lifeinflux

Good rescues, success stories and lives saved: A primer

// February 25th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Let me just put it right out there. We LOVE Big Dawgs Rescue and the owner and facilitator, Joanne. We have worked successfully with Second Chance who allowed us to bring Mimir and Kodi Bear into our lives and we are forever grateful to them. We honestly thought we’d never love another rescue as much until we answered the call to bring Sunny and her puppies into our home and lives. And we are so grateful for our new friend, Joanne and all the support and time she’s invested in the care of these beautiful animals and in us. It is rare to find a rescue who cares about the dogs AND the fosters AND the new forever families. Investing in the animals AND the people is time-consuming and hard and Joanne does both with grace and ease because she really cares. Sunny and her babies came from another rescue who was going to put her down. She was fostered for a little via another rescue. She lived in a bathtub with her puppies, was pulled around on a leash without choice or encouragement and scared of people beyond belief. This is the Sunny who came to us on January 19th. Sunny was not evaluated by this interim rescue, a rescue who is located in Southern California and who I have not decided if I will name or not. This soCal rescue did not invest much time, attention or love in Sunny other than putting her in a bathtub and feeding her. They did not place her and her puppies with a foster family. That task was completed by Big Dawgs Rescue located here in the Bay Area and we are forever grateful to Joanne for trusting us and allowing us the privilege of this experience.

Today I was copied on an email that shocked me to my VERY core where the rescue in Southern California accused Big Dawgs Rescue and me and my family of killing Sunny over “a few bad habits” and that there was absolutely nothing wrong with Sunny that a little training could fix. Their exact words in the email are:

I have to tell you, I was in shock when you told me you “killed” the Momma…there was ABSOLUTLEY nothing wrong with her….nothing a lil training would/could fix. You should have called us & told us, Diamonds in the Ruff, of your intentions so we could have taken her back, got her the training she needed, so she’d still be alive today. It’s unacceptable that you had her pts over a few bad habits, which is probably the results of neglect & never being loved! I hope you regret your decision & will NEVER do that to an animal, again!

I think my reply says it all:

Regarding Sunny, you are *absolutely incorrect* in saying there was nothing wrong with Sunny that love and time could fix. We did love Sunny, very much, and this was not a casual decision on anyone’s part. When Sunny came to us she was dragged from her crate, dragged into our home by the person who transported her and the puppies and was scared and completely in shock. It took a few weeks for Sunny to realize she was not going to be harmed and that’s when the behavior began and we immediately started reaching out to experts to begin training her. We had Sunny evaluated by the Humane Society, our vet (editor’s note: this is our friend who is a vet and a big dog rehabilitation expert), and two private rehabilitation facilities at our own expense after she:
1. began habitually climbing up and pooping on our kitchen counters
2. chewing through gates installed into the kitchen door (not one of those little wood baby gates but a physical gated door screwed into both sides of the kitchen doorway)
3. explosive diarrhea throughout the living room, exposing her puppies and our pets to giardia (everyone is being successfully treated) and
4. displaying aggressive behavior towards our other pets and her own puppies.

We were advised by *everyone* we talked that Sunny’s “bar” if you will was so low that for her, bad behavior was handled with severe and harsh consequences. Training her to a “no” or other normal dog corrective behaviors was not something they could see happening without years and years of rehabilitation if ever. And without the ability to set boundaries, Sunny would more than likely hurt our other pets or even us as she got more comfortable and secure and realized that we were not going to beat or neglect her. We provided all this information to Joanne and even when we took her to animal services, had them test her ONE LAST TIME to ensure we had covered every option.

From the moment Sunny arrived it was our intention to adopt her, love her and invest the time and thousands of dollars into her rehab. However, when we were told by FOUR INDEPENDENT EXPERTS that she was not a candidate for rehabilitation and that the pattern of destructiveness and aggression would escalate we had NO OPTION but to put her down on FOUR INDEPENDENT EXPERTS’ OPINIONS, a decision that was hard and heart-wrenching and absolutely the right thing to do. The fact that you would even imply that we casually tossed this dog aside and had her put down over a few bad habits without even asking for all the facts is insulting and wrong.

So I guess the only thing left to say is why didn’t YOU step up and spend the time, love, energy and attention that my family and Joanne invested in this dog and her puppies? Right. I guess it is SO much easier to judge when you have invested NOTHING in the process.

I expect an immediate apology to me and to Joanne. Big Dawgs Rescue has been phenomenal to work with, amazingly supportive with us and have helped us every step of the way with all nine dogs. We have worked with other rescues in the past and absolutely trust Joanne and know she has both the dogs and the people in mind with every decision she makes. Joanne did not make the call to put down this dog; we did based on the facts we had and asked her to support us in this decision as in every way but PAPER, Sunny was ours in our hearts, minds and spirits. We are devastated by our loss and plan to honor her and her memory by loving our two babies she provided and keeping in touch with our foster babies who are being placed in amazing, forever homes. This is a SUCCESS story – eight lives were saved by Big Dawgs Rescue and by me and my family and for you to trash that and our hardship and heartache with your self-righteous, uninformed IGNORANCE is disgusting. Shame on you.

