From A Pauper To A Princess - The Journey of a Puppy Mill Dog (Entry 13)

Karen, one of CPCRN's foster mentors, has graciously allowed us access to her diary documenting the journey of Flopsy, also known as Rusty, from the puppy mill to her forever home. The diary will be broken up into short sections and posted. Check back for new entries in the series entitled "From A Pauper To A Princess - The Journey of a Puppy Mill Dog". (Previous Journal Entries: Entry One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine, Ten, Eleven, Twelve)

9/19/07
Today is Rusty’s 5th birthday! I put a party hat and bandana on her for some pictures for the website. She wasn’t too thrilled, but of course she tolerated it.

9/20/07
Tony and I both went outside and laid on the blanket with Rusty. It took her a while before she laid down and relaxed, but she did. She even stayed on the blanket with Tony when I got up.

9/21/07
Tonight, Rusty began her puppy training classes at PetsMart. She is in the puppy training classes, so she won’t be intimidated by loud, big dogs. Starry is also going to attend the classes with us.

Rusty’s class went much better than we had anticipated. She actually laid down on the floor, next to my seat and relaxed. There were only 5 of us in the class, including Rusty and Starry Night, so I think that helped. Our assignment tonight was to say their name and as soon as they made the slightest eye contact, you give them a high value treat. I wasn’t sure how this was going to work, since Rusty is not treat motivated and will not look at us, but she did it!!! Even though it was just for a millisecond, she looked at me in the eyes! Our other assignment was to get them to sit. Rusty didn’t do it, but she did look at me when I said her name, so that was something. I was also very proud of her, because she finally took a treat from the trainer. I thought I was going to cry, right then and there. This was a HUGE accomplishment!! I am so happy that we signed her up and hopefully, she will be a more confident dog in 8 weeks.

9/22/07
I took Rusty to the vet’s office this morning for a follow-up on her yeast infection in her ears. The yeast is now gone.

Now, for the great news! The cauliflower in her left ear is almost non-existent now! Yeah! My vet is so excited about finding out about the Synotic, thanks to Lori R. She said there is still some cauliflower in her right ear, but not nearly as bad as it was. The vet let me look through the scope and showed me where it is. It’s in 3 different spots down the canal, with the last spot right before her eardrum, but you can see the eardrum! Her ears look super clean now, too! I am so excited about this! We will continue to use Synotic twice a week and Waxosol once a week. This is less than the original regimen, so we are getting there.

To Be Continued ...