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Jackson

2024-06-11 Jackson
You may remember him but if not, let me introduce you to our darling boy Jackson. Jackson is simply the sweetest lad who didn’t have the best start.
 
We rehomed him back in January 2024 from a life that had seen him not walked very much in recent months due to work commitments. His original owner advised that Jackson had no pre-existing health conditions and was fit & well……..
 
Keen and seemingly full of vigour, Jackson was rehomed to a young family where he was all set to become his new owner’s daily running partner. The match seemed just perfect but, when we did our usual “catch-up” checks, it soon became apparent that all was not well at all.
Chris sent us some videos of Jackson and it was clear upon seeing those that something not quite right with his gait, compounded by the fact that he kept laying down a lot. Because of this, we recommended that he be seen by his vet who suggested that there could be a problem with his lumbar sacral region.   Clearly, not being able to run, Jackson was not the perfect fit we had envisaged and, with a heavy heart, he was returned back to us RidgebackRescue.co.uk.
 
We resumed our search for a new home for him where his abilities and needs could be accommodated, and were delighted when we were able to pair him up with Karen – a whiz at massage, infra-red therapy and with an abundance of experience, knowledge and love to lavish on our boy. There can be no doubt that Karen adores Jackson, and this is very much repaid vice versa.
 
Medical Investigations
After a few weeks settling in, in close liaison with us at Rescue, and after further fairly involved discussions, it was arranged for Jackson to be seen by our vet for further assessment. X-Rays were undertaken and, following the image results, it was felt that Jackson needed an MRI scan – which costs a small fortune!    Depending upon the results of the MRI scans, it looks likely that an operation may be required to get him on to the right road to a comfortable life going forward.
 
We try desperately not to get out our begging bowl for financial support but sometimes the monetary burden that comes with an individual dog is eye-watering … and sadly, Jackson is just that dog.
 
We know times are tough and support for our Ridgebacks from you all has already been staggering, but if you could help us to investigate and help Jackson in his future care, we really would be so grateful.
 
We will keep everyone informed and in the loop with how he is doing. We do appreciate how tight things are, so perhaps if you are not able to make a donation, you may be able to share his story among your doggy friends in Facebook Land.
 
On behalf of Jackson, thank you for caring, for sharing and possibly even for giving by clicking on the Paypal image below:
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The Boston Dogs – Marley

The Boston Dogs - Marley

The story so far:

If you’re following us on Facebook, or look at our rehomed ridgebacks page on the website, you may have seen our story about the Boston Dogs; Marley and Marsha. 

You may remember that several people got involved to rescue this sorry pair of dogs from the Boston area of Lincolnshire, off a selling site.  Though Ridgeback Rescue is not able to purchase dogs, we did agree to take over the care of this pair once they had been bought and collected from their seller by a supporter.  We knew very little at all about Marsha and Marley other than their rough ages – about one and two respectively.  Marley was in a very sorry state being incredibly underweight and passing a lot of blood in his urine.

Marsha and Marley were originally in our foster care but it became apparent immediately that Marsha was in season and Marley, still very much an entire male, was VERY interested in her indeed.  Keeping them apart safely in the foster home was simply not possible.

It was decided that it would be best all round if they were taken into kennels where they could be separated while Marsha was in season.  Marley struggled in the kennel environment and so we found him a foster carer, who could look after him where he could be neutered as soon as possible with a view to getting the two back together again.

Marley went to see the vet this week to arrange his neutering but, on examination, he was found to have a serious heart murmur and a significant arrhythmia.  He would need further investigation with scans and an ECG and as such, we would have to wait to neuter him once we knew what was going on.  The vet is quite concerned for Marley’s condition and tells us that it is likely something that is hereditary.  

As always, we thank you for the donations we have had in for their care – to collect them, deliver them, foster them, kennel them, feed them and attend to their medical issues immediately and going forward.  We do our utmost not only in the care of the dogs who come to us, but also in our transparency to you our supporters to keep you in the loop and explain where your incredible funding goes.  We will continue to do both of those things and hope to be able to bring you news of their further welfare and happy rehoming sometime in the not too distant future.

