Guinness's road to health

I think I introduced Guinness (Nick, Gus, smelly boy) in a previous blog. I'm happy to say that he is doing well. The purging process is gross but he's getting better every day. The purging process is the process that a dog goes through once he leaves the shelter and gets into a home. It is the de-stressing, cleansing and adjusting of his system form his previous life to his new one. While we are just a stop on the road to Guinness's hopeful new home, the process is the
same.

He has an eye infection, ear infection, skin infection, worms, low weight, diarrhea....a sundry of the things a dog gets when running loose. Every dog comes in with a different set of circumstances and "illnesses". Occasionally we will get one that needs minimal care but
most require about a month of recovery and detoxification. The first thing that usually happens is a good cleaning - a double bath! and then into a crate with a soft bed to sleep it off.

The first week home, the dog usually spends a lot of time in the crate adjusting to sights, sounds and smells of a new home. That helps with the stress and also, if a dog is coming from a shelter they normally are very tired and use the time to catch up on sleep. Shelters do the
best that they can but it is not a home and during the time there, dogs usually lose sleep just from the stress of their situation. In that first week comes the wormings, vaccinations and the vet visit. Spay/neutering, testing for heartworms, and whatever ailments come with a particular dog. At the end of the first week, there is a slow progression of more time out of the crate so the dog can start to experience life in a home and get the routine.

We are starting on Guinness's second week. So far he is doing well