Topsy

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Update 09/13/11:

During recent weeks, Sir Vivor’s health took an unexpected turn. He began to have very small, almost unnoticeable seizures, but his foster mom is a very astute observer and did notice. She began watching for patterns, triggers, and possible complications of meds he was taking. She began working closely with her vet and several MAESSR vols who assist with more complicated issues. As the seizures grew numerous and eluded management, it was decided by all that it was time for Sir Vivor to be put to sleep.

To spare Sir Viror the stress of a car ride, his foster mom scheduled a house-call from her vet a few days out, but made the difficult decision to travel to an emergency vet clinic in the middle of one particularly difficult night for Sir Viror. In his own way, he may have been ready, as his foster mom shared in her last news.

You’ll probably appreciate this classic Springer ending: He had so many seizures on Saturday that I lost count amidst the clusters, and I’d been doing laundry 24/7 to wash towels he had been soiling…………….but he had enough gusto to demand his 5 pm walk…….an hour early, I let him off-leash for some freedom. He loved it, and romped with a tennis ball more than I’d seen him do at all since I got him as a foster 6 weeks ago. Then, he immediately took off out of sight, looking for a place to bury it. It wasn’t more than 2 or 3 minutes before I caught up with him again. But when I did, the tennis ball idea had been abandoned and he was licking his chops, deliriously pleased with having found -and already scarfed- a bunch of old compost. “What are you trying to do? Kill yourself?!” Apparently, tennis balls and compost were 2 dreams accomplished. At 7 pm he threw up most of it, but by 10 he was seizing in his sleep and only moving after he had wet himself inadvertently. By midnight, I knew he wouldn’t last until Tuesday, and I called to say we were coming in. Just before we left, he walked into his crate and laid down on his own for the first time, without being coaxed with treats, like he had finally found a home again. I buried him across from my Springer and fellow lover-of-tennis balls & compost. Survivor had a rough past 8 months since his owner fell ill and had to relinquish him to a kennel, and then the Rescue. I think he was just waiting for these chances before he was REALLY ready to go.

Godspeed Sir Vivor and the sincerest thank you to his foster family for letting dreams come true in his last 6 weeks.

Update 08/22/11:

Beginning with a correction on his 8/14 update, his foster mom is not the one who dubbed this senior Sir Vivor. It was actually his adopting family who renamed him upon his adoption in 2000. He came into foster care this time with excellent veterinary records, and, in seeing the name he had answered to for a lifetime, his foster mom saw to it that he got to keep it!

Sir Vivor had his first vet appointment since in his new foster home. The report is that his general health is good and it looks like he plans to be around for quite a while longer! His blood work is normal for a dog his age. He’s got a few small benign fatty tumors on his belly, which often come with age, along with his lenticular sclerosis, aka cloudy pupils. These are not cataracts and do not affect his vision but sometimes bring out his devilish side in photos! He has some hearing loss in his right ear, possibly due to ear infections when he was younger, and a current yeast infection. To clear that up, Sir Vivor is on 2 weeks of ear drops. Meanwhile, he and his foster mom are working on hand signals along with verbal commands, just to make sure he gets her messages.

Sir Vivor has had a rough start in foster care but, since settling into a quiet home routine, his anxiety has gone down significantly and he likes to nap for much of the day. He’s most active and happily energized for his morning and evening walks and has taken up the leisure sport of counter-surfing when no one is around – actually a good sign of progress for him!! Nevertheless when his foster mom has to leave home, he now lays down in his crate without a whimper, whine or bark, day or night. He still becomes easily and unstoppably frazzled with unfamiliar or unexpected interruptions. Therefore, his vet prescribed a medication to help him continue as comfortably as possible in this transition to and through his adoption. 

Recently there were overnight guests in Sir Vivor’s foster home that included a little human. When Sir Vivor met the baby, with close supervision by his foster mom and the little one’s parents, it seemed he thought it might be one of those pesky chickens he’s so adept at keeping off the porch. He grumbled and wanted chase it off too – little humorous but also enlightening. With little understanding of the unpredictable movements and behaviors of little people, Sir Viror will be best placed in an adopting home where human residents and most visitors are 11 and older. 

This senior is a home-body for sure, but he hasn’t retired from his position as President and CEO of Loving Companionship. He gladly accepts snuggles and gives warmth, affection and 100% attention in return. If your household isn’t overly active, and you’re looking for a low-maintenance buddy to share your free time on short hikes or long walks and while lazing around on the couch with some movies, Sir Vivor is taking applications!

