Everything ends up in my yard, even dogs.

[TheFeniX]

I've got that home on the bottom corner of a V street. The winds bring everything into my yard: candy wrappers, newspaper, even stray dogs. One dog that ended up in my yard was a pit bull, ears and tail docked, starved, covered in scars and chicken-grease (do the math). He was chipped though, so the owner was found and he was given back, probably because if there is a god, he hates pit-bulls. "Animal Cops: Houston" is a load of bullshit BTW. The amount of abuse Texan animal owners can get away with is staggering. It comes down to money really, but that's another story.

The second dog to end up in my yard was less a dog, and more of a tick colony with dog attached. I thought I was exaggerating when I told people there were at least 200 ticks on him. After everything though, I think I was low on that number. So, after numerous baths and hours with a hemostat, said dog was pretty much a dog, with maybe a few ticks left. We had Jake scanned for a chip, checked all the common (and even uncommon/local) lost and found websites, and even drove around the adjacent neighborhoods looking for signs. So, if someone is missing him, they don't care enough to do anything about it or assume he's dead. He was a little anemic and under-weight, but otherwise healthy (thank god, no lime disease) except for hookworms (now clean) and heartworms (yea, the bad ones) which are currently in the process of dieing and breaking up in his system.

In case you haven't realized, my better half decided we should keep this dog and name him "Oreo." The dog: fine. Naming him Oreo: fuck no. I offered "Jack" and we settled on Jake.

This is Jake and the reason I stopped donating money to help animals when I go buy fish-food.

I don't give two shits if he does kind of look like an Oreo, I'm not yelling that name when he does bad. They think he's some kind of Cockerspaniel, possibly pure-bred. I personally do not care. If he looks miserable, it's because he is. He's on 100% bed-rest, not allowed to play, run, or do anything else to get a work-out for at least another 3 weeks while the heartworms get out of his system. He does well around people (loves my brother's kids), has obviously been crate-trained, but doesn't seem to like other animals too much (like my last dog). I could make wild assumptions about his upbringing (he seems to be 1.5-2 years old), but I think it's more important he has a good home now.

I have to say, it's nice to be a dog owner again, but it also sucks.... because I'm a dog owner again. Oh and if you want to see pictures of his "tick beard," I could post them (if the ol' lady still has them), but they aren't for the easily nauseated.

[Stofsk]

zomg puppy!

[Thanas]

Good on you for taking care of him.

[Chardok]

Looks like a Cocker/English Springer Spaniel mix! He's adorable! You lucky....DOG! BWAAAHAHAHAHA. Oh, my jokes are hilarious, but seriously, congratulations, and thank you for taking him in and taking such good care of him. Enjoy!

[TheFeniX]

Damn, has it really been over a year? Sorry I dropped off after my post: I lurk more than anything. Thanks to those who posted, it's nice there's more and more people who don't consider strays garbage animals. You'd be surprised how many people around here are shocked when you tell them you cleaned-up and kept an animal you found on the street. Anyways, I finally found the CD containing the X-Rays of Jake's trip to the emergency clinic. I'll get to that in a minute. Also, someone may want to put a "56k die" tag on this thread... or lock it due to necromancy!

EDIT: The wife ended up deleting the "tick beard" pictures because they made her dry-heave when she looked at them.

Jake got through the Heartworm and hookworm treatment like a champ. We kept finding the odd tick or two on him for more than a few months after we thought we had him cleaned up. Many a bug bomb was let off in the house. Anyways, Halloween night of last year, I noticed Jake couldn't pee. He kept trying to, but would whine, move a few feet, then try again. So, we took him to the local clinic for X-rays.


You can see he had a conga line of stones all up in his urethrae. They are the light-white circles in and around where his rear-leg is. Follow the Penis Bone (dogs actually have one for those who don't know). The only thing the vet could figure was that replacing his shitty diet of "whatever the fuck he was eating while homeless" with one containing good food and clean water lead to.... something. Anyways, they jammed a catheter up his pee-hole, pushed the stones into his bladder, and we had to take him to the Emergency overnight care facility.

You can see them floating in his bladder as off-white circles and damn there were a lot of them. So, I then had to pick him back up from SW Houston at 5am and drive him to our vet in NE Houston for bladder surgery. ~$2,000 later (everything said an done), Jake could pee again. They also lanced some moles on him and threw in a neutering for cheap because they already had him under. We also got his teeth cleaned a few months later.

So, here's a few pictures of Jake living the high-life and being lazy like his old man.



He's a damn good-looking dog and everyone comments and how fluffy and smooth his fur is. I can pet him for hours and he doesn't complain much when I do. He's also extremely well-tempered around people which, I've been told, is pretty rare for a Cocker.

