|
HELP
CHESTER, DONATE
NOW: |
 |
Thank you
Christine and Joe Damiani
for naming Chester.
"When
I went to pick him up, I was struck by the size
of his chest compared to the rest of his body.
His head and legs seemed so small; also his
color reminded me of a chestnut. I mentioned
this to my daughter (she started me on this
adventure to begin with) who lives in CT and is
active at
Northeastern Boxer Rescue….so we named
him 'Chester' (he is a boy after all!) ."
03/13/09:
ADOPTED!
03/09/09:
No Longer Accepting Applications for Chester
03/06/09:
The latest update from Chester’s foster
home:
"Chester has been neutered and has completed
his second treatment for coccidia. He looks
wonderful and feels great. His patchy hair
has filled in and he now looks like a fuzzy
pup.
Chester is a
courageous little guy and is not afraid of much. He does
act a bit leery of strangers at first, and takes a little
time warming up to men. Once he gets to know you he is your
best friend.
We are
continuing to work on potty training with Chester, but he is
a quick study. Chester does fine with cats, dogs, and
people overall - we also learned he has no fear of horses.
For his safety, we will be looking to place him in a home
without horses!!!"
|
2/20/09: New Picture
2/15/09:
Update from our NBR volunteer
who traveled to pickup Chester:
“I met Chester two days ago.
What an awesome little guy. He wastes no time winning your heart. Chester
has almost completed his first round of meds for treating the Coccidia. We
have noticed a marked improvement in his stool and he seems to be going less
frequently. He also has added another 2-3 lbs on his tiny frame and is
looking really sharp. Every time I spoke with my mom and Joe, who have been
fostering Chester, they kept telling me how “tiny” Chester is. I don’t
think I truly understood until I actually saw him; Chester looks like a
dwarf. When boxers are pups it is common to hear people say, "if only they
would stay that size". Here‘s your chance for a wish come true. In my
opinion, Chester will not get much bigger.
Now that Chester is out and
about most of the day with the other dogs, we realized more attention had to
be geared toward potty training. Chester will need a home that is willing
to be patient and continue with his house-breaking while he adjusts to new
surroundings. Although he is a young adult, it is obvious he spent his days
in a crate or tied outside without much direction. Little Chester is a
quick study and knows he is supposed to go outside when it’s time to go to
the bathroom ... it’s just getting him there in time and reading his signals
that are tricky. Chester loves when you say, “good boy“. He will come
running from across the yard just to thank you and soaks up the attention.
I have also tested Chester,
slowly, with food and bones around other dogs. He did rather well and
should improve over time; once he realizes that it won’t be his last meal.
As you might remember from our initial report, Chester was starved before he
came into rescue. It would be suggested, as it would with any new dog, that
you give Chester time and space for feeding activities. The only time
Chester seems to get upset is if you have him in his crate with food or
bones and dogs approach him/the crate. He gets nervous, and it appears to
me he might feel trapped or maybe he was teased and taunted in his previous
situation. In either case, Chester will bark and growl, jumping at the cage
door. He does not show this anxiety in any other situation, just when
crated and food is involved.
Chester will be your little
buddy and truly enjoys having other dogs around to play, cuddle and learn
from. He seems to adjust his pace to whatever situation he is in at the
time. We are hoping to have Chester neutered by the end of this month as
long as the doctor gives the OK.”
2/08/09:
GETTING A LITTLE BETTER EVERY DAY
The latest update from Chester’s foster mom:
“Chester continued to be very itchy after his first bath and a small rash
seemed to be developing, so we got medicated shampoo from the vet and gave him
another bath last night. Today he seems to be less irritated.
Chester also had a couple accidents in the past two days. He seemed like he
didn’t even know he was doing it….he would leave little pee trails. We could
not determine if he was urinating with excitement or if there was a medical
problem. He is also urinating more frequently then when he first arrived so, to
be on the safe side, we decided to take a urine sample and another stool sample
to the vet.
The urine sample tested negative, however, the stool tested positive for
coccidia and we began treatment for that today. Coccidia are not technically a
worm, but a small one-celled parasite that live in the intestinal tracts of
dogs and cats less than six
months of age. They also infect adult animals whose immune systems are
suppressed/stressed as in Chester’s case.
Chester’s attitude continues to be spunky and playful. He has a habit of
stealing his foster sister’s toys and prancing around and around.
