently, when a limb is disconnected, the body makes a false joint out of scar tissue and muscle. It seems to be working pretty well for her, but the danger would be if she has bone rubbing on bone, which would cause pain. The FHO would take care of this and hopefully cut down on future arthritis issues. However, it's a painful recovery, so I want him to look at her very carefully before moving forward. I also want him to look at her shoulder alignment issues and bowed front leg to see how that might factor into the plan.

With the way she has been acting since yesterday, I find myself wondering which prospect is scarier--a dog with lots of problems, or a normal dog who is pulling up plants and chewing up all the wood chips outside, being rowdy and loud in the house, and generally acting like a puppy........I think we may end up with the latter.

You may have noticed on the comments from the last post that one of Sofi's "cage-mates" also has a blog! Check it out if you have a chance: http://www2.ljworld.com/weblogs/susiecreamcheeze/

Of particular interest is a comment posted by one of Sofi's rescuers:

"I work for the Kansas Animal Health Department. We are the state agency that seized Liberty and the other dogs from the breeder.

It might help to know a bit about how she was living.

The dogs were kept “up on wire” which means just that. They were in runs that were about 4 feet off the ground and they were walking on coated wire. (It is unusual but not unheard of for breeders to keep large dogs on wire; generally they are in ground runs). The kennel was extremely overcrowded, with multiple dogs in each run. The runs were indoor/outdoor but the indoor portion was only about 3.5 square feet. That is where their food and water were. It was obvious which dog in each run was alpha - one dog was fat, the next was normal, the third was thin and the fourth (or fifth) tended toward emaciation.

The indoor portion of the building had, at one time, been air conditioned but there was no electricity the night we were there (we seized the dogs at night because of the heat).

Many of the dogs had not had a lot of “hands on” contact with people and were frightened by all of the activity but the Bernese were delighted. One of them, in fact, literally jumped into my arms.

It may take a while, even a year or more, but Liberty will come around and start acting like a real dog - jumping and playing - eventually. You just need lots of patience. And giving her a crate is exactly the right thing to do. It gives her a safe retreat.

We cared for these dogs for 8 days before we finally obtained official custody of them. They are all very special to our team and to the staff members from the Lawrence Humane Society, the Great Bend Humane Society and Wichita's Kansas Humane Society who helped us.

Thank you so much for adopting Liberty. I hope other people who adopted these dogs also post comments. The turnout at the shelter was amazing and just what I normally expect from Lawrence. What a great community!"

Day Seven

Sorry, no pictures today!

Sofi went out at 6:30 this morning, and I thought I'd just let her out to pee and poop, then she'd come back in and I could go back to bed. I could not get her to come in to save my life though, and I didn't want to leave her out there unattended. It took nearly two hours to get her back in. She was balking at the door, and if I tried to get near her to herd her in, she would get very frightened. What finally worked was me squatting down by the open door with my back turned to her--and she trotted right in. As a result, the whole family has been instructed not to look at her and to be as submissive as possible in their dealings with her. She is responding to Carter--I think she likes the fact that he is small. She sniffs him with interest each time he steps over her.

Today was cleaning day in Sofi's area, and I removed the crate to give her more room to spread out. I removed the foam pad too, since she wants nothing to do with it. She won't even lay on a towel--just wants the tile floor. I wonder if she was kept in a wire-bottomed cage and she is just enjoying a nice solid floor to lay on. Seeing the splay in her front legs makes me think that too.

I didn't manage to get either of her worming pills in her today. It seems like whatever trust I build up with her all day is destroyed when I start jamming pills down her throat, only to have them fly back out and make her mouth all frothy. Very frustrating.

Day Six

Woke up at 4am again this morning, this time to Sofi banging herself against the glass door, wanting to go out. Yesterday I taped some papers to the glass, hoping that would help, but it has not.

Then, later on, imagine our total and complete shock when we witnessed this:





And then this! I don't know how it's structurally possible for her to move like that!

Day Five

Sofi's (and our) day began around 4am when we were awakened by a tremendous howl--just one long and pitiful-sounding howl. I think she was having a nightmare.

Once we got to more reasonable waking hours, she got up on her own and ventured outside. She spent a little time getting to know Tucker, who is still a bit uneasy around her, yet tolerant. She went in and out the open door several times without any coaxing from us.

Later in the morning, I heard her whine for the first time...in response to SlinkyBob entering the room. She actually hopped up and followed him across the room with great interest.

She did her lazy afternoon routine again today, but I haven't seen as much uneasiness today. Still waiting to hear about the surgery plan from her vet.

She has started going towards the door on her own when she wants to go out, which is great, but it's catch-22--if I rush towards her to open the door before she gets there, she freaks out because I'm rushing at her, and if I don't, she will bonk right into the glass, which causes her to freak equally. I hope she gets the hang of the slider soon!

I think the pictures even show that she is a bit more at ease today.

Day Four

Sofi had a pretty low key day today. Not too many pictures because she just isn't doing much but sleeping and will stay in the same spot for hours unless we move her.

She was more upbeat this morning, just like yesterday morning, then seemed to withdraw in the afternoon. I am still thinking it might be the evening dose of Rimadyl that helps for about half the day, then wears off. This morning, she actually rolled onto her back with her feet in the air. It's the first time I've seen her belly. I've been giving her lots of light scratching all over, which she seems to like. She's so bony that I can't really rub her without worrying about hurting her.

