Entered: 07/05/2017
Status: Rainbow Bridge
Age: 12
Color: Liver/White
Weight: 57 lbs.
Gender: Altered Male
Location: Little Silver, NJ
Health: UTD, HW-, treatment for dry eye undertaken, benefiting from medication to manage seizures, small growth on one eyelid under evaluation, some age-related hearing loss
Temperament: Not suitable for adoption
Update 08/14/2017: “Hopefully, Harley is reunited with his deceased owner at the Rainbow Bridge and that he is happy and free from pain and stress once more.”
Harley proved to be very uncooperative in having his eye drops administered and it was nearly impossible to do so without being bitten. It was decided that he should be moved to a very experienced foster home for evaluation.
Another eye exam was performed by the new foster family’s vet and the same diagnosis of dry eye was made. Since Harley was reactive to his first medication which was oil-based, a water-based med was prescribed in hopes that Harley would be more receptive to it. He wasn’t. Unfortunately, when his new foster dad was giving him his new eye drops, Harley bit him.
MAESSR’s foster families are dedicated to their passion: rehoming dogs that they love and readying them for a new life. It is imperative that only Springers that have sound temperaments are placed in new homes. For a foster family, it is very painful to realize that their foster dog’s temperament falls below that standard and makes him unsuitable for adoption. Safety is paramount and it supersedes emotional attachment. That is reality in dog rescue.
Hopefully, Harley is reunited with his deceased owner at the Rainbow Bridge and that he is happy and free from pain and stress once more. Godspeed, Harley.
Original: “A tall, handsome Springer, Harley is very spry and active.”
When Harley’s owner passed, she had not made contingency living arrangements for her Jersey boy, so he was taken to a shelter. MAESSR volunteers learned of his presence there and so he came into foster care after being neutered and vetted at the shelter.
A tall, handsome Springer, Harley is very spry and active. He follows his foster mom up and down the basement steps to help her with the laundry. He enjoys going out on walks and doesn’t pull on the leash. He loves sniffing in the yard and lying in the shade to watch the world go by. In the house he enjoys rummaging through the toy basket to pick out a soft toy to chew on (or to disembowel) or to entice a human to play tug. He also favors a wubba to toss about; he’ll carry around his prize and sometimes throw it in the air for his amusement. This curious senior also will grab something in the open wastepaper baskets or from the desk or in the newspaper recycling basket to carry around and perhaps shred a little. His foster mom is working with him on trading the inappropriate item for a more appropriate one. This is working quite well.
Finding out what commands he knows has been somewhat of an adventure since his hearing is impaired. He is not totally deaf but hears higher pitched sounds and clapping. His foster parents are using hand signals for “come” and “sit” and when a dog biscuit is involved, he will sit readily. They are thinking that Harley may have selective hearing and just prefers not to come when called or signaled. Since his foster home does not have a fenced yard, he has to be tethered on a long lead when he his outside with one of his parents. He seems to be quite used to this routine.
Harley has acclimated nicely to life with his foster family. There has been no need to crate him since he is housetrained and reliable. He has free roam of the house when his people are not home. He is allowed on the couch and a big dog chair in the kitchen and he prefers these spots at night rather than one of the dog beds in the bedroom. He must have been a champion counter-surfer in his younger days since he still tries to jump up to check out what’s on the counter.
Quite the vocal boy, Harley barks when he needs to go out or as his meals are being prepared or to alert his people that something is not right or to get some petting. When his foster parents are eating, Harley begs and sometimes barks to no avail. When he spots the resident cat on one of her indoor perches, Harley sometimes barks at her and she just ignores him. His foster parents will contact the MAESSR training team to get some tips on how to lessen Harley’s chattiness.
It’s quite the geriatric ward in Harley’s foster home. The senior female ESS is the boss and Harley and the 15 year old permanent foster boy follow her lead. The 15 year old cat resident cat quickly found out that she has nothing to fear from Harley. If the rest of the world could just be a peaceable kingdom like it, wouldn’t it be nice!
Although most of his vetting had been done in the shelter, Harley visited his family’s vet because of his very red eyes. Harley did NOT like having his eyes examined and he had to be muzzled. His right eyelid has a small growth on it and it may be irritating his eyeball. This eye is not producing adequate tears and medicated eye drops were prescribed. After using the eye drops for a month, his eye will be re-evaluated to see if surgery is needed. Oddly, Harley is perfectly fine having his eye wiped with a tissue, but as soon as the eye drop bottle comes out, he becomes snappy.
Watch for more about this sweet Velcro senior as he continues to settle in with his foster family!