Loki

[freddie]

So glad that he is doing so well, i was the lady that originally collected him from the "pipe" and the lovely couple that were feeding him, on behalf of HAA, Sally would be thrilled to know how well he is doing with such a caring couple, will drop her a line to let her know.

thanks for giving him a loving home

Freddie

[soosoo]

Loki was found at about 4 months old living in a irrigation channel in La Cinta. He was rescued by Helping Animals Almanzora and we adopted him in February this year. We think he was born around the middle of October so it will be his 1st birthday soon.What with his early months followed by Leish and a fungal skin infection then neutering once he was well enough he has had a very hard young life up to now. Hopefully the future is going to be all rosy for him. :wave Hope Linda's pup is ok somewhere.  :D

[Big Bad John]

  I have just been reading this thread and we are wondering if 'Loki' could be a little boy that was abandoned here in Almanzora? Not sure how long ago but guessing 18 months? Briefly the story is that a horrible Spanish couple who live near us had a lovely little dog, 'Linda', I had reason to have words with them because they used to shut this poor little dog on the flat roof of their villa and just leave it up there with no shade, shelter or water. We used to see it up on this roof in the heat of the sun crying for ages. Eventually I went and saw them and threatened them with Seprona. Thankfully they took her down but just abandoned her, they would go off for weeks leaving her with no food or water. The poor little 'Linda' eventually came up and found us, after feeding her for a while we eventually took her in. However in the meantime she had 4 pups, 3 were found homes but one little dog was still with Linda (Mum) and used come up to see us. We called him 'Tommy' but one day he just wandered of into the village (Almanzora) and we never saw him again. We wonder if 'Loki' could be 'Tommy'? We hope so, he was such a lovely little boy. To finish the story, we kept 'Linda' even though the Spanish couple came up and demanded her back, I stuck my neck out and told them in no uncertain terms to get lost. It all turned a little unpleasant but we kept Linda and sometime later she was taken very ill, the Vet could do no more for her and she died peacefully in my arms. RIP Linda. 

[doreen1]

That's more a look of " some day, some how, I WILL GET YOU BACK FOR THIS"

:lol:

[rozzieb]

Brilliant news, and he will forgive you somewhere in the mists of time for doing this dreadful thing to him  :lol:

[owdoggy]

Apologies for the lack of Loki news lately but, if I was honest, apart from a couple of times when I've thought "Ooh, I must do a bit more on the Loki thread" it's completely slipped my mind and it was only after meeting some nice people at the last "Doghouse" gig who asked how he was doing and why I hadn't written anything lately that I thought I really should do a bit more.

Loki was doing really well until last week's visit to the vet but don't panic, this was a planned visit. He's just had "the snip" and now has to wander round with a heavily modified lamp shade on his head which looks more like the cowling of an aircraft engine. He walks round inserted into this monstrosity because after the op the vet gave us an anti lick lamp shade collar thing (what is their proper name?) that was so humongous poor Loki could hardly lift it. I know you can cut them down but you and I both know that sod's law would come winging its way into effect and I would cut it a just a smidgin too short so we decided to give it back to the vet and take a friend up on his kind offer of a smaller one that he had spare and wouldn't you just know it?....... yes of course...... it was just a smidgin too short so yours truly started hacking plastic buckets to bits then armed with plenty of gaffa tape, crafted the work of art you see in the picture.

I don't think Loki appreciated the work I put into this amazing sculpture because have you ever seen a dog looking more unhappy?


The picture was taken just after we put it on him for the first time but now he's completely used to it and his destructive power seems to have increased tenfold because, due to a slight lack of appreciation of how big his engine cowl is, he can now wipe out things he would have previously missed when he shot passed at warp factor ten...... human legs being one of his favourites.

Joking aside Loki is doing really well and the vet is very happy with him. His fur has all grown back and he's the picture of health..... at least he was until we did this latest thing to him :)



Doggy

[rozzieb]

A picture is worth a thousand words doggy!!!!  keep up the good work Loki - theres our boy :rofl:

[owdoggy]

Great news! ........ Loki nicked one of my socks & chewed it to bits!
"Has he gone completely over the edge"? I hear you say. Well this last month has been a bit of a bumpy ride but the sock nicking is something the old Loki would've done so he's definitely getting there.

I still can't believe how good he is about getting his treatment. We stick needles in him, soak him & dab him with dodgy anti-fungal stuff (I say dodgy because the warnings on the bottle made me think that a full Haz-Chem suit, instead of rubber gloves, might be a good idea) and he still likes us.

I noticed this morning that Loki has taken a lump out of himself just near his right eye. It's a bonny scar so it would seem that, despite everything else he has to go through, he's still finding new ways to damage himself.

Concentration is at its highest when dinner is being prepared.........



...... but is still at a fairly high level if someone has got a biscuit or two...... you reckon?



A quick update:
Loki has now finished his injections. The vet was very happy with his progress so he's now on tablets.
He's just like his old self now (apart from a few still fur-less patches) and him & Harvey go at it hammer & tongs just like they used to but if you need any more proof that things are returning to near normal we came home to this one night after going to a local quiz:


Nuff said eh :)



Doggy

[rozzieb]

AHHH, you just keep right on being a big soft idiot doggy, they are the best sort of people, Loki is very lucky to have found you and Sue, even with all his health problems his life is still 3 million times better than it would have been [ if he had lasted very long] so keep doing what you are doing and if you need any help with anything - just give us shout

Two more big soft idiots [Rik & Roz] xxx

[owdoggy]

Loki had his first anti-fungal bath today .... or to be more precise, three of us had an anti-fungal shampoo today..... Harvey being the only one with enough sense to keep a safe distance. :D

After a while Loki seemed to be quite enjoying it but at first it was like those American films when someone runs over a fire hydrant and it goes everywhere.

Loki's fur , what's left of it, is looking & feeling pretty good but I have to say, me being quite a hairy guy, my fur is feeling absolutely marvellous now...... I feel so funky  :lol:

Loki improves by the day and will now bite my fingers when I try to give him a biscuit...... just like he used to.... and I don't mind a bit!

It's just so nice to have our Loki back .... & if that makes me a big soft idiot then so be it.

I just thought I should tell you this :tiphat:


Doggy.... the big soft idot

[rozzieb]

Great news Doggy,  keep up the good work with the injections and baths, Loki will thank you in the end [although neither you or he will think so at the moment] if we can help in any way please let us know.

Roz & Rik xx

[owdoggy]

The last blood test results were very good and showed little damage to liver or kidneys so Loki went onto the Leish treatment straight away. The treatment involves two injections a day at the moment which is bad enough but he's covered in lumps which are obviously very itchy & his fur is just falling off him.

We went to the vets yesterday and they reckoned, on top of everything else, Loki has a fungal infection hence the lumps and the rapidly disappearing fur. So now, not only do we have to stick needles in him, we have to bath him every two days with special anti-fungal stuff .......and you just know that's going to be fun. :crazy:

I always think that there's good in everything, the trick is finding it and the Loki situation is no different because lately, amongst all the doom & gloom (and that's us as well as Loki) there's been signs of improvement by the day. He's started eating well, showing an interest in things around him (he used to just cower under the bed for hours), enjoying walks with Big Dog and he's just started barking to keep Harvey company, which he hasn't done for weeks, so there's yet another plus..... mind you, ask me that in a couple of weeks when there's bedlam in the garden as the goats go by outside and I may not use the word "plus". :D

All this has its cost of course and I think there's a conspiracy between Hacienda (The Spanish Tax Authority) and Loki to make paupers of us and the plan, from their point of view, is going very well, so much so that it looks like I will have to sell my motorcycle to keep us afloat. I'd rather not but there we go, if that's the worst thing that ever happens to me I'll be a lucky man eh. :tiphat:

So there we are, there's hope and Loki is doing so well compared to before (he still looks terrible ..... we're thinking of re-naming him "Crusty") that I feel comfortable writing about him now, which I didn't before because I feared the worst, and you just know there's going to be a lot more trials & tribulations at Casa de Los Perros Locos. Like someone said before..... it ain't going to be boring!



Doggy

[rozzieb]

Oh, how sad is that, poor Loki, he [and you] are in our thoughts and we will pray for a favourable result from the blood tests but whatever the outcome, ha has known love and compassion in the time you have had him, hopefully he will have many, many more years of that to come and God willing you will soon be pulling your hair?!! out once more at his antics :wave

[cgmaywood]

Good Luck with Loki, the pup we took in developed Leish and after the treatment she is fine and back to her normal mad self!!

Hope all goes well, fingers crossed for you all.

Chrissy

[zilnor]

Good luck with Loki. The most important thing is that he has very kind and caring people looking after him. :wave

[doreen1]

Ah the poor wee man. Will say a prayer all goes well.

