We're Patiently Waiting

Dolly Momma looks like a miniature Airedale and was at a local animal control. She had been there for a couple of weeks, and I noticed an "Urgent" tag was added, so we went to see what kind of personality she had. She's a calm, quiet, housebroken young lady of just over a year old.

However, the lady at animal control said that over the weekend she had "blossomed" with what they thought was a pregnancy. One look told us she was correct. My maternity ward was empty, so we loaded her up, along with Pollyann, a mocha colored dachshund/?cocker spaniel mix that is also housebroken and a real sweetheart.

We took them to the vet and Dolly M. is also heartworm positive. The vet said it is probably her second litter, given her age. Between the pregnancy and the positive heartworm, that's probably why she was dumped. She was found as a stray.

It won't be long now - Dolly M. looks like a football - large in the middle and narrow on both ends!

They're Everywhere!!!

Puppies, puppies, and more puppies! It isn't even officially spring yet, and there are many litters being dumped at local animal controls and shelters. We have a litter of dachshund/shih tzu (we think) puppies and at 9 weeks, they are healthy, happy, and ready to go to new homes.

We have two litters that were at a local animal control, fostered, and returned. The "G" names litter have two pups in it that resemble black westies - two adorable fuzzy puppies. The other two in that litter are short coated and also cute. We have wormed them and got their bellies full, and they are learning to "follow Grandma".

The "H" names litter are larger pups and will be bigger dogs - a lab mixed with probably aussie. One male is a tri-color and unusually marked. They also are wormed, and with full bellies are learning to follow.

Then we have Dasher, a lab mix pup that was adopted out, but the family is in the process of moving out of state and just didn't feel it was fair to him as they aren't home much. He is neutered, crate trained, and looking for a new home.

Then there's Mickey - my pet name for him is "the Fonz". Mickey was brought to us via an animal control we work with via a group of volunteers who are trying to save animals in a kill shelter in another state. He is obviously a lab, maybe purebred, and has had a rough go. When the volunteer got him, he was covered with lice, so she had him treated and brought him to us. On the day she delivered him, she was notified that, while he wasn't in direct contact or even in the same room, another puppy at the kennel had developed parvo. We put him in quarantine and prayed a lot, and he is just as healthy as can be!!!

All of the puppies are working on crate training and doing very well.

Hopefully with the weather becoming warmer and the snow melting away, people will get out and about and adopt these great babies at the on-site adoption this weekend, or come out to the farm and meet some of the other dogs that are available.

Oh yes, Dolly Momma hasn't had her litter yet.

Mad Max & Veggies

Mad Max is his registered name - a purebred Siberian husky with one ice blue eye and one half blue/half brown eye - who just turned 11 years old. Max was purchased by a family as a pup and for eight years lived in a kennel without regular exercise, nor was the kennel regularly cleaned and sometimes the family forgot to feed him. He wasn't neutered, so he had a big desire to find a mate. When they took him out for exercise, they put him on a tie out that was within reach of a fence, and Max would try to dig under the fence. Rather than shorten the tie out, they hot wired the fence and when Max tried to go under it, he got zapped severely. Max won't allow you to touch his neck in the area of a collar. If you do, he will bite.

Of course, no one told us this when they dropped him off. Only that he hates the vet and water. After I got bit, the truth came out. He had bit the vet and only the family's youngest son could walk Max. He also had severe food aggression when we got him.

We have had Max for three years, and I can put flea preventive on him, even run a brush over him, and no longer is he food aggressive with me. We have actually taught him to "sit" on command, and use it as a gauge to see what his mood is. He is very much an alpha and he has turned on me twice when he didn't want to follow instructions. Max will live here till he dies of old age, and we have a routine and a mutual respect for each other. I make sure he gets plenty of exercise, toys to play with, food to eat, and a clean kennel. Max is losing his sight, but he knows when treat time comes along, and he will sit politely and wait till I get to his kennel, and then find the treat with his nose.

I give the dogs a small quantity of wet food every day - usually chicken flavored something every other day, beef on the other three days, and lamb and vegetables on Friday. It keeps dry food from getting purely boring, and since we have quite a few seniors, like Max, it's like feeding a few prunes at a nursing home - keeps everybody regular.

Max doesn't like lamb and veggies - he sorts through and spits out the peas and carrots.

Neither Rain Nor Snow

We were fortunate to have a break between snowstorms over the weekend, and because people could finally get around, we were able to adopt out 7 puppies of various ages, sent two older dogs out on sleepovers, and adopted out one female husky. Ahhh, empty space!!!

President's Day brought a phone call from one of the local animal controls asking if we could help --- they have had an influx of puppies, and someone brought 10 six week old pups and dropped them off, to add to the 15 they already had in foster homes. It snowed and the wind blew all day yesterday, 8 inches worth, so we waited till this afternoon to make the trip to pick up the pups. They are cuties, 5 boys, 5 girls, a little long bodied, short legs, some long hair, some short, all adorable and full of puppy energy. Maybe some long hair dachshund??? Who knows.

