Brittany Puppies

The kids were riding their ATV's and spotted the litter of 11 puppies with their mother in a yard. Being the kids they are, they stopped and asked if they could have a puppy. The left with two and went home to ask if they could keep the pups. The children's mom looked at the puppies, literally covered with fleas, thin, but with bloated bellies of worms and malnutrition, and asked where they came from. She and her husband decided to go to the house and see if they could rescue the whole litter. The owner of the puppies gave them the whole litter of pups. The mother of the puppies is a purebred Brittany, and dad is a Brittany mix. Let us pray they get mother spayed, and soon!

Two of the puppies subsequently died despite the efforts of the rescuing family. They found homes for all but six of the remaining litter. However, they couldn't keep the rest of the litter any longer, so they called for help. Yesterday my sister-in-law and brother called to say they were bringing us five of the puppies, as the rescuing family decided to keep one pup.

There are three females, two males, and despite numerous baths, they still have a flea problem. Capstar and a topical will take care of that, plus at least one more bath. Their bellies still show signs of worms, and it's also obvious that they are nutritionally deficient. They are between 8 and 9 weeks old

I wormed them, vaccinated, treated them for fleas, and gave them food. They were all a bit lethargic when they came in, but perked up after consuming food, taking a nap, consuming food, taking another nap, consuming more food, and taking a third nap. We took pictures for the "before" part of their files. They are all friendly and cute as can be. We will find them homes, no matter how long it takes.

Please spay and neuter!

Short Tales

Dolly Momma went for a sleepover, but the family had a cat, and Dolly decided the cat didn't belong. Dolly came back to us, but we did find out that she was "perfect" - except for the cat. She accidentally got out of her crate one day, and nothing was damaged or hurt in the house. She simply jumped up on the couch and took a nap till the family got home. She does need a haircut, but other than that, she is a wonderful little dog that needs a home.

Hope, the mother we took in that had pups less than 12 hours after she arrived, is now spayed and ready for a new home. She has gained weight nicely and has a new coat. She's still a bit shy around strangers, but looks and feels better and doesn't have a mean bone in her body.

All 8 of Hope's puppies have found new homes. Having them all born alive was a miracle in itself.

Pandora, one of the precious antiques, was brought back to us when her owner broke her ankle. She was grossly overweight and subsequently suffered a stroke. I put her on a diet the minute she returned, and after the stroke we immediately started physical therapy three times a day. We are glad to report that she not only is losing weight, but she can now walk again, although if she tries to hurry she sometimes stumbles. She's happy and comfortable, but would like more food - sorry, Pandora, ain't gonna happen!

Rabbit has come out of his burrow and become a happy little dog with a waggily tale and a smile. He's still a bit shy around strangers, but he got to go to his first on site adoption event and handled it very well.

Tony, the mountain dog that got chucked out of a truck, has learned to sit, is working on stay, and is quite a character. He loves to play and now that he knows he won't be left behind, he enjoys staying out in the play yard with a toy. He will throw it up in the air and catch it.

Angel is a work in progress. She has learned to focus and sit and catch. She's a good hearted young lady that needs someone with plenty of time and a desire to teach.

Goliath and I have been working on touching his front legs, and he has come a long way. I was told he was very badly behaved at the vet before his return, so we'll see what happens when he is due for his annual vaccinations in about six weeks.

Claire is a little beagle girl with a lot of energy and not much training. We are working on sit, and she is coming along. Walking on a leash is getting better as well. She is such a little cutie - need to get her shaped up so she finds a family.

I found out last week when I boarded one of the dogs we adopted out that my nickname is "Sergeant Maggie" because I believe in exercise and structure. It works - always has.

Then there's the gremlin in the kennel kitchen. Maybe it was the full moon, maybe the barn fan creating too much air movement, but just the other day while I was washing the very last food bowl and thinking that lunch sounded like a good idea (it was 2:30 PM), the stovepipe for the wood stove crashed down on me - no major injury, just a few scrapes and bruises.

There are still three foundation bred horses, all yearlings, to find homes for. We now have two miniature horses of our own - Swiffer and Eclipse.

The calico/tabby kitten, Kitzu, is growing and likes to help while I'm on the computer. She also likes to help me while I peel wallpaper in one of the upstairs bedrooms.

We have some nice quality round bales of horse hay for sale, the sun is shining, and it's a beautiful day!

Brystls

My ex brother-in-law decided he wanted to open a pet shop. He took in animals from people that just walked in - everything from a 12 foot long python to a pet raccoon that took over the bathroom and had to be returned to the owner. Along the way he even had a Colorado black bear cub. One day he called to say he had taken in a female dachsund and wanted my husband and I to take it to our apartment for a few days to see how she behaved. The dog had been with us for about a week, and when we went to work, we put her in the bathroom. She had food, water, and could move about. One day the husband let her loose in the apartment. I got sick at work and was sent home, and all I could think about was lying down near the bathroom till the yuck passed. When I walked into the apartment, there were two holes the size of softballs in the bedroom wall, three of the venetian blinds were destroyed, and there was a pile of dog poop coiled like a snake in the middle of the bed!