I’m hesitant to “out” this other rescue online as they are trying to help animals find forever homes and that should be commended. However, I am torn because these people are either being given bad information from the lady who transported Sunny (the one who put her in a bathtub, did not evaluate her and dragged her around by leash) or are making carte blanche assumptions out of ignorance and a misguided sense of self-righteousness. All that aside, and this one email aside, we feel this entire experience was, overall, a positive one. We saved EIGHT wonderful, amazing lives and these puppies are AMAZING! And on a happier note, Bella and Bongo, the puppy formerly known as Butch) have found their FOREVER HOMES with wonderful families whom we like and whom the puppies love. The G-8 are slowly making their way out into the world and we will forever remember and love Sunny for providing us with these incredible lives. We feel so honored and privileged that we were their foster people and hope we can hang out on the periphery, keep in touch with the families and see our baby angels grow. And maybe we can even host the occasional G-8 reunion, from time to time.

Thank you SO MUCH Joanne for making this adventure possible for us! And here’s to Smokey, Carter, Duncan and Panda finding their forever homes in the coming weeks!!

For more information on Joanne’s amazing work and Big Dawgs Rescue, click here or click on the Big Dawgs Rescue image above!

Smokey

// February 23rd, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Featured Post

Sup, I'm Smokey

Puppies are a little like kids. You’re not supposed to have a favorite; but secretly, in your heart of hearts you do. If I did have a favorite – and in a court of law I’d swear I didn’t – it would be Smokey. Smokey is our alpha, our pack leader and a lovely boy in every way. I know, I know. I can hear you now and the question you’re dying to ask is “why, if you adore this puppy so much, are YOU not keeping him??”. Well that is a great question and if we did not have a big ole’ Kodiak Bear and if we did not respect that big ole’ Bear’s place in the pecking order, we would absolutely and without a doubt keep Smokey. But we do have our Bear and we do respect his place in the pecking order and his feelings. We understand that going from only Bear to Big Papa Bear is going to be a hard enough transition. Adding defending his turf and his position, and the potential for escalation when Smokey becomes an adolescent is too much for any sweet, sensitive Bear (or frankly ANY dog who is already established in a house) to manage. Smokey is an amazing leader and keeps the pack in line, a necessary task when dealing with eight puppies. Smokey definitely recognizes me as HIS alpha, another necessary trait or else things would get out of hand very quickly. It will be important for his forever family or person to know how to gently place their head over Smokey’s neck to establish dominance without breaking his amazing spirit. It will also be important for Smokey to be the only male, preferably the only dog. He tolerates cats well and keens after ours. However, for his sake we have kept him from her for the most part because Meemsy has her claws and has no issues putting little wannabe alpha Bears in their place, right Kodi?

I see you!

Smokey will check things out while the rest of the pack hangs back. Smokey was enthralled with my camera, with every new, big toy we introduced and was one of the first to wean, preferring our company and the food bowl over hanging out with his mom. He’s a big ole, rough and tough boy and can often be found jumping into puppy conflicts and tussles and deciding who gets what and when. He has no compunction about claiming a toy as his but, like a good leader, will hang back from the food bowl, give his mates a chance to nosh and then finish the last of the meal. He has a few adorable -isms about himself including his little “Whassup” or “‘Sup” head nod at you when you enter the room, a nod he has taught a few others to do although no one does it quite like Smokey. He has a distinctive yowl-type bark that lets me know when the others are doing things they are not supposed to do and/or when the litter just needs general attention. He’s an all-around good dog and is going to grow into a gorgeous fellow. He is loyal and brave and one of the most fun puppies I’ve been around. Initially he was not fond of being picked up, but now he asks for it. He loves to cuddle and loves to crawl in your lap and be petted. He is full of fun and play and will happily steal toys from the others and bring it to you for some one-on-one. We anthropomorphized Smokey a bit. If you were around in the early 70s or, like me, saw the Samuel L. Jackson version in 2001 which inspired you to go to Classic TV channel on cable, you’ll know who I mean when I say Smokey is a lot like Shaft. He’s smooth, he’s cool, and he moves to a Barry White soundtrack. Damn right. While we want ALL of our puppies to be adopted into their perfect forever homes (or at least, the perfect forever home for them), we are going to be really, really, REALLY picky (as opposed to just really picky) about who gets our Smokey Bear. We’d keep him if we could, but knowing we can’t, we’re determined to find that one perfect family out there who will love him as much as we do and support his alpha dog status and appreciate him for the cool cat he is.

Damn right.

Duncan

// February 22nd, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

I claim this lap for um... me...

