Tilly

Tilly passed away suddenly and unexpectedly on the car ride home from the June 14th Meet and Greet. We can take comfort in knowing that the previous three hours she was playing nonstop with so many dogs of all ages and breeds. Playing with other dogs was by far her favorite thing to do. She loved every dog she met and couldn’t wait to go on our two daily walks on the neighborhood trail where she would usually meet several dogs each time.

Tilly had a very challenging life full of so many medical issues, she was born not breathing, had two defective heart valves and a liver shunt that she underwent surgery for. You wouldn’t know she had any medical issues by looking at her as she was so full of energy, love and mischief. She never showed any signs of slowing down. Tilly’s time here was too short, but she made the most of it. She will be missed by so many.

Tilly had so much fun at last weekend's Meet and Greet, that she wants to go to this Saturday's Meet and Greet at Chuck and Don's in West St Paul from 11:00am to 1:00pm Saturday the 14th.

Thanks to everyone who came out Sunday and we are looking forward to seeing even more friendly faces this Saturday.

Tilly continues on her puppy adventures; even finding an extra piece of house siding to drag around the yard.We also got an urgent email that a previous foster dog's family had an emergency and needed a sitter for a couple days, so Tilly is enjoying having Moose here (Moose on the other hand is wondering why this dog is so crazy!)

Tilly is going to attend her first RAGOM Meet and Greet. She is planning on going to the event on Sunday the 8th of June from 4-7:00pm at the Inver Grove Brewing Company. Please stop by and say "hi".

Tilly continues to do very well. We had a regular vet visit a week ago and the vet noted that she had excellent teeth- maybe chewing on my arm and toes was just her way of practicing good dental hygiene?

They also found she had a mild ear infection, we were sent home with some ear cleaner and twice daily drops; call in the WWE; you almost had to wrestle her to put the drops in at first, but it is getting much easier. I think she might have realized that her ears feel a lot better with the drops.

I included an action photo of her jumping at the camera so all of you at home can get a feel for her crazy puppy energy! It is a world of contrast with her, as we walked this morning at around 7:00am and she has been an absolute sweetheart the rest of the morning and into mid afternoon.

Full disclosure, it is very common for her to wake me up around 1:30am to go potty and then again around 4:30am to cause trouble- she should grow out of this, but something to be aware of.

Tilly has finished her two week healing process and it was in the nick of time as I don't think her cone was going to last much longer; she had pretty much "weaponized" the thing, ramming it into everything especially my shins after getting a running start from across the room.

Tilly is described by everyone who meets her as sweet, but at home, she has several episodes of frantic chewing and getting into mischief daily. Anyone interested in a puppy should definitely be aware that they can be a lot of work and your furniture, limbs and belongings will sustain damage along the way. 

Her potty training is going very well and she will go to the door and scratch it to let you know she needs out- we have only had one accident in two weeks and that was because I didn't get to the door quickly enough. She continues to figure out new ways to be naughty and digging holes in the yard is her latest bad habit.

Today was the first day she has been able to go on a walk and unfortunately because of the rain, there weren't any dogs out for her to play with; maybe tomorrow. 

Please welcome back Tilly to the Adoptable Dog page. We had decided to wait until after her surgery to make her available for adoption as we didn’t know what sorts of additional medical needs she would have and felt that her future family needed to know if they were going to have higher than normal or ongoing vet bills.

We are happy to report a very successful surgery on Tuesday the 6th of May to shut down a couple extra vessels that were allowing a portion of her unfiltered blood to bypass her liver and mix with the filtered blood. She was released from the hospital on Wednesday afternoon because she was recovering so well. Tilly is on medication to support her liver until the ring that was placed around her shunt has completely closed off the shunt. We are doing our very best to keep a puppy calm during the two week healing process- wish me luck; my shins and calves will never be the same after all the plastic cone hits!

Tilly will need to have blood work done in about 2 months to ensure her liver shunt is completely gone and a visit to the cardiologist in 4 months to check on 2 leaky heart valves and pulmonary stenosis that she has had from birth; currently they are considered mild to moderate and will need annual visits to a cardiologist to monitor her condition. She will most likely be started on a heart med to support her heart. We don’t know if she will have a shorter life due to her medical issues or not, but consider this in your decision to apply to adopt her.

Tilly is still very much a puppy and that includes the good and bad, she is super sweet most of the time and then will unleash terror on your furniture, toes, shoes and anything else she can find!

We are making good progress on potty training with very few accidents in the house. She is letting me know when she needs to go out and I’m rewarding her with praise and treats and it appears to be working. Her leash manners will need more work.

Tilly loves other dogs and while not required, might enjoy having a friend in her forever home.

It was CT scan day for Tilly today. The appointment went really well and the staff loved her.

They did find that she would benefit from surgery to better connect her pathway to her liver. RAGOM will work with the vet to schedule a date for the surgery. Huge thanks to all of the great people who donate to RAGOM that makes it possible for us to help so many dogs like Tilly with expensive care. If you would like to help, you can sponsor Tilly on this page. 

We've had some people express interest in adopting Tilly- not surprising as she's so cute! Please be patient as she isn't ready to be adopted until she has had her surgery and has had time to recover.

Please welcome Tilly into RAGOM. She won't be available for adoption until she has a CT scan and if needed surgery to repair a suspected/possible liver shunt.  Her scan is scheduled for Tuesday, April 8th. 

Tilly is a super sweet and affectionate dog; she loves everyone and every dog she has met. She lived with children and cats. We are working on her potty training and we are having less accidents in the house, but that may have as much to do with frequent trips to the backyard. She displays all the usual puppy behaviors and has plenty of energy- some of it crazy! 

Tilly is given free roam when I'm home and at night; she does pretty well except for an occasional inappropriate chewing, including my toes... she absolutely loved the last snowfall and was leaping in the air to catch snowflakes. We have been doing daily walks and she is getting better on the leash.