DJ: our next foster

[Fuzzy317]

We just got done with a foster of a 7 month old great dane mix, Gracie (sorry no picture yet). We will be getting a new foster Thursday. I don't know any specifics, all I know is DJ is a 10 month great dane. He currently has a broken leg mending in a cast. He is coming to our house to be with our other dogs and to have round the clock care. He has nice coloring. :)

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid44/pdbf30b8314051a33c3c54c9f8d4a9e83/fcdc7647.jpg

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

DJ is just gorgreous! I love his coloring and markings.

[mugsy]

What a beauty he is!! DJ, you're in good hands my man!

[Logan]

He is gorgeous, Fuzzy!!! What good people you are to take him in and care for him. Thank you!!! :)

[ramanth]

He's adorable! I love his markings. :)

Give him a big kiss for me when he arrives. :D

[lizbud]

DJ is a beautiful dog & Mugsy's right, he will be in good
hands. Fostering animals is sooo important and a truly
wonderful thing to do for animals. It speaks volumes about
the character & good hearts of the people who offer this
much needed helping hand in rescue work. Bless you :)

Very Best of Luck to DJ !!!

[Cincy'sMom]

DJ is gorgeous!! Hoe great of you to help him out!

[robinh]

What a fabulous face! Can't you just see him talking to you with that great expression?!? I'm a real softie when it comes to furbaby faces.

I would love to foster, but don't think I could bear to give them up. Then I would have more dogs that I already do - yikes! Those of you who do foster have my greatest admiration and respect. It is a hard (but rewarding) job! :D

[AdoreMyDogs]

what a beautiful big pup DJ is! I LOVE those markings! Have fun and please post more pics when you can. I'd love to more of him when he's out of that cage :)

[delidog]

Wow!!!!
A MERLEQUIN!!!!!!!!
How beaautiful Dear D.J. is...Thank you for taking him....Do we know how he got hurt????

What a Great Face!!!!What Expression!!!! Hope that Dakotahs' mommy sees him!!!!
You guys are wonderful to care for him...when he needs so much love and attention!!!!!!:)

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by delidog
Do we know how he got hurt????

I am not sure, but I heard he was outside on a chain, something about him falling. Because the owner could not afford his vet needs and they gave him up. I think thats what I heard.

[delidog]

AAAWWW!!! How Sad!!!!!! and hes' so young!!!! well, he'll be all better now that you have him....no more "chained up in yard"...falling????
anyway...hes' on his way to a much better forever life!!!

[Fuzzy317]

I finally have created a webshots album with my pets and fosters pictures. The link is in my signature.

[mugsy]

Mike decided he wants DJ! lol I just can't get over how pretty he is. Thank you for taking him out of that situation.

[delidog]

I almost forgot...Love your webshots album...the one titled Three Dogs...should be at "the Met"...or the Guggenheim....you could go on about the surrealism...or the analogy of The Cat Rules Them All!!!!!
Love it;) :)

[Dakota's Mommy]

Oh, he's so adorable! If we had room for another dog, even though he is a dane, I'd take him. Unfortunately we don't though. He's so cute. Congrats on getting to foster him. My problem is that I'd get to attached, especially to that one, and wouldn't end up getting rid of them, LOL. It's great what you're doing though. Thanks! :)

I just can't stop looking at his adorable face! What a cutie!

[Fuzzy317]

Okay, I now have a picture of Gracie. We only fostered her for a short time. :( We took her in just until another foster home could be found. She is a Blue Merle Great Dane.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid44/pf35fbc0dd87aab6a5df276a7cacaa608/fcdc756d.jpg

[mugsy]

She's gorgeous!! I don't know how you do it. I would keep every one of them!! lol

[mugsy]

Lookie what I found on Pet Finder!!! Our own Fuzzy's foster!!

http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/AL68.1241204.jpg

DJ- INJURED DANE
Dog
Great Dane

Size: Extra Large
Age: Baby
Sex: Male
I.D:

Notes:

DJ is a flashy, sweet 10 month old Harlequin boy who needs your help!

