Rescued a Shih Tzu that was locked by himself for 6 weeks

[Magpie Belden]

As a dog  activist I saw a shih-Tzu that was skin and bones and close to death. I went to meet him at the shelter and after I saw what horrible pain and condition he is in I had to know his story. All they knew is someone called the police and reported 6 shih-Tzu that lived by themselves after the owner left the apartment the dogs were starving and in very bad shape luckily they got adopted except for my little guy he had more problems than the others.
I groomed him and start feeding him puppy food to put on weight I can't Touch him because his bones are very fragile. Today my other shih-tzu played with him in the backyard and he seemed happy running around. My issue is he was Neutered the day before I adopted him and his incision was infected according to my vet which I took him to the following day. He also couldn't open one eye because it had so much crust inside and out also has dry eye which I will give him drops the rest of his life. He is a very sweet scared boy and today he actually gave me a kiss. He keeps trying to bark but hardly anything comes out, he is also coughing and sneezing. My vet said not to worry we put him on eyedrops antibiotic for the incision and pain pills for his pain. My question is can a surgery and trauma make a dog not bark or try to bark while playing but he can't. Again it could be kennel cough. The shelter was nasty  and they didn't even touch or clean the dogs eye. Is my new boy ever going to bark again. I groomed him and took a picture here is Max. He is a survivor. 

[~Anne~]

The coughing is probably caused by the tube which is inserted to administer oxygen and anaesthetic, during surgery. It's normal and common for dogs and cats to have a bit of a sore throats or irritable throat for a few days after surgery. 

 

Be guided by your vet. He/she knows what they're doing. And good on you for adopting a rescue. 

[Scrappi&Monty]

That's a lovely thing to do, he's in a safe happy home now ❤

 

[ESCS]

Is it possible he may have been de-barked?

[Mjosa]

First of all I have to say thank you for rescuing this precious boy, you are the sort of person that I like and respect.

As mentioned above it could be one of the two things, either his throat is too sore after surgery and secondly maybe more likely, he was debarked because of living in an apartment the so called owner did not want any barking to disturb, draw attention too that there were so many dogs living together.

What happened to those dogs is a breeders nightmare to think that their hard work has ended up like this, thank heavens they are all now adopted, you will hopefully have years of fun with this very special little man.

Sorry but I did not get a photo of your Max.

[Kirislin]

I wonder if he's got infected gums and nasal passages due to bad teeth.  I might be assuming too much here but it doesn't sound like he was brought back to good health before he was adopted so perhaps once he's a bit stronger get them looked at too.