Howie 11-165

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Howie came to us yesterday and he is simply a wonderful 5 year-old guy, full of sweet golden love.  He is 96 pounds of loving sweetness.  Right away he was comfortable, gentle, loving and sweet with all three kids and the resident dog, Sid.  Howie is used to sleeping in a kennel in the garage, but we wouldn't have anything to do with that.  He slept in his kennel in the living room and seemed perfectly content.  He was happy to come out in the morning and shower us with love. 

His SO said that he has a strong prey drive for squirrels.  I am not sure what Golden doesn't!   We quickly saw that first hand with the  big oak trees in our yard that house quite a few.  Howie saw them right away and waited patiently for them at the base of the tree.  When they came closer he tried to catch them, but no luck.  He often just sat quietly and waited.  If we called him however he would come to us. 

Howie is up to date on his shots but has a bit of a sniffling, stuffiness in his nose that the vet will check out in a couple of days.  He hasn't been interested in eating yet, but we hope that is just nerves and he will begin to eat soon.  He is happy to watch us eat, but doesn't beg or bark. 

We always hope to have a calm first couple of days for our foster, but the kids had already planned a wedding for our resident dog and the neighbor dog, so Howie got to meet lots of dogs and kids at the dog wedding today and he did beautifully.  He played with all of them or just hung out on his own.  He has shown no signs of aggression, food guarding or guarding of his toys of any kind.  We learned that he had once gone after a porcupine so he was greeted with a hedgehog toy when he came to us.  He loves his toy and plays with it, but has not torn it apart.  He is just a gentle big hunk of love.  We will update following the vet's visit. 
 

 

At a Glance #11-165

Golden Retriever Born: May 2006
Male 95 lbs

Status: Deceased

Profile

Howie came to us yesterday and he is simply a wonderful 5 year-old guy, full of sweet golden love.  He is 96 pounds of loving sweetness.  Right away he was comfortable, gentle, loving and sweet with all three kids and the resident dog, Sid.  Howie is used to sleeping in a kennel in the garage, but we wouldn't have anything to do with that.  He slept in his kennel in the living room and seemed perfectly content.  He was happy to come out in the morning and shower us with love. 

His SO said that he has a strong prey drive for squirrels.  I am not sure what Golden doesn't!   We quickly saw that first hand with the  big oak trees in our yard that house quite a few.  Howie saw them right away and waited patiently for them at the base of the tree.  When they came closer he tried to catch them, but no luck.  He often just sat quietly and waited.  If we called him however he would come to us. 

Howie is up to date on his shots but has a bit of a sniffling, stuffiness in his nose that the vet will check out in a couple of days.  He hasn't been interested in eating yet, but we hope that is just nerves and he will begin to eat soon.  He is happy to watch us eat, but doesn't beg or bark. 

We always hope to have a calm first couple of days for our foster, but the kids had already planned a wedding for our resident dog and the neighbor dog, so Howie got to meet lots of dogs and kids at the dog wedding today and he did beautifully.  He played with all of them or just hung out on his own.  He has shown no signs of aggression, food guarding or guarding of his toys of any kind.  We learned that he had once gone after a porcupine so he was greeted with a hedgehog toy when he came to us.  He loves his toy and plays with it, but has not torn it apart.  He is just a gentle big hunk of love.  We will update following the vet's visit. 
 

 

Updates

Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Howie came home this morning and is doing quite well. His energy level is good and I am sure he was happy to be home in a comfy place. His ear really doesn't look all that bad. He has to wear a 'bonnet' to keep his ears from flapping when he wants to shake his head. Unfortunately, this doesn't stay on very well either because he likes to push it off with his paw or it just naturally works its way off. We will do our best to keep the sutured area protected until the stitches come out in about 10 days.

Sid, the resident dog, seemed very concerned for Howie when we came home. He wanted to lick him and lick him and sniff him and sniff him all over. He never payed that much attention to him before. Dogs are remarkable creatures. He sure knows that Howie is hurt and wants to make him feel better. It was very sweet, but I needed to keep him from licking his ear as that is what he seemed to be most interested in licking in to make his buddy better. We will be laying low for a couple of weeks so Howie can rest and recover. We are waiting to hear back from the Vet about his final test results.

Poor Howie, he desperately wants to go outside and chase the squirrels so I have had to close some of the blinds so he can't see them out there. We can hang out in the yard, but he will need to stay on the leash for now.

You can see from the photos that he is still a handsome goofball even in his bonnet. One of the RAGOM volunteers kindly left a get well bag for Howie at the Vet and he took to his special presents right away, as did Sid;)

Thank you for keeping him in your thoughts and for checking up on him. We all appreciate it.


Friday, May 20, 2011

Howie will have surgery this Monday on the mass on his ear. Hopefully, they won't have to remove too much around the ear, but the Doctors can't really say until they get in there. I will keep you posted on his recovery for sure. He is listed as unavailable for now until the surgery is over and we have a better idea if the cancer spread or if it was contained in the mass on his ear.

Howie is such a happy guy. He is quick to roll over and wait for a belly scratch. He gives lots of kisses. He loves to play fetch and actually bring the ball back! He has a blast with all the kids in the neighborhood that come to play with him in the yard. We have given him free roam in the house while we are away for 1-3 hours, but keep room doors closed and garbage cans out of sight. He has been just fine. I am pretty sure he is snoozing while we are gone. He continues to sleep at night on our floor in the bedroom and although we put his dog bed in there that came with him, he prefers the floor. He does like to chew up soft toys, so sturdy hard toys are better for him. He takes treats gently. He doesn't jump on people. He is just an all around perfect Golden.

He will be at Chuck and Don's in Bloomington on Sunday, a great opportunity to meet him before the poor guy has his surgery.

Wednesday, May 18, 2011

Howie still proves to be a special guy. He has settled in so quickly and so well. He was an outdoor dog before he came to us and slept in a kennel in the garage. Last night was night 4 and we let Howie fall asleep on our floor in our bedroom. No problem at all!!! He was quiet and content. Thankfully it has been beautiful outside because Howie prefers to be outside, sit and watch for squirrels. He barks a little bit, but nothing excessive and stops when told to 'hush'. He does dig a bit, but that's a Golden for you. He and resident dog Sid are taking a snooze right now inside with me as they had a nice long walk this morning and then a much needed bath this afternoon. Howie was not a big fan of the water, but it was pretty cold. He tolerated it fine and smells a lot better!

We went the the vet yesterday and they took a look at a lump at the base of his ear. The Dr. thought best to test it. Sadly, it came back as a cancerous mass and will need to be removed. He is going in for surgery on Monday morning. We hope that the Dr. doesn't need to take too much off around the ear, but that is the concern at this point to be sure to get it all out. We will know more about whether or not it has spread or if it is contained near the ear. We feel badly for this sweet guy as he is so ready for a loving forever home. If not for the surgery he would be snatched up quickly I am sure. Stay tuned and I will keep you updated with his progress.