A very old stray {The Old Fella Story}

[Dixie_Flyer]

Went camping this weekend at a campground on the lake, had not been there for a few years. Once there I began to walk around looking at the different sites when I noticed a very old dog. He just lay there until I got too close then he got up on three legs and hobbled away. Just judging I would say he is at least 11 years old. Well back to my story. The next afternoon he wanders into camp and just sits there looking. He looked so sad, so the wife got a bowl of our dog's food and put it down for him and he came over and ate. He then walked over to our dog and the two of them sniffed each other over and then they lay down together for the rest of the afternoon. That night he disappeared.
The next morning he was back and was a little more receptive of me. I looked at his injured leg and found that half of his rear foot was gone. It had healed and was not causing any problem except that he was walking on the stub that was left with no foot pad which causes him to limp. His front teeth were gone except for one canine tooth and it looked decayed. His eyes were tired looking and showing his age. He spent the rest of the day just laying around looking for a handout and by afternoon the campground host came around and saw him. I enquired about the dog and was told he had been there for three years and that most of the campers were tolerant of him and gave him food.
So what to do? Do you pick him up and bring him home or do you let nature take it course. He can't harm anyone, he has no teeth and he isn't a nuisance unless you don't like dogs, and no one seems to mind him being there. He is gentle and likes other animals as seen by his interaction with our dog. He still would not let me touch him but he would eat from my hand. Enough said, what would you do???

On June 28th 2008 Old Fella passed away of complications caused by bone cancer. Fella spent almost three years with his new family and became the icon of rescued old stray dogs. He will be greatly missed but his foot prints have been left in our hearts forever.

Now Charlie, the ten year old rescued Golden Lab has come to be a part of the continuing Old Fella story. (*Note, Charlie took his journey to Rainbow Bridge unexpectedly September 30, 2008)Suzie continues to charm her way into our hearts with her antics as she has grown from a puppy into a young lady. Togther they will carry on the Old Fella legacy. Come join us in their daily lives and be a part of the best feel good thread in RV.NET history. The legacy lives on.


HIghways Article Puppy Love

Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue

[Dixie_Flyer]

I have been in the middle of a bad situation since Wednesday night. I got a phone call from a man whose child was attacked by two dogs out in the county. He took the child to the hospital and filed a report with the Burke County Health Department and notified the sheriff's office. The Deputy advised the man to call the Old Fella Burke County Animal Rescue to come get the two dogs. I told him we were not able to take in two vicious dogs as we used foster homes and would be putting families in danger. I reminded those in authority we are a rescue agency and not a bad dog control center and was not going to do their job for them.

The man whose dogs they were now denies they belonged to him when he was asked and now they have disappeared. The child will have to take the rabies shots now that the dogs can't be found and his parents were told he could not come back to school until cleared by the Health Department. The parents said they can't afford the $700.00 the shots will cost and because it can't be proven whose dogs they were it looks as if nothing is going to be done.

The Waynesboro True Citizen News Paper is now on to the story and will publish it in the paper once again spreading a bad light on the Burke County Commissioners and their lack of concern for animal control and the safety of the families of Burke County. I sure hope I win this election and hope I can make a difference.

[Dixie_Flyer]

nonameperson wrote:
Awesome, am so glad Peaches is doing ok and has found a happy home, dogs know who they want to be with, that is why Fella chose you and Sue at the campground. Roscoe is working out fine, as far as Snoopy is concerned, but Lady just isn;t thrilled at having another fur kid in the house. Roscoe is a lovable dog, wants your attention all of the time, his previous owners both worked and he was left in the trailer all day long, so he loves attention and to be outside. God Bless ya all. I enjooy all the posts on the fourm.

Sue and I hope to meet Roscoe on our next trip to Modoc. I am glad he is fitting in so well.

