Tillman is home and his name is Angel

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Well, finally got him in. The PLUS side is she feels he's only about 9 y.o.-ish, teeth and gums in good shape. Testical embedded in abdomen, so will require a spay-like surgery to neuter him, and it is in a nice warm, cancer friendly environment. His rear leg mobility is very good. He has a lump on his spine. She is surprised he can see, because she could not see the back of his eyeball. Not cataracts, but the hemorrhages and scarring. She feels he has some 'delayed' hearing in his left ear.
She had the same problems with a rescue as this guy. Wouldn't eat dog food, separation anxiety and feels that he will eventually migrate over to the dog food.
He needs chlomicalm, but not until we can do liver and blood tests, which will have to wait, have a sick car and another pup who needs his shots. At his age, he'll probably be on it for life. Remember, Possum was on it as well. Doc had very good results with it for anxiety. It worked well for Possum for a couple of months for her full-blown CCD, but she had so much serious stuff going on, so we will be anxious to give Angel some peace & calmitudity. He is absolutely relaxed when I am in the same room as he is, but a basket ccase when I'm not. Asked her about b-12 and she said the pasta he is getting in the soupy mess I make gives him his b's, and he'll just pee out excess.
So overall, he is in a LOT better shape than I originally thought.
YAY!

[Christine]

Alright!!!! I know it's not perfection, but hope is on the horizon. Have you let out your sigh yet?? More pic tures, please!

[puremutt]

Happy for you.
So there is no concern about weight issue because of the little amount of food he had?

Yes pictures please!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Yes, he's skinny, but not emaciated. I did cook a pound of spaghetti noodles today and threw in some beef soup. He actually ate about a cup full of noodles. I was thrilled. It's a constant struggle to get him to eat, because the swanson beef patty, mashed & corn, he turned his nose up at. I'm just to keep trying to get him to eat. Eventually, I will put him and Ambrr in a room together, give him his yummy dinner and when he stops eating after 2 bites, I'll let nana have it. I hae always found reluctant eaters eat better when they fear losing it. Although he does eat in a room full of dogs, I don't let them near him during his meal and he wags his tail while eating the two bites he actually does eat, so there is absolutelyno fear factor there. Maybe if he has to share something he likes, like noodles with the nana, he'll find some motivation.
Right now I communicate by wiggling my fingers as he can't hear me, and can't see all that well. He sees movement and generally knows it's me. I live in white tee shirts, so he's used to that as well.
He cannot afford to lose any more weight.

[puremutt]

Great idea about having another dog nearby at feeding time.
His sense of smell obviously is still good, so he sorta might see and smell you for sure ( no offense ).
Do you still leave your pyama's on the floor when you leave?
Also be careful with the sodium in the soup.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Happy Angel!

[puremutt]

Awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww he is happy, nice coat also!

[Christine]

Awwwwwww..... He is be-you-tee-ful!! And he does look happy. I think it is just a matter of time.
Thanks for the awesome picture!

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

If I could get that boy to eat and not panic when I so much as take a shower, he would be happy happy boy.
He sleeps a lot, which is fine, and being deaf in this house is a help. Boiled up some chicken legs, noodles and veggies last night. He ate it all this a.m., which was less than a cup. He also likes granola cereal. But only if I'm tryin to eat it. I can't get over how effortlessly he moves around the house (well probably not effortlessly, but he makes it look so easy). As we keep trying to get him to eat, I find he likes popcorn and crackers, which I told doc and she wrote down. Probably for the digestive mess we'll be in for next week
My puppy lunatic ate the porch rug durin the night and I have bits of it all over. He ate my sheet and eggshell that was over the couch and is pulling oyster shells out of the basket and using those as chew toy, despite the bitter something I sprayed them with.
Everyone has adapted to AngelTillman so well, and he stays out of their way as he watches the roughhousing with alarm in his poor blood-filled eyeballs.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

He has eaten just a bit of kibble soaked in chicken fat. He likes cereal. Slowly & surely.

As you can see, he will rip out carpet if closed in a room. His separation anxiety is off the charts.

His digestion is messy, which is to be expected.

[CarolC]

Nice job on the carpet. There are worse things than cereal. I wonder why he likes cereal so much

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

Probably because they're frosted crispies and milk
On the plus side he ate a couple pieces of cat chow and his eyeballs are looking much better. Not so blood filled.

[puremutt]

Karen I have been posting your problem on the only other forum I am also on, here is one reply:

Hes got seperation anxiety- when she leaves even if its to take a shower he is destructive. Pheromones work really good to keep a dogs anxiety down. I recommend also to keep the dog in an area that hes not going to hurt himself or destroy the home. A smaller section of the house with water always.



Seperation Anxiety can take months to ease for the animal. She will need a bit of patience, but it can be done. If he likes to chew, I recommend the Nylabones, a new one thats big for him so theres no chance of him harming himself unattended. The chewing will help to get his frustration out. And wherever she chooses to put him, its best if its the same place each time. Always putting a cookie or special treat for him in his spot to teach him its a good place and not for punishment. Routine, routine.



Has he been tested for tapeworm? There's a less common type of tapeworm, forgot the name, that is ingested if the dog eats a rodent or other small animal--which isn't unusual among stray dogs.



That could account for both loss of appetite and weight loss.




If shes able to do a break in routine with him it would help. Leave him in his designated spot and leave the house only for 5 min at a time- which seems like an eternity to a dog thats having anixety. Do this daily and work up to longer times. Appraise him for being a good boy.

