It's been awhile, what has RA been up to?

Where have I been; what's been going on; why no posts?

Firstly all of my project dogs, the ones on here and others have all been adopted. After the holidays I plan to have a new project dog, with the other rescue. Remember Sable? I've posted about her before. I intend to start taking her on "day trips," hikes mostly. At the moment it is far too cold and I am far to busy to commit to her the time she needs. After the holidays I will have more time and will be posting updates on her.

Busy? Yes, busy. I am trying to organize a transport across the US for a number of rats. They are currently in Indiana and have homes lined up from there to Oregon, California and places in between. There is also a second run from Indiana to Ohio, much shorter but still being organized.

I am still apprenticing to be a dog trainer.

I am working on writing a paper/article about corn in our pets (dog/cat) food.

On top of that I will be helping transport a soldier's dog home. The dog in question is a Boxer named Rowdy and will be leaving Colorado on Friday for his home in Georgia. More on that to come after Friday.

But wait, there's more. I was on "the forbidden website" (aka Craigslist) and saw a fish tank I was very interested in having. The photo showed a dirty 20gallon tall aquarium housing four Jewel Cichlids. The ad was for everything; fish, tank, food, heater, filter and lid/light.

Knowing very little about Cichlids I decided to research them more. I came to find out that Jewel Cichlids really need at minimum 40 gallons. It was at that point I need they had to come here. I can't say no to an animal living in dirty, cramped conditions if I can afford to take it in.

So now I have five new fish. As it turns out there is also a Plecostomus, which needs at minimum a 75 gallon tank. Those fish are cramped in the tiny 20 gallon tank but for now it's what they have. I am looking to rehome them, I have no want for a tank big enough to cater to those fish. However until they get a new home with an appropriately sized tank they will at least now be taken care of properly in every other aspect.

The first matter of business was to clean the aquarium, which was much dirtier then shown in the photo. That is how the water looked if it was undisturbed. If a fish took off too quickly all the poo and uneaten food from the bottom would be kicked up, and there was a lot of it. I scrubbed down the full aquarium and thoroughly washed the rocks. The rocks were hiding a nasty build up of  black sludge.

After cleaning the rocks and glass I refilled the tank with new (treated) water and some of the old water they had been living in. I was afraid to clean it any further for fear of killing the fish. The old water was needed for the beneficial bacteria it holds and to help not shock their system. When fish go from something so filthy to perfectly clean the shock can kill them, especially after living in it for two years.

So for now they are living in a much cleaner environment. I have two filters running and plan on vacuuming the pebbles (with a siphon) in about three days to help remove more of the muck. The flake food they were sent with has been thrown out and they will be fed a healthy diet from now on. I've already had three people email me about these fish, but they won't go to just anyone. I have to make sure they won't  go back to what they were just saved from.

Rescued Ratties

The vast majority of animals in my home are rats. I have twelve at the moment, yes you read that correctly. 

On the way back from the No More Homeless Pets Conference I attended in Las Vegas, NV I made a detour and adopted a rat in AZ. My experience in adopting her has inspired another post, but that will come later. For now I just want to share the photos and stories of my rats.

I'll start with my newest addition, a female in need of a name.

Not my photo.

This girl was bred for back to back pregnancies, meaning when she weaned one litter she gave birth to the next. Which as you can imagine was very hard on her body. So hard in fact that it caused her lower back pain and to lash out at her adoptive family and their rats. She was returned to the rescue. The rescue spayed her and removed a small mammary tumor and sent her into a foster home to recover. She has not had buddies since she lashed out at her former cage mates, and I hope to move her in with my big group.

But what got me started in rats? The two boys in the photo below.

Photo from original owner.

Their owner had adopted a female from Craigslist only to find out the rat was pregnant. When the litter came two of the boys were "boring" compared to their beautifully marked and (some) hairless siblings. They were overlooked. 

Photo from original owner.

You can see in the photo of their litter mates that they didn't stand out. The owner was worried about what would become of them. She could not keep them herself as she had only females and did not want to neuter them. At the same time, no one was stepping forward to bring them into their home. 

