Dogster

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A very sad day.

Donovan

I had to give Donovan the Dalmatian foster back to the Dalmatian rescue group because he did not get along with my Jindo Cody. Cody was trying to get along with him and make him one of the pack, but for some reason Donovan would growl at Cody whenever he saw him or was in the same room with him. They were okay in the yard together, I guess because there was more room. But in the house it was always tense and finally it became very difficult to keep them separate and one day they were both in my room at the same time and while trying to keep them from escalating into a fight I got badly bitten in the hand. I had to go to the hospital. So after thinking about it, I realized it wasn't fair to keep Donovan in the crate so much of the time and it wasn't fair to Cody to have someone in the house who just plain didn't like him. So we returned Donovan to the rescue group. Sometimes fostering works when you have a pack already and sometimes it doesn't. But I didn't want to put my dogs in danger.

Still Missing Lucian

It has been about three weeks now since Lucian died and it is still really hard. I miss him all the time. He was such a sweet sweet Dalmatian boy. I did contact a Dalmatian rescue group and I"m fostering a five year old male Dalmatian named Donovan. This poor boy was at a shelter for three months and is the most emaciated dog I've ever seen in my life. He also had some kind of wound on his tail. I took him to the vet and his wound is being treated and I am feeding him four times a day to get his weight back up. He is a good boy, although he doesn't get along with all of my other dogs. I think Lucian would approve because this boy really needed some help. It's kind of helping me to have a Dal to take care of. He's not replacing Lucian though. No one could. But he needed help and I can give it to him right now. There's room in my home and my heart.

January 6, 2008

I'm Lucian's human and I'm writing this for him. I woke up on Sunday morning January 6, 2008 and Lucian was sleeping on my bed as usual. I had to get ready to go to a baby shower, so I let him sleep and started to get ready. When I was almost ready to go I came back into my room and wanted to get him up and make sure he went outside and give him his breakfast before I left for the day. When I tried to wake him, I realized he wasn't sleeping at all, but that at sometime during the night my Lucian, my love, had passed away during the night. I was devastated. He had been playing with his toys during the day on Saturday, eating, and doing all the things he normall does, just being Lucian.

The vet came and picked him up and took him to the animal hospital and they did a necropsy and they didn't find anything wrong. Nothing toxic, no tumors, no infection. So it is still a mystery why my boy passed away. He was approximately 12. So he had a pretty long life for a Dalmatian, but I am mystified as to what happened which makes it a little harder to understand. He did have arthritis and his spine was bridged so at some point he was going to have trouble walking and I guess he avoided that and for that I'm glad for him. But I am so sad.

Thank you to all of you who recently asked him to be a pup pal and sent him presents for his birthday. His two furry brothers and sister are consoling me. I'm glad I have them. But each one is special in their own way and Lucian didn't let me out of his sight. He was alway right there. Well, that's all I can say right now.

I love you Loosh and I miss you awful.