"We have 5 two week old puppies, and we couldn't find the mom anywhere." Animal control called late last Saturday pleading for help. They had made several calls but had no takers. One of our foster moms went to pick them up. Five boys, no mom, and no one knew how long they had been without food. Someone had taken them home the night before and given them human baby formula with less than satisfactory results. Yes, it filled their tummies, but it caused some pretty substantial diarrhea in already dehydrated babies.
They brought me Esbilac, bottles, nipples, bottle brushes, and newspapers, not to mention a really fine big cardboard box to put them in. So, approximately 30 years after I thought I had finished making formula, changing diapers, and getting up every 4 hours for a feeding, I was back at it.
Three of the boys had pretty much given up the idea of sucking, so we went to the eye dropper and stimulated them to suck on my finger, meanwhile sneaking the formula into them. After about four days, they were sucking like pros, so we switched them to regular baby bottles, the human kind. These are going to be good sized dogs some day!
They are now approximately three weeks old, have doubled in size, are starting to play a little, eat like a high school football team, starting to cut teeth, are already going to the potty on newspaper away from their bed, and they don't know it yet, but they can crawl out of their box if they want to. Today I'll have to move them to a more spacious open plan condo so they can develop their motor skills and can't crawl out when I'm working out in the kennel and can't monitor them.
We don't know what breed they are. We don't really care. They shouldn't have been abandoned without a mommy. As a matter of fact, the same animal control called yesterday with 11 six week old pups that were found abandoned in a ditch.
My little football players have been fed, cleaned up, and are snoozing right next to me. As for me, think I'll enjoy that first cup of morning coffee and then start mixing formula for the day.
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Friday, October 29, 2010
Delilah - Long Distance Rescue
Delilah is about a 20 pound black female chi/pug (?) mix that was in a high volume kill shelter in Georgia. One of the employees, also deeply involved in rescue, had taken her home as a foster, but Delilah was shy and worried about people and wasn't improving. She would play and enjoy the company of the other foster dogs, but would not come within a foot of a human. Her foster mom was up to her ears and posted her on Facebook, hoping that she would not have to send her on to the local humane society to keep her alive.
I have a soft spot for the shy, non-aggressive dogs that have little chance of being adopted. Not to mention the fact that Delilah was black, and black dogs are at the bottom of the adoption list. I made a comment that I wished we were closer as I would consider taking her into our rescue. The people at Hazelhurst responded, and soon we were on our way to a transport and rescue.
Our rescue coordinator gave them the information they needed, and we exchanged lengthy phone calls with a couple of people, during which I commented that when I usually find a dog out of state and agree to take it in to our rescue, the dog usually gets adopted before that happens. Not a problem for me - a forever home always trumps a foster!
The day was getting close for transport, expected it on the weekend. I got a call that Delilah was making progress. I am bottle feeding puppies and came to the house late in the day. While waiting on formula to warm up, cranked on the computer and checked email. There was an email notification from Facebook that someone was interested in Delilah and lived in Georgia. I checked it out and figured that I would soon be notified that she had been adopted and would not be heading to Indiana.
About 10 minutes later, I got a call from the foster mom in Georgia saying the she was putting Delilah on a transport later that evening, and wanting to confirm my address. I stopped her and asked if she knew she had someone wanting to adopt locally. She, at that time, was unaware of it. She said she would get back to me. I told her I would always defer to a forever home.
Delillah goes to her new home on Saturday - in Georgia. As part of His plan, it was probably my job to give her more time, not only to keep her from going to the humane society, but to give her time to improve and her new family time to find her.
I have a soft spot for the shy, non-aggressive dogs that have little chance of being adopted. Not to mention the fact that Delilah was black, and black dogs are at the bottom of the adoption list. I made a comment that I wished we were closer as I would consider taking her into our rescue. The people at Hazelhurst responded, and soon we were on our way to a transport and rescue.
Our rescue coordinator gave them the information they needed, and we exchanged lengthy phone calls with a couple of people, during which I commented that when I usually find a dog out of state and agree to take it in to our rescue, the dog usually gets adopted before that happens. Not a problem for me - a forever home always trumps a foster!
