Herman

Herman came from a hoarding situation, a large number of parti-colored unaltered Cockers living in a very small trailer with untreated medical conditions. Breeding for “color” is very profitable these days so there are way too many situations like this. A shelter took in several of the dogs and placed most, but they saw that Herman was staggering around and a vet diagnosed crumbling discs in his spine. When we went to evaluate him, he was confined in a windowless closet (to keep him quiet) with a lot of steroids (to decrease inflammation). When he arrived at Home Base he was named The Flying Monkey because he literally bounced off everything – the car ride was a particular challenge, seat belt wasn’t enough and a crate was impossible. Thankfully, his wonderful temperament endeared him to everyone and we started to work on his neurological problems as well as his chronic ear infections. After those conditions stabilized he moved to a quieter Final Refuge home where he settled down quickly. He loves everyone and they love him. His spine is holding fairly steady, his ears are still a challenge, but he’s a happy little guy, with a full-length tail that wags REALLY hard. Beautiful too! After nearly 3 years with ODH, dear Herman was losing his battles: Growths removed from his ears had returned and weren’t responding to medication; after glaucoma in one eye had responded to surgical intervention, the other eye’s pressure went out of control. He was tired of fighting, and we couldn’t ask him to go through two more surgeries to stop the pain. This wonderfully stoic and accepting dog had been through enough. He was loved by so many, both his ODH homes and all the vet staff who’d tried hard to keep him comfortable. He will be missed sorely, the former Flying Monkey who became such a cuddle bug.