Fred 2

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Updated 8/8/07: In the last month Fred has completed his steroid and antibiotic therapy for the Ehrlichia infection. He is continuing on Revolution to address his heartworm infection and will not be retested now since he is likely to be weakly positive for many months. This treatment will continue to kill any parasites he may have as well as prevent a new infection.

Fred has made remarkable progress in the past 6 weeks. He now moves about the house more freely, joining his family upstairs and sleeping near the bed. In the mornings he is the first one up at about 5:30 and is ready to get some attention. A few scratches behind the ears and a chew toy help his foster mom get another hour of shut eye most mornings! Sometimes, though, it is difficult to sleep with Fred staring at her and thumping his tail on the floor when he catches her looking at him. He obviously enjoys the attention his foster family gives him and is becoming more confident in approaching for some petting. Belly rubs and cuddling of the floor are two of his favorite activities.

A bit of a mini-milestone for Fred was a recent visit to another MAESSR family. There he met 2 new Springer pals whom he joined on a walk around their neighborhood. Once inside their home, Fred met a new cat but kept his distance. He cautiously stayed to himself in the kitchen for a bit until he felt comfortable joining the dogs and humans in the family room. He took treats from the hand of the husband, quite a feat for Fred since he rarely will take one even at home. Fred mostly rested in the middle of the room by himself but did enjoy a belly rub after getting used to his new surroundings. Additional visits are planned to other homes as his foster mom works to improve his confidence and get him used to new places and people.

Fred’s progress is steady. Looking forward, he is a gentle boy who will need a calm home with patient owners. His people will need to continue to encourage him as he gains confidence and learns that his world is no longer a scary place. What a transition to behold and be a part of!

Updated 6/22/07: Since Fred has returned, he has made many visits to the vet, initially for a thorough exam and then to follow up on the findings. He tested weakly heartworm positive and is beginning a 3-month treatment. When he went for his distemper booster, the vet noted that Fred was not gaining weight. He had actually lost 3 pounds in the 3 weeks that he had been back! More bloodwork revealed a very low platelet count. Fred was started on steroids and an antibiotic for a suspected Ehrlichia infection. His blood counts rebounded in a few days, so continuing treatment should be complete in a month. His foster family is working hard to put weight on Fred with a menu of puppy food and a supplemental nutrition that is used in frail or nursing dogs. Fred’s health issues all are curable but at this time, he is a tender little guy who will need continuing veterinary support and the watchful eye of his foster family.

After 15 weeks of living outdoors, Fred is slowly adjusting to life as an indoor dog. He is frightened of many things but has become accustomed to the usual household noises. He does not leave the family room, however. He is terrified of a crate so his foster mom put it away. He is well behaved if given something to entertain himself with, like a chew bone. Otherwise, he will occasionally chew shoes or the corner of an end table. He is perfectly housebroken– almost too good. Sometimes when something frightens him outside, Fred just cannot pee and can hold out for 10 hours if need be.

With people, Fred is timid and fearful but he is making progress. He will rarely approach someone for petting in the house. What he does do, though, is to lie down, stretching himself all the way out with belly up, legs fully extended and tail wagging. This is his way of asking people to come to him and it works like a charm. He can be belly rubbed forever! When you have the nerve to stop, Fred will often roll over a bit and give a sharp jab with his nose once or twice. He has had visits from some of the volunteers who helped find him and enjoys their rubbings as well. He is also comfortable with the 9-year-old in his foster home and gives him kisses.

At the vet’s office, Fred has been interested in the people and other dogs, wagging his tail and going up to strangers to sniff them. He is fearful if someone reaches across his head but, with the proper guidance, strangers can pet him easily. His foster mom is not sure if Fred likes the petting but he does tolerate it now and doesn’t melt into the ground to avoid their touch or scramble away like he used to do. This is progress too!!

With so many trips to the vet, Fred has learned to get into and out of the car. He sits quietly but is panting and clearly an anxious rider. He walks well but only with a harness. This is also progress. When he first came back, Fred was afraid to go outside and would scramble on the ground, desperately pulling to go back into the house. Now he really enjoys his walks and is out in front with his tail held high and wagging. He has learned to “wait” to cross the street and will either sit or stand still until his foster mom tells him “forward.” He is learning to “sit” to get his harness on or off but as of yet, Fred just melts into the floor in submission. Too many new things at once are scary.

Trash cans are scary, too. His foster mom has finally gotten so that she can walk up to a trash can in the park to dispose of the doggie bags without trying to coax Fred to come with her. Mind you, Fred is on a 20-foot leash. His foster mom is leaning way out to get to the can and Fred is digging in with all his might to stay away from the dreaded thing! Even his foster mom admits this must be pretty comical from afar.

