Will

Will - 9 month old male

Adopted - March 3

Will has gone to his forever home with Kris and Angela in Orillia. As you can tell from the photos, he gets along really well with his four year old pug brother, Meho. He’s already learned the layout of his new house and loves to chase Meho up and down the stairs. Will also has a human sister named Kiki who has a soft spot for animals and helps care for him. Since Angela works from home, Will is certainly getting all of the love and attention a pug could ever hope for.

The entire family is committed to making Will feel at home and is working on his separation anxiety. Although we miss Will dearly, we’re glad he’s found a family that cares so much about his happiness and well being.

Here’s a note from Angela:

“...all in all, Will is fitting in just perfectly. We all adore him. Thank you Matt and Sarah for all that you have done for the little guy. Also thank you to his other foster Mom Simone and all the folks at Pugalug who have taught me in the past month soooooooo much about our little pug friends.”

Applications are Closed

Thanks to the many great applicants who wanted to give a Will a life of love and care. It was tough to decide among so many.

Will gets along really well with our pugs and with everyone he meets. He enjoys the company of both people and other dogs. He also regularly plays in our yard with the neighbour’s cat. Will is very affectionate and loves to cuddle and give kisses. He is very eager to please and has responded well to all of his training. He knows basic commands such as sit, lie down, and leave it, and he immediately reacts when we say “no.” Will is also house trained and will walk on a leash quite nicely. He will sleep in either a crate or, if you don’t mind the snoring, in the “big bed.”

Being blind really doesn’t slow this little guy down at all. He is an active puppy that loves to play chase. People are always surprised when we tell them he has no sight; they say they would never have guessed. Will learned how to safely make his way around our house in less than a day, and he rarely runs into anything. After a few weeks, he was flying up and down our stairs. He now uses stairs in other homes with very little hesitation, too.

Will needs an owner who is willing to work on his separation anxiety, though. Before Will was taken into foster care, he spent almost all of his time in a crate. As a result, he is nervous of being left alone. When we first got Will, he would go into his crate without complaint, but he would get very anxious once he could tell we were preparing to leave the house. However, Will now trusts us and knows that we won’t leave him alone for extremely long periods of time. We are confident that with a little patience and understanding, he will become comfortable with being left alone in his new home, too.

Will has been given a clean bill of health from the vet. His second skin scrape came back clean, and he will be neutered and receive his last shots on February 20th. We’re going to miss Will, but we know this sweet, fun-loving puppy is going to make another family very happy.

Foster Update, Jan 26

Just a quick update on Willy. We took him to Derrydale in Brampton on Friday. His skin scrape was clean, no more demodex. We are taking him back in 3 weeks for another scrape. If it is clean then we will finish his shots and schedule his neuter.

Foster Update, Jan 6

We took him to the vet on December 18th. He still has demodex. The medecine he was on (Advantage) does not do anything for demodex. He is now on Ivermectin (same stuff we gave Parker for her demodex). Ivermectin is an off-label and expensive drug but it is the only really effective treatment for demodex. He will go back to the vet around January 18th for another skin scrape. If that scrape is clear he stays on the medecine until February 18th. If he is still clear on February 18th then he is ready to be neutered and have his final shots. Once that is done he will be ready to go.

Basically, he will be under foster care until at least the end of February, maybe longer if the demodex doesn't clear up. His seperation anxiety is still pretty bad but has shown some improvement over the time we have had him. He will settle down in a crate at night and in the car. He just does not like to be left alone. We have been trying to leave the house a few times a day for varying lengths the show him that we will always come back but we have only seen slight improvements.

Foster Update, Nov 21

Will went for a third skin scrape today and this time no demodectic mites were found, so we are very pleased. I knew he was on the mend because his bald patches are filling in. In order to proceed with vaccinations and neutering, two clean scrapes are required, so we have scheduled the next scrape for December 17th. If this one comes back clear as well, then we will administer his second DA2PP vaccine, followed by his rabies vaccine about 6 days later. This takes us into Christmas, which tends to be a busy time of year around here, so we will probably neuter and microchip him in the first week of January. That is the plan anyway.

With respect to everything else, he’s doing well. I have been bringing him to the dog training school I work at and although I don’t have a lot of time to work with him individually, he has learned sit, down and come. He’s a good listener. He is very popular at the school and the vets office, and anywhere else he goes. It must be that cute little face of his. He still loathes the cold and shivers pathetically when I make him go out for potty breaks, although he is quite happy to walk in the snow on milder days and has had numerous walks on the trails at our farm. I’ve attached a picture of one of these walks (before the snow fell). Will is the one on the right.

I shall write again at the time of the next skin scrape test (Dec.17), if nothing noteworthy happens before then.

Foster Mom Simone

Foster Update, Oct 27

Will went to the vets last Wednesday for a recheck of the demodectic mange. Although it has improved, one skin scraping showed a few live mites, so no vaccination or neuter scheduled yet. My vet would like to see two consecutive “clean” scrapes before any other work is done on him. His next appointment is around November 20th. Other than that, he’s in good shape. He really doesn’t like this cold weather though. He’s always in a sunbeam, on a lap, or wrapped in a blanket. He is very happy in his doggy seatbelt in the car (wrapped in a blanket again) so he comes with me most places. We bought him a sweater – nice navy blue one with a crown on it – and he seems to actually enjoy wearing it.

