lifeinflux

Puppies Update Day 46 and Preparing to Say Goodbye

// March 6th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

The G-8 at 10 weeks

Wow has time flown by!! The last 16 days have been crazy, to say the least. We found a new vet, the puppies tested positive for giardia, and we’ve spent the last two weeks perfecting two weeks and two days perfecting our puppy dosage via syringe technique. Luckily, these are smart puppies and they quickly realized I was going to give them their medications, with or without their cooperation. So now they all sit -or cuddle depending on their personality – and open their little mouths and take their medication like good boys and girls. In the last two weeks all the puppies have redoubled their weights. At 3 weeks they were all around the 4, 5 and 6 pound mark. At 6 weeks, everyone had doubled that weight except Carter, Panda and Bella. And at 10 weeks, everyone has doubled their six week weight which is an amazing feeling. So we are sending healthy, happy, beautiful dogs out into the world over the next few weeks. Yes, it’s true! A number of the puppies have been adopted by wonderful families into their forever homes! Panda, Bella and Butch go home tomorrow to wonderful families. If this afternoon goes well, Carter may join them. Smokey, who is now named Decoy, goes home to his new family (and his fantastic big sister, a gorgeous lab girl who will make him mind his Ps and Qs!) on March 22nd. I won’t deny it – we’re kind of stoked to have our other favorite boy around for a little while longer. Duncan has had no takers, a real shame, because he is a fantastic boy. Which is why he gets our first puppy update for day 46.

Duncan at 10 weeks (and loving the cat toys)

Duncan: Still Available!!!
Of all our puppies, when Duncan gets it, he GETS IT. And we’ve been pleased to see his progress and growth over the last few weeks. I think my post about him scared off prospectives but honestly we should have a line out the fence door filled with people hoping to adopt this dog!! Duncan comes to us when called and trust me, this is rare since they know when I call they are either getting their meds (Yuck!) or have to come in from the yard (No fun!). Duncan is one of the few who will zero in on that back door and make sure to hold it until he gets outside. As difficult as he was to training pad train, he’s going to be a BREEZE to potty train. In one-on-one play, he is incredibly gentle. He prefers the cat toys right now (but then, they ALL do!!) and loves to chase her feather pull, chew on his rope and get his keys if you dangle them for him. He’s got “no jump” down as a command and will often wait patiently for you to come to him rather than jump all over you (I’m looking at you, Marzi). He’s stubborn, smart, loyal and sweet, everything you could ask for in a dog. He loves to herd his pack but with bi- or tri-weekly trips to the dog park (which a good dog owner should do anyway, IMHO) he will get that need to herd out of him. He has stopped herding the puppies in the house and has not tried to herd the human part of the family, both of which were concerns. Duncan is gorgeous with his gorgeous triangular head, his shiny, black coat and his amazing temperament and personality. I hope someone snatches him up and loves him forever! Because he deserves that and is going to make someone the best forever dog in the world.

Carter hits a high note!

MJ (the puppy formerly known as Carter): ADOPTED!
Did you know that Carter sings? Well let me tell you, we didn’t either. Holy cow can this dog sing when he’s happy, sing when he’s unhappy… that said, he has learned “hush” and he will stop singing if you ask him to do so. That said, we rarely ask him because, frankly, it is SO DARN CUTE! Carter has always, and continues, to have the biggest personality of the bunch and is a total ham. He rushes up to me for a close-up every time he sees the camera out. And if you want to get him to take a bath, sing “Spa day, spa day! Carter gets a spa day!” over and over in a silly, “singy” voice. Carter will sing right along with you and happily accept his rinse, lather, repeat, massage with a towel routine. Carter loves to take his chew rope and sit at my feet. And if I forget to talk to him after a little while, he’ll “arrroowww” at me quietly to remind me he is right here and wouldn’t mind a pet now and then. With his super star quality and ham-like personality, he’s going to keep someone or a family very entertained. He’s going through toys quickly now so we’re changing them out every few days to keep him happy, challenged and mentally engaged. He figured out how to open the kitchen cabinets but did not have the reach to get to the knob so he taught Marzi how to open them next. Mission accomplished, right? Puppy proofing, while a good idea with ALL puppies, is a great idea but with Carter it is a MUST! That said, he is SUPER smart… and with the right toys and training he’ll understand his boundaries and stay out of trouble. We had a discussion about the kitchen cabinets with Carter (no OPEN, Carter, and we closed the door) and he got it right away. We then brought in new squeaky toys and Carter has not only left the cabinets alone but has not trained any of the others to open them for him. So while he can be the mastermind behind puppy chaos and destruction, he really just wants to be mentally engaged, loved and paid attention to, something all intelligent puppies want and need. The difference is Carter will go seeking mental challenge if you don’t provide it. Which, when you think about it, is incredibly super cool. 3/7/2011: MJ, aka the puppy formerly known as Carter, picked his forever family yesterday (and they picked him, too!)!! We are SO excited for this amazing little boy and know he is going to an amazing couple who will love and adore him and appreciate all his wonderful traits and quirks. We are so happy that it worked out so well for our adorable little Hollywood!

I've got me a scratch, right here! - Decoy

Decoy, or the puppy formerly known as Smokey – ADOPTED
Decoy aka the puppy formerly known as Smokey has blossomed into a wonderful pack leader. He went from being slightly unfair – let’s pick on Panda! – to a fair puppy who stops the puppy insanity when it goes too far. He’s also a tattletale, which cracks me up, because 9 times out of 10, he’s right there in the trouble with all of them until he gets tired, and then walks over to the kitchen gate and “ArooooooRoooRoo”s to let me know that the pack is misbehaving! He’s still a mellow boy and he loves his cuddles and is very much a people dog. Decoy has turned into one of the finest looking boys we have in our litter. With his “smokey” eyelids – which makes him look like he has on silver colored eyeshadow on his lids – his lab face and long, lean body, he’s going to be an amazing looking dog with the personality to match. We are so excited for him – his new forever family include new parents who will love him and a big sister, a gorgeous, well-behaved, obviously very loved lab girl – who will play with him, teach him the boundaries and family rules and be his constant companion. Selfishly, we are so excited about his new family’s vacation! This means Decoy gets to hang out with us two more weeks until March 22nd. We’ll give him a small crate in the kitchen to start loosening those bonds with Marzi and Rascal (in fact, Marzi and Rascal will start sleeping in their own crates on Sunday night as well!) and start potty training him with ours next week. I know this is anthropomorphizing Decoy to an extreme but he’s just a good ole country boy dog. I can see him bounding through the fields (or back yard), curious about everything, not afraid to get muddy and just being happy to be alive, outside and with nature. We’re so excited for Decoy and are so blessed to have him in our lives for the 46 days he was “ours”. We’ll enjoy him for the next two weeks and then send him home knowing he will spend the rest of his life being loved and cared for.

