Meet Mason! He is a small, sweet-tempered and obediant pit bull (or possibly pit bull mix). He is about 6 years old, neutered, with no health problems. This boy gets along well with most other dogs (he has been living with a male Brittany Spaniel for the last two years), and children, but should probably not be in a home with cats or small animals or very aggressive adult male dogs. He and my Savage are good friends and we play together often, but his owners no longer have enough time for him and can't give him the attention he deserves.
Mason is the kind of dog that people immediately fall in love with. He loves to cuddle and sleep in the bed with his people. He's a good watchdog and is very loyal. After having had a few different caretakers throughout his life, he has become very adaptable, and will fit in in most any household. He doesn't require a lot of exercise, but does need an owner willing to spend time with him, as he tends to have some seperation anxiety if left home alone for over 6 hours or so. Mason is a really clever guy, and could benefit greatly from a little more training, but all in all, is a very low-maintenance dog. He does well on or off leash, and responds well to basic obedience commands, but he's most content relaxing at home with his family.
Most dog owners I know already have their hands full, but almost every one has said "If I wasn't so busy with my other dog(s) I would take Mason in a second". This dog really does deserve a stable, loving, forever home, with an owner that will make a life-long commitment to him. If any of the visitors to The Story Of Savage blog can help Mason find that home, please email me (Paula) at TackleBox1979@hotmail.com or leave a comment for me below this post. Let's help this truly good dog.

Every day we make time to hang out with Savage's friends, and usually we go walking at a few of our favorite spots around the area. Here Nala and Savvy are crammed in the back of my truck waiting patiently (?) to head over to Lace Lake to run wild in the grass.

Savvy is aquiring quite the collar collection. This is his new "tough guy" collar, which is 1" black leather with alternating spikes and studs. Again, I got this one (and another for our doggie friend Nala) from Morrco, and feel I was pretty lucky in getting all the collars the right sizes.

Savage's new blaze orange collar is designed for hunting dogs, but I just want him to be visible to hunters who could mistake him for a deer during the upcoming hunting season. This nylon SunGlo collar is 2" wide and coated with polyurethane to resist dirt and odor. It's also water repellent, though Savvy doesn't spend much time in the water this time of year. I spent only $9.99 on it through Morrco Pet Supply, which is one of my new favorite shopping sites.

To everyone who wished Savage well after his neuter surgery; thank you very much. It was quite an emotional experience for me, though my puppy still doesn't seem to realize anything is different. I've talked to dog owners who said their neutered dogs spent a lot of time licking the area and worrying over it, but Savvy never seemed to even notice. I took the stitches out about 10 days after the operation, and since then his swollen scrotum has been shrinking up. The only side effect he had was the loss of appetite and general lethargy from the medications, as explained in the "Neutered!" post previously. After those first two days, he returned to normal and has been his happy dane self ever since.
As the summer season winds down we are getting to spend a lot more time together, though we haven't been grouse hunting this year like we did last September. Instead, we go out walking in the woods and playing with our other doggie friends. Last winter my friends and I often took all the dogs out on the frozen lake and let them run wild in the snow, and I hope that we can do that again this winter. However, everyone seems to have either matured or grown an attitude since then, and there are a few males in our group that no longer get along as well. Savvy himself is still pretty patient and friendly, but he is less likely now to submit to other male dogs that try to push him around. He has gotten in a few scraps with a couple of the dogs we hang out with all the time (always a fight over shared food), and I find myself missing the times when he was truly a puppy and simply turned the other cheek. As always, though, he remains the big gentle boy with his family, and treats strangers like friends. We will all just need to commit time to more calm socialization between all the dogs this fall.