He sleeps in his crate very well at night but is stressed in it during the day so I try to avoid it when possible. I’m sure he’d love to sleep in the big bed at night, but we have too many dogs for that. He loves snuggling in my daughters’ beds though, which I allow while I’m tidying up at night.

His next vet check will be in mid-November. Look for an update then.

Foster Update, Oct 10

took Will to see veterinary ophthalmologist Dr. Melanie Williams. After performing a few tests and having a good look inside the eyes she said both eyes are densely and diffusely pigmented making it hard to see inside. The right eye is a small eye with low pressure and no dazzle reflex. Dr. Williams confirmed that this eye has previously ruptured and healed and is an irreversibly blind eye, however there is no discharge and no discomfort. The cause of the rupture is unknown, but she suspects neonatal opthalmia (which is a condition at birth where pus accumulates under the eyelid and unless relieved can cause the eye to rupture). This eye has low tear production but it isn’t really a problem due to the condition of the eye.

The status of the left eye supports this diagnosis. The left eye has better tear production, good pressure and a dazzle reflex indicating some potential for vision. However with the extent of the pigment on the cornea the possibility for improvement is not optimistic. The tear production in this eye should not have caused the pigment (supporting the neonatal opthalmia diagnosis) so treatment for dry eye may have no effect on vision. Treatment for the pigment (cyclosporine and Tobradex(?) (an antibiotic/steroidal ointment) can be tried but would take months to show any results and again, significant improvement is unlikely. The left eye is also free of discharge and comfortable.

So in a nutshell – blind but pain-free.

Will was very well behaved for the visit and continues to win hearts wherever he goes. He is learning sit, stand, down and come. He responds quickly to verbal corrections (which are hardly ever needed) and his housetraining is coming along too. He seems to understand “go pee” now and performs nicely when he is able. He is a typical pug puppy – raring to go in the morning and looking for a lap by lunch time. I’ve noticed he hates cold, wet weather and I’ve had to carry him outside a few times for bathroom breaks. Then he stands there making pathetic whimpering noises and shivering until you bring him in again.

So we have to continue with his treatment for the demodectic mange and when that’s cleared up he’ll be vaccinated, neutered and ready to go.

Foster Update, Sept 21

Will has settled in very well. He sleeps in his crate beside the bed at night. He found the water dish after bumping into it a few times. He eats well (right now we are hand feeding for training purposes) and is good on the leash (although he walks into and through legs quite often). He is very playful and as much work as you would expect being a puppy, but he is a complete snuggle bunny at night.

He is not housetrained and is used to pooping in his crate, but once we understand each others routines we should be able to change that. He loves to be around people and is very good with dogs/cats/children. He has even met alpacas, llamas and a cow and is curious and cautious but not at all spooked. Overall he has a fantastic temperament and personality and is a joy to be around.

On to the vet stuff. Will has insufficient tear production leading to keratitas which has caused significant vision loss. A visit to an ophthalmologist should give us an idea of whether his condition should be managed with eye drops or if more drastic measures are required. Right now he is getting artificial tears applied manually 4 times a day (no easy task with this one. He’s very wiggly!)

He also has some areas of hair loss and reddening of the skin that was determined to be demodectic mange, probably only a problem due to previous living situation. This will be treated this week with an Advantage product. Good diet and continuity of care will help too.

Other than that he is a normal, playful puppy. He has attached himself to me and follows my voice around. He will easily wiggle his way into someone’s heart. Yesterday he came with us to a few shops in Newmarket. Today he went to a horse show with us. You can take him anywhere. He’s as good as gold.

Introduction Sept. 19

Well, this little guy has gone through so much in just his 4 short months, so much and yet still giving cuddles and kisses to his foster family - that they just had to name him Will. Will was going to be euthanized by the breeder because of an eye condition. But someone was willing to give him a home. However Will has gone through 2 homes, each one finding it difficult to deal with Will's medical conditions.

When he was picked up by our transport volunteer, Will was in the garage, in a crate, where he was being kept. You see, Will is pretty much blind. The owner was not able to always keep an eye on him so Will stayed in his crate most of the time.

He was taken immediately to the vet so he could be examined, particularly his eyes.

He was diagnosed with pigmentaruy keratitis. He has minimal tear production in both eyes-- left is slightly better than the right. Eyes were stained and no sign of trauma. But he is definitely significantly vision impaired and likely it is congenital. The vet recommends an ophthalmologist appointment.

He also has demodectic mange. We will be treating him for that as well as improving his food quality.

They de-wormed him although he had been de-wormed at the breeders (supposedly), but the fecal looked suspicous to the vet. We won't be inoculating him again until he is over the mange and his immune system is in better shape. He's had the first set of vaccines already.