| Breed not specified | Born: March 2006 |
| Male | Weight not specified |
Status: Deceased
Look how sweet Thomas was at the 2006 RAGOM picnic. Of course, this is NOT me (his foster mommy) that is handling him. I am beginning to understand that Thomas is much better behaved around others than he is with me; doesn't that remind you of human children?!?!? Thomas was outfitted with a new Gentle Leader body harness at the picnic, and our walk this morning was soooooooo nice! :) Thanks to Lindsay and Cindy for taking care of Thomas on this very fun day.
Hey everyone! I wanted to show you this really cool collar that Angel Girl 06-382 brought over last night. I got all excited when I saw it this morning, so foster mom put it on me and then we ran errands in the car (all three of us dogs got to hang our heads out of the windows), and then we got home and she took a bunch of pictures of me and Angel. So, here are a few--enjoy! Love, Thomas
As you can see from his photo, Thomas is relaxing quite well on the couch during his recovery. He's about 14 days post-op, and his staples have been removed. He was a little Stinker this time around; he's learned how to swing that left knee INTO his 30 inch Cone and lick the top part of his incision, from which he removed about five staples himself. It will make for a less-than-beautiful scar, but he seems to be doing just fine in the healing department.
Good News! The day the staples came out was - you guessed it - SWIMMING IN THE KIDDIE POOL DAY!!! :) In fact, that is what he's doing right now as I type this.
Thomas is still not using his left leg post-op like he did with his right leg, but the surgeon indicated that is very normal because they always do the "worst" leg first and it feels better post-op than before the surgery. And, dogs in general can get along just fine with three legs so Thomas is using his three good ones and barely using the left rear leg. But, he can still run fast and uses it when he needs it, that's for darned sure!
Thomas continues to be such a sweet boy, full of happiness and big kisses. Now is the time; if you are interested in adopting Sweet Tommy Boy, please send an email to placement
ragom [dot] org to let them know. Thomas' lucky family is out there somewhere; is it you?
Thomas is scheduled for his left-leg TPLO surgery at the U of M on Thursday. My neighbors are very sad that tomorrow night, I must empty his cherished kiddie pool and put it in the garage until the vet says it will be okay for him to get his incision wet. Last time, Thomas had 15 staples holding his incision together; anyone feel like guessing how many he'll have this time around? :)
I will be picking Thomas up Friday evening, and will probably repeat the same process of staying up all night to make sure the bleeding stays under control, and cuddling with Thomas while he catches up on his sleep. I'm ready to turn my living room once again into a hospital ward, where Thomas will be able to sleep the day away on the comforts of my couch and ottoman! I usually baby-gate this room off, so this will indeed be a special occasion for him.
While I've been fostering Thomas for the past three months, he's made an amazing transformation that most everyone has noticed - my little boy has grown up. Before, Thomas would ADD to the craziness when a new foster came to the house. Now, it's his job to HELP me with new fosters and show them the ropes of how the house runs. He is a wonderful boy, and the longest foster I've had so far, so he will be a difficult one to let go. Having so many wonderful applicants to choose from, it will be a difficult decision to find his perfect Forever Home... but I know that once Thomas is all healed up from his surgeries that he should be with a family who has a real house with a real yard, and hopefully many opportunities to SWIM!!!
Don't you hate it when someone says they have good news and bad news; which do you want first?!?
Well, the bad news is that Thomas "hurt" his leg over the weekend playing with my friends' dogs in his fenced-in backyard. The GOOD news is that this is the leg we've been waiting for to go "lame" so that the final TPLO surgery can be performed. YAY! and SAD :( at the same time. I quickly remembered the limping that Thomas came to me with back in mid April; I felt terrible, but now we can proceed to making his left-leg bullet proof and ready for a problem-free future.
Regardless, Thomas temporarily forgot his injury when new foster Arizona Buddy 06-304 got here tonight. Take a look at the cute photo of Thomas "holding" AZ Buddy's leash and taking him for a walk!!!
Thomas has been a bit quieter since his injury yesterday, and isn't playing QUITE as jubilently in his pool, but still enjoyed Sunday evening's beautiful weather. See his picture demonstrating how he can blow bubbles under the water.
So, fold your paws for Thomas and send good wishes his way. I'll be scheduling his surgery ASAP, and my living room will once again resemble a hospital ward :)
Mom took this picture of me sleeping and thought it would be nice if I posted it on my web site. I wasn't tired yesterday from playing with Luna and Auburn, the two dogs at the Doggy Day Care I went to on Wednesday, but man, today I am Dead Dog Tired! Today was really hot outside, so I played outside in my pool while mom "cleaned the house", whatever that means. As you can see from my picture I'm still kinda wet, and it's almost midnight!