[nonameperson]

btw campingshadow, our vet told us if dog eats something he shouldn;t give him/her peroxide, it will make them vomit.
Rich, glad Charlie is doing ok also. Wally took Roscoe home thismorning, he doesn;tneed to be cooped up all of the time. with the doggie door he and Snoopy can run outside and play all they want.
God Bless

[nonameperson]

Awesome, am so glad Peaches is doing ok and has found a happy home, dogs know who they want to be with, that is why Fella chose you and Sue at the campground. Roscoe is working out fine, as far as Snoopy is concerned, but Lady just isn;t thrilled at having another fur kid in the house. Roscoe is a lovable dog, wants your attention all of the time, his previous owners both worked and he was left in the trailer all day long, so he loves attention and to be outside. God Bless ya all. I enjooy all the posts on the fourm.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Good morning everyone, Charlie seems to be okay. I am wondering now if he may have buried the ham bone somewhere in the back yard. He ate all of his food this morning as he was very hungry. He had his regular bowel movement yesterday and is very playful. He is such a sweet boy and so loving. He is like Levi in that he wants you to be touching him all the time. He lies at my feet, follows me throughout the house and when he goes outside he waits on the steps to see if I am coming with him.

His leg is doing very well as he is not limping at all now, even when we go for a walk. He tickles me with Suzie and the toys. Suzie will tease him with one of the toys until he grabs it and then because of his size he drags Suzie all over the house. Charlie is a big dog, long and lean and a very a strong swimmer. He is so wise in reading people, but he can be very stubborn when it comes to having his way. When we walk he wants to sniff all the bushes and stop sign posts and all the other stuff that dogs leave behind. When we come to a park in the center of one of our subdivisions I will let him off the leash and let him walk by himself. He never gets too far from me and is always looking to see where I am. If I get too far from him he will come running to catch up. Suzie will run all through the park chasing imaginary squirrels and butterflies but always coming back to check in, just like Levi used to do. Suzie is such a sweet heart these days, so loving and playful. She has so much personality it’s hard to get angry with her when she is naughty.

Peaches is a sad story with a happy ending. Our daughter Robin got her when she lost her friend Boogie, a little Dachshund. It was the fourth of July weekend 2000 and we had gone camping leaving Robin at home, at the time she was living in our backyard in a trailer. She closed Boogie up in the back room of our house and left for the day. While she was gone Boogie trying to get out of the room cut her side open and bleed to death, Robin was devastated. It was then she found Peaches in an add, “Free to good home”. Robin and Sue answered the add and brought Peaches to live with us. Robin had just gone through a divorce and was struggling with a lot of issues and Peaches would be a lot of company for her. Anyway, Peaches came on the scene. She was trouble from the get go! She chewed everything and anything. She destroyed the outdoor wooden furniture and her favorite thing was to jump up on the brick fence in the back yard by the sidewalk and bark at the people passing by. Robin and Peaches lived with us for eighteen months and Peaches became very attached to me. When Robin would let her out each morning she would come to the back door and beg to come in. If I was around she would ignore Robin which upset her at times.
Then Robin decided it was time to leave and get out on her own. She rented an apartment in Augusta and took Peaches with her. Peaches wasn’t happy at all and there were problems with behavior. Robin would bring Peaches for a visit and sometimes leave her for a day or two, but when Robin would pick her up Peaches would not want to leave. Finally Robin stopped brining her at all because of what she would have to go through when they got back to the apartment, so for three years I didn’t get to see Peaches unless I went to visit them in Augusta. In August Robin decided Peaches was never going to be happy unless she was with her grandpa. With her work schedule changing she was not home for 10-12 hours a day and it was rough on Peaches. We talked about the possibilities of finding her another home but in the end I decided if Peaches was going anywhere, it would be here with us . Remember Peaches hadn’t been here in three years. When Robin pulled up in the yard I could see Peaches jumping around in the car trying to get out and when the car door was opened she ran straight to me and wanted to jump into my arms. When she came into the house she ran through all the rooms checking things out and then she wanted to go into the back yard. When I saw the joy in that dog I knew we had made the right decision. Peaches is now so happy and has not been a problem at all. It is obvious now that all of her behavior problems with Robin were because she wasn’t happy. Peaches, Suzie, Charlie and Izzie get along great and Suzie accepted Peaches right away, which is unlike Suzie.