As is turns out their owner is someone I knew (friend of a friend) and I was suckered into saying I'd take them. I had about a week and a half until they were ready to come home and I had to scramble to learn all I could about basic care and set up for them. While reading up I learned rats really need to have other rat buddies. I also learned about other rat colors and soon began to want to have a trio. Just one more, either a hairless or a blue.

Cav, Xin, Cham and Shen.

As fate would have it a breeder going out of business had both, a pair of brothers. He needed homes for them before he moved because he was not taking any rats with and was giving them to anyone who wanted them, snake owners included.*

 Just like that, two became four. For awhile it was "just four." I had named the nearly identical beige rats Champagne and Caviar or Cham and Cav for short. (A perfect example of why you shouldn't name pets while tired.) The other brothers were going to be named Shenanigans and Mischief or Shen and Chief for short. However my boyfriend was not a fan of the name Chief so he became Xin instead.

Ray and Shark, photo from humane society.

And for a couple of months it stayed that way. That was until someone else I know let me know about two boys that had recently come in to our local Humane Society. This was a bad time for rats there, there had recently been a ton of rats dumped and the shelter was overwhelmed. Most of them were young, so these older boys didn't stand as much of a chance.

I made the decision to go and see them, you know, just to see. When I held them it was clear something was wrong. Their fur was puffed up, noses red and they were both sneezing and wheezing. It was clear something was wrong, despite being declared "perfectly healthy" by the shelter's vet.

I adopted them and got them to my vet as soon as I could, it turns out they both had pneumonia, which left untreated can be fatal. They were put on antibiotics and eventually got better. Once they were feeling better they were introduced to my other four, and soon enough all six were happily living together.

It became clear to me that I needed to upgrade my cage to one that could properly accommodate six rapidly growing boys. Being an animal lover I couldn't just get them the bare minimum. The cage I bought ended up leaving me room to easily accommodate two more with a bit of room to spare. I hadn't planned on getting more boys, but more boys is exactly what I wound up bringing home.

A member on a rat forum that I am part of, often takes in rescues of her own. She works at a pet store and someone had dropped of 20+ rats, all somehow related. Their story was that they didn't know they had a male and female...and several litters later wanted to get rid of all the males. I offered to take in two of them and to my surprise she agreed. She wanted to find homes for them, and manged to find homes for most of them all over the country with members on the rat forum.

Photo by rescuer.

 I thought they were all cute and couldn't choose. So I let my boyfriend pick one and my nephew pick the other. Boyfriend picked out the black one on the far right with the thin white blaze (Tosca) and my nephew picked the black one on the far left (Tava).

There was just one snag, their rescuer lived on the edge of Kansas, the edge furthest from me in Colorado. We decided to meet about 1/2 way in Kansas and after a 13(ish) hour drive they were home with me.

At that point I thought, ok enough is enough. I want them to have all the space they need and I need to be able to afford them all. But as you may have noticed things here don't go according to plan. I took in a boy from Craigslist in desperate need of a home. He was listed as a 2.5yr old male, in other words a senior who likely didn't have much longer. (Rats usually only live until 2.5 or 3.) His family was moving and need him gone, now. I offered to take him in, figuring I'd give him a quiet retirement, vet care, love and a quiet passing in a few months.

The owners dropped him off in a tiny cage that he could barley turn around in and it was spotless. The bedding was all white as snow, they had clearly scrubbed it clean before dropping him off. They didn't bother to clean up the rat though. He was filthy, had skin troubles and was very obese. They had fed him junk food and table scraps. Once he was acclimated to his new home and new big cage I attempted to introduce him to my group of males. Unfortunately after a lifetime of being alone he was aggressive to my boys and he was simply far to overweight to neuter. 

