Satchmo had his follow-up wellness check-up today!

Today, I took the boy in to see his vet for a check-up.  Since the surgery, he has been getting stronger and acting more like himself every day and today we got to see how his liver function tests were doing.

The vet was pretty happy that his Alk Phos had dropped from 7000 to only 1000 (normal high is 200)
and she was pleased that he had gained 2lbs. since surgery.  Overall, he is eating well, drinking plenty and his bathroom habits are unchanged.

He is less crabby, but he still lets you know when he doesn't like what you are doing!  Anyway, I was very happy to see that liver level dropping.  We did find out that he has back problems called spondylosis (which is just a build up of calcium and bone in the area)  which is causing him some pain, so he gets to remain on his pain meds for now.

All in all, it was a great visit and my boy is having a great St. Patrick's Day.  He even gave his vet a shamrock pin to wear on her navy blue scrubs!

Service dogs graduate from prison

Here's a really nice article about how dogs are helping with our prison population.  It seems that even when the humans think they are doing the work, the dogs are really the ones that give assistance to the humans.

I found this on the Killeen Daily Herald, out of Killeen, TX.  I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did.

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By Colleen Flaherty
Killeen Daily Herald

                                                                        

GATESVILLE — Rhonda Lee spent seven years in the Crain Unit women's correctional facility for a drug-related offense. Her additional two-year parole ended Tuesday.

She celebrated her "freedom day" by returning to the Gatesville correctional complex in a much different role from that in which she'd arrived.

Lee is now employed full-time by the nonprofit, Rockwall-based organization Patriot Paws. She visited the maximum-security Lane Murray Unit to hand over Rockxi, the spunky black Lab service dog she's been training, to her new owner during a canine graduation ceremony.

"It gave me a chance to give back," Lee said following the celebration, which included a trick demonstration by current trainee dogs and their incarcerated trainers. "It gave me the confidence that I can do anything."

Lee began training service canines during her own incarceration. Patriot Paws dogs live 24 hours every day for a year or more with their trainers in their cells, with the exception of regular outings to avoid institutionalization. Once the dogs are assessed as ready for service, they are paired with a disabled veteran.

The dogs make the matches, Patriot Paws owner and chief executive Lori Stevens said.

"One of the keys is that we let the dogs pick the veterans," she said, "two to three days after meeting with them. We watch."

Three dogs graduated from Patriot Paws training during Tuesday's ceremony. Two disabled veterans and one disabled civilian with a chronic illness, an exception to the program's policy, traveled to Gatesville one week prior to meet and begin training with the dogs they'll take home today.

Over the course of that week, for example, Stevens said, a yellow Labrador retriever named Maverick "had the patience and curiosity to work with Juan."

Staff Sgt. Juan Amaris, currently assigned to the Warrior Transition Battalion at Fort Sam Houston in San Antonio, lost both of his hands and suffered severe burns during a truck explosion in Iraq in 2006.

Amaris, 29, applied for a dog a little more than a year ago and hopes that Maverick will help him regain some of his independence.

"If I drop something, I'm not going to have to rely on someone to pick it up," he said, adding that his prosthetics aren't particularly agile.

Patriot Paws dogs are trained to get help during emergencies; recognize and avert symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder; pick up and retrieve items; open and close doors; pull wheelchairs; help with chores, such as laundry; and take off shoes and shocks.

Maverick comes with one additional benefit, Amaris said. His kids, ages 6 and 11, can't wait for a dog.

LaQuita Davis, 27, can relate, she said. She's been incarcerated at Lane Murray since she was 16 for conspiracy to commit capital murder and passed a rigid application and interview process to become a trainer just six months ago.

Being with the dogs gives her something to focus on, she said, and she's planning to work as a trainer upon her eventual parole.

"This is something I want to do."

About 20 inmates are currently training puppies and dogs in Gatesville.

The women involved in the program have been successful due to hard work, Lane Murray head warden Melodye Nelson said.

Eleven women have been paroled since Patriot Paws began in 2006. Ten are working in dog-related fields, and the recidivism rate is zero, according to information from the organization.

The program is 100 percent publicly funded and looking for donations and volunteers, Stevens said.

"Freedom's not free," she said, "and we have to have people who do what they do."

For more information on Patriot Paws, go to www.patriotpaws.org or call (972) 772-3282.

Contact Colleen Flaherty at colleenf@kdhnews.com or (254) 501-7559. Follow her on Twitter at KDHfeatures.

