Happy New Year!!! Chester is recovering nicely from his neuter surgery last week, and I am happy to report that he weighed in at a whopping 66 pounds! What a difference from the 41.7 pounds when he was found as a stray in Iowa, and the 52 pounds at Thanksgiving time when I began fostering him. He is still quite thin and frail-looking, and may be a 75 pound dog when he's at a good weight for his frame.
When the vet's office shaved Chester's belly, they discovered that he has a skin infection that resembles chicken pox, so he's on an antibiotic for that for the next three weeks. They'll want to re-check him in two weeks for both his neuter and the skin infection, but he's already healing up nicely on both counts.
Also, they ran a mini blood profile and while his results are still not in the normal range, he has improved more quickly than the vet expected and his "numbers" are up by 10 points. He is still anemic, so I'm back in the kitchen cooking up his boiled ground turkey, ground beef, chopped garlic, and whole-grain rice food that I add to his regular dry kibble, along with Missing Link supplement. I'm determined to get this guy healthy after so much neglect!
Chester met lots of new people this past weekend who thought he was such a beautiful and friendly guy! He rides great in the vehicle, adjusts to changes in his routine just fine, and loves everyone he meets (especially men). Chester looooooves to be petted and leans right into the person who is petting him, and would love to sit in your lap for a hug as well.
Chester is not good with steps or stairs, so his Forever Home should have minimal steps to navigate. This could improve with time as he becomes healthier and more sure of himself, but he did wipe out trying to go down a steep staircase this past weekend and landed on his front shoulder. A minute later he was fine, but needed to be carried up and down any more than two steps all weekend. Chester also needs to continue to be leashed at all times while outside, as his "stray" instinct seems to take over and he gallops away without looking over his shoulder at me calling his name.
Chester and Libby continue to be good buddies, but neither of them really "play" with each other. Libby the Yellow Lab was pouting big-time on Tuesday when Chester was taken to the vet, and continued to pout until he returned. I felt so bad that I brought Libby to work with me and let her hang-out in my car all day! Libby acts like she couldn't care less for the RAGOM dogs that come and go at my household, but when faced with being "alone" she is quite the little Pill. Chester, on the other hand, seems to be fine being the "only dog".
Both dogs enjoyed their ice fishing expedition, and jumped off their bunk bed the first time a fish came out of the hole and HAD TO have a sniff. Chester would have preferred to hold that fish in his mouth, but we stopped him before he could grab it off the end of the line...silly boy. He very much enjoyed visiting everyone who was fishing outside, too, and is quite the social butterfly.
Now is the time to think about Chester's Forever Home; don't wait any longer if you are an approved applicant and would like to meet him. Chester is a great dog and would work well with any family situation who has some available hands for petting.