Duncan is, by far, the most “cattle dog” of all our puppies. This is not a bad thing. In fact, it’s nice to see how Sunny’s traits would have played out had she been treated well and raised the way a dog should as opposed to the horrible life she did lead. I’ve had a lot of questions about what I mean when I say “cattle dog”. The immediate image most people have is of the Australian cattle dog. Actually, this is the only “cattle dog” recognized by the American Kennel Club. But that’s not the cattle dog I’m referring to when I reference the cattle dog breed and our puppies would, in no way, shape or form, meet the Australian cattle dog breed standards. Instead, I am using a term for a dog that is popular amongst reservations in southern California, Nevada, Arizona and New Mexico that have been embraced by breeders throughout the southwest and Texas for their hardiness, intelligence and their quickness which makes them prime candidates to herd cattle – or just about anything else – safely. Unfortunately, they are also the number one dog in the Southwest to become victims of neglect and abuse and are often bred with pit bulls to create ultimate dog fighting machines. I’m not saying that was Sunny’s fate; frankly we don’t know enough about her background to draw that conclusion. But we do know something about Sunny’s origins thanks to the shape of her head, the length of her torso and some of her prominent behaviors. And Duncan definitely displays the stubborn, willful intelligence and herding instinct of his cattle dog predecessors. With his triangular. blunt head, high ears and long lean torso, he’s a beautiful puppy who will become a gorgeous long, lean dog with the distinctive cattle dog features.

Hi there, I'm Duncan!

So why go into so much detail about cattle dogs instead of a nice long post about Duncan? Well to understand the type of puppy Duncan is and the type of dog he will more than likely become, I think it is very important to understand where he comes from, where his traits come from and why he behaves the way he does. Duncan is frustrating at times. But let’s be honest, all puppies are frustrating at times. His need to herd means he will move six puppies into your path, tripping you up as you try to move from Point A to Point B. He will mark his turf outside the designated potty zone because cattle dogs are fairly solitary and mark their area (and their herd) away from other dogs, a real frustration when you’re trying to train eight puppies to use a 3 foot by 2 foot potty area. He is always the first up and the last to bed, displaying an energy the other puppies lack. And when it’s 12:00 at night and you’ve spent hours changing papers, playing with puppies, cleaning up poop, washing down the kitchen and the puppies and changing water because today was the day everyone decided to try to body slam their litter maters into the bowl and drown each other, the LAST thing you want to hear is a puppy herding everyone’s toys into the potty area because to him, this is NOT a potty area but merely another place to play. But all that aside, Duncan is not a bad puppy. He’s not even a frustrating puppy. He’s a puppy doing EXACTLY what he was born and bred to do. And to get mad at him for it is not only a waste of time and energy but will only serve to confuse him and lead to behavior issues that, while correctable, are a lot bigger deals than Duncan doing what, innately, he is supposed to do.

Snuggling up after a long day herding his litter mates

Duncan needs a family with a big backyard where he can run and herd to his heart’s content. And he’ll herd anything… children, balls, whatever. He will also need proper training to ensure he herds anything, particularly children, safely. Duncan will be your favorite dog ever because he will use ONE place as his potty area, an area he picks that will allow him to mark his turf. The nice thing is that you can and should dictate where that place is by taking him to the spot of your choosing and waiting until he marks that area. Then you need to take him back to that spot, on leash, each and every time during his house training process. Otherwise, Duncan will pick his spot and dollars for doughnuts it will be by the gate, the back door or any other highly trafficked area because that is what he is conditioned to do!!! I can hear you now, “OHMILORD Jeri, this dog is a total P.I.T.A.!!” Well, yes, I can see why you’d think that. But again, with proper training you’re going to be able to work around some of his behavioral quirks (and show me a dog or a kid who doesn’t have behavioral quirks and I’ll bet you have an unthinking robot) and see what a total GEM of a dog you have. Cattle dogs tend to bond to one person or family for life, they are incredibly intelligent, will defend their “herd” incredibly well and be one of the most loving dogs you’ve ever met. They require a lot of socialization and should be taken on walks and to the dog park often. In fact, you’ll often find these dogs herding other dogs at the dog park. After an hour or so of that, the herding instinct is satisfied and you can take them home relatively certain that your kids are safe from herding for that day (or at least a good chunk of it!). He should be crate trained so he will sleep at night in one spot. Otherwise, he will start drifting – another cattle dog trait – and check to make sure each family member is in his or her “place”. Drifting can lead to boredom but instead of sleeping he might find something to get into so make sure his sleep area is confined. Toys are a necessity for this dog and, like his brother Carter, Duncan will get bored with a toy (although not as quickly or as easily) and need to have them rotated out on a consistent basis. For all the hard work Duncan, and honestly ANY puppy you get, will be, the end result is a loving, loyal, smart dog who is easy to socialize and incredibly easy to love and appreciate so long as YOU are willing to put in the time and effort to teach him boundaries and get him all the exercise he needs. And bear in mind, he needs no further exercise than say, a labrador retriever or other popular mid to large sized dog would. Duncan will do well in households with kids and other dogs. I would avoid bringing him into a home where a cat or cats are present. Last I checked, puddies do NOT like to be herded and there may be conflict there if Dunc doesn’t have someone or something else to herd. I know his forever family is going to adore him as much as we do and cannot wait for him to find them and love them and for them to love him, too!

