Barkley the Beautiful has arrived

About 2 weeks ago, I got an email from another rescuer (who routinely saves big breeds) concerning a Pitty with demo... I get a LOT of emails every day and at least 25 times a day I have to say, "I'm sorry, but we don't have room" or "No, TLC can't save (take) this dog"... We just have only so much room and there are SO many dogs dying each day... (sigh)... 

I'm known for taking demo dogs from the shelters, so I wasn't surprised she'd contacted me on this dog...  She's the one who found BabyLove long ago and brought her to our attention... After we pulled the dog and I told her that BabyLove's demo caused her to "seep blood like sweat", she and I both commiserated with each other on how anyone could allow a dog to get into such bad shape without seeking veterinary care for their pet...

And then we both rejoiced with great love and joy when BabyLove found such a FANTASTIC new furever home with two very loving furparents... They renamed her 'Vida" which means 'life'...

My 'recipe' for dealing with demo is not anything that special but the combination of two very good vets and their years and years of experience in treating this...

... You would think by now we would stop seeing dogs showing up in high kill shelters with demo, right?  Sadly, no... And demo is the kiss of death for dogs in shelters for few folks want to adopt them, believing it is contagious and/or too much work and money to bring a dog back to a healthy state... But they still keep showing up and the majority of them die in the shelters...

I called the shelter when I got the email on Barkley and was told they were not sure yet if it was sarcoptic mange (which I do not pull) or demodex... But that the dog was aggressive and on the list for the vet to check out later that day (if he could)...

A day or two later, I got an email from one of my volunteers with Barkley's impound photo (to the left)...

He was coming up adoption two days later on the 21st and could we consider rescuing him?...

I called the shelter again and they confirmed it was indeed demodex and not sarcoptic mange, that he was under medical care but had no one interested in him... Later that day, yet another volunteer asked me about this dog... Kathryn is part of TLC's Bathing Brigade and now familiar with bathing dogs with demo, so I started giving serious consideration to saving this dog...

Although TLC is a small dog breed rescue, last year I made a promise that we would save at least one Pitty a month in 2013... We work off of the kill lists and as the breed most dying in our shelters is the Chihuahua mix, what we do is the hardest thing in rescue - saving the dogs that are most apt to be killed and what is most common in our communities (even less are adopting as well)... The 2nd most common breed to die in the shelters are the bully breeds - they may not even be a Pit Bull, but just look somewhat like one... They get passed by, their time runs out and they die... While shelters can physically hold 3 small Chi mixes longer, that same space is needed for just one large breed... So things did not look that good for this guy...

And I was reminded of my promise to save one Pitty each month in 2013... Saving Momma and her daughter, Koda, then Momma's 9 puppies, 11 of my 12 promises were kept and it was only April... (smile)... 

Later on that day, I was working on some things for Momma and browsing through her photos... She had a pup in her litter that I always liked - PoppySeed - and who I felt was the pick of the litter... He had a black helmet with a white stripe right up the center and cute as cute can be...

PoppySeed had tendency to always jump out in any photo I took of him... In this photo below, PoppySeed is in the upper left... His little foot is stuck out like a celebrity's hand with the paparazzi - "NO MORE PHOTOS, PLEASE!"...  (smile)... Although I loved the experience of seeing Momma's puppies born and raising them until another foster took over at 5 weeks, I sure was glad when they all got speutered and adopted...

And as I saw this photo, I thought to myself that this guy in the shelter was once and cute like PoppySeed... Now this dog was being thrown away like yesterday's newspaper because he had demodex... So I told our volunteer if there was no one willing to step up and save Barkley, TLC would...

This past Monday, Barkley was on my checklist to call the shelter and see if someone had saved him... Although he had become available the day before,

he was still sitting at the shelter and the clock had started ticking on him... (sigh)... Kathryn spoke to me again about Barkley and said she'd be willing to make the drive to Lancaster if need be...

We had another large dog (Laika) at the time we were trying to get to Ben Lomand, which is up above Santa Cruz... And at the time, I was thinking either Paul or I would have to make part of that drive to meet up with Laika's new furever home on Saturday... You can only be in so many places at the same time, ya know?

So, I took Kathryn up on her offer to transport this dog from Lancaster to the rescue shop if we needed her... As it turned out, another TLC volunteer was going to Madera yesterday, and they were able to meet the new adopter... HURRAH!!! for Laika (now renamed Chaska - Native American for 'Sun Goddess')... Chaska's new fur mommy is extremely familiar with GSDs and Dutch Shepherds, so this was a great furever home... Chaska looks pretty happy despite an almost 5 hour drive, huh?

Back to Barkley... I digress here... LOL... I spoke to the shelter again about Barkley and they told me there was a 'CTA' on Barkley (commitment to adopt) and 2 IPs (interested parties)... They had spoken with the man interested in adopting Barkley and he confirmed he'd pick up Barkley on Friday... But that I should call back Friday evening to make sure Barkley had left the shelter...

