Chucky

Chucky (nee Charlie) is our current foster dog. He was one of over 200 dogs seized from Lida Kapsa in January 2008. Chucky was released to foster care when Kapsa was convicted of felony animal abuse in August and he arrived here at Operation Watch Your Step in September.

You can read about some of our adventures with the Chuckster in these posts:

For his benefactors, a series of photos and (soon!) video:

Even as a baby, he liked to play with a ball. January 2009 at Moore Lane.

But… what breaks my heart is the ears and tail down hangdog look Chucky has in pretty much every picture I’ve seen of him as a puppy. His knees also bow out suspiciously, even at this very young age (see comment 7 below for more on this).

Note how much perkier the littermate behind him looks in this photo.

A very different picture – playing in the snow, December 2009

This is what I usually see when I look at my feet (sometimes seen in brown puppy version)

[snore, twitch, twitch, s n o r e…]

Viciously attacking Mark (ewww – NOT THE TONGUE!)

[insert Mighty Mouse theme]

Sitting politely so I’ll throw the frisbee – September 2009

Chucky the night before his surgery. Note how his rear legs bow out and [ouch] how he sometimes falls over. Chucky has grade III and IV luxating patellas. The right one was surgically repaired on January 18, 2010.

13 Comments Add your own

1. Kathi | December 23, 2009 at 11:16 pm

Love the pictures, he is a gorgeous boy. I think I like the snow picture the best. Maybe because we never see snow here.
2. Rob McMillin | December 23, 2009 at 11:26 pm

I see Maddy in his face, and in his short little legs in the photo with Mark. They’re all so closely interbred.
3. Trish Kellinger | December 24, 2009 at 3:57 am

Piper’s frisbee looks just like his frisbee. Love the smiles!
4. Rob McMillin | December 25, 2009 at 4:09 am

I didn’t know Charlie was a puppy when he was seized. Is he undersized for his age?
5. Dorene | December 28, 2009 at 11:30 am

Maybe the hangdog look is because he’s in pain from those knees?
6. SmartDogs | December 29, 2009 at 5:23 am

That’s what we think.
7. H. Houlahan | January 4, 2010 at 9:44 am

Background on the Moore Lane puppy photos.

Charlie and the other six similar-age pups had just been moved from a stall at the Metra to the newly opened satellite facility at the vacant and slated-to-be-bulldozed former Moore Lane animal hospital.

But before bringing them in, they all got their very first baths at the new animal hospital across the parking lot.

When the techs brought the pups over, we put them down and let them rip through the halls and rooms. It was a great opportunity to observe each pup’s response to extreme novelty.

I was more concerned about the sable pup Jake’s fearful and tentative responses than I was about Charlie. (None of the black and white pups had names yet, which made it harder to track any one of them.) Charlie got “lost” in the mass of similar black and white pups. I didn’t notice that the same pup always looked bummed out and bowlegged. Not until I recently went through the photos and ID’d him from very specific markings.
8. Rob McMillin | January 29, 2010 at 3:45 pm

Yay! Finally video. Didn’t notice him falling down much (maybe at 0:55? it’s hard to tell).
9. SmartDogs | January 29, 2010 at 4:00 pm

Near the end of the clip when he and Zip are both near the camera and I exclaim something like “ohhh, I hate it when you do that” he falls.

The falling happened more when he’d jump up onto furniture, snowbanks, Audie etc. and when he tried to take a corner fast or accelerate.

You can see the bowed-out knees pretty well though. After surgery the right one was noticeably straighter than the left.
10. Christine Greve | February 21, 2010 at 6:07 pm

Hi, I was viewing photos of Charlie as a pup @Moore Lane and looked through the text and saw that a “Jake” was mentioned. I also see a sable and white pup in the back. I was curious if that was the “Jake” I have which was I-3 and was told @ one time he was named “Butch” and he hadn’t been renamed “Jake” until moved into the puppy barn in Feb. But I thought maybe that might have been a mistake and that you are referring to Jake that I have and had been in foster care in Farmington, NM before I picked him up. I also had spent time w/ him briefly on the Sunday of the spay/neuter weekend as he was coming out of anesthesia. A comment above was made about being dismayed at his ‘fearful and tentative’ responses. Just curious…also have been trying to find a picture or two of him on the MontanaES discussion board but haven’t located any. Thanks. Christine
11. Christine Greve | February 21, 2010 at 6:24 pm

Also, is there a video that I could see that might show Jake as a puppy? I saw that Rob McMillan mentions a video above but I can’t see where that might be located for viewing on your site. Thank you, Christine
12. SmartDogs | February 21, 2010 at 6:57 pm

Hi Christine – nice to hear from you!

Sorry, I was never in Montana so I can’t help identify which puppy is which – other than Charlie. I sent a note to Heather H. who took the photos. Hopefully she’ll pop in and let you know if the sable puppy is Jake/Butch, and if he was what other concerns she had.

Charlie was an “I” puppy too, but I forget what his number was.

Janeen
13. H. Houlahan | February 21, 2010 at 9:14 pm

Christine —

Yes, the clear sable pup who is about the same age as Charlie and my foster pup, Cole, is your Jake.

I have some photos of him as a wee tot (you can see a little bit of him in the background of the second and third puppy pictures), but I don’t think there is any video.

I should clarify that my concerns about Jake back in January had to do with his fear of the other puppies when first introduced the litter of five (he had spent a lot of time at the vet’s with the wonderful little tricolor Josie before being moved in with the black and white pirate crew) and with his worried attitude about new places. He was absolutely fine towards people.

Drop me a line over at my blog (click on the link on my name) with your email address.

Are you on the Montana ES adopters’ list?