Would you like to help the dogs and cats of Japan?

Here is a link that you can use to send help to the abandoned, hurt, and lost pets on the island of Japan.  The pets will be the last to receive any help, if they ever do.  I understand that there are thousands of people and children in Japan in great need, but there are many helpless and frightened animals also.  I am giving to both groups and hope you will use this link to help the pets.  The Red Cross is a great place to give for the humans in need.


https://www.theanimalrescuesite.com/store/item.do?siteId=310&itemId=44084&adId=69313&placementId=183038&origin=ERA_031611_ARS_Html

Related articles

• How you can help save the dogs and cats of Japan (retrieverman.wordpress.com)
• VIDEO: Dog Refuses to Leave Companion's Side in Japan Aftermath (dogs.icanhascheezburger.com)
• Japan Rescuers Pull Together To Save Pets (treehugger.com)
• Tashirojima: 'Cat Island' Safe After Tsunami (nowpublic.com)

More about how our pets can help in Japan

 Here is an excerpt of an email I received and feel that I should pass along to you.  Our wonderful dogs can be of service to us during and after natural disasters.  Here is only one group that utilize dogs natural abilities to help find victims of this horrible disaster. 

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By: : Janet Reineck, Search Dog Foundation Development Director

SUNDAY, MARCH 13 – 8pm PST

Six Canine Disaster Search Teams trained by the National Disaster
Search Dog Foundation (SDF) have arrived in Japan and will soon
be traveling to the devastated region where the skills of the
canines are critically needed to use find people still trapped in
the rubble.

The teams have their gear ready and are waiting to leave the
Misawa Air Base and head to Ofunato City on the North East coast
of Japan where they will be conducting reconnaissance and primary
searches. The group is divided into the RED team (Jasmine &
Cadillac, Eric & Riley, Gary & Baxter), and the BLUE team
(Bill & Hunter, Linda & Joe, Ron & Pearl).

The teams were called into action on Friday by USAID as part of
Los Angeles County Task Force 2. They traveled on a chartered
plane out of LAX together with Virginia Task Force 1 (America’s
other international Task Force). Some 75 tons of rescue equipment
and supplies for each Task Force were sent into the disaster zone
via military transport.

The teams flew by way of Alaska where the plane touched down to
re-fuel. An airport van shuttled the dogs and their handlers to
the snow so they could stretch their legs (and paws!). They
landed at Misawa Air Base in northern Japan on Saturday at
10:30pm PST. The group of 12 dogs did well on the flight over and
bedded down with handlers to rest after their long journey.

The job of the dogs is to find live victims, conscious or
unconscious, in the debris left by the earthquake and Tsunami.
All rescue personnel will be awaiting a “Bark Alert” from the
dogs, letting them know there is someone in need of rescue.
Everything the teams have learned during their intensive training
will be put to use in saving lives.

Since SDF’s founding in 1996, their teams have been part of 75
deployments—including the World Trade Center attacks, Hurricane
Katrina, and the Haiti disaster, where they helped bring 12
people to safety. Each time the teams deploy they come back with
crucial lessons that are shared with all Search Teams to sharpen
training techniques and tactics and enhance emergency response in
our country…and abroad.

SDF will train 21 new teams in 2011 at a cost of $15,000 per team
to be ready for the next local, national or international
disaster – at no cost to taxpayers or the government.

For more information about the Search Teams or to make a donation
to turn rescued dogs into rescuers, help form our new 2011 teams,
and provide the highest level training to our existing teams:
visit www.SearchDogFoundation.org, and follow the teams on
Facebook and Twitter.

Related articles

• 5 things you can do for the animals of japan (susanpi.com)
• Doctors, aid workers and rescue dogs get to work in Japan (cnn.com)

The News in Japan gets worse and worse and the animals are left behind

As  someone who has lived near Japan before, I am very concerned for the well being and safety of all the dogs and cats on that island.  This culture does not provide any care for the animals that are now displaced by natural disaster.  There will be many lost animals who will starve to death or be killed by other starving pets.  This is not acceptable.  Please read this article and then reach out to help these poor beings.   You can read this article and others like it on Dogtime.

Help animals displaced by Japan's earthquake and tsunami

by Leslie Smith on Sunday March 13, 2011.

Sherri, a friend of a friend of mine, lives in Japan and has volunteered for four years with ARK (Animal Refuge Kansai). Sherri reports that while her community has largely been spared fatalities due to the earthquake and tsunami, she's only about a six hour drive from major devastation.

