Rocco (Chow Chow Rescue)
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| Rocco (Chow Chow) |
Rocco is nearly 5 years old. He was a rescue from a puppy mill, along with many others of all ages (38 in all), all Chow Chows in February of this year. It took a lot of time to get all of the dogs away from where they were, get them vet care and transport them where they wanted to go. So many people helped in all phases to find better lives for these dogs.
Luanne Alomair from the Northwest Chow Rescue was looking for foster homes for a lot of dogs. She knew that I wanted a male to go with Maggie (who really doesn't like girl dogs) so thought of me. I hadn't really planned on adopting a dog right then but he really needed a home and there he was. I said I'd foster him for a while but, after a very short time, knew he was a keeper.
When I picked him up, he had stitches all over the place. He was very scary looking and when nervous makes a growly sound, just breathing really, but it sounds pretty scary if you don't know it's normal for him. We called him Franken Rocco for a while.
After he was rescued, a vet had taken all of the dogs and given them needed care. He was neutered, had entropian surgery on his eyelids and had a forehead lift (2-4 inches were taken out and his forehead pulled up) plus all of his shots. He had fur and skin hanging down over his eyes and luckily he didn't go completely blind.
He had lived his life in a cage except a once a day potty break according to one of the rescuers. All of the dogs were in an apartment house of cages, one stacked on another. He was used as a stud dog and with the entropian, heavy forehead and an elongated palette, he passed on those traits to the offspring. Please choose carefully if you get a purebred dog. Most pet shops buy from puppy mills and most are caged and the bloodlines are not considered.
He didn't know what to do with all the new freedom to move. The first couple of nights he slept in his crate but after that he just wanted to be able to stretch out on the floor. He didn't have any accidents in the house nor did he chew up anything. We didn't know what to expect, especially with the cats, but other than showing interest in them, he learned quickly to leave them alone.
Since I received him he has had another entropian surgery. He had scratched out his stitches while staying over night at the vets so had to have a few put back in and wear a "satellite dish" for two weeks while his stitches healed. We called him Spaceman Rocco during this time.
You can see how much he has improved since we got him. His eyesight is better, he can chase a ball and will bring it back. He has a lot of toys which if we put them back in the basket, he takes out one by one and lays them around him. Our other dog, Maggie just loves him. She licks his eyes and feet and tries to get him to play with her. She's a lot faster and has a lot more energy than he does. With little exercise for most of his life, he is still building endurance.
All in all, he's a lovely dog. He is sweet, forgiving and very friendly to everyone, cat, dog or human that he meets. Now he's just big fuzzy Teddy Bear Rocco.
Luanne is still working on placing dogs, she has worked tirelessly for 5 years and has rescued and placed 300 dogs in that time. If you are interested in helping, here is the link to her rescue.
Susan from ThriftyFun
We have lots of posts about Maggie:
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf99124340.tip.html
http://www.thriftyfun.com/tf28947112.tip.html
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