Sparky at the beach

We miss Dewey beach very much now that the cold weather is here. During the fall we were there most weekends playing ball.

At first we were worried that our "robust" labs would intimidate or overwhelm Sparky. He wasn't concerned in the least. You can really sense Sparky's his joie de vivre as this skinny boy easily outpaces our labs retrieving tennis balls on the beach.



Sparky just wouldn't stop!

Our favorite dog walker.

Our favorite dog walker, Christi, owner of Terrapin Pets pet sitting service, has donated dog-walking services for Sparky for the month of February and has pledged to get the word out about our fundraising efforts. She's also going to put a link to the Sparky fund on the Terrapin Pets website. Thanks Christi!

Sparky on a leash!

Sparky is full of joy to be out and about at a fund raiser for Fidos for Freedom. Lots of other dogs, sunshine and Marcel!

The competition

Sparky is doing well today, but he does seem a little anxious.

He could be worried that he is trailing Jake in the "Who Loves Fran Best" contest.

It's like living in a reality TV show where the contestants are "on" 24/7 and it does get a little old after a while.

Jake is a little anxious, too. Jake is a 100 lb black lab and the apple of his mother’s eye. He’s used to being the favorite and is a bit disgruntled to have more competition than usual.

Jake strongly believes in the "bring her presents" strategy to win someone’s love.

So, there's a gift giving presentation ceremony nearly every 10 minutes. Mostly paper products.

Jake's routine is to grab something, run up to me, shove 55 lb Sparky out of the way and then grandly deposit the roll of toilet paper in my lap. Once his gift has been graciously acknowledged, he races off to get the next one.

Lucky for him we shop at Costco.

On the other hand, Sparky is more in-your-face with protestations of adoration. He completely ignores Jake and runs back to snuggle in my lap.

His mantra: "Do you love me? Do you love me?
"Say that you love me. Say that you love me!"
"Love me! Love me! Love ME! LOVE ME!

"LOVEMELOVEMELOVEME"
"MEMEMEMEME"

...oh, a tennis ball...ah, and who are you?

I think that I would have some peace and quiet if I could only get Jake to "gift" Sparky the tennis balls.

More visits to the vet (sigh)

We seem to be spending days and days at the vet this week.

Last Monday we were at the local vet, Rocky Gorge Animal Hospital picking up refills of perscription Vetmedin and Lasix. Cost ~$123 for 15 days of Vetmedin and 30 days of Lasix (many thanks to Rocky Gorge for the heavy discount!).

On Tuesday we were back down to Fairfax Animal Hospital to get the fluids drained from Sparky's abdomen. It takes several hours to accomplish and he is a trooper through it all, lying there quietly to let the vet techs get their job done. Cost ~$57 (another substantial discount provided by Fairfax!).

Then Friday night we were back at Rocky Gorge again due to a week-long bout with diarrhea. We decided not to do a test for gastro-intestinal worms (due to cost restraints) and to go with a prescription of Flagyl.

Flagyl fights anaerobic bacteria that cause disease in the abdomen (bacterial peritonitis) and/or liver (liver abscess). An infection may be part of Sparky's problems, hopefully Flagyl will get that under control. Cost ~$65 for vet visit and meds (discounted again, thank you!).

And through it all, Sparky is happy. It's hard to believe, but he's even happy to be visiting the vet again. He's happy to get a ride in the van, happy to see old friends on the staff, happy for the attention and treats he gets from other owners. Everywhere we go people recognize his denty head and greet him with an enthusiastic "Hi Boy!"

Although I have to admit that he is always happier to be headed for home.

What we learned today- Sticks Don't Sink

Sparky McGee is very happy this week. We took him to the Fairfax Animal Hospital to get more fluid drained off—more than usual this time.

As soon as the extra fluid was gone, Sparky was back to his sprightly self and ready to play! So, on the way home we stopped at a local dog park recommended by the Fairfax staff. There was a lovely path meandering through the woods with many new things to smell and then an open area for off leash investigation. It was an unusally warm January day and Sparky had no qualms about wading into the nearby stream.

We’ve taken him to the beach many times, but he always ignored the balls thrown in the surf, preferring to retrieve balls thrown in the sand along the water’s edge. This was the first time we had him in an area of a stream bed with clear water. I threw a stick into the middle of the stream, where there was about a foot of water, and he waded out to retrieve it. Surprise—it wasn’t there! He stood for a moment, looking around carefully and then actually stuck his face in the water and looked on the bottom of the riverbed for it—nope, only rocks. Huh?

He hurried back to me and danced around, barking for me to throw something else. I threw another stick, with the same results. By the time he got out to the middle of the stream, it had floated away. He seemed stumped—there was nothing on or under the water…so back he came again.