Sadly enough, he was chained up outside his owners house...he managed to escape and was hit by a car. DJ suffered multiple injuries...he broke his leg in 2 places, broke a rib, and punctured his lung. His owners did not want to be bothered with the vet bill or DJ's rehabilitation, so they asked that he be put to sleep! Lucky for DJ the wonderful vet refused and finally convinced the owners to surrender DJ to Dane rescue!

Now all of us in GA and AL Dane rescue are trying to raise money to pay for DJ's surgeries that saved his leg and his life! Every donation is deeply appreciated!

Please send donations to:

Snail mail: Amy Garropy 2718 Douglaston Ave. Florence, AL 35630

online via Paypal to [email protected]

Or call the vets office directly and donate to DJ...The name of the office is McDonough Animal Hospital, phone # 770-957-3927, please ask to speak with Yogi

Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts....




--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This pet is eligible for a gift of the first two months of ShelterCare pet insurance paid for by Petfinder.com [Click] E-mail this pet to a friend!



Heart Of Dixie Dane Rescue
Huntsville, AL
E-mail Please
[email protected]








Previous

[Sudilar]

Wow, DJ is just gorgeous. You are an angel for taking on the sweet pup!!! (Gracie is a beauty, too!) Thanks for fostering them.

[Cincy'sMom]

gracie reminds me of Gabby a great dane the girls play with at the dog park! What a cutie!!!

[mugsy]

Here's what Pet Finder says about Gracey
Gracey
Dog
Great Dane

Size: Extra Large
Age: Baby
Sex: Female
I.D:

Notes: Hello, Gracey here...... I am a 8 month old, merle female dane looking for a home to call my own. I am great with other dogs & kids. I LOVE to play. I am looking for a family to adopt but I must tell you that you have to be a special family for me to pick you. I am looking for a large fenced yard, kids to play with, maybe another young pup to run with and parents that will love all of us. You must be willing to work with me & have the patiences to teach me what I need to learn. I am working on being housetrained & I am crated trained. I will be spayed before going to my new home. Do you think your family will be a perfect match for me???? I sure hope so. You can contact Vicky at [email protected] for more info.


This pet is: up to date with routine shots, already house trained, altered



--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

This pet is eligible for a gift of the first two months of ShelterCare pet insurance paid for by Petfinder.com [Click] E-mail this pet to a friend!



Kountry Kritters Dane Rescue
Tifton, GA
229-382-5639
[email protected]

http://www.petfinder.com/fotos/GA81.1255322.jpg

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by mugsy
Lookie what I found on Pet Finder!!! Our own Fuzzy's foster, DJ !!

I found Gracie on Pet Finder, but none of my searches turned up DJ's sheet. Could you either PM me a link to him, or tell me your search criteria?

[Vi Co Bi]

Originally posted by Dakota's Mommy
Congrats on getting to foster him. My problem is that I'd get to attached, especially to that one, and wouldn't end up getting rid of them, LOL. It's great what you're doing though. Thanks! :)


Fostering is very difficult; I'd've kept Gracie in a heartbeat - she was the ultimate sweetheart and I'm jealous of whomever she chooses for her forever home. Asgrim was starting to feel like part of the family and the house has seemed emptier since he left. DJ has taken over all of our hearts with his personality - he's going to be a fun character when he gets well and I hope we don't leave him with too many bad habits.

Years ago I fostered cats. I love cats (better than dogs) and there wasn't a single one that I fostered who wouldn't be welcomed back in a flash. Giving them up is usually tough, but I keep telling Scott (just like I used to tell myself) to remember our "position" as fosters. Our job is to buy them that extra time while their forever home is found. Without buying them that time, someone out there might miss on the perfect addition to their family and the foster might miss on the perfect family. We're the middlemen. And if we did decide to keep a foster, our already tight space may not allow us to foster another. That extra bit of time, that last resort - second chance, could be missed by a wonderful dog or cat.

[Fuzzy317]

This is the first chance I have had to respond.

Weak Stomachs skip this entry
read the next post.