It was then that I decided to adopt girls and spay them in the hopes he could have friends. After one adoption fell through I turned to another rat forum, and found someone who lived only an hour away who had several accident litters. The babies would be ready to go home shortly and I had a vet comfortable with spaying them young. It seemed perfect, unfortunately my rescued boy passed away before I brought them home. I wanted to make good on my word that I would bring them home. What I hadn't planned on was bringing home a third female on the same day. I was already planning on picking up the babies when I heard from a friend about a recently abandoned girl. She was dumped at a pet store, alone. My friend was worried she may end up as snake food* or alone for the rest of her life. I decided since bringing her home would technically keep my numbers the same that I could take her. I had also been working a new job which was providing great pay, so I had no worries about the financial aspect of it

. 

Then came  my next dilemma, here I have eight intact males and three intact females. I certainly wasn't going to leave both groups intact, because even with the most careful and experienced owners, accidents happen. After calling around town and even out of town I finally found a vet that was both experienced and wouldn't charge me an arm and a leg. The only snag was that she wouldn't spay the females, only neuter the males. So I could either pay $200+ per spay in town or $60 per neuter outside of town. I opted to have my boys all neutered since it was cheaper, I trust that vet more and some boys were having hormone related aggression.

Which brings us to the present. Those three girls now live with my neutered males in their big cage and the newest girl will hopefully move in with them once she's had time to acclimate and complete the intro process. (For those who know your cages I have a "quad" or a Double Critter Nation hooked up with a Double Ferret Nation. 

TL:DR - I am a crazy rat lady, who didn't want any rats and who now has 12. The above photos were taken when I got them, the photos below are from the last month. 

* About snake food: I know snakes have to eat, I have owned and fed snakes, I have no problem with that. I have a problem with people feeding live prey to snakes, and most of the rats (and mice) that come off of Craigslist or out of a pet store for food, are fed live.

Cav, Cham and Tosca.

Xin

Shen

Shark, named for his need to put everything in his mouth at least once.

Ray

Tava

Tosca

Zipper & Jetty

Bria

 I don't have new photos of my nameless girl, I don't want to bother her right away.

Project dogs update

There is a feeling that everyone who works with rescue animals knows. A feeling that people who don't work with rescue animals may not understand. It's that bittersweet feeling of an animal you care about very deeply, leaving you for their new home. It's sad knowing you'll likely never see them again, if you're lucky you might maybe get an update or two. But it's so wonderful knowing your hard work has payed off and the animal you helped will now have a loving home.

That is a feeling I got a lot of on Monday.

It all started like every other Monday there. I walked into Lily's Haven, grabbed my name tag, signed in and went to talk to the groomers. The lady I have been working with to help Mushu, C, let me know that he was pretty filthy. I went and grabbed a towel, slip lead and of course, Mushu. As I was carrying him back towards the grooming area everything went from normal to one of those rare perfect situations.

A lady, B, was sitting at the front desk adopting one of her long time fosters. She looked up and immediately asked "Boy or girl?" I responded, "boy." Her next question was even more excited "Is that a Pekinese?" Seeing the look on her face I answered yes, and plopped him down, filth, towel and all, into her lap. That was the end of that. Of course she had more questions like "How old is he?" and "Does he know how to use stairs?" and "When can I take him home?"

As it turns out, B can only have male dogs since her only female is female aggressive. She really only likes older dogs which, at the age of seven years old, Mushu is. B owned Pekinese dogs before and had always wanted to have another in her life and wasn't afraid of Mushu's special needs. I can only imagine her day, thinking she's just going to adopt a long-time foster, when someone literally "drops" the dog of her dreams into her lap.

Mushu with his new mom.

While she filled out the paperwork I took Mushu back to be groomed. C and I were both pleasantly surprised with how much progress he had made. He tolerated bathing without incident. He was still sensitive about his back end, but no longer so reactive. He even let C clean his ears a bit, so long as I kept the supply of hotdog coming. He tolerated the blow dryer very well, and even let C brush out some of his matts. But that's when his doggy brain got fried and he let us know he had, had enough, thank you very much.