The third time my aim had improved and I was able to throw the stick a little upriver, so he saw it floating by. He did an actual double-take, and looked back at me as if to say “Hey, look at THIS” and then pounced on it. He was very proud of himself and had to run and show the stick off to the other dogs nearby before carrying it back to me.

Sparky retreived many more sticks before we had to leave. So sticks are now the second favorite item on Sparky's wish list--but of course tennis balls remain #1!

The photo shoot

Just before Christmas we decided to get some professional photos taken of Sparky. Local pet photographer Bryan Sirotkin had come over to take photos for our yearly Christmas card and we asked him to take some formal pictures of Sparky, too.

We had just come from a very difficult vet visit. That day the vet was very pessimistic about whether Sparky would make it to see 2008. Sparky had had his abdomen drained for the first time and had a large section of fur shaved off his belly. He was a little unsteady on his feet.

Sparky didn't think much of the photo shoot process. Uncharacteristically, he didn't want to meet Brian. He didn't even want a snack. He just wanted to stay in his foster mom's lap. We tried all sorts of things to distract him, but nothing worked. I tried pushing him out of my lap and propping him up in a sitting position, but he just fell over and snuggled back into my lap. Then finally, Brian started to get his attention.

"Are you talking to me?"

"What? A squeaky toy? Nah, I'm not really intereste..."

"Wait a minute...that's not a squeaky toy...it's a TENNIS BALL!"

"I'll do anything for a tennis ball!

I'll sit pretty and pose and everything.

Can I have it now? Please, please, PLEASE?"

And so we got the perfect portrait shot. Thanks Bryan!

A new foster home

Due to Marcel's heavy work schedule through the holidays and to the extra attention that Sparky would need as he went through heartworm treatment, Sparky has moved to the Crull's. We welcomed him to the family Thanksgiving weekend.

No longer the only dog in the household, Sparky now has to contend with four foster brothers and sisters, all of whom think Sparky should be at the bottom of the pecking order. We know that Sparky has other ideas...

The existing Pack:

Riva, an 80 pound bearded collie mix. 6 years old.

Jake a 100 pound black lab. Approx Nine years old.

Pippin, a 90 pound black lab. Six years old.

BeBe, a 65 pound black lab. Approx three years old.

Thanksgiving weekend was a hectic one! Our niece and nephews stayed with us for the weekend and we had more guests over all three days. There were many hands to pet dogs, many arms to throw balls, and many snacks inadvertently "dropped" on the floor. It was a love fest.

Then, Monday morning, reality set in. No more parties? No more children to play with? No one home for most of the day?...just a boring old crate (sigh).

Luckily, Sparky brought his tennis balls! He can handle any amount of stress or boredom when he has a tennis ball to chew on.

Tennis ball stories from Marcel

A friend gave me about 10 tennis balls. I took all of them, got Sparky’s attention, and threw them all at once all over the living room. He started, then stopped to look at me as if to say "YOU ARE THE GREATEST HUMAN ALIVE!" and then he went to get them.

Of course he was so tiny that he didn’t even know how to get more than one in his mouth. I watched him excitedly hoard all the balls into his crate, one at a time. It took a while.

He didn’t have enough time to gather them all because I intervened. It was at about that time that the "Rapid-Fire Random Throwing Act of 2007" began. Senator Sparky voted "Aye" for that amendment.

A week later another friend gave me a bag of 40 tennis balls which sat in the corner for a few hours. When Sparky found the bag, he stuck his head in to investigate. He pulled one out, brought it to me very excited. "Look! Tennis Ball! My favorite!" I took it, but before I could throw it he went off like a shot to pull another out of the bag, I took it, and he went off, etc. After about 12, I stopped laughing and hid the bag (or I’d break my neck slipping on my new lime yellow carpeting.)

If I threw a tennis ball in the backyard and he lost it in mid air and ran in the wrong direction, it didn't bother him. I’d go back inside and 2 minutes later I’d look out and he'd found it. He will find ANYTHING he wants to.

Once he tracked a rabbit in the back yard that had flown past me out of the yard while Sparky was doing something else. When he got to me he started a high-speed sniffing exercise with his nose to the ground knowing that prey had been near. He successfully tracked the entire route that the bunny had hopped to get away from us. Since the bunny pretty much traveled at 75 mph, and probably only touched the ground 4 times in terror on the way out, it was pretty impressive that Sparky could find those tiny fleeting clues.

Smart dog! Maybe his name should be Sniffy?

Learning to eat

When he came to us, Sparky McGee was dangerously thin and our most important task was to feed Sparky, to beef him up so he would survive the caustic heart worm treatment. The vet had advised an expensive fish and potato dog food (which is stinky coming and going). The food is designed for dogs with nutrition absorption problems and Sparky fit the bill.

Coming from a life on the streets, Sparky had learned to choke food down as fast as he could. Marcel had to patiently divide Sparky's daily food allotment into four servings. Each of the four feeding times required constant supervision--constant interventions to get Sparky to SLOW DOWN.

