Six year old Sasha came to us from an elderly couple that were no longer able to care for her anymore. She lived in a 20×20 pen for the last 5 years, but now she is free and living the good life with her foster mom and dad! Her first few weeks were full of learning all the new things that come with living indoors. Amazingly she only had two accidents that first week. She learned quickly! She was so nervous that she didn’t eat much of anything the first week, and then she would only eat where she could see her foster mom and dad (I guess in case they were going to disappear on her!). Now she eats regularly, though she still likes to make sure she can see someone while crunching on her kibble.
Sasha was diagnosed with Entropion by our vet. Entropion is a genetic condition in which a portion of the eyelid is inverted or folded inward. This can cause an eyelash or hair to irritate and scratch the surface of the eye, leading to corneal ulceration or perforation. Both of her upper eyelids were affected. The surgery to repair the eyelids was successful, though she still may need eye drops for dry eye. This may go away with time, but if not, a few drops twice a day is easy with her.
Her foster mom noticed that she limped a bit on her back leg, so we also had her hips and back legs x-rayed. She doesn’t have the greatest hips and there is some arthritis, but she is doing well on supplements and isn’t a surgical candidate. She won’t ever be a dog that you can jog with, but she does like to take walks and is doing pretty good on leash, though when she sees a squirrel, she wants to take off after it! She’s still on her diet and has lost 8 pounds with about 8 more to go.
Initially she wasn’t fond of car rides, but she’s much better now and will load up when asked. Her foster mom works at a doggie daycare and Sasha has been going with her to work most days. She gets along well with the other dogs, and has played with one or two. Mostly, Sasha is all about the people. She loves everyone she meets and is happy to sit at their feet for pets and love. Being in a pen for most of her life, she loves and deserves all the attention she can get! In her adoptive home, she would do fine with another calm dog, or be fine as the only dog (would probably prefer it). She also gets along well with the cat in her foster home.
She is nervous during thunderstorms and wants to be right next to you, but overall is fine. She’s never been crated and sleeps in the bedroom quietly all night.
Sasha has been itchy and licking her paws, so we are trying Apoquel and if that doesn’t help, then we’ll go to a food trial. We aren’t quite sure yet if it’s anxiety related or a true allergy.
Sasha is so sweet and loving. She’s always ready to go anywhere as soon as the leash comes out. Not sure if there’s some hound dog in her, but when her people leave for a few hours to run errands, etc, she will howl to let everyone know that she doesn’t appreciate being left behind! She doesn’t do it the entire time, but she makes it known that she thinks it’s totally unacceptable (can’t blame her!)! Other than raiding the bathroom trash can for tissues, she doesn’t get into anything and has the run of the house. She is just an amazing girl!