Rocky

[Dirty Paws]

Our rescue took in a wonderful 4 year old Harlequin Great Dane named Rocky a few weeks back. He was at a shelter on death row with no chance of getting out. We took him in and he was instantly the most popular dog on our website with e-mails and applications flooding my inbox everyday from all over the country. After his evaluation and hours of going through e-mails I finally chose the perfect home for him. I set up an appointment for his vetting for that coming Tuesday, he was going home that weekend, and he went to the vet but I got a call shortly afterward saying he was HW Positive. I was devastated and so was the family wanting to adopt him but we were insured that it was a mild case and he would fully recover from it after the treatment. So after talking to his new family we decided that I would treat him here because he was already comfortable and my vet was charging me less then any vet in their area would. With his treatment and the dogs that were already lined up to come into our rescue, before finding out about Rocky, our funding has been completely drained.

Rocky went in for his first treatment and is doing wonderful, I am having a hard time keeping him from bouncing off the walls! He is really feeling good and wants to play with the other dogs and kids I didn't realize how much more active he would be after the 1st treatment. He is really an awesome dog and his new owners are going to love him, I know I am going to miss him when he goes home.

This is my first experience with HW's does anybody have any advise or experience with the treatment? The vet said no playing and nothing that will stress him out, any ideas (besides kenneling him) to keep him calm or how much activity he should be allowed? Sorry for all the questions ...

www.dirtypawsr escue.com

[brandon]

No activity, none, zilch, keep him calm quiet & crated. Your vet is right, as the heartworms die they start to flow around in the arteries and out of the heart, etc.  You want the heartworms to come out slowly, if he bounces around he can unclog a big section of worms all at once which could cause a blockage which would be very bad.

We went through it with our lab, its tough, it's scary and it's a pain in tushy, we had to stop the treatment the first time due to her getting pneumonia.  Doc put her on antibiotics, waited until she was better from that and restarted the treatment at a slower rate the next time.

PS: Maybe some frozen kongs, bones, puzzle toys to help keep him occupied.  I feel your pain, our lab was a wild-child and it was tough keeping her calm also.

[cuttles/sadieMay]

I just have to say.....He is a big beautiful boy and he looks very content with your little boy. The new owners are very lucky. Welcome to BPO.
Gorgeous, absolutely gorgeous!!!!!!!!!!!!
Good luck with his treatment!
Carole

[Dirty Paws]

Thanks for the great advice I have been doing my best to keep him calm. I leash him most of the time when he goes out and that seems to help. He is the biggest baby and loves everyone that comes to our house! His new family is going to just love him!! They are very excited to finally meet him and they are having a yard sale and posted fliers to help come up with money for his vetting. Very nice people ...

Here's a couple funny pictures of him before we found out he had HW, he was mad because I was trying to mop the floors and I put him outside until they were dry ...

[Bella's mom]

He is absolutely gorgeous!   How in the world could he end up on death row?  The family getting him is so lucky!

[Dirty Paws]

I have no idea how he ended up on death row, I think he ended up in the shelter because his owners knew he was HW pos and couldn't afford the treatment ... they just neglected to tell the staff at the shelter and made it some elses problem. The shelter had contacted me about a little Am Bulldog they had and I said I would take her then they sent me a pic of Rocky and asked if I could take him. He had been there forever and his time was up and past due. I talked it over with my husband and he said NO WAY, way to big for us!! So I loaded him up with the pup and brought them home (He should really know better by now, lol!!)

[brandon]

Hahaha... Those are great !  He wants one of those MRE's
It looks like a doggie drive thru.

[NoDogNow]

Put him on the kidnap list!  He's just darling. 

And be sure to tell his new family about us.  We don't want to lose him!

[aggghgmom]

Rocky is very handsome!!  And so lucky to have found you to rescue him and find him an ideal family!!  What you are doing is wonderful!! Keep up the fabulous work.