Butch

// February 21st, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Butch snuggled up in his food bowl

Of our eight puppies, Butch is the kindest. In fact, he is so kind and even-tempered that we’ve started calling him Sweet Butch even though that name makes him sound more like the tag line to a lesbian personal ad than a gentle-nature puppy. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a dog more willing to share his toys, or give up his place on the blanket to his siblings. Sure, he’ll spar and wrestle along with the best of them but for the most part, he is incredibly mellow and prefers the quiet company of people to his litter mates. He does love to play and will often fetch toys and bring them to us or to the other puppies. If they get stolen, a quiet look of resolve crosses his face and he either goes off to find another toy or will snuggle down for pets and hugs from whichever person happens to be readily available and nearby. Because of his inclination to hang back and let the others go first, I try to make sure he gets special cuddle time every time I go into the kitchen. He’s so easy to overlook and never complains or makes a lot of noisy like his mouthy brothers and sisters (Bella, Carter, Smokey, Rascal, Marzi… I’m looking at you!) so I try to make sure he gets special attention and is not forgotten in all the crazy mayhem and noise. Often he’ll come over to me after everyone else is drifting off to sleep and snuggle in my lap to get some attention. And we always make sure he gets it. If his siblings snag all the warm spots on the blanket or big stuffies, you’ll find Butch tucked away in a warm corner or his food bowl. He never complains and is pliable and just happy to be here. He’s such a special puppy and we hope he finds the perfect forever home from someone as laid back as he is who will play with him, love him up and treat him very well. He of all of our puppies would be the perfect only baby for someone or a couple who are going to integrate him into their lives. I don’t think he’d do very well in a chaotic environment. He tends to remove himself from the chaos and fade into the background and we don’t want that for him.

With his rich brown coat and distinctive white markings, Butch is a standout amongst our black and black and white puppies. He also stands out by being the only puppy interested in the cat as opposed to interested in chasing the cat. His easy temperament belies a deep intellect and he was one of the first puppies to learn to use the potty in the penned potty area. A deep soul he takes well to positive reinforcement. Even gentle scolding upsets him and he’ll sit quietly somewhere nearby hoping you’ll come to him and forgive him and love on him. He won’t seek you out when he knows he’s done something wrong. Rather he’ll just wait patiently and see what unfolds from it. While he won’t go looking for trouble, if trouble finds him he’ll happily participate. For example, he’s one of the few puppies who won’t pull the training pads out of the pen. However, he has no problem joining the group and shredding the training pad to bits! However, he can be counted on to not go out and seek things to get into (at least so far) which is not a common puppy trait. Butch loves his kibble and is a great eater and will often be found hanging out near the food area right before feeding times. I think he has an clock built into his tummy! He’s also a consistent sleeper and can be counted on to sleep most of the night, unlike some of his counterparts who are little rambunctious night owls. He will be a dream to house train, crate train and in puppy obedience! We love our Sweet Butch and hope he finds an amazing forever home filled with people or a person who will be as enamored with him as we are and who will appreciate his sweet nature and innate kindness as much as we do.

Sweet Butch is a pretty boy

Bella

// February 19th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Whatcha doin' up there?

Bella got her name from my daughter who is a HUGE Twilight fan. I think, given the chance, we would have had a litter filled with Edwards, Jacobs, and other Twilight characters but we decided to limit her options to naming one puppy for a Twilight character and Bella was it! Bella is a combination of extremes. She’s either UP, UP, UP, playing hard and wrestling with the pack one moment and then flopping down on her stuffed puppy or on a lap and passing out asleep immediately. There is no in-between. She loves to be petted and held and cuddled and, of all of our puppies, is the one who will curl up with you in the evenings and snuggle by your side for hours on end. She’s a really easy puppy, who loves to please you but will also follow the crowd. If her litter mates pee on the paper, she follows suit. If they pee on the floor… well, you get the gist.   She won’t demand individual attention from you so it is very easy to lose her in the crowd.  And if you don’t find her and cuddle her, she’ll snuggle up somewhere on her own and sleep even if what she really wants is to be snuggled up with you.  This is a Bella trait we discovered on day one.   Our first priority when the puppies got here was bathing them; they were very dirty and had mud and poop on every inch of their tiny bodies.  We put all eight puppies into the tub and started to bathe them, moving as quickly as possible.  All of a sudden I realized we had seven puppies and ONLY seven puppies.  Sweet little Bella was snuggled up under the lip of the tub, eyes closed and shivering, patiently waiting her turn and away from the struggling, yipping mass of puppies.   It scared us because we realized we had almost overlooked her, and given how little they were and how easily chilled they could get, had we walked away our Bella would have been in bad shape.   This trait of hers is important for her forever family to understand.   In a big family or a family with a lot of pets, Bella could easily place herself in the background and get herself into trouble.  That’s not where this little angel needs to be.   She is very smart and will wander off and find things to get into when ignored or when bored.   With proper training and with her sweet disposition, Bella has the potential for being a wonderfully mannered, well tempered, loving addition to any family.

Can't you cuddle me?