When we walked back out B informed us that she was going to foster Mushu, but knew she was going to fall for him and keep him. She was able to take him home right away because she was willing to drive him to his vet appointment on Wednesday.

Here's the best part though, she gave me her number and said I could call anytime and come see Mushu. I'll be giving her a call later this week to see how everything is going and to hear what the vet had to say. I plan to continue working on him with his grooming troubles in his home.

The good news doesn't stop with Mushu. Pupkin has a wonderful foster home. I can not tell you how happy I am that she is out of there, she was more then ready. Her foster also took another one of NMDR's dogs, a Sheltie with a bad case of heartworms. Pumpkin will stay with them until she finds her forever home, and the Sheltie will stay until she is both healthy and finds her forever home. I am keeping my fingers crossed for updates.

This all means that I'm going to take on new project dogs.I have already picked one, a dog who has been with us since April of this year.

We have a new load of dogs coming in today and I'll be helping with intake tomorrow and will likely pick a new project or two from them as well. Stay tuned.

Standard ending notes:
- I am not a professional dog trainer, though I one day hope to be. I am in an apprenticeship program for dog training and will not take on a dog that is more then I can safely handle. Please do not ask me to help you with your dog, I am not qualified to answer.
- All photos belong to the wonderful volunteers who took and uploaded them in the hopes of helping these dog's find their homes.
- If you are interested in adopting one of my project dogs or any puppy mill survivor check out National Mill Dog Rescue's website: https://milldogrescue.org/

Completed Rescue Story: Prince the Toy Poodle Puppy

Once a month NMDR takes dogs from mills up to a rescue in New York. On the way back NMDR picks up dogs to take back to Lily's Haven. It was my first time on a trip like this when I met Prince.

It was a foggy and dreary morning in Missouri. We were picking up 20+ cats from an over run shelter and transporting them back to Colorado for another rescue organization. There was also a woman who was meeting us there to drop off an older black lab who she had saved from a high kill shelter. The woman who was meeting us had a surprise, a six week old toy poodle puppy. We couldn't believe it, a puppy, and one so young? As it turned out his breeder (puppy mill) dumped him and left him to die, because a puppy with a bad leg won't sell at a pet store.

Being one of two people in the back of the rescue van I took it upon myself to care for him. We weren't sure he was going to make it.

The first challenge was to keep him warm. The air conditioning in the van had to be kept on to keep the cats and other dogs on board from overheating. However made it much too cold for a puppy of that size and age. To me the solution was clear, press him up against me so he could use my warmth; use a towel to help keep the warmth in and then zip him and the towel into my jacket. He rode like that from Missouri to Colorado. By the time we were half way back to Colorado I had decided to foster him. I had also decided on a name, Prince, after The Little Prince and his big adventures.

The ride from MO to CO was not just a battle to keep him warm. It was a struggle to keep him hydrated and nourished as well. Every hour I would scoop up bits of chicken baby food and nutrical onto my finger and let him nurse and lick it off. He wouldn't eat from a bowl or spoon.

I must admit when we pulled off the highway for food I got a burger and fed him some. How could you resist that face and a new found desire to eat?

Mid-day rolled around and we had begun to worry again about the little Prince. He had peed, but had yet to poo. We worried that maybe something was wrong inside. I tried stimulating him with a warm, damp rag to no avail. So at one point when he wiggled, telling me he wanted out to pee I didn't think much of it. That was before the smell hit me and what a smell it was. Something like rotting chicken baby food mixed with the most foul garbage smell you can imagine.

It woke up one of our rescue team who had previously been sleeping so peacefully in the front seat. We all had a good laugh about that one.

By the time it was dark again we were back in Colorado. To be honest I don't remember the drive back to my house from Lily's Haven. It had been nearly a week since leaving to go on the rescue, nearly a week of no sleep and poor diet. And then began the nightly ritual, every hour I woke up to feed him.

Every. Single. Hour. All. By. My. Self.

It wore me thin and strained my relationship. It taught me patience. It taught me to be responsible. Either I woke up and fed him or he wouldn't make it. He didn't like the puppy formula, or the mushy kibble. He didn't want to drink water on his own. Every meal was a fight and he wasn't going to take food quietly.