Wednesday night DJ didn't eat much for dinner. When I checked on him Thursday morning, he had vomited in the crate. He had diarrhea when I took him outside to potty. I called the vet that is treating his leg, and they said I should bring him in. I took him to the vet for an exam, and since he was going in the following day for his leg to be looked at, he stayed the night. During the night, he vomited and had diarrhea again, they checked and he has parvo :( We got instructions from the vet on the care he needs, and brought him home Friday. We also got parvo boosters for our dogs, just in case.

We have been giving him fluid under the skin, to keep hydration in check. He vomited and had diarrhea Saturday, and he had diarhea again early Sunday. My fiancee and I were scared Friday night and Saturday, because he looked really bad, and he is getting thinner since we can not feed him food yet. :(

Since he hasn't vomited for a day or two and there wasn't any blood in his diarrhea, we started giving him small amounts of water to drink each hour, and he has kept them down. If the water stays down, tomorrow we will be hand feeding him, very slowly, a small amount of food, about a cup of plain rice, and a few small pieces of boiled chicken. If that all stays down, it may mean we have "hit bottom" with the parvo, and will be slow recovery here on out.


My fiancee is being a real trooper, I hope she knows how much I love her. She had some experience with giving fluids under the skin, so she is doing the hydration part.

I may have missed some things on above details, sorry.

[Fuzzy317]

I took DJ to the vet Thursday because he was getting sick in his crate. He was tested positive for parvo :(

He is home getting care as instructed by the vet. He seems to be past the worst part, and making a slow recovery.

[Fuzzy317]

DJ seems to be over the worse of it. He is drinking some water, and eating small slow bites by hand of very bland food. If he does well with the bland food for around 5 days, we will be giving him small amounts of diluted regular food, and see how that goes.

Still keep your fingers and paws crossed.

[mugsy]

Will keep DJ on our prayer list!! Are you SURE we can't have him??

[DoggiesAreTheBest]

I somehow missed this post!

Scott, so glad that DJ is doing better. He is adorable! I love his coloring and markings.

[Vi Co Bi]

We've survived the weekend and are well on the road to recovery. It wasn't easy. First of all, I found out how weak my stomach is; the vomiting and diarrhea were something I couldn't deal with. Fuzzy had to do almost all of the cleanup (no use in having two of us puking up the basement). Friday night through Sunday afternoon were pretty bad. Most of the time DJ didn't move. We kept him warm and covered in big beach blankets on pool pads (those thick float pads) with a whelping pad to help warm him. We weren't prepared for this and our energies faded quickly with round-the-clock care.

DJ has kept rice and chicken down for two days but his eyes were pleading for a more substantial diet. He seemed to be saying, "I'm a starving dog and this is all I get??" so we've added a small amount of kibble to his food. This was a bit sooner than we expected, but his stomach seems to be fine and the rice, chicken, yogurt and kibble were graciously received this morning (he did his "DJ Dance"). Last night I took him out of the garage for his first potty break outside since he came home. It may sound selfish, but I didn't want the neighbors to see him in such bad shape and call animal control saying we're abusing a dog in our basement. He was so excited he started dancing in the driveway - if you can imagine a 100 lbs. bag of bones dog with a 1/4 body cast "dancing" - hahahaha! He's so anxious to rejoin the family upstairs, but we're giving him one more night in the basement before we move him up. Since Scott doesn't work on Thursday, we'll move him up then so Scott will be available to take him out.

The funniest part for me was watching DJ try so hard to hit the puppy pads scattered all over the garage. The diarrhea was so explosive (that's the best word I can find for it), it would blow the pads out of the way. And he's so big he couldn't line himself up on them for a pee anyway. He get very high marks for trying.

The rescue group we're working with has been fantastic. They've been so supportive and I don't think we could have gotten through without them. I had to stay strong because Scott couldn't give the sub-q's and Scott had to strong to clean up the messes. From Friday morning until Monday morning, he and I were opearting on about 10 hrs. sleep between the two of us. Thankfully, our DJ is back.