Chow for now....did you say Dog Chow?!?
Love, Thomas
Hi everyone! New cute pictures of Thomas to post, so I thought I'd do a quick update. Notice the picture of Thomas and Libby (my Yellow Lab) laying together; love the expressions on their faces while looking at my new foster Rufus 06-234. "What the heck is THAT?!?" Rufus is my little Wooley Bear dog :)
ANYWAY - Thomas continues to do superbly, and is just awaiting his next appointment at the U of M in two weeks. They will radiograph his right leg that had the first TPLO surgery to make sure the bone is healing well and that the plate and screws are still looking good. Then, we'll consult on the left leg and go from there.
Over Memorial Day weekend, I bought "Tommy" (what his fans at the U of M lovingly call him) a $5 kiddie swimming pool and OH does he LOVE it! He actually woke me last night at 4am for what I thought was a potty break...nope! It was a desire to go swimming break :) Luckily I caught him before he dove in, but he was pretty much wet all weekend, silly boy.
Nothing else new. He's gnawing away at a Bully Stick under my legs as I sit at my computer desk and write this. Good thing I bought in bulk this time.... :) Thanks for reading!
Hello Everyone! Just took some new pictures of Thomas tonight and wanted to get them posted. I remove his Cone Head when I can directly supervise him, but to be honest, he's not too interested in licking his incision. His staples (15 of them; I counted!) get removed in a week, and everything is healing up really, really beautifully. Mo further bleeding, swelling, bruising...nothing.
I inquired with his doctor from the University if Thomas would be OK to come to the Oakdale Petco event this coming Saturday, but the verdict was "No" - due to the fact of slippery floors and too much potential excitement. So, Thomas sends his best to everyone and hopefully he'll be able to make the next event before his left-leg surgery.
Also, after much deliberation, I've decided that Thomas as "adoptable" and can begin meeting families now that he's had his first surgery. RAGOM has agreed that it would be GReat if he could be adopted BEFORE his left-leg surgery and recover in his Forever Home. RAGOM, of course, would pay for the surgery (which will more than likely be scheduled mid-June).
If you think that Thomas is a dog you'd like to meet, and would be committed to helping Thomas recover in your Loving Home, please email placementRAGOM [dot] org.
Thomas is doing GREAT! I picked him up Friday late-afternoon from the University of MN Vet Hospital and when the tech walked him out to me, he SMILED! :) How cool is that?!? As you can see from the photos, I have sheets and rugs all over my living room on the main level (was still bleeding a bit on Friday), and he's made himself at home on my couch. He no longer fits in his kennel with the cone on his head, so I've given him free-reign of the kitchen while I'm at work and the whole lower level at night. A friend loaned me some "Yucky!" no-chew spray for the corners of things and wood furniture legs, and he hasn't touched a thing. YAY!!! :) He's on lots of pain medications and antibiotics for the next ten days, so life is good. He is walking on his right leg already, but is restricted from doing stairs for the next six weeks - JUST in time for surgery on his left leg!!! My house will be a hospital ward for awhile, but what the heck. Luckily, Thomas' surgery hasn't interfered with his interviewing process - he's ready and able to meet some potential forever families, as long as you don't laugh at his "cone head" look. Cross your paws for Thomas; he's a lover and deserves the best possible family - maybe yours...
OK, I'm taking over these updates from now on; I don't think my foster mom has done a very good job describing just how darn friendly and adorable I am!!!
I think it's pretty cool that I know how to hold my breath and dunk my entire head in the water bowl. Libby the Yellow Lab doesn't even know how to do that...ha! But, now mom has raised the water bowl up on a milk crate (so now I can't pretend to swim in it) and only puts a few inches of water in at a time. But, there's still the bowl outside...she's not as smart as I am!!!
Mom doesn't seem to appreciate my assistance in cleaning up when she brushes us dogs, either. I don't like the grass to get all hairy, so I just eat it up - yum! And, her decorating tastes differ from mine - I like things where I put them and when mom picks them up and puts them in this basket, I just grab it out again and try to keep that basket nice and neat and empty. (SIGH) She keeps me very busy.
I got to go for a car ride on Monday morning and all these people were there to see ME! Of course, everyone loved me and lavished me with all kinds of petting and kisses. They weighed me on the scale, AGAIN, and the numbers this time said 72 pounds. Hey, what happened to those two other pounds??? Well, they gave me a bunch of treats to make up for it. They said they loved my soft coat and my big furry tail. At last, someone who appreciates my fur; Mom just throws it all away!
