Goldsboro, NC. YM needs out of boarding facility

[ded37]

Well long week for Onyx too -

He was neutered (cyrptorchid), tested HW negative (great news), his leg injury from the chain has healed, but the issue is his injured footpad.

Onyx arrived with a severly injured pad (back right footpad). We may never know how it occurred, but the "fatty" top part of his pad was "sliced off". It is having a hard time healing, as it is raw. You will see a boot on his back foot in the picture below. He is on antibiotics to fend off infection and we are trying to find a way to help it stay "un irritated" (I know that it not a word). He is excellent about wearing the boot and we change it and take it off to give it time to breath, but it is still raw and bleeds when any pressure is put on the pad.

We are tossing about the idea of trying NEXABAND or hydrotherapy to irriate the wound enough that it forces a reaction to seal for protection.





He is staying with us, as two of our fosters are adoption pending and he needs to stay close to our vet. He is a wonderful boy. He needs guidence and focus work. Good news is, he stopped marking in the house.

Oh and he loves to drag clothes around the house, to grab your bathrobe while you are still in it, grab a certain someone's briefcase and try and take the files out of it.....bear hug you (which of course I love, but I know not a good habit)....

[bdanise1]

Darcy, he is one handsom guy..
Nexaband does work very well, please let us know how he does..

LOL!!! I love the part grabs bathrobe while your still in it...
Maybe he just wants to help you with your paperwork..LOL!!!

[ded37]

Some new pictures of Onyx boy!

He is a 100% great boy. He gets along great with adults/children and dogs of all sizes. Best description of him now is a 9 month old puppy in a 18m-2yr old body. He adores playing outside in the snow and really craves the company of humans and dogs.

His foot pad injury is healing nicely also.

Quite a bit of interest in Onyx, so, I should be posting soon that he has found the right forever home.

[ded37]

I just had to share this:

I hope to have a forever family picture soon!! I forgot to take one - opps.

Onyx is in a home with 5 children - yes, 5 (all wonderful with dogs). They have grown up with male dogs who were both rescue GSDs, who have now passed to the Bridge. Onyx is now the only dog and living in a large home with a good size yard and an inground pool for the summer, in case he likes to swim (properly fenced and gated).

PS Onyx was adopted out with his foot boot as foot pad injuries take awhile to heal, and his was severe. He was not favoring it, unless we let him irritate it too much on the ice/snow. And he may be pushing his play/walking too much, but his family is monitoring it with their vet.

We are very proud of this boy. He came to us never having been in a house, no true sense of life in a family and/or pack and he made huge strides in the six weeks with us. He is still a work in progress, but a love bug of a work in progress!

The kids (4 boys and 1 girl) are amazing with him!

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: L and K
Date: Jan 28, 2009 12:59 PM
Subject: letter from your foster son
To: Darcy Drons <darcydrons@gmail.com>


Dear Foster Mom,

My second week here is going well! I'm catching on quickly. I walk every day and I love it! I heard sirens the other day and I howl at them - my parents get a kick out of that. I've remembered all the manners you have taught me so far - no counters, garbage, and potty outside - only one accident so far not bad. The only thing I really have to work on is mouthing on my new mom she doesn't like that too much and I'm learning laundry is really not all that exciting. I'm walking on a loose leash and am learning down and stay and if they have a treat in hand I'll even give them the ball back so I can go get it again. I do get a little sad once in a while I'll look at the cars go by, but not as much as in the beginning. Last nite, I went to the vets they said there is scar tissue in my ankle and there is still swelling under the foot pad, so as a precaution they have me on antibiotics for a week, but I'm healthy and happy and I get to eat a little more too still for more weight. Thank you mom for seeing the potential in me or I never would have been able to make a difference in these 7 peoples lives they said I add a lot of life to the house and they all really love me - some day I'd like a brother but mom says not until I'm totally trained so this way I could set the example. So bye for now and I'll write soon! Kisses for you and Hugs for Dad.
Love
Onyx

[daniella5574]

[GSDtravels]

I'm a sucker for happy endings

[Anja1Blue]

Another happy ending! Have a wonderful life young man!

________________________________________________
Susan

Anja GSD
Conor GSD - adopted from this Board
Blue GSD - at the Bridge

[katieliz]

what a great story! great job everyone!

[meisha98]

What a great ending for a great boy!

[ded37]

My day to update some threads - I have been a bit behind since Kyah came into my life , updating her thread today too, for all the Kyah followers!

This update is a bit different:

Onyx adopted out back in January 2009 to a family that had had two previous rescued male GSDs. Of course, I stayed in touch monthly, as I do in the beginning, then I don't bug forever family's as much, promise. All was great - then recently, Onyx started showing signs of aggression, towards people in the home who were not part of the immediate family. Nothing serious had occurred, but I was concerned and so was the family. Several of us, went to Onyx's home, because I was a bit in shock and wanted to see for myself and see if we could help or if Onyx needed to come back.

Before a decision was made, BDBH had Onyx medically assessed at our vets, including a full thyroid panel sent to MSU, CBC/Chem, urine analysis, his rear leg injury rechecked, etc. All came back within normal ranges, except his parasite level came back high - I reached back out to his family and they took him to their vet for a HW re-test and fecal. HW came back again negative, but fecal came back again positive for hookworms (he had been treated several times and was negative once). He has since completed another treatment and needs a fecal re-check.

Nothing that would explain medically, a sudden anxiety/aggression onset. Plus, he was being walked 2 miles a day. His foot and pad injury was medically cleared prior to starting same.

Long story short, mutual decision was that Onyx needed to come back to BDBH. He has been back with Michael and I for a couple of weeks, fell right back into the pack. We have had visitors walk in unannounced and nothing, but curious greeting. He is great with the kids, good with the dogs, a bit of a pain with foster Jed, but they are about the same age - not a fighting thing, just hey, can I be dominant over you at least thing.

Biggest issue we see, he fixates if we let him, on anything on the other side of the fence, ie tractor, four wheelers, cars and in the house, light or reflection. We do our best to re-direct, but it is with effort, and he is hoarse from barking/running the fence line, even with us not allowing it. I bring him inside sometimes, when the above is happenning, but I also want to try and work on it with him.

He is nothing but loving and eager to please. We will be working with a trusted trainor, because I want her expert read on him.

We have taken him to a Meet and Greet and nothing but friendly, loses his mind when Michael or I walk away though.

He will be just fine, but I need to get to the bottom of triggers, and I have not been able to see any aggressive trigger towards humans, those he knows, nor those he does not.

Here are a few recent pictures: