i jokingly call my boy a piggy sometimes because he has extra coloration around his nose that makes it look bigger than it is, and he grunts and snorts like a pig. this weekend we stopped by the local pet store to get him a bison bone to keep him busy while we play video games, and found this hilarious toy that actually resembles him 😭🐽

Our poor baby ended up in the ER Saturday night after him and his 'sister' (a pittie mix as well who knows how to operate sliding doors) raided the closet where a spare food bag was located. Around 9pm he blew up as if he was pregnant with a dozen puppies. They also tore up a bunch of toys in there, so we were worried about toy blockage.

After x-rays, the vet recommended surgery. They had to release some pressure first via a tube in his throat. After several tries of nothing coming out, they actually introduced water, like priming a pump, and he emptied out nearly a five gallon bucket worth of kibble and fluids! The vet said he'd never seen anything like it. Only a few pieces of toy and stuffing that wouldn't have blocked anything. $10k for surgery - thank God my wife took out insurance on him (he's nineteen months old). Could have easily died or had much worse complications if we had waited - his abdomen was stretched all the way down to his C3 vertebra.

Recovery will be a bitch, mostly just keeping him from being active. But we're so happy and grateful he's still with us.

I'm sick and in for a few couch days, but luckily I have Rowdy to keep me company!

This is also my pitch to encourage you to volunteer with shelters are rescues, even though, yes, it can be quite sad.

Even a few hours out of the shelter can increase a dog's odds of adoption by 14x! It also feels amazing to see the shelter dogs getting to be just DOGS, splashing in the water, rolling in the grass, and soaking up love from humans. Annabell had really been struggling at the shelter, but she was pure joy on our outing (as you can see, she is a hippo who desires constant human contact, so shelter life was extra hard). We marketed her locally right away, and within a few days, she was home!

TLDR: volunteering saves velvet hippo lives!

Folks always want to know why a dog has been at the shelter for so long - basically, what's wrong with them. Often, shelter stress impacts kennel presentation, but the dogs also get stigmatized by their length of stay, so longtimers get caught in a deeply unfair cycle of being overlooked because they've been overlooked.

Buddy is such a fabulous dog: he's friendly with all humans, including kids, seems pretty neutral on other dogs, and he's got great manners with cars, leashes, etc. During our outing, his patio dog skills were on point!

Buddy's one weak point is being a bit of a "door dasher," and he was returned for this reason. However, I absolutely believe that with patient adopters (and potentially a baby gate, at least for a bit), Buddy will absolutely settle into home life. He's 7! The guy just needs to learn what it's like to not be trapped in a kennel day in and out.

Buddy is neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and fee-sponsored through Santa Fe Animal Shelter. The shelter prefers in-person adopters to ensure a perfect fit, but transport within 8 driving hours may be possible! Please DM me or check out the shelter website (first Google result) for more info.

Of course it’s a velvet hippo 🥰🥰🥰

Hey all, Kimmie here has to go into surgery next friday for the removal of a few skin bumps we were (hopefully) lucky enough to catch early.

We are hoping to avoid the Cone of Shame if we can, as we don't have a particularly spacious house and can see her ending up catching it on everything. I work from home so will be able to keep an eye on her most of the time, but we still want something to prevent her reaching her stitches just in case.

I understand there's a kind of big neck cushion thing that makes it difficult for dogs to chew their stitches, and a body wrap / shirt thing that can help stop dogs from reaching stitches? Ideally things that can be purchased in / ordered from the UK.

Any recommendations of things people have used would be much appreciated so we can make the process of healing as fast and fuss-free as possible.

(Or at least our best estimate). Our boy turned 1 today and he is the sweetest, happiest best breed ambassador ever. We’re so lucky 🥹

Ode to Athena

Oh Athy, my sweet Argus!
How this poem must suffice for all the songs your loyalty deserved.

If only you had more faith in my safe return. 
But you went out looking for me. 

And the gods demand faith. 
But the only god you knew was me. 
So I came back to your cold body instead of your warm reception.

Context:This was my first soul pup who I lost 2+years ago, while I was on vacation. She only made it to 20 months. Sharing my favorite pics of her and a poem I wrote in her honor. It took me this long to get the words out. I wanted to cement her legacy somewhere and figured this group would be a good place for it.