Residents
BAYZIL – 2021
Bayzil, originally from New Mexico, comes to Dog Lodge Sanctuary via Camo Rescue in Houston. He is a 13 y.o, black Miniature Schnauzer mix. Bayzil has the sweetest personality – very quiet, very gentle… Certainly, he has had his fair share of medical issues including a ruptured eardrum and hearing deficit, and sadly, his vision has begun to fail him.
While Bayzil gets along with all the dogs, it seems that he would rather stay with staff and volunteers. He happily follows them around and everyone has learned not to leave anything lying around because this inquisitive old man will get into it in a flash.
Bayzil is a happy addition to our residents’ group. We are delighted to have him with us…
CHARLIE – 2019
Charlie was living on the street, roaming with a group of dogs, when Rachel Swift saw him and rescued him. She took him in and had a preliminary vet evaluation done and then contacted us to see if he might be a candidate for the Dog Lodge program. It took a while but after we were able to meet Charlie and do our behavioral evaluation, we decided that he would be a perfect fit for Dog Lodge.
Charlie is as sweet as they come. He wants love, love, and more love. He is so gentle and patient. For a dog that was roaming the streets, he is amazingly well adjusted and has fit in beautifully with the other residents.
Our medical evaluation showed that Charlie is high heartworm positive. We are giving him his prep meds in order to begin heartworm treatment. Additionally, X-rays showed that Charlie’s hip problems, originally diagnosed as dysplasia before he arrived at Dog Lodge, are actually the result of traumatic injury to his hip that healed improperly. The nature of the injury leads us to believe that he was probably hit by a car. The hip is so badly injured that Charlie is not a candidate for a standard hip replacement, but rather he would need to have a much more sophisticated surgery to rebuild the whole hip. In the meantime, we have him on meds to keep him comfortable and as pain free as possible. Surprisingly, his condition only slows him down a little bit. He has learned to bunny hop and he still loves to go on short walks.
This is one happy pooch, and we are thrilled to have him with us.
GRADY – 2022
Grady is a Chihuahua/terrier mix who comes to us from the Humane Society of North Texas, Saxe-Forte Animal Shelter in Fort Worth. He is the sweetest little guy who was rescued from a hoarding situation. As is typical for the dogs coming into Dog Lodge, he is not only senior at the age of 12, but he has some physical problems that he is dealing with too. The list of issues includes an inguinal hernia, dental disease, a heart murmur, an old pelvic fracture, degenerative joint disease of the neck, elbow, lumbar spine and hips, and chronic allergic dermatitis probably from a flea allergy. He weighs in at 13.5 lbs.
After going through his intake medical examination at ABC Animal and Bird Clinic in Sugar Land, Grady started his 10-day quarantine at our clinic at Dog Lodge. And then he met the other residents. We have a tried-and-true protocol for introducing the dogs and Grady was accepted into the group with no problems at all.
Grady is a funny little man who walks with a very distinct limp. He takes pain meds to help ease his discomfort and gets a medicated bath every week to help the skin on his back which had turned black and hard. It’s working!! The hair is already starting to grow back.
Grady is enjoying all the attention and “lovin’” that he is getting from the staff and volunteers. His favorite bed is the one that sits on top of a Kuranda bed. He climbs up to it as if he were scaling a mountain. He lies on top surveying everything and everyone around him, totally content.
My thanks go to Vanessa and Danielle from Humane Society of North Texas, first for reaching out to us about Grady and then for driving him from Fort Worth to Fairfield where I met them. Thank you for helping to make Grady’s transition so smooth. Thank you for what you do….
JAVA
Story Coming
JADE – 2020
Missy and Jade are 13 ½ -year-old full sisters who came to us from Sadler, Texas. They have lived together for all their lives and are completely bonded. If they are separated for too long, they fret terribly so we have accommodated them in every way possible. They eat side-by-side in their room and share a bedroom at night. We usually see them sleeping on the same dog bed or on side-by-side beds – always within sight of each other. However, they also grumble a lot! With seemingly no provocation, they will face each other and grinch and growl. It’s actually very cute to watch since they don’t do anything else except make a lot of noise and then, as suddenly as it started, it stops, and they wag their tails and lick each other’s muzzles. Just two old spinster sisters…
Missy and Jade are a Black Mouth Cur/Catahoula Leopard mix. They were somewhat overweight when they arrived and so they have been on strict diets. Both girls were given complete workups at our vet clinic prior to entering Dog Lodge. Both had their teeth cleaned. Specifically, Jade had a problem with an upper incisor, so it was removed. She also had a tumor on her left eyelid that was removed. Radiographs showed that Missy has spondylosis and degenerative joint disease, but she manages very well right now. Jade is the one who walks with more difficulty but perhaps that is because she is a tad more overweight than Missy.
Both Missy and Jade have fit into the Dog Lodge group beautifully. They are both so sweet and love their walks and cuddles. They adapted very quickly to their new home and the routines and are settled and relaxed. They look like they have lived here forever. We are happy to have them with us and delighted to have been given the opportunity to care for these retirees.
UPDATE – Jade is now 16 years old. We lost Missy several months ago. Jade is slowing down a lot, but she still loves to run in the yard and chase the deer. Sometimes she stops in the middle of the yard as if she forgets what it was she was doing. We love this old girl. She continues to have a unique personality and has become the senior matriarch of Dog Lodge
MARTIN – 2018
Martin and Maxtoo lived together in less than favorable conditions until their owner could no longer care for them. They have come to us as a bonded pair. Of the two, Martin was in somewhat better physical condition when he joined us. He has several oral issues that need to be attended to but has made the adjustment to his new home very well. Martin loves exploring when he is out on his walks. He is a bundle of joy who cannot get enough rubs, scratches and hugs from our volunteers. He certainly has a knack for putting a smile on your face….