[owdoggy]

Apologies for not posting recently but things have happened here & most of them have not been good.

About a week & a half ago Loki started getting sores on his legs & paws. He then developed a temperature so we took him to the vet and she reckoned that although it looked like Leish she'd never seen it in dogs this young so thought it might be some sort of dermatitis. Loki was put on anti- blots and anti inflams.

Things didn't get any better so we went back to the vet. She did a blood test and we got the results today. Loki has Leish which is bad news but also good news because at least now we know and he can start treatment for it.

It's been a worrying time because Loki has been a pale shadow of his former self. The mad loony that used to dash about at warp factor ten, eat the house from the ground up and hang off Harvey's ears has become a very quiet, lethargic puppy with paws so sore that he can't go for walks any more.

To say that there has been an air of depression over Casa de Los Perros Locos recently would be an understatement and Harvey, bless him, can't understand why the former mad puppy won't play with him anymore.

But, like I said before, at least we know now and the next hurdle is another blood test to check for liver & kidney damage. If that comes back favourable then there's a good chance, after treatment, that we can have our loony Loki back.

Wish him luck..... the poor fella could do with a bit.



Doggy

[tonybee]

MAGIC! :lol: :clap: :rofl:

[Lynne]

Keep them coming... :lol: :lol: :lol:

[trishtrosh]

:) :)

[owdoggy]

It's not the first time a book has been mentioned and I do appreciate that you think I'm capable of such a feat but there's no way I could do that. I've always admired writers for the application & sheer hard work they have to put into their craft but for this simple Geordie, with an attention span similar to that of a fairground goldfish, I think a blog (is that what you would say this is?) is the best I can do. Still, if you enjoy reading the about the latest calamities at Casa de Los Perros Locos then I'll keep going and with that in mind I must apologise for this latest update being a bit on the tardy side but so much has happened and...... I have had to do gardening!
(Click the link to see the full horrific episode http://www.arboleas.co.uk/forum/index.php?topic=73531.0)
...... which we all know is a dark art & should be avoided at all costs.


A damage report.
Due to excessive cable chewing the outside lights have been put out of action three times, various plugs have been trashed and a socket actually chewed off the wall. All of this has happened outside and, thankfully, none of the circuits were live at the time. The ELCB tripped and that was the way we found out that cable was on the menu again. Various chair covers have been trashed, not just chewed but totally destroyed. A bit of chewing is repairable but I don't think there's any way back from this:


Still, it's not all bad, the inside of the house has escaped with just a few nibbles & scratches which is surprising considering Loki turns into a turbo charged loon when a crane fly or moth is inside and anything, however solid, between him & the unfortunate insect doesn't seem to exist.
Weed suppressant is a favourite but the thing that hurt the most however was when he destroyed the foam ear pieces of my cordless headphones which I stupidly left lying around. Not a great disaster I hear you say but these headphones must be at least ten years old, probably fifteen and we've been through a lot together. They were bought when the cordless headphone thing was quite new and are an impressive size but work fine. Sue reckons they make me look like Princess Leia from the Star Wars films......er..... that's just the hairstyle you understand & not the rest of her.


The naming of "Vomit Bend"
We decided that we'd try to get the dogs used to travelling in the van (a Peugeot Partner combi) a bit more because it seems that every time they travel in it they end up at the vets. They don't seem to mind the vets but we thought we'd try to get them out & about. Harvey can't wait to get in there but spends the whole journey whining & howling whereas Loki seems a bit nervous. We found out later that the reason for his nerves was well founded.

We decided that the order of the day was Humbugs for breakfast where we could sit outside in the sun (and a sausage for the dogs from Sarah if they were good boys), the post office, coffee at Pablo's then home.
Everything went swimmingly until the journey home, up the arroyo aceituno, when Harvey was obviously in more distress than usual so we stopped at a pull in just after the bend that had the little diversion after the floods. We opened the back doors and, not to go into too much gory detail, what greeted us looked like a scene from the doggy version of The Excorcist.

We know now that Loki can be a bit travel sick & this time I think he must have set Harvey off because all that could not have come from one dog, of whatever size. It was everywhere! I did the hard job of getting the dogs out of the way whilst Sue dragged vomit soaked bedding out of the van and to cap it all, when she was doing that, a bee stung her just under the eye so a good day was not had by all....... but that's how "Vomit Bend" got it's name.


