Where does the time go?

Goodness, where does the time go??

Hmmmm, where to start. How about with the Happy Endings? Jake the black Lab was adopted in June, he went to live at summer camp. Seriously. His new mom works for, and lives on the grounds of, a large summer camp. Pearl the Poodle/Bichon mix found her forever home when her foster Dad failed Fostering 101. (We hear she's really coming out of her shell, even walks on a leash now!) Buddy - sweet, sweet Buddy the Beagle/Shar Pei mix, such a nice dog - finally found a home. I couldn't figure out why nobody even wanted to meet him, I thought it was the beagle part that was putting people off until one applicant told me it was the Shar Pei part. His new mom and dad were interested in another dog but at least agreed to meet Buddy when I suggested him as a possible fit, and they fell in love. Holly the Beagle/Fox Terrier found a home. Scooter learned to walk on a leash and now lives with another male toy poodle. Honey the cocker-with-a-tail was adopted.

Geraldine the Bassett/Beagle went to the Rainbow Bridge in June. We're glad we had the opportunity to know her, and we'll remember her with fondness.

Flora the Chiweenie was all fixed up a couple of weeks ago. One night when she was lying on her back on my lap, I noticed her "mammary mass" was moving. Since mammary masses don't move, and I'd already begun to think it was an inguinal hernia, I tried gently pressing on it to see if there was, indeed, a hole in her abdomen wall and the "mass" would go back through it into her abdomen. Yup, it did. It was a huge relief to know it was a hernia, which could be repaired and would have no further effect on her health, rather than a tumor. So the hernia was repaired, she was spayed, and got a dental all at the same time. (She only lost 4 teeth at her dental, but that's probably because some of the looser ones fell out on their own prior to the appointment. Her mouth was a mess.) She's clearly feeling better; she's become much more active and athletic, and her true personality is beginning to shine. She's such a little character - stubborn but submissive, tough as nails (she fearlessly scolds the big dogs if she thinks they need scolding) but she turns into a total Gumby when her tummy's tickled. She's always good for a grin, some lucky adopter's just going to adore her.


Flora sunbathing

We got some new dogs, too. Maon (pronounced Moon) and Morag (pronounced MOR-ak) (a pair of Scotties, about 4 years old) and a petite Miniature Schnauzer (also about 4) were breeder surrenders. Both the Schnauzer and Mooney had skin issues when they came in; the Schnauzer cleared up in a couple of weeks but Mooney lost quite a bit of fur which is only now beginning to grow back in. He looks a little funny now, but he'll be very handsome when his coat is healthy.


Morag

Morning Glory and Petunia are black Lab pups born in April. There were three puppies originally, but Morning Glory and Verbena came down with parvo and we lost Verbena. With round-the-clock nursing, administration of subcutaneous fluids, antibiotics, anti-nausea medication, and Tamiflu, we were able to pull Glory through. We started Petunia on a prophylactic course of Tamiflu and she never became clinically ill. Though she still needs to put on a little more weight, Glory has completely recovered and is no longer contagious, so both pups will be spayed and made available for adoption in the next couple of weeks.

Reilly is a little Maltese/Poodle mix, 2-3 years old, and absolutely adorable. This little guy was languishing away in a small, rural shelter out of state. His owner had turned him in to the shelter because he was "growly". He's not a dominant-aggressive dog, he's a little fearful. He doesn't actually want to hurt anyone, he just wants to make scary things go away. At one point in his life he discovered that lifting his lip and, if necessary, growling a little usually accomplishes just that, and he's been using it successfully ever since to avoid things like nail clipping, combing, grooming, teeth inspection, etc. He's learning that we understand he's scared but that we're not going to hurt him and we're not intimidated by that little lip-lift, so he'll have to tolerate whatever it is we're going to do. He's really a charming little guy, and though we won't place him with children because of his touchiness, he'd be great in an adult-only home with someone who won't let him get away with anything.


Reilly

Dottie and Dinky are red-ticked chocolate tri-color adolescent beagle sisters. They're both quite petite, even though they're just about fully grown. Dottie's only about 13 pounds, and Dinky's really tiny at about 9-10 pounds. They were dumped in a cemetary and were in danger of being shot. They're both sweet and absolutely adorable. They're a little shy, but not problematically so.


