Poor Rottweiler...

[Monica]

Class vows to help dog get needed hip repair
By Kelly Soderlund
The Journal Gazette

Clint Keller/The Journal Gazette
Northrop High School student Jessica Huffman and special education school assistant Barb Schroeder make dog treats to help raise money for Zoe.

Clint Keller/The Journal Gazette
Northrop High School student Sara Snider plays catch with a balloon with therapy dog Zoe. The class is selling dog biscuits to help raise money for Zoe to have hip surgery.


Seventeen-year-old Sara Snider sat quietly in a chair in Northrop High School’s disabilities classroom Friday until a friend showed up.

Three-year-old Zoe, a 120-pound Rottweiler, romped into the classroom ready to play. Zoe’s handler Nan Ashton blew up a red balloon to set up a game between the two friends.

Snider giggled and squealed as she awaited the start. After the balloon was full, Ashton tossed it in the air, and Zoe bumped it with her nose to start the game of volleyball between her and Snider.

But Snider’s friend may not be able to jump in the air for long. Zoe has hip dysplasia and needs a $3,500 surgery to replace her hip.

Ashton, whose husband, Barry, is the band director at Northrop, has been bringing Zoe to the class once a week through Pets Assisting Wellness and Success Inc., and the students have become quite attached to her. To help with the cost of the surgery, the students have been baking dog biscuits, packaging them and will sell them during lunch next week for $1 each.

Four of the nine students were in Northrop’s kitchen Friday rolling the dough and cutting out pieces with a dog bone-shaped cookie cutter, and the other five students wrapped the bones in plastic, tied them with a bow and placed them on a card with the recipe. The students have already made 500 biscuits and will make more if the demand is there.

Special education teacher Melanie Dirig said Zoe’s presence has helped her students in many ways.

“It’s helped them talk more. The students have learned how to take care of her. They’ve learned how to brush her, how to get her water, how to play with her. Some of the kids who were scared of dogs are now more friendly toward them,” Dirig said.

Only two of her students have verbal skills and their disabilities range from physical ailments that keep them in wheelchairs to autism to low IQs. Most of them don’t understand that Zoe is having surgery, and many have a hard time grasping that anything is even wrong with her, Dirig said.

But baking the biscuits and wrapping them has turned into an educational project because students are taught to follow a recipe and do things on their own.

“Our program is to teach our kids how to take care of themselves,” Dirig said. “A lot of skills we try to teach them every day in the classroom we’ve been able to generalize with the dog.”

Zoe’s surgery will tentatively be June 12. That’s when Ashton will take her to a veterinary hospital in Columbus, Ohio, for a consultation, and the doctor will determine whether she is a good candidate for surgery. Zoe has been limping for the past couple of months and her Fort Wayne veterinarian said it’s a wonder she’s still in good spirits, Ashton said.

Zoe has been a service dog for about a year and half after Ashton read a newspaper article that described how they work.

“I was like, you know, she loves to play ball, she’s very social, she loves kids, and she’s very gentle,” Ashton said.

She also brings Zoe to St. Anne Home and Retirement Community near State and Anthony boulevards and said the residents there perk up at the sight of the dog. Seniors who were averse to doing physical therapy were more apt to try it after they knew Zoe was involved, and even patients with Alzheimer’s have made some progress by lifting their arms to pet the dog, Ashton said.

http://www.fortwayne.com/mld/fortwayne/14569624.htm

Now this is what Rottweilers are supposed to be like. My Buck is sweet and gentle when he plays with me and he's a family pet, not even a trained Therapy dog. I just wanted to post a story that shows rotties in a good light for once. If rotts are viscious and agressive, it's the owner or perhaps maybe the breeder's fault, but not the dog's. Buck was born with a friendly, laid back personality, and we made sure he was treated well as a puppy and he's a very good dog. :)

I hope Zoe gets her surgery and is 100% healthy afterwards. :)

[J.J. Maxx]

Cats are better. 'nuff said.

[Darth Marsden]

While I fully accept that dogs can and indeed are nice, that won't stop me from personally disliking them. Still, sweet story, I guess.

[gdorf]

Call me a cold-hearted bastard, but I think spending $3500 for surgery on a dog is unreasonable. I have two dogs and I love them both, but I wouldn't spend that kind of money on either of them. When they can no longer enjoy life I'll put them to sleep with myself at their side.

[DarkDragoonX]

Cats are better. 'nuff said.

Yes, yes they are.

[Archibaldo]

Cats are better. 'nuff said.

Untill they pee in your socks.

