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Health & Fitness

Update on Joy: Exciting Progress in this Dog's Journey!

Joy was found abandoned and helpless in a rest area the day after Thanksgiving.This is an update on her journey to health and someday a home of her own!

Joy the Miniature Pinscher dog continues to progress in her journey to lose weight, become healthier, gain strength in her little legs, experience new things and prepare herself to someday share her unconditional love in a loving home of her own.

Joy now weighs 17.7 lbs, down 3.7 lbs from her morbidly obese original weight of 21.4 lbs (an adult Min Pin should weigh between 8-10 lbs). She has lost a total of 2 inches from her waist during the time that she has been at Prairie's Edge Humane Society after being found the day after Thanksgiving, abandoned in a rest area along Interstate 35, barely able to walk.  Her waist is now 21 inches, her legs are getting stronger and she is walking further every day. Her hind legs no longer bow out to the side as she has lost enough weight that they are more directly underneath her body making it so much easier for her to walk.

Her workouts consist of doing "laps" in the PEHS shelter and she is now up to 7 laps each morning.  She also receives a lot of good exercise on her own just following staff as they go about their daily duties.  She is a very curious little girl.  She has reached a couple of really exciting goals this past week.  While staying at my home over the weekend she went for a walk of one block.  She not only walked the length of the block but she did it keeping up to my own two dogs.  I had to carry her for the remaining portion of the walk but we were so excited that she had walked as far as she did.  This is such an exciting accomplishment for a dog that could not walk more than five feet just over a month ago without falling over or having her legs slide out from under her because they could not withstand her weight. 

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She is now walking up a few stairs on her own as long as the steps are low enough and there are not too many.  It's a slow process for her and requires patience under close supervision.  She does not walk down steps at this point as her legs and body are not steady enough to allow her to do so safely.  She seems to know this and will wait at the top of the stairs for you to carry her.  I fully believe that she understands you are helping her and is so appreciative.

She has also begun to run a little as well, which is very exciting even if it is only for a few feet, she sort of gallops like a horse.  She tries so hard each day and does get very tired out by the afternoon so she continues to nap most of the afternoon.

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She is making new friends and discovering new things every day. If you can put out of your mind what her previous life might have been, it is very interesting and somewhat fun to watch her as she experiences things for the first time.  When she first came to PEHS she did not know what dog food was or what a food dish was for and would only eat her food off the floor.  Now she will eat out of her dish but occasionally reverts back to waiting for us to put a few kibbles of her food on the floor to get her started eating, then she will eventually move to the dish and finish her food.  We continue to work on this with her.  She also will at times pick up her own food out of her dish and place it on the floor herself and then eat it.  A strange and somewhat comical action but we do not know what her previous eating habits or conditions were so we have no idea why she does this.  She is eating healthy food and a healthy amount now and that is what matters so if she has a few quirky eating habits, that's ok.

As I mentioned, Joy has been experiencing new things all the time, especially new sounds.  On a previous stay at my home she would bark each time the toilet was flushed.  She has now learned that the toilet is not a dangerous creature and she no longer barks at it, which is a good thing!  I happened to blow my nose one day however and that was evidently a new sound to her as well, so we are now working on understanding that nose blowing is not a threat or danger to a small dog. (It has given me a bit of a complex as I have never scared anyone else by blowing my nose!) Again, a somewhat comical situation but she learns quickly and she trusts me so I am confident that we will overcome our fear of nose blowing.  She discovered squeak toys during her last stay with me.  I had stepped on one of my dogs numerous toys, it squeaked and Joy quickly came to investigate what the noise was.  I made it squeak again for her a few times and she would sniff it and then back away from it.  She finally pounced on it but didn't seem to know what to do with it after that so she just laid down on it and looked at me for help.  She has not shown any interest in toys since then but we will keep working on learning what toys are all about and that they can be fun!

She is curious about the TV but has never barked at anything on it, she just seems to watch it with very curious eyes.  Other than the couple of odd little quirks that we are working through, Joy is such a good girl when she stays at my home.  She has never had an accident in my house, she always does her business outside.  She loves to snuggle on the couch with you or be held with her head on your shoulder until she falls asleep. She sleeps in her crate each night and once you tuck her in for the night you do not hear a peep from her until you get up in the morning.  She loves lots of blankets for her bed so that she can burrow herself under them.  She is a wonderful house guest!

Our shelter veterinarian continues to be very pleased with her progress and is hopeful that by mid January Joy will be healthy enough to have her spay surgery.  She is able to breath with greater ease since loosing weight as she no longer has that pressure on her lungs and diaphragm.  She is so much healthier and happier.

Joy is simply an amazing little dog with a big heart and a very strong will to survive.  While we do not know what her past living conditions were or how anyone could abandon her when she was so helpless, it is very obvious that she is now thriving on love and attention and wants nothing more than to give it in return as well.  We have received many comments and well wishes from so many of you in regards to Joy and we want everyone to know how much Joy and all of us who are caring for her appreciate your support. 

I have attached the links to the two previous stories on the Journey of Joy.

http://northfield.patch.com/blog_posts/the-journey-of-joy-the-dog

http://northfield.patch.com/blog_posts/update-on-the-journey-of-joy-the-dog

 

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