Panda doing what she does best!

Panda – ADOPTED
Panda formerly called Puffy who has now changed her superstar name to P.Snappy (hey if Sean Combs can do it, so can Panda!) has turned into one of the funniest dogs I’ve seen. She’s also spent an inordinate amount of time the last few weeks eating, sleeping and GROWING! Although she still has her puffy baby coat, we are seeing signs she’s ready to blow coat and move into a sleek, young puppy coat any day now and we are so excited that she is reaching this big puppy milestone!! And heaven help the puppy who disturbs this little girl’s beauty rest! Panda loves to sleep right now and who can blame her – she doubled her body weight from week 6 to week 8 and AGAIN doubled it between weeks 8 and 10. While the others are scaling back from four solid meals to three good meals and one snack, Panda still needs that late night boost to get her to morning. And we’re happy to provide it to her. Her favorite place to sleep is on my lap or Jays and we know that she will be the perfect lap and play puppy for a certain lovely family who has adopted her. As mellow and sweet as Panda is with us, she gets pretty irritated with her litter. They are all so much longer than she is in the legs which makes it hard for her to keep up in puppy wrestling or play. But she’s a fighter, our Panda and will chase after them, or find an area to wait and launch a sneak attack at their hind legs when they least expect her. Her one-on-one play is hysterically funny; she will bring you toy after toy as if to say “this one! no, wait, this one! ooh no THIS ONE!” until you finally pick one and start the fun. Panda goes home tomorrow to her wonderful new family who will spoil her and love her and treat her as the little princess she is. And all of this wonderful starts for Panda bright and early tomorrow morning!! We are so happy for her and can’t wait to see how she continues to grow!

Butch hides a toy in his paws... "Mine!"

Butch – ADOPTED!
Butch has had a time of it for sure. Last week, we thought we had the perfect parents for him only to have Butch returned to us seven hours later with a litany of bad excuses for why they wouldn’t be his forever family that can be summed up in a few words: Some people should stick with cats. Butch has always been the sweetest of our litter and he continues to display that gentle kindness in spite of a bad Saturday last week. Butch is one of our most striking dogs – with his cinnamon brown coloring and gorgeous white markings, he’s a standout both in looks and in personality. As he matures, he’s stopped sharing his toys as readily and gets into tussles with his mates a little more than he did a few weeks ago but this is a normal process of maturity and one that would have concerned us had he skipped it. He scored incredibly good results in his 8 and 10 week appointments, has doubled his weight like the others and is going to be one of our tall puppies for sure. He loves being around other dogs and people and loves to be held and cuddled. He gives great kisses and neck nuzzles and his bite inhibition is right on point. This means that, while he will bite at the other puppies in play, he no longer nibbles on us, something the others have also stopped doing for the most point. But Butch, that smart, sweet boy, has stopped entirely, which is nice. Just as everything happens for a reason, we know now that Butch came back to us last week to get placed with his REAL forever family, a lovely couple who have two kids at home who are going to play with Butch and love him as he should be loved… for himself. We’re not sure what those other people are looking for, what void they hoped Butch would fill and didn’t but we are so glad they brought him back. Because Butch is now placed with the people he was meant to be with and we’re so happy about that. Butch goes to his forever home tomorrow and this time, we have no concerns, trepidation or worries around it. And that peace of mind is priceless.

Coy Bella plays peek-a-boo

Bella – ADOPTED!!
Bella continues to blossom and bloom as our little princess of the group. She has doubled her weight and now looks like Decoy (Smokey)’s little sister. She has the same silky ears, round lab features and silvery, smokey eyelids that Decoy has in a more petite, lady-like body. We can tell she’s in a growth cycle; she’s eating, sleeping and playing and then passing out for hours at a time. Bella loves to be outside as much as her siblings but can often be found curled up in a sunny spot, enjoying the day after a half hour’s romp with her more wild and crazy siblings. Bella is never ready to go inside when time’s up and often uses her quiet nature to her advantage. She figured out early on that the puppies who run catch my attention first and often I do a quick head count and have to head back out to get Bella, snoozing away in the warmth of the day. And Bella being Bella, she is always happy to see me but sad to have to come back inside. However, being the princess that she is, the only sound of protest is a heavy sigh. While Bella looks more and more like Decoy (Smokey), she has really bonded with her sister, Marzi, and loves to play with her and roll and tussle with her. Bella used to avoid Marzi, the more adventurous and wild of the two. But now they happily share a rope, steal the keys from each other and have a good time grabbing the cat toys and playing together. I know Marzi and Bella will miss each other for a bit but both will be so happy in their forever homes. It will be great if we can see Bella when she’s a little older and see if she and Marzi still have that bond!!! Bella is going to a home with three lovely kids and she will be loved on and adored by the entire wonderful family! While the kids are all in school, Bella will do what she does best – sleep and snuggle and get energized for hours of fun when school is out in the afternoons. What a lucky girl that Bella is! It will be interesting to see if she keeps that girly girl personality as she grows up and matures into a striking, beautiful dog. And with three kids reminding her of “no nips!” we bet Bella will lose the last of her puppy nipping in no time. Bella has already figured out that outside is a place to potty and so potty training her should be no trouble at all. We’re going to miss that little princess but we know she’s going to a great home tomorrow and are looking forward to her beginning her new life with her new family.

Hello world! I'm Marzi!

