The Iowa Castaways, Now Safe and Recovering

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Captain's Neck Wound This is from multiple bite wounds that were not treated. The skin will continue to slough off above the current wound as there are punctures there too. It must heal from the outer part of the wound in. Also notice the lack of hair on the ear tips. This is from frost bite.

Captain has hope for a better future

Skipper (a young black headed tri color) and Captain(estimated to be 2 or 3years old) need to be on antibiotics for their open and draining raw hamburger-like skin(they have puncture wounds that has caused the outer skin to die and slough off). Captain has it on the back of his neck and Skipper has it on the side of his head and into one ear. Dr. Jeff Mills, a nearby caring veterinarian, donated some Amoxicillin to fight infection on these guys. Because the water therapy treatment is so painful, they are given some Metcam for the pain. Skipper's wounds are closing quickly and were not as deep, but Captain is still in a great deal of discomfort. He gets a warm water rinse for 20 minutes on his neck 3 times a day. Captain is one sweet boy, now trusts me and is going to make an excellent pet once he is healed up.

Gilligan(estimated at about 1 or 2 years old) and Mary Ann are doing well in a foster home near to where the others are and are learning to be house trained. It is estimated that Mary Ann is about 6 or 7 years old and she will go in for a dental within the next week. She has some teeth that are giving her trouble.

Along with being very under weight, all of the corgis act as though they have been handled badly. EVERY one of them flatten out when you reach to pet them. We now will only put our open hand under their chins and scratch and not reach over to pet the tops of their heads. Hopefully they will get used to the gentle touch from a hand and not worry about being hit or smacked. These dogs deserve every once of kindness that is available and then some. Most of these corgis also have missing or damaged ears which are most likely caused from fighting. My understanding is that these dogs were not kept in small cages but in yards with many corgis in each yards.

Blue Boy, an estimated 3 year old, will do the keep away thing and has to wear a leash or one cannot near get near him. He is very scared of being handled and flinches when he is touched, which tells me that he has been treated badly and has lost trust in people. He had matted coat that was still on his outer coat that had to be from last years shed. He had matted coat on his underside that was full of dirt. It would not come out even with the 3 shampoos/soaks. Unfortunately, he had be shaved underneath.


Blueboy before....

Blueboy all cleaned up

This poor guy has had many fights in his lifetime as you can see from the scarring on his face. He needs a home where he will be loved and kept safe and secure.	Skipper

Ginger is a young female that really wants to trust someone, but is not so sure about doing so. She also flattens when you reach to pet her and she will occasionally submissively urinate. She has some scaring on her face from previous fights but is going to make a good pet for someone who is patient and willing to give her some confidence thru positive reinforcement and training.

Professor, a middle aged male, has a swollen face on one side and had very bad teeth. He had a dental this past week. The swelling on the side of his face turns out to be an infection under the skin from a bite wound under the lip. He has multiple scratches and healed over puncture woulds on his face. He also must have had to do a lot of fighting to stay alive. He is a gentle soul just looking for someone to trust.

Thurston Howell is a younger male too. He is in pretty good condition although thin, but is rumored to be dog aggressive. He does get along with the senior corgi, Lovey Howell.

Lovey is an 8 year old female that is thinner than any dog should ever have to be. She has damage to both ears, either from fighting or from frost bite or both. She is, of all the dogs, able to walk in the house and be comfortable with it. All of the other dogs were quite worried at first, about being in the house.

Hardy Joe is just that, hardy. And he has heart worm. But he has a delightful personality after you get him to trust you and likes to play. He will go thru heart worm treatment and we hope his hardy self helps him thru it.

All of the dogs came here with a terrible odor. All of them have since been bathed, and several will need more baths. All of them took 3 shampoos to get most of the smell out.


Lovey

Thurston Howell	Ginger

Skipper's black coat shines today from his second bath last night (and the black hilights shampoo). He feels so much better already. Skipper makes my eyes leak. He is so sweet yet so sad, I know he has been treated so badly and has not been protected from the other dogs who have beaten him up time after time in his past. He will now always be protected and not have to suffer at the hand of an uncaring person ever again, so help me God.

All of these dogs, except for BlueBoy, were excellent with children yesterday. They allowed them to pet them and actually came to them in search of affection. We had a nice family with 3 girls visit yesterday. The girls were ages 4, 6 and 8 and were very gentle with the corgis. Poor BlueBoy could just not get past his fear and could not handle all of the people. This guy is going to take some serious work as he had to have been seriously abused.

I will try to give weekly reports on the Castaways. All of them have improved, even BlueBoy. He no longer bucks and resists on the end of the leash when I pick it up, so he too has made progress.

None of these corgis are available for adoption just yet. The first ones will be available after the 27th of April, but we caution all considering adopting one of these dogs that will need a lot of patience and will all need to be housebroken. Because these dogs were used for breeding and have learned how to fight with the same sex for the right to breed, if you already have a dog in your home, we will prefer to only adopt out the opposite sex.

Yvette Huesler
Lakeshore Corgi Rescue VP and Castaway Foster Home.
Athens, WI

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