“We are excited about our dog Gwen’s article because it gives us a timeless memory,” said Tim, “because, sadly, she may have a shorter life span than most dogs.”
Erica and Tim, who live in Vancouver, Canada, found Gwen on line, at a California rescue group. They wanted a puppy
for their 21-year-old cat, Mittens, thinking that a larger ‘starter’ dog might accidentally hurt Mittens.
When they spotted the homeless runt from a Husky street dog, Tim said, “She was a tiny-white-fluff-ball, with black splotches, and blue eyes. She was the cutest puppy we’d ever seen - it was impossible not to fall in love!”
The rescue group transferred Gwen to Washington State and the couple drove down to pick her up. They had the
necessary vaccination papers to bring her over the border with ease.
“We named her Gwen, after my childhood love, the singer and song writer, Gwen Stefani,” said Tim. “What followed next was the most amazing, fun and cute times of any puppy parent’s life. We beamed with pride as Gwen took her ‘first leaps’ off curbs and negotiated her first set of stairs. She and Mittens became best friends. In fact, Gwen cleans Mittens and defends her when other dogs
visit!”
Right from the start they noticed that Gwen “...drank water until her little belly was bloated,” said Tim. “She looked like a balloon - and then barfed the water up. We took her to the vet who thought she might have congenital renal failure - kidneys that just don't work properly. We were directed to animal internal-medical specialists, and then for ultrasounds and every other paws-ible test.
Thousands of dollars later confirmed
our worst nightmare, the first vet was correct. Gwen now eats a very expensive medical renal formula diet, and we have eliminated most of the protein from her diet (apparently protein is what bad kidneys have difficulty breaking down), and daily give her an expensive pill and a few supplements.
With her medicine and food she now has a wet tongue (before it was always dry, no matter how much water she drank). She has grown into an amazing, fun-loving dog despite her
health challenge.
I own a landscaping company so Gwen comes to work with me and runs around yards and entertains herself all day long. My customers love to see her joyfully running through their sprinkler systems, as I work on them, or trying to catch water out of a hose.”
Tim has no idea how he managed to raise a Klepto-K9! At one client’s home Gwen sneaks over to their neighbors and ‘borrows’ their dog’s toys. The toys are the best in dog
terms: old tennis balls, a deflated soccer ball, and a torn up rope with dog ball attached.
“It is obvious that Gwen knows she is stealing,” admits Tim, “because she never plays with the toys in their yards, but rushes back, proudly prancing around my client’s property with her loot.”
After he is ‘allowed’ to catch her, he promptly tosses her bounty into the rightful dog’s yard.
“Gwen lives to swim,” said Tim,
“so I take her to the beach 12 months a year. She will retrieve sticks in the water as long as I have the strength to toss them. She loves pleasure swimming, just for the pure love of being in the water.
As a puppy-toddler I calmly carried her into the water and she paddled back to shore, becoming tickled with herself upon reaching the shore. Initially, she only swam out up to her belly, but one day a stick was tossed out too deep, and once she lifted her feet off
the ocean floor, and swam to her stick, we can’t kept her out of any swimable water!
She also loves the rain! Gwen was sitting with me in the dugout at a softball tournament, but in the pouring rain she chose to go and sit outside of the dugout purr-fectly content.”
What a great dog to have in the Pacific Northwest’s rain country!
“Since Gwen’s life may be shorter than we had hoped,” said Tim, “we are doing
everything in our power to give her the most amazing life any dog could imagine.”
And they are!