Bella is definitely a nipper and we are working with her diligently on inhibiting her bite. The difficulty with training Bella is she will walk away if she’s not getting positive attention, she’ll walk away, lay down and with other distractions. it’s easy to forget to follow up with her. While her placid personality is going to be a plus, particularly with children who will enjoy her as a lap puppy, her new “parents” will have to remember to keep up with her, consistently train her and make sure she gets a lot of love and attention. Without that diligence, she will be easy to overlook. And don’t mistake that easygoing, laid back personality – Bella needs lots of love and attention or she starts sleeping more, removing herself from the crowd and acting a little depressed. Bella will need to know she is special and loved and then you’ll see the energetic ball of love that we do. Respect her need for attention, play with her, train her and give her your time and love and then respect her need to sleep and recharge (and accept that right now she’s the two extremes) and you’ll have an amazing dog who will adore you, cuddle with you and return your love a thousandfold.

Carter

// February 18th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // Featured Post

Carter aka Hollywood

Carter is one of the smallest of our litter (second only to Panda); however his personality is 2000 feet tall. We dubbed Carter, Hollywood, the first week when we realized he was not only beautiful but a total prima donna. He consistently gets his bootie handed to him by the bigger puppies but you cannot convince him he is one of the small puppies in the group. He may be tiny but he’s got a big dog personality coupled with a Napoleon complex and the end result is hysterical every time you see him in action. Because he’s always on the good (and in the fray) it is almost impossible to get a good picture of just Carter. I have lots of butt shots of him digging his way into the middle of a puppy pile, lots of blurry shots of Carter jumping on Smokey, Rascal or Marzi and lots of pictures containing a fuzzy brown streak as he propels himself from one side of the kitchen to the other demanding food, clean pads, fresh water, pets or simply respect for his “authoritah” (channel your best Cartman voice). He is also our little tattle-tale and I always know when someone is not doing what he or she is supposed to because Carter is at the gate hollering for me to come see and oooh look what HE did or SHE did and here is Carter being so helpful and telling me. And while I am then cleaning up a mess or redirecting the other puppy in question, guess who takes advantage of my busyness and poops on the floor? You guessed it. Carter! And when scolded he looks at you like you’ve lost your damn mind and you can just hear him in your head saying “who are you talking to, woman? I’m Carter, here me roar!” And you cannot get upset with him because he’s so darn cute and when he “aroooooos” you just have to laugh. I’m telling you – personality plus!

Imma attack this big ole gator, K?

Carter is incredibly smart, too. He loves to untie shoelaces and can get into and out of small areas like a pro. He gets bored very easily, a testament to his intelligence and loves solving puzzles. He figured out how to get the shirt of the stuffie gator and the scarf off the stuffie snake and then promptly taught his litter mates how to do it as well. He loves puzzles and needs a constant rotation of toys because he figures out how to work them and gets bored. He requires a little more diligence in training; it’s not because he lacks intelligence but the exact opposite. He’s SO smart and like most smart babies (kids and puppies!) he’s always looking for an angle. However, once he gets it, HE GETS IT and doesn’t backtrack, a huge difference between our lab-like puppies who are extremely smart and eager to please but follow the typical lab training pattern of one step forward, two steps back. After expelling his energy on anything within puppy reach will happily snuggle in your lap with a puzzle, a set of chewy puppy keys or a stuffie and work out the puzzle or chew away until he’s sleepy. And then he’ll give your fingers a lazy lick or two and snuggle down and sleep. You’ve never heard anything so precious as our little Hollywood snoring! Positive reinforcement is the ONLY way to go with Carter. He does NOT like being told “No” and will sometimes do the very thing you’ve told him not to do just to show you that he can. We’ve found with trial and error that ignoring the bad behavior and giving him treats and lots of excited “good boy!” and rubs when he does the right thing works far better than “No” and gentle verbal scoldings. Carter is extremely independent and is not a snuggly boy who wants to be held. He is a lap baby however, and if you wait for him to come to you, he’ll spend hours in your lap “talking” to you and playing with his toys while sitting on or next to you.

Carter is the only puppy we have with his coloring, a motley of browns, beige, and blonde. He doesn’t have a distinctive cattle dog look like some of our puppies nor does he have the lab/shepherd thing going on which means he’s an object of utter fascination to us as to where in the world this gorgeous little dog came from. He’s definitely a handful and has extremely definite opinions on how things should be. With the attitude and the look, he’s totally Hollywood and we hope he finds a forever family willing to put in the time and energy to train him properly and love and appreciate every single inch of this beautiful boy.    He will need a family willing to spend time with him for he does not tolerate boredom well.   He is definitely not a crate puppy, meaning he will be miserable if left all day in a crate without interaction and fun as part of his daily routine.  He is so social that he’d do great at a day care or paired with another dog who is tolerant enough to let Carter have his way.   Carter is utterly fascinated with our cat and loves to lead the charge after her so he’ll have to learn that kitties are not toys he can chase down.     Luckily we have a tolerant cat who has been around puppies before so she keeps her claws in and lets them chase her and then messes with them from outside the gate.    We love our Hollywood, that sweet Carter boy and we’re so hoping we find a family who understands he’s going to be stubborn and probably tear a few things up out of boredom but who love him for his intelligence, sparkling personality, prima donna prettiness and want him to be their forever pet to love.

Whazzup, bitches?