Scott brought up a very good point that I had only partially considered: Now that we've gotten him through this, how are we going to just give him up? How can we be objective when we get an application for review? I guess we'll find out.

[mugsy]

Oh geez, that would have to incredibly difficult. Thank you so much for saving the poor guy's life. He will be forever greatful to you.

[mugsy]

How's DJ today??? I've been thinking about all our sick babies on PT today.

[Fuzzy317]

DJ is pretty much back to how he was when he came to us. He still has his cast, but he seems to be over the parvo. We have him in the crate in the den. Thats where he was before, but we had to seperate him from our other dogs while he was being sick.

I will be calling the vet working on his leg Friday to talk about his cast: the straping around his chest is rubbing a raw spot, see what they suggest, and when they want to see him again.

[mugsy]

I'm so glad to hear that the parvo seems to be gone. Poor guy. I hate to hear that he's still having some problems because of the leg. Please let us know what the vet says.

[Fuzzy317]

DJ is back home. The vet put him to sleep for a little while to change to a new cast with purple wrapping (while knocked-out, he was neutered :)).

I forgot to weight him while we were there, but everyone there said he looked much better than the last visit (with parvo). They said they want to check his cast next week. This is getting to be a once-a-week trip. :( If his cast is okay next week, I may not need to take him back. :) His vet is around an hour away. :(

[Cincy'sMom]

I missed alot on this thread!!! You guys are wonderufl for all you have done for poor DJ! Glad is doing better!

[Fuzzy317]

Just an update. I have included the attached pictures of DJ and Gracey. (I am using WebShots to create albums and ImageStation to post on the bbs)

Gracey's listing on PetFinder now says "adopted", we are so glad she has a forever home now :)

DJ still doing fine on three legs, although walking slow he does put some weight on the casted leg. I will probably take him back to the vet this week, for a checkup, vaccinations, and to get a current copy of the vet records. I will try and remember to weigh him :rolleyes:

[mugsy]

Thanks for the update Scott. I hope he gets that blasted cast off pretty soon.

[Fuzzy317]

I think he will be in the cast at least another month. Although his leg is mending pretty well ( I hope ), the cast will probably be needed until the leg is 100%. Otherwise, he would have to be kept less active until its 100%.

[mugsy]

How is his weight?

[Fuzzy317]

We are not really sure on his weight. :( We have no way of weighing him at home, and besides, not sure how much the cast and steal rods add extra.

We guess a little less than 100 pounds :confused: but he is adding some muscle mass. You can still see his ribs :( but his hips are filling in with mass.

[Fuzzy317]

Took DJ to the vet for a checkup. He weighed 93.5 pounds.

During his visit the vet talked with the tech that last replaced his cast, and the leg is doing pretty well and she wanted to look at a cut that was under the cast.

So, DJ's cast was removed, he is cast less !!!

You can see the cut by my hand, and see the scar where they had to place a rod in one bone.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid45/p367e57892dd84a2527107c0aaff69e8e/fcd5be3e.jpg

[mugsy]

Yeah!!! I'm so glad that he got the cast off. It sounds like he's well on the road to recovery thanks to you!!

[Dakota's Mommy]

Wow, I also missed so much on this post of the holidays! Guess I should have checked back more often. I think it's great what you guys did for this beautiful pup. I'm so glad to hear that he's doing better and that he's well on his way to his full recovery. Can't wait to see pics of him back up and playing like Danes love to do! I love Danes, they are such a great breed!

[Logan]

To both of you, huge thanks for going to such great effort to keep DJ comfortable and get him well!!! I have been away for much of the last few weeks so I missed all of what was happening with him. You are both to be commended for all you do in your fostering efforts. These dogs will be well socialized and healthy when they are on their way to their new homes.

I could not agree with you more, either, on the advantages of fostering, what it does for the dog (buying time, helping them learn that people are ok, etc) and for what it does for us! You do fall in love, and it is so hard to let them go, but as I was told by one of our rescue coordinators, we would be "foster failures" if we didn't allow them to go on to their well inspected new homes.