Now we are all getting along great and I now have two sweet little girls to climb up in my lap and sit with me on the couch at night while Charlie lies at my feet. Izzie, well Izzie has his place on the back of the couch or either on the arm rest, he likes either one. As for Sue, well she had to buy her a chair to sit in and sometimes if she is lucky Izzie will come visit her.

[campingshadow]

Well, Shadow (GSD/Lab)among a large variety of things ate a dieffenbachia plant -----leaves, roots and part of the pot. The plant is supposed to be poisonous to dogs. Called the vet and asked him what to do, he said call poison control. Called them and they said call the vet. Vet said try to get dog to vomit. He already had. Dog had no ill effects of any kind.

Velvet (Lab) among MANY MANY things including most of my sofa, got up on our bed, pulled off the covers and sheets and ate a hole in the middle of the mattress.....while we were sitting in the next room!!!!

Sometimes I wonder why we love our dogs so much. Then I get Heidi....who has never chewed a single thing in her 3 year life ...except her own toys. She is a rare dog. Ya need one good one every now and then to restore your optimism that the next one might be good also! Seldom happens, but hope springs eternal.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Well Gary, after reading that list of items I consider myslef very lucky. I thought Suzie was bad---

[Dashonthedash]

It's amazing what dogs will eat. When Dash was a pup and an adolescent, he chewed up almost everything and anything, including wall insulation, vinyl siding on the house, blankets and pillows, a dog bed, part of the outside deck and even a sofa bed. Max was especially fond of anything made of paper or plastic, including newspapers, magazines, tapes and income tax forms. German Shepherds and Labs in particular have reputations for eating anything, so for your entertainment, I offer the following page from the "Official" GSD Website:

Things Eaten by our GSDs

[nonameperson]

lol aboutn dog eating hymn book! I have Roscoe at the camper with me, he can patrol the campground with Wally the days we work, and there will be less fighting between him and Lady. I am sure Snoopy is going to miss him tho.
having pets sure can change a persons lifestyle, just like having children.
God Bless ya all

[Gentle_Spirit]

My husband gave his dog a cooked bone and it shattered her tooth, she had to have a root canal. I heard that cooked bones get too hard and are not good for dogs teeth (they wouldn't have cooked bones in nature), so they only should have uncooked bones, if any.
I guess it's pretty certain that Charlie did eat that bone or he wouldn't be not wanting his food. Maybe he should go in for an xray. It's probably been too long now for him to vomit it up. Poor boy.

[kokosfriend]

I had a lab who swallowed cow hooves whole. He threw them back up. When we discovered that, we stopped giving him cow hooves!!! He would eat anything and we had to give him mineral oil a lot to help things pass and then there was the time he eat an old hymn book and the pages were so dry he couldn't pass it, so had to have surgery. But he had a condition called Pica which lead him to consume strange things. Charlie just swallowed a food substance. He might be OK just letting nature take it's course.

Barb

[mpj]

Good luck with Charlie. The only bones our pet ever got were those "shin bones" that looked like real bones. Now, with Jake, we have to make sure they are large enough so he does not swallow them. In the 5 months we have had Jake he has chewed up 4 of them. We get them at the Walmart Pet department - about $3 each - and pick out the one that is the thickest and longest. They are stuffed with something that the dogs like. I personally cannot smell it, but they can. My older dogs licks it and Jake chews on it.

Thanks for listening.

[Dixie_Flyer]

Dr. Ford said to watch him closely and if he starts showing signs of stress or vomiting, bring him in.

[Hoops]

Oh my, yes talk to Dr Ford and see if he will be able to pass it. Sounds like he isn't into chewing, just swallow it whole. Let us know.

[Dixie_Flyer]

I am worried about Charlie. Sue had a ham bone she had used to make soup. She gave it to Charlie to chew on and he must have Swallowed the thing whole. When I went out side a few minutes later to see how he was doing it was gone. Now I am worried about it blocking his bowels and binding him up. He didn't want his food this morning and that is not Charlie. Maybe I need to talk with Dr. Ford and get her view of this?