SUGAR – 2019
Sugar is a Chihuahua who is approximately 12 y.o. She can be a little nervous when she is new to a situation but, given a little time, she settles in nicely. Sugar loves to sleep in a lap but, more than that, she loves massaging rubs especially on the back of her neck and on her tummy.
Just like Wolfie, Sugar loves to explore outside – but she does it very slowly and deliberately. We make sure that we have lots of time when we walk her because it’s walk for 30 seconds and sniff for 2 minutes, walk for 30 seconds and sniff for 2 minutes. Oh well, does it really matter if she’s enjoying herself?
Sugar is good friends with Mia and Bella but unlike the sisters, Sugar wants to be held and loved on. This absolutely sweet little girl will put a smile on your face.
WINNIE – 2022
We were contacted by The Humane Society of Central Texas in Waco about this little 11 lb. cutie. When Animal Control picked her up from the street, it was hard to tell that Winnie was actually a dog. She was in horrible condition. When she arrived from Waco, TX, we knew that she had a history of seizures and a host of other medical issues; she can only see shadows, she is almost totally deaf, and has severe dental decay and abscess. Our vets had to do extensive dental work. She only has a few teeth left and thankfully the fistula that ran from the root of one tooth up into her nasal passage, caused by severe abscess is well on the way to healing. But as we see so many times with our dogs, she is like the Eveready Bunny. She just keeps on going – sometimes grumpy (she really does not like to be picked up and she just barely tolerates pats), sometimes cuddly (for about a minute and then she struggles to be put down), always a medical challenge.
Winnie sleeps a lot. But she sure knows when it’s time for breakfast or dinner and she chimes in just as loudly as any of the other dogs to let us know that she is hungry and we are just not moving fast enough!!
We have had to adjust her seizure medications twice already. But the frequency and duration of the seizures are increasing so we’re going to have to adjust the meds again.
Many thanks to Victoria at Humane Society of Central TX for facilitating a smooth transfer for Winnie from her organization to ours. We are very grateful…
WOLFIE – 2018
Wolfie is a Chihuahua who is approximately 11 y.o. and has all kinds of personality. He came to us from the Houston Humane Society and has been a wonderful addition to our group. After a very nervous beginning, Wolfie has settled in and there is rarely a time when his tail is not wagging. He loves to be in a lap and scratching his neck gently will put him to sleep.
Wolfie loves to explore in the yards – he trots around with his nose in the air catching all the scents in the air keeping watch for the deer who graze at the edge of the woods. If he sees one, then he suddenly changes to his “Great Dane” persona, barking his warning that the deer had better not approach.
Visitors need to let Wolfie approach them. He feels more comfortable if he initiates the contact. But once he knows someone, they too get the loving greeting and snuggles that the little fellow bestows on his people.
PUMPKIN
Story Coming
DELILAH – 2018
Delilah was the first dog to enter the Dog Lodge Sanctuary program. She was originally found wandering the streets in Brazoria County in late March of 2018, picked up by Animal Control and taken to the Brazoria County Shelter. We found out about her from a good friend.
Delilah is a sweet terrier mix, approximately 15 lbs., about 9 years old and totally blind. Her sight impairment is secondary to advanced glaucoma. She is also heartworm positive. She will be starting heartworm treatment soon.
Being blind does not seem to slow this cutie down. It is not unusual to see her trotting, nose to the ground, looking for her “baby” so that she can shake it mercilessly, or her nylon bone that she enjoys gnawing on. However, as you can imagine, not being able to see has caused Delilah to be very cautious when another dog is close by. She needs to be the one who approaches. This works well at the Sanctuary because the other dogs are pretty laid back and unreactive.
Loving this little girl is so easy and we are thrilled to have her with us.
JET – 2019
Jet is a 48 lb. 9yr. old black Labrador Retriever. She entered the Dog Lodge program on the 21st of September, 2019 and we are delighted to have her with us.
In 2017, Jet began to show signs of ambulatory paralysis of the lower hind legs. She went through an initial medical evaluation during which x-rays of her spine were taken. They did not show any obvious fractures or other potential causes for her problem. Over a period of 3 days, her condition progressed to non-ambulatory paraparesis. She was referred to the veterinary hospital at TX A&M. An MRI revealed cyst-like lesions located centrally within her spinal cord. The sacs in the lesions were filled with a fluid which was drained.
Unfortunately, no one has been able to determine why Jet developed the cystic lesions and though all were hopeful that removing the fluid may have ultimately led to her regaining the use of her hind legs, that has not been the case.
Jet is a loving dog with the sweetest personality. Cuddling is one of her favorite activities. She loves everyone she meets, and all the Dog Lodge residents have welcomed her into the group with open paws.
Jet has been measured for her wheelchair and given the amount of energy she has, we have no doubt that once she is on wheels, she is going to be back on the move once again. “Jet” is a perfect name for this gal – it’s hard to keep up with her when we have her out with an assist lift. We can only imagine how fast she’s going to be on 2 legs and 2 wheels!
We are so happy that Jet has joined our family at Dog Lodge. She is a wonderful example for all of us – no matter what life throws at you, keep moving forward…
