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Sanford

Description:

Sanford was neutered this week. Because he’s an older gentleman, this surgery was a little tough on the big boy. He came home from the vet’s office woozy and with no appetite. His foster mom has been feeding him refrigerated dog food for the last few days to entice him to eat and he has been slowly accepting more food. Throughout, he has been drinking regularly, always an encouraging sign.

Once he’s completely healed, his foster mom will continue Sanford’s socialization training. He did great for his third visit to the vet and, now that he knows the people there, not even a grumble occurred. He continues to be a good boy who loves to be with his people. He is not demanding in terms of affection or energy level but certainly enjoys his walks and loves belly and ear rubs.

Sanford’s one mischievous habit is tearing up blankets in his crate and his bed when not in his crate. His foster mom has resorted to giving him a sheet to sleep upon, so there’s no risk of him getting strings loose like can happen with towels. Still a work in progress and showing great progress………………

Update 03/31/08:

Sanford has been in his foster home for nearly a month now and is doing great! He has been on his thyroid meds for 3 weeks and has lost nearly 7 pounds already! His ears are doing quite well. They are still producing a bit of “gook” but they are not infected. Sanford can also hear. Even now, when out in the yard, if his foster mom calls him, he’ll turn and look at her to see if she’s talking to him…..and once he confirms, he gets really excited and smiles. His vision is not as impaired as was first suspected. He had a skin tag pressing on one eye and, since that has been removed, his vision is fine.

He still doesn’t feel so good about going to the vet’s office, but Sanford’s not a wild boy nor is he overly anxious. On the second trip, he was much calmer and relaxed and was an overall good boy for his exam. He grumbled a bit but he was easily held by his foster mom for his blood draw.

The vet was very impressed with how trusting Sanford is with his foster mom. She knows this sweet boy will do well with another family too. He simply needs to learn a little trust and, within an hour, makes fast friends. To help Sanford along with meeting new people, he is undergoing desensitization to new folks and has been accepting of treats from a stranger in his first session……..a slow but steady start!

Sanford gets along great with the resident dogs, though he is a little too interested in the 14 year old Springer now. Given that this one is a female, this interest will likely ease after he is neutered.

With a good start on his weight loss, Sanford is getting around much better. He likes to follow his foster mom around the yard. He bounces around in the kitchen to invite her to play and pet him. Sanford is good for his foster mom to handle all over and lays down for belly rubs at the slightest hint that he might get one. He doesn’t get on furniture and likes to play with toys.

It’s become clearer now that Sanford was an outside dog as he tries to mark on occasion. This is different than house training. Sanford goes right to the door to go out when he is let out of his crate and runs to do his duty. His marking behavior is being worked on in his foster home and should be much better after his neutering as well.

Overall, Sanford remains a funny, sweet boy. He’s still got some training work to do and will be “on hold” until he learns a few more proper manners. Stay tuned for his updates…………

Original:

Sanford is a liver and white, field bred springer with a docked tail who was found as a stray in central New Jersey and was taken to the shelter. He was there for about a month before MAESSR found him and brought him into foster care. Sanford is a funny, goofy, big ole boy. We are not sure of his past, but we do know that he is now grossly overweight, has some limited vision and is on guard when he meets new people. His foster family is working on Sanford’s weight-- 87.5 pounds-- with walks and meal management. However, the biggest contributor to his weight is that he is hypothyroid. So, he is starting some inexpensive meds that he will need to be on for the rest of his life to help manage this. He is not a big eater, but does like to follow his foster mom around if she's eating something. All and all, he's a big boned boy who should drop the extra weight fast now that he's getting on thyroid medication.

His vision is a bit of a different case. His foster mom has lived with several vision-impaired dogs and Sanford is not blind, but it seems his vision is just a bit diminished. He sometimes seems to look "past" his foster mom as if he knows the general vicinity where her face should be, but doesn't quite see it. The vet found that his retina does not look normal, but it is attached. Once his thyroid level is managed, Sanford will go to see a veterinary ophthalmologist.

With new people, Sanford is on guard. He tends to grumble at them until he's sure they are okay. MAESSR volunteers tested him to ensure that his behavior does not escalate beyond grumbling. With his foster mom, this took about an hour or so. The same was true with the volunteer who picked him up from the shelter and brought him home to bathe him before taking him to meet his foster mom. By the time he got home with his foster mom, it was as if they were old friends. She brushed him and petted him all over, cleaned his ears and put medication in them for ear infections, checked his teeth and his eyes, and had no problems at all. Sanford seemed to love the attention! He was fine riding in the car and being crated, too.

When Sanford went to the vet and was in the exam room, he grumbled at the vet tech who approached. She sat right on the bench next to his foster mom and started petting Sanford on his back and on the top of his tail. He loved this and leaned right into her. This funny boy didn't quite realize it wasn't his foster mom who was petting him! When he looked up, he gave a half-hearted grumble, but stayed right there for more pets. Smart boy! Sanford's foster mom held him for his exam since he is most comfortable with her and there were no problems. His prostate and anal glands had some inflammation and had blood drawn for the suspected low thyroid. The thyroid meds will help skin, ears, and anal glands. Even a slightly low thyroid level has drastic side effects to many other systems in a dog, so his foster mom is confident that there will be a significant change in Sanford in a matter of weeks.

Otherwise, Sanford is a funny companion in the house. He likes to play with toys and loves to lay down for belly rubs and petting. When he sees his foster mom approach, he actually takes a bow, leaving his bottom in the air and putting his head on his paws. Now, how is that for a welcome! This is done in a submissive gesture to entice petting, but this boy could master this is as a fun trick!

Sanford has not tried to mark in the house, but does so when outside. He is currently sleeping in his crate until he gets accustomed to the resident dogs in his foster home. Sanford has been out in the yard with the resident female who was adamant that he should play with her, but he wasn't interested. He gave her a few warning air snaps when she got really pushy, but she did not take heed. The resident female is very astute in signals from other dogs so she knew he didn't really mean it. They were actually fine running around the yard together. Sanford ignored cats at the shelter and will be further tested by his foster home.

Sanford is a work in progress. Stay tuned for updates on this funny boy!