"Sota"

I would like to tell you about a little male Giant named Sota.  He led an eventful life, not much of it good, before coming to at 9 mos of age in Feb, 2005.  His early life is a semi-mystery before he came to us came & the story up until then is 2nd or 3rd hand.  Apparently, he & at least 1 other Giant were seized by a Humane Society somewhere in Minnesota & placed with an all-breed rescue organization there.  (He was called Bentley when he came, but I started calling him Minnesota, which became Sota & stuck).  He went to a foster home & an ad was place on Pet Finders.  He was then adopted by a couple in Charlottesville, VA who have Miniature Schnauzers & who thought he would be "just like a Mini, but bigger."  Well, they "made every effort to make him part of the family" for 2 whole weeks.  The woman told me he wasn't housebroken since when she let him out w/the other 2 dogs he didn't do anything then would pee & poop in his crate when they came back in.  I guess he was crated then because he hadn't done anything outside.  He also would eat poop & in the course of the conversation I learned that the last straw was when he tried to bring some in w/him.  We've gotten rid of that habit 99% of the time.  I met her & picked him up & when I fed them that night I fed him in his crate (to keep him separated from my 2 Giants who don't share food well!) then let him out, but baby gated them into the kitchen & den with no carpet just in case.  10 minutes later he was at the patio door & when I asked him if he needed to go outside whined & got excited.  I took him out alone & he did everything.  He's never had an accident in the house in the 10 mos he was with us except the morning after his surgery when he was still pretty drugged up.  He peed in the floor while I was still trying to get the bag on his cast & his leash on. 

Before coming to me, by the time he was 7 mos old, he had fractured his left elbow & it was repaired, but unfortunately, was done totally wrong so he has limited range of motion & limps when he walks.  Fortunately, the faster he goes the less he limps!  At some point he also fractured the growth plate at the lower end of smaller of the 2 bones between his knee & hock on his left rear leg.  This bone then stopped growing while the larger bone continued to grow causing the leg below the hock to bow out to the point that he was almost walking on the side of his foot.  In May he had surgery to correct it which worked amazingly well.  He spent the next 4 weeks crated w/a cast & E-collar, then graduated to being baby gated in the kitchen away from the other dogs (he & Lola are great buddies & play all the time)for another 12 weeks, but could go for walks.  He had to be leash walked this entire time w/no running & romping.  Finally, on 15 Aug he got the OK from the orthopedic surgeon to be free range again.  I don't know who was happier, me or him!  We lengthened our morning walks to 2 miles & he has many friends in the neighborhood who we would see on our walks every day.  They all still ask about him. He played with Lola, chased his Kong or batted his ball around every chance he got.  The surgeon said he could even jog with his owner with no problem. 

I don't know how, but in spite of all this he's the most happy, loving Giant you could ask for.  He would stand & lean his head on me while I brushed my teeth & just wanted to love & be loved all the time.  I'm not saying he was an angel by any means!  He was a 15 mos old Giant after all.  None of the small trees in my back yard have lower branches since he's tugged them off so he & Lola could have a new tug toy.  She never helped until it's off the tree, but they have made a few excavations together.  My deck railing looks like I've had beavers in my yard from him chewing it.  I had to do w/out an area rug in the kitchen while he was baby gated in there because he figured out how much fun it was to pull the binding off.  (I felt guilty crating him when he couldn't romp, but I'm over it now that he can.)  Luckily it's a $20 Wal-Mart rug I replace every 3-4 mos anyway when it gets too dirty, but it's
nice not to have to constantly have wet spots on the whole kitchen floor. 

In mid-Sept I got an email from a couple in Georgia who had lost their first Giant, also a rescue last year.  They were finally ready to get another friend for Maggie, their remaining 11 yr old Giant, also a rescue.  After a few emails & phone calls I knew Sota stayed with me for so long because he was meant to be Chuck & Cathy's Giant.  I met them at my sister's house in South Carolina & I think it was love at first sight or muddy paw print on
the shirt.  His bucking bronco/spastic Giant act is hard to resist!  They say he's taken over their home & wears them & the neighbors out throwing his ball for him.  I tried to call them on my way home the day after they picked him up, but got their machine because they were out getting him more toys & a bed.  Truthfully, if I died right now I'd want to come back as their dog. They live on a lake with 1&1/2 acres, fenced, including out into the water; they've removed part of the retaining wall to make a "beach" for the dogs; their boat has the wide cushions all around so the dogs won't fall in easily & it raises up to dock level so the dogs can walk on...you get the idea.  My house is REALLY quiet without him, but they're all so happy with each other I can't be sad about him being gone.

Monday, January 16, 2006