For now, thank you all for your support and interest in these two lovely hounds.  They are smashing.  We are not asking for donations at this time but just wanted to keep you all abreast of what is happening with their care.  However, if you feel you would like to leave a little something for their care going forward, as always, we very much appreciate your help.

Marley - Recent Developments

Marsha, his partner in crime, has now been rehomed with a wonderful family. However, with Marley’s needs, we needed to investigate his medical condition further before being able to find him a lovely new home.

Marley is currently being loved in foster care and is reportedly the sweetest, kindest, loveliest boy in every way – if they could keep him themselves they absolutely would and in fact have moved heaven and earth to try to make that happen, but it’s just possible long-term.

Marley will be going to his new home soon, but before he does we would like to give you all an update on his condition.

Marley has DCM (dilated cardio myopathy) which means his heart is stretched and weak. A couple of the valves are leaking, and blood is going the wrong way and causing inefficiencies in it. He could have been born with this condition or it could have developed very soon after birth. We will never know.

The medication he is now on has stabilised him somewhat and improved the function and output, but the heart has NOT returned to normal and will never be cured.

He has also developed AF (atrial fibrillation) which is basically where the top two chambers of the heart don’t coordinate properly with the bottom chambers which reduces the overall efficiency of the heart, increasing the heart rate and blood pressure.

The medication he is on improves the contraction of the heart chambers, the blood pressure and effort the heart needs to make and it slows the heart rate down.

This is an unpredictable condition but if he remains stable and responds well to the medication, he could continue on for a few years, however the vets have advised that sadly he will not be expected to reach mid-life.

Going forward, he can have ostensibly a normal life for a dog his age with normal walks and running over the fields should he wish to do so. However, he will fade over time and the stresses on his heart will happen one way or another.

* We will support Marley in every way that we can.
* We will pay for his medication and scans for the rest of his life.
* We want Marley to have the best years of his life 💙

We are holding a online Quiz on 12th December to raise funds for Marley, if you would like to join us please find a link to the entry form below:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfC0v_LbZbWIRC9yLGjJCTAkm6_GtofrAbwZ5PfQEWXkfEfGg/viewform?usp=pp_url

Thank You for your support, without you we couldn’t help Ridgey’s like Marley

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2023 Fun Day

Rescue Funday 2023

After a long wait, the funday finally went ahead… Several years later than planned due to Covid, but enjoyed all the more for the wait!

Our show took place in Malton, North Yorkshire.  We had classes and games for all and the weather was super, and raised funds for our charity. Thank you all for your support!

We had stalls, merchandise, refreshments and a licensed bar. To keep both you, the kids and your dogs entertained, we also hosted lots of fun classes and activities such as our ever popular flat and hay-bale scurries, egg and spoon race for dog & handler teams, fastest sausage eater competition (for the dog, not you!), temptation alley, agility demonstration and Have-A-Go agility. Inter-spaced with all the fun and games throughout the day, we also be ran a companion show with classes including: best puppy, best rescue, most beautiful eyes, prettiest bitch, most handsome dog, best ridge and of course the coveted class of “the dog the judge would most like to take home”. People loved the stalls and we loved hosting it! 

Ann Gates kindly agreed to judge our dog show, and the wonderful ex-football star (Leeds and Hull City), and professional auctioneer John Hawley helped us auction off a range of items, experiences and prizes!

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Ridgeback Rescue Pub Quiz

Ridgeback Rescue Pub Quiz

Join us for our pub quiz on the 12th of December! With fun for the whole family and a prize for the winning team, we hope you come on down with up to three of your family or friends to participate in some Christmas cheer, trivia and general shenanigans! Christmas is a time for giving and this is a good cause and a good evening! We hope to see you there!


We will be holding the quiz online, and we will send a link to the online event to each team nearer to the event. We hope to see you there!

Entry

To book your entry please :

1). Complete the entry form Here.     

2). Pay for your entry at this link: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/RidgebackRescue

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Blade’s Journey – from pound to foster

Blade is an 8 year boy from Nottingham who’s been through a bit of a rollercoaster in recent weeks, so let’s take you through his story.

