Dina Update - Written By Her Foster Mom

To read previous blogs on Dina click here.


I had to do an update to show that she looks like a normal dog now as her nasty scars are totally covered by new coat. :) You can see that she still flattens her tail to her butt at times butttttttt ... I had quite an exciting day! Dina comes to get a tiny treat after I do Berry's eyes and she gets her treat. So Dina puts her feet up on my chair this afternoon and gets her treat. Feet down and then up again so I pet her. Feet down and then up again so I pet her again. Feet come up for the fourth time so I reach over and pick her up. She commences to stand on my body with her front paws on my chest. Then she *kisses* me on the nose while her tail is wagging!!! Wow, was I surprised! She's still a *tad* heavy so I turned her around so she could sit down at my side. Nooooo, she climbed up on my body again. Now it was getting close to dinner time so Gilly stood up to my left to kiss my face and persuade me to go feed him. I had my head turned so Dina kissed my ear. Another nice surprise and her tail was wagging again. Finally I succumbed to their blandishments and took them to the kitchen for dinner. Alan got home a few minutes later and she put her paws up on the front of the sofa and he picked her up and she settled right down to relax on his leg.

I chose the photos I did because you can see my pant leg in the one below so you can tell that she's comfortably close to me. And then there's the dandy single eye as she got even closer. :)

Some things still spook her or make her nervous but she gets over it more quickly. All in all I'm very pleased for and with her. :)

Dina - Saturday Update - Written By Her Foster Mom

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Miss Dina is doing great! She was unpleasantly surprised by mean ol’ Foster Mom picking her up Friday night and taking her to the big chair where everyone cuddles together. Whoa, this was not what Dina had in mind! She was quite scared, pretty much too scared to move. :( After a good 20 minutes or so of sitting on Foster Mom's leg and digging her front paws in she finally relaxed enough to lie down. I was able to stay in the chair with her for a good half hour longer before it was time to go outside to potty and off to bed.

This morning she came to me and put her feet up and was given some kibble for treats. She LIKES treats!!! :) Later she did the same with Foster Papa who picked her up and he, Janna, and Dina had a long nap. After another trip outside and dinner she came to me and put her paws up and seemed quite comfortable when I put my hands out and picked her up. She settled down to snooze right away so it's obvious she's a lot more relaxed! I am getting nothing done today except for wonderful progress with Miss Dina. Oh well, Foster Papa put some dinner in the oven. :) I hope you enjoy the photo of her in a different harness dress and Gilly in a matching harness vest.

Dina's Vet Appointment - Written By Her Foster Mom

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Miss Dina wanted to look good for her first outing. She wore a 100% cotton dress/harness for her visit to Dr. Pam where everyone OOoohhhhhed and Aaahhhhhed over her.

She did much better than I expected. I picked her up in the house and held her while my husband drove and continued to hold her until I put her on the table for the vet to examine. She was nervous but didn't try to do any jumping around. My vet looked at her and decided NOT to take out her stitches. She said that for sutures that are holding together skin that was pulled together to cover an open area 2 to 3 weeks would be fine for stitch removal. That made me happy as I prefer to be cautious. We'll be back next Friday to have her stitches removed.

Dina needed a rabies shot as the staff in Chicago forgot to do that before she left. When assured that the only other vaccination was done April 10th at the shelter my vet was willing to give her the rabies vaccination. She's very good about NOT giving vaccinations to a sick or stressed dog....which is stated on every vial of vaccines.

I have permission to bathe Dina with Malaseb and scrub her (other than her owies) with the Zoom Groom to get the crud off her skin. My fingers couldn't resist pulling stray hairs off the tips of her ears in the car and when the little clumps of hairs came off so easily with dark gunk at the roots it was obvious that the beautiful darkness of her ears is at least partially yeast. So she's to get Listerine gold wiped on her ears twice daily.

Dina is 19 lbs. and has bilateral luxating patellas so Dr. Pam told me to continue to feed her lightly so she doesn't gain weight. We both feel it would not hurt her to loose a pound or two. Maybe in the next week we'll try a short walk to the park to start exercising her body and getting her muscles and ligaments built up to give strength to her knees.

This is more than you probably wanted to know....but I'm glad for the way things went today. I think it's about time to start holding her every day for a few minutes. She's doing a great job of being part of the pack here, but with her skin problems she's going to have to get used to being touched and held.

Dina Update For Wednesday And Thursday - Written By Her Foster Mom

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Yesterday was kind of quiet and we seemed to go a bit backwards as Dina didn't seem to want to be in the living room with everyone else. I finally got smart and opened the wire crate in the living room so she could go into it. That made all the difference in the world. She spent all afternoon and evening there with the door open.