Sleep achieved! Day 12 (Sunday)

// February 1st, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Rascal (with food on his head), Duncan, Carter, Smokey and Bella nosh out

Monday dawned and Jays and I were as exhausted as we’ve ever been. Leaving Sunny out in the kitchen with the puppies is hard on her, no one sleeps (including us people) and we’re all starting to suffer for it immensely. We made enormous progress with her in that she responds to no and stops howling. But we were determined to find a way for everyone to sleep the night so we moved on to suggestion number 3 and prayed this would be the solution that fixed all our problems. For those of you at home keeping count, suggestion number 1 was free feeding Sunny and the puppies, separating Sunny from the puppies at night by putting Sunny in the crate and leaving the puppies and their food out. Free feeding all the dogs was not successful because 1) it gave Sunny too many calories what with the puppy food, supplement and canned food (she’s ready to be on dry puppy food alone); 2) Sunny started competing with her own puppies for the food; 3) Sunny stopped letting them nurse because she could not get away from them; and 4) Sunny howled for the food (and to go poop) all night long therefore no one slept (Saturday night). Suggestion number 2 was free feeding the puppies and Sunny all day and then removing the food and letting Sunny be out in the kitchen with them all night long to nurse them and attend to them. This did not work because 1) the puppies were gorging themselves on food all day; 2) the puppies were not getting stimulated by their Mom and therefore were lethargic and not following their proper feed/nurse/poop/play/sleep/poop/feed/nurse… cycle; and 3) Sunny tried to break out of the kitchen all night long to escape from the puppies therefore no one slept all night (Sunday).

Monday we put the puppies and Sunny on an alternate feeding cycle and started taking Sunny for regular walks. So while Sunny was out for an early morning walk, the puppies were fed until they were done with the food. They pooped, I picked up papers and when Sunny returned they were playing. Of course, they immediately stopped playing when Sunny came into the kitchen and started nursing. But she let them because she had a nice break. We removed the puppy food and gave Sunny her dry food in her bowl and after an hour or two out with them, playing, we let her back in her crate for a few hours to rest. The puppies slept too until around 12:30 whereupon we started the pooping/feeding/nursing/play cycle all over again until they collapsed to rest around 1:30. At 2:00 we fed Sunny her dry food, let the puppies play on her and she stayed out of the crate with them until around 5. At 5, Sunny went for her walk and the puppies were fed again. They nursed upon her return and then Sunny ate her final bowl of food for the day. The puppies and Sunny played until around 8:00 when the puppies collapsed again. At 10:30 Sunny went out for her last walk, the puppies were given their final meal of the day and then given access to Sunny to nurse one final time. After they played for 45 minutes, we put them in their designated Rubbermaid, washed down the entire kitchen, changed out the bedding, made sure everyone had fresh water, locked Sunny in her pen and turned out the light. 30 minutes later the entire household was in bed and everyone slept until the puppies started whining for food around 5:45 AM this morning.

SUCCESS! Let’s hope we can repeat this tonight. If so, I think we have a winning plan!

A few people have asked how Mimir and Kodi Bear are doing and if they are getting lost in the shuffle. Nope. Big Bear sleeps in my bed (mmm warm feet), gets up around 7 (he has to have his beauty sleep, you know), eats at his usual time of 7:30, walks Drue to school and heads to Philz for a treat and a bowl of water to get his 2 miler in and then spends the day asleep at my feet or on the bed. We play ball at least once. Drue plays ball with him when she gets home from school. He has dinner at his usual time of 5:30 and goes to bed at 10:30 when he decides to put himself to bed. He is lacking his usual evening perambulation because I’m usually swamped in puppy business around his usual night walk time but he’s handling it pretty well. What confuses him is his lack of access to the kitchen and to these cool little creatures in there. Sometimes we’ll find him at the kitchen gate mewling and keening at the puppies. Sunny ignores him but the puppies find him fascinating and cock their little heads and look at him as if to say “who ARE you, massive furry giant?!?” Mimir’s routine has not changed. She sleeps with Drue every night, per usual, eats and uses her litter box as she likes, and sleeps at my feet all morning in the sun spot only to move to my window at 1:45 and then to Drue’s bed at 3:30. She’s such a sun worshiper. If there is no sun that day, you can find her buried in Drue’s covers. At night after we eat, she comes out for a romp and some play and snuggle time before we have to head in to manage the puppies whereupon she snuggles in with Drue for a good night’s sleep. Man is her life tough or what? Meemsy has jumped into the kitchen a few times to check out the puppies. So far they’ve managed to bum rush her twice and if I could stop laughing long enough to hold the camera straight, I’d record it for you. It takes a few hours for her to puff down but in my opinion, it helps keep her young and feisty.

