Happy weekend!

My boy and girl said it's going to be a 3 day weekend. Hopefully that means lots of playing outside, going for walks and a nice, long CAR RIDE!!! I'm really looking forward to it.

Shelters in Need

This news story makes me sad. This is the shelter where my girl rescued me. It's a very busy place full of very caring staff and volunteers. I'm very lucky that my people have secure jobs and can provide for me. It's so hard on a dog to spend it's life with one family and then all of a sudden end up in a cage surrounded by lots of other sad, barking dogs. It's overwhelming. This shelter has always prided itself for having a no kill policy. I hope they don't have to change that.




Ham. Co. shelter says it's overwhelmed

Shelter may have to change no-kill policy

Updated: Friday, 15 May 2009, 10:57 PM EDT
Published : Friday, 15 May 2009, 9:52 PM EDT

Jennifer McGilvray

NOBLESVILLE, Ind. (WISH) - The Hamilton County Humane Society is making a cry for help. The shelter is full, but more animals are being surrendered.

Daisy and Donald, two springer spaniel mixed breeds, have been the shelter's longest residents at 15 months. But now the two, who are brother and sister, are finally going home.

"We live close to the Monon, so we plan on walking them two or three times a day…a house that's theirs…two queen-size beds to sit on, a couch to lay on," Daisy and Donald's new adopted owner Angie Simmons said.

The dogs' old cage won't be empty for long, the vacancy will be filled all to soon.

"We are an open-admission shelter. We don't turn anyone away and when we are full, and the next animal comes in, we have to find a place for them," said Executive Director Rebecca Stevens.

There are 250 cats and 95 dogs in the building, even more in foster care. The shelter said people are surrendering their pets faster than they can adopt them.

Stevens said the economy is to blame for the uptick.

"We don't have another cage or another kennel to put another animal in," said Stevens.

Many are older dogs are like eight-year-old Dexter, who isn't used to shelter life.

Not only is the shelter seeing an increase owner surrenders and strays but also abandoned animals left behind.

The shelter has a no-kill philosophy but Stevens said euthanization could become a last resort if the community doesn't start adopting pets or fostering them.

"I don't want to have to get to that juncture, so this is our cry for help. Help us make that not even a possibility," said Stevens.

The shelter is running an adoption special for any black or white dog or cat in honor of the Indianapolis 500.

Oops

After a great day yesterday.....CAR RIDE, walk in the park, catching the frisbee......My girl was not so happy with me today. I got an upset tummy last night and left her a mess to clean up in the kitchen. Again.

That is what she gets for not letting me sleep in the bedroom with everyone else.

Zzzzzzzz

Boy am I tired today! I was so busy last night. There was huge storm all night so I had to work hard to keep that noise out of the house. Just as soon as I got to snoozin' good......BOOOOMMMM....more noise and I would have to get up and go after it again. What I don't understand is why my boy and girl don't seem to appreciate all this hard work I do to keep them safe. I'd bark and then they'd yell at me "Domi!!! Be quiet!!" A few times I was able to get that lazy Stella up to help me out but she mostly slept through it.

Good news though, I think all that barking worked because the rest of the day is supposed to be sunny and warm. Hopefully I'll get to go for a walk today or help my girl work in the yard.

UPDATE:
I got to play frisbee. Check out my action photos!

Not so bad....and not so good

Dr. Lucroy called yesterday with most of my test results. Most of the blood work is okay. I'm a little anemic which is a result of having cancer. Not much can be done about that except remove the cancer which is impossible. He also said something about something with my liver being high but not enough to be concerned about. The upsetting news is from the x-rays. They discovered a rather enlarged lymph node against my sternum and some "suspicious" nodules around my lungs which means the cancer is probably spreading in that direction. Also as the lymph nodes and tumor continue growing, it could affect my breathing since it's all in my throat area. My snoring is bad enough now.

Dr. Lucroy said there is a different type of chemo we could try however there is a 50/50 chance of it working. And even if it does, it could make me sick. On top of that, it's really expensive. I wish I could find a therapy dog job that pays as my girl isn't sure they can afford any more chemo. The last time was very expensive.

I am one really stressed out Border Collie right now and I am still waiting for the results on the thyroid test. Ugh. Hope that will at least be okay. Between worrying about all this and the thunderstorm that kept me busy last night (have you ever tried to herd lightning? It's not easy.) I'm a mess. And if that wasn't bad enough, I've had a tummy ache and left a couple of messes for my girl to clean up. Hopefully life will get better for me soon.

Oncologist

I saw Dr. Lucroy today. He said the tumor is definitely different. Lumpier. The hope is that it is just the lymph nodes being affected and not my thyroid. Even though I look skinnier, I haven't lost weight since the last time I was there although I think I am smaller than before the chemo. They took some blood and x-rays today. Dr. Lucroy said there is nothing with the x-rays that has him concerned but a Radioligist will look them over to be sure. They won't have the results from the blood work until this afternoon or more likely tomorrow. Dr. Lucroy has suggested starting me on chemo again but my boy and girl decided to wait until they get the results back.

I'm here at work with my girl and after all this excitement this morning, I think it's a good time for a nap.

Sigh...

I just found out that I am going to the vet tomorrow. Not the regular vet that pokes you with a needle, gives you a treat and says "see you next year." Nope it's the cancer vet. My girl has been worried about the thyroid tumor I have in my neck because she thinks it's been changing and feeling weird. Plus underneath all this fluffy fur, I'm getting a little too skinny and bony. Hopefully she' s just being silly and over reacting. I guess we will know tomorrow.

Library Day

Well, even if the hospital won't let me come visit, I still have the library and that is tomorrow. I can't wait. I have a feeling that a couple of the kids that read to me last month will be back again. I enjoy going so much. I highly recommend volunteering at the library to any therapy dogs out there.

There is also a couple of people that my girl works with who are launching a campaign to have me become a regular employee there. I really hope I can. It would sure beat being stuck inside with Stella all day watching her eat things she's not supposed to like kitchen towels and aluminum foil. I guess some days I would need to stay home so she won't get lonely but getting to work at least a couple of days a week makes my Border Collie heart so happy.

If my girl remembers to bring along her new camera tomorrow, I'll add some more pictures of me working hard listening to stories. I need to get some sleep now so I'll be ready to go in the morning.