He found his way to a kennels in Nottingham having been picked up as a stray and after he wasn’t picked up for a week the kennels contacted us to see if we would rehome him.

Following coming to us we noticed some battle wounds around his ears, some sores on his feet that appear to be cigarette burns and an enormous perineal hernia (which was being a right pain in the bum… excuse the pun).

This got even worse the week after and the vet advised it needed to be fixed ASAP! He had to stay in the vet an extra night but he found himself healing and in a foster home shortly after. His surgery cost 2,723 but, with the help of our wonderful supporters, you all managed to raise a whopping  £6,332 for his surgery and all aftercare and he’s now recuperating with his foster family now he’s had his stitches out, ready to find himself a permanent home… 

We wanted to share his story and some photos with you so you can see the work we do, and the impact you all have. Truly without you all this wouldn’t work. Thank you, from all of us here at rescue, and from Blade xx

We are thankful for any and all support, as we are a volunteer led charity and do all of our work solely for the benefit of the animals in our care and to do the best we can for them, and give them the homes we feel they deserve. Any and all time spent working on Rescue matters is done in our own personal time and appreciate any and all help offered. If you need to get in contact with us please do not hesitate to do so, as we want to foster strong relationships with our community to further do our best for our dogs.

Thank you 

The Ridgeback Rescue Team 
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Eli needs us again

17/05/2022 - 9PM

Thrilled to have just had these photos and videos from Caz this evening. As you can see, Eli is now home. The picture of the table shows the shipping order of drugs required to get our boy back on his feet. The best news this evening is that, for the first time since last Monday, Eli has managed a tiny sip of water and a few select pieces of ham… All by himself! With any luck, this may now mean he will start to eat by himself, little and often, now that he is home. He DOES have the feeding tube fitted, and we are hopeful that we may just be able to use this to administer his drugs. Whilst he IS starting to eat a tiny bit, the vet is mindful that he does not wish Caz to try and  get the medication down him orally, in case this upsets Eli and makes him refuse food once again. For this reason, medication will be administered through the feeding tube at a rate of 1ml per minute… The last lot of meds took 50 minutes to get down! The other brilliant news is that, this evening, Eli managed to have a massive wee (yes, I know that’s not something anybody would normally get excited about, but having had him refusing to pee and requiring catheterisation, this is a HUGE deal). 

So that’s our news for this evening. As they say, “all good in the hood”! Wishing you all a peaceful night, and hopefully more good news in the coming days.

Many thanks, with love, Eli xxx

17/05/2022 - 4PM

A massive thank you on behalf of Eli and all of us at Ridgeback Rescue. Eli Update – 17/5/22 – 4pm

An ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everybody who has donated to help us cover the cost of Eli’s ongoing DS treatment. He is, as you know, a very poorly boy but I wanted to update you all with the information I have to keep you in the loop and will, of course, continue to do so as and when more updates come to the fore.

Over the weekend, Eli has continued his treatment with anti inflammatory medication, pain killers and antibiotics to try to get the swollen area under control and to make him more comfortable. He has been shaved in what his owners have delightfully referred to as a “reverse lion” pattern, ie, where you’d expect a lion’s mane to be, our boy is now as smooth as a baby’s bum!

As is often the way with our sensitive Ridgebacks, he’s not doing at all well in the vet kennels – refusing to eat and hardly peeing which has necessitated the insertion of a catheter to make sure he does not contract a UTI on top of everything else.

By Monday (yesterday) he was brighter – still not eating, but much brighter and happier in himself, and it was felt safe enough for him to undergo the planned MRI scan to try to get a fuller picture of what we are dealing with. We pointedly and very bluntly asked the question as to whether continuing his investigation and treatment was fair and ethical and in Eli’s best interests. We were assured it absolutely was and that we are still hopeful of a complete and positive end outcome for him.

As he was not eating, Eli had a feeding tube inserted while he was sedated for his MRI so that he can be hydrated and fed, which in turn will make him feel so much better.

