Poor Jake!!!!

[Stenograsaurus]

I feel so bad for this poor dog. The ling to his story is below.
http://www.boxerrescue.com/jake1201.htm

[aly]

Oh this story just broke my heart. Especially as I'm holding little Willow (shelter dog) on my chest and can feel her poor heart beating next to mine. It breaks my heart how much these poor animals go through. I hope Jake's vision can be repaired. I'll send what I can to help with his medical bills. Thanks for posting this.

[tatsxxx11]

What a heartbreaking story. Just look at that face. He is SUCH a beautiful boy. And though he may be sightless, you can still the love shining in his eyes. I am happy to send a long a donation to help sweet Jake. Thanks Steno for posting this. Keep us updated, ok?

[TheAntiPam]

Thanks, Steno, for letting us know about Jake's story. I have almost given up looking at rescue sites because I get so upset. Seeing one deserving animal at a time lets me help a bit without getting overwhelmed by their sadness and pain. Sometimes I'm such a wimp!

One of the best lessons I've learned here at PetTalk is that we can all contribute SOMETHING! Some of our members are so active every day with homeless or hurting animals. Others use their love and care for pets at home to demonstrate just what it means to truly respect life.

Whether we give money or time or emotional support or practical tips or humor or just plain love, we can all make our world, and our pet's world, better.

[ December 27, 2001: Message edited by: TheAntiPam ]

[ktreva52]

Poor Jake. I sent an email to the contact person, Laura, and asked if anyone has brought charges against the former owner for abuse? It's bad enough when people just dump their dogs, but to stop giving a dog medication just because it's too much trouble??? That makes me soooooooo MAD!!! He ought to spend a couple of years in jail to think about his negligence of this lovely dog! Sounds like he married the wrong girl if that's the outcome -- from loving owner to abuser!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrr!

[tatsxxx11]

Any word on Jake??? Paws and fingers crossed that there is some good news.

[Stenograsaurus]

Update on Jake 1/16/02 - Jake and his checkup of January 7th are described as follows by his foster home:

Jake's check up went well. Everyone at the vet's fell in love with him. As far as his eyes, overall they are "healthy"--no cataracts or glaucoma or injuries could be found. His pupils, however, are totally dilated. She feels that perhaps the loss of sight is more of a "central" problem--damage to the brain caused by the seizures. One of the ophthalmic vets from Cornell will be holding an eye clinic in February, and she suggested a consult with him at that time. Then, if anything can be done, we will go from there.

Jake is coming out of his shell more and more every day. He is getting more confident with his surroundings, and will play with the younger dogs, and me. I had him for a walk the other day, and once we hit the pavement, he increased his pace to a kind of a "trot", and actually seemed to be smiling as we jogged down the road! We have his crate set up along with two others, but he has moved into Precious' crate (must like the fluffy pillow), and he will also check out the other crate, but avoids his own. He sleeps in his "new" crate, but prefers not to have the door closed.

He's taken to following me from room to room, and is even beginning to get up on the loveseat by himself when invited. We have had to move things back on the end tables and such, because he has started to explore his surroundings more, and is actually quite "nosey"--he will 'nose' around and knock items onto the floor so that he can move them around and sniff every inch. He seems quite food-oriented, and will sniff the air attentively and follow me around the kitchen while I am cooking, but he likes to 'get to know' any food offered him before he will taste it.

I have seen no evidence of seizures, and the housebreaking is going along well. He negotiates the stairs off the deck like a pro, and knows his way back when he wants to come in. He walks wonderfully on a leash, and as long as I don't let him bump into anything, you would never know he was blind. When in familiar territory, he doesn't even sniff the ground--he will walk with his head up and trust me not to let him run into anything (which I have gotten much better at). He seems to like routine, and expects to be fed when he first comes in. My son and his family stopped by last night, and he even barked when the other dogs went nuts over a car in the driveway. Overall, he's very quiet, though.

Some of the blood work that he's had done in the past indicate a low T4 level, and when I expressed my concern about this to the vet, she told me that we could do a complete blood panel and thyroid test, but if he isn't exhibiting any aberrant behavior or seizures at the moment, we may want to hold off and let him get more settled first.

Although we both work outside of the home, and he seems to do fine on his own, I would like to see him in a home where there's someone there at all times. Left alone, he pretty much stays in his crate, and although far from being overweight (actually, he could use a few more pounds, in my opinion. He weighs 58 lbs., but he's large and doesn't have a lot of muscle mass) I feel he could use more exercise, and he's more apt to move around when people are present.