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AiredaleTerriers.org
Airedale Terrier Information & Referral Resource
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Alaska Ralphie
(Forever Name: Chester)
7/14/04
I got a call from my vet today. A 3+ month old male Airedale was brought in with a badly broken leg.
He is an ADT, although a very badly bred Airedale. He is very large with a very soft blond coat
(and huge feet). The young girl said that she could not pay for the repair or do the follow up care.
The dog should be put down. They called me and then had her call me. She is willing to surrender the dog. I then found out that she found the puppy a month or 2 earlier and was unable to find the owner and kept him. I have called my ADT connections in that area no one knows anything about a litter or a dog his age - they are still looking. The costs now with my vet are $609.00. The estimate with the Anchorage vet are $1200 - $1400. By the way, he is a very loving, sweet guy, even when we tried to stand him up and it hurt, he cried, but the tail kept wagging (an undocked tail) and he was licking. I wish I could have taken a better picture, but they were having emergencies and I was in the way. I haven't tried to work on getting the cost reduced, but I plan to do that, if we are able to help Ralphie.
In the front-on picture, she says that although he appears to have white on his face, he really doesn't,
but he is very light.
7/15/04
Ralphie is resting well right now after having his new plate put in this
morning ;0)
He was a real trooper ~ resting so well that he even had his little feet
going, chasing rabbits !
Jan and Michelle met with everyone last night before Ralphie going into
surgery this morning.
They are scheduled to go see him later this day. Last report is that
all is well ;0)
Ralphie was so good that he made several new fans just being transported
from Jan's Vet to Michelle's vet (who did the surgery) ~ all just in the
space of the parking lots.
Jan and Michelle send their thank yous ! and will get pictures A.S.A.P.
7/16/04
Ralphie is doing well - still kind of sedated. He is getting up go potty with no problem and really enjoying his food, Of course, I
waited until this morning to get his space ready. He is such a baby - I
love puppies! Here's a couple of pictures so you can see his little face
and his little space, when I am not with him he has a kennel to be in.
Pretty awful hair cut - I accused him of being a poodle wanabe (sometimes I
can be so mean).
9/04
Ralphie still causes quite a stir wherever he goes. A few days after his surgery
I was doing an outdoor sale at a lure coursing event. I didn't trust Ralphie to be
alone (even confined) so I put his crate in the back of my Expedition and parked him
behind my tent with the back of the car open. He was very quite (I am sure the pain
patch he was wearing had something to do with it), but I couldn't believe all of the
people that came by to visit him. Rescue did very well with the donation jar that day!
After 8 weeks of Ralphie being confined, first to an 4 ft X 8 ft enclosure that he pushed
under the door immediately (I fixed that). Then he crawled up and over, I found him
happily playing in the garage (I fixed that). Now that he couldn't get out, he started
chewing the wood on the enclosure – that was it. I was having nightmares of the leg
having to be worked on again! He spent the remainder of the 8 weeks in an extra large
crate, when he wasn’t physically with me. It all went very well after that. Keeping him
from running and jumping was quite a chore. Some mornings when he came out of the crate
instead of walking forward, he would go straight up in the air, but all in all, he was
a very cooperative and good natured pup. One of his many potential owner’s, John, came
all the way from Fairbanks to meet him. He drove 7 hours, spent part of the day playing
with Ralphie in the yard and drove another 7 hours back home. They were great together
and it was clear that they were perfect for each other.
Ralphie and John Meet for the First Time
Ralphie went in on September 10th
to be neutered and to have his final x-ray. Everything went perfectly, and the x-ray
looked wonderful. It was interesting to see on the x-ray how much he had grown in 8 weeks.
When he came home on the 11th, I let him loose by himself in the yard for the first time.
He took a "victory lap", running and leaping. All the toys he had been playing with on the
leash for all those weeks went flying through the air one at a time. It was a beautiful sight.
We went to visit the vet’s office that had originally called me about helping Ralphie, we
had him microchipped and everyone came out to see how wonderfully he had healed and to tell him good bye.
John is coming today to pick up Ralphie. His name is now Chester from the TV show Gunsmoke,
that seems appropriate. I will really miss this one, but I know he is going to a great home
and will be a very loved boy. John has promised to send many pictures and keep us updated.
We took a last slow walk in the woods and had a long talk about all of the good people that helped him.
I found out the other day from my vet's office that when he fell over the cliff it was so steep that it
took them more than an hour to get him out. That must have been awful.
10/04
John has called a few times, every 3 or 4 weeks. Chester has killed his first mouse (we think
it was his first) and found a frozen frog to play with. John who frequents auctions and buys
and restores antique vehicles, takes Chester with. When it was time to leave the auction
the other day, he took him off the lead to get in the car. Chester calmly went back into the
auction and sat down. I guess there were still some items up for auction he wanted to see.
It sounds like they are doing really well together.
This is what makes it so worthwhile. Thank you again to everyone that helped this pup.
Jan, Holley, Gus & Leda
If it wasn't for the way all the
ATCA Rescue & Adoption Committee,
and especially Rusty LaFrance,
worked so quickly to help us, the outcome could have been very different. There
was a time that I had to make the decision to have his leg taken off,
because there weren't enough funds in Alaska Rescue to pay for the repair.
The night before his surgery, I was driving down the road and got a call from
Rusty on my cell phone that the funds had been approved for Ralphie. His
surgery was to start at 7:00 am. The person you see part of in the first
pictures holding Ralphie is a vet tech at the clinic named Tracy, she also
happens to be the person who handles my girl Leda in the show ring. I
called her at home and told her that the funds had been approved by
national - PLEASE STOP THE SURGERY! We were both so happy we were crying on
the phone. Tracy breeds, shows and does rescue for Bernese Mountain Dogs.
She was so impressed with the generosity and how everyone in ADT Rescue all
across the country worked together for Ralphie that she asked to see the
website and forms so that they could better organize their efforts for
Berners.
I may have been the one that physically worked with Ralphie, but it is all
the people that work so hard to raise funds to help these guys in need and
Candy, Michelle, Rusty, Sidney and all the others in the network that I don't
know about that saved his leg. Poor Rusty must have needed a vacation after
all the e-mails and phone calls from me. She was so great at helping me
through this and knowing what to do.
I have since set up a bank account for Alaska Airedale Rescue and Michelle
and I are work hard to build up the account so we can be ready for whatever
comes next.
I had a few other rescue situations come up after Ralphie went to live with
John that were difficult to deal with. It is the positive outcomes like
Ralphie's that help get you through the hard ones.
I have been working on putting this part of the story into words. It was
hard because I had made the decision to have his leg taken off. Thankfully
that didn't have to happen.
Thank you again,
Jan
cragar@alaska.net
Alaska Airedale Rescue
Check out the adorable stuffed Airedales made by Arctic Air
to benefit Alaska Airedale Rescue
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