The results of the MRI revealed an abscess over the DS site but it is unclear as to the cause of this – whether any DS was left after the initial surgery 18 months ago is still unknown as nothing of this regard has shown up on the scan images. It is felt that this may be the root of the problem but until the team get in there physically, we won’t know for sure. With the extent of the swelling of the abscess at the moment, going in to perform surgery now would not only be dangerous because of the risk of infected matter invading the area, but it would also make seeing what is going on very difficult indeed meaning important details could be masked.

The good news, however, is that the MRI clearly showed NO spinal cord involvement and NO vertebral infection so the neurological impact has been averted.

The plan now is for his lovely mum Caz to pick him up this evening to bring him home for a week. Before she can collect him, however, she is going to be taught everything she needs to know about feeding him through the tube and looking after him while the antibiotics do their thing and, in a week’s time, he will be brought back to the specialists to undergo surgery and hopefully set him free from this terrible condition once and for all.

Caz will send footage of Eli this evening I’m sure and, when she does, I will share it with you all. We are as keen as you to see how he is doing. We wish him well with the next week and now feel comfortable with our decision to give him a chance at recovery. We would NEVER drag out the treatment of a dog if there was not a very real chance of full recovery and believe me, we have wrestled with all of the facts, information and ramifications both ethical, emotional and physical related to this case. In the end, both the veterinary professionals, the Trustees at Rescue and his owners have all concurred that prospects are good and we are here to support and back Eli when he needs us the most.

Once again, an enormous thank you to all of you who have donated and pledged money at such a financially difficult time for all of us. We know the impact donating will have on your own personal purses and we simply couldn’t be more grateful for the support.

THANK YOU ……. xx

 

For anyone having trouble with the donation link, you can donate in the following ways:

Eli campaign:

https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/20728

PayPal using this link below (please use friends & family):

paypal.me/RidgebackRescue

 

A massive thank you on behalf of Eli and all of us at Ridgeback Rescue. Eli Update – 17/5/22 – 4pm

An ENORMOUS THANK YOU to everybody who has donated to help us cover the cost of Eli’s ongoing DS treatment. He is, as you know, a very poorly boy but I wanted to update you all with the information I have to keep you in the loop and will, of course, continue to do so as and when more updates come to the fore.

Over the weekend, Eli has continued his treatment with anti inflammatory medication, pain killers and antibiotics to try to get the swollen area under control and to make him more comfortable. He has been shaved in what his owners have delightfully referred to as a “reverse lion” pattern, ie, where you’d expect a lion’s mane to be, our boy is now as smooth as a baby’s bum!

As is often the way with our sensitive Ridgebacks, he’s not doing at all well in the vet kennels – refusing to eat and hardly peeing which has necessitated the insertion of a catheter to make sure he does not contract a UTI on top of everything else.

By Monday (yesterday) he was brighter – still not eating, but much brighter and happier in himself, and it was felt safe enough for him to undergo the planned MRI scan to try to get a fuller picture of what we are dealing with. We pointedly and very bluntly asked the question as to whether continuing his investigation and treatment was fair and ethical and in Eli’s best interests. We were assured it absolutely was and that we are still hopeful of a complete and positive end outcome for him.

As he was not eating, Eli had a feeding tube inserted while he was sedated for his MRI so that he can be hydrated and fed, which in turn will make him feel so much better.

The results of the MRI revealed an abscess over the DS site but it is unclear as to the cause of this – whether any DS was left after the initial surgery 18 months ago is still unknown as nothing of this regard has shown up on the scan images. It is felt that this may be the root of the problem but until the team get in there physically, we won’t know for sure. With the extent of the swelling of the abscess at the moment, going in to perform surgery now would not only be dangerous because of the risk of infected matter invading the area, but it would also make seeing what is going on very difficult indeed meaning important details could be masked.

The good news, however, is that the MRI clearly showed NO spinal cord involvement and NO vertebral infection so the neurological impact has been averted.