Loki can do impressions.
When Loki is reclining in luxury on the settee (usually on my seat!) sometimes he will roll onto his back, stick his legs up in the air and start to argue with himself. I know that sounds strange but that's what it seems like to us. He yips, growls, barks & flinches like he's giving himself a good talking to but his vocal chords can't be fully developed yet because the overall impression is that of a very angry duck...... hence my usual, matter of fact, comment when I walk by of "There's summat wrong with that dog"


Traction
Loki hasn't quite got the physics of the lack of traction on tiled floors yet. This afternoon I was in the kitchen ..... or the "Food Room" as Loki sees it when Harvey, who was outside, started barking. Loki, in a desperate attempt to find out what was happening started running at full tilt straight away and got exactly nowhere at first, then got a bit of purchase on the tiles and off he went. Steering, as we all know, relies on grip as well but this fact has completely eluded Loki so far and because of that he ran straight into the kitchen wall. He got up, went through exactly the same sequence which resulted in a head on collision with the unit in the hallway, went through the same starting procedure again to propel himself across the living room and, wouldn't you just know it, misjudged the exit by about a foot and lamped straight into the closed half of the doors to the garden.
He's definitely not the brightest pin in the box.



Doggy

[readmansj]

 :wave  Hi Owdoggy, I've just discovered this page and have never laughed so much.  Have you ever read "Marley and me"?  You could easily match it with your wonderful stories.  Write a book!!!!!

[rozzieb]

Ah bless, he is one lucky doggie......................

[doreen1]

Ah its a dogs life :wave

[owdoggy]

Life with Loki has its ups & downs.

I would like to say that I'm the type that likes his comedy on the deep, intellectual side but I can't. I'm definitely a slapstick man but that has its advantages when you've got a Loki around the house. Some of the things he does have me in fits but there's one incident that stands out above all others.

Loki has discovered flying things. Birds, butterflies and moths etc. really grab his attention now. One, still dark, morning I was sitting outside having a cig (yes I know, it's a terrible habit & I'll stop tomorrow...... again ) when a full speed Loki came hammering around the corner, head looking up, all his concentration locked on what was presumably a moth (I never actually saw it). He launched himself up into the air, mouth wide open and legs splayed out .......  then crashed straight into a concrete pillar. Do you remember the film "Aliens" where the little nasties would jump up & latch onto people's faces? Well, it was a bit like that. After the initial contact he hit the floor in a heap, staggered to his feet, shook his head & waited for things to come back into focus then sped off to attack something else.

I was laughing so hard I nearly did myself a nasty and had to get a hanky to cope with the tears.





Oh, and you know that settee I used to be able to squeeze myself on to?

Not any more.



Doggy

[Bev]

What aLovely Pic, so nice to see how he has bonded with Harvey, what lucky dogs, well done  :handshake

[charlieboy]

He looks twice the size in just 4weeks, lovely photo!

[Trucker]

TONTO   ?

[freddie]

He's beautiful, so glad he found a home with you and your family .   :wave

[mickandjan]

 :lol:

[cgmaywood]

Hilarious, keep the stories coming

Chrissy

[rozzieb]

Or perhaps just NO!!  thats what  ours get called most of the time  :rofl:

[casabonita]

 ;D

[owdoggy]

The good thing is you won't have time to be bored. Would love to see a photo to see how big Loki is now!

Here's the latest pic we have of Loki. As you can see he's grown but we are the last people to ask because we see him every day and don't really notice...... apart from the fact that the amount of damage he can cause seems to be proportional to his size ...... which is a bit of a worry :lol:




Loki is let off the lead now on the morning walk and is better at coming back than Harvey! Once Big Dog gets a scent then he's off. He always comes back but the worry is what he gets up to while he's away even though it's, usually, only for a minute or two . All this happens out in the campo where I think it is relatively safe but he's back on his lead if we get to any iffy bits (roads, goats, hunters etc.). The only thing that will turn him is a bit of sausage and that's why not long after first light every morning, near Las Huevanillas, if you listen carefully, you can hear somebody shouting "Sausage!" at the top of his voice ...... I'm sure the locals think that, even for a crazy Brit, "Sausage" is a bit of a daft name for a dog.

It's four weeks to the day since Loki arrived & we are thinking of changing his name to something that comes more naturally so we've narrowed it down to either "Gerroff" or "Stopitt".


Doggy

[charlieboy]

The good thing is you won't have time to be bored. Would love to see a photo to see how big Loki is now!