We reported her behavior, and Allen said he would take her back to the pet shop. When I got there, he showed me an 8 week old schnauzer female puppy, obviously sick, that he had purchased from a breeder a couple of days before. I took her to our vet and then to our apartment and never returned her. She was very sick and after a long recovery, we knew we were keeping her forever.

She was my very best friend. She never got very big because of the illness when she was so young. She curled up next to me every night, snuggled on my lap when reading or watching TV, loved to ride in the car and go for a walk, was always there when I needed to vent, especially when husband #1 left a note on the TV that he didn't want to hurt me but married me to put him through college, and now that he had a master's degree, he was moving on with someone else.

Through the years I had Brystls aka Booger, I got another schnauzer and a chow. They were all best buds, and I used to take them to Grapevine Lake in Texas before it got really civilized. We would drive out, walk through the pucky weeds to the lake, go swimming and fetch sticks, walk back to the car, stop for ice cream, go home and get a bath, have a good meal and fall asleep together on the couch.

She started to sleep in other than her usual spots. She didn't eat the usual stuff - was more picky and avoided fatty foods. By this time, I had remarried, and we were expecting our first child and moving to the country. The vet diagnosed either cancer of the liver or an abscess of the liver. Booger started having seizures. I took her to the vet, and he changed her medicine. About a block from the vet's office, she seized in the car, a major one, and I turned around and cried all the way back, carried her in, and asked him to put her out of her misery. He refused. Told me to try the new medicine and bring her back in 4 days.

The next two days weren't any better, but then things always get worse before they get better. Then on the third day, Boog had a whole 4 hours when she ate, played, and acted like her old self. Then things went sour. She died in my arms at 2 a.m. and my husband gently lifted her from my arms and took her out and buried her under the one and only tree we had - a place we used to spend a lot of time together - me reading a book, Boog taking a nap or sniffing the area.

It's been 32 years since she passed away. There's a saying the "You don't get the dog you want, you get the dog you need". How true that is. She was my very best friend when I needed her the most.

Redemption

One of the local animal control facilities had two beagle females, one with puppies, surrendered to them because there had been a serious illness in the family and it necessitated the family members moving out of state without much prior notice. The family was unable to find a place where they could have a pet, so they were forced to leave the beagle family behind.

In today's world, it is hard to rent, and even buy a home, where dogs of any size and breed are allowed. Apartments often have size and weight limits. Housing developments and gated communities often have restrictions, not only about the size and breed of acceptable dogs, but also what kind of fence you are allowed to have. Not to mention insurance companies refusing to insure if you have an "aggressive" breed.

Anyway, we took the beagle girls into our rescue, finished raising the puppies up to 8 weeks old and found them new homes, got Katie and Bindi spayed and hoped we would find them a home in short order. Both Katie and Bindi are nice, small beagles, housebroken, good on a leash, very friendly. However, because of the economy, the heat, summer vacations, and the fact that school is starting and school supplies, clothes, and fees must be paid for, no one applied for the girls.

On Thursday of last week, the rescue coordinator called me and wanted to know what I thought about the fact that the owners of Katie and Bindi had flown in for 24 hours with the intention of trying to find Katie and Bindi, and take Katie back with them. They had found an apartment which would allow them to have one dog.

Animal control gave them the rescue office number, and when that didn't work right away (the mailbox is almost always full), they gave the cell phone number of the rescue coordinator. When she called me, she asked what my feelings were. Nobody flies that far and spends a whole day tracking down a dog unless they really care. I suggested they come on out to the farm and let Katie decide. Her response to them would help us make up our minds.

Katie is now living in Florida. She was absolutely delighted to see them, as was Bindi. They are looking for a home where they can have both beagles, and vowed to send money to support Bindi till they can fly here and pick her up.

Harley

Harley, a chow/husky mix came to us through the veterinarian our boss uses. The young lady who originally owned her had to "get rid of her" because she was a runner and animal control had been called too many times. She had been around children, but because the lady used her for protection, she had become aggressive. The snare that animal control had to use to catch her hadn't helped any. Her basic personality favored the chow side of the family. She would dart through an open door and not come back when she was called.

I added "Sue" to her name, and started working on teaching her to come when called. She growled at me every day for the first two weeks, but she soon realized that she would not eat unless it was in her kennel, a 4 ft. x 12 ft. area, plus a doggie door and outside run of the same size. Very carefully we worked on a collar and leash. We had to get past the snare pole. Harley Sue did not like men, and we, with the help of my husband, worked on getting her to trust a man and respond to his commands.

She learned to walk properly on a leash, be brushed anywhere with no fear or growling, come when called, and also learned "sit" and "shake". She didn't get along with other dogs, but soon learned to go out in the play yards next to another dog without trying to start a fight. She loved to go out and watch the barn cats play down by the old barn. She liked guarding the miniature horses while they grazed in the lot next to the play yard.

We will pick up her ashes today, and they will be eventually be buried with the ashes of all of the dogs that have been rescued by the owner of this rescue. Harley Sue suffered a massive heart attack on July 24.