The heart of Fred is that of a real sweetheart. Although fearful, he is totally non-aggressive. His response to things he fears is always submission. He spent a day at the vet’s office last week and was complimented by everyone on how nice he was and how well he tolerated everything. Fred handled x-rays and blood draws without squirming or turning. Perhaps this is in part due to the fact that he is not feeling well. It’s reasonable to expect that once the heartworm disease and Ehrlichia are behind him that he may be more outgoing and energetic. For now, Fred is happy to spend his entire day on the carpet in the family room. He is surely thankful in his own way to be a MAESSR dog. More on Fred as he makes progress!  

Updated 5/22/07: With the help of a friendly stranger and his dog who befriended Fred, Fred’s foster family was able to bring this boy in. Yahoooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!

After a nice bath and removal of many ticks, Fred has started to settle in with his family. His foster parents went out to eat and came home to find Fred wagging his tail by the door. He is still skittish and cautious but, if anything, he is more self-confident than before! He is able to take treats from his foster mom’s hand, accepts belly rubbing, and he rests in the same room when his family sits down for the evening– all huge steps forward for a dog who has lived in the wild for almost 4 months. Surely, in a short time, he will be thinking back to life from the outside looking in and ask himself, “Whatever was I thinking?” Updates to come and a word of thanks to everyone for the support, kind words and prayers over these past months.

Updated 4/15/07: Unfortunately, our boy, Fred, remains at large, despite the remarkable efforts made to catch him and ensure his safety. When the “Fred-Cam” (motion control detector and video baby monitor), revealed that the food left out for Fred was actually feeding 2 very fat and happy raccoons, his foster mom had to switch gears and try a different approach. The “Fred-Cam” has been transferred to a neighbor who sees Fred often. She has a fenced in yard and is leaving Fred food outside the fenced in area. Hopefully, Fred will come to dine, the food can be moved gradually inside the fence, and, eventually, Fred can be trapped inside her yard.

For all those involved with Fred’s return, it’s been a very difficult, trying and many times disheartening process. Everyone wants so badly to help Fred, but he’s just too scared to let anyone near enough to do so. A few extra prayers and good thoughts certainly couldn’t hurt.  This boy has been on his own for way too long.

Updated 3/15/07: Fred is still on the lam, and still very fearful. The good news, however, is that due to the compassion, patience and ingenuity of his foster family and surrounding neighbors he is receiving nutrition and sleeping in a semi-protected area. Fred’s foster mom continues to leave food on her deck for him, and she has devised a mini surveillance trap by placing a motion detector on the deck that will ring in her house to alert her when Fred arrives. She also has a video baby monitor she can view to ensure it really is Fred and not another critter, and her husband devised a trap door that she can release from inside the house to capture Fred on the deck with no possibility of a repeat escape.

Fred has a lot of people pulling for him and working towards his safe return to his foster family. Please continue to keep Fred and all his guardian angels in your prayers.

Original: Fred was picked up by animal control workers in eastern Virginia as a stray on the run. The shelter where he was taken was very crowded so Fred had limited time there before he would be euthanized. Kenneled in the shelter, he was very nervous to the point that he would shake badly. This submissive boy would still wag his tail at children that passed by and the staff said he was very friendly. The noisy din at the shelter confused him, but he relaxed much more when he was exercised in an outdoor run. Since the shelter did not know whether he would be adopted or not, they did not give him any vaccinations or do any standard blood testing. He was very thin with bones showing. This was a case for MAESSR to the rescue.

His foster family knew that Fred’s fearfulness of people would make him a challenge but felt their loving, quiet patience and dog experience could bring this frightened boy around with time. Fred’s promising fate took a loop, though, the day that he arrived in his foster home. When he was being walked on a leash in the evening, he pulled away and took off running. Since then, Fred has been on the lam, dragging his leash behind him.

MAESSR volunteers immediately came to the assistance of his foster family and the entire community was alerted about Fred on the run— “police, animal control, neighbors, delivery people, schools, the mail delivery people, shopkeepers, everyone. The foster family keeps their garage door partially opened with food, water, and bedding for him. Animal control has helped with large traps. People have been pouring in suggestions that have been tried. Luckily, Fred comes by regularly in the middle of the night to eat in the garage, but he has avoided the traps and he runs fearfully from anyone who comes near. It is not known where he hunkers down to sleep, but he has survived some bitterly cold weather and snow storms. Hopefully, he will associate his foster parents’ garage as a place of safety and food. With fickle fate turning again, his foster family and all of their supportive neighborhood associates will apprehend Fred. Keep them all in your prayers.