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.