12-31-09 Made it to AHS website

Yay River made it to the Alternative Humane Society's website! This is great as he will now have even more exposure and more chances at that perfect home. Here is the link: AHS
Take the time to look at all the dogs, as if River doesn't quite fit you needs there are plenty of other choices for your family.
River himself is doing great. He even likes to do a little trot on his leash when he goes for walks. It is pretty funny and sweet and I have to make sure he doesn't run into anything. He has also taken to doing some "zoomies" when his really happy. He bounces into a few things but mostly stays in a small safe circle. As long as I remember to keep things picked up from the floor and put away he does great. It is so wonderful seeing this shy quiet dog turning into a silly clown. Despite his brief bursts of energy, River's favorite thing is still to relax, sleep and snuggle.

12-26-09 First Pedicure

Well today I decided to be bold and give River his first pedicure. I wasn't sure how he was going to do as his last one was while he was under anesthesia for his neuter. I waited until he was very sleepy and starting to settle down for his mid-morning nap, grabbed some string cheese and my husband Tom and started up the dremel. River peacefully stayed calmly on his side through out the whole procedure. He was very happy for the loving that he was getting from Tom and could care less about his Dremmeling.
After one week with this dog it is amazing to see the personality emerging. River is actually quite the talker...He will moan softly for attention, sigh loudly and do little snorkley sounds when you pet him and do a couple whines when he goes in his crate. Speaking of the crate River is doing fabulous with his crate training. It is not his favorite place in the world but once he is in he licks the door a few times to see if it will open and when it doesn't he rustles around "making his bed" with the blankets and then goes to sleep. River does have to spend more time in his crate then I would like due to my busy schedule but as he is a big sleeper I try not to feel to bad about it...
I am constantly amazed at all this dog is able to do instead of what he can't. One amazing thing for me with fostering River is I will never be afraid of having a blind dog again. Their ability to adapt is wonderful.
Well I better wrap this up as it is evening snuggle time with the Picard, Sieann and River.
I will post more later and Rivers great trip to Dr. Bult's office.

12-25-09 Merry Christmas

River just wants to say the best gift he could have is a home for Christmas...


...but he is enjoying his new toys and special Christmas dinner.

12-22-09 PRA

In case you want to read about why River is blind this is what he has: PRA or Progressive Retinal Atrophy

12-22-09 River is becoming a "real dog"...

or maybe a monkey :)
Due to Rivers bad hips and his lack of sight I have been keeping him penned in the kitchen/dining room the last few nights as I don't want him climbing all our stairs at night up to the bedroom. Well the clever monkey dog has become so bonded to everyone he decided last night he was having none of that and climbed over the baby gate. Yes climbed up and flung himself over. Pretty impressive. Once he escaped he settled down in the living room to sleep and didn't venture upstairs so I left the gate open. Tomorrow I will drag the crate out of the garage and use that.
River is getting stronger every day and gives the sweetest greetings in the morning. I am learning to pat the floor a few times when I approach him when he is sleeping so I don't startle him. Even when startled River is immediately excited about the possibility of some attention. He loves attention and will follow Tom or me from room to room. I have noticed he likes men and women equally and doesn't seem to have any fear issues there. I do like to let him sniff my hand before petting him as then he doesn't have a surprise hand coming out of nowhere but when I forget he doesn't seem to mind. As much as River loves his attention he does spend quite a bit of time sleeping as well making him a easy dog to live with.
I am thinking River is closer to 7 yrs old after being around him but don't let that deter you from giving him a home as those are the best years for dogs. He is getting the potty thing down and as long as we take him out every couple of hours when he is out he has no accidents. I will start training him to the crate and then will see how he does for longer periods of time.

I am asking for everyone to please keep looking for that forever home for River has he really deserves his own family to bond to as that is his "job".River enjoying his big fluffy bed.

