We received an email from
a concerned person regarding
a boxer named Gino who was
at her local
Humane Society, which
is a kill shelter.
Gino had been there for
several weeks and she was
concerned for his safety.
She was reaching out for
help.
Gino is an 8 year old
boxer who was surrendered
with another dog. His
friend was adopted, however,
Gino was left behind.
We assume no one wanted him
because of some medical
issues that were quite
apparent. We were told he
was brought into the shelter
because his family was
moving and they could not
bring either dog along with
them.
We made arrangements to
pick up Gino the following
day. When our
volunteer arrived at the
shelter she was told that
another rescue
organization came to see him
but decided not to take him.
We were never told why.
We knew when we first saw
Gino‘s picture that there
was no question that we were
taking him into our rescue
program. As you can
see by reading the stories
of so many of the dogs we
have rescued, most come with
medical issues. We do
our best not to turn our
backs on these cases since
they need our help the most.
Gino has what appears to
be a cataract in his
left eye and he also
has several growths that we
hope will not turn out to
be anything serious.
Some of the growths are
quite large. Gino will
also likely need dental work
and will get whatever else
the vet suggests. He will
be going to the doctor for a
thorough exam soon.
For now Gino is safe and
warm and happy in his new
foster home and doing well.
First Report from Gino’s
Foster Mom:
“Michael and I went to
the shelter yesterday
morning to pick up Gino.
He acted as if he had been
expecting us. Went
right with us. He jumped
right into the truck with
us, and spent the two hour
trip home trying to convince
me he really was a lap dog.
At first I thought Gino
was going to be hard to
walk, he pulled so hard on
his leash leaving the
shelter, but once I got him
home and settled in, he did
not pull at all. I think he
just wanted to make a break
for it.
After an initial
introduction, Gino and our
female boxer Sydney got
along fine. Sydney can
not understand why he does
not seem interested in her
idea of play. I tried
explaining that Gino is
eight years old and not one
and half and he does not
like her pace…… but she
continues to try.
Gino is very laid back.
He prefers to sit with
people and be touched.
Looking at his records from
the shelter it appears that
he lost about 6 pounds over
the last three weeks he has
been in the shelter.
He is very food motivated
but not at all possessive
with his food. The
dogs ate side-by-side
and there was no attempt to
steal food from each other.
He drinks like he is afraid
the water will not be
available the next time he
looks. He drank so
much he threw up so I am
monitoring his
water intake now.
Gino is housebroken.
I am not yet sure if he does
not know any commands or is
just too traumatized to show
me yet. He will sit
but by giving him treats.
He seems to lay down slowly,
not sure yet if there is
arthritis involved.
His skin ‘tags’ are quite
large. The eye with
the cataract gets gooey.
I have been wiping the eye
with a warm compress.
He seems to be used to that.
His breath is terrible and
it appears that he has some
missing teeth.
Gino cried a lot the
first night. I finally
slept on the sofa to be
closer to him.
He will get on the couches
but does not seem inclined
to get on the bed. I
think it might hurt him to
jump up, or it is at least
an effort for him. I
pulled a bed next to me on
the couch, and he laid there
and cried. He cried
until I reached down and was
touching him, and then he
settled in. When I
awoke, Sydney had left the
couch next to me and was
sleeping with Gino in his
bed.
I am sending pictures-
cute ones and some where you
can see his eye, his
skin tags, and some
where you can see his
teeth.”