All the people looked at these black pictures in front of a white light and said that my right cruciate ligament is completely "gone", and the left isn't much better. Oh, and then I REALLY got some lovin's after that; I must be really handsome or something in those photos. They kept saying these letters; TPLO, whatever that stands for. I guess I need two of those - one on each side. They said because I was so young and adorable, that I would be worth it. These people are really smart!
The greatest part is that Mom went to the pet store and got these things called Bully Sticks. I've sent you a couple new photos where I'm chewing on these Bully Sticks; they're the BEST! She told the store clerk that I'm going to be having this TPLO surgery thing, and that the only thing I'd be able to do is chew on stuff, and they recommended - BINGO, the Bully Sticks. Mom is really starting to catch on to what I want. I think I'm a really good teacher. I gnawed one down to half it's size tonight; I was busy for about four hours doing that, and I think Mom missed me because I'm usually right there, helping her do everything.
Oh, and something the vet told Mom on Monday is kinda interesting. I was tired of the people pressing on my knees and trying to bend me all weird, so I went and laid under Mom's chair. She was wiggling her fingers on top of my head, so I was holding her hand in my mouth because I think she wanted to play with me. The vet called it "mouthing", but that's not what I was doing - I was playing! Anyway, the vet said something really, really exciting! She said that once I get a bit older and mature (what?!?), that I will more than likely be an Alpha Dog!Isn't that great?!? But, for now, I let Libby be the boss since she's five years old and I'm only nine months old (really, the boss of the house is this little 7 pound grey cat named Shauni - how shameful is that?!?).
And, good news, the hair on my ears is growing out. At first, it looked like my head was too big for my ears, but it was just because I'd gotten a hair cut before I left Duluth. So, my ears are finally growing to match my head, so I don't look so out of proportion. Mom was brushing my tail tonight and said how beautiful it was; I really do have nice fur all over, don't I? I am SUPER soft and cuddly; I love to cuddle on the couch with mom. She loves to pet my fur, so I let her...
Did Mom tell you how good I am at sorting laundry? Socks and underwear go in the dog bed...everything else stays in the basket. I am SOOOO awesome at this domestic thing!
Well, I'm pooped out and ready for bed. I hope you enjoyed my stories and my new adorable pictures, and that you keep coming back to read how I'm doing with this TPLO thing. I know that I'm not supposed to stay here forever (Shauni told me that the very first day I was here; darned cat), but I just KNOW my Forever Family is out there somewhere - I can't wait, because I have a LOT of life to live, let me tell ya.....ooops, gotta go. Mom is saying "Thomas, kennel"...that means it's bed time!
BYE!!! :)
Hi everyone! Thought I'd give you an update on Thomas, since he's been with me a whole week now, and I'm learning new things about him by the day.
We went to our local vet for his wellness check today, and he weighed in at a whopping 74 pounds; WOW!!! It's difficult for me to remember that this guy is only nine months old, since I haven't had a "puppy" in the house for many, many years. The vet also found a hookworm in his stool (eeeeewwww!), and some very large crystals in his urine (ooouuch!). So, I gave him a de-wormer and he'll be on antibiotics for about 7 days. I'll be interested to see, on Monday, whether or not the surgeon at the U of M will delay his surgery because of having to take the antibiotics.
Despite Thomas' knee problems, he is VERY active and playful and is on the move ALL the time. I was watering my shrubs with the hose on Wednesday evening, and Thomas was jumping into the air to "bite" the stream of water coming out of the end - I was laughing my head off the entire time (again, since I'm not used to puppies!). I can tell right now it will be difficult to keep Thomas quiet and calm after his knee surgery(s); the boy just wants to play-play-play!!!
I'm already starting to think about what his "perfect" family will look like, and some of the things that come to mind is that Thomas should have a fenced-in backyard (as he is not good off-leash, even for a short potty break); he'll need a family who will commit to taking him to beginner obedience classes (Thomas can be a counter surfer, garbage picker (EATS Kleenex), inappropriate chewer (mmmm, woodwork!), incessant barker (neighbors are EVIL and must be barked at!), and thinks that he should "hold" his own leash when going outside on the Flexi-Lead (and ends up wrapping the entire 16' lead through his mouth and around his muzzle, and gets more riled up when I try to correct him and thinks it's a game, so now I'm trying to ignore him when he does it). OK, can you all tell that I haven't had a puppy in the house for many years?!? :)
Well, that's it for now...keep Thomas in mind while browsing through the other RAGOM dogs. He may be exactly what you're searching for, and is definitely well worth the wait!!!