[Alyrium Denryle]

You sir, are now officially classified as "Good People".

P.S. OMG CUUUUUTE!

P.P.S. Law enforcement in Houston as a whole I have found through various means is either blisteringly incompetent, or the laws in TX are so bad that they cant help themselves. Or both. Probably both.

[Skywalker_T-65]

I second what Alyrium said...good on you for taking him in. And that is one adorable dog right there.

[TheFeniX]

I understand that animal enforcement divisions are understaffed and underfunded, but the Pit Bull I found had "abused dog used for illegal dog fighting" written all over him. There was more than enough evidence to crucify the owner under Texas laws concerning animals (which are pretty comprehensive from what I've read). I just like to think they gave the dog back as part of some ongoing dog fighting ring investigation to build up enough evidence and co-conspirators to put a lot of people away for a long time.... but I'm an idiot like that.

Anyways, I appreciate the kind words. Even before Jake, I was weening off the whole "dog breeder" bullshit, but Jake sealed the deal. I really can't see myself avoiding the adoption route when we look into getting another dog after the new year. I'm not paying some guy $1,000 so they can continue fleecing people out of money and destroying dog breeds. Maybe I'll get lucky and another Cocker will wander into the yard. Less ticks this time please.....

[Alyrium Denryle]

Oh don't even get me started on dog breeders, and for that matter, the Kennel Clubs. I watched a documentary series last week about that shit. I knew it was bad, but seeing the kennel clubs flat out deny that inbreeding leads to genetic defects in dogs is just... wtf.

I broke down in tears within the first two minutes when they showed what happens to Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. Their brain is too big for their small skull and they are more inbred than the spanish Habsburgs. Do the math on that one as to what happens to the dogs. Constant agonizing pain as their brain is compressed more and more as they age--and the breeders continue to breed close relatives. Inbreeding coefficients in some breeds are higher than 50%, which is higher than breeding two siblings, and that is just from background inbreeding due to small gene pools. There are tens of thousands of pugs in the UK, but genetically speaking there are less than 50.

[Skywalker_T-65]

On the subject of adopting dogs...I was in a similar situation a few years back. We had a Beagle Puppy (and I mean puppy...only about 3 months old) that had run-away and ended up in our yard. After managing to wrangle her and get her in the house, me, my brother, and my aunt (who is nearly the same age as me) all started to beg to keep her. My aunt even wanted to name her 'Angel' (needless to say, we (meaning my brother and I) vetoed that one).

Since the Puppy had a collar on her neck we were able to contact the owners...as it turns out, they decided to let us keep her. We named her Sally, in honor of our other Beagle (Sully) who had ran away a few months before that. Ironic no? Anyway...quite a nice dog, and I have a couple pics too. (I feel this is on subject...right?)











Yeah, the last one is fuzzy, but these are the only pics I have sadly...

[TheFeniX]

Oh don't even get me started on dog breeders, and for that matter, the Kennel Clubs.

I'd respond here with some of my own horror stories, but I think we're both better off looking at pictures of good dogs getting good homes. Such as:

Anyway...quite a nice dog, and I have a couple pics too. (I feel this is on subject...right?)

I think pictures of dogs are always on topic, but I'm not all that objective about it. A friend of the family had a Beagle, and I've always kind of wanted one in response because (and this actually annoys some people) they are attention whores (much like Jake). They don't beg for food or treats, they beg for attention and that's just not something I can get mad at any animal for.

Jake's a weirdo though. If everyone is sitting down talking, he just chills and usually passes out. But if one person is up doing something, anything, he follows them around like "what are you doing? Why the fuck aren't you sitting with everyone else? It must be so important, I have to know!" But if anyone besides me or the wife actually pays attention to him (petting, etc), he wanders off after a second or two.

[White Haven]

SPCA all the way. I don't have any dogs of my own right now, but every one I or my parents have ever had has been an SPCA Special.

Beagle mix my ass...

[TheFeniX]

Jesus yesterday was terrible. I had to take Jake to the office because of the maids (who didn't show). Sometime around 11am he got out the door without my dad noticing him. I was busy working on a summary, so I didn't even realize he was out for 15-30 minutes. I called animal control and we drove around for hours looking for him with no luck. To end a long story short because I'm still not running on all cylinders, I got a phone call at about 3:30 from animal control saying they found him.

Whatever found Jake before Animal Control did decided to kick his ass:




I was going to get some better pictures, but I wasn't going to force Jake into good positioning for them. I figured he'd been through enough. The wounds aren't as bad as they look, which is in part because the vet shaved the affected areas. There is however some major swelling in his chest, but the vet looked him over and did x-rays. He said everything looks good, considering. Jake's coughing had me worried, but the doctor said his heart and lungs sounded great and he's probably just dealing with irritation around his larynx (which is fine as well) due to the crushing bite force of whatever got a hold of him.