By week two I had tried just about everything to get him to eat on his own. Then I found something. Boiled chicken breasts. So I made a compromise with him. I would let him eat the chicken for one meal, then the next I would use a syringe to force feed a puppy formula, mushy puppy kibble mix. (And here is where I bow down to the awesome power of my blender.)

But don't let me make you think it's all hard work.

He would snuggle up to me in his doggy sweater, and sleep on his back, paws splayed in the air. (You can really see his deformed paw in the next two photos.)

He “attacked” my cat, who was less then amused with the white fluffy abomination in her house.

 Once Prince found his voice he and growled at plush toy, me, the cat...anything really. (Turn the volume up for growling puppy cuteness.)

After fostering him for several weeks (total) he went to a very experienced vet, who looked at his leg. It was clear from the x-rays that his leg would need to be amputated, but being a small breed and being so young he would adapt just fine. I left him at the clinic, he would be fostered there until his surgery.

His surgery was a success and he now lives with one of the vet techs, who fell in love with him when he first came in. I still think about him, how he looked that first day and how we all thought he might not make it.

Meet Sable

Alright, this is my last post of the day. The other rescue I volunteer for is Lucky Dog Rescue. http://bealuckydog.com/ They take in dogs in need of a home, small dogs are typically placed in a foster home while the larger dogs stay at Lucky Dog Resorts. (This is not a rule, just how things usually happen.)

The dogs staying at the Lucky Dog facility get day care with the other dogs if they are social enough, and get training as well. Most dogs seem to find their forever homes quickly, unfortunately Sable is not most dogs.

Sable has been living at the Lucky Dog facility for nearly a year now. Why on earth would such a happy, sweet looking dog be without a home for so long? Unfortunately Sable suffers from "black dog syndrome," which is a fancy way of saying black dogs are harder to find homes for. Sable also looks like a "pit" mix, many people wrongly assume because she looks like a "pit" she is vicious. That is not at all true, Sable loves people and would very much enjoy a family of her own.

You, dear reader, can help Sable. Watch the video below and share it on your facebook page. Spread the word, surely Sable's home is out there, we only have to find it.

 Learn more about Sable here - Find out more about Sable here - http://www.ldrdogs.com/sable/

Meet my "project dogs"

My "project dogs" are dogs at National Mill Dog Rescue's facility, Lily's Haven. I pick 2-3 of these project dogs at a time and work with them and work to help find them a home. What I do with the dog depends entirely on the dog itself. Anything from spending hours sitting and ignoring a dog to help it build trust in me; to working on some basic obedience.

Meet Pumpkin, a seven year old female American Cocker Spaniel. Pumpkin was rescued from a puppy mill and taken into NMDR on 7/28/2012. She was one of three female Cocker Spaniels brought in at the same time. All three would hide at the far back of their kennel, huddled together, trying to be invisible. "Flight risk" was all over the front of their kennel, they were so scared that if they got out it would be very difficult to catch them again.

The trio was split up, each getting a new and friendly kennel mate to help bring them out of their shells. Now one of the three is in foster care and two are at Lily's Haven. All three still need loving forever homes.

This is where I come in.

One day walking through Lily's Haven, looking for kennels that needed cleaning I saw a red blur dash into the outside half of the run. Slowly I walked over and read the information about her, which is posted on the door to her run. One of my previous projects had just been adopted and I had the time to work with her and felt I could help. 

I started by sitting for an hour in her run, not looking at her, not talking, not moving. When the hour was up I got up and left. I wanted to give her something to think about, the idea that maybe humans aren't all scary.

Over the last few months we went from her being terrified of human contact, to her following me around, wanting attention. Now that she is more comfortable around me I have been asking others to pay attention to her as well, help her learn that I am not the only kind human. 

My goals for Pumpkin: (Both long term and short term)

- Take her to an adoption fair for at least a couple of hours.

