Stanley’s Road to Recovery – 43 Pounds And Counting !

Stanley has now gained 13 pounds putting him at an almost healthy 48 pounds!  This has been a very exciting and thrilling challenge for Stanley who dances around at the sight of food, walks backwards when I walk down the hall with his food (to be sure he keeps a close eye) and chows his food down by smushing his face as deep into his dish as he possibly can.  He doesn’t just like food he LOVES it and he doesn’t care what kind.

  

 

Earlier this week in his excitement over food he somehow managed to smash his food bowl. We were sitting on the balcony so nobody knows exactly how it went down but those bowls are solid ceramic so I’m impressed however he managed to do it.

 

Saturday morning we strolled down to Dunkin Donuts to sit outside for a coffee and Stanley was the talk of the tables.  Everyone wanted to come over and touch his face and comment on how interesting looking he was, he behaved like a perfect gentleman.  He adores having his face smushed and touched and he’s not scared of anything or anyone.  Which is good because you can’t exactly pass a dog like Stanley and not stop to ask a couple of questions.  After getting pet by about 20 people he finally settled under the table for a little shade and some time out from the spotlight.  Later he got to meet a couple of dogs though he’s lacking a little in the dog language department, something we’ll need to work on in the next few weeks. He had a great morning and was totally wiped by the time he got home. 
 

He’s doing fantastic with potty training, not quite 100% but getting pretty darn close as long as you stay on top of him.  Crate training has been a huge help for both the potty training and keeping him out of trouble. I’m forunate to have a job where Stanley can come to work with me so he can be crated for short periods of time though after the first day he seems completely fine with being crated.  He is super food motivated which is a huge help so he’s eating his meals and the crate which has give him a very positive association with being crated.  So much so that getting his bowl into the crate can be a bit of a challenge while he’s whining behing me trying to rush into the crate as I’m leaning into it.  He’s learned how to sit now it’s time for him to learn how to wait.  My previous dog had to sit and wait for a cue before every meal and the same rules will apply to Stanley but I’m cutting him a little slack for now because he’s still got some pounds to put on. 

 

Since Stanley came to the SPCA in a very poor physical condition and was on a number of medications I decided to run a full blood panel on him to make sure there weren’t any major issues.  The results came in today and he’s all clear.  So between the weight gain and the good blood results it’s looking like he’s about ready to do his part to reduce pet overpopulation. I think the hardest part of getting neutered for Stanley will be having to skip breakfast the morning of his surgery. 

 

Stanley’s going to the country this weekend so I’ll be interested to see if he can put those little webbed feet to work and go for a swim.  If it happens I will absolutely take some photos to share next week.  So far I’ve just been snapping photos of him with my cell phone but I’m hoping to get some nice photos of him this weekend that can be used when he’s fixed and ready to start looking for his forever home.  I know many of you are secretly (and not so secretly) hoping I will keep him but I’m really hoping to have the opportunity to foster a few more dogs before I adopt a dog.  There are so many other dogs out there, who need fosters homes just as badly and I see them everyday so it feels in some way selfish right now to adopt a dog when finding Stanley a home means I can help more dogs. 

Tara