Chapter 3 - The Watched Pot Boils or Goodbye Mendoza Line

Wakefield keeping a stiff upper lip while mourning the loss of Hall of Fame Announcer Ernie Harwell. Rest in peace...

The Watched Pot Boils or Goodbye Mendoza Line

It’s hard to believe a few short weeks ago Wakefield’s future was really up in the air. It almost seems like I’m writing about two different dogs when I compare the mangy pooch of late March to the healthier, happy pup snoozing in a sunbeam by my feet today. The mange is down, but not quite out at the moment. He is still losing a little hair on his haunches, but that fact pales in comparison to the progress he’s otherwise made. Three weeks ago, I noticed the smallest layer of fuzz growing on his feet. Now, his face, neck, legs and belly are covered in fur, and the scars and scabs that he was covered in are largely a memory. The fur on his nose conceals the rough scar tissue from his damaged face, and from a distance of just a few feet he looks like a normal, ornery puppy. His exposed hips and ribs are hidden under a layer of muscle and fat, and the collar that used to slip off his scrawny neck barely fits him these days.

His recovery is almost complete. In fact, next week is his 6th and final treatment for the mange. The vet says he’s so healthy that we can even get him fixed. I don’t know if these treatments are always this successful, or if the pit bull breed’s tenacious and determined nature made this guy a quick healer. What I do know is that in less than two months, with a ton of food, care, and excellent treatment from the good folks at Till-Newell Animal Hospital, a dying, miserable dog is knocking on recovery’s door. Oh yeah, it took a ton of cleaning supplies too…

When we got back from the vet on the first day, Wakefield was in lousy shape (as you’ve heard and seen from the pictures). I took him to the laundry room and set him down on his bed where he promptly fell asleep. As he rested, I gave him a thorough once over to get a good look at what I was dealing with. The iodine bath he received at the vet got all the ticks to let go, but that wasn’t to say they still weren’t hanging out. Over the next hour or so, I managed to wrangle about 10 of the little nasties off his back, neck and legs. I didn’t know how to kill a tick once you’ve got it off (they seem generally impervious to normal squishing), so I took them to task with a rubber mallet. It was gross, but in the interest of full disclosure, a little satisfying. For anyone who might run into this problem in the future, you heard it here first: a little tissue paper and a rubber mallet will definitely do the trick once you’ve got the tick off the host. Splat!

It soon became clear that the ticks were only part of the problem. Over the following days, the huge cuts on his face started to heal. As they did though, they must have been itchy, because he was pawing at his nose constantly. When I left him alone for short periods of time, I could track his movement by following the trail of goo his healing snout left behind. He would do the ‘dog-shake’ from time to time as well, which would literally send goop and skin flying everywhere. His tail started wagging by the end of that first week, which of course was a good thing. His skin was in such bad shape though, that every time his tail would hit something it would crack and bleed, marring the walls with red streaks. His swollen eyes would totally coat with this horrible green slime, and to top it all off he wasn’t potty trained. Did I mention he stunk to high hell?

Why did I feel the need to include this gross portion of the story? First off, I think it’s kind of amusing in spite of the grossness. Secondly, I want to encourage people to not be afraid to lend a hand when it comes to dogs who might be sick. I know that dogs can have all kinds of ailments, and some of them manifest and resolve themselves in some seriously disgusting ways. Pound for pound, I can’t imagine a much grosser situation that what Wakefield brought to the table. That being the case though, it really wasn’t that big of a deal. It did cost me some time and energy to give the portions of the house he traversed a thorough cleaning. It did cost me a little coin to buy some extra cleaning supplies. I also had to get over my natural aversion to any fluid that doesn’t come out of a sink, shower, bottle or keg. In the end though, the payoff was huge. The investment of a little time, energy, and money rewarded me with a nearly healthy pooch that seems to like nothing better than falling asleep at my feet while I watch Baseball Tonight. Which leads me to…

Soapbox:

Okay, so you feel compelled to help but you don’t know about committing to a 13 year relationship with the shedding, drooling, pooping, sweet but destructive force of nature that is a dog. What to do then? First off, you can donate time through fostering. Animal shelters and rescue organizations, especially in the southern US, are consistently overwhelmed with animals and underwhelmed with staff and resources. If you are looking to help on the shorter term, many shelters and rescue groups need foster homes for animals. Like full on adoption, fostering allows the shelter to take in more animals. This means more ‘Wakefields’ are taken off the streets and given the opportunity to find good homes instead of being euthanized or simply dying in the wild of disease or starvation. You can adopt a younger dog while the organization locates it a home, or you can really step up and foster an otherwise unadoptable dog (too sick, too old, Yankees fan, etc…) and let a creature live out it’s remaining days in the quiet and comfort of a human home with a belly full of food and a roof over it’s head. Yes, I said it. Even a dog brought up as a Yankees fan deserves to sleep out of the rain and cold.

Still too much responsibility? Then just call your local shelter or rescue group and see what they need! Often shelters will take any help people can give; everything is normally welcome from walking dogs and cleaning cages to donating money or other resources. I really believe we owe it to the animals we’ve domesticated to see to it that they are treated humanely and with dignity. Please lend a hand.

Next time on "A Second Chance for Wakefield"

-A full recovery? (perhaps...)

-The comeback kids (the Sox take 4 from the Angels after losing 3 to the Orioles)

-Brief discussion on "The Short but Happy Life of Francis Macomber"