On Tuesday, September 4th I took my boy (22 months old) to the vet's office for his neuter surgery. This is the first time we've been to this particular vet, but I was referred to him many times by family and friends. Dr. Hanson was very knowledgeable and reassuring, since I was really anxious about the operation. We also talked about my pup's panosteitis, which has returned and is affecting his other leg, though not severely. I left Savage there at about 10:00am and called at 12:00pm, at which point he was out of surgery and recovering.
When I finally got back to the clinic around 2:30 my puppy was awake and aware, so they released him and I loaded him into the truck for the ride home. I was advised that aftercare would be minimal, and I should limit his exercise for a week or so, and not let him go swimming. He was not given any pain medication or antibiotics. I will be able to remove the stitches myself after healing. Since I had not given him anything to eat after 8:00pm on Monday, I offered him a slice of ham on the 2 1/2 hour ride home, but he wasn't interested, which was very strange for my dog. That afternoon Savvy was still kind of "spacy" and tired, not at all interested in food, or the other dogs in the waiting room, or walking around outside. That night he threw up three times in the house, mostly bile and the grass he had been eating at any opportunity. I'm guessing that the vomiting may be related to the medication used for anesthesia, xylazine hydrocloride, administered along with the drug ketamine. But it really worried me, of course. He was also drinking quite a lot of water, and sleeping all the time.
On Wednesday I only let him out in the yard in the morning to pee, and he was more interested in getting back to sleep on the couch. That afternoon I walked him outside in the clearing beyond our house. He seemed almost normal, sniffing around and peeing on everything, but after only 5 minutes or so, he got tired and laid down in the grass to rest. I took him home and put him back to sleep. Randy and I offered him his regular meal (chicken backs and eggs), as well as irresistable treats like cooked hamburger and lunch meat (and even a spoonful of honey), but Savage refused them all. Last night I couldn't wait to call his vet with my concerns, but this morning he finally accepted a hot dog from Randy, and then when I offered him a chicken meal he ate the whole thing.
My beautiful guy is now resting on the couch (still!) and taking it easy. We've limited his exercise to short walks and he's been getting all sorts of hugs and affection from his family. Things are looking up. The first photo above was taken a day before Sava's surgery. Kind of a "farewell" to his testicles. LOL.
On a side note, I am now working on a new computer and new operating system, and it's been a bit difficult to get used to, which accounts for the big gap between website updates. I will hopefully be posting more often now that I'm getting used to this Mac stuff.

Look at my silly puppy! He's searching for a stick that sunk after I threw it for him to fetch.

Lately we've been dealing with a couple of health issues, which thankfully don't seem too serious, but they bear mentioning.
First of all, soon after Savvy's fall in the boat (see previous posts) he began holding his tail in a strange position, arched up and then tucked back under at the end. This concerned me, but I rationalized it by assuming he was still a bit scared. Then about a 4 days later, a spot in the middle of the tail began swelling up noticeably. Turns out that while he didn't actually break it, Savage's tail had just received a nasty bruise, and my vet said that the swelling would gradually subside, which it has been doing.
At the same vet appointment she addressed my main concern, which was limping affecting Savvy's right back leg. This had been going on for a few weeks, with one episode where he wouldn't put any weight on the leg at all. It was possible for me to gently feel along his leg, hip, and joints, with no pain or discomfort for him. However, as his vet palpated the long bone in his lower leg (shin area) his pain was obvious to both of us. Savvy was diagnosed with panosteitis and given a cycle of anti-inflammatory pills called Deramaxx.
Panosteitis is an inflammation of the long bones in growing pups, and doesn't normally occur in dogs as old as Savvy. The good news is that it will eventually go away on it's own. Because he is no longer limping and doesn't seem to be in any pain at all, I decided not to give him the pain pills. I generally don't like to put any medication into my doggie's body that is not absolutely necessary. I've been limiting his exercise a bit, and keeping his diet the same. Savage is now acting completely normal and I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Randy, Savvy, and I recently took a trip down to southern Minnesota to pick up our new boat. Having finally got it on the water last weekend, we introduced Savage to it. He was a little wary of it, since the only boats he's been on so far have been 14' or 16', while the new one is 26' long. He explored the cabin, and seemed frustrated that moving around down below is a little difficult for a great dane. Most of his time was spent standing on the raised motor box, gazing out at the lake. At one point he put his feet up on the side of the boat to look over the gunnels and his front paws slipped off. Randy had to grab him by the collar and pull him back to the center of the boat, and poor boy fell onto the edge of the motor box. A little scary for puppy, but no harm appears to be done.
Our new boat is designed to be a cabin cruiser, but of course we will turn it into a fishing boat for Lake Superior. Because we spend most of our big lake fishing near Isle Royale, Michigan, I don't anticipate taking Savvy on the boat very often. The laws governing Isle Royale prohibit bringing dogs within 3 miles of the island, due to the risk of parvovirus infecting the native wolf population. So my doggie's boating time may be limited to cruising around outside the harbor. In any case, he has loved being on the water since he was a puppy, so he'll have fun even if he can't join me on every fishing trip.
The month of July has been very hot for those of us used to northeastern Minnesota weather, and that means Sava and I haven't been as active lately. He gets his walks every other day, but most of his exercise is limited to playing with the other dogs near the lakeshore. My boy still doesn't really love to swim, but I've been making him do it just to cool off. If I paddle around the bay in a canoe he can't help but dive in to follow me, so he's in the lake almost every day. Now when I start to launch the canoe he wades right in and starts swimming, which makes me think he's getting more accepting of it. He no longer stands on the shore and cries.
I'm still searching for a satisfactory vet to do Savage's neuter. I continue to be paranoid and worried about possible complications of the surgery, and I confess that I may be procrastinating making an appointment. Meanwhile, Savvy continues to exhibit some annoying "male" behaviors, and I know I have to commit to getting him fixed as soon as possible. He's getting too much of an attitude for me to control with simple voice commands. But he's still just a big baby...