Quick holiday update

Riley makes himself at home with Murphy

It’s been a while since we’ve had a Riley update. The holidays have been busy for us, and Riley has been enjoying every minute of it! So far, there haven’t been any disasters with the tree, and we managed to dog-proof all presents. Riley has definitely made himself at home, sharing all beds and toys with the other dogs.

Riley was back at the vet last week. We’ve been changing his bandage every three days, and are so impressed with its progress. The vet was as well! He continues to heal well. He’s such a patient guy – even when we’re changing his bandage, he does so well! Riley was x-rayed again this vet visit, and they said his fracture is now healing.

Our patient little patient

This is great news, and we’re allowed to walk him for 10 minutes a day. Unfortunately, 10 minutes doesn’t amount to much for a puppy, and he’s still got loads of energy. We’ve got two weeks off, so Riley is getting a lot more attention during the day, and we’re able to wear him out a lot more.

We’ve got quite the routine going, with keeping Riley occupied for periods of time. He’s got plenty of kongs to choose from, bones to chew, and toys to play with. He’s also learning a lot. He’s quite good at sit and down now, and does some hand targeting. Unfortunately, he’s got so much energy, it’s hard to focus him enough to work with. We think a bit more exercise would help (or maybe a herd of sheep). We’re hoping he heals quickly so we can get him running more soon.

Squeamish alert: we’ve included a photo of Riley’s progress below

Riley’s Progress

Riley's paw - November 18

Riley's paw - December 17

Thank you

The vet saw Riley today, and was really pleased with his progress! She said we don’t have to come back every three days anymore. I can change his bandages, and she will check on him in two weeks. At that time, we’ll also do another x-ray of his leg and see how its doing.

We would like to thank everyone for their continued support and help. Some of you have been generous and donated to ARF to help pay Riley’s medical bills. As continued foster parents of ARF dogs, we can assure you that all those donations are much needed and well used. A big thank you to those of you who have sent messages to us expressing your concern – it’s been wonderful to have so many people following Riley’s story.

We know that many people have expressed an interest in adopting Riley. He will need medical care for a while, and isn’t yet available for adoption. There are plenty of other dogs in need of a caring home immediately, and we encourage you to consider one of those special animals. All of ARF’s dogs available for adoption can be viewed online here. ARF can only take in as many dogs as there are foster homes, and with the cold weather upon us there are many that need homes.

The vet has now said that Riley is now out of the woods, and it’s very unlikely that we’ll have to amputate. This is fantastic news, now only time will tell how much Riley will be able to use his leg. He still favours it a lot, especially right after the bandage has been changed or he’s had a lot of activity.

And finally, since Riley gets all the attention on this blog, we decided to put up a photo of his foster siblings. Murphy (the wonder puppy) our nine year-old labrador. And Symba, our own four year-old ARF rescue dog.

Cutest. Dog. Ever.

Riley has become quite the poser for photos. We’ve accumulated quite a collection of our little guy.

Riley continues to improve. At his last vet visit, they said that we could start changing his bandages every three days instead of bringing him back. We’re learning how to do that on Monday, so will provide an update then. He’s even stopped chewing his bandage as much. He still chews at it a bit, but with less enthusiasm and damage – we’re working on giving him lots of other things to focus on.

A big thanks to Val for braving the crazy Calgary weather and taking Riley to his vet appointment on Friday. Riley’s definitely got another fan! Unlike our other dogs, Riley is loving the snow. It’s really hard to get him inside once we let him out. To keep his bandage dry while he’s outside, we’ve resorted to a plastic bag, sock, and some duct tape. Not exactly elegant, but effective!

Photos with Santa

It’s been a busy week for Riley.  We’ve been back to the vet a couple of times – nothing critical, just the standard 3-day visit to change the bandage on his leg.  We’re pretty glad the bandage gets changed that often because by the time Riley gets back to the vet the bandage is looking pretty ratty.  Despite the larger cone on his head, Riley continues to find ways to get at the bandage and chew it.  The vet has said that there is now some “granulation” in the wound (we had to look it up on Wikipedia to figure out it’s a good thing.) So Riley continues to make progress.

Sunday was an exciting day for ARF.  It was the annual ARF fundraiser, “Pet Photos with Santa” at Dogma. We brought Riley with us for the afternoon, and he had plenty of visits from everyone.  His paw is still really raw, so we kept him in a pen there, but it didn’t stop him from interacting with dogs and people alike.  (Drae, thanks so much for watching our little guy for us that afternoon!) This dog is going to make a great pet for someone – he’s bright, eager to please, and so happy to cuddle with anyone (even Santa.)