Tugg, Lab Mix

Meet Tugg.

Tugg was rescued from the county euthanasia list, extremely emaciated and emotionally shut down.

Found as a stray on the reservation by animal control, Tugg was given a good meal and a warm blanket for possibly the first time in his young life.  Still, he feels forced to choose between accepting food or being paralyzed with fear.

He spent his first night in a foster home, wrapped in blankets, next to an electric heater, so he will begin to feel better and realize that there are people who care and people he can trust.

His initial blood-work indicates that he’s severely anemic and we should know more tomorrow or Thursday.

The pain behind this poor pup’s eyes tells more of a story than words ever could. But now this sweet boy, who tugged on so many heart-strings with his heartbreaking photo, will know only love and caring…and soon, his eyes will tell a very different story.

Tugg’s Updates:

Tugg has officially been adopted by his foster family! Congrats to Tugg and his fur-ever home!

From Tugg’s foster: Tugg is a very well behaved dog who is house-broken and knows basic commands like “sit, place and down” Walks excellent on a leash. Doggy door trained, seems to do fine with bigger male and female dogs, I have six other big ones and one little one whom he seems to show just a bit too much interest in, so we keep them separate. Loves to chase the ball, chew on Nylabones, play with other dogs and go for car rides. He does not bark, loves people too- a little cautious of men upon first meeting but warms up quickly.

Update Feb. 3rd from Tugg’s foster mom: As you can see from the video, he is really coming around and he is playing with the other dogs now too, so yay Tugg! He now has freedom of inside/outside all day long when we are here and he uses the doggie door. No accidents in the house. I have to say I have always been very persistent when it comes to house training a dog and I don’t think any of them were really hard to train, but Tugg has to be the easiest one besides Lucy ever. So behavior-wise I would say he gets along with male and female dogs, does great with a pack, LOVES kids- my granddaughter was here all weekend and she is three. Cats unknown. Very friendly with women even upon first intro. House trained, crate trained, doggie door trained and is not destructive. Men are a little different..he LOVES my husband totally and met my son Jacob this weekend and actually did fine with him. Let him pet him and even gave some tail wags for him so we know he can trust men, he just really picks and chooses which ones will be ok.

Medically, he has finished the Tic Fever meds, still on Ivermectin for Mange and an antibiotic for the leg issue. He was neutered on Friday, microchipped, and given a booster on the 5 in 1 shot. Dr Katie also went ahead and removed the lump that was above his paw pad since it wasn’t going away and sent it out for testing. Then she put his leg in a honey wrap and he goes in for a bandage change tomorrow. So all in all, he is doing fantastic!

Update, Jan. 29th: Tugg now weighs 48.6 pounds and they started Ivermectin for Mange. He still has a lump on his paw and swollen lymphoid, but they still feel it’s a fox tail that we are chasing, so more antibiotics. He has an appt to get neutered on Friday.

Update, January 18th from Tugg’s foster mom: He is coming out of his shell and playing with us (not the dogs) but he is fine being around them.  I just don’t think he knows how to play with other animals yet. But he runs in the backyard sniffing everything and finds all the bones and such. It is very sweet to watch him learn. He’s very well behaved in the house. Only one accident, so great there, too. Eats great and for the most part it’s just grain free dog food.

Now for his checkup..the swollen area on his foot is not any better, they still feel its a foreign object, so they are putting him on a stronger antibiotic for 10 days and will recheck. The swollen lymph node is not any better either; they said that it’s more than likely from the foreign object but could be from the Valley Fever. They will draw blood on my 10 day checkup to check both the Tick Fever and Valley Fever titers. He weighs 44.8 pounds so another 2.3 pounds gained which is great!

Now for the kinda new bummer news…I noticed an area on his chest that is bald and they did a skin scrape and its Demodex Mange. So overall he is doing much better on an emotional level and still gaining weight and feeling better, but certainly didn’t need another battle to fight. Anyway, they want to wait until he is re-tested before they put him on Ivermectin for the mites; at least its not the contagious type! His recheck is for 1/28/13 and I will update then.

Update, Jan. 12th: Tugg weighed 38 pounds when he was first weighed and today he is 42.5! His lungs sound great, no fluid in them and his gums are a healthy looking pink!

Update from Tugg’s foster mom, Jan. 7th: He is very mellow and absolutely loves my daughter who is 15. He will climb right into her lap. But he still freezes up on a leash unless a man is around, then he wants to take off like a bat outta hell unless it’s my husband! He is very scared of men. He has just started coming up to my husband and he is real low to the floor and tail tucked. But he DOES come- he wants to trust, he will again.

Update, Jan. 7th: He is eating four meals of cup cup dry dog food, three satin balls, about a half cup white rice and some beef broth. So that is wonderful right? I weighed him yesterday morning and he only weighs 39.4 pounds. I’m going to weigh him every Sunday. Still no dog intros yet as we want him to get some energy back first. He is starting to want to explore his surroundings!

Update, Jan. 4th: Tugg’s Valley Fever titers are so low that Dr Katie called it an exposure titer- so no meds for that for now and I bring him in to the vet in two weeks for a check up.

From Tugg’s foster mom, Jan. 2nd: Just spoke with Dr Katie and Tugg for sure has Tick Fever, so she will call in a prescription and we will get started on that ASAP. She is still waiting on the results of Valley Fever. He did not eat again, but he did excellent at work with me today!