- Start working on some basic obedience. She is about 50% leash trained, and for the moment that's all.

- Teach her about stairs.

- And of course, find her, her forever home.

Meet Mushu, a seven year old male Pekingese who was taken in to NMDR on 9/9/2012.

When Mushu was first brought to NMDR he was covered in filth and hair mats. NMDR's wonderful grooming team went to work on him but quickly discovered he was afraid of the groomers. Specifically, he didn't want his paws, ears, hind end or tail touched. It was also discovered that the flap of skin above his nose had trapped bacteria and grime underneath it and was possibly impairing his vision. As if the poor guy didn't have enough wrong he is very underweight with his ribs and spine easily felt.

One day while I was out volunteering one of the groomers asked if I would hold a dog for awhile. This was not an unusual request and I agreed. She expressed her concerns about his health and attitude, and knowing I often work with the dogs asked if I would help her with him. Looking down into his face, feeling his bones press in to me, I couldn't say no. 

We went back into the grooming room and I fed him bits of turkey hot dog while she gently worked at the mats in his tail and on his rear end. He did not like being groomed, but was willing to tolerate it while distracted with delicious food.

When we had finished I noticed something else, he shook and bobbed in a way that looked neurological to me. We flagged down a member of our vet staff and expressed our concerns about him. She gave him the ok to be put on wet food for his weight and said he would be looked at by our vet as soon as the vet could manage. 

My goals for Mushu: (Both long term and short term)

- Desensitize him to all aspects of grooming.

- Help keep an eye on him, health wise.

- Socialize him, teach him that humans are ok. He isn't terrified of people, but certainly shy.

- Help him find his foster or forever home.

Standard ending notes:
- I am not a professional dog trainer, though I one day hope to be. I am in an apprenticeship program for dog training and will not take on a dog that is more then I can safely handle. Please do not ask me to help you with your dog, I am not qualified to answer.
- All photos belong to the wonderful volunteers who took and uploaded them in the hopes of helping these dog's find their homes.
- If you are interested in adopting one of my project dogs or any puppy mill survivor check out National Mill Dog Rescue's website: https://milldogrescue.org/

Obligatory Introduction Post

Let me give you something to start with before I begin throwing rescue-related posts out there.

You can call me RA, I am a young adult and I have been involved in rescue since I was a kiddo.

I am currently involved in not one, but four rescue-type organizations. The first, National Mill Dog Rescue, takes in dogs saved from puppy mills and gives them all the medical care they need and works to find them a new home. The second, Lucky Dog Rescue, is a rescue that takes on a small number of dogs at a time and focuses on training them in basic obedience, then finding them a new home. Occasionally they will take on more "special needs" or hard to place dogs as well. Rescue organizations three and four deal with transporting animals to their forever homes.

As if that wasn't enough, I also take in rescues of my own, mostly rats and fish.

About my "zoo":
I am owned by eleven rats, one cat, a Betta and an African Dwarf Frog. Every last one of them are rescues. Over the course of this blog I'll be sharing their stories along with many others.

What makes me qualified to write a rescue blog?
- I am very heavily involved in rescue and have been for 10+ years now.
- I was raised by a vet which has given me a view of the rescue world that others may not have.
- I am apprenticing under a master dog trainer (Angie Neal), which has allowed me to not only expand my knowledge but further help the rescued dogs I work with.
- Last but not least, rescue is my life. I grew up around animals and when I learned of the horrible things done to them I knew I had to help.

In this blog I will share:
- Stories of past rescues, I will not sugar coat them.
- Stories of animals I am currently working with to help them find homes.
- Thought provoking posts of my views on various animal and rescue related subjects.
- Feature rescues who are doing a good job.
- Rescue stories and other posts from readers.
- More that I'm sure I am not thinking of right now.

One last note:
Please bear with me if my writing is not the best. I am NVLD Autistic which, among other things, means I have a hard time both getting thoughts out of my head and on to a page; and explaining myself. If you need me to clarify what I have written please ask, I won't be mad.