Ponch, Now Gus, In His Forever Home

Ponch, Now Gus, In His Forever Home

Hi! I thought I'd send you a Gus update! He's doing very well and has totally settled in with us. No more crate, no separation anxiety, just a happy pup.  We've had a couple sessions with a trainer and are doing well managing his meetings with other dogs.  He likes his space. He still loves his car rides, and his long walks around Burlington.  We switched his food and he's doing much better digesting it.  We love having him in our family!

We noticed 3 weeks ago that he had been losing a lot of weight, despite eating the same amount of a high quality food.  We've had a stressful go of it with three rounds of tests at the Vet this month.  The good news is today we found out that it's due to a manageable condition called Pancreatic Exocrine Insufficiency, which can be managed with supplements.  We have a great vet and are working with him to get him back to a healthy weight.  The good news is that his energy level is back to normal and he seems like his old self again.

We just thought you would want to know.  He just ate a big meal and is lounging on the couch happy as a clam!  We will, I just was waiting until we had  some concrete information to share.  We're really relieved to know what the problem is and to have a plan to manage it.  Merry Christmas to you and your family as well.


Gus's Forever Mom





To his former foster mom Christine:  

"You hold a special place in my heart because you took Ponch despite his tough description.
You saved him Christine. Thank you!
He fits in perfectly in Vermont!"

Jerrilyn

Update on Gus

Gus was rescued from a Lancaster, PA puppymill at the end of June,2008. He was just recently adopted by my wonderful neighbors and their children right here in York, PA. Below is a recent email that Maureen (Gus' new forever mom) sent to me on his progress. These mill dogs are certainly special creatures! It is hard to believe that they bring so much joy to one's life after all that they have been put through.

-- Tiffany,


I just wanted to write you a quick email to thank you for everything with Gus. He’s such a wonderful dog. When we saw you and Ron with him, Odie and Lelo, we were convinced that what we wanted was a puppy, but after meeting Gus, we fell in love with him and we knew he was the right dog for our family, and after seeing how much work a puppy is, we now know that isn’t what we wanted.

He hasn’t gone to the bathroom once in our house – in fact, he has this little dance that he does to let us know that he needs to go outside. I’ve returned a few times and his poochie pad has been wet, but every time it’s happened it’s because he wouldn’t go before I left, so I now know that he needs at least 15 minutes before I leave to go pee outside.

As I’ve figured, his favorite spot in the house is right next to the sliding glass door to the patio, right next to me while I work. He’s extremely obedient and a very fast learner. He’s learned to walk on heel and sits and stays for his food. He’s also learned “the point” (to go in the direction that I point to), “the dance” (getting up on his hind legs when I hold out my hands), “walk” (walking backwards on his hind legs), and “sleeping in his house” (going to his cage for bedtime). We are working on “down.”


-- Maureen