I'm not in a position right now to do any fostering as I'm having issues with my own dogs (fence jumping, anxiety, muddy carpet, etc) in our new environment, but I hope that eventually I will be able to help out in that arena. Anything we do, whether it be helping with administrative tasks, transporting, fostering or adopting, eventually, is so important to the rescue effort!!!

Thanks again, to both of you, for being such wonderful advocates for all that you have helped!! :)

[Fuzzy317]

This picture was taken 1-18-03. The cast is gone, he had added some weight and muscle.

http://www.imagestation.com/picture/sraid47/p89a8fcae1bca164952a48def502f2cd4/fcc0fa8d.jpg

He has great coloring. :)

[delidog]

Wow!!!
D.J. looks Great!!!!
You guys did such a fantastic job brining him back to health!!!!!
have you had any nibbles on a forever home for him?????
MY vet has one that looks just like him...His name is George!!!!
Georges' mom was brought in for a C-section...had 17 puppies....unfortunately, she did not survive,...the people in his office took 4 of the puppies....so now whenever you go into my vets' you are greeted by either George or one of his siblings!!!!
he has almost identical markings to D.J......I don't know what happened to rest of pups....but in looking at them,they could be brothers!!!!
You guys are the best for caring and nurturing him back to health!!!!
Good Luck!!!!;) :)

[mugsy]

Scott,
He looks AMAZING!! You are a miracle worker! Thanks for sharing the picture. We always like more. hehe How is he walking on the leg? Does he limp or favor it in any way?

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by mugsy
Scott,
He looks AMAZING!! You are a miracle worker! Thanks for sharing the picture. We always like more. hehe How is he walking on the leg? Does he limp or favor it in any way?

He does limp or favor it some. In the picture, his right leg is the one on the ground, and that was the one broken.

We have one meeting this weekend for a possible forever home.

[Karen]

It's probably a good thing you are so far away, as I am not sure how Miss Hoppy would react to such a big dog - okay, I AM pretty sure how she'd react - curious at first, then spooked, thumping angrily all the way to a hiding place! And that was just meeting Bruni (Dad's St. Bernard) through the screen door (which ended up with a bigger hole it it)!

He's a beauty, and I hope he gets a forever home that will treasure him! :)

[Cincy'sMom]

WOW! DJ Looks GREAT!!! You guys are awesome! Hope things go well this weekend!

[Fuzzy317]

We had a meeting of DJ and the prospective family on Saturday.
On Sunday, we took DJ to his new home. :):(

He will be missed. :(:(

We feel they will take excellent care of him. We will visit him in his new home once he is settled.

[mugsy]

Wow, what mixed feelings I'm having. I'm glad he got his forever home, but I kind of wish it was with you guys. Please let us know how it goes when you visit and don't forget your camera. Thanks for the update.

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by mugsy
Wow, what mixed feelings I'm having. I'm glad he got his forever home, but I kind of wish it was with you guys. Please let us know how it goes when you visit and don't forget your camera. Thanks for the update.

We didn't get this close with our other fosters. DJ might be our last foster.

[Dakota's Mommy]

Glad to hear that DJ had a wonderful recovery. You guys did a great job for the great dane. Thanks. Sorry to hear that you had to let him go, but I'm glad to hear that he found a forever home. I just hope they take great care of him as you did. You guys did a great job! Thanks again for your fellow Great Dane Lovers!

[captain]

I seemd to have missed this post entirely.

How truly amazing you are to have fostered so many animals, and then been able to help them find their forever homes.

He was beautiful ........... I am surprised Mugsy didn't ride on over there and adopt him from you!

Will you be able to keep us updated on his progress in his new home? What about Gracie? Do you get updates on her?

Once again, thanks from all the animals you have fostered ..... truly amazing.

[Fuzzy317]

Originally posted by captain
Will you be able to keep us updated on his progress in his new home?
We are doing a home visit tomorrow, so I will post later about his progress.


What about Gracie? Do you get updates on her?

Gracie went to another foster home from ours. But she is in a forever home now. :) Thats about all I know of her progress. :(