The plan now is for his lovely mum Caz to pick him up this evening to bring him home for a week. Before she can collect him, however, she is going to be taught everything she needs to know about feeding him through the tube and looking after him while the antibiotics do their thing and, in a week’s time, he will be brought back to the specialists to undergo surgery and hopefully set him free from this terrible condition once and for all.

Caz will send footage of Eli this evening I’m sure and, when she does, I will share it with you all. We are as keen as you to see how he is doing. We wish him well with the next week and now feel comfortable with our decision to give him a chance at recovery. We would NEVER drag out the treatment of a dog if there was not a very real chance of full recovery and believe me, we have wrestled with all of the facts, information and ramifications both ethical, emotional and physical related to this case. In the end, both the veterinary professionals, the Trustees at Rescue and his owners have all concurred that prospects are good and we are here to support and back Eli when he needs us the most.

Once again, an enormous thank you to all of you who have donated and pledged money at such a financially difficult time for all of us. We know the impact donating will have on your own personal purses and we simply couldn’t be more grateful for the support.

THANK YOU ……. xx

 

For anyone having trouble with the donation link, you can donate in the following ways:

Eli campaign:

https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/20728

PayPal using this link below (please use friends & family):

paypal.me/RidgebackRescue

 

15/05/2022

You may remember Eli … the beautiful boy who we rehomed that was subsequently found to have a Dermoid Sinus in situ back in January 2021.

 

After a very short time with his new owners, Eli’s DS swelled up causing massive pain and discomfort with no option other than undergoing emergency surgery. Our wonderful supporters at Ridgeback Rescue stepped up, rallied round and donated money to cover his surgical intervention and we were thrilled to see him make a fantastic recovery, living his best life with Caz and Lou.

http://106.896.myftpupload.com/a-thank-you-on-behalf-of-eli/

No doubt due to all that he has been through, three year old Eli is already going quite grey and now, nearly 18 months down the line, Eli has deteriorated massively. His DS site has re-swelled, leaving him screaming in pain and under careful assessment with the specialists as an in-patient for a couple of days.

 

This morning things have become even worse. Eli has woken with a very strange gait suggesting neurological problems as a result of the infected DS site. It’s as if his brain is not talking to his front paws properly, almost as if it doesn’t know they are there. Eli is still in the care of the specialist vets, on massive doses of painkillers, antibiotics and anti inflammatory medication in the hopes of getting him stable enough to proceed to MRI and further surgical intervention in a joint procedure by his current specialist team and the neurologists too.

It looks as though a tiny portion of the original dermoid sinus was left and has now become re-infected, causing all of his ongoing problems. Eli’s bill so far is already around £2k … and the likely total cost is going to be somewhere around £10-12k … but Eli is still a very young dog who deserves a chance. He will always be OUR boy and we would never abandon him or his family when they need us the most, so Ridgeback Rescue will be picking up the tab necessary to save his life.

 

We know times are hard. We know we are all finding it really difficult to make ends meet, but we wanted to keep you updated on Eli’s progress … and should you find a spare £1 behind the sofa, perhaps we might call upon you once again to help us support Eli and his incredible owners.

 

We exist as a charity to support the dogs IN our care from the moment they come through our door, and for the rest of their lives, no matter what is thrown at them. The whole purpose of Ridgeback Rescue, and all the fund raising we do, is to make sure that when a situation like this comes along, we are actually in a position to help. Yes, we know it is an exorbitant amount of money to spend on one dog, but we also know that if that one dog was YOUR one dog, you would hope somebody would be there for you too.

We are in no way expecting to raise enough to cover the entire bill for Eli’s surgery, but anything you could give would be greatly appreciated.

A massive thank you on behalf of Eli and all of us at Ridgeback Rescue.

 

For anyone having trouble with the donation link, you can donate in the following ways:

Eli campaign:

https://cafdonate.cafonline.org/20728

PayPal using this link below (please use friends & family):

paypal.me/RidgebackRescue

 

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A thank you to Dorothy Grayson-Wood and the kind people at Crufts

ANOTHER THANK YOU!!!