Little Chester has had a great deal of change and neglect in his past so
we are happy to be a part of his transformation.
We never understood exactly what goes into rehabilitation of these
rescue dogs. This is a real eye opener to the work involved to get sick
mistreated animals on the right track. To see Chester pounce around and be so
loving is worth every minute.”
more pictures coming soon...
2/03/09:
Small But Mighty
The doctor gave the OK to release Chester from the hospital so
he could begin his recovery in a home environment. Below is an update from
Chester’s emergency Foster Parents.
“We picked up Chester from the hospital and he was very excited to see me. I
would have emailed an update sooner but we used our computer time with Hughes
Net to play music for Chester throughout the night. He really quieted down when
we turned Andre’ Bochelli on!!
Little Chester
got us up at 4:45 am...I made him go back to bed after I fed him a little and
let him out. He seemed so happy like "I'm still here, I'm still here". Chester
has had no accidents in the house , however, he did wet his crate overnight. He
does NOT like being outside at all for any length of time other then the
bathroom duties. He pulls to go back inside – we don’t blame him after being
tied outside in freezing temperatures.
The little guy’s fur is thin and he has no meat on his bones to keep him warm.
Although he spends most of the day with us, I do give him time outs in his crate
so he can take little naps. We are soaking his food and feeding him smaller
meals throughout the day. He never turns a meal away.
Chester cleaned up pretty nice after his bath. He is very skinny and tiny (only
23 pounds) but he is peppy and very very cute. He seems to be scratching a lot
though, and his fur is patchy. He has adapted well already. We have 2 boxers
ages 5 & 8 and everyone is bonding.
Joe and I hope that we can provide this little guy with a safe, trusting, and
nurturing environment so that his experience with the world changes dramatically
from where he started. My daughter plans to visit in 2 weeks to meet Chester
and take him on his next journey. Our boxer Truman is doing a nice job of
playing with him. Chester is one live wire, that's for sure!! He is obviously
feeling better.
Last night we all watched a movie downstairs (PG-13, hope that's OK) by the
fire. Chester was all snuggled up with Joe. Very cute."
1/30/09:
IT STARTS WITH ONE PERSON WHO CARES
We received an urgent email from a woman out of our area who
rescued a small boxer from a horrendous situation. After you read her email you
will understand why we needed to help:
“My name is Angie and I run a small mobile home park in a bad
neighborhood. I took a small male boxer from a very bad man. The resident had
left him out all night and he screamed and screamed until my cousin went
searching for the sound. He was shocked and went and got me. I flew up there
to see the dog and he cowered and screamed like I was going to hurt him.
His head is no taller than a short person’s knees. He has
been badly starved and abused. We have had him now for 4 days and he is
gaining weight rapidly and
is spunky and friendly as ever. He is good with other animals but is very
protective over his food. He is a beautiful little dog but in need of medical
care.
Our
animal control and
humane society is worthless around here. Animal control or humane
society would not even knock on the abuser's door to question him about the
situation. They just asked if I wanted him picked up so they could put him to
sleep. I can’t see such a precious pooch that lived his life in living hell to
die so unnaturally. If there is any way you or if you know anyone that can
help, I will be so grateful. I have 5 dogs now, 1 that is a senior citizen that
is in very bad shape.
I did take him to the vet the next day and he weighed 19 lbs.
Since then he has filled out and gained about 5 lbs. The vet said he did have
all three worms in his stool but I can‘t afford treatment. He is very
intimidated by men, but has learned to trust the few around the office here.”
Within minutes after reading this email, one of our volunteers
responded. As fate would have it she grew up near this area and has relatives
there. She immediately made the necessary arrangements to bring Chester to a
Veterinary Hospital. Within twelve hours he was receiving much needed
medical care.
The doctors at this hospital confirmed that Chester is very
thin and malnourished although he has a wonderful attitude. He tested positive
for roundworm and tape worm
and has been treated. Happily, he tested negative for heartworm. He has some
hair loss around his ears
and on his hocks so the doctor is doing a skin scraping to make sure he does not
have demodectic or
sarcoptic mange. We are still awaiting these results. The doctor
estimated his age at eight months but they say he is extremely tiny. He will
need to be neutered once he is healthier. The doctors want to observe him for
24 hours until they release him from the hospital to make sure he is OK.
Chester’s story is not unlike many of the other sad cases that
we have taken into our rescue program. These stories all begin with one person
who cared enough to get involved and look for help.
