A Dog Worth Saving

TORRINGTON, CT- Why adopt a dog who has only six to nine months to live? Why set yourself up for the almost certain heartache that comes from getting attached?

Because every day is filled with the joy and happiness that a special animal can bring to a loving home.

Meet Checker, a three year old Chow/Mix who suffers from kidney failure caused by an untreated heartworm condition that almost killed him seven months ago.

Checker came to the Little Guild of Saint Francis in Falls Village from Fredericksburg, Virginia where he had shuffled from shelter to shelter after being picked up as a stray.

He was in a place where Pit Bulls are regularly given only five to seven days before they are put down.

His first guardian angel, a woman who rescued pit bulls named Shawna, took a liking to this friendly boy and did all she could to keep him safe and alive.

Finally, having run out of places to keep Checker, Shawna reached out to the Little Guild with a desperate plea that they help find homes for eight dogs in danger of not making it.

All came to Falls Village in May of 2008 in hopes of finding homes, as of December of ‘08, every one had found a home but Checker.

Once at the shelter, the health problems Checker had became known and it was not a good prognosis.

He was suffering from Heartworm, an illness that allows small worms to overtake the heart, limiting blood flow to the body and like in Checkers case, causing kidney failure.

The shame of his case is that heartworm is easily avoidable if a dog is given inexpensive, preventative care early in life.

Starting in May, Checker was sent to the Sand Road Animal Hospital in West Cornwall where he began the firstof two heartworm treatments.

It was his response to a tough treatment that first started to win the hearts of the people at Little Guild, including volunteer Liz Hall.

“The fact that Checker fought so hard and stayed so friendly during his entire ordeal made us all fall in love with him,” Hall said.

There were ups and down over the next four months and at times, the folks at the Guild thought they might have to throw in the towel on Checker but his refusal to give up kept them hopeful.

“There were times Checker would get very depressed,” Hall said, “We had all grown so close to him though that we decided to keep him out of his kennel and on the floor with us all the time we were here. He had full run of the place.”

Keeping the dogs weight up became a challenge so the volunteers took measures into their own hands.

“We would cook up hamburger for him every day,” Hall said, “It just became a mission for us to keep him going.”

Hall, a Chow owner herself, also wanted Checker to experience something her dog loved; snow.

“So our next goal was to keep Checker going until he could see his first snowfall. He was so happy when he saw it he would drive his nose deep in the snow then come up shaking it off.”

It was during that time that every person that came in to look for an animal to adapt, they would meet Checker who was friendly and loving to everyone he met.

Would Checker find a home? Perhaps because two people were thinking of becoming dog owners again, our paths were meant to cross.

My wife Debbie and I had lost our best friend, Prince to cancer almost two years ago. Prince was a Cocker Spaniel who was our “Boy”. He was with us for twelve years and it ripped our hearts out when we had to put him down but we never regretted a moment we had with him.

When you have a dog in the house for that long, you just know you will eventually get another but it was hard to imagine us having any dog but Prince.

Our daughter Kim has a Shih Tzu named Lilly who would to visit Grandma and Grandpa for sleep overs and we would have a blast with her.

We would go back and forth on getting another dog ourselves so one day I took a trip up to Little Guild after almost passing out when I looked at what dogs were costing in the pet stores or on line.

Why not rescue?

On my visit I saw Checker but also saw he was suffering from kidney failure. I was not sure Debbie or I would want to go through that pain again of losing a friend.

Those fears went away when I convinced Deb to make a stop at the Guild. She saw Checker and it was love at first sight.

After speaking with Dr. Katie Vagliano, the vet who had been taking care of Checker and who also was our vet with Prince, we carefully thought out what it would take to care for a dog with these conditions and his long term prognosis.

We went up together a few days later and met with the great people at Little Guild who were so happy someone was thinking about giving Checker a home.

Checker had been adapted out once before during his stay at the Guild but was returned.

The amazing thing about what happened while we were signing papers for Checker was that every person who came into the shelter knew this big black bundle of love with a purple tongue. Each was so happy to hear he was going to have a home for Christmas.

We brought Checker home on December 10 and he is doing terrific. He has figured out that this is okay, I can sleep on the couch, the bed, eat good food, play and get as much attention as I want.

He energy level is terrific, he can’t wait for the next snow storm, he misses the snow when we get rain. He enjoys taking us for walks but we have to be careful with him because he also suffers from hip dysplasia so while his mind is three, his body is older.

One of the challenges of having a dog like Checker is being aware of how to keep him as healthy as we can.

He became dehydrated about ten days after we brought him home, prompting a visit to Sand Road where we learned how to give him fluid with an IV bag. He got some at the vet and we gave him a bag ourselves (my daughter Nina and Deb are now almost Vets). He has been fine since and his appetite is back to normal.

We have three cats, two of whom have learned to tolerate the new addition, the third who is a 17 year old calico, doesn’t want to hear it.

They have faced off in brief encounters three times, Checker has come out on the losing side twice, the third was a draw.

He wants us to keep that quiet, male dominance and all you know.

Checker is right now sleeping on our king size bed and all is good in the world for this remarkable dog with a huge heart.

I think he is going to keep us.