• Address: Dover, TN 37058 (map)
• Date Posted: 11/01/09
• Age: Young
• Gender: Female
• Offered by: Shelter

Rottweiler - Medium - Young - Female - Dog - Rockette

UPDATE for Rockette (adding updates at the top of her page to save you having to scroll to the bottom for the latest update). THANK YOU to all who helped Rockette and followed her story over the last few years. Rockette Update Sep 09 As of Feb 09, Rockette is just as joyous about life as ever. Rockette is four years old, but she still has the energy of a 6 month old puppy. Her eyes are still good, and she takes eye drops every other day. She still has her old Cat in the Hat squeaker toys. Of course they have multiple repairs to keep them together; and she must share them with one of her older brothers. She also has new toys some of you sent. One is bigger than she is. It is a five foot long stuffed toy deer. She and the other dogs love claiming it and dragging it around. Fostering special needs dogs like Rockette led to long term care not just for her but for several others. In 2008 we lost two more to old age and one to inoperable cancer. This year, we lost four more of our dog family. We have a couple at advanced ages but hanging on. We are not taking any more in for now because of the condition and temperament of the five we still have. Despite the pain of having them die, they brought so much happiness into our lives and we will always be grateful for having known them. We strongly encourage everyone to try adopting or fostering from their local humane society. Feb 08 Rockette is still doing very well. She is just as joyful as ever. She still uses her Cat-In-the-Hat squeaky toy as a passifier, every evening after dinner, she taps the closet door where it is stored until I give it to her. Her brothers like to steal it from her and bring it to me, with her barking behind. I retreive it from them and give it back. Who has whom trained? We lost three of her step-brothers, two to cancer and one to old age in the last twelve months. Rockette got less attention but was pretty good about it, it was during those times she reenforced the habit of sucking her Cat-In-the-Hat toy and it made it easier for me to give the other dogs the care they needed. It is hard to get pictures of her now because she hears the beep of the camera when I turn it on and runs to the bathroom to hide. I am afraid the flash hurts her eyes. Apr 07 Rockette retrieves bowls, containers, stuff off the floor (all for treats of course) and she opens doors (see the second picture). Feb 07 Update and condensed record of 2006. Rockette is thriving. She is an adult now but still flies around the house getting in the face of her older (mostly calmer and more tolerant) step brothers and sisters. Rockette still loves her Cat-in-the-Hat and other squeaky toys. We salvage the old ones, re-sew repair and replace squeakers routinely. We bought 50 replacements from sitstay.com (25 small/25 large) to keep them going. She likes to squeak responsively (she squeaks the head, we squeak the tail). But she is so enthusiastic; she bites through it and breaks it. So we are constantly repairing the toys with squeakers. Dec 06 On 14 Dec, Rockette had her six-month eye exam. She is doing very well, no glaucoma developing (eye pressure is stable at 10 in one eye and 14 in the other), the cataracts are still there, but small and not growing. She now will get eye drops every other day, and goes back for her next appointment in June 07. Dr Laratta thinks if she stays the same and does not develop glaucoma in the next two years, she will not need surgery. Again he said he really thinks getting her in quickly as we did (she was5 months old on her first visit) and sticking with the medications made the difference. So if any of your dogs start having eye problems (at any age!), get him/her to your vet right away, it could make all the difference in sight or not, and painful migraines from glaucoma. Rockette still gets so excited meeting people and dogs. When we take her for her eye exams, we try to get there early and walk her briskly for 30 to 45 minutes to unwind her. It helps a little, plus she is a little more mature now. We could force her obedience, but we do love her joy and dont want to suppress it too much. Mar 06 - We took Rockette and Stevie to Nashville for their appointments Friday, Feb 24. The daily eye drops keep Rockettes eye condition stable, she now has enough vision (seeing around the cataracts) to get around very well in familiar areas. If a new object is placed in her area, she barks at it, sniffs it out, and then accepts it. She will continue with 6 month checkups. We need to be alert for any changes; if for instance she should start rubbing her eyes a lot or squinting them more, we need to get her back in right away. Dr Laratta still does not feel surgery is necessary right now. We consider the eye drop regiment an easy task to do for this very special, joyful girl. Rockette, Carlos and I continue to play with her squeaker toys in the evenings. She is a bundle of energy. She plays all day with one big adult dog who tolerates her, and still wants more play at the end of the day. She is still available for adoption, but she is one spoiled rotten girl. Sep 05 - Rockette received a fantastic report from her ophthalmologist, Dr Laratta, on 2 Sep. Since her last visit, Rockette has nearly doubled in size and her eyes have grown, but the cataracts have not! This means she can actually see some around the cataracts. We had noticed she seemed to get around better, but chalked it up to her being very clever and memorizing the areas she runs in. She sees moving things best, so she can lose an object (such as a ball) if it stops moving. She still prefers toys that make noise (sewn in bells). Dr Laratta said the regiment of eye drops (two different medicines) twice a day, kept the cataracts from getting larger or worse. She still must have the Prednisolone daily. Since Rockette is now six months old, still growing and getting around pretty well, Dr Laratta wants to wait another six months and see if there will be more improvement. There is a chance surgery can be avoided or at least delayed longer. I think it is a great doctor who wants to avoid surgery if possible, when surgery is how he makes a living. So we will continue the daily eye drop regiment through March of 2006 and see what time brings. Rockettes expense for medicine and nutritional supplements and eye medicine so far were $398.35 and for ophthalmology services $212.00. Your donations covered these expenses and we still have enough to cover several more doctor visits and surgery for one eye. Additional donations are of course welcome, either for her or for the Humane Society general funds. The Humane Society paid for her basic puppy veterinarian visits including her spay last month. We, the foster family, cover the travel expense from Dover to Nashville (actually Nolensville) and are happy to take time from work to do so. The love she returns is amazing. An adopting family or even foster family could not ask for a sweeter, happier girl. But there is a little devil in there too. She loves to play with other foster puppies through the fence and try to scare them a little. When she does, you can almost hear her laughing. Aug 05 - Rockette was spayed Friday 29 July and true to her nature, she was a perfectly well behaved patient. She was content to sleep most of the day Saturday and play quietly Sunday. We are one more step closer to her eye surgery. I feel more confident now that she will do well during her required confinement. I for one will be so happy to have it behind us. We have had no inquires about adoption yet. Jul 05 - At six months now, she is house trained (no more accidents). Rockette knows basic commands, heel, sit, down (she really does not like down) and stay. It is all a game to her, she chews the lease all the time we are training (I use the term loosely.) She is learning not to jump on everyone who comes to visit, but she gets so excited about company, she can barely contain herself. When we take photos, she looks directly at the camera in most pictures because she is trying to see me and is not intimidated by the flash. She really does not look like she has an eye problem, she fools people because she looks toward their voice. If they stay very quiet though, she can not 'find' them with her ears. She has become the most beautiful shade of red. Her tail is in a permanent state of happy, curled up over her back. May 05 - Rockette and her littermates were rescued in such poor condition that only she and a brother survived. The brother, Rocky was healthy and has been adopted. Rockette was not so lucky. Rockette has cataracts. Rockette is the sweetest, most social creature we have fostered yet. She is always happy, sees enough right now with daily eye drops, and having memorized her area to play and rump with other puppies. Rockette struggled for life from birth. She fought off worms of every kind and respiratory problems too. She was a fighter and would not give up; we could not give up on her. When she first starting getting eye drops to improve her vision, she went from happy to joyous. She could bounce around without running into so many things. She is awesome and would appreciate you help. A canine ophthalmologist in Nashville diagnosed that she has cataracts, one mature, one developing. The good news is she can have corrective surgery after she reaches 6 months (she has a September appointment now, hopefully the ophthalmologist will determine that she is old enough to have surgery and set her surgery date), but it will cost between $2500 and $3000 for both eyes. The Humane Society can not spend that much money on any one dog. Readers moved to donate toward her surgery would be so appreciated. Rockette is up for adoption by the people who can give her the dedicated care she requires and they will receive boundless love back. THANK YOU to all who responded with donations. If by some miracle we receive more than needed for Rockette, it will stay in a separate fund for special needs dogs. We will have a head start, on helping them.

CHARACTERISTICS:
Breed: Rottweiler [Mix]
Age: Young
Size: Medium
Gender: Female
Offered by: Shelter
Petfinder ID: 4494155

ADDITIONAL INFO:
Pet is house trained
Pet has been spayed/neutered

CONTACT:
Humane Society of Dover - Stewart County | Dover, TN | 931-232-9990 | Laurisa77@aol.com

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