Panda in Decline

Our one sad note is Panda. She continues to decline dramatically. She refuses to eat puppy food, supplemental gel, or canned food. She won’t eat the puppy mush or take Esbilac. She wants all her nutrition from nursing. In a vain attempt to help her, we put her in the crate with Sunny and she spent the day nursing or cuddling against Sunny. Finally around 6:30, Sunny got tired of having Panda all over her and growled at her which sent Panda into the corner for a few hours. We debated whether or not to leave Panda with Sunny all night, reached out to our friends who came to our aid in the last 48 hours and asked for advice. Resoundingly and across the board we were told to leave it alone. Anything extra we do is motivating Panda to not eat. We have to leave her alone, treat her the same as her litter mates and she will either start eating or decline rapidly. By Monday night she was not eating; however, she had nursed enough to find some pep and play with her litter maters. We’ll have to see what day 13 brings. We’ve decided if we have one more day of her not eating, we’re going to have to let her go. The thought of her being put to sleep is devastating but watching her suffer is worse. So far, she seems okay. She’s declining, yes; but, she’s not in pain. So we will see what today brings and hope and pray. And tomorrow… well tomorrow will come soon enough and Day 14 may bring about a devastating but necessary decision. Time will tell.

Facing a Hard Reality – Days 10 and 11 (Friday and Saturday)

// January 31st, 2011 // 1 Comment » // Featured Post

Friday night, we realized that Panda was not doing any of the things the other puppies were doing. In fact, three of them – Carter, Panda and Bella, were all scrawny and not pooping the way our big five were. The three of them had not yet transitioned over to puppy food, Sunny was no longer nursing willingly and these three were in questionable straights. After a night of listening to Sunny whine and demand to go out simply to get away from her brood, we were exhausted and overwhelmed. So we bundled up the three puppies to get them checked and weighed. Pandy and Carter had not put on any weight. Bella had lost 9 ounces which, at this age, is a lot. We were given different puppy food (hard and soft) and told to get something into these three puppies. If nothing came of this, we’d have to talk about force feeding and IVs. As for Sunny, we all determined that this was a dog who had no idea HOW to be a dog and therefore we’d have to make her be one. As a final blow, we found out the puppies had fleas. So after spending over $500 on that vet visit plus all the medication to rid our entire brood of pets – Mimir and Kodi included – of their fleas, we headed home, exhausted. The three puppies were so tired we let them sleep until the entire brood was up and active around 1:30. We fed Carter, Bella and Panda first giving them straight fat via a nutritional gel supplement. Carter and Panda both took the gel like champs. Bella refused the gel, refused to eat and refused to nurse after we followed the vet’s directions, put Sunny in her crate with the puppies and basically put the puppies on her until they latched. After that exhausting exercise, we fed the puppies their usual puppy mush and then dosed every furry creature in the house with Capstar to kill the fleas. After shoving 11 pills down 11 unhappy pets’ throats, I was pretty much done for. So, we wrote off the rest of the day, stayed in the house and tried to rest as best we could in between picking up puppy papers, and trying to train them to pee and poop in one area and sleep/play in another. We were not successful. Bella still was not eating when we went to bed at midnight. And we decided to wait another week before continuing the potty training as the pups were just not ready. Per some well-intentioned instructions, we left food out for the puppies and isolated Sunny in her crate. We are calling that our BIGGEST MISTAKE EVER.

Sunny howled for the food from 1:15 AM until 5:50 AM. Somehow, miraculously, Drue slept through the noise (somewhat). Jason also slept through the noise. I, however, did not, and I sat on my bed cursing at both Sunny and Jason alike. Granted I recognize this is not Jason’s fault but I was so miserably exhausted and so jealous that he could sleep that cursing him felt appropriate at the time. Sometime around 3:00 I let her out and took her outside to potty whereupon I saw the neighbors were up. This could NOT be good. It meant they could hear Sunny as well! How that played out is a post of its own. The end result had me emailing our rescue at 6 AM begging for advice and assistance. I also reached out to a friend who specialized in training rehabilitated dogs and his advice was simple: Sunny needs to learn how to be a dog. This requires an enormous commitment AND rehabilitation. After passing along all concerns to the rescue, we were told we have two options: we can step up and try to rehab her OR we have to put her down. I won’t lie: at 6 AM with zero sleep, removing Sunny in ANY WAY POSSIBLE seemed like the solution.

However, at 11:30 after 3 and a half hours of sleep and a shower, I wondered what, if anything, could be done to really SAVE this smart, boneheaded, but completely lovable non-dog. So I started emailing people. I emailed people who specialize in cattle dogs and people who rehab dogs for a living. I emailed people about how to get rid of fleas safely. I emailed people regarding when we could really separate this litter from their mom and ensure ongoing success with these puppies (5 and 1/2 weeks is okay and 8 weeks is preferable). We’re knocking on week five so we’re really looking at another 3 weeks and change to go before the puppies are in great shape and can go to their forever homes. Jays and Drue got four hour naps in and I spent the time texting six different people who know quite a bit about cattle dogs gone wild. We were given two sound pieces of advice:

1. Make Sunny be a dog. Take her on walks, put her puppies on her to nurse, respect her wishes for alone time every OTHER time she asks, ignore her noise at night after telling her “bedtime, no noise” and see if that works. Feed her separately from her puppies. Feed her puppies prior to letting her out to nurse them. Do not leave the puppy food down at night; the puppies should eat enough during the day to be okay at night (and therefore sleep). Try her one night out of the crate with no food down. If that does not work, put her in the crate for the next night. Show her what a dog is and what good things come from being a dog (not a food stealing, counter walking, howling, growling impossible beast) and praise every little thing she does right. Set boundaries for even little offenses we’d ignore if coming from Kodi Bear and most of all, love on her constantly. Force her to acknowledge our place as leader of her and that she is part of OUR pack. And insist that the vet give her vaccinations on the 14th and work towards a full weaning by that Monday (pups will be seven weeks then).

