A Gardeners Forum Forums Members History Forum Life 2004 Freckles

If Mr. Bill noticed an "uneventful" day on the forum today, it's because the "Problem Child" was busy (for once!) trying to be kind to animals!

This is "Freckles".


His owner didn't care enough about him to take him to the vet 3 weeks ago when he got hit by a car. He almost died and has spent weeks in severe pain. Today we caught him and took him to the vet, who said it's too late to fix the badly broken leg and hip, and possibly pelvis. I got his shots and brought him home with a lot of medicine for pain and inflammation. He's my dog now. I made him comfy in the house and went to Wal-Mart and spent another fortune on dog food, dog toys, collar, leash, treats, more toys, flea stuff, bed, doggie t-shirt, toys, more treats, brush, bowls, and more toys.

Awhile ago he bit me while I was trying to cut the mats out of his fur. So, tomorrow he goes to the groomer and he can bite HER!

If I happened to meet someone who would treat (abandon) his injured dog that way, your "guru" would become HIS worst nightmare!!!!
Thank you for watching out for Freckles... he is very scared or he never would have bit you and someday he will know enough to thank you himself!

Freckles looks soooo sweet Give that to Freckles.

Karen

I hope that's all it is.
I've always thought Cocker Spaniels were rather ill-tempered dogs, and it kind of scares me.


I just went to the door to take him out to use that bathroom and there are two skunks out there! One is laying on the door step (A new one! It's a baby!) Can't go out the back, because it's a big deck about 15 feet off the ground (with a trillion steps that Freckles can't walk down) to the yard.

Ellie Mae is trapped!

Oooh ...Get a picture!

Karen

I just tried! I started out the door with the camera and didn't realize Freckles was right behind me! We made a commotion because he fell down the ONE step, and the skunk strolled over to the hummingbird garden. He didn't seem at all interested in it, thank God! That's all I need...a crippled, biting dog with skunk spray!

He can walk around if he wants to, but it hurts. He falls if he tries to go up or down the step going outside, so I pick him up.

Aw, You are so kind. I can't believe you would invest so much into a stray

Cindy ~ we always knew how kind-hearted you are, and this just goes to prove it! Thanks so much for looking after a poor injured and terrified animal.

That said...
When I was 5 years old there was a cocker spaniel living in a house at the end of our street, who would wander around a bit - we lived on a dead end. Being 5, I only thought he was cute and didn't think of any dangers of animals, so despite my mother's warning not to pet him, I did. Well... he jumped up and bit me in the stomach. Being only 5 and thinking I was so smart, I started to spin around thinking that he would fall off of me, but instead he dug in deeper and held on. The adults around had to hit him off of me. I had to get rabies shots because I was the 4th person he had bitten badly that year. Shortly after that, he bit one more person, and they "put him down". (supposedly in those days, if a dog bit 5 people it "had" to be put down. That's why they waited so long. Don't ask me why - I don't get it either.) Of course I was too young to really know what was going on, but it left me terrified when dogs open their mouths. Don't get me wrong, I love all animals (not the deer lately, as they've come back to eat new plants again!!! ), but am really really scared when they open their mouths near me.

Please be careful with your new friend.
Hopefully it is just scared, and will come around with your nurturing.

Vet said around a year old. Still young!

No, his "family" had plenty of money to take him to the vet. The surgery would have been hundreds of dollars, which they weren't willing to pay. I told the vet yesterday that if he could fix the dog, it didn't matter how much it cost. But, he said the bone in the top of his leg was already healed too much, and that scar tissue was already forming in the hip break, etc. and it was just too late to "fix", no matter what. I have spent so much money on animals, you wouldn't believe it. I am such a sucker when it comes to something that can't speak for itself (children and animals). I spent almost $4,000. on my elkhound to try to cure blastomycosis, but he died. I did not regret spending the money, but did regret putting the dog through the treatments. But, every time we went to the vet for treatments, he knew he got to go to the McDonald's drive-thru on the way home and get a plain quarter pounder with cheese for the road!

I am just so worried about having this dog around Brennan (he's 5). I'm going to be VERY cautious where Brennan is concerned. And LOLA! You know, Cockers ARE bird dogs!

What a lovely Picture to come back to, he is so handsome, and you are a lovely person for caring so much. Cocker spaniel's are not known for their bad behaviour over here? My sister has one and he lick's everyone to bit's. As l alway's say there are no bad dog's only bad owner's. lt is how they are treated as a pup which makes them how they are, but with a lot of love and care they can be turned round.
Cindy is he in a lot of pain?, can he walk on his leg? hopefully when the scarring heal's it will be less painful for him, and he will just be handicapped, which he will adjust to, as so many animal's and albeit human's do.
lt is a pity there are not more of your ilk in this world, it would be a better place to live in.

Doreen.

Man, that made me feel good! Thank you!

Well, update on the dog (I call him "Hell Hound" now) is not pretty!

If I go outside I have to take him with me or he will DESTROY the house.

If I put him outside, he will destroy the DOOR until he gets back in.

If I go somewhere, I have been locking him in an EMPTY room in the basement until I get back. Today he would NOT go in that room (duh!), so I locked him in Andy's garage. I got back to find the garage DESTROYED! It is a big garage, for heavy equipment. The doors are 24 feet wide. Hell Hound ripped the insulation off the bottom 3 feet of the entire door. It is ALL OVER the garage! (I'm trying to pack and get out of here before Andy gets home!) And, it's that real itchy thick insulation, which is now all over Hell Hound, whom I had groomed day before yesterday at a whopping cost of $85.00, plus $20.00 to the veterinarian that had to SEDATE him for the groomer!

