Avalanche - Got An Itch and Was Able to Take Care of it Himself

We certainly take things for granted. If we have an itch, we scratch it. Imagine being a dog and not being able to scratch! Well, Avalanche has been in that situation for the past 17 months after recovering from a spinal cord injury. Finally there is some relief for the left side of his body. For the first time since his injury, he was able to connect and actually scratch his own left sided itch. He has learned how to communicate with me when he needs an itch scratched, but I am not with him 24/7 - so the poor guy has to get by. The total look of satisfaction on this dogs face when he was scratching was so awesome. Way to go Avalanche!

Avalanche Keeps On Truckin'

It has now been 17 months since our "special needs" Siberian Husky, Avalanche suffered his spinal cord injury and he continues to make amazing progress. For having been paralyzed from the waist down less than a year and a half ago, he can now walk around the block on his own without any assistance! He sometimes gets going too fast and falls and then often he can get himself back up but sometimes he wants help. He lets me know which way it is going to go. Walking requires a tremendous amount of energy and focus on his part and he often gets excited to see kids or other dogs and just tries to move too fast. Yesterday he headed down the hill and walked all the way into a new neighborhood. I know he headed into this neighborhood because he heard kids out playing. When he was first learning to use his wheelchair or K9 cart this is where he would head. He loves children and the attention he gets from them. He did encounter a big cat in a garage of someone we know. This is one hell of a cat! The cat is very territorial and was stalking my 80 pound dog. Avalanche was so confused! He is used to stalking cats since we have two at home, so he barked at the cat and then tried to play with the cat, but of course, the cat would have nothing to do with this. We were not able to let it play itself out since I had to get my son off to a basketball practice, but it was very funny to watch. We will have to see what he has in store today for his evening walk.

Avalanche Keeping His Eye On Things

Avalanche likes to monitor what is going on with the family. Here he has cruised into the dining room to monitor the family. He really enjoys the newly fought for freedoms he has earned since his spinal cord injury. Being able to move around the house let's him feel more like his old self before he became a "special needs" dog.

Going Away While The Doggies Play

Having a number of pets can create some problems in trying to get away for a vacation. For a long time we had a young woman come into our home and stay, taking care of our 2 cats and 3 dogs. After Avalanche, our Siberian Husky suffered his spinal cord injury, it was impossible to even think about going away for the first eight months or so. Since he does not have bowel control, leaving him at home with someone who has another job to be at all day, just would not work, so I had to start looking when we decided we really needed to get away for a few days.

I then discovered this really awesome place called Paws Pet Resorts here in San Clemente. They have doggie day care and also do boarding. I checked it out with the dogs and then took them to play group for a day. They seemed to have liked it, but how can you tell? I let a week go by and then one day on our daily morning walk I decided to walk in the vicinity of this place to see what they did. Well, a total thumbs up! They all headed straight to Paws. That convinced me and since then they have gone to play group for day care on numerous occasions, and we have boarded them now for the third time. I have told lots of people about this place, since it is really the next best thing to leaving them with a dog sitter.

Some of the dog sitting services are horrible! We had a neighbor who used a service like this and someone would show up for 5 minutes twice a day, and the poor dog barked for the remainder of the time.

It isn't easy having a "special needs" pet, and the staff at Paws treats him wonderfully. My doggie kids are always excited to go and play but when I come to pick them up they are also ready for home. The added benefit is that they are always so exhausted after spending a day or a week there that they (my special needs and older dog in particular) sleep for the next day or two. Diva, my baby was really tired after the last four nights there. Some of their fatigue is due to the strangeness, the noise, the not being at home and anxiety; but alot of their fatigue is the fact that they have been on vacation having their own party. An added benefit is that they have a Webcam, so if you take your laptop, you can watch your doggie kids play.

This is the only place away from home that I have ever left my dogs and we have had dogs for over 20 years. Chris the owner is a wonderful woman and she has employed some fabulously caring staff. Way to go! And it allows you the peace of mind to go away!

Miss Diva On Her 1st Birthday

Here is a photo of Diva after we went shopping for her birthday. She is wearing her new "big girl" collar which my son calls her "rapper bling" jewelry. She also has her new toy "princess" which is in the process of being destroyed. Shopping and a walk on the beach! What a great first birthday.