In the meantime, Kathryn had spoken to the person who held the first IP and the person didn't want to actually pull the dog, but wanted a rescue to do it... She'd foster, but didn't want to be legally responsible for the dog... As a back-up plan, we put a large kennel in Kathryn's car in case she needed to make the drive to Lancaster the next morning early...

And as anal retentive as I am, I put the note on my list of things to do and called back at 5:30PM on Friday evening... Sadly, Barkley was STILL at the shelter... UT OH...

That damned clock was ticking louder now... This is how dogs die in shelters... I put out an SOS to the TLC volunteers to see if someone could cover my opening shift at the rescue shop and when no one could, I asked Kathryn to make the trip to save this dog...

Alas, the two other interested parties did not show up at the shelter for Barkley and thankfully, Kathryn was there to save him... And when she arrived back at the rescue shop with him, I was shocked at just how bad his demo was... Initially I thought he was a blue - that's how dirty and dusty he was... I took him for a walk about to gauge his temperament immediately...

He's spooky but he's gentle... Barkley has a Mastiff head but a Pitty body... And it is obvious that a male abused him... He arrived in a bit of shelter shock and as I am walking and observing him, I'm trying to decide just how much he will allow us to do without pushing him into further shelter shock... I noticed the open sores on his butt and face and figured anything we did was going to be a relief for him, but I didn't think we could lift him off his feet and up into the groomer sink without causing him even more distress...

So, you do what ya gotta do, ya know?  Another great bather and volunteer (Arissa) joined in, bringing out buckets of warm water, towels, wash cloths, etc. and we started the first medicated demo bath right outside the back of the rescue shop...

What a gentle boy he is... He stood patiently as we applied the medicated shampoo and massaged him all over his body... The demo is bad... My guess is it started about a year ago and just moved all over his body... There are secondary infections going on in places, so we already started antibiotics as well...

He's had poor nutrition for awhile and several of his nails are split lengthwise along the vein... Plus his paws are really swollen from the demo and it is down in between his toes, causing it to bleed... It is especially bad on his front feet and I can't imagine having to walk on those swollen feet with split nails as well...

He was so, so good about all of it though... At one point with two volunteers massaging him and working the dead skin and fur gently, he half closed his eyes in an expression of "ahhhhh, that feels good"....

How in the hell do you allow a dog to get this bad? ::shaking head in disgust here::  What is wrong with people?  These dogs - big or little - have souls and give unconditional love without question... Who doesn't have a heart and can let a dog get into this bad of shape?... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

Even Barkley's face is stripped of fur and leathery from the ravages of demodex... As we gently rubbed medicated salve into the areas of his face we could not use the medicated shampoo on, the crevices of his jowls are almost painful to touch as you pick them up gently with your fingers and work the meds into the innermost areas... 

But through it all, he was as patient as can be... Never fussed one time and stood there... We had a lead on him, but did not need to use it once throughout this hour long process...

And that is good, because for the next few weeks, this process will need to be repeated every two days as the dead skin comes off (gently) and the hair follicles are massaged back to life... The antibiotics and meds will do their work from the inside, but without tending to the outside as well, it could take months to get this boy back into shape...

Most vets refuse to neuter or spay a dog in this shape because the anesthesia can cause demodex to revert back to the shape you found the dog in, plus the lower auto immune system impedes the healing process allowing for greater infections if they go ahead and speuter a dog... Our vet will have to make that decision however...  Barkley is NOT aggressive, so I see no reason to push hard to get a neuter done right away...

Once we did all of our TLC stuff, we took Barkley to his new area to settle down, eat and relax a bit... That was a lot to go through in a very short period of time yesterday...  But he got the full spa treatment by two of TLC's best bathing volunteers!  When I die, I want to come back as a TLC dog! 

Barkley does not look very big here, but he is about 85 pounds... He could easily stand to gain another 10-15 pounds, but that will need to be decided by our vet as well... I'm just speaking from personal experience here...

Now onto the next hurdle to overcome - meeting Big Momma!

By this time, Paul had made it back to the rescue shop after performing his TLC duty for the day... I put Momma on lead and had Paul take her while I put

Barkley on lead... Despite having at least 20 pounds on Momma, Barkley spooked right away... I don't believe Barkley was used as a fighter (despite the open sores on his nose), but I do believe he was intimidated by men and/or with other large Pitty mixes...

For Barkley to be brought to TLC's adoptable standards, he has to behave and listen as well as Momma does... We have time, of course, but best to judge the interaction of the two of them as soon as possible...

Barkley got his official walk about with Momma yesterday and they did well together... He picked up my commands right away and relaxed enough for me to walk the two of them together...Momma wasn't too happy at first, but she got with the program quick enough...

For now, Barkley is safe and loved... He goes in to see our vet this upcoming week so that a plan of action can be established for his complete rehabilitation and care beyond what we have already put into place... In the meantime, he got a HUGE knuckle bone that he immediately took into his bed and started chewing on...

He's such a good boy and it was not his day to die... Not on our watch anyway!

As they say, 'stay tuned' for more updates on Barkley!