So far, this dog has made very short work out of way over $400., not to mention the damage he did to the garage today.

And did I mention that he BITES???

Out of the clear blue, the psycho will become very possessive over something. Last night it was the spot under the coffee table. If anyone got within 2 feet of it, they were history! I tried to give him his medication last night while he was in this "mode" and he nailed me pretty good on the hand, not to mention he destroyed the syringe I was using to give him the medicine. Right now he is guarding a bag of pretzels I bought awhile ago (I unfortunately left them laying in the floor when I came in!).




Cindy

Was that dog abused/or abandoned in a small room by the previous owner?
Or is he biting out of pure pain from the injury?
Or is he just a plain ol' naughty dog?
I sure wouldn't have him around the grandson.

I know what that insulation is....when I was a young kid my parents were building their house and I got into that stuff....oh my god it hurt....parents gave me a quick shower....nasty stuff!

Oh NO! Poor Cindy, Hound"

You're gonna need a lot of patience and help (and booze) for this one. Do you have a crate?

Do you have a good psychologist in the area?
For you or the dog, I'm not sure.....

YES...locked in a building for days, sometimes over a week, at a time.


I think it has a lot to do with pain, but obviously he has some loose screws. (He ought to be right at home here, huh?)

Right now, it's Chardonnay.....
Andy got home awhile ago and is down in the garage surveying the damage as we speak. So, I imagine I will be switching to Jim Beam in a little while! He has already blamed me for it (he is the one who decided to adopt this dog, not afgrey!), and I'm sure things will get UGLY when he gets back to the house!

Actually, I used to have the best psychologist in the world! Unfortunately, she retired and moved to Alabama...(might be where I re-locate!)

Cindy

Can you wrap his pain med in a piece of meat or mix with his food? ....sure hope it isn't an injectable med!
Be careful with birdy around Freckles....one bite and it is all over with!
Hopefully getting his pain level controlled will help reduce the nasty behavior and you can start working on the trust issue with him.
Sure hope Andy is dealing with this in a cool calm manner! <img border="0" alt="[perplexed]" title="" src="graemlins/confused.gif" />

He is OBSESSED with Lola!
This has made me a nervous wreck constantly.
That's a big reason I can't ever leave him in the house...even in her cage, he could kill her. Her cage is HUGE, (it takes up 1/2 a room), and there's no way to block him from getting near it. If he got her upset and she started flying around in it, she'd end up killing herself.


Unfortunately, he doesn't deal with anything in a calm manner.

SO...with that said.....I have "Ballroom Blitz" blasting out of my trillion watt mega speakers, waiting for him to come back up from the garage!



Cindy

Cindy....are you still alive???

Well.....let's just say I will be moving back to my own house this week!

It's been coming for a long time, and I'm thrilled!

Cindy

P.S. HE keeps the dog!

Cindy,
I had seen this post come back up and I was going to post how the puppy was, but, now that I read your post, I guess, there's my answer!!

OMG!!
I know that route!!!

When I first started working someone had a German Shepard dog and they had him there all the time, (kept in the basement in the liquor room~howling for hours on end) and I asked why they had gotten thier friends' dog here at the restaurant all the time now, and they said he was a bad boy and bit someone, and the next time I talked to the owner I asked about the dog and the guy pleaded with me to take the dog and give it a good home, he was a good dog and it was just a mean neighbor bitching about the dog, so I took it home and wellllllllllllllll,
I found out it wasn't the mean neighbor it was the dog....
He loved me, and my family, it was anyone who came to the door,
He did end up nipping my neighbor, who luckily didn't sue me... and I ended up having to walk him with a leash and muzzle..... He would not stop
going after people and cars, he'd get away from me alot, I couldn't hold him back, he was a very strong Shepard and BIG!!
Welllllllllllll, the last time he pulled away from me, he went chasing after a set of wheels on a car and the dog caught one, well, two actually!

I felt so bad, but what a relief to have that dog stop doing all the antics that he was doing......

Good luck in your adventures with Freckles!!!

Weezie

Hey, maybe the freckles would like a Beam and Coke! Whaddya think?????????

Actually, I just got up a minute ago to make ME one, and the little %#@*! bit me!

I accidently stepped too close to him!

(Remember...it's all fun and games 'til somebody gets an eye put out!)

Cindy

Oh, Cindy, I am so sorry to hear about "all" of it.
I had started that post earlier and just finished writing it up...
I agree, dog's do nip from pain, actually that dog had nipped me when I tried to pull him off the road so no other car would get him while he layed there in pain....

But, they dan be territorial too!!!

I hope you can work things out with the puppy and the big guy there....
Hopefully something will turn out to the good!!!

Weezie

Well :p on Andy!
Does hell hound go after Andy?
Can you imagine what that dog is going to do to his house when your gone and he leaves him in the house alone while he is at work!

YES!

Both! Sometimes warns, sometimes ATTACKS!
(I think he's bi-polar. My cousin suggested Prozac!)



Cindy

Can you imagine the trip to the vet!!! or he can move!!!

I can hear the phone call to the vets office now
Ah, yes, I'd like to make an appointment for 4 skunks...............