I read a few times on puppy mill survivor sites that you should not pick them up and take them somewhere you want them to go; instead you should be patient and wait for them to do it on their own. I tried that this morning, opening the door to let her out several times, but she wouldn't budge. I finally carried her out when I heard her whimpering. Once out, she peed and pooped a huge volume--she had to have been uncomfortable. The rest of the afternoon, she was been pretty unresponsive to any attention and seemed uneasy.

Her blood work came back, and they told me everything was within the normal range, so that's a relief. Now we'll wait for Dr. Bradley to review her chart and x-rays and let us know what we are looking at.

After her Rimadyl this evening (which she did eat mixed in with her kibble, thank goodness), she seemed a bit perkier. She especially enjoyed a deep ear massage given by Andre at bedtime. Her ears are the stinkiest part of her at this point--I think she needs something to help work the gunk out of them.

We are hoping for a tail wag pretty soon. I hope that day is not too far off.

Day Three

We are doing well with house training--no accidents since the first morning. This morning she seemed more at ease. She tried to catch a fly that was buzzing around her face and had another encounter with SlinkyBob, which she seemed to enjoy. Then she seemed to lose ground this afternoon. I wonder if it's because she is getting one dose of Rimadyl at night, and by midday it has worn off.

We are still having to push or carry her out the door to go to the bathroom, but she does go once she's out there. It's hard getting her back in though--I have to close the slider to keep the cat from escaping, then get behind her to get her to go towards the door, then she has bonked the glass before I could open it a couple of times, and that has sent her into a panic each time. Once she gets inside, she will wedge herself against the wall and look very uneasy for a long time.

Having trouble getting her to take pills--she won't take the chewable Rimadyl on her own, and she coughs up anything I stick down her throat. I've never known a dog to have a gag reflex like that. Tried wrapping it in canned food, but she won't eat anything but puppy kibble.

She went out in the hallway once, completely on her own. She sat in the hall for a while and watched the activity in the kitchen. That was as far as she ventured. I got up and opened the door for her to go outside several times during the night, but she never took me up on it and I didn't make her go. We pushed her out around 6:30am and she went.

Day Two--Vet Visit

At this point, we had yet to agree on a name as a family...but I'm going to go ahead and start referring to her as Sofi, since that's what we ended up with.

Sofi did not want to come out of her crate, and with her mobility issues, I realized the crate was probably not the best setup for her. We removed the foam bed from the crate and just put that on the floor instead. She was obviously not going to be going anywhere anytime soon, and this made it easier to ease her into a standing position to coax her out the back door for bathroom attempts.

We had our first house training success around mid-morning! But getting her in and out the sliding glass door has been difficult. She did not understand the concept of glass at all and has run right into it in a fit of fear on several occasions so far, during the in and out process. She is very easily shaken and we are learning to be absolutely calm no matter what she does--including when she has started to eat her poop. I kind of lunged at her to pull her away the first time she did it and she totally freaked out, almost falling through the window well grate and knocking over a table (sidenote--apparently, poop-eating, or coprophagia, is a common disorder in puppy mill dogs. Hopefully we'll be able to get beyond this one quickly....yuck.)

The other animal residents have been making the rounds to meet Sofi. SlinkyBob is particularly interested in her and has sat with her on a few occasions.

She spent the day sleeping for the most part, and we continued to carry her out for bathroom breaks periodically.

At 4:30, Andre and Addison loaded her up in the car and headed for the vet. I had a whole list of questions that I sent with them, but it became apparent right away that they were trivial in comparison to the most pressing issue--her right hip.

They x-rayed her and found that her pelvis had been crushed at some point in the past, and her right rear femur was completely disconnected from the hip socket--just floating in scar tissue I guess. This had all been healed for a long time, but not in a good way. The vet did not think that putting the femur back into the socket was an option, given the mess her pelvis was, but she would need a major surgery to possibly take off the top of the femur and shorten her leg at least. I guess we'll find out more about the possibilities next week. He said she had all kinds of structural issues in the rest of her body--spine, front legs, etc. from being off-kilter for such a long time.

This was hard news for all of us to hear. I really didn't want her problems to include orthopedic stuff, due to the expense and pain potential. And of course the hardest part is wondering what horrible trauma she sustained to give her injuries of this severity, and how long she must have existed in excruciating pain as her bones healed back together into a jigsaw mess. They got her home to her bed and we gave her the first dose of Rimadyl.

I got her up around midnight for a trip outside. Still had to carry her, and no success outside. But at 4am, she was up and out the door like a shot! She peed and pooped outside and ran back in! The Rimadyl makes such a big difference!

Sofi's First Day

After a week of waiting for "Emily" to finish her hookworm treatment, Andre and I went to pick her up on Monday afternoon. She was petrified and just stood there in the reception area, shaking. Andre carried her to the car. She had been bathed at the shelter, but was still very stinky. So we took her straight to the Pawsh Wash for another bath.



As soon as we walked in, the woman working there recognized her and came over to help us. She said she had bathed "Emily" the previous Saturday at the shelter.

Once we arrived home, the introductions began and went much more smoothly than we had anticipated. Tucker was a perfect gentledog and was very sweet. She stopped shaking once we got her inside and put her in the crate (thanks Maureen!!) She eagerly ate some dinner and settled into her new nest.

We managed to get her out of the crate to go outside a couple of times before bed, but she didn't pee or poop, and hadn't done anything since we left the shelter.
After an uneventful night, I heard her peeing/pooping in the crate at about 6am, so I hopped up and carried her outside before she made a big mess.