Hope's Progress

Hope on arrival

Hey everyone I wanted to let you all know how great Hope is doing. Despite coming from a Mill she is absolutely the sweetest dog ever; she can't get enough cuddles or scratches.

She absolutely loves the food. I'm sure everyone knows that I feed Dick Van Patton's Limited Ingredient Diet in Venison and Sweet Potato (In the wet and dry formula), I really thought Hope would prefer to be on a Boiled Chicken and Rice diet, but she went crazy when I opened the can of food, she has had solid bowel movements every time so I put her right on the L.I.D. she loves it!! She literally dances all over the kitchen floor while I am preparing dinner. She has shown no food aggression but eats very quickly. To help her get more of the nutrition out of the food, I have started hand feeding her the kibble bit by bit. I'm sure you all know that when I dog eats too quickly it doesn't get as much of the nutrients from the food as slow eating. Consequently many fast eaters try to eat poop. The thought is they are trying to get the rest of the nutrients.

As for her health......Surprisingly she will be able to keep both eyes. They will need a lubrication put in them everyday for the rest of her life but at least she gets to keep both eyes!!! My vet actually believes the worse of her two eyes was punctured, it has scarred so deeply that the globe is actually bigger than the other eye. This makes closing her eye hard. She also has severe joint damage in her wrist joints,and her feet are splayed out wide. She is really sweet and can go 7 hours with out having an accident. I am happy to report there was only one accident in the house, on the first night here, and one accident in her crate which was the next morning. Since both of those she has not had any accidents! She goes back to the vet in two weeks, and then my vet has offered to spay her. I will keep everyone posted as she comes along.

However, I haven't heard Hope make any sounds, with the exception of a slight whine when it's time to go Hope and her fellow puppy mill sister HaNa both suffer through those horrific eye injuries. It just proves to me what his inner character is made of! I'm sure he'll get his; I just wish I was there to see it!

--Lara





Hope in Foster Care

Dahlia Had Puppies! A Happy Holiday Story

Can you believe it? This is so not what I expected when I said I'd foster a senior!!! She is doing really well, she's a wonderful mother (and has clearly done this before). I'm just happy we can make her comfortable and take good care of them all.

And, the moral of the story is, if you get up really early some morning and hear squeeky noises from a dog bed, don't assume the noise makers are mice !!!
I've been involved in dog rescue/fostering for over 12 years, but this is a FIRST!

I think it goes without saying that Dahlia is no longer up for adoption. We are keeping her. And the rest of my family (including my sane husband) think we're keeping the puppies, too. By the way the girl is named Wysteria and the boy is Fiorello.

We got attached to Dahlia. When the applications came in that were interested in her, my daughter said, "You can't give away my sister." So it started looking bad then :). But after the surprise birth I thought about how much Dahlia had gone
through in her life and how many adjustments she had to make and changes and I just said I don't want her to have to adjust to anything ever again. I don't want her to ever have to feel sad or scared or confused about where she's going. So she's home and her pups are with her.

--Julie



Fiorello



Wisteria

"Dahlia's Petfinder description:
Dahlia, a beautiful BT mix, is by far the sweetest dog any of us has ever met. When she should have been gently sailing into her sunset years, she was cruelly dumped into a miserable city animal shelter for no reason at all. Dahlia is in terrific shape at the age of 9 with many good years ahead of her. On a walk, she is curious and attentive. She's great on a leash, perhaps the most housebroken dog that ever was (not one accident, EVER). In a home, she is respectful and peaceful. She is wonderful with all dogs, big and small, as well as children young and old. She loves to cuddle and kiss and is heartbreakingly good, she is just looking for someone to love her. Somewhere we know there is a kind forever family waiting for Dahlia."

Fortunately, she found her loving forever home with Julie!

Forever Home for Benny

My house is very quiet right now. Bingo is very much missing his best buddy, Benny who went home with Bill Woods and Stacy Nusbaum tonight.

We met at my work so Benny and their 1 yr old BT, Sunny, could have some 'privacy' from my other dogs. After about 1/2 hour - Ben and Sunny were rompimg and playing and destroyed a stuffed goose together. Bill and Stacy are super nice people - and Ben is going to do well with them. We spent a couple of hours together while the dogs got aquainted, and Bill and Stacy took their time to be sure that Ben was right to be a playmate for Sunny. Benny knew something was up - but I am sure he will settle in just fine.

I sure am going to miss my 'nap' buddy.......

I have attached a picture of Benny with his new family!!

--Barb C.


Benny's new parents just sent me a pic of he and his sister, Sunny. So Cute!

Barb