Marzi – ADOPTED INTO THE GLOEGE FAMILY!
Speaking of Marzi, she has been adopted into the Gloege family and boy, does she know she’s our girl. We’re trying REALLY hard to not spend more time and attention on the two we’ve adopted into our lives and our forever home. And I think we’ve done a good job of loving and taking care of all eight puppies fairly. That said, part of our excitement at our other six going to their forever homes is that it frees up time and attention to spend on our own two. Marzi is the tallest of the puppies and boy can she run! I mean she LOVES to run and does it with grace and easy (most of the time). We won’t discuss the number of face plants she suffers throwing her long, lean body off of the planters outside. Marzi and Bear love to play with each other and he will chase her for awhile and then let her chase him. It’s wonderful to see and Bear is very protective of HIS little girl. If she jumps off something too high and lands too hard, he is right there snuffling at her to make sure she is okay. We’re not sure how he’s going to handle it when she can outrun him. Luckily we have some time before that happens. Marzi is a joy and loves to curl up next to me and put her head in my lap. She’s not a big cuddle bug. She’ll let me pick her up and cuddle her and put her on my lap but she really wants to be next to me. So long as she is touching me and getting the occasional pet, she’s happy. And this is a good thing because Bear and Rascal are both Mama’s boys and demand to be physically on my lap a few times every day. Marzi has started separating herself from the group and will often call to me with a plaintive whine if I don’t sneak her an extra scratch behind the ears before bedtime. Marzi doesn’t have to be first for the petting and love but she wants to darn well make sure she gets the last moment of my attention and will stay awake long after her brother, Rascal, has passed out in a puppy heap on my lap or on my other side to get that stolen moment. Marzi enjoys stuffies and ropes but her big thing right now are chasing the cat toys and running, running, running! It will be interesting to see how her interests evolve once it is just the five bears, Drue, Jays and me in the house.

I am the cutest thing EVER! Mommy says so!

Rascal – ADOPTED INTO THE GLOEGE FAMILY!
I was a little worried about how Kodi Bear would feel about Rascal. Kodi Bear stole my heart in 2009 and has had to share it with Pooh (Meemsy) and Drue for 2 years. That said, he was the only DOG who had my heart and he was okay with that division of love. It took a few weeks for us to decide Marzi was the other puppy we were keeping but I knew Rascal was my baby from day ONE. And since I already have a 4 year old, 87 lb baby Bear, I was not sure how he would take his new little boy sibling. Luckily there is nothing but love thanks to a great book about introducing, raising and cultivating proper relationships between two male dogs. And while it is hard not to rush to Rascal first, Kodi adores and snuffles and enjoys Rascal immensely because we work hard every moment of every single day to ensure Kodi knows he’s FIRST in our hearts. I won’t lie… Rascal’s impending adolescence has my heart thumping every time I think about it. I mean right now he’s 18 lbs of cute, cuddly Rascal. But we didn’t name him Grizzly Bear for nothing and if paw size and leg size is any indication, our Grizzly may be the same size as Kodiak or bigger!! This is where the hours of training, obedience classes, classes with Kodi and working with the puppies to ensure they accept Kodi as their alpha RIGHT NOW when they are little will pay off in the long run. We’re pretty lucky with Rascal. He’s pretty zen when it comes to this whole “I’m alpha and in charge business”. To be perfectly honest, Rascal is kind of a… well… a whiny mommy’s boy to put it plainly. And I confess… I like it. Kodi LOVES me. I know this. But 2 years on his own, plus the near death experience of heartworm treatment means he loves me in a needy, “don’t LEAVE ME” way. Rascal’s is a little healthy whiny mommy’s boy, something I better enjoy now because in no time he will outgrow it. And that’s okay… because it is hard enough having one needy Bear. I really don’t need or want two. That said, I will definitely enjoy the cuddling, wiggling, fussy, whiny mess that is Rascal. Because just like kids, these angels are only going to be puppies once. And then I’ll blink and they’ll be all grown up.

Butch and Duncan

Panda and Carter

Rascal and Marzi

Decoy (Smokey) and Panda

Marzi and Bella

Tomorrow will be a difficult and wonderful day as we say goodbye to Panda and Bella and watch them go home. Butch may be going home tomorrow too! But we will always have this wonderful time with them, our G-8 and look forward to more adventures with Carter, Duncan, Decoy (Smokey) and our two babies as we wait for Carter and Duncan to be placed in their forever homes and enjoy Decoy (Smokey) for the next few weeks until his pick-up date is here. We are blessed.

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.

Moving forward without Mom – Days 24 – 29 (Friday through Wednesday)

// February 16th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Coming home without Sunny was pretty difficult, for us and for the puppies. For the first two days after she was put to sleep, the puppies looked for her and we often found them crying at the door to the garage. The last few days I’ve been living in the kitchen with them for the most part. Realizing that we are now THE primary care givers – something we’ve been all along but Sunny’s nursing and constant vigilance was something we’ve come to rely on – we realized we had a monumental effort in front of us. It’s up to this family to teach these eight babies how to be proper, well mannered little dogs. The first lesson was teaching them all eight of them a new command, “leave it”. They all recognize “No!” and sometimes it works with them and sometimes they need redirection. But “leave it” was a crucial command as Sunny had taught all eight puppies to eat their own and each others poop and the increase of diarrhea and worms in the puppies’ stools had us concerned. Friday, Saturday and Sunday we worked with them to understand that puppies do not eat their poop or roll in it or, in the case of Marzi, slam each other’s heads into it. By Saturday midday, our big three had their “ah ha” moments and the rest followed suit with the exception of Duncan and not only pooped consistently on the papers but stopped playing around with it and eating it for the most part.

A huge win for us occurred on Friday. Panda, whom we’ve been concerned with for the past 2 weeks, finally started to EAT! Thursday she half-heartedly poked around the food while keening at the back door for her mom. Panda’s been living off Sunny’s milk for the last few weeks and refusing to eat puppy food. I honestly expected we would lose her and stopped plying her with food all the time, figuring I had to let nature run its course. Well boy, did nature run and Panda ran with it straight to the food bowl. And once she started eating, she did not stop!!! Panda ate four meals a day and begged two solitary meals and we gave it to her. She ate smaller portions than her bigger siblings at each meal but made up for it with more meals per day. We added the calorie-rich nutrigel to her solitary meals as well to get some pure fat into her diet and by Monday she had a little round belly and was starting to become fluffy like a healthy puppy should! Once she started eating, she was slowly welcomed back into the pack. I’m not sure what motivated Smokey, our alpha male, to attack her and drive her away from the others last week but this week, Panda was welcomed back. We continued to – and still continue to – watch her when the entire group is playing as she is half the size of the others; however, by Tuesday she was back in the fray, nipping and biting and playing with the others and being counted as one of the pack. To say that we are relieved is putting it mildly. I’m not sure we could handle the loss of Panda, especially so soon after losing Sunny.