As you know, the Ridgeback world does tend to have the most generous and supportive followers. Cast your mind back a whole 16 months (if you can remember back that far). That was Crufts, the last Championship Dog Show before Lockdown, at which the fabulous Ridgeback folks ringside donated to Ridgeback Rescue and the Rhodesian Ridgeback Welfare Trust. We haven’t been able to see Dorothy Grayson-Wood who collected the money due to Lockdown but I was delighted to be accosted by her at the Hound Association Championship Dog Show on Saturday, brandishing an envelope with £75 in it for Ridgeback Rescue. Many thanks Dorothy for collecting and hanging on to the cash for all that time and of course to the generous people who supported us with their donations.

Massive thank you from all of us at Ridgeback Rescue.

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Thank you to Sara Thompson

A huge THANK YOU to the lovely Sara Thompson of SONNYPRIDE RIDGEBACKS for the wonderfully kind AND HUGE financial donation! Sonnypride recently welcomed an incredibly beautiful litter of Ridgeback puppies into the world, all of whom have now gone off to start their exciting lives with new families.

We are very fortunate that so many responsible Ridgeback breeders have been so supportive of Ridgeback Rescue and what we do. We were absolutely bowled over to receive a fabulous £1,000 donation from Sara from the proceeds of her recent Sonnypride litter. Ridgeback Rescue does not receive any funding assistance other than that which comes through donations, and this outstanding generosity allows us to continue the work we do for the Ridgebacks we look after who have fallen on hard times.

With so much talk about bad breeders (and sadly we know all to well that there are many) I just wanted to make a personal public THANK YOU to Sonnypride and all of the responsible breeders out there who make sure the puppies they produce are healthy, happy and will always have a good breeder to rely on in the background. With donations such as this, it means Ridgeback Rescue can also be a safety net, if any of them ever need us.

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A MASSIVE thank you to Newark Dog Training Club

A massive thank you to NEWARK DOG TRAINING CLUB.

We really cannot say a big enough thank you to the Committee of Newark Dog Training Club. The Club recently disbanded and have made the very kind gesture of donating their remaining funds to worthwhile causes – and that means the whopping portion of £1060 has been received by Ridgeback Rescue.

As a Charity we do not receive any external funding so such donations will help us to continue to re-home Ridgebacks who, through no fault of their own, need to find a new forever home.

Please join us in giving an enormous round of applause to Newark Dog Training Team …….. Thank you

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Dermoid Sinus: The Yorkshire Vet Explains

We went to the Sandbeck Veterinary practice recently and spoke to our patron: Julian Norton (The Yorkshire Vet) about Dermoid Sinus (DS) so we can provide everyone with more detail on what it is and how to detect it. He was kind enough to talk a little bit about it and demonstrate on Coda (a Ridgeback puppy aged 22 weeks at the time of recording) how you would search for a DS. A big thank you to him for the demonstration and for using one of his consulting rooms to film it!

In terms of what it is, Dermoid Sinus is a potentially very serious problem that, while not EXCLUSIVE to Ridgebacks, is predominantly found in Rhodesian Ridgebacks – hence why we wanted to give you as much information as we can on it. The scientific explanation is “Dermoid Sinus is a tubular skin defect caused by incomplete separation of the skin and the nervous system during embryonic development.” Essentially meaning that there are noodle-like bits of tissue connecting the upper layers of skin to the more important bits below, they form during the development of a pup inside its mother and are there from birth. These noodle structures could be as thin as a thread of cotton in a pair of jeans so it is often very difficult for everyone except those very experienced in looking for them to find (vets included). Any dog that has a Dermoid Sinus (or who had one that has been surgically removed) should never be bred from as the chances are likely that the pups would be genetically likely to also carry DS.

For more information on Dermoid Sinus you can find a post about it on our Owners’ Advice section of the website and you can find an in-depth blog courtesy of Rhodes2Safety about everything you could possibly need to know about DS (Including gory pictures) here: https://rhodes2safety.com/canine-tip-of-the-day-dermoid-sinus/

Without further ado: here is the video demonstration with a little introduction from our chairwoman here at Ridgeback Rescue: Kerry Rhodes

 

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