[DarkDragoonX]

How the hell would a cat pee in your socks? I can see one peeing *ON* your socks, but peeing *IN* them seems like it would require some serious acrobatics, even for a cat.

Unless, of course, you mean your cat is peeing while wearing your socks, which is, in fact, highly distubing.

[Archibaldo]

Meh, in, on. It doesn't matter. They're still getting peed on. My friend's cat shits in his shoes.

[Monica]

Cats are cute, but I and my family aren't cat people, cats have deseases in their blood, and dogs are more friendly, I dunno, dogs seem like they love their humans more while cats are more independent.

gdorf: She's only 3 years old, just out of puppyhood. If she was like 13 or something I might agree but the class loves her, and she has a long life left.

[Glenn the Great]

I hate animals. My family has a lot of pets, but I find them burdensome. When I move out I have no plans to get any pets.

[SomaLlama]

if thats how people want to spend their money than more power to them.

[Rainman]

Cats are cute, but I and my family aren't cat people, cats have deseases in their blood, and dogs are more friendly, I dunno, dogs seem like they love their humans more while cats are more independent..

Cats can be very loving in their own way. Especially when you need it. Depends on the cat really. My recently deceased cat Banshee was very affectionate while the one we have now is more prone to bite your toes. We love him anyway.

They are also generally much cleaner than dogs in my experience. They don't make messes unless there is something wrong with them.

[firebug]

Cats are cute, but I and my family aren't cat people, cats have deseases in their blood,

This is totally true. It's called Toxoplasma, and if you are pregnant, or have a weak immune system, it's not a good idea to own cats or mess with their litter box at all.


... dogs are more friendly, I dunno, dogs seem like they love their humans more while cats are more independent.

It's not very smart to make generalizations like this. I've had many many pets in the past, and every single one is an individual. At the moment I've got four cats. Three of whom are extremely affectionate and will roll around in between your feet trying to get you to pet them, or will crawl up on your chest and headbutt you in the face, ever so softly, until you give them attention.

I've had dogs who I brought up from puppyhood and never were treated badly or cruelly, who simply did not like people. They would not listen to you or care if you yelled at them. I never felt like these dogs were mine. They definately saw themselves as Alpha. Once I see an animal is like this, I get rid of them. They aren't safe to have around.

Contrariwise, I've had cats who were psychotic and mean, to the point of stalking and attacking small children, and dogs who would sit there and allow those same small children to poke prod bite and pull at them with not so much as a growl.


They are also generally much cleaner than dogs in my experience. They don't make messes unless there is something wrong with them.

I agree one hundred percent. If your cat is shitting or pissing outside the litter box, it's because there's either something wrong with the litter box (it's not clean, they don't like the litter you're using, etc. If it's enclosed, they might feel trapped. I have one cat who will not use enclosed litter boxes.) or there's something wrong with your cat and they need to be taken to the vet.

[Jigglysaint]

Cats and dogs are okay, but I'd rather not have any pets when I move out. For one thing, I have a cat alergy, second, one of the cats we have now likes to puke everywhere, especially in high traffic areas.

If I said that disabled people make better pets, would I get shot at? Just kidding of course, and I am glad that dog is helping out that school. I think it's worth the money alone if the children are getting a better education than if they were to just stay inside and do whatever the heck they do(my girlfriend keeps getting homework about telling time, so meh).

[Monica]

It's not very smart to make generalizations like this.

You're right, I'm sorry, and I take what I said back. That's as bad as ignorant people's ideas of Rottweilers. I know both dogs and cats bond with their humans (if they feel like it). Oh yes also, when I was like 2, I think I got scratched on the forhead by a cat or something, my mom told me that and I think I might have the cat desease inside me or something, but I can't really remember

[Gerudo]

one way that we found out to establish yourself or your family as the alpha when you have a dog, is to put it on your lap on its back and soft-but-firmly hold it there, having your hand gently across its neck, making sure to support its position. back when we had our boxer, all 5 of my family did this once a day for like a week. (its advisable to do this when they are a puppy).

sure, the dog squeals and whines like its dying, but after about a week or so, she was most likely the best behaved dog ever. whenever she didnt listen to a command or acted like she was trying to establish herself above someone, we did this as well.

she was perfect. when we ate, she sat away from us laying down. you called, she came running. she knew probably 15 or so one word commands. a damn smart dog, and its a shame that she died.

/ramble

i like cats and dogs equally. except my cousins dogs bark at everything that moves (the high pitched shrilly squeak-bark), and our cat we have now is so spoiled, it sits there and meows at your door until you open it, or acknowledge its existence. as far as an animal that gets within an arm or a legs reach of my food? well, lets just say it doesnt do it too often.