Bigger and better things today: we got some tail wags and Dina is a lot more willing and able to take treats from my fingers. I don't have to stretch my arm as far as it will go to get her to take a treat (kibble) from my fingers anymore. She is coming closer and closer. She will come back repeatedly for repeat treats. She will come when another dog is getting treats to see if she gets extras AND her tail is not always pointing down!!!

I came downstairs the other morning to find that dear hubby had taken all the dogs out together so I continued with that. Dina wore her leash and I dropped it to the ground when outside, but I made sure I could grab it if she began to have problems with another dog. Today she's following the other kids in and out without a leash.

Tomorrow morning we'll take her to my vet to get her stitches out. That's NOT going to make her happy as she's still not happy to be held. Please keep her in your thoughts.

Dina - Tuesday Update - Written By Her Foster Mom

Dina seemed to be bothering her owie last night so Alan and I corralled her and put a little shirt on her. She wasn't happy about it....but *I* sure slept better knowing that there was some protection for her stitches! Dina is getting a tad of interaction with the other kids as Gilly (my beloved hooligan) pushed down the gate and came over to say hello. She and Gilly did a cute circle "dance" sniffing each other and seemed to find each other very acceptable.

I had to bring Dina in the living room with me today as she was again bothering her sides and she's now sleeping under the table to the left of my chair. We are *finally* seeing Dina do something in the dog run besides potty (still perfect!) and walk/run back and forth. Today she can SIT which makes me very happy. Obviously she's getting more relaxed. The first one she's actually sitting near me...old poison ivy. ;) As long as I was looking in the other direction it was okay for a minute. The last photo is her reply to a question I asked her. I asked her what she thinks of puppy mills and shelters as opposed to foster homes. :)

Dina - Monday Morning Update - Written By Her Foster Mom

Good morning, Dina! I opened Dina's crate and managed to clip the leash to her collar. I had to move away from the open crate as far as possible before Dina would come out. She then walked outside with me and peed and pooped like a very good girl. No accidents inside so far!

This morning after her potty trip I didn't fix breakfast immediately. She popped out of her crate and came to the kitchen gate repeatedly which is more than she did all day yesterday.

Dina didn't want to eat with me sitting on the kitchen floor today. I finally got all the way down on my side and pushed the bowl closer to her crate. Then she came part way out and ate. She may have been intimidated due to all the whining, yowling, and fussing from Janna and Berry with backup singing from Gilly who prefer to be in the kitchen when I'm preparing breakfast.

After breakfast she spent a lot of time standing at the gate looking out at her housemates.

We went out for the after breakfast potty and again she peed very readily. It looked obvious to me that she had been "holding it" for her trip outside.

We've heard bits of vocalization from Dina. She's probably objecting to being in the kitchen where she can't see me or the other dogs. Hmmm, make that just the other dogs! She still treats me like I'm poison ivy. :(

I'm thinking of moving her to the hallway where she can see what we are doing in the living room.

I made her appointment to get her stitches out on Friday morning. I sure hope I can get her more comfortable with me before then.

Dina Update!

FANTASTIC! That's the word the surgeon used to describe how Dina is doing!!!

There's no swelling, the skin looks healthy, it is healing nicely and Dina no longer seems to be in pain. Dina has been leaving the site alone and didn't seem to enjoy having the E-collar on, so they removed it, although they are watching her carefully. The bandage has been removed and she will need her stitches removed next week and some TLC.

The surgeon simply can't believe how well Dina is doing!! Looks like Dina has beat all the odds and has a bright, happy future ahead of her!


The following update was written by Dina’s Foster Mom:

Irene reported that Dina is a very sweet girl and behaved very well on her travels through Ohio. Alan and I brought her home and put her in the dog run where she promptly peed, pooped, and peed some more. She is very sweet, hand shy, and nervous. She seems marginally more comfortable with Alan, possibly because it was a female vet who did her surgery? I took a bunch of photos although it was very difficult to get any of her face. She came in a large crate with a beautifully designed extra-comfy pad that went up both sides of the crate. I moved that right to the wire crate in the kitchen which will be her special place for now. Her repaired injury and the extent of obvious skin problems is heartbreaking.

Sunday, I made Dina eat her breakfast with me sitting on the floor nearby. She had to think about it a bit but finally decided to dig in. A while later I was putting away the extra scrambled eggs made with cottage cheese and cubed ham so I offered her a piece. She backed into the back wall of her crate so I put it down. She then picked it up and ate it. A few minutes later I offered a piece in my fingers and she eventually took it!!! I wouldn't be trying to push her so fast if it weren't that she's going to need a bunch of stitches removed next week, poor baby.

Please keep Dina in your thoughts as she continues to recover from her injuries.