We are so excited to announce a new addition to our family – Blu.
Blu is a rescued senior Coonhound mix who lived in a neglected home. He’s been through a lot, but he has adjusted to us very quickly.
His previous home consisted of living outdoors his whole life in a wooden dog house with holes in the floor boards and the roof, a 10 foot long chain wrapped around his neck so tight he had sores, and stagnant water. His owner was an elderly lady who just couldn’t take care of him, so we approached her and pitched the idea of taking him. Happily she accepted.
He was located in Pennsylvania, so as soon as we closed on our new home in New York, we drove down and picked him up. Before making the four hour drive to our new home, we of course took him to the groomer! He was one smelly dog and as you can see – very overweight! The groomer did an amazing job and he did very well for his first time. He also did very well in the car – no accidents!
When we arrived at our new house, he was so ecstatic. It was as if a new dog had already emerged. For people who don’t believe dogs smile, he will change your mind! Seeing his face when he was tied to the chain and then looking at him now – it’s incredible.
He now has a fenced in yard to run around (chain free), a new doggie friend – Nova, a safe and clean dog house, and always clean water and fresh food. He also has love, something he had never experienced before. We take him for daily walks and play with him. He is pretty clueless when we try to play, but he is catching on. He’s learning a lot from Nova as well as us teaching him how to sit and stay. Who said an old dog can’t learn new tricks?! We’ve had him for about 4 weeks now and has been losing weight – getting down to a healthy size.
Recently, we took him for his first trip to the vet. The vet was very understanding and courteous. As we are unsure if he had ever been to a vet, she treated him as a puppy. He received his vaccines, a puppy health check, heartworm tests, and a few others I lost track of! He also had a cyst under his belly that we had to take a sample of to make sure it wasn’t cancerous. Thankfully, it seems to be benign. He tested Lyme positive, had a few different kinds of worms such as whipworm, and his physical exam showed stiffness in his legs – which may be from the Lyme. He doesn’t have a lot of strength in his legs either; both of which may be caused from being on a chain his whole life and not getting proper exercise. When he breathes he snorts, this may be caused by the chain being wrapped around his neck causing a collapsed trachea. His teeth showed that he may be younger than we think (10 years). Unable to determine what type of Coonhound he may be, she called him a mutant beagle (because he’s 102 lbs!).
After his vet visit, we took him to Petsaver (his first pet shop trip!). We self groomed him in their wash room which he didn’t seem to mind. It was our first time using one of these rooms, too and we actually had fun! They supply everything and clean up the mess after. So much better than using your own bathtub. Another plus – he got to go shopping after!
Currently, we are treating him for the worms and Lyme disease. Hoping he will make a successful recovery to live on to be a happy old man. Stay tuned for more updates as we will be going back to the vet for a follow up in the next few weeks!
I set up a GoFundMe account in his name to help us with his vet bills and care – please visit: https://www.gofundme.com/dog-named-blu
Thank you everyone for your support.