Sad News...

When Brett and I were asked if we wanted to adopt Dolce our first thought was absolutely...but with careful consideration we realized that what we want and what Dolce needs are two different things. We love him so much, and he's become such an amazing part of our little doggie family, but if we cannot provide him with the medical care that he needs, then we're not providing him the life he deserves. At some point we had to realize that our love for Dolce is not going to pay for his surgeries and follow up exams. We so desperately want Dolce to stay ours forever, but we have to put him first. With that said we have given Mindi the green light to look for a potential adopter other than us.

I'm still trying to raise the money to cover his surgeries and follow up care...I have to at least do my best to try and keep him in our lives.

At this point I've started The Rescue Attic, a Facebook Page dedicated to online auctions. Any items that you may have can be donated to The Rescue Attic and the proceeds from the auctioned off items will go directly to sweet Dolce. If you have any items you can donate (new dog collars, leashes, purses, shoes, clothing, gift certificates, gift baskets, ANYTHING) please contact me ASAP. http://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Rescue-Attic/155577501182169

If you are not interested in donating any items, but would like to send a donation, please let me know and I will give you the correct information with where that can be sent.

Also, I'm working to create a calendar for Dolce and could possibly be auctioned off or purchased to also raise funds for him.

Confidence

It's been a while since I last posted on here. Dolce is actually doing really well, or so I assume. Last time he had an infection in his mouth we would have never known since he wasn't acting like he was in pain or being less active.

Something that we have noticed recently in regards to Dolce's progress is that he's finally getting stronger and gaining a lot of confidence. Dolce now whines nonstop (at first I was proud that he had learned to do this, but now it's pretty annoying actually) because all he wants to do is go outside and sniff around. When we first brought him home we could take him outside and he barely moved around, but he's now really moving once he gets outside...so it looking like it's finally time to get him a harness and take him for walks. Just last night Brett looked at Dolce and said, "are you really 10?" Dolce's been so active lately it's hard to believe he's a "senior citizen."

Another change with Dolce is his growling. He never really growled before, but lately he's growling nonstop. I would label it a dominance thing and a power struggle, but Dolce will even growl at us while wagging his tail and begging for a belly rub. He growls when we pick him up and place him on the couch, he growls when I'm giving him a belly rub, he growls when I rearrange him when he's sleeping on my chest....growls constantly.

Lastly, because of the shape of Dolce's mouth, Brett and I have to squirt medicated mouth wash into his mouth each night before bed to help keep the bacteria down in his mouth. Lately (most likely bc of this boost in his confidence) he's really fighting us with the mouth wash and getting overly upset. I told Brett that our neighbors probably thing we're abusing poor Dolce. Last night I had to hold him tight against my chest while Brett attempted to squirt the mouth wash into this mouth. I think it's safe to say that it was a traumatizing experience for all of us involved (Brett, Dolce and myself). Dolce tried to bite us several times (not really bite us but he was trying to get us to stop) since he does not like anyone touching his mouth...which is understandable. Anyway we got the mouth wash in, and poor Dolce-boo tucked his head into my arm and hid. :-( Brett and I felt like total dog abusers. So glad Dolce forgives quickly...his tail was wagging about 5 minutes later.

Dolce's Setbacks

Last week I called Dr. Adams to see what the plan would be since the pin on the right side of Dolce's jaw had broken through the skin on his chin. Brett and I brought Dolce in last Thursday thinking Dr. Adams was just going to look at him and decide whether to trim the pin or to remove it (since that will eventually have to happen). Dr Adams decided to keep Dolce over night, take x-rays in the morning and decide the best plan of action. The next day we heard from Dr. Adams and he gave us the bad news on the left side of Dolce's jaw...the "less" injured side that had only required to be wired back together back in January.

At this point I am raising money for Dolce's 2nd surgery, which will require that a pin be placed on the other side of his jaw.

If you are able to make a donation towards Dolce's 2nd surgery please either donate to his chipin (http://sierralawe.chipin.com/dolce-needs-another-surgery) OR you have a few other ways to donate:

If you are uncomfortable with donating money through the chipin there are other options for donating.

1) Donate directly to La Dolce Vita Animal Rescue Foundation. You can make a check out to the rescue and mail it to: 26655 Agoura Rd., Calabasas, CA, 91302 Please make sure that you specify that your donation is for Dolce who is being fostered by Sierra Lawe

2) You can also make a donation directly to the vet's office. California Animal Hospital, 2736 S. Sepulveda Blvd., Suites C & D, Los Angeles, CA, 90025 or call it in to them (310)478-5915. Please also specify that you are making a donation towards Dolce's vet bill he is listed under Adopt a Chow (since they recommended this vets office for Dolce and La Dolce Vita did not have an open account here...it's a long story)

3) You can make a donation directly to La Dolce Vita's paypal account, ladolcevitarescue@gmail.com. Make sure to specify that this donation is for Dolce who is being fostered by Sierra Lawe. Also make sure to select the payment as a "gift" so that Paypal does not take a potion of your donation.

The Spirit of a Puppy and the Body of an Old Man

Since Brett and I have had Dolce we've frequently commented on the fact that his back legs have very little muscle on them. In fact his back end has such little muscle he doesn't even hold his tail all the way up...when Dolce is happy his tail goes out more than up. The cutest thing he does is what I call the cow tail wag. Since he cannot hold his tail up, when he's standing and wags his tail at you, its just like a cow that wags their tail side to side.