On Monday, we took all eight puppies to our new vet practice. We had such drama with our last practice over the last few weeks, that we were a little scared and nervous going in. The constant message from our old vet was that we were ignorant idiots who took in these dogs when we had NO business doing so. So we were holding our breathe as our new vet looked over each pup, weighing them, checking them and making sure they were socialized properly. He was incredibly kind to each puppy, talking to him or her, getting to know them, asking us questions and after a few moments, we started to feel incredibly at ease. At the end of the exam, he told us “good job!!” and I almost cried in relief. Sure, we may not know exactly what we’re doing but we read, we research, we ask questions and we’re loving these babies and giving them the best start we can and our new vet seemed to recognize that and spent some time with us giving us great advice and some information on how to manage the next steps with our eight angels. It was such a different and warm experience and we left feeling more confident than we had in weeks that we were on the right path and that we were doing the right thing for the puppies more often than not. We really liked the vet techs we met and the receptionist was incredibly nice and helpful and worked with me to come up with a plan for bringing in Bear and Meemsy for their well-Bear checkups. So we were incredibly happy with our experience and are so glad we made the switch! The puppies all got their first vaccinations and were total champs about it and promptly passed out when we got them home. They ate well for both night feedings (one at 5, the other at 11) and no one was lethargic, vomiting or running a temperature, normal concerns for puppies after their first shots.

Tuesday dawned clean and clear and I had the pleasure of meeting and speaking to the other vet at our new practice. She gently let me know that the puppies had tested positive for giardia and they would need to be medicated for three days this week and again for three days in two weeks. This is a bummer for a number of reasons. First, giardia is highly contagious so having kids around the puppies is not a good idea. Second, we had hoped to start taking the puppies outside into the yard. They need a bigger, better place to play than the kitchen. However, because giardia is so highly contagious we cannot risk exposing our big Bear. Finally, we had hoped to start the adoption process for the six puppies we are going to adopt into their forever families. Also, I won’t lie – I was really, really looking forward to reclaiming my kitchen. That said, we don’t want to send them off with giardia and we do want to ensure they get proper follow-up care. So all eight are with us another two weeks. And we’ll enjoy them and continue working with them on their puppy manners and loving on them and getting them through this. I went online after talking with the vet and read up on how to keep the puppies from reinfecting themselves. The vet gave us some good ideas on how to manage the space they are living in and I immediately dove in to the cleaning job ahead of me. The puppies went into clean rubbermaids and I scrubbed the kitchen from top to bottom. I immediately set up a potty area once the floor was dry and marked it off using their old puppy pen. I then trained the puppies to go into the pen, do their business and leave. I was on perma-loop saying “leave it” constantly. Once all the puppies had used the penned off area once and gotten their rubs and praise, I designated a clean zone in the kitchen, rescrubbed the floor and started the process of bathing each puppy. Clean, dried puppies were put in the clean zone and dirty puppies went into the bathroom for their baths. Everyone did really well with their baths and in less than an hour, everyone was under clean blankets, drying fully and sleeping.

At the 5 PM feeding each puppy was dosed with their meds. Our fantastic vet (both are fantastic in our new practice) had designated syringes by dose and by puppy in separate bags making it ridiculously easy for me to dose each one properly. Everyone kept their meds down and after 2 hours of figuring out how to safely enlarge the poop area for the night, the family crashed after midnight, exhausted and elated that everyone is doing so well and that we’re well on our way to getting them healthy and ready to go to their forever homes. As awful as last week was, what with losing Sunny and the issue with our old vet, this week is a LOT better. We found a new, better vet whom we really like, the puppies are unlearning their destructive behaviors taught to them by Sunny and we can see the light at the end of the tunnel. In a few short days the puppies have evolved from eating their poop and pooping where they like to hitting their second milestone towards proper house training! Hopefully this means they will be easy to potty train once they go to their forever homes. Everyone is at a proper weight and eating well and we’re loving them all very much. It will be sad to see them go but we’re looking forward to the next big step in their lives and in ours. We’re going to be VERY picky about who gets a puppy as we’re completely in love with these dogs and want to make sure they will get the care, love and training needed from their new families to help them grow into healthy, loved big dogs.

The next few days, I’ll be featuring each puppy starting with our miracle puppy, Panda! Stay tuned!

Insanity, escalation, a painful choice and sorrow – Days 13-23 (Monday, Jan 31st through Thurs, Feb 10th)

// February 11th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

In the 23 days we had Sunny in our home, I only took a few pictures of her. There are a lot of reasons for this. The puppies were growing so fast and I wanted to capture their growth and personalities as they evolved. We needed pictures of the puppies for their adoption pages. The puppies were fun subjects, always moving and so cute. But the real reason I only took a few pictures of Sunny was because I assumed that there would be time to take pictures of Sunny. Our intent was always to adopt Sunny, rehabilitate her and make her part of our family. Therefore, taking pictures of the one dog we knew we would keep seemed a secondary priority and something I could get around to some day. I was wrong.   And now I sit here, a day after Sunny was put to sleep and I’m kicking myself for not capturing the time Sunny was here with us.  Because now she’s gone and, as with so many things you put off for “some day”, her some day will never come.   13 days ago, on some excellent advice from trainers, rehabilitation experts and cattle dog breeders, we decided to start integrating Sunny into our family.    What happened over the last ten days led us to one of the hardest, most painful decisions we, as a family, has had to make.   The worst part of that decision was that we did not receive support from a few key individuals from whom we expected help and support and it threw us for a loop.   On the other hand, the outpouring of support from our rescue, our friends and family and the local humane society helped make this process one we can walk away from, knowing we did everything in our power to try to save this lovely dog, our Sun Bear.  I don’t really feel a need to describe everything that happened over the last ten days.   I think it portrays Sunny in an inaccurate and bad light.  And the thing to remember is that she was not bad. She was impacted by a horrible life and, as a dog, unable to communicate her wants, needs and issues with us the way a human who had survived this kind of nightmare situation could. While our other pets were rescues and had horrors in their background (Mimir came to us pretty feral and Kodi Bear was a hot, non-socialized mess), both pets picked US as a family and wanted to be here. The commonality between Meemsy and Bear were that they wanted to be a part of a family and somehow, in my relentless pursuit to “save” Sunny, I forgot that was the key point in our success with the two of them.

