Zathrus

Zathrus (Zathrus High Five)
Labrador Retriever (Chocolate)
DOB: 11/11/1999
Sweet sweet boy

Zathrus joined us in 2000 when Zen was 5.5 years old. He was 9 weeks old; a litter leftover. The breeder was going to keep him then decided to place him. When we went to see him he had such a kind face a good nature we brought him home.

He soon learned a lot from Zen. We really didn't even have to potty train him; he just followed Zen outside when it was time. He learned to sit immediately (kind of cute in such a little puppy) and stay was not a problem. He lives to tug - his favourite game.

A few days after we brought him home we noticed a slight bulge under is chin; the breeder told us that someone had dropped him and he tought the fluid would have drained by now. After going back and forth with our vet and the breeders vet it was decided that his salivary gland had been damaged (the fluid was draining it just kept refilling) and he'd need surgery. At almost 3 months he had his first surgery. During the surgery he actually died and was quickly revived so we almost lost him.

At 6 months he started limping so we did x-rays; both his elbows were displastic; so at 6 months he had surgey on his left elbow to clean out fragments so he could walk without pain; the right one was still doing all right. He improved after that and at 1 yr and 2 months had surgery on his right elbow to clean out fragments; we also decided then to look at his overall structure (ie. hips, spine etc) and found out that his hips were also displastic. We decided to wait on the hips to give him a chance to be a dog; they were displastic but not causing him pain. He was put on rimadyl did very well on it. We've done bloodwork every 3 months to make sure that he didn't develop any issues from rimadyl and so far so good.

In August 2006 he started slowing down again and this time we knew what it was. He was scheduled for hip surgery for his left hip in September. The best long term option for his was a total hip replacement (more expensive than an FHO but better long term results). The hip replacement popped out and could not be placed back in so he had to have a second surgery to the same him but this time an FHO where they remove the femur head and scar tissue forms to form the hip socket (sometimes called false hip).

In the last 2 years we've been doing hydrothepary with him weekly which came in handy after surgery to get him back to normal. He is now walking quite well, running around in fact, but his right hip will need to be addressed at some point in the future.

This boy loves everyone; he greets people by going up to them and sitting on their foot; encouraging them to pet him.
I never did do a lot of obedience training with him since it might cause him pain to put him through too much; but he always got 2 walks a day and enjoyed them. He loved his big brother Zen and when Zen went to Rainbow Bridge he was so so sad. He's a bit of a mama's boy so I'd say goodbye to him in the morning to go to work; he'd stay int he living room. My husband would force him to go outside a couple of times throughout the day but otherwise he was at the same spot I left him when I got home.

We decided he was just too lonely on his own and started looking for a friend for him. We looked at a couple of litters of labrador retrievers and he just wasn't having any of it. He was scared of the puppies (I think of being challenged and not being able to protect himself) and would only hurummf at them. We then decided that an older dog would be best and started looking and found Alvin. It took them a few weeks to get used to each other. Once Zathrus found out that he had been promoted in the pack and noone was going to challenge him; he was quite happy to play with Alvin and be his big brother.

When I was doing obedience training with Alvin in 2006 I also did a basic obedience class (no jumping) with Zathrus to give him some one-on-one interaction. We later tested for Therapy Dog International and passed so he got his Therapy Dog certification and CGC. We did therapy visits at one of the senior centers with both dogs but Zathrus seemed to like it a whole lot more.

We didn't recertify or reapply at the end of 2006 because of his surgery but we will be doing that again as soon as his hair has grown back.

He used to be freaked out at the meetups; so.. many.. bulldogs but that was just a matter of getting him used to it. He enjoys them now especially if he gets to go swimming too.

He is my shadow and I know that one day I'll have to let him go but I just hope it's not for another 20 years or so. I'm very proud of how strong he's been these last seven years; all the hurt; all the surgeries - he never once gave up. He's a sweet sweet boy.