Canon Ball Run

As many of our family members know, we have a dog, Canon.

We like to call him our rescue dog.

And I like to call Sean The Dog Rescuer.

Like The Dog Trainer, Victoria Stilwell.

Or The Dog Whisperer, Cesar Milan.

Canon used to live with a family who really didn't want him. The guy played disc golf with Sean & had 2 boys who really, really, really wanted a puppy. So, to shut them up, he went to a breeder and bought a yellow lab with Champion AKC registered parents.

But the adorable roly poly puppy grew into a big rambunctious puppy. He wasn't allowed in the house. He was fenced in a small concrete area and crated at night. He jumped on the window all the time to get the family's attention, so they put a shock collar on him, and never played with him, walked him, or paid him any attention.

When Sean brought him home, he was a little over a year old. And so much like an over active 1 year old boy!

We had a love/hate relationship. I had to get used to dealing with a toddler who had no discipline or training. It was a rough first year. I had to remind myself whenever he did things, like eat bacon out of the frying pan while it was cooking, that he doesn't know any better because no one ever taught him.

Being a smart breed of dog, he learned quickly.

Thank goodness.

For my own sanity!

He loves me & the girls. And absolutely worships Sean.

For seven years he never had to stay outside. Unless he wanted to. He got people food 'treats' after most meals, and played disc golf with Sean a couple times a week.

He got to sleep on the kids' bed.

7-2-05

He had his own bean bags to lounge on in the living room.

Okay. They really weren't for him. They were for the girls. But we never discouraged him from using them.

2-21-06

5-7-06

Heck. We pretty much let him have whatever he wanted to rest his head on.

6-10-06

He was pretty spoiled. Sure, there are some dogs who are spoiled way more than ours, but then that tends to lean towards the ridiculous.

He got manicures...

7-3-06

The girls made sure he was dressed properly for each Holiday from head to toe. Literally.

4-8-07

But then things changed.

We had to move in a very short amount of time from our rental house to an apartment that did not allow dogs his size.

So Sean asked a friend to board him for us. The plan was for a year, then we would move back into a house.

But as life sometimes goes, that year turned into three before we got another house.

Although I'm very grateful to Sean's friend for keeping Canon for much longer than planned, I am also very angry and upset.

At first we were thinking of leaving Canon where he was. After all, it had been 3 years, he had another dog for company, and a large yard to play in. Besides, no one wanted to clean up after a dog & I did not want a smelly yard and dog poo by the pool.

But again, not everything goes as planned, and Sean brought Canon home last Friday.

The last time the girls and I saw him was 2 years ago. The last picture above was taken when Sean brought him to the apartment Easter weekend for a "sleepover".

The dog he brought home on Friday, was not the dog we saw 2 years ago.

This is that dog...

To truly get an idea of why I'm a bit upset/angry/frustrated with Sean's friend, you would have to see Canon.

And have smelled him those first 2 days.

Gads, he smelled horrible. The whole house stank so bad I had to make a run to Wal-Mart and buy air fresheners for every room of the house just to purge the smell.

After 2 baths and 4 dips in the pool, he finally smells like a normal dog.

But his weight is what really gets me.

I know he is our dog & a friend was doing us a favor, but how he could let Canon get to where he is now, is what I consider animal abuse.

He is so overweight, it is difficult for him to get up, and after he does he's breathing is so labored, he sounds like he has severe asthma.

I can not understand how Sean's friend could not only see how heavy Canon was, but hear how his breathing is. Not to mention he can barely run.

Something he did a lot of when we had him.

Apparently he was fed canned dog food (something we never give our dogs) and loads of restaurant scraps with little to no exercise.

I think that's why Sean took him back. But he won't say. He refuses to talk about it.

So now Canon is on a restricted diet (diet dog food only, no treats for awhile) and I've been taking him for a walk every morning (good for both of us!). Hopefully that will get him back into shape.

I realize he is 10 years old, but I'm pretty sure if he had been with us continuously, he may be a bit thicker in the middle, but no were near what he is now.

Even his coat has lost it's shine and luster, he has what look and feel to be fatty tumors on his left side, and I think he may have some joint pain in his back legs. It's hard to say if it's something like arthritis, that would've occurred anyway with age, or something brought on by the excessive weight.

I'm hoping with the attention he so craves and deserves, a proper diet and exercise, he will get close to looking like the dog we used to have.

Only time will tell.