12-21-09 Monday Update

River has been doing great settling right into our routine. He is amazing how he copes with his blindness. It took me 2 days but I trained him to go down the stairs. River was terrified at first but will do anything for cheese. By placing cheese tidbits on each stair he eventually went down. Now he cautiously feels his way down with his feet. I am going VERY slow as I do NOT want him to have a bad experience and fall. Now he doesn't need the cheese on the stairs but I am giving him a tidbit for every stair he does. Tomorrow it will be every other stair and by the weekend I hope to have him just getting the treat at the bottom...but what I have learned over the years in dog training (and this is dogs with no special needs) that sometimes you have to go backwards in order to take leaps forward.
River is progressing quite well on house training. He is about 80% trained and the 20% accident rate is mostly due to me not paying attention to his signals...it has been over 8 years since I potty trained a dog and I am a bit rusty :) On a very positive note his accidents are truly accidents and he has absolutely no marking behaviors. Pretty impressive for an adult male dog who just got neutered last week and has not been an indoor dog.
River's hips are weak but he gets around great on Carpet, wood/vinyl floors are are harder but strategically placed non slip throw rugs work great and he is so smart about anchoring a foot on the rug to help himself stand.
We did introduce him to my mom's un-neutered male dog this weekend and although they tolerated each other I would think it is best that River goes in a home with a neutered male or female dogs. River does really well with my neutered male and female dog. He is respectful of my old dog when he gives him a little warning growl and tries to snuggle with my female.
Today will be the first day that we have to leave River home during the day and I will report later on how that goes. He really loves being with people as much as possible. Snuggling is his favorite thing to do besides eating. Considering he is only 86lbs and as tall as my dog who is 108 lbs I think he didn't get much food for a long time. He will need to be kept very lean, almost skinny to help his hips but the smallest little tidbit of a treat is exciting to him.
River is also learning to play with toys which is pretty cute. He loves dumping the whole toy basket over and picking through the toys.
I will post some new pictures later.

12-19-09 River Comes to the Gurneys

Today Tom and I went to go pick River up at the vets office were he had been staying to bring him home until he can find his forever home. The outpouring of love for this dog by the people at the vets office is a testament to how wonderful a temperament River has...He truly touches everyone he meets. After a beautiful touching goodbye River took a car ride from Burlington to Bellingham. At first he was a bit stressed as I doubt he has ridden in many cars...after about 5 minutes he settled down.

First River got to sniff around in the grass...

Then he came inside and after wondering around the house and sniffing noses with Sieann and Picard he relaxed by the door for awhile...

Then he got some snuggles with me (Bliss), Picard is hoping there might be a treat that River missed. Sieann (the one with the glowing eyes) is relaxing on her bed. Note that River has discovered the toy box and has already pulled out some favorites. He likes the Fleecy toy that I made and also the marrow bones.Then it was time for some serious snuggle time with Tom while we watched a movie. River is really good about settling down and relaxing. In fact he is sleeping right now while I write this post.

River has done extremely well with fitting right in and getting along with both my dogs, ate his dinner all up and waited patiently to go outside to go potty. He does not want to go potty in the house and I don't see him having any problems with house training. So far his biggest challenge has been our stairs. I will have to spend some time tomorrow teaching him how to go up and down. He is already learning up. It is amazing to me how quickly he figures things out despite not being able to see. I can't wait to start teaching him some basic obedience commands. River already naturally sits and downs while waiting and takes his treats very politely. Off to go give him some snuggles, can't wait to match this boy up with his special forever home but will thoroughly enjoy his sweet presence while he spends time with me.

12-18-09 River Recovering

Just received a note last night from the staff at the Vet's office...

"He is doing great and is back to his old happy self. Loves to go outside and get LOTS of attention. I will miss him."

River touches the hearts of those who meet him. I am glad he is recovering so well. Will post more pictures and Video this weekend.

River getting his favorite thing: Snuggles!