He's home (well, at work with me right now) and safe. He's eating and drinking in between cowering and shaking uncontrollable. But he's safe, so I'm no longer freaking out. At this moment, he's sleeping in his kennel with the door open. This is not something he normally does, even though he doesn't mind being put in the kennel. On a positive note, I got the summary done this morning.....

[LadyTevar]

How is Jake Today?

[TheFeniX]

Fine,all things considered. Thanks for asking. The discharges are clear or red, so no infections thus far. He's back to fairly normal , temperament-wise.

[TheFeniX]

Have you seen this dog?


Oh wait, here he is.

Lazy ass......

[TheFeniX]

We woke up Monday morning at about 5am because Jake was constantly kicking up a fuss. I thought he needed to go out, so I opened the door and told him to come and he didn't (which isn't his style). I turned on the lights and he was looking at me wide-eyed while his head/neck slowly pivoting in circles while his body "wormed" in circles as well. His tail (stump, really) was also stiff as well as him alternating his legs in some kind of fashion I can't describe.

I figured he was having a stroke so we kept an eye on him for a bit, but he was really having a seizure. We watched him for about 4 minutes and he finally stopped, immediately jumped off the bed and dropped a steaming load on the floor, then looked at us like "what?" He seemed fine, so I held off on the emergency clinic and just dropped him at our local vet at 8am. There's nothing really wrong with him, but he could either have epilepsy or this could have been a one/two time kind of thing. We'll have to see if he has anymore episodes.

Anyways, here's a picture of Jake passed out for posterity.

[TheFeniX]

goddamnit.

[Thanas]

Another one?

[TheFeniX]

A buddy I've know for years sent me a text asking if I wanted a free dog. He studded out his Cavalier to a Cocker and didn't want the free puppy. The wife fell in love instantly and now I have to house-train another animal because he's only 13-weeks. I don't know the people who bred him, but he has 0 shots so we're correcting that this Friday.

The wife named him "King Louis, but King for short," which I don't get, but whatever because he was originally being called "Dumbo" which I refuse to call him in front of another human being. However he does seem to be breaking Jake of his aversion to other dogs and he's cute as Hell.

So anyways: yes, another one.

[Thanas]

Pretty cool. Respect for doing this.

[Enigma]

A buddy I've know for years sent me a text asking if I wanted a free dog. He studded out his Cavalier to a Cocker and didn't want the free puppy. The wife fell in love instantly and now I have to house-train another animal because he's only 13-weeks. I don't know the people who bred him, but he has 0 shots so we're correcting that this Friday.

The wife named him "King Louis, but King for short," which I don't get, but whatever because he was originally being called "Dumbo" which I refuse to call him in front of another human being. However he does seem to be breaking Jake of his aversion to other dogs and he's cute as Hell.

So anyways: yes, another one.

The dog is a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. I'm guessing that your wife decided to name him "King" Louis because he's royalty.

[TheFeniX]

Man, I need to learn not to turn my head when driving down the highway. I thought it was a plastic bad or something, looked again, then it moved. All I could say was "motherfucker" as I pulled over on the side of the road. Little bastard wouldn't come quietly either. And of course, no one in the area is missing a dog and he's not chipped.

I don't need another dog, but the wife already named him. Also, more worms and another animal to house break. I want to fatten him up and hand him over to a rescue shelter. The wife is like "no, they'll put him down" which is dumb because he's otherwise healthy and, oh yea, he's cute as Hell and will get adopted immediately. He's fucking pushy for a homeless dog. Already whines when we're not around and follows me incessantly. The cuteness is marred by the fact that I do not want a third dog.

People need to quit dumping animals off on the side of the road because it makes me want to get violent.

Just to calm down, here's a picutre of King cowering in fear due to the sounds of shotguns going off at my parent's property. He does the same thing with fireworks and becomes inconsolable for hours. No one covered him up either, he can handle that all on his own.


Sorry about the necro, but King appreciates you not yelling to loudly about it. You know, because he's a wuss.

[Thanas]

King sure has grown up to resemble rococo portraits of monarchs with the ears etc.

[Raesene]

Have you considered opening an animal shelter of your own ?
More seriously, all hats off to you - that's dog #3 or #4 (?) that you rescue.

Your latest acquisition really is cute, I can understand your wife, I wouldn't want to give him up either.
BTW, what'shis name ? And how is Jake ?

[edit: typo]