Introducing Kyleigh - a Foster Boxer

On June 23rd, after several days of discussion, I agreed to take on a foster Boxer (our first in over a year - Roxy, the deaf white Boxer, was our last foster after being adopted May 24, 2010).

Kyleigh is a special case (as most of my fosters have been).  She had been suffering from recurring outbreak of Demodex mange, and presented with a few other issues which point towards a possible permanent immune deficiency situation.  She went from breeder, to adopter, to another rehoming before that family decided they couldn't commit financially to her long term health.  We (Boxer Rescue Atlantic Canada) agreed to take her on and do our own assessment with our own vets to see if we could get her health in better shape.

On July 2nd, she was officially surrendered to me.  At almost 2 years old, she is smaller than Brosa is now, at 43.5 lbs (which is what Brosa's weight was this time last year when he was 1.5 years).  She is a beautiful brindle/black mask girl with docked tail, and dewclaws intact.  She will also need to be spayed once her overall health improves.

Kyleigh is her foster name - it sounded close enough to her original name which she responds well too, and the transition to the new name worked well for her.

Kyleigh is a very sweet little girl!  Her mange (which spreads down her back from her neck) is not as bad as we feared - it's hopefully a thing of the past now.  The tips of the insides of her ears are also affected by the mange and it's crusty, along with a cut of some sort on one tip).  Lots of soaking of those to help heal them.

KYLEIGH'S DEMODEX - FROM THE BACK OF HER NECK TO MID-BACK, SOME PARTS LOWER, AND AT BASE OF BACK AS WELL.  SIGNS OF REGROWTH SHOWING, SO HOPEFULLY SHE'S ON THE MEND.

INSIDE OF KYLEIGH'S RIGHT EAR, WHICH WAS THE WORSE OF THE TWO.  GETTING BETTER NOW.

First, we need to change her diet, which was VERY poor.  I have her on Taste of the Wild grain-free food and she loves it.

Secondly, we have to get rid of the tapeworms she has, which was not disclosed to us.  With the first poop in my yard, the worms stood up and said "HI!" to me.  She immediately was treated with a dose of Sentinel, which will help start to expel the worms.  At this typing, she still has a LOT of them in her morning poop - so many that they fall out of her poop!  I remove it from the grass right away.  It's showing that the Sentinel is working, but holy cow.... what a lot of them she has!! (speaking of Sentinel, I treated Brosa and Delta with it the day I committed to fostering her, so they have prevention on board too from whatever fleas and parasites she might bring with her).

YES, I DARED TO POST A PHOTO OF HER FIRST WORMY POOP, HA HA!  THIS IS NOTHING COMPARED TO WHAT COMES OUT NOW, EVEN AFTER A WEEK.  CAN'T WAIT TO SEE THE END OF IT.

She will be treated with Drontal in the next day or two, to assassinate what is left of them - and then retreated again a month from now.  Worms will be permanently gone.

Kyleigh's introduction to my crew went very well.  As always, I let her investigate the yard on her own for up to 1/2 hour.  She can smell the other dogs that share the space so there are no surprises when I let them out.  First to meet her was Delta (she's my matriarch and she's the one who needs to let me know if she's okay with the newcomer before things get crazy with Brosa).  That went completely fine - she cared so little that she walked off and laid down in her pool, ha ha!

DELTA MEETS KYLEIGH (YOU'LL NOTICE THE LEASHES ARE LEFT ON, JUST IN CASE OF EMERGENCY)

WITHIN MINUTES, DELTA WALKED AWAY FROM KYLEIGH AND LAID DOWN IN HER POOL.  JUST ANOTHER DAY IN OUR HOME, HA HA!

Then Brosa was introduced (his nickname is now "The Turd", as he's a bit of a loudmouth and in-your-face).  After a lot of noise and posturing from him, Kyleigh told him off and he calmed down around her after that.  In fact, he kept his distance from her for several days afterward.  He first warmed up to her outside in wide open spaces, where they happily chased each other around the yard and mouth-wrestled.  It was only yesterday that they had a good tussle indoors as well.

KYLEIGH MEETS "THE TURD"

EVERYONE HAS A WALKING SNIFF

LEASHES ARE OFF AND WE'RE ALL RELAXED

THIS IS FUN!

FIRST REAL TUSSLE IN THE YARD A FEW DAYS AFTER ARRIVAL

AS YOU CAN SEE, THEY BOTH HAVE FUN!

Kyleigh is a sweet heart - so full of kisses, and has decent house manners.  She gorges on her water and eats too fast, but hopefully that will change as her health improves.  She's good around the cats (although she's attempted to play with them lately and I have to keep watching that she's not tormenting them).  She's quiet at the fence unless she's joining in with Brosa & Delta - so I put a stop to that quickly.

GIVING JUDAH A SNIFF

THIS MORNING, EVERYONE PLAYING

THIS MORNING, PLAYING WITH A SQUEAKY

AFTER HER BATH THIS MORNING (ALL HAD BATHS/NAIL TRIMS) AND FEELING FRISKY

All through the week she has been a wonderful little girl - showing how sweet she is and also beginning to play with toys, which she didn't seem to do much of.

This morning she had her first bath and nail trim with me.  She passed that with flying colours.  Her body language told me she didn't like it very much, but she didn't squirm and carry on, and was perfect for letting me clip her nails.

Her bald spots are showing signs of regrowth now too.  This is great news!  I can't wait to see how this progresses over the next month or two!  I think we'll have a lot of fun with Kyleigh this summer.