[GabrielDeafBlindPupFamily]

And this is such WONDERFUL advice! And I do it at least 4 times a day. I feed him in the bathroom because I discovered although he won't eat, he is fiercely food aggressive. It gives me time to get one dog aggressive upstairs (she's my ANGEL right now) get her fed, watered, locked up, feed the other 3, let him out because he is going crazy, and try to feed him in the kitchen standing next to him while keeping the others away, and this happens twice a day. And twice a day he goes into the bathroom so I can get Allicks in and out for her potties. Sometime all four go into my BR, which worries me because he has shown aggression, and most often, 3 in my BR, him in the bath and in and out for Allicks. During those times, when that door closes, he barks until I open it. I listened to him for an entire hour on one side of the baby gate and then sat outside in the car listening for another hour. How long he would continue, I hesitate to guess, but one Sat I was gone for an hour and he was still sressed and screaming when I pulled in outside. You can hear him down the street, with the windows closed. Tonight, however, he won't even eat the crispies. No tapes, I examine th stool and he was wormed in NJ as well. Pyrantel, I think it was, probably not for tapes, but I don't see any in his stools, which right now, as you might imagine are yellow, small and liquid. He DID have EXCELLENT stools for about 3 or 4 days, so we ruled out obstruction and worms and doc palpated him all over the place. She didn't do a fecal, because frankly he couldn't live long enough to out run heartworms. On the PLUS side, he hasn't barked the last 4 days I have left for work, which of course worries the stew out of me, but I think he is taking his cues from the other dogs. They sulk, unless, like Saturday, I take one out, Albin to the vet, and the rest are SCREAMIN on the other side of the door. All of em. It's Saturday, they can tell time, I swear it. Used to be when I put on blue jeans, Ambrr knew, except where Iwork now we have casual Fridays which has totally messed up her clock. But when one puts on harness or collar or goes out the door without the others ... well... (I started harnessing Albin and AngelTillman on the porch so I don't stress the others. I pray they come home smelling like meds so the others aren't jealous.) AngelTillman's two main issues are anxiety and food. The stools are a result of the food. Doc tells me to keep on trying and Saturday she reiterated that she feels he will eventually migrate. I was hopeful until he turned his nose at the crispies, which he ate this morning. Now what? I have left over crab legs, but hey,I ain't sharing that! I got him some beefaroni to mix with canned alpo steakhouse. but it has tomatoes, a big no no. But if he will eat a bite. Otherwise, it's crackers and popcorn, two foods he will always eat, and also bread and butter, he likes that.
He hates being away from me and I'm only home 13-14 hours a day, so as long as he is in even the same room, or there aren't any barriers, he's okay. In fact while I'm getting ready for work now, he will even go into my bedroom and lay on my pillows without me being there. He's a stinky cuss, despite his shower, because his hind legs sometimes fail him while he's apoopin and he falls in it. Oh well. I'm not sleeping in that bed!

The wonderful advice is well, WONDERFUL and things I have and would recommend and am working on. The fact I can get out of the house for 4 whole days shows some improvement, but I have no idea after I leave what happens when he wakes and looks for me. Probably drives the hearing dogs nuts, not to mention the deafie.

No one can have chewies any more. AngelTillman has rawhide aggression. I would rather he is able to be with the others than to sequester him for so many hours with a chewie, because his attention span is extremely short. He did like a chewie, not to actually chew it, but guard it, the only time I tried it. Won't do that again! Would rather have him in the room with me. And Albin who needs a chewie has eaten the couch, the braided rug, the carpet, well, you name it.

I would love some more advice, PLEASE TELL THEM I SO APPRECIATE THIS! Behaviour is my passion!

[puremutt]

I paste her reply:

That's great that she realizes it is a behavior (and shes passionate about it) and not just that the dog is being rotten, that's half the battle. Being aware of that she will be able to see what is calming for the dog. Rawhides are definitely dangerous as you know, with the chemicals and the great choking hazard they bring and does bring out aggresion in dogs,,,perhaps due to the chemicals that are used in some. Some dogs are bigger chewers then others and if the one needs to chew, I really do recommend the Nylabones the original ones it says on the packaging, they last for a very long time and don't break like other bones. I would not recommend raw bones unless supervised. And for any bone if the dogs is aggressive keep the dogs separate...one in the living room the other in the dining room etc. and pick the bones up when they will be unattended. I recommend this esp. if the dog that is in need of chewing is the one in question for anxiety...not sure which dog is which.






If she wants him with the other dogs that can be good as they can help to bring that calming energy that he needs. But as long as hes not able to roam freely. Either block them all off in a room while hes on a metal leash in the same room but can not reach any objects to destroy or an open crate where the other dogs can be near if they choose. The other pups are not going to mind too much, and its only temporarily until hes able to handle being on his own. I have been through this with one of mine and my parents and both dogs now have free roam with no problems.





Before leaving the home, have an exercise session , it will help to release extra energy. WHen she leaves and comes home it should be a calm energy coming from her so negative or over excitement energy does not feed into the fear of dog with anxiety. I would not recommend sneaking out of the house, let him know shes going....so it becomes routine. He can not get use to being alone if sometimes hes unaware that hes alone. I understand wanting to make it easier for him what he does not know all the better. But the chances of him not knowing are prettty nill. I always told mine Im going "bye, bye" so she assoiciates it with the act of me being gone....routine. And then learns its ok ; )