Noah's trials and tribulations...

Noah has had quite an ordeal. Noah’s injuries included a broken left front leg, broken jaw, and numerous other cuts and bruises. Here are the updates...

 

Update: 10/16/06: Noah has had a set back. The pin in his leg moved and he had to have surgery last Thursday to re-set it. His leg is really infected. He stayed at the Vet until yesterday afternoon. They have now changed his meds. I got him to eat boiled chicken and cottage cheese. He has to have the pin in for three more weeks and then complete rest for two weeks after that. Hopefully they will be able to get the bone infection cleared up, so he doesn't have to have anymore surgery after the pin is out. This poor boy. He's such a sweetheart. I go home everyday at lunch to let him out and try and get him to eat.

Update 11/2/06: Unfortunately Noah has had another set back. The pin in his femur bone has continued to want to migrate, so he had to have a KE Apparatus put on in addition the pin already in his femur. The KE is attached to the outside of his leg with two pins going into the femur in three locations and is then attached to the original pin to make everything sturdier. This has to stay on a minimum of three weeks and Noah has to have complete crate rest. He continues to have a great attitude. He is now at his ideal weight of 49 pounds. All the hair he was missing on various parts of his body has grown back. He has a beautiful black shiny coat. When he was found his tail had a ball of stick tights so big he couldn’t hold his tail up, so the staff at Rolling Hills had to shave a lot of that hair off. It is now growing back as well. Noah is one special boy. You can really see the appreciation in his eyes for all the care he has received. Even thought he has been confined we have been able to see some of his personality. We know he LOVES tummy rubs and to be talked to. He likes to be with you as much as possible. He has a bit of separation anxiety. Rolling Hills said he would bark whenever he was left alone in the treatment area and he sometimes barks when I leave for work in the mornings. Everyone at Rolling Hills just loves him and comments on what a great dog he is and especially how CUTE he his. He has wonderful ears with fluffy hair hanging over the edges that flop when he goes outside to potty. He has a beautiful face and deep brown soulful eyes. I can’t wait until he is healed and has the opportunity to be a REAL dog again and play and run in the yard with his foster brother and sisters. After Noah is healed and available for adoption he will require a fenced yard. NO EXCEPTIONS. He was hit by a car once and seems to have a keen interest in them, so he must be protected with a fenced yard. I will post more updates on Noah as he progresses.

1/10/2007: Noah progress report:
Noah is still in recovery from his broken leg. Because of Noah’s poor nutrition, numerous other injuries his body was trying to heal along with a lot of infection the healing process of Noah’s bone has been slow. New radiographs were sent to the University Of Missouri Vet School to get the opinion of their orthopedic specialist. The specialist recommended that Noah have surgery to remove the large pin in his shoulder, so that area could start healing in. That surgery was done December 21st. His progress will be reevaluated in a month. We are all keeping our fingers crossed that he will heal enough to remove the rest of the pins and not require anymore additional surgery. Noah’s attitude still remains happy, although he wishes he could interact with the rest of the pack.

2/1/2007: Noah progress report:
Last Thursday Noah finally had the KE apparatus removed from his leg. The healing at the fracture line is not as strong as the Vets would like to see it, so he is on complete crate rest for a week. After that he will be able to start moderate exercise. I am planning on taking him out on a long line this weekend if the weather permits. The Vet said if his leg doesn’t re-fracture in three weeks he should be out of the woods. He is really full of energy and has been much harder to contain on potty breaks. He is very interested in everything outside. He loves to eat the snow by the mouth fulls. In my opinion he is going to be pretty high energy. He is just chomping at the bit to play with our dogs. He continues to be in good spirits and is always loving when I take him out of the crate.

He has developed a fear of people he doesn’t know since he has been cooped up for so long. We live in the country and don’t have many visitors, so he is going to have to be re-introduced to people. Right now he is scared and barks when he sees new people. I am sure once he can come out of the crate and live life as a normal dog it won’t take long to get him to come around. I will report more as Noah’s recovery continues.

Update 2/18/07: Noah got to play in the snow with his foster brother Jax today!! They had a great time. I stayed out with them, so they didn't get too rough. He is still limping some, but I'm sure it will take time to build his muscles back up to what they should be. He's such a sweetheart.

Noah Update 5-23-2007:

Noah has been taking obedience class with a certified animal behaviorist to help him overcome his fear of people and new situations. He is doing wonderful on the obedience side and is starting to relax in class and seems to be starting to enjoy himself. We are now in our second session of the six week classes, so we now have new dogs and new people. Last week in class he finally let a gal in class give him a little rub without showing fear. I have great confidence that with continuing classes and exposing him to new situations he will over come these fear issues. I love working with him and seeing the progress he is making.

He is now completely housebroken and can be trusted to sleep loose in the house at night. He sleeps on the dog bed next to our bed or on the bed in our guest bedroom. He has learned to sit, lay, stay, shake, high five and roll over. He is a very quick study and is very treat motivated. He has finally learned to get along better with our cats and can be trusted with them. He LOVES squeaky toys and always has one in his mouth. He follows me from room to room and lies at my feet or on the bed or couch, so he can be near me. He is very much a people person dog.

He still has a slight limp that you can see when he trots and doesn’t put his full weight on his left front leg when sitting. His Veterinarian has told us his physical limitations are NO agility, fly ball anything that will put a lot of strain on his leg. He needs good nutrition and will need joint supplements as he ages. He can play ball, frisbee and play with other dogs. I am still careful to make sure the rough housing with his foster brother doesn’t get out of hand. You must remember the last pins came out Feb 1st and he couldn’t have loose exercise until the end of Feb, so it will take time for everything to heal strong and all muscle tissue to return. He is still VERY interested in passing vehicles and he MUST have a fenced yard in his new home. He is also a bird, bug, butterfly chaser and likes to make sure all the birds are out of the trees in our yard. Believe me he lets them know these are my trees and stays out of them.

So I guess I can say Noah is making progress however small they may seem, but it is actually a lot in the scheme of things, especially considering the tramatic events of last year.