Dolce has had trouble with walking since he came home with us. Those poor back legs are stiff with little bend to them, they're so weak they shake sometimes...probably most of the time. This morning his back legs were more shaky and weaker than normal. So shaky he eventually gave up and sat down. This broke my heart to see. Dolce has the spirit of a young dog, but his body is giving out and I hate seeing this...it doesn't seem fair. It isn't fair! I just want to find relief for him and make everything new again. Once again I'm on the verge of tears because I wish we could have gotten to him sooner. I'm so glad that Dolce has a good life now...but I wish he could have been with us earlier in his life, maybe then he wouldn't be in the shape that he's in. It's so frustrating to see his little body fail him, because he is not an old dog in spirit...not even close! He loves going outside, going for rides in the car, barking at the neighbors gardener, the dog park. He's not an old dog that wants to be left alone, he wants to be with us at all times. He had no idea that sleeping in the "big bed" is fun and always opted to sleep in his own bed on the floor. When I had my wreck I was home in bed for 4 days, partially because every inch of my body hurt and partially because I was pretty depressed by what happened. For those 4 days all 4 of the dogs slept in bed with me, and Dolce FINALLY understood how awesome the big bed is. After that he refused to sleep in his bed, he would sit on the floor next to the bed and look up and wait. Now every night he sleeps right next to me, all cuddled up.

I want to make sure he has the best life possible and I want to keep his body working for him for as long as I can. What can I do to help him with those legs of his?

Dolce is doing just fine these days. He's staying up on his heart meds and they seem to do the trick. The only cause for concern is the pin in his jaw, which has now broken through the skin and is exposed on his chin. Dr. Adams mentioned that we may end up having Dolce's pin removed sooner if it broke through the skin...I'll give it another few days before I call Dr. Adams and see what he thinks.

Photo Updates

Looking a little worse for wear this morning...notice that left eye? Still a good lookin' conehead dontcha think??

Hiding under the table...let this be a reminder...no sudden movements when Dolce is eating!

This is the face he gives when he wants something...in this case it was a drink of water and a belly rub.

If you can't tell, this left eye is looking much better tonight.

Dolce's Not So Great Week

Dolce has been through the wringer lately! I was telling Brett that he's had so many complications and injuries, people are going to think we're abusive...which we're not...obviously. So here's the low down on all that Dolce has been through as of late:

1. Injury to his right wrist. I came home from work on Tuesday evening to find Dolce limping and unable to place weight on his front right foot. We took him to the vet and he was given metacam to help the swelling go down. Dolce has since recovered from this.

2. Monthly x-ray. Once a month we take Dolce has to have x-rays done of his jaw. He has to be sedated for his x-rays so after midnight we cannot give him any food. Dolce and I equally hate this appointment since it terrifies him and he leaves the office at the end of the day completely out of it. I hate it because I don't like leaving him there all day and seeing him sedated and unable to walk is really hard to watch. This past weekend, they must have sedated Dolce much later in the day than normal because when we came to pick him up at 7pm he was barely able to lift his head. We decided to wait a little bit longer and run over to Ellen O'Brien's house to get some meds (did I mention we've also had a Giardia outbreak in the house...just lovely!) for the other dogs while we were waiting. When we got back to the office to pick up Dolce he was so extremely out of it his little body was limp in my arms and his head was swaying back and forth. I wrapped him up in my sweater to keep him warm and we headed home...this was around 8pm. At home I wrapped him in a blanket and laid down in bed with him and watched a movie to calm him down and help him relax. (He was attempting to walk, but wasn't able to.) It took until after midnight for Dolce to start coming out of his sedation.

3. Ulceration to his left eye. On Sunday morning at about 6:30 I found Dolce's left side of his face extremely swollen and he was in pain. I honestly started freaking out because I had no idea what to think. Could it be a spider bite? Bad reaction to the sedation? Did he fall down last night? It was so early there really wasn't much I could do, so I placed him on my chest and he slept right there for another hour. Later in the afternoon we took Dolce in to the vet and they immediately knew what was going on. Apparently when animals are but under sedation the vet will place ointment or drops of some sort to keep their eyes from drying out...otherwise they can be scratched. At some point Dolce's eyes must have dried out while he was under sedation and was injured, this was made worse when he kept pawing at his eye. (I only saw him paw at his eye a couple times, which I stopped him but who knows what he did all night while Brett and I were asleep.)

4. The pin in his jaw. When we dropped Dolce off for his x-rays on Saturday I asked the vet tech to ask Dr. Adams about the little black bump/cyst on Dolce's bottom lip. I had been very tempted to poke around and maybe even pop it...but I stopped myself...good thing! Turns out the bump that looks like a cyst is actually Dolce's pin. Dr. Adams says it has not migrated but may eventually break through the skin and expose itself...which could be a reason to remove the pin sooner than later. (Yes, the pin will eventually come out...and that was always part of the plan.) Good news is that the side of the jaw with the pin holding it together has finally started to heal. The bone is starting to come back together and fill in where there was nothing...very good! But there is still movement in that side of the jaw...so it is by no means 100% healed yet.

To tally it all up Dolce is now on the following meds:

1. Enacard - for his heart disease

2. Flagyl - for Giardia

3. Erythromycin - for his eye

4. Tramadol - pain reliever for his eye

As for the photo of Dolce...that is what he was doing as I typed this blog...just staying comfy in his bed...he's been a real trooper through all of this. I guess Dr. Adams was serious when he said that Dolce's a tough little guy.

p.s. Forgot to mention...until Dolce's eye is healed, he has to wear an e-collar while he's home alone...I hate doing it to him. I really wish I had a job that allowed me to take my pups with me.