Update 08/14/11:

Topsy is an active lovely young dog. That was in 2000 when he first came into MAESSR’s care as a spunky one-year-old. An aging couple adopted him, renamed him Survivor and gave him a happy home for the next 10 years. Sadly, his adopting mom passed away a few years ago and, this past year, his dad got sick. The family attempted to temporarily house Survivor with a neighbor in hopes of eventually reuniting him with his dad. It turned out that the resident dog wasn’t up for a new roommate, so Survivor had to be boarded in a kennel. Unfortunately, after six months, it was decided that his dad would no longer be able to care for his longtime buddy. Now, after a decade, Survivor is in a MAESSR foster home once again.

It will take Sir Vivor, as his foster mom has dubbed him, a while to settle down after those long months in a kennel and without his lifetime companion. Such a big transition for a dog his age has taken a toll on him and he’s experiencing some anxiety. The kennel staff reported that Sir Vivor got laryngitis from barking so much during his time there. The hoarseness continues in foster care whenever he’s excited, nervous, in new surroundings, left alone, or crated. Whatever basic commands he may have learned earlier on are not coming back quickly but his appetite is improving, his constipation is lessening, and he’s totally housebroken. The poor pup just needs a chance to feel “at home” again with a favorite human.

For a senior gent, Sir Vivor’s in excellent health, great shape, and has a good bit of strength. He tugs hard on toys and will chase tennis balls – just not for hours on end. He is high-energy but with less endurance. A fantastic adventure and great work-out for Sir Vivor is not much more than an enjoyable, leisurely walk, twice a day, with his foster mom. After some initial pulling to stretch (and test his foster mom’s muscles), he settles into an easy rhythm and the two share a comfortable pace together. It only takes a gentle tug to get him back on the path if his nose would rather take him through tall grass. He’s not as stable as he is strong, but even an occasional stumble on uneven ground does not keep this boy down for a second. Exercise seems to be what Sir Vivor needs and wants the most in his foster home.

Maybe reminiscent of his room at the doggie hotel, Sir Vivor starts barking in the car but will settle down once on the road. When the ride gets to be too long, or, there’s something out the window worth mentioning, he’ll let his foster mom know about that, too. With his recent past, the crate is not Sir Vivor’s preferred place to retreat. It’s certainly not a place to hang out during the day. He can be coaxed in with a treat, but will adamantly oppose it when the door closes. His foster mom doesn’t crate him unless she has to leave home or until just before bed. As long as it’s in sight of a human, the living room floor or rug is his preferred spot. It allows much more room to make 3, 4, 5 or even 6 w-i-d-e circles before he finally flops down and stretches out on his side for a cat nap. 

Speaking of cats, Sir Vivor has shown interest in both the indoor and outdoor resident felines. Sometimes he ignores them, sometimes he just wants to sniff, and other times he wants to make them run for their lives. When it comes to other dogs in the home, Sir Vivor won’t take the time to go through proper introductions. Whether it’s truly a lack of interest or just a lack of social skills, his foster mom doesn’t know. This has caused some distrust by the resident female and innocent, yet imposing curiosity by the male, which startles Sir Vivor and puts him on the defensive. It’s not impossible to teach old dogs new tricks, but it would be easier on Sir Vivor if he didn’t have to learn them. He would likely do best without canine siblings or young children in his adopting home. 

The one trick Sir Vivor has quickly picked up on from watching the resident dogs is the ability to chase the free-range chickens off the porch without deciding they should be lunch! He lunges after them until they flutter out of sight, then he comes back as if he’s just done his good deed for the day. This self-appointed “job” keeps him on the alert and a contributing part of his family.

All in all, this sweet, loveable boy just needs a few things to be completely content for the rest of his life: regular play and exercise, a senior diet and fresh water, a soft, safe place to lay his head, and, most importantly, humans to give him these things so he can call them his very own.

Original:

Topsy is an active lovely young dog. He is getting along great with his foster mom’s dogs. He definitely likes other dogs. He runs like the wind with them. He LOVES to play with toys. He still needs to have two items to keep fetch going for the “release” but is doing great. He might learn it before long.

Topsy loves all people. He tends to beg to be loved by putting feet up on people. He’s being trained not to do this with a firm “off.” He loves his chew bones and Nylon bones.

He is very thin and may gave intestinal worms. He eats like he hasn’t eaten in weeks 🙂 He rather be out of crate but he is willing to sleep in it when necessary. He is tall and fits well in a 30″ tall crate. He weighs nothing though.

Topsy has done very well in his foster home. He is a really sweet boy. He is not housebroken, but his foster mom is training him. He will learn quickly. Topsy loves everyone and will be a great dog.