Shiver's Story

With treatment, the thick crust of mange began to peel off revaling hairless skin. So bad was his mange that we could not be sure if his hair would ever grow back, there was so little hair left that it was impossible to know what his coat should look like.

By now he was gaining weight but showed little sign of enjoying his new life, it was going to a long road for Shiver.

His past life had traumatised him & he was not going to be easy to rehabilitate. He had such deep pools for eyes, that you did not usually see in a dog only 4 months old. He was sitting up & taking in the world around him, but was very wary of any close contact with people. One can only guess what he'd been through to cause this reaction.

Shiver's life consisted of regular visits to the treatment room, injections, creams, powder, sponge bath etc. It was no life for a young dog, but without it he would not have survived. For Shiver this routine became normal, he didn't seem to mind just resigned himself to this strange new life.

His skin had softened now that the demodex mange was coming under control & we kept watching with anticipation to see if any hair would grow back!

Shiver had many "firsts", his first visit outside the clinic, first walk on the grass etc. While all this was happening he had a big following on Facebook! Fans wanted to know his progress day by day. Dr Su & Shiver were by now best friends, she was the only person he trusted, anyone else was likely to get a nip if you got too close. He was not a vicious dog, just doing his best to protect himself which is all he ever knew.

At first Shiver saw this rough & tumble as aggression, but soon realised it was mainly fun. He tried to join in but looked a little awkward & often found somewhere to hide. He was getting lots of visitor who just wanted to see Shiver, he would be sociable, but kept himself a little reserved. He was going to be a dog that chose his friends carefully, you were going to have to prove yourself worthy.

Shiver was invited to go on one of the regular Soi Dog beach walks.

The Story of Shiver
Shiver was found by a delivery man hiding in a drain at the side of the road. His condition was so bad the driver felt he had to do something to help. He first took Shiver to the island's dog shelter, but they told him that they had no facilities to treat him. One of the staff there accompanied the man to Soi Dog so Shiver would have a chance of survival. Shiver was in a very bad way, demodex mange completely covered his body, he was emaciated from lack of food, had a high temperature & parasites. The mange would have made even the slightest movement painful, as there was a thick crust covering his skin.
	Dr Su & her team set about treating this little soul. He had no vacinations to protect him from common dog diseases, so had to be segregated. It was decided Shiver was too sick to be vacinated, that would have to wait until his condition improved. For the first few days he just lay in his cage bearly moving, only his eyes showed any sign of life.

With treatment, the thick crust of mange began to peel off revaling hairless skin. So bad was his mange that we could not be sure if his hair would ever grow back, there was so little hair left that it was impossible to know what his coat should look like. By now he was gaining weight but showed little sign of enjoying his new life, it was going to a long road for Shiver.
	His past life had traumatised him & he was not going to be easy to rehabilitate. He had such deep pools for eyes, that you did not usually see in a dog only 4 months old. He was sitting up & taking in the world around him, but was very wary of any close contact with people. One can only guess what he'd been through to cause this reaction.
Shiver's life consisted of regular visits to the treatment room, injections, creams, powder, sponge bath etc. It was no life for a young dog, but without it he would not have survived. For Shiver this routine became normal, he didn't seem to mind just resigned himself to this strange new life. His skin had softened now that the demodex mange was coming under control & we kept watching with anticipation to see if any hair would grow back!

	The days rolled by and no sign of hair, then as if by magic one morning there it was. Just a very fine layer of hair, hard to tell what colour it would be but not dark. It started out looking gold but darkened to a sort of honey brown. What a relief, Shiver was going to have a coat!
Shiver had many "firsts", his first visit outside the clinic, first walk on the grass etc. While all this was happening he had a big following on Facebook! Fans wanted to know his progress day by day. Dr Su & Shiver were by now best friends, she was the only person he trusted, anyone else was likely to get a nip if you got too close. He was not a vicious dog, just doing his best to protect himself which is all he ever knew.

	His first day spent in the garden was a real milestone, it was so nice to see him discovering a world he had never known. No hunger, or pain & nothing he needed to protect himself from. He spent the day sniffing every blade of grass or just laying in the grass listening to the sounds. Finally after his vacinations were complete, he could pay his first visit to the puppy run, an event everyone wanted to watch!
He did very well for a dog who had spent weeks couped up in a cage. All the puppies gathered round to see what all the fuss was & Shiver looked decidedly nervous. Dr Su was there to keep an eye on him & he never let her out of his sight. The visit only lasted 30 minutes but it was enough to see he was going to be O.K. Every day Shiver spent the daylight hours with the puppies returning to the clinic to sleep.
He made slow progress, dogs learn to play when they are very young & Shiver had spent much of that time very sick or confined to Soi Dog's clinic. It was going to be essential to his future life that he make up for lost time. The other dogs must have sensed he had no idea & they did push him around a bit.

	At first Shiver saw this rough & tumble as aggression, but soon realised it was mainly fun. He tried to join in but looked a little awkward & often found somewhere to hide. He was getting lots of visitor who just wanted to see Shiver, he would be sociable, but kept himself a little reserved. He was going to be a dog that chose his friends carefully, you were going to have to prove yourself worthy. Shiver was invited to go on one of the regular Soi Dog beach walks.
It's a common event for the shelter manager Reggi & others to take several dogs to the local beach in the evening. This day Dr Su came along with Shiver. Up to now he had always had a lead on, today he could run free. There was a risk Shiver might just run away, but he didn't. At first he was a little overwelmed by all the space, but soon started running around & got bowled over by the bigger dogs. To see him behaving like any normal dog makes all the work worthwhile. It's what a dog shelter should do, make the best life it can for every animal that comes our way.

Shiver is still learning to be a dog, we will decide when he is ready for adoption & find him a forever home. Dogs like Shiver are all to common, Soi Dog has helped many dog's overcome injury or just pure neglect, it's what we do, give animals a second chance. All our work is funded by donations, you can be a part of that by sponsoring a dog or joining "Shivers Puppy Care Club". The Program was set up to make sure dog's like Shiver get the special help they need to live a full life. Finding a abandoned or neglected dog a new home is reward enough for all the staff at Soi dog...
Cindy & Derek (Soi Dog Volunteers) Visit Soi Dog's page to find out how you can help Shivers Puppy Care Club.