We don’t know much about Sunny’s background.  What we do know is that she was found in a horrible situation, pregnant and alone.  She was malnourished, filled with parasites and terrified of everything.   While this might make some dogs aggressive and mean, Sunny was gentle and non-aggressive.    She gave birth to her puppies in a kill shelter somewhere in Southern California.   She and the puppies were labeled as part pit bull, a death sentence in most states including California.  And that’s where we and our rescue came into the picture.     We brought Sunny up here and started dealing with some of the issues a dog like this brings with them, one challenge at a time.   For the first two weeks, her entire life was about caring for her puppies and she did a great job.   The puppies made it to 5 and 1/2 weeks and Sunny happily let us take over some of the responsibilities while she tried to heal.  The problems began when the puppies stopped being an ongoing distraction.    We went from starting to trust Sunny to realizing that we could not trust her to act like a dog, much less some semblance of a normal dog.   Sunny hated being confined…  in the crate, in the kitchen, in the house.  She wanted O-U-T and would do anything including bending crate bars, tearing through anchored kitchen gates and throwing herself at closed and locked doors to meet that goal. She started to refuse to use the bathroom in the yard unless she absolutely had to go. And to illustrate her displeasure at being confined in the house with us, she started a pattern of escalation that started with her climbing onto our kitchen counters and pushing everything off of them to pooping on said counters to pooping in every room of the house the day she broke through two kitchen gates.

A few people, including our former vet, have accused me of putting our home and furnishing ahead of Sunny’s care and well being. And yes, the final straw was coming home and finding Sunny poop in every room of the house. But it had nothing to do with our stuff being damaged or ruined. To be perfectly frank, I can and am going out this weekend and replacing every single item because I can afford to do that. This is not, and has never been about STUFF. And to any of you who said that, suggested or inferred it or are thinking it, you obviously do not know me at all. The final straw was finding Mimir, stressed out and vomiting because Sunny and the puppies rushed at her and scared her. The final straw was finding parasite-filled poop in every room of the house which compromises my, Jays’, Drue’s, Bear’s and Mimir’s health, not to mention reinfecting our puppies who have finally responded to the deworming medicine and are almost ready for their final worming and first vaccinations. The final straw was realizing that our house, which is NOT puppy proofed since they are living in our kitchen, could have hurt those puppies had I not brought Drue straight home from cello to check on things before running our errands. The final straw was realizing we were missing a puppy and had no idea if he was hurt, or dead and looking for him for hours until we finally found him tucked into my closet. After starting the poop cleaning process, I sat down and called a number of people including two rehabilitation facilities, our friend who breeds cattle dogs like Sunny and our rescue contact. And all of them said the same thing – we could live with ongoing escalations from Sunny until she hurt herself, one of us, one of our other pets or one of her puppies or we could accept the inevitable and put her our of her misery. I argued, I Googled, and, finally, called our cattle dog breeder pal and asked if she would take Sunny. After explaining why she couldn’t – specifically because her puppies might pick up Sunny’s behaviors, I realized that OUR puppies were picking up her behaviors and called our rescue contact back. We agreed that if we continued down this path, the puppies might not be candidates for adoption. So all this hard work and effort would be for nothing and instead of putting down one dog, I’d be forced to consider losing the entire litter. After a few tears, I decided if we were going to do this, it needed to be in a safe, familiar place. So I called our vet and unfortunately, got the one vet we absolutely do NOT like. First the vet refused to come to the phone even though we were obviously in an emergency situation. After begging the vet tech to talk to the vet and explain what was going on, the vet tech put me on speaker and called out to the vet as she was walking by that we needed some advice on this situation. The vet stated she was not going to speak to me, and that she was NOT going to put down a healthy dog because an irresponsible pet owner put her things ahead of her own dog’s well being. I lost my temper then… and anyone who has spent any time around me knows that when I lose my temper, it’s on. The vet tech was incredibly apologetic with me and after realizing that we needed help, referred us to the humane society. After the phone call, I went back into the kitchen and saw the puppies playing with a spray bottle that used to contain a mixture of water and Nature’s Orange cleaning chemicals. I immediately retrieved the bottles and tried to find the spill but it was gone. Realizing that Sunny and/or the puppies drank the mixture, I rushed back to the phone, called the vet, explained the new situation to the vet tech and asked to speak to the vet. She rushed to get the vet who came to the phone and proceeded to rip me and “all the selfish, rich people in this area who treat animals as disposable items” a new one. I finally interrupted her tirade, told her to HELP ME with this situation and when she, who was yelling herself, told me not to address her in that tone, I lost it. And I was right to do so. She did not want to help us; she does not care about the fact that the puppies might have injested chemicals. She was pissed at being interrupted at the end of her day and wanted me to go away. It was easier for her to write me off as a bad pet owner than to find out what our situation was and handle it. I am SO glad we had this conversation over the phone because, while I am not a violent person, I would have slapped her bloody and senseless had she been within reach.

I hung up on her after telling her to have our records ready for us to transfer to another vet, called animal poison control, fed the puppies milk, and we watched them closely for 24 hours. And all is well. While I was on the phone, Jason was scrubbing down every inch of the kitchen to ensure they did not get into anything else. Thanks to the vet tech we found out we could take Sunny to the humane society for evaluation. We did not have the paperwork to have her put to sleep at the time which was good; it was a HUGE decision and one I was struggling with. So a night’s sleep (or lack thereof as I tried to find a solution that would not cost us this dog) later, we had the papers we needed and took Sunny over to the humane society to have her put down. Once we got there, I confess… I balked. The lovely person who did our intake asked me a series of questions including:
1. Does this dog come to you willingly? No
2. Does this dog ever show excitement for anything? No. Toys? No. Treats? No. Her own puppies? No.
3. Does this dog ever wag her tail? No.
4. Is this dog comfortable anywhere? No.
5. Are you afraid or uncomfortable with this dog?