The day was getting close for transport, expected it on the weekend. I got a call that Delilah was making progress. I am bottle feeding puppies and came to the house late in the day. While waiting on formula to warm up, cranked on the computer and checked email. There was an email notification from Facebook that someone was interested in Delilah and lived in Georgia. I checked it out and figured that I would soon be notified that she had been adopted and would not be heading to Indiana.
About 10 minutes later, I got a call from the foster mom in Georgia saying the she was putting Delilah on a transport later that evening, and wanting to confirm my address. I stopped her and asked if she knew she had someone wanting to adopt locally. She, at that time, was unaware of it. She said she would get back to me. I told her I would always defer to a forever home.
Delillah goes to her new home on Saturday - in Georgia. As part of His plan, it was probably my job to give her more time, not only to keep her from going to the humane society, but to give her time to improve and her new family time to find her.
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
Pixie, aka Batwoman
She was in a crate in the intake room at animal control, had been there for nearly three weeks. She had all but given up. She hadn't eaten any food for a couple of days. When we walked by, she didn't budge, nor did she look at us. I was drawn to her for some reason, so I kept walking back and forth near her crate as we looked at the other dogs in the intake room. She finally looked at me, and the sorrow in her eyes told the whole story.
Pixie is a petite, small boned, wirehair mix with huge ears, and when she smiles, which she now does, she resembles a fruit bat. Thus the nickname "Batwoman". She is housebroken, knows sit, and has no aggressive tendencies at all.
We had a family come to meet one of the dogs she is turned out to play with. They liked her personality, but deemed her "so ugly she's cute".
She went to a couple of adoption events, but no one gave her a second look. Yesterd
ay a family came to meet a dog and wanted a kind, friendly, non-aggressive dog that would be good with kids, was housebroken, would sleep with family members, and get along with the other family dogs. One of the childen had the duty of picking the new dog. It would be "his" dog. He had chosen a beagle pup, but the pup had way too much energy for the family, wasn't too good with men, and failed in the house trained department. They returned the beagle.
They looked at several dogs and at Pixie. Everyone in the family liked her, except the young man who was to make the decision. His reason - she's ugly and he would have to walk her in the neighborhood. He had his heart set on a dachshund puppy, which we don't have. I told him quite frankly not to take her if he couldn't find it in his heart to overlook the fact that he thought she was ugly.
The younger boy asked to take Pixie home for the night - a sleepover - to see if there was a chance. They returned her today, but we now know for certain that she is definitely housebroken, slept with various family members, did nothing wrong.
Sometimes we forget that beauty is only skin deep. Pixie is a wonderful little dog, and we will find someone who doesn't mind having a dog that looks like a fruit bat when she smiles.
Pixie is a petite, small boned, wirehair mix with huge ears, and when she smiles, which she now does, she resembles a fruit bat. Thus the nickname "Batwoman". She is housebroken, knows sit, and has no aggressive tendencies at all.
We had a family come to meet one of the dogs she is turned out to play with. They liked her personality, but deemed her "so ugly she's cute".
She went to a couple of adoption events, but no one gave her a second look. Yesterd
ay a family came to meet a dog and wanted a kind, friendly, non-aggressive dog that would be good with kids, was housebroken, would sleep with family members, and get along with the other family dogs. One of the childen had the duty of picking the new dog. It would be "his" dog. He had chosen a beagle pup, but the pup had way too much energy for the family, wasn't too good with men, and failed in the house trained department. They returned the beagle.They looked at several dogs and at Pixie. Everyone in the family liked her, except the young man who was to make the decision. His reason - she's ugly and he would have to walk her in the neighborhood. He had his heart set on a dachshund puppy, which we don't have. I told him quite frankly not to take her if he couldn't find it in his heart to overlook the fact that he thought she was ugly.
The younger boy asked to take Pixie home for the night - a sleepover - to see if there was a chance. They returned her today, but we now know for certain that she is definitely housebroken, slept with various family members, did nothing wrong.
Sometimes we forget that beauty is only skin deep. Pixie is a wonderful little dog, and we will find someone who doesn't mind having a dog that looks like a fruit bat when she smiles.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)