While we were there, we just had to look over all the dogs, and we found a 3 month old yellow lab; a beagle/cocker spaniel mix female named Lulu that is housebroken, crate trained, and just has a great personality. We also discovered a black lab mix female who sits, shakes, is housebroken, loves to play fetch, loves to ride in the car (she sat in my lap all the way home and was a perfect lady). Her name is Ida, and she is, as the song says, sweet as apple cider. (Hopefully someone reading this will be old enough to remember the song.)

The hard part - leaving behind a young border collie mix that had a wonderful personality, was housebroken, knew sit and stay. Hopefully she will find a home soon. If not, we might open up a space, and if we do, we will have to take another road trip to get her.

Meanwhile, it's going to snow some more, but that won't stop us, just slow us down.

Seniors Who Serve

Papa Smurf and Bella Sue, aka Lilly Sue, were given up and dumped by their owners because of their age, health problems, lack of finances, or who knows what reason. See "Our Angels" blog dated 12/24/09, and "Scruffy Shih Tzus & More" dated 9/20/09.

But there was a plan for their lives. Pops and Lilly Sue have found a new job - helping abused children. Children, like dogs, should not be abused, starved, without shelter, without affection.

Next time someone goes to a rescue to adopt, they might want to think about how a senior might fit into their life. Sure, there are possible medical problems and expenses, and the fact that they might not be with us for more than a few months or a few years, but they have so much to give.

Rufus

When he was first rescued, he had been "running" for who knows how long, and he was so exhausted he just collapsed in the driveway of the boss' home. Rufus, a golden retriever/chow mix, looked like a male lion with a gorgeous plumed tail. When we took the job, we were warned that if he ever got loose he would run and not return.

I use the food drive and teach a "kennel" command to give the dogs structure and let them know that their kennels are a safe, comfortable, and food friendly place to be. Rufus spent a couple of years with us and this command was a part of his daily life.

He got adopted by a great family, and they were told that he would need plenty of exercise and in view of the change in environment, to be sure they had him on a leash or in the back yard till he was sure where "home" was. About two weeks after they adopted him, they opened the front door, and Rufus ran out. They tried to run him down and that drove him farther away.

The phone rang and the rescue coordinator called to say she needed us to come to the west side of town as he had been spotted in a bean field and wouldn't respond. He had managed to safely navigate 3 major roadways and elude the efforts of several people who were trying to help him.

We loaded up Jessi, our Dream Team captain, and drove to the property. He wasn't interested in teaming up with Jessi, but we could see the movement of the bean field - much the same color as Rufus at that time of year - he was moving farther west. The field was bordered on the west and north by a fence, and the south by a housing development and another street.

The rescue coordinator and I got in the car and headed west to the last house on the block - at the end of the bean field and before the fence. It was nearly dark when we knocked on the door to ask if they had seen Rufus and if we could look behind their house. They had seen a dog that fit the description, but had no idea where he might be. We moved around the house to the back and into the edge of the field. It was too dark to see the beans moving now. We couldn't see him anywhere, and calling his name was not producing any results.

We decided to give calling him one more try, and from somewhere inside me came the words "kennel, Rufus, kennel". I heard a rustling behind me and turned around, and out from under an evergreen with branches that hung on the ground, came Rufus and straight into my arms. He was unhurt and mighty glad to get into the car for the trip back to his home.

Restocking

Nine new dogs in one day!!! A beautiful male Siberian husky who is housebroken, very friendly, and a very handsome guy.

A call from another animal control asking for help with five 4 1/2 week old puppies. Someone brought them in with their starving mother, and the staff at animal control knows full well that puppies get sick really easy in that situation. It's not their fault - they have open intake and never know what kind of illness a new animal might be bringing with them.

A one year old black lab male who knows sit, shake, rides great in a car, is very easy going, but probably was tried as a hunting dog and flunked that because he is apparently afraid of loud noises. We will work on that. He's been around kids and is quiet.

A 5 year old yellow lab mix female named Cheyenne who was at animal control for two months and was about to be euthanized. She's friendly, easy going, been around kids, has been to on site adoptions and meet and greets and did extremely well. We will give her another chance.

One more puppy, a very unusual coat color. She's got long ears, fairly long slim legs, and just as friendly as can be.

That filled up the quarantine area for now, and we had a call from another local animal control to come and see what they have available.

After settling all the newbies in, it was time to restock the canine pantry, not to mention the human one. Because of the economic downturn, I sure get some funny looks when I take a shopping cart and stuff it full of dog food, dog treats, wet food, leather cookies (our name for rawhides), flea and tick preventive, and even some new toys for the puppies. Kids have to have toys afterall!

Now I just have to figure out some creative kenneling so when we visit the other animal control I have a plan to house a highly adoptable dog that we just can't leave without.