2. Accept that all the puppies might not make it. It seems cattle dogs usually have 5-6 pups per litter. They are not equipped to really care for more and that if we require her to care for all of them (which we’ve been doing per advice from our dog board) she will stop caring for all of them. Let the three do what they will and let them either fight for their order in the pack or let them go. This is hard for us. We want all of them to live. But we also have to respect what Sunny can and cannot do. The amazing news is that by Sunday’s 2 PM feeding, Bella and Carter were out of the woods. Both were eating the puppy mush and Carter was sucking down the supplemental gel. Both were nursing well and by Sunday night, both had the beginnings of round puppy bellies. Panda, on the other hand, was and is heading downhill fast. After doing well on the supplemental gel, she started refusing it. Too weak to battle for a place to nurse, she stopped nursing and she refused hard food, soft food, mush and canned food. In desperation, yesterday, I force fed her a mixture of canned food and water strained down to liquid via a syringe. She fought me every step. Finally, I decided to give her 24 hours. If we don’t get a miracle from Panda like we did with Carter and Bella, we’ll have to take her to the vet and have her put down. I cannot bear to watch our Panda Bear suffer.

I wish I could say that with all the advice and support, last night went amazingly well. As with everything in life, we had our successes and our try-try-agains. The success was that Sunny went on THREE WALKS and on the second one, we introduced her and Kodi outside the house. Kodi approached her tail wagging and Sunny crouched but gave him a passing sniff. We’ll take that as a win. Sunny seems to enjoy her walks; rather, she’s enjoying being outside the house once she gets over her initial “HOLY CRAP! I’M OUT OF MY YARD!” moment. However, she does not sniff anything, cars terrify her and people confuse her. But she has gone around up and down our street a few times and even made it around the block twice. At this point, we’ll take that and call it progress.

Last night we left Sunny out with the puppies and pulled up all the food. They only nursed once which tells me they don’t need food from her at night. They also did not let her sleep and she was so desperate to get away from them, she scratched at the gate and howled a little at 12:15, 2:30, 3:45, 4:45 and 6 AM respectively. Each time I simply said “no no Sunny, bedtime” and she’d stop howling. Each time she’d stop howling, she got a treat. Small wins, right? The scratching continued which meant I got little to no sleep again. So tonight we’ll put Sunny in her crate from 11:30 to 6 and leave the puppies out with some water, their toys and pads and see if this is the magic solution. So last night was not the total success we were driving for but we got a few. Carter and Bella as of Sunday night have tiny but plump bellies. Panda is on a decline and if we don’t see something amazing happen Monday, we will put her down Tuesday to save her the pain of starving to death.

After contemplating putting Sunny down, we’ve decided as a family we want to work to prevent that from happening. With some help of new friends who breed and raise and rehab cattle dogs and a lot of luck, we’ll make it and Sunny will be the amazing dog she has the potential to be. Wish us luck!

Exhaustion Sets in – Day 9 (Thursday)

// January 28th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Sleeping Beauties

Today’s post will be brief as I have a million things to do, half of them work related, and a finite amount of time and energy with which to get them done. The simple, honest truth is that I have not felt this tired, or been this sleep-deprived since Drue was an infant. As I am the only one who actually hears Sunny asking to be let out at night – and given the amount of intestinal parasites she needs to get out of her, this is almost a constant nightly occurrence – I am up every single night. This is incredibly disruptive to my sleep pattern and given I am only averaging 5-6 hours per night, I’m trying to figure out how I’ll make it over the next four weeks. Hopefully I’ll be able to adapt, just as I did with Drue. However, the hardest part is that you don’t get the whole 6 weeks to 3 months off/sleep with the babies business with puppies. So I’m up all day meeting client needs and employee needs and Drue’s needs and whatever else pops up along the way. And just when I think “what in the WORLD was I thinking of doing this insane thing and bringing nine dogs into my house, eight of which require ongoing and constant care!”, they get all cute and snuggly or cute and sleepy or cute and start playing and all I can think is that it’s worth it. I’ve also decided that, no matter how awesome and cute and wonderful the puppies are, we are not keeping any of them. Yes, I love them. Yes, they are adorable. And yes, we’re keeping Sunny if she and Bear can bond. But puppies are a HUGE commitment and while I was resolved to give up my social life, work trips, conferences, and the ability to go somewhere for more than an hour or two for six weeks, making that commitment for the next 4-6 months does not fit into my work/life balance. It’s not practical. We’re simply too busy and I’m trying to incorporate, build a marketing plan, wrangle an exhausting client AND meet Drue’s needs, have a social life, and hit the gym at least twice a week. So as sad as it will be, and as much as they have “picked” us (Rascal and Panda), we’re going to find them an amazing forever home and hope it is the same home for both of them and then love them from afar.

Now, to explain all of this to Drue…