Marcel had to stay by his side at every meal or Sparky would eat so fast he'd throw up. They settled into a feeding routine:

1. Food would be placed in front of Sparky.
2. Sparky would attempt to inhale the food.
3. Marcel would slowly lift the bowl over Sparky's head.
4. Sparky would manage to gag down the food in his mouth.
5. The bowl would be returned to earth.

Marcel needed to stay by Sparky's side and be the "Bowl Elevator" 5 or 6 times with every feeding.


It took several weeks for Sparky to realize that food was plentiful here.

How Sparky McGee got his name

Our boy was originally rescued by the Humane Society of Dorchester County, Maryland. The HSDC director, Liz DiSimone, took one look at his smiling face and decided he was an Irish lad and dubbed him McGee.

When we started fostering him we lavished many silly and loving nicknames on him. Sparky had lost so much weight and muscle mass that you could clearly see all of the bones in his body, especially his skull. This lead to the first series of nicknames from friends and family: Skully, Al Dente (for his dented head), Skeletor, Bones/McCoy (Star Trek), etc.

But it was another nickname that really stuck. Marcel had decided long ago that his next dog's name would be Sparky. He certainly has a life affirming Spark within him.

And so he became Sparky McGee!

The initial diagnosis

Sparky McGee had a full medical workup by the vet in Salisbury.

The vet noted how extremely underweight he is. He weighs 45 pounds and should probably weigh 65 or 70lbs.
He has lyme disease and will be treated for that with antibiotics.
He has whip worms and will undergo 3 treatments to get of them.
He has some vision issues, perhaps due to malnutrition.
He has a severe case of heart worms, but is in such poor condition right now that he wouldn't survive the rigors of the required treatment.
He may have damage to other internal organs due to the long term effects of starvation.
His coat is in poor shape: dull and patchy. His teeth are worn down.
He limps, favoring his left rear leg.

And then the vet noted that he was only still alive due to his winning personality.

Sparky McGee is a favorite of the staff at the Humane Society of Dorchester and stayed alive due to the direct intervention of the HS director (Thanks, Liz DiSimone!). Volunteers there worked overtime to find him a foster home (Thanks, Jerilyn Gibbs!), transport him to an evaluation, and then transport him again to his foster home (Thanks, Peggy Sanner!)

Life with Marcel

Marcel took on the daunting task of turning Sparky McGee from a stray used to living on the streets into a civilized and happy pet. Sparky was with Marcel for the first six weeks of his recovery.

One of the hardest aspects of the job was making sure that Sparky survived Marcel and vice versa. Sparky liked to be close to his new friend. Very close. We call foster dogs who do this "Velcro dogs". Where ever you are, the Velcro dog is as close to you as he can be.

This can be dangerous for all involved. Marcel is almost 200 lbs, Sparky was 45 lbs. If Marcel brought home large packages from the grocery store and couldn't see that Sparky was 1.6 inches in front of him, sometimes Sparky would get knee'd or clobbered pretty good. Sparky didn't mind and seemed to never get bothered or hurt always returningto the usual 1-2 inch distance. Marcel had several bruises to prove this.



Marcel's first task was to teach Sparky not to mark in the house. Living on his own, Sparky had decided that he needed to claim everything around him as his own.

So he marked. He marked the trees, the bushes, the clumps of grass. He marked the railings, the doors, the trashcans, the kitchen cabinets...He marked everything. Outside or inside. Moving or not. The need to claim things was paramount.


Sometimes his attempts were futile. He'd designate a bush to be marked--would even lift his leg on the bush. Very high and very proud to be claiming this bush in the name of Sparkonia! But it was just a show, because after 20 or so markings, he was all out!

Marcel nicely curbed this activity by crate training Sparky and setting up a regular schedule of walks and backyard bathroom breaks.

In fact, Sparky only tried once to mark inside at Marcel's house. One of his first days there Sparky began to make the tell tale figure 8 around the bookshelf. Marcel's "NO!" reaction was strong enough to tell Sparky that Marcel, the source-of-all-good-things, didn't like that. He never tried again. Smart Sparky!

The first day

John, Marcel and Fran picked up Sparky McGee on the second weekend in October. They were on the way to Ocean City and would have a whole weekend to get to know Sparky before Marcel would take him home to foster.

Humans and dog took to each other right away! He was a very polite boy--no jumping, no licking, no pawing. He just stood and patiently waited to be petted, resting his chin on your knee, his soulful eyes searching your face.



Seeing pictures of Sparky was not the same as seeing him in person. His personality shone through, but he was in awful condition. You could tell that he must have had a very difficult life. You could see every bone in his body, his neck, and especially his head. He didn't even look like a dog; he looked reptilian, like a dinosaur skeleton with fur.


The new foster home had their work cut out for them.