Dottie in front, Dinky behind

Most recently, we got the puppymill-rescue Turnpike Girls: Elyria (Ellie, red and white parti-color), Vermillion (Millie, black and white parti-color), Sandusky (Andie, buff), and Maumee (Mimi, buff) the Cockers and Lorain (Rainy, apricot with white chest) the Cocker/Poodle. The girls are very sweet and unusually social for mill dogs, they should be easy rehabs.


Sandusky
We obtained the domain names katzenwoofers.com and katzenwoofers.org this month, and got hooked up with a web host. We're currently working on putting together a website, and hope to go "live" by the first of August. It'll be pretty bare bones at first, not much more than what's on our Petfinder page, but we're working on putting together a reference library for information about heartworm preventative, vaccinations, pet food, etc. and a section of training articles. Eventually, we'd like to formulate our applications so they can be filled out and submitted online. We have some other bells and whistles planned, too, but they're down the road a piece, so we'll announce them when they're ready to publish.

Always behind.....

Sorry for the delay in updating. I get busy and forget to update.

I'm never going to remember who arrived and who got adopted since my last update, but I'll try. Frannie found a wonderful home in Toronto. Pinky the beagle was adopted the end of March. Bertie the Chihuahua and Tanner the JRT arrived the end of March and were both adopted in April. Taffy the cocker was also adopted in April, and Honey the cocker may be adopted this week. Dear Sydney the beagle/fox terrier was adopted, he was here almost a year and I'm thrilled that he's finally found a forever home. Scooter the poodle was adopted last week, and we have a good application for Pearl the poodle/bichon mix so I expect she'll be leaving soon, too. Little Tokala, a Chihuahua/Shiba Inu mix arrived in early April and went to his new home last week, too. He's going to be a psychological service dog for his new mom, and they're attending my current obedience class. Minnie was also adopted; she's having a few adjustment issues (living in the city is a little scary, apparently), but I'm hoping her adopters will be able to help her work through them.

Along with Bertie and Tanner, we got two other mill dogs the end of March. One is a middle-aged Chiweenie named Flora. She has horrible teeth and will probably lose most of them, plus she has a mammary mass. Our regular vet says that cancerous mammary masses are usually hard; Flora's is soft and symmetrical so I'm hoping it's benign. I don't even want to know what her total vet bill is going to be, but she's a sweet, funny, affectionate little thing and she's worth every penny.

The other dog we got is a little black and grey cockapoo I named Baby. Baby is still extremely shy, though she makes progress on a daily basis. When she was still in isolation in my bathroom, she'd scoot between the toilet and the wall every time I entered the room so, once her quarantine was done, I moved her out into the living room into a Great Dane-sized wire crate. I put it up on a table so she could see everything going on in the room, could see the other dogs interacting with me, and could start getting used to the everyday sounds and sights of living in a house. After about a week of that she looked like she was ready to start exploring, so I put a leash on her and let her loose in the house. She did well enough on her own, and with the other dogs, that I put her into a regular crate on the floor and disassembled the big crate. After a day or two, I took her outside on the patio with the other little dogs and she loved it. She came right back in with them, too, and though I had to "herd" her up into the main part of the house the first day, she started following the other little dogs after that. I had to catch her to take her out the first couple of days, then I had to "herd" her for a couple of days after that, but she finally got comfortable going out with the little dogs, too, and now she's even brave enough to run past me or run through my legs on her way out or in. She doesn't much like being shut up in the crate so I don't force her. I put her food dish in her crate and she goes in to eat, but if she thinks I'm going to shut the door on her she flies back out in a flash. She likes to hang out on the dog sofa, and seems to enjoy when other dogs snuggle with her. She's still very wary of me, but that'll come. I think there's a very sweet little dog under all that fear, and I think she's still just a youngster (maybe a year or a year and a half) so I have high hopes for being able to turn her around.




