Braiden is a very special dog!

When we heard about a dog living in a field behind a Walmart store with a very badly injured eye we went to investigate. We found Braiden with an eye so badly hurt that we knew we could not save his eye. The people that were also living in the field told us that Braiden had been living there for at least 18 months and had sustained several injuries from other dogs. We were able to put a collar and leash on Braiden and he said goodbye to living life in the field as we brought him into rescue.

Braiden went to see two vets and at the end of it all he had his little hurt eye removed and was diagnosed with Tick Fever. Braiden got tick fever since he had nobody to keep the ticks off of him .A tick bit him that was carrying the virus and made him sick.

Braiden is on medication now and we hope that within a few months he will be better. He is very thin and needs extra energy to recover from his surgery so he eats three times a day!

This sweet boy must have had a home at one time because when he came to live with me he was house trained and knew how to go through the dog door! He also loves to go for car rides and seems to just love being around people and other dogs! He will get his eye stitches out tomorrow and then we will be looking for a home for Braiden!

The extra surprise that came with Braiden were nine of his puppies! We are still trying to catch the mom of the puppies but she is very very scared of people.

The puppies are doing great and will be ready for adoption in late February!

The holidays always seem to be a busy time in rescue land and this year was no exception.

First came a little schnauzer mix named Onyx. Her family decided that they had too many dogs and little Onyx was sick. She went right to the vet where she was treated for Parvo. Puppy shots would have prevented this but the family never gave any of their dogs shots. Onyx was lucky as she was able to be treated and recovered in time to be adopted by her new forever family by Christmas. Onyx is the little gray dog with brown eyes:)

Next problem was my little foster Daisy Girl. Daisy also got Parvo, and poor little Daisy spent her Christmas with me as a very very sick little girl. We had to go to the vet everyday to get shots and have the vet give her fluids. Daisy is not yet healed but she is  starting to get better. Daisy is the little girl in the red coat.

Next on Christmas Day came a little lost Miniature Pinser. He was found shaking and cold outside all on his own. He had no collar and no tags so we could not find his owner. We  put up flyers, walked the neighborhood, and placed found dog ads on the Internet but no owners were found. We have him all warm and safe now in a great foster home while we continue to hunt for his owners.

While at the vet I discovered two more animals that needed help…a great big cat and a little rabbit. Both of them had great homes until their owners became ill and could no longer care for them. So now after the holidays I will be on the lookout for a home for a cat and a rabbit!

It doesn’t matter if it’s Holiday time or not, Animal Rescue is always busy!! !

Rocket wants me to remind you to get puppy shots and make sure you dog has it’s ID tags!!

Your friend in Rescue,

Mary

It was a cool fall morning a few weeks ago when a driver noticed some movement on the side of a busy road. He pulled over and went back to investigate. After a few minutes of searching, he found a tiny little puppy trying to forage for something to eat in a pile of leaves. He scooped him up and headed for the vet, Dr. Johnsen, at Van Aken Animal Hospital.

They tried hard, but couldn’t find his owner. Once they were sure he was healthy, they called and asked if I’d foster him and so began the journey of Clyde to rescue! I ran down on my lunch hour to find a little tiny 5 week old puppy just waiting for someone to love him. I bundled him on up and placed him in a crate with cozy blankets, food and water and brought him back to work with me.  He was going to need some extra special care as he was so young. At work I could take him out of his crate every few hours and in no time at all little Clyde was crate trained. Puppies like to stay clean and dry BUT because he was so little, he depended on me to take him out of his crate every two to three hours to pee or poop!

At my home, Clyde met all the big dogs and Sundae quickly took over as his new mommy. She licked him clean and then showed him how to use the dog door! He was pretty little to push through the dog door alone but he learned how to run under the big dogs when they were going in and out. Within two weeks he was doing very very well with going outside to potty. He still has some accidents, BUT I try to remember to remind him to go out every two hours or so. When I see him peeing in the house, I quickly, quietly and without anger pick him up and put him outside so he can finish the job there. He is just an 8 week old baby so I am patient and praise him for a good job while he is learning.

Yesterday Clyde met a great family. He played with them all day and when I went back to get him they said that they really loved him and wanted to adopt him! I thought that was great , but 2 things had to happen  first. They needed to fix their fence so he would never get out and he had to return to the Vet  for more shots,to be neutered and to have an ID chip put in.   The microchip is a size of a grain of rice and it is coded and placed in the dogs neck. The chip will help if he ever gets lost as the code will tell a vet where the dog belongs. So very soon little Clyde will be moving to his very own home!

