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One eyed Otis


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Marlene

I got an email yesterday from one of my rescue orgs about a lil Shih Tzu who had happily been "fostered to adopt" but it was falling through because little Otis wouldn't stop barking at their cat.  A new foster home was needed.  I was sort of considering it....and my daughter stopped by to help me with something.  After she left I decided Otis needed *me*.  I logged back on to offer but he had quickly found a new foster home.

For some reason, this morning I decided to send rescue an email saying if Otis' new home ever needed a break, or vacation I could pupsit.  

Later today I got a call saying this foster home wasn't going to work out...they couldn't deal with his problems.  Would I consider?  Would I ?! I'll be right over 🙂

Otis is 10 yrs old and has been a back yard only dog all his life.  He was rescued by a good samaritan/cousin of the owner who surrendered him to a rescue.  

He has just had one eye removed due to glaucoma and low vision in the other one and is losing hearing but I'm told he gets around just fine.

I've had a blind dog in the past who had eyes removed due to glaucoma and also fostered a blind dog for this same rescue.  Anyone remember Snickers?

Shorty is now 9 and also losing his hearing.  He gets along fine with most other small dogs though he's not the "buddy type" and generally ignores other dogs that come to my home.

I can't wait to watch Otis heal and blossom.  Let the spoiling begin:-)

 

OTIS 1.jpg

OTIS 2.jpg

Edited by Marlene
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Sunlite

Aww, cutie for sure! Thank you for taking him. Our Cavies are older, 13 now but took them in at 11 yrs. They were breeders and from a hoarding situation. They spent an abundance of time out doors and their fav snack is dirt. Yes, dirt! They dig with their snouts and consume it so I'm always on top of them outside. Lily has 1 eye which we believe she lost to one of the 100 chickens living indoors and out. She sees better than the rest of them combined. 

I'm guessing he'll adjust with some time, patience is not very common with most these days. Again, thank you for giving him a chance!

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Marlene
 
The dogs had a late dinner because an errand ran late. I gave Otis more than usual and he soon settled down on my lap in an after dinner coma. But his head (ensconced in the cone) was slightly off the edge of the chair. He kept sniffing the air very slightly to the point he worried me - was he having a seizure? All of a sudden he flew off my lap.....he doesn't jump down, he puts his front paws out, kicks off and flies (remember he's missing one eye and the other has very little vision). He runnnns out to the kitchen and starts sniffing one of the cupboards like there's a rat or something in it. Scratching VERY hard. It's the cupboard where the kibble is kept in a sealed plastic container. I open the cupboard, remove the container and he continues to sniff around, standing on his tippy toes, grabs one of the cans of unopened soft food the rescue sent for him (he had a pretty invasive dental) with his teeth and starts biting it. He's a street punk thug I tell ya!
Meanwhile beautifully groomed, well behaved, reformed gangster, Shorty G is standing watching all this with eyes as big as saucers.
Every day Otis feels a little better, a little more confident and the backyard hooligan is sneaking out.
The funny thing is......today I thought he *might* be figuring out that heading towards the back slider gains access to the little patio and I'll whip off the belly band and let him pee on anything he wants. When he flew off of my lap, for a proud instant I thought "he has to go potty and wants out".
I was wrong
 
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PipsMom

“He's a street punk thug I tell ya” 

I can smell a regular storey  coming on here. Hahahahahaha  🤣

 

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Marlene
3 hours ago, PipsMom said:

“He's a street punk thug I tell ya” 

I can smell a regular storey  coming on here. Hahahahahaha  🤣

 

Every day it's something new and worse.  This morning I was up at 5............Otis slept in for awhile but when he woke up he made a B-line to the kitchen.  I'm going to have to move the covered trash can and the recycling container from the kitchen pantry into the garage.  Good thing he's not tall enough to counter surf........th?id=OIP.81xEbpJ8woBf6hLpwDEFfQHaFj&pid=Api&P=0&w=228&h=171

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Marlene

He's taking over the place.  The more comfortable he gets and the more he learns his way around (remember he only has one eye with limited vision and is mostly deaf) the more barriers he crosses.  I have let him sleep on my bed (like Shorty) because as an outside 24/7 dog for 10 years as well as wearing an e-collar because of stitches from the eye removal....it just seemed cruel to try and crate him.  I also wanted him close because he *could* scratch those stitches if he works it just right.  

There are little stairs that go up to my bed because Shorty shouldn't be jumping (back problem).  Otis has not walked up them.....yet.  I lift him up and down.  This morning after feeding him on the patio and letting him potty I put the belly band and the cone back on ........he walked back in, right to those little steps and hopped on the bed where he made himself quite comfortable thank you very much.  And I let him

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Sunlite

I'd say he's fitting in quite comfortably!

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Marlene

He will get the dratted cone off tomorrow - which will make both of us so much more comfortable.  Although he has been so good about the cone and wearing a belly band in the house.  He doesn't fight them.

There are moments where I think we're making teensey steps towards learning about potty happening outside and where we go to find our way outside.  Yesterday I was feeling a little cocky thinking "he's getting it".  But before bed time, he got up from his bed and headed towards the patio door so I followed him, opened the door to the patio, ripped off the belly band and nudged him outside.  It was cold and he does NOT like cold but I tried to wait him out, get him to walk around a little bit and lift his leg somewhere.......but he just kept making a beeline back to the closed door.  I felt sorry for him (and me - it was cold) and we went back in.  I left the belly band off while I prepared us to hop into bed.  As I was moving pillows to the bench at the end of the bed.......my bare foot stepped in a big puddle. One step forward 2 steps back.

