George, a Rescue Dog: Day Three

George is a 10 year old toy poodle mix, who was dumped by his owners at the Baytown Animal Shelter. He was found there by Lou Sisk, and Holly Dool found him rescue with the Blind Dog Rescue Alliance. I’m fostering George and updating his story to show that rescue dogs straight from the shelter make wonderful pets.

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Our vet called today to say that some test results came back and, in addition to having kennel cough, heart worms, fleas, and intestinal parasites, George also has whip worm! Luckily, he just needed a three-day medicine that’s super easy to give. And actually, George takes all of his medicines like a champ. I just mix the pills up with a little bit of soft dog food and he houses them.

After I fed George, gave him his meds, and walked him a little bit, it was time for him to get a bath. The fleas are gone, thanks to his flea medicine, and the feces and urine that were matted into his hair have been shaved out, so it was time to get him cleaned up. This was George on Day Two, after I’d cut the hair from his eyes.

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His eyes are full of crusty whatever, and he’s got flea poop all over his snout. He smelled just awful.

I’m not going to tell you that George was happy to get a bath. It was an experience that he definitely was not used to getting.

I filled the bathtub with water and put him in the tub, hoping to pre-soak some of the nastiness off George.

George in the bathtub. You can see all the flea poop on his poor little face.

George in the bathtub. You can see all the flea poop on his poor little face.

I lathered him up and gently scrubbed him. I cleaned off all the flea poop, and picked off all the crusts from his eyes. I cleaned the flea poop out of his ears, and scrubbed his little rear end. I drained the water, rinsed off George, refilled the water, and did it all again. Once he was clean, I massaged in some conditioner.

I don’t know if you can tell by looking at him wet, but when he’s dry George looks way bigger than he is! His poor little body has been eaten up by all kinds of fleas and worms, so he’s frail, thin, and hungry.

He was really happy to be done with the bath.

Clean George

Clean George

I dried him off, then I cleaned the bathroom where I’ve been keeping him quarantined. I put down fresh, clean blankets for this little fresh, clean fellow.

And here we have Clean George!

Fresh and clean fellow!

Fresh and clean fellow!

His fur is super soft and now he smells fresh. I took him outside to potty and his tail didn’t stop wagging. He still has the terrible cough, but with the meds that he’s on, he’s able to rest and only wakes up to cough every few hours.

A few more days, a few more steps and George is going to be super cute and irresistible! Stay tuned.

About Nicole R. Betters

passionate lawyer/entrepreneur, liberal and politically active, culinary snob, runner, animal lover, Lebanese/Italian, I eat tons of bananas - usually with Nutella

14. February 2016 by Nicole R. Betters
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