It was almost the end of a long hot August weekend when I got a frantic call from a friend needing help for a dog.My friend’s son is a wonderful gentle middle school student who was playing in a local park with a friend when he noticed a very thin dog who could barely walk. He tried to get the dog  to come to him but the dog was so tired that she could not walk anymore and just kind of collapsed in the park. Jalen used to be my neighbor and he learned all about how to help dogs by helping us recue stray dogs in the neighborhood so he sprung into action. He was old enough and had his parents’ permission so he scooped up the big leggy 40 pound dog and with his friend carried her home. He got her water to drink and cooled her down with the garden hose. His mom called me as she was very worried about the dog. Since it was late on Sunday and the dog was now eating and drinking and could stand on her own we decided to wait until morning and then get her to the vet.

At 6:30 am Monday she headed in to the vet to get some help and check for a microchip. In the meantime, I posted her story on Craigs List and posted her on Pets911 to see if we could find her owner. As it turned out she had no microchip, collar or tags and nobody ever responded to the found dog advertisements. Kenya was covered in bruises, scrapes and cuts and was very very quiet and not too responsive to people.  She had huge missing patches of fur and was very very thin. This was a huge concern because sometimes when dogs act like this they are starting to give up the will to live!  Well no worries this little girl found the right spot ..there was no way WE were ready to give up on her !!!

Kenya spent a week at Second Home Pet Resort so she could get some quiet rest time without any other dogs bugging her. At Second Home the staff doted on her and even gave her a bath and brushed her teeth! Kenya soon started to come around and began lifting her head and giving little kisses. She then met the resort cat and came to life as she played with her. She also started to really perk up when her favorite staff members spent time with her. After a week a foster home was found and into foster she went. Now as far as her injuries went….it took two vets to get this little one on the right track and once the x rays came back it was clear…Kenya had been hit by a car and had a badly broken and separated pelvis. The break was really in a bad place BUT my vet, Dr. Johnsen, said, “No worries, I can help her!” , and off to surgery she went. Kenya’s pictures were taken right after surgery. She has a cone on so that she can not lick or pull at her stitches on her back right hip. She will have the stitches in for 10 days and can only walk out to potty on a leash. No running and no playing as we need to get her pelvis bone to heal! She only walks on three legs right now and just holds up her right leg. The vet says that when the healing starts she will start to use her leg.

Kenya has been with us a month now and all her fur has grown back in! She has gained about 10 pounds and all her wounds have healed. She will get her stitches out this week and soon will be able to start using her leg again. Kenya was lucky that she lived BUT not lucky to have had this happen. If she had been on a leash or kept in a secure backyard she would not have been out running and would not have been hit by a car. If she had on a collar and tags OR a microchip we could have gotten her right back to her owner. The sad part of the story is that someone must have owned and loved this dog but now she is lost and we can not find her owners. This dog went through a lot  of pain as someone did not keep her safe and either on a leash or in a safe home and yard. We will never know Kenya’s story but we suspect that she was out running around and got hit by a car. She was probably dragged or thrown by the car and thus her bruises, cuts and scrapes. We suspect that she was holed up somewhere for a day or so as she was probably too hurt to move much. How she survived the heat I have no clue as getting to water would have been a huge challenge. She was very thin and raggedy looking when she was found so I think that if Jalen had not been there when needed or acted as fast as he did that Kenya would not have survived.

Kenya  has now had all her shots and been spayed and is up for adoption to a family that will promise to take good care of her so that she does not get hurt again. Kenya is a very gentle girl who is about two years old. She is full of life now and is just joy to be around and she is very very gentle. She can use a dog door and loves other dogs. She is a fast runner on three legs and I bet on four legs she will be even faster! She appears to be a Greyhound/Australian Shepard mix and is busy healing and hoping for her very own forever family.

Introducing Isabella…..

Dogs come into rescue with all kinds of stories and Isabella (Izzy for short) is my foster dog. Remember, “foster dog” means that Izzy lives with me and is treated just like one of my dogs when we search for the perfect forever home for Izzy.

So that is how Izzy came to be my foster dog. She is another rescue dog just like Rocket! Next week you will hear about my newest foster dog, Sundae!

New Words:
Boarding facility: If a dog does not have a foster family, then it sometimes has to stay in a boarding place. These places have people to feed, walk, and pick up after the dogs. It is not as great as a home, but the dogs have little rooms with an outside area so the dogs are safe and cared fo