Charlie's Rescue Dog Stories from Rescue To Forever Family

Charlie’s Journey from Rescue to Forever Home

10 year old Charlie came into care in South Australia last year. When his original carer went to pick him up, his owner said he’d been tied to the carport for a year.

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Charlie’s Story

Charlie was in terrible condition. He was given treatment for his skin and his chest healed up however, the carer and the vet were not able to get on top of similar issue happening on his rump. His tail lost much of its fur. Sadly neither the vet nor the carer ever addressed his crippling arthritis nor his weight issue. Eventually, the vet recommended Charlie be euthanised and the carer sought the OK from LR.

Luckily, Labrador Rescue did not agree and had him flown up to Canberra.

He arrived to me on Friday late afternoon smelling incredibly bad with greasy sick dog smell and limping slowly along to get to the car.

I got my sister to come over and help me get him into the bath for an immediate wash and flew out to our boss’s place for some emergency pain relief for him.

I wasn’t able to get him into the vet til Monday. I was alarmed to see him unable to lie down properly. He would try, bending at the knees but eventually would simply crash to the floor on his side with some horrible thuds as his head hit the floor the first night. He was unable to curl up and could not fit into any of my baskets or dog mats.

I also hit the pet shop on Saturday for a purchase of a special bed for him with memory foam and sewn in channels so it would not create a dip in it. It was large enough for him to lie straight out with no need to curl up. He weighed in at 46k not the largest dog we’ve had but with those painful joints way too much weight.

With treatment from a great vet, a strict diet, lots of experiments with pain relief, antibiotics and steroids Charlie was finally on the road to recovery.

It took about 13 weeks to get his skin stabilized in order to start looking for a home for him. Labrador Rescue funded thousands of dollars in vet care and treatments.

In all that time Charlie had made friends wherever he went with his cheerful disposition and happy nature. We had the slowest walks in history as he plodded along with my two dogs running rings around him. After 4 weeks he could get to the top of the hill without panting heavily and sitting down to rest and thereafter he meandered along off lead charming all he met.

Charlie is now living happily with Nicole his new owner. He has charmed her family, made friends in Canberra and Sydney and is still on his diet. He has almost reached his goal weight of 35k. Best of all, Charlie has rediscovered how a slimmer body and Rose hip Vital can help quality of life. Nicole was puzzled as her chickens had apparently stopped laying for 3 days til she caught sight of Charlie incredibly crawling into her chicken coop, scoffing the eggs, then turning around and crawling out again. This from a dog who 15 weeks ago had been unable to lie down. His skin is holding and he has been able to reduce his steroids to minimum dose thought he will probably be on them for life. Charlie is well loved and well looked after and may eventually have another Lab Rescued friend as a canine companion.