I wish he was a girl..........who would squat and leave a puddle but no - he always lifts his leg on a piece of furniture 😞 

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Marlene
2 hours ago, PipsMom said:

He’s cold because of his haircut. Poor lad 🤨

Yes - I'm sure of it.  I always put a jacket on him when we go out for a walk but when trying to deal with the housebreaking issue I often want to move him out quickly.  As I've mentioned, his history is that at 10 yrs old he has been a backyard dog all his life.  He's "seen the light"  -  the inside of a warm house and he doesn't want to go back out.  He will make a wonderful companion to the right person but not being housebroken at all is going to make it more difficult. 

I would work with pee pads inside but him having very limited sight as well as nearly deaf make teaching him new things difficult.......thinking about using one and finding it.

I suppose I could keep him confined to a bathroom sized room with pee pads and he might be trained to using one.  But for all his life he has lived in his space (backyard) and lifted his leg when/wherever he wanted.  When he first got here he was definitely "marking" not peeing because of a full bladder.  He has been wearing a belly band and taken outside often to relieve his bladder and it seems to have helped.  He has "claimed his new territory" I guess LOL.

I have seen products used for males that involve a vertical post of some sort placed on a pee pad so a boy dog has a place to lift his leg.  I hesitate to try something like that for adoption purposes.  It would be so much better if he associated the urge to pee with a door going outside.  There are many people attracted to this particular rescue because it *is* their mission - senior dogs who have been given up because of owners dying, going into nursing homes or even family homes where their dog is not allowed/accepted and some seniors dumped in shelters just because they got old.  Those folks (often seniors them selves) are willing to accept a lot of foibles but peeing all over the furniture legs is not one of them.  I'm very fortunate because the whole first floor of my small home is tile - pee won't hurt it but I DO have some nice furniture I don't want constantly marked.

Verrrry lucky to be in this part of California.......at least I'm not dealing with snow, daily rain and freezing temperatures.  It's been in the 60's here since  Stevie Wonder (formerly known as Otis) came into my home. Supposed to be 68* today  🙂

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Marlene
Peeeee Uuuuu

Shorty is parked in front of the microwave. Stevie Wonder (formerly known as Otis) is there too - but he doesn't know why.

I'm making Mack's World Famous Seafood Noodle Casserole. It stinks to high heaven to me and probably all my neighbors. Not really made with the usual tuna and noodles but rather with mackerel, macaroni, peas, egg and vegetable broth.

They just polished off the rest of the Turkey Day Meatloaf (also branded Mack's World Famous) with ground turkey, rice, grated yam, dried cranberries, egg and broth.

Shorty knows what to expect and is counting the minutes until dinnertime but Stevie the Wonder Dog doesn't really get it. He is loving everything I feed him at mealtime but is the first dog I've ever had around who won't eat EVERYTHING. I have a feeling in his 10 years of living in the backyard he never had anything but kibble - probably Old Roy. He won't always eat a tidbit that I offer him and walks away. My dogs would eat rocks!

He also wasn't drinking water so I was adding 1/2 cup of watered down broth to his meals. A couple of days ago he was on my small patio where I had watered potted plants earlier. One of the big ones has a saucer under it which had filled with water. He drank from it! So for his next meal I offered no broth/water but put a saucer of water next to the plant. Voila! He is now drinking water.

My daughter had a good thought.......maybe he's always had dirty water from a dirty container in his backyard life and that's what he was used to.

Whew- seafood casserole is done and I'm going to whisk it into the backyard to cool and try to get the smell out of my kitchen

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Sunlite

Bon appetite! Hoping he enjoys!

My Cavies dig up dirt with their noses...and eat it. If they could only tell us but then ...maybe it's better they can't.

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Marlene
21 minutes ago, Sunlite said:

Bon appetite! Hoping he enjoys!

My Cavies dig up dirt with their noses...and eat it. If they could only tell us but then ...maybe it's better they can't.

Maybe they lived with truffle hunter pigs in a former life.......and learned to do it.  Many $$$$ per oz/lb.

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Sunlite
30 minutes ago, Marlene said:

Maybe they lived with truffle hunter pigs in a former life.......and learned to do it.  Many $$$$ per oz/lb.

I wish that were the case. They were rescued with many other dogs, cats, rabbits from a hoarding situation. They were bred constantly, and lived in horrible filth. Lily, who has the single eye, most likely lost it to 1 of the almost 100 chickens living in and out of the house. Like I said earlier it's probably a good thing they can't tell us...

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  • 4 weeks later...
Marlene

I took Otis to the vet yesterday for another re-check on the eye removal as well as looking at his "good eye".  Vet says all is well - his good eye which has no tear production which led to results of corneal damage is looking better too.

Then we went to have new pictures taken since his fur is growing out and he's definitely looking "cuter".  Hoping his pics attract the perfect forever home application.   

His fur is much different than Shorty's - more fine and silky.  It tangles and gets dirty much easier.  I think he might be part Maltese....?

Here are his pics from yesterday - the last one is from when he was first brought to rescue with dirty matted fur and his eye bulging from glaucoma.

https://www.peaceofminddogrescue.org/dog.php?id=3018

Edited by Marlene
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Sunlite

He's such a handsome man... I can't imagine him not finding a forever family to love on him! 

Lily still sees better than all the rest of my crew with her one eye. Nothing slows her down so hoping that won't stop someone from taking him.

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