I immediately answered “No” for question 5 but when Jays answered “Yes” it made me think. Every plan we had with Sunny would require some form of confinement for months on end to ensure Mimir’s and Kodi’s safety. We never allowed Drue to go near Sunny or the pups without us between Sunny and Drue. Every time Sunny growled at the pups we ran into the room to ensure all was well. I wouldn’t say we were afraid of Sunny but we certainly weren’t comfortable with her nor did we trust her. This means that it might be weeks… months… maybe even YEARS before Sunny could or would be an active, viable, trusted member of this family. The humane society asked what impact this would have on our lives. Would we ever be comfortable NOT having someone in the house with Sunny? How would we do giving up weekends camping, roaming around the Bay Area? What was the impact already on Bear and Mimir? Where the puppies picking up on her behaviors? What did I think we would do if no one adopted puppies with these habits and behaviors? We talked for over an hour, I went through half a box of Kleenex and at the end of it, we signed the papers. Through it all, Sunny laid down next to me and I pet her but there was the same reaction from her – nothing. I could have NOT pet her and she was okay with it. I walked her back to the room where they were going to put her down, handed her over and the vet techs hugged me and told me that we had done everything and more and that we were doing the right thing and to go home and concentrate on the 8 lives we were saving. I will never forget their incredible kindness which was so different from the vet’s self-righteous anger that we would dare disrupt and interrupt her at the end of her day with our “selfishness”.

Our immediate concern over the last 24 hours has been for the puppies. Last night, they all called for her and were sniffing at the doors to see if she was outside or in the garage. It was heartbreaking. So we crawled into the kitchen and snuggled for a bit and finally they drifted off to sleep. Today, no one has looked for her at all and everyone is eating, sleeping, and playing as normal. We’ve already started working with them on their biting, a job Sunny technically was supposed to do but had no idea how to do. We’re also working with them on some of their less appealing habits and behaviors as we work towards raising healthy, well behaved puppies. Sunny lives on in them, in Butch’s coloring and markings, Duncan’s growl, Bella’s and Shadow’s keening whine, in the way Duncan, Rascal and Smokey do their little head nod/tilt action and in Rascal’s and Panda’s markings. Without her mother to nurse on, Panda has started eating FULL MEALS which we are so grateful for. She is still skin and bones and about 2 weeks behind the others developmentally but she’ll get there. We found a new vet in 24 hours, found out we are not the first people to flee our old vet because of the bad behavior of this ONE vet and, while we’re sad that we are leaving behind a practice with two vets we love, are so grateful to never see that godawful bitch again (or have her touch our pets ever again) that we will happily make the switch.

I miss Sunny; but for the first time in 23 days, last night I slept. Jays slept. Drue slept. Bear and Meemsy… well they always sleep. And the puppies are fine. No one ever said doing the right thing would be easy. And we’ll always remember our Sun Bear and work to place her babies with good families and even keep one for ourselves. And that will be her gift, her legacy, to us and to others… these amazing bundles of fur and personality who will go out in the world and be good pets and family members and be loved and cared for the rest of their lives. Rest in peace, Sun Bear.

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…

Puppy Steps Forward – Days 7 and 8 (Tuesday and Wednesday)

// January 27th, 2011 // 3 Comments » // Featured Post

Drue holding Rascal with Smokey and Bella

Drue’s face says it all. We love, love, LOVE our puppies (and Sunny, too)!!! Tuesday dawned clear with perfect weather and Sunny took full advantage on her morning stroll around the front yard. Yes, that’s right. Our sweet girl has stopped rushing out, pottying and heading straight back in. She’s actually taking her time, smelling around the yard and using the bathroom out in the yard (as opposed to hiding behind bushes, scared). That was really our only big win on Tuesday as Sunny and the babies spent most of the day sleeping and recovering from Monday’s vet trip. Even when the puppies were up and playing, they were a little sluggish most of the day and Sunny took advantage of it to sleep most of the day away. We finally got them up around 2 and encouraged everyone to eat, Sunny included. However, only five of the puppies ate a good amount; the three smalls (Panda, Carter and Butch) nursed as opposed to eating the mushy puppy food. According to the research, this is perfectly normal so we’re not worrying for now. When Sunny had her evening meal, the puppies were up after sleeping all day and wired for sound. I had my hands full with end of day to-do’s and Jason was out running errands (and buying a new, even bigger and better steam cleaner for the floors – go OCD!) so Drue helped me out by going in the kitchen and playing with the puppies. At one point, when I glanced in, she had puppies pulling at her pants’ legs, puppies pulling on her shirt, puppies piling in her lap and everyone was yipping and barking. Oh yes, didn’t I mention that? The puppies have found their voices and each one has a distinctive bark, yip, whine or call. And boy do they love to use their voices! They even make little yips, groans and grunts in their sleep! If a few of them are “talking” I can tell who is who. When all eight get going, it’s just a whole lot of puppy noise but oh, it’s so cute! All of their “I’m hurt” squeals sound the same but as they get bigger – and rougher – Sunny steps in from time to time if the action moves from playing to all out brawl. Wednesday was a better day for the puppies in that all eight were active and playing during much of the day. They played so hard Wednesday as if to make up for Tuesday and all slept well. I’ve seen all eight kick, flex and yip in their sleep which is fantastic and shows neurological and muscular growth. Some move more than others. Rascal, Smokey, Butch, Carter and Bella are definitely the five who have grown the most physically and mentally. Duncan, Panda and Shadow still nurse and rely on Sunny or me to give them the stimulus the other puppies find from each other. Right now, my assumption is that they are just our late bloomers and if they don’t show marked improvement by our vet appointment on the 14th, we’ll discuss it then and figure out our next steps. Wednesday night, between running errands, taking Drue to volleyball AND then going to Drue’s Science Fair (well Jays and Drue did… I ran more errands), I left the dogs in the pen and did not unlatch the gate. Sunny figured out how to get out but boy did we have some angry puppies when we finally got home. On Wednesday, Jason took Sunny out twice while Bear was in the house. Bear is showing mild curiosity towards Sunny but the aggression has died off as best we can see. Still, we are both trying to reclaim some of our lives and got a little careless in doing so. We’ll have to watch that more closely in the future. However, so far, so good and we’re going to try adding in workouts a couple of days next week. We’ve also gone from takeout for two meals a day down to takeout for one meal a day. I’ve even been able to get in the kitchen and make Drue breakfast most mornings. So while our errors on Wednesday felt like a small step back for Jays and I, we recognize that we, like the puppies, are allowed those backward steps from time to time.

