Introducing Snickers...

Snickers, otherwise known as "SnickerDoodle" by his foster family, is a sweet, well-mannered and obedient brindle Chihuahua... About 2 years old and 9-10 pounds, our vet believes Snickers was 'maced' by someone and gets daily drops in his eyes... He does this exceptionally well without complaint - our vet says Snickers sees life like through a shower curtain... He can see movement, colors - and can even catch flies!

SnickerDoodle is love bug and prefers to sit on his foster mom's lap whenever possible... Not a marker nor a barker, we can do just about anything with Snickers as you can see from the photo below - he is the poster child for P.A.P.A.'s Flying Squadron (our local grassroots effort to move Chihuahuas to other parts of the country who are in desperate need and with willing arms and hearts)... This effort has saved an average of 50 dogs a month since May, 2010...

Another step forward - a friend!

I'm assuming because ChinChin has been immobile for years, he's forgotten how to be friendly around other dogs as a survival mechanism... I have been debating with myself for days about this, but today I just took the plunge and put our Abby in with ChinChin... Abby is a tri-pede, having lost her front leg after the surgeon was not able to fix it with surgery - this is her blog HERE... 

Despite a bit of hissing and anxiety, ChinChin finally figured out Abby meant him no harm and allowed her to cuddle in with him in his doggie bed in the play pen... Progress, progress, progess - one step at a time!

The next step - a wheelchair for ChinChin!

Many Chihuahuas have done quite well once they were up and installed in a wheelchair - or "wheelies" as they are called... They are usually custom made for the dog based upon the weight, amount of mobility, size to the floor, etc.

I have several friends who have gone through this with their dog, so I picked everyone's brains to figure out how to do it, who to order it from, etc. as we begin the next step - getting ChinChin up and under his own power... 

Would you like to donate towards ChinChin's wheelchair?... It is a tax deduction and every little bit will help us reach our goal of $300 - here's the link to donate: Helping ChinChin get his Wheelies.

Attitude is half the battle!

Several times a day, ChinChin sits in the playpen and he is always alert and aware of his surroundings as you can see from this video HERE... Once he realized the other dogs could not actually touch him, I found he was more apt to relax and enjoy his time out of doors...

ChinChin tends to move like a seal or walrus does when they are out of water... There's almost a forward momentum roll that gets him where he wants to go... It might take him a bit of time to get there, but eventually he will... Slowly, I keep encouraging him to use those front legs and make them stronger with exercise.. Every other day we do water therapy in a large tub with a life preserver jacket... Initially both front legs were curled inwards... Now his left front leg is almost straight and no longer kinked in... See video HERE...

Another thing we are doing is to increase his mobility with a doggie stroller... Not really the color for his sex, it does get him up off the floor, out and about...Ya do what ya gotta do, ya know?

Too much hair!

The first obstacle we had to overcome was all that hair~!!  ChinChin's coat was absolutely gorgeous and while I expected it to be tangled and a mess, there were only a few spots that were matted... However, in some spots it was 6-8" long and thick... 

I am not a professional dog groomer, but with small clippers and scissors, I started working on not only shortening the length around his face, ears and chest but also shaving the lower half of him to make easy clean-ups not so difficult.

Throughout it all, he was quite patient with me... My heart was breaking having to cut any of it, but I kept telling myself he needed his strength to get those front legs working along with the ability and self-esteem to stay clean and tidy... 

Midway through, we both needed a break to stop and get a drink... And think about all of this... It almost seemed like he was happy to have most of that coat gone though... He certainly was a lot cooler without it dragging around behind him...

Ut oh... Now what have I done?

We tried to network this dog like crazy without success and no takers... A gorgeous Japanese Chin about 5-6 years old, but with no mobility in his back legs... No rescue was interested... Sigh... 

TLC normally does not rescue this breed, but I just couldn't stand by and let him be euthanized... I dragged the president of our rescue to the shelter and let him make that decision as I held ChinChin in my arms... "Wrap him up - do the paperwork - it is not his day to die here today" was his reply... And ChinChin came into our lives... 

His coat was gorgeous... Absolutely gorgeous...  But without the ability to move around on those back legs, giving him a bath took hours for it to dry...

The first morning I carried ChinChin out to the patio and watched him look around... His nose was going like crazy, taking in all the smells and he watched the birdies, listened to the sounds around us and just came alive instead of a living stuffed pillow... 

I had made an appointment with my vet for that evening and asked for an honest appraisal... Did I make a mistake???... My vet's reply?  "No, Linda... this dog has already started bonding to you and he wants to live... You didn't make a mistake... It is going to take a lot of work, but if anyone can do it, you can with your amount of heart... "

Turns out after looking at the X-rays, ChinChin had had a luxating patella surgery many years ago, but it failed and he was unable to sustain his weight... The knee joints in the two back legs are just shot and of little value... The two front legs have slowly started atrophying without much use, and started curling inwards... Even food could not tempt him to move very far at all...

Now what - where do I start, Doc?