12-16-09 AHS to help

I emailed the Alternative Humane Society to see if they would help me and list River on their website and they just responded back that they would! This is great news as there website gets a lot of people looking for dogs. The more exposure River gets the better chance he gets at that awesome forever home. Keeping this in mind please forward River's blog to as many people as you can.
I have been researching how to train blind dogs that are hearing impaired as well and have started to get some good resources. I will list them soon in this blog so others might benefit from the sites.

Quick update

Just got a call from River's vet at Chuckanut Valley Vet and he did great with his surgery and is awake. He was a little disorientated when he work up which is to be expected with any dog, especially one that can't see. Not only did he get his neuter, teeth cleaning, vaccinations, and micro- chip, they also cleaned his ears and gave him a pedicure. I am so grateful to the staff and owners of this Veterinary Clinic for coming through for River and donating so much time and services. Thanks again to everyone who is contacting me about donations, I am working on getting pay pal set up and will post that info here as well as FB once it is available.

River to have his "operation" today

River will have his neutering, teeth cleaning, microchipping and vaccinations today. I have donated the first $100 but I am asking for donations for the remainder which will be about $200. The $300 dollar charge is very generous as normally just a full dental cleaning is about that much money.
Checks can be made out to Chuckanut Valley Vet and sent to:
Chuckanut Valley Vet. 896 N Burlington Blvd Burlington, Washington 98233 just be sure to put River in the memo line.
Thank you so much for helping and I know we can find River a permanent home for Christmas. Please feel free to share River's blog and help him find a home.

12-13-09 River Playing

Here is a super cute video of River playing with my 8 yo female Sieann. It shows that even though he is a special needs dog he still has so much joy in life.

12-13-09 Meeting River

It started with an email...
I gave my name to group that helps older dogs find new homes: Old Dog Haven and when a call went out to them regarding a rottweiler in Skagit County that needed a home the Vet's office who has been kind enough to rescue him contacted me. So Tom (my husband) and I loaded up our two dogs (a 12 yo male rottweiler - Picard and a 8 yo female rottweiler - Sieann) in our big pick up, braved the snow and headed down from Bellingham to drive to Burlington to meet River.
I am starting this blog in the hope when we do find River his new home his new owner will keep it up and all those who's hearts River has already touched will be able to see him in his new home.
River's story: He was found as a stray "up river" in Skagit county living under someones porch. He must have been someones pet at one time as he is very well trained and so friendly. As he is blind and had really bad ear infections and a weak hind end (? hip dysplasia) and they thought he was really old the sheriff brought him to the vet to be Euthanized. After spending some time with him the vet staff quickly realized this is a dog worth saving...and after meeting River I have to agree. Yes he is blind but he must have been that way since a puppy as he is quite mobile and probably can see some light and dark, in fact the blindness actually makes him very easy to walk and handle as he wants to stay close to the person who is walking him and doesn't pull very hard on his leash. As for his hips although they are bad he can still get around and play just won't be a dog to take jogging.
River would be an ideal dog for someone that wants a quiet companion. He won't require much exercise and really is content to sleep most of the day and loves his food. He got along great with both my older male and younger female and actually tried to play which was so cute as he had to find them by smell. Not sure about cats, but honestly unless it was a really dumb cat most cats would be able to easily "hide" from River. He doesn't go potty in his crate so with a little training and a watchful first couple of months he will be easy to housetrain. As for getting him used to a new place just keeping a leash on him for a few days and keeping him attached to you would get would be sufficient to get him used to his surroundings (this is a good idea to do with any newly adopted dog)
Before being adopted he will be neutered, ears and teeth cleaned and fully vaccinated.



Within 5 minutes of meeting me River snuggled up to me and put his head in my lap, he proceeded to rub his head on me and give gentle kisses as I learned is sad story.

River uses his ears a lot to figure out his surroundings and looks quite charming when he does.



River loves to give Kisses and Snuggle.


He may be blind and have bad hips but River still loves to play...still intact he could care less that my dog is a male and plays happily with him. (he will be neutered prior to being placed).