Panda tries to eat Carter's tail

Also, on Wednesday, after trying to impose a feeding schedule on the puppies, we realized that, right now, we just need to make sure that there is food available to Sunny and the puppies in order to give Sunny a break from nursing AND to ensure the puppies are getting their nutritional needs met. I’ve been charting their eating times, play times and sleeping times again now that all eight are eating the mushy puppy food and nursing occasionally. I still think we will settle on a 6:30 AM; 2:00 PM and 10:00 PM eating schedule once all eight puppies are eating more than they are nursing simply because it is an even feeding cycle AND it allows us to meet our work, school, activity and social obligations and needs. But until our three holdouts – Duncan, Panda and Shadow – transition over where they are eating as much as they are nursing, it is better to free feed to keep everyone growing and healthy. Sunny is regulating her own food intake which is very UN-lab of her. However, she has more of a cattle dog body and look/feel (except for her eyes and eyebrows – that is ALL lab). As the puppies nurse less, she eats less. Her water intake is high and the puppies are starting to drink water as well. Nature and nurture are both running their proper course and we are confident that all eight will be weaned by week eight with no problems. Sunny is no longer skin and bones, either. All the good food, occasional treats and TLC have finally started making a difference. You can no longer see her hip bones and she has a nice layer of padding over her ribs. I figure another five pounds and she’ll be perfect. Then we will start addressing the sad condition of her coat, although, that has made a bit of a comeback as well. The puppies are starting to play harder and faster now and have discovered each others paws, tails and personal bits. The occasional fight breaks out (I’m looking at you, Carter) as the puppies try to figure out who is dominant and they occasionally hurt each other. Sunny occasionally has to step in and is desperate for time away from them. Unfortunately, until her parasites clear up and she gets her shots, she cannot be out in the house or back yard. So we’ve started penning up the puppies for a little while each day to give Sunny a needed break. As she continues to show interest in the outside world – and continues to trust us – the plan is to encourage her to take small walks with us. So far, she has been resistant to leaving the front yard. We’re hoping with time – and as she continues to look for ways to get breaks from her eight babies – we’ll be able to convince her that fresh air and exercise are just what the doctor ordered!

Rascal noshing on puppy food mush

As the puppies start eating more solid food, and now that all eight have been dewormed, they are transitioning from soft mushy poops to small solid poops. It took until Wednesday night for all eight to reach that point but now that they are here, Sunny has stopped cleaning up after them. To start them on the right foot for house training – and to ensure they don’t soil their bedding – we’re taking up the training pads as soon as we see them soiled and replace them with clean pads. This ensures they don’t step in, play in or try to eat their poop and keeps the bedding and kitchen cleaner overall. All puppies get pets and praises for using their papers and we’re slowly leaving small areas uncovered and moving puppies to the papers for them to do their business. This Sunday, I’m going to try to designate a play/food area vs a pooping area and spend Sunday afternoon in the kitchen gently teaching the puppies where to go vs. where to play. Nature’s Orange cleaner has been a lifesaver budget-wise, sanity wise and has enabled me to continue using my kitchen to prepare food in. And thanks to the lack of chemicals, it does not tear up the skin on my hands since I scrub the kitchen floor, cabinets, appliances and counters down several times a day.

The puppies are 4 weeks as of Wednesday which means we only have four weeks to go. To be perfectly honest, I want the puppies to go to people I know and trust. The thought of just sending them out there into the ether with no updates or contact much less the knowledge that they will be well cared for is something I’m not prepared to face. I recognize logically that I may not be able to adopt them out to people I know… but the hope is still there nonetheless. I don’t know how people who foster ongoing or run rescues can manage not to get attached and just hope and trust that the people they allow to adopt – because really, background checks only get you so far – are going to care for these dogs and love them as much as you do. And that part, more than anything else, is the one thing that holds me back from saying we’ll foster again. At this point we love all nine of these dogs so much. And while we recognize there is no way we can care for all nine of them ongoing, letting them go is going to be very hard for all of us. Well okay… maybe it won’t be hard for Kodi Bear and Mimir but for Jays, Drue and I, it feels unimaginably difficult to let these babies go. Logically we accept what will happen in a few weeks. Getting our hearts to align with our minds is going to take longer than that, I think.

Feedings and 1st Vet Visit – Days 5 and 6 (Sunday and Monday)

// January 26th, 2011 // No Comments » // Featured Post

Rascal ponders the aluminum pan

Sunday morning marked our fourth night of limited sleep and I was desperate to figure out how to switch Sunny’s and the puppies up time from 2 to 5 in the morning to 2 to 5 in the afternoon. We decided to take the leap and put the puppies and Sunny on a schedule and, after confirming with the vet that we could add Esbilac to their diets, decided to add a feeding or two to their normal day.  We decided to watch Sunny and see if she was showing any signs that she could use a break (or two) from feeding eight little mouths and use that as our cue to step in and offer an alternative.     As exhausted as we were after being up at 2:15, 3:45 and 5:15 with Sunny, we were elated to see that most of the puppies were leaving the pen to potty on the training pads and made an official decision to only coop them up (door to pen closed) when we were changing out the puppy pads and scrubbing down the kitchen.     Jays ran out to get some breakfast while Drue and I played with the puppies and wore them out.   We needed them sleeping as much as possible because we had a HUGE task upon us that required immediate resolution.   Friday night,  Jays discovered white fuzzy stuff on the ceiling of the garage.  Our dryer is not properly vented and in good weather (which we have 90% of the time), there are no issues.  However, the combination of back to back laundry (we’re up to 4 loads a day) and all the rain from the last two months created the perfect wet, warm environment mold needs to grow and flourish and we knew we had to address the issue immediately.  Not only is it a general health hazard for us and the animals, we use the garage loft to store our holiday items, suitcases and extra baking supplies.   Any thoughts of having a pleasant, semi-relaxing weekend went out the window.

