Cuddles 2

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Update 10/12/11:

Great news for Cuddles! Overall, she is doing so much better than when she entered MAESSR’s care. 

Currently, Cuddles is finishing up her last round of ear medication. This was one nasty infection that required dedication and patience to conquer. Her ears should be all cleared up in the next few weeks, at which point she should be good to go!

This sweetheart will be ready for a special forever home very soon!

Update 09/07/11:

While the skin issues that have plagued Cuddles are vastly improved, she continues to have some problems with her ears and feet. These are being watched carefully by her foster dad who reports that she is 90% better than when she arrived in MAESSR’s care. By football standards, it means that Cuddles is on the 10 yard line! Way to go, Cuddles! 

Cuddles will be watched closely to determine how the change in seasons affects her. She will always need to be on her special diet, but it will be important to see if her current regimen continues to work in the long term.

Personality wise, Cuddles continues to be a sweetie. Neither earthquake nor hurricane seemed to faze her! As always, she loves to be outside and hunt all of the small creatures who enter her yard.

Keep your fingers crossed on this sweet girl’s progress.

Update 08/08/11:

There’s very nice progress to share on little Miss Cuddles – she went to see the vet again when she was almost done with the second round of treatment for her skin condition. Her skin has continued to look so much better since beginning the current regimen that she was hopeful she was almost done. The vet agreed that she was much improved but felt she should go through one more round to be sure every bit of her problem was put to rest. 

This, of course, means Cuddles will be in foster care for a little longer which she really doesn’t mind a bit. Her family can see she’s feeling good and loves playing with all the other dogs in their home. She is really enjoying a new foster brother who recently arrived too. Cuddles is a great little gal with people and dogs. Keep an eye to her becoming available. She’ll fit into any Springer-loving family with ease!!

Update 07/08/11:

Treatment for the skin condition that has plagued little Miss Cuddles is beginning to bring progress. Her skin has improved some with the help of medications. She still scratches more than is liked but her skin seems less irritated and her fur feels much softer. A recheck mid-month will allow her vet to determine what further course of action needs to be taken, if any. 

Cuddles continues to be such a wonderful house guest. She loves her walks and loves to be with her people as much as possible. She now eats again out of her food bowl; paper plates were a helpful transition for her but, adding some wet food to her diet may have been the deal-maker!

Please keep an eye out for this girl. Once she is available, some family is going to be very lucky when adopting her. More to come!

Original:

Cuddles came to MAESSR when her Pennsylvania owners realized that they no longer could take care of her skins issues while they dealt with their own health issues. Over her first three years of life, Cuddles had been to the vet many times due to recurring skins issues. Since she has come into MAESSR’s care, she has had various tests and the veterinarian put her on a special diet and medicine to help her get better. Although her coat is a bit coarse right now, as her skin heals under the oral medication regime plus medicated baths, it should grow in much thicker and softer. Also, once she is healed, her foster parents hope she will only need to be kept on her special diet and additional medication will not be needed. 

After a few days of being very nervous when she first arrived in foster care, Cuddles is adjusting very well to life in a multiple dog family. She plays nicely with the resident dogs – eight of them of various ages – and she and one of her foster brothers love to wrestle and mouth one another’s faces. Being a dog is such fun! She does not have a high prey drive, so she might do well with cats but she not been tested with one yet.

Her foster parents noticed that Cuddles was a bit shy around her food bowl, so they made some effective changes. She used to get all her pills in her food and her foster parents speculated that the bad taste of crunching into a pill made eating not as pleasant as it should be. So, Cuddles is now given her pills separately in hopes that mealtime can become fun again. Also, some dogs don’t like the clink of their tags against a metal food bowl so Cuddles is currently eating her meals off a paper plate! 

A real people pup, Cuddles loves to jump in a lap and hang out with her people. Inside of the house, Cuddles is usually not more than a few steps from her person. She loves to sleep in the bed at night, but if asked to get down, she complies temporarily and then finds her way back up. It’s hard to get upset with her, though, since she is so sweet and loving. 

Cuddles loves to take walks in the morning and prefers to do her business while leashed on her walk. Her foster family thinks she just loves to go on walks and forgets about the backyard! Completely housetrained, she is left alone for four hours at a time during the day and makes it overnight with no problems. She does not like to be crated and at first would cry and scratch at the crate door when her foster family left. Now that her foster family knows she is totally trustworthy, crating has been unnecessary. 

When it’s time to go somewhere in the car, Cuddles is a very good passenger and she also did well at her vet visit. She knows the commands “come”, “sit”, “down”, and “no.” Off leash, Cuddles does fine; she does not go far and comes back when called. If she sees something that peaks her interest, she will bark but she is generally a quiet dog. 

Since Cuddles loves children and dogs, she would love to have one or both her new home. She’s a great family dog who will soon be ready for a family of her own!