As of Today, 10/9/09

Sapir is ready to wean her two puppies. We are having them vet checked before starting their puppy vaccines and putting them up for adoption since we were advised they might not live once weaned. They are absolutely adorable - a teacup sized male and female - and Grandma has once again taught them to suck up to people, so finding them a home will be easy.

Apollo, the malamute with the maggot problem, is healed and just needs to grow his fur back. He's been on a diet and exercise program, which he isn't crazy about, but he looks and feels better, has more energy. He is extremely well housebroken. He needs a bit better leash manners, so that's the next hurdle.

Barney, the senior beagle, is also losing weight and getting more exercise. He's also well housebroken, and just a nice guy.

Jackie, the basenji mix that was dumped and had the flea dermatitis, has a home waiting for her. As soon as her spay stitches are removed and she gets a bath, she will go to her new home, hopefully for the rest of her life.

Tess has had the first portion of the heartworm treatment and has handled it great. She needs leash work, and needs to trust people a bit more. Got work to do there too.

Chico went to an on-site adoption event and then to a sleepover. He hasn't come back, so we are happy to say he found a home.

Ripley has stopped trying to climb out of his kennel or the outside fencing. He just needed to know where he lived and ate. His leash manners have improved greatly. He's housebroken, and will make someone a great companion.

The smurfs, Papa Smurf and Sassette (formerly Smurfette) are growing their fur back and their leash manners are very much improved. They are housebroken and we hope we can find them a home soon.

Katrina, the starving collie, is gaining weight steadily. She runs and plays a bit, will definitely chase a cat.

Mocha, the year old husky male, has learned to sit and wait to be leashed - this is a very big improvement for him! I really need to have a larger area fixed up just for the huskies. We have a secure area for them which is 12 feet wide and 120 feet long, but it could be better. Oh well, money and time will dictate the outcome of this project.

As for Goliath, that's the next post.

What Are They Thinking?

The equine vet's office called asking if we could help out a man with six dogs. His wife left him, going through a divorce, no job, no dog food, but he wants to keep the dogs and doesn't want to spay and neuter. We have no available space, and since he doesn't want to spay/neuter and wants the dogs back at some point, we offered to give him dog food to give him some time to find a place for them. He said they had destroyed all his furniture, so he took each piece out of the house one at a time, and now has them peeing on one post. He has no shelter outside for any of them, so we did offer a couple of dog houses that we don't use.

He came to the farm and said he used 100 pounds of dog food a month. Seems light to me, but I'm used to feeding 40 dogs a week. I gave him 150 pounds of food. He returned two days ago and said he needed to get them vaccinated, so I gave him six doses of 5 way, and six doses of kennel cough preventive. He also said he was giving one of the dogs steroids for flea dermatitis, so I gave him six doses of flea preventive. He also mentioned that one of the dogs had passed worms, so I pulled out wormer for all of the dogs. Then he said he didn't need it for all of them, just the one dog. Duh --- told him to use it on all of the dogs at the same time or they would pass it from one to the other!

He told me the house had to be cleaned up to be sold in the settlement and it was full of fleas. He was planning on scrubbing down the floors and cleaning out the sediment between the hardwood. Said he didn't need the dog houses because one of the dogs had destroyed the fence, so they wouldn't stay in the yard.

After he left, I emailed animal control in our county and the neighboring one, told them what had been provided, and mentioned that they might be getting a visit from him, or maybe they should drive by and check up on him and his pack. Maybe they can talk some sense into him.

The dogs shouldn't suffer or starve because of the situation, but you have to wonder what the heck people are thinking. Life is about making choices - preferably ones that benefit all concerned!

Laugh for the Day

It's been a long day - exercising 40 dogs, cleaning kennels, feeding, water, washing bowls, restocking, so I went to the house to get my own house dogs and take them out to potty. It's a damp, muggy evening and it's misting rain and very still outside. Jessi heads out the door with her nose in the air sniffing for whatever it is that she smells. Koko, who no longer worries about rain on his back, heads out to put a barn cat back in the barn where it belongs. We have 7 acres of fencing for the kennel dogs, but the house dogs don't have a fenced yard and they head for the south pasture with me.

Ah, those wonderful smells entice them to do a bit of hunting, while I am asking them to hurry and poop so we can head for the house, dry off, shower, and get something to eat. They are busy with their project, and I am getting impatient. The air is still and sound echoes. I prompt them to "hurry up" several times, and finally in my authoritative voice tell them "Hurry up and poop!"

From somewhere in the neighborhood, comes the response "I don't have to!"

Katrina

"My friend is hiding a dog that she found lying in her front yard. The landlord doesn't allow dogs. Can you take her in? She's so thin that animal control will put her down."

That's how we ended up taking in a purebred collie. When she was found, she was so weak she couldn't stand up, so the friend took her in and fed her chicken soup. She slept in bed with her children and obviously is well housebroken. About that time the friend found out she had killed a farmer's chicken, and the farmer was looking for her. (Makes you wonder where the chicken soup originated.)

Immediately upon seeing her, I decided to call her Katrina, because she looked just like the dogs that survived the hurricane - mud, wet (it's been raining), mats, and so thin her backbone and hip bones stick up a good inch and can be seen even with her long coat.

We've done some cleaning up and clipping off the matted fur, and she is eating and drinking very well. She's probably seven years old and gaining strength on a daily basis. Hopefully we can find her a family to live with for the rest of her life.

Scruffy Shih Tzus & more

"We have to put dogs down on Friday afternoon because of overcrowding. Thought you might be interested in a few small dogs."