Rescuers are attempting to gain access to some of the hardest hit areas, and ARK is currently preparing makeshift shelters to accommodate what is expected to be a massive influx of traumatized, injured, hungry and thirsty dogs and cats. (After the 1995 Kobe earthquake, ARK took in 600 animals.)

Animal welfare is virtually non-existent in Japan, according to Sherri, so the efforts of individual rescue groups and shelters make all the difference for animals in times of national catastrophes. I encourage you to check out the ARK website and help if you can.

Tuesday True Story -- Dog helps save man paralyzed in biking accident

This is a true story from right here in my home town of Austin, TX.  Just shows you how much we get from our pets!

by JIM BERGAMO / KVUE NEWS

This story sounds like something out of a movie: A freak accident leaves a cyclist unable to move, so his dog takes over.
Five weeks ago, on Oct. 30, Paul Horton set out for his morning bike ride.  As always, his dog Yogi, went along for the run. However, this ride would end like no other and offer proof why dog is "man's best friend."
Paul Horton, 57, wound up at St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital after he failed to negotiate a seemingly little jump from trail to paved road near Lake Travis.
"I had probably done that 100 times, 200 times," said Horton.
But on the morning of Oct. 30, he did not.
"I went over the handle bars and landed on my head on the concrete ... and life changed," said Horton.
Life changed because he was now paralyzed from the chest down.  Horton lay motionless for 45 minutes. With no one in sight, he realized his four-year-old golden retriever, Yogi, who had been along for the run, was still by his side.
"I expected him to behave like Lassie and run down to the police station and tap out my location in Morse code or something," said Horton.
Yogi did not do that, but did something just about as impressive.  Horton's neighbor, Bruce Tate, recalls walking down Mountain Trail with his wife when they were met by Yogi.
"Yogi is a quiet, happy dog, he's never noisy at all, but he was barking furiously to get our attention," said Tate.
The Tates followed Yogi throughout the wooded area and down the hill.  When they saw Horton,  they called 911.  To this day, the Tates wonder what would have happened if Yogi had not interrupted their walk.
"I don't think we would have seen Paul without Yogi," he said.  "I think Yogi saved his life."
"For somebody who cannot move and cannot ask for help, you can develop a pressure ulcer, you develop an infection, a clot, and you can die if you are not rescued soon," said Dr. Juan Latorre, the Medical Director of St. David's Rehabilitation Hospital. "So I think the dog was critical."
"He is my hero, I mean he is my hero. It is possible that if he had not done what he did, they might have walked right on by and gone down the road and there is no telling when somebody else would have come by," said Horton.
Horton has some movement in his arms, hands, and upper body. His rehab specialist says in just a month he has made the kind of progress it takes some patients a year to achieve.
Horton and his wife Shearon are extremely grateful to St. David's, their friends and neighbors, and most of all, to Yogi.

Update on Satchmo's situation

My boy had surgery to remove the left lobe of his liver due to a very large mass.  He had to remain in the ICU until the following Monday, when he got to come home finally.  He was weak and mad at me, but he was definitely glad to be home.  He didn't even mind being locked up in his crate.

My first reaction was horror when I saw the size of the incision.  He has an op-site bandage running from his breastbone down to the right side of his penis sheath.  He is a very good boy, though and is not the least bit interested in licking or chewing this bandage.  He does, however, worry the places where he had the IV's and he really hates that he has no hair on either side of his body. 

He was not out of the woods entirely when he came home.  We still had to wait for the pathology report on the tumor.  His vet called finally to give me the news.  NO CANCER!!!!! His tumor was a benign type of liver tumor so he will not have to follow up with an oncologist.  Now, he just has to recuperate and get his strength back.  He is so thin!

But, every day he seems to be feeling better and he has just a bit more energy.  He still wants to spend the day in his crate, but I can leave the door open because that's where he wants to be.  At night, though, he wants to be in the bed with me, so I let him get settled on his side of the bed and wake myself up 100 times to check on him.  Its kind of silly since I have been sleeping with him all of his life, including when he was just a tiny little thing.  I am just afraid that I will inadvertently hurt him and I can't stand that thought.

He goes back to the vet on Monday for a check up and to see if he can get any of his staples removed.  I, for one, am not in any hurry to get them out.  They don't seem to be bothering him and I don't want him to reopen that humongous wound.

More to follow when we get back from his check-up.  For now, I am just so happy to have him healthy and home.  I love this baby boy very much and am glad I was able to do the right thing for him.