Sunny, Carter, Duncan and Shadow contemplate the aluminum plate

Once the puppies passed out, Jason and I went outside to pull every item from the garage. Not only was the loft full but we had the entire floor of the garage filled with freecycle items that needed to go. By the time we pulled everything out and separated it into three piles (stay, recycle and freecycle), it was time to head in and feed the puppies (around 2 PM). Sunny needed to go out which means we lost our opportunity to feed them as the puppies latched on to her the moment she returned to the kitchen. We agreed to try, try again that evening since she was willingly to feed them and decided to set her feeding time back to 9:30 instead of 11:30 and to feed the puppies right after at 10.  We did put a clean aluminum pie plate (our feeding bowl of choice for 8 mouths) in the kitchen and spent a few moments taking pictures of the puppies smelling it, attacking it and moving it around.  In between brief breaks to play with Bear, help Drue with her Science Fair Project and board, walk Sunny, feed Sunny and Bear (5:30) and run out and eat dinner (7:00), we managed to get the entire garage emptied, all of the items freecycled and the roof of the garage sprayed with vinegar to combat the mold. After dinner, we helped Drue finish her board and get her to bed while the garage aired out thanks to four or five fans. We dragged all the keeper items back in to the floor of the garage, finished a few loads of laundry and then collapsed on the living room sofa, exhausted.   Drue spent her Sunday fetching items (and many bottles of water) for Jason and me and finishing her project.  However, the bulk of her Sunday had her in the kitchen with the puppies, playing with them and loving on them in between their long naps. We ran into one issue at 9:30 when I took Sunny out for her walk which showed me how far Sunny has come in trusting the family. We were outside and Sunny was doing her business when a woman in a van pulled up to pick up a freecycle item. She approached me to chat and I was polite, saying hello, and asking her to not approach Sunny as she was a rescue and scared of people. The woman immediately responded with “oh I foster cats. It’s okay.” and tried to approach Sunny again. Sunny immediately cowered behind me. I moved Sunny by the door and away from the woman and started asking her about her cats, in an attempt to have her focus off Sunny. After a few minutes of hearing her talk about all the cats in her life, I told her I needed to get Sunny inside and back to her puppies and asked if she would please go stand by her van so I could take Sunny in through the garage. She did not move; instead she kept talking and asking to pet Sunny. I finally had to tell her point blank to please get her things and leave so I could take care of my dog. It was ridiculous, especially given how obviously scared Sunny was. The woman looked at me for a moment, told me that because she was a witch, cats were obviously the only animal who could handle the power of her aura and moved over to her van to start loading freecycle items. I was finally able to take Sunny back in and calmed her down. Next time, I think I’ll skip straight to rude if someone does not respect my dog and let us care for her the way we know how. Seriously.

Sunny, Panda, Bella, Carter, Smokey, Butch, Rascal, and Duncan

By this point, it was time to feed the puppies. Sunny had been gone awhile so they were eager to nurse. I quickly made up the Esbilac and we put down the two pans. Sunny immediately approached the first pan and started lapping up the pablum mixture; the puppies watched her for a moment and quickly followed her example. Rascal and Shadow figured out that Esbilac was fun to walk through and some of the puppies started nudging their siblings into the pans in an attempt to get them out of their way. A pan and a half of Esbilac was consumed by all and we deemed the feeding a complete success! All the puppies went to Sunny to get a quick drink from their Mommy and this gave me time to clean out their pen, exchange their bedding and get their toys cleaned. We let Sunny back into the pen and immediately closed it off so we could wash and cuddle each puppy. And boy did they need the bath! Esbilac was dripping from paws, tails, ears and noses, not to mention the streaks of Esbilac drying into their coats. I cuddled each puppy, bathed him or her, dried them and then handed them off to Jason for additional cuddles before he placed them in the pen. After all eight puppies were washed and cuddled and asleep, we scrubbed down the kitchen, lay out new pads and pulled Sunny’s food in the hopes of limiting the middle of the night bathroom trips.   We then opened the pen door and hoped for the best as we had yet to give them carte blanche access to the kitchen over night.   A few puppies were still playing in the pen but most had settled down.  It was 11 PM and Jays and I were so tired we could barely move.  Between caring for the puppies, getting them on a schedule, adjusting Sunny’s feeding times, helping Drue with her project, cleaning out the garage and our first feeding of the puppies, we were completely wiped out.    My last remarks to Sunny as we turned off the light were a plea to just give me five straight hours of sleep.   And boy, did she deliver!

Smokey (left side), Bella, Carter, Rascal on top of Shadow, Butch, Duncan (center) and Panda (right side)

Monday, I woke up at 2 and again at 4 for a brief moment to listen for Sunny. When I did not hear anything, I immediately fell back asleep. I woke at 5:45 after 6 hours and 45 minutes of wonderful, blissful sleep and woke up to find puppies playing and Sunny peaceful. After making sure Panda did not eat Carter’s tail off (but first documenting it) and weeding through the swarm of puppies trying to eat my toes, I took Sunny out. We had another successful feeding that morning and after cleaning up the kitchen and getting Drue to school, it was time to get all nine dogs to the vet for their first check-up. Our immediate concerns were getting Sunny to trust that we weren’t taking her somewhere in the car and leaving her. The second was how we were going to get eight puppies safely to the vet! Jason packed the puppies up in a tall box lined with training pads and I coaxed Sunny to the car after moving her bed to the back. It took awhile but we took our time getting the dogs into the car, and then getting them to the vet. We have a wonderful vet practice where we take Kodi Bear and Mimir  and were confident that they would work with us to make Sunny as comfortable as possible. Two hours later, after a few tests, weighing and deworming all the dogs, many treats and lots of cuddles, the puppies walked out with a clean bill of health and Sunny walked out with medication to treat intestinal parasites, including tapeworm. A few hours later we got the call – Sunny is heartworm free! – and Jason and I both breathed a sigh of relief. Vaccinations and Sunny’s check-up are scheduled for three weeks (Valentine’s Day) and we were given permission to move the puppies to Esbilac 2nd Step and, if all went well, to soft puppy food 24 hours later. Home again and everyone crashed for a few hours. Sunny woke up hungry at 5:00 and after feeding her, I had the “pleasure” of getting her to take her medication. If ever a dog was going to bite someone, it would be while some person’s hand is down their throat forcing two pills down. But Sunny didn’t. Sure she fought me and did not want her pills (even coated with peanut butter) but we got them in her. The puppies received Esbilac 2nd step that evening at 10 PM and after a change of bedding and puppy pads, puppy baths and cuddles, the day ended with everyone, including the people in the house, were asleep by 11:00.

Good night, puppies.