Louie 12-164 [1]

Sponsored by:

Kevin, Debbie, Sarah & Andrew Faber

May 14, 2012

Introducing Louie, a (roughly) 5 year old golden retriever mix from St. Louis!  Poor Louie has had a rough life so far, living on the streets of St. Louis and foraging/fighting for his food.  His face and ears are full of scars, yet he is the most gentle, sweet soul you will ever meet.  He has dark soulful eyes – one look and he melts your heart.
 
Louie came to RAGOM from an animal rescue in St. Louis, Missouri.  His name was Darvon, but we renamed him “Louie” so he will always remember where he was saved.   :)   Louie was living on the streets when he was spotted by the founder of Stray Rescue of St. Louis (www.strayrescue.org [2]) and brought to the shelter.  Stray Rescue is undergoing construction on its shelter and needed to find foster homes for all the dogs there, so RAGOM offered to take Louie.
 
Louie has gotten along well with my 2 dogs and 3 cats so far, as well as my house full of noisy kids.  He rode in our car like a pro and since we got here wants to go on a ride each time we walk by the car.  We are teaching Louie some new things.  He is learning to like a crate – he is smart as a whip and after being afraid of the crate the first day he is now sleeping in it next to my bed every night.  Last night I shut the door and he didn’t mind a bit.  Next we plan on working on leaving the house so Louie doesn’t get anxious if he is left at home for awhile.  I tried leaving him today for about 2 hours (free roam), and he did fabulously.
 
Right now Louie is very, very happy to be in a house with people who love him.  He gets a lot of exercise because any time I get up and go to another room (which is a lot) he gets up and follows me.  My husband laughs and shakes his head at how he stays close to me, but I just tell him that Louie is such a sweet guy that he just wants to be sure that I don’t NEED him while I’m in that other room.  Louie appreciates my take on the issue.
 
Unfortunately, Louie is heartworm positive.  This means that before Louie can be adopted, he needs to go through a 2 month process that involves 3 very strong shots that will kill all the heartworms.  It is a somewhat dangerous/risky treatment, but the only way to get rid of heartworms – which will kill Louie if not treated.  We will have to keep Louie very quiet for 3 months:  as the worms die, they are still floating around the bloodstream and clogging up passageways until the white blood cells have time to destroy them.  The heart has to work harder to pump blood through the body during this time, and exercise would make the heart work harder yet. 
 
Treating heartworm is not cheap, and Louie would *love* to have you donate to RAGOM to help them pay for his treatment!   And he asks you to keep him in your thoughts and prayers as he goes through the treatment.  Thanks everyone!

 
P.S.  Late breaking news about Louie:  I have discovered, while writing this update, that Mr. Louie is a counter surfer.  (gasp of disgust)  Louie wanted me to add that he loves, really really loves, grilled cheeseburgers.