Foster Dog Howie: A Progress Report

Howie is still a work in progress. On Friday, he went in for a urine test, and for the second time in a row, no crystals! However, this time the density was too low, so now we have to do a partial water deprivation test, just to rule out diabetes.
I need to call the vet and get some questions answered about exactly how long he needs to go without water. She suggested overnight, but with our schedule (C doesn’t go to bed until 2:30am), I’m not certain that will actually work best for us.
My concerns are that if we stopped his water at 10pm (as she suggested) and then took a sample at 6:30am when I take the dogs out in the morning, he will have gone out at least twice and possibly three times during that timeframe, and I’m not certain if that will make a difference.
Also, he doesn’t settle very well when he’s actually thirsty. When we sometimes don’t notice that the water bowl is empty, we discover it because Howie keeps getting up and pacing but doesn’t really want to go out. And I am not capable of being settled and asleep when any of the dogs aren’t settled. I don’t really want to spend a night not sleeping. If we do this during the day, we can at least leave the bedroom door open and give him the ability to wander or perch on the couch looking out the window.
What does this mean in the end? Well, two checks without crystals I think means he’s no longer a high risk for bladder stones. If the partial water deprivation test comes out fine, I think we can get him medically cleared to be listed as “adoptable.”

Of course, we still have one major problem when it comes to him actually being adoptable- he’s still snapping. This is hard, and sad, for us. Before the ear infection and dental surgery, he loved going up to people at the dog park and getting petted. Everyone was always commenting on how sweet he was.
Since then, we’ve gotten to the point where he rarely snaps at us. He’s even gotten up on the bed when invited to snuggle with me, and of his own free will during the day to hang out with C and the other dogs. C and I have both been able to pick him up and cuddle him on our laps for over 30 minutes at a time without a reaction. (And that’s about what his tolerance for active cuddling was before everything.) Also, as long as I’m standing behind him, I’m now able to remove his harness without him reacting to it.
But he’s still snapping at our roommate and people at the dog park. He’s not snapping instantly, and he very obviously is unhappy when he does snap, but it’s still happening.
Our plan is to give him treats and have the roommie and other friends pet his back. Then we’ll work up to them giving him treats and petting his head and near his ears. Treats are how we overcame the harness coming off, so we’re hoping bribery works for this too.

Please don’t get me wrong. I adore Howie. And if he’s never considered adoptable or never adopted, I will happily keep him here with me. But the truth is, he and Larry push each other’s terrier buttons, and they would both be a little happier apart. Howie really should go somewhere where he’ll have a doggie friend, but probably shouldn’t be with one quite as high strung as Larry.
And Larry would be happier if he felt he didn’t have to protect his family when Howie does snap.

So that’s where we are- two steps forward, one step back, but progress none the less.

Jodi says:

December 5, 2012 at 7:46 am

Wow, that's hard. Either I never read about Howie, or I've forgotten it in the month I took off from reading. I'm glad you feel there is a solution to his snapping, but have you ever determined WHY he snaps? (that's what I don't remember reading about, of course I have the mental pause so it could be that as well.) 🙂

ErinShanendoah says:

December 5, 2012 at 8:05 am

No worries about not being able to keep track of all the dogs in blogville. I'm lucky if I remember which dogs belong to which blog.

Howie started snapping because he was in pain. Him snapping while we were petting him is what made us take him in to find the double ear infection . And as soon as the ear infection was cleared up, he had dental surgery with 2 extractions, so he continued to be sensitive around the face and ears for a while, and he got in the habit of defending himself from pain, even when that pain was gone.

We started out using handfulls of chicken (very high value treat, that) and feeding him that while petting his ears and cheeks. We knew he wasn't still in pain because when there was the chicken, he didn't really notice being touched at all.

And then we had the drama of trying to get his martingale collar off, after he'd grown just a little too big for it, and that gave us a bit of a setback. Last night was the first time since before the surgery that C was able to take Howie's harness off of him, while standing in front of him, without a reaction. It was even better because the harness did catch briefly.

It's hard for us because of how much he loves people and attention. He still wants to go up to people at the dog park and get petted, but we have to warn them he might snap.