When we heard from Loki’s owner back in September, she was in tears as she told us that 4 year old Loki desperately needed medical attention. He had not been to the Vet for almost 3 years. She told us he had an infection in both eyes that left most of the skin around them red and raw with blood and pus. He also suffered with chronic painful ear infections and sores between his his toes. We have to say that the photos were extremely hard to look at.  She didn’t have any money to take him to the Vet and admitted she kept him too long because her autistic child did not want to lose Loki if she were to give him up.  So, now it was URGENT that he get to a Vet as soon as possible.  If you have ever volunteered in rescue, you’ll recognize that it was one of those pleas that needed a 24 hour turnaround. Luckily for us our former board member, Dotti, offered to take Loki into her home immediately and get him to her Vet.  For all the poor boy has been through, all the suffering and pain he has endured, the one thing she noticed was how friendly and sweet Loki was.  It was easy to get attached to him. 

A few weeks after he came into GSRNE we moved Loki into  foster care with our President, Karen and her husband Ted who wanted to help him even though they had just lost their senior dog, Killian (GSRNE # 307) a few weeks before. Loki still needed a lot of time to heal; the area under his eyes was looking better, but his left ear was not responding to treatment; his vet took a culture and discovered that the bacteria was resistant to the Baytril treatment he had been on.  He also needed to gain some weight, because he was only 69 pounds when he came into GSRNE and should have been 90 or 95 pounds at his age and size.  It has now been six months since Loki came into GSRNE, and he has recently been seen by a Veterinary Dermatologist to find out why his left ear continues to cause him to shake his head and hold it to the side at times.  The verdict is that he has allergies that will probably flare up more in warm weather, and he will continue to need special care to keep him comfortable. 

In spite of these challenges, Loki has been extremely happy there and gives a friendly greeting to everyone who comes to visit. He enjoys his walks in the woods, but he is not comfortable seeing cars approach if they try walking on the roadside so they’re working with him on that; he also gets upset if another dog is being walked within sight.  Loki is good riding in the car and goes along for short errands when the weather is not too cold or too warm.  His favorite times, though, are when he’s outside playing fetch-the-tennis ball or Chuck-it ball; he races after the ball and brings it back with great enthusiasm.  He also gets excited playing with all his inside toys , and one of his favorites is a “Giggle” ball.  During the past six months, Loki has decided he’s already in his forever home, and his foster parents feel the same; we’re delighted to announce that Loki will soon be adopted and is GSRNE #565.