They were in an outdoor kennel together. Papa Smurf has been neutered, has had one eye surgically removed, has no upper teeth, has one snaggletooth on the bottom, has some fatty tumors, and just wants to be a good senior citizen. Smurfette is younger, chunkier, needy by comparison, has no leash manners, and needs to feel secure so we will give her some time to settle in and realize she isn't going to be dumped again. She also has a fatty tumor. These two were neglected as evidenced by their coats of matted, clumped, dread locked fur. One clump of matted fur was the size of a jelly filled donut, which means I won't be eating any jelly filled donuts for awhile, and there were so many clumps and mats we couldn't tell if they were male or female at first. Boy, did they stink!

Ripley is a Jack Russell mix, very friendly, lousy on a leash, quiet for a JR mix, and very capable of climbing a six foot fence - he's managed it twice so far.

Chico was found lying between two dead dogs on a back road. He's a chihuahua/dachshund mix with a defensive attitude that could easily become aggression if not handled properly. He's noisy, needy, and quick to use his mouth when he's not calling the shots. He is learning there's a better way to make friends and quarantee his kibble and a roof over his head.

Tess is a wirehair mix about 4 years old. She has a unique look to her, and she is heartworm positive. She has no aggressive tendencies so far, and needs some groceries as her backbone and hip bones are readily palpable.

Jackie is maybe a basenji mix about six months old. She is housebroken, learned sit in nothing flat, learned to walk on a leash in record time, and has shown no aggressive tendencies. She was dumped, covered with fleas and flea dermatitis, and a rash on her belly which she had been scratching and made herself raw. She's just a great little girl.

Then's there's Rusty, now called Barney, a senior beagle, neutered, housebroken, and just a good natured, easy going, guy that loves to eat, but is now on a diet. One of the volunteers at animal control had fostered him and could no longer keep him, and because of his age and the overfill capacity, he was going to be on the list for euthanasia. We were pulled aside and asked if we could take him into the rescue, so we did.

We have 40 rescue dogs right now, and each and every time a kennel empties, the phone rings or someone emails and asks for help. Guess that's just the way it's supposed to be.

Apollo, the Malamute

"His whole back was moving!" That's what the lady at animal control told us when we went to meet a malamute they emailed us about. The owner had dropped the dog off because she didn't have enough money to take him to a vet and thought animal control might be able to help him. Apollo had been tied outside 24/7 in the heat and humidity and developed hot spots, and had no flea control medication on him. He reached around and chewed the irritated spots and had learned how to lean into a fence or doghouse and rub the areas. Maggots were all over his back from between his shoulder blades all the way down his back and over his buttocks. Actually, the maggots probably saved him from dying of gangrene, but he was so badly infected, swollen, and very very sick.

Animal control has a policy of putting down a sick animal immediately, but the girls took him to a vet anyway, much to the irritation of their boss. They got hold of us because they didn't want to see this 115 pound, extremely well housebroken, gentle giant be euthanized, nor did they want to get fired for defying the rules.

So, Apollo came home with me. There were a few problems to deal with. One was that he was extremely overweight. Another was his ability to reach around and chew on himself. Third was the fact that the back was so raw, he was getting pretty darn grouchy about being treated.

I put him on a diet and exercise program, especially since he has to be hand walked so he can't scratch his back on a fence or roll on the ground. We put one cone on him and had to add another one as he also had learned to destroy one to the point where he could reach around and chew on himself.

Now the biggie - the raw area. I used to work for a doctor who not only celebrated his birthday once a month with cake and champagne for everyone in the building, but truly believed that no medicine should be prescribed that tasted bad or caused discomfort. I have applied that particular theory to my work with animals. I started using my "secret sauce" horse medicine on his back and within three days he quit caring whether we touched him where he is healing. I can now run my hand over the affected areas with no negative response from him - much better than having him snark around to bite. He's losing weight and actually is showing some muscle tone in his hips and legs.

Since the last post

Goliath had a 2 1/2 hour surgery with a dramatic improvement in his heart function. He returns to the hospital on October 6 for a repeat echocardiogram. Goliath is available for adoption starting this week, and my biggest concern is that he goes to a family that will allow him to be a dog and not be overly protective in light of his past history. Goliath is not the type to become a couch potato - he thinks he's a hunter and a farm dog - let him explore, investigate, play with the cats, chase butterflies, play with his mentor, Jessi - but don't expect him to sit in your lap or watch soaps on the couch with you. It was very difficult to keep him from running or jumping for the 10 days after the surgery, especially since they had to ligate his jugular vein on the right side and he couldn't wear a collar till it healed. A harness was of little or no help, so we opted for house confinement. He was so happy to get outside again!

Sapir, the female mini-Aussie mix that looked like a zucchini when she was pregnant, had five pups - two were stillborn and one died shortly after birth. There is one female and one male still alive, but we have been cautioned by the vet that once they are weaned and no longer have their mother's immunity, they will likely die. Time will tell the outcome. They are 3 1/2 weeks old.

Local animal controls have called and emailed asking us to come to visit, meet, and hopefully take as many dogs as possible. One week we took in 9 dogs, another week 8, and this week 6. We have one dog leaving for a new home tomorrow, but this afternoon a lady who adopted one of our rescues a short time ago called and said her neighbor had taken in a stray collie who is skin and bones and killed a farmer's chicken, so she is hiding the dog, not only from the farmer, but from her landlord. Because of it's emaciated state, she knows if it goes to animal control it will be destroyed immediately. The empty kennel will be empty only long enough to disinfect for the new arrival.