We took in an owner-surrender black Lab a week ago. He's a wonderful dog - 3 years old, house trained, became crate trained in 48 hours, gets along well with dogs of any size (and he and Sinatra have become best pals and playmates), ignores cats, and I was told he loves children. He's also got nice conformation, he looks like a Lab is supposed to look. He'll be an awesome family pet for someone!

Poor Geraldine the Bassett/Beagle is not doing well. She's much older than we thought when she first came in, she has severe IBD (currently under semi-control), she has a couple of probably-cancerous mammary tumors (which I think have likely metastasized), and bad teeth. She's still enjoying trips out to the yard, and she's still eagerly attacking her dinner, but no matter how much she eats she gets thinner by the day and I don't think she's got long. I'm doing what I can to keep her comfortable (antibiotics, pain meds), but I'm not going to go to any extraordinary measures to extend her life. When she stops enjoying her small pleasures I'll take her to the vet and let her go.

Ursula the brown tabby has proven herself to be a very skilled and relaxed mother. Her babies were born April 3; there were 3, but one only survived an hour. The other two are robust and healthy, and growing like weeds. There's a beautiful brown tabby boy, and a pretty little black tabby (black with dark grey tabby swirls) that I think is a girl. Some kittens are easy to sex early on, others are almost impossible to sex until they get a little older. The little black kitten is one of the latter. They've just started using a litterbox - well, they don't always make it into the box, sometimes they go just outside it, but they've got the right idea. They're starting to root around in Ursula's dish of kibble, and they've been licking at the canned food, too. They're getting around pretty well, and are very curious about their surroundings. They both enjoy being snuggled, too. I'm hoping to place them together, as they're very bonded.

A couple of weeks ago we took in another Bassett/Beagle, this one's named Matilda. When she first came in she was extra pudgy. I thought she was pregnant, especially since her belly seemed to be expanding, but now I'm starting to think it might be a false pregnancy that's resolving. She's not getting any bigger, she's not producing any milk, and I can't feel anything moving. I'll give her another couple of weeks and, if there's still nothing happening, I'll schedule her to be spayed. I'm actually wondering if she might not already be spayed - I think she's 2-3 years old, but she has maiden nipples that have never nursed a litter and I can't imagine she wouldn't have gotten pregnant before if she was still intact. But if she's spayed, then I wonder why she was running loose for a month and nobody claimed her. Sure wish I could ask her.

Catching up......

Well, it's been a busy couple of weeks, even though there hasn't been much in the way of comings or goings. But there was a lot of interest in the boxer mix pups, and correspondence and application review for just them kept us pretty busy. We had a week of pretty lousy weather, which meant nobody could spend much time outside even if they'd wanted to. Nobody (except Tansy, who seems to be impervious to the weather) wanted to go out in the rain and muck even to potty, much less to play. Thank goodness for the recent break in the weather. Even though it was cold for a few days it was sunny and dry, and now it's warmed up to the mid-50's and it's still sunny and dry, so the dogs have been getting much more opportunity to spend time outside. When they get enough exercise/play time outside, they're all a lot quieter when they come in, and it makes life easier.

I took a little video of some of the little dogs out in the yard the other day. Pearl the puppymill poodle is the little white dog leading the chase, Bibi the puppymill cockapoo is the fluffy little black dog, Tansy's the bigger fluffy dog, and the other players include a couple of my personal dogs and a couple rescue dogs that aren't ready to be listed on Petfinder yet.



On Friday, I talked a regular - though sometimes reluctant - donor (my mom) into buying me a nice big Rubbermaid bucket with a wringer. Oh boy, I looooooooooove my new bucket! I had a smaller mop that I used with it Friday and Saturday and it worked pretty well, but the mop head is small and the handle's short, and it was still pretty hard work. But yesterday, I bought a commercial-grade janitorial-type mop with a big mop head and a longer handle, and this afternoon the floors are getting another complete going-over. Then I'll be able to just fill the bucket each morning and keep it out, for immediate and easy accident clean-up. My old regular bucket and Libman Wondermop just aren't heavy-duty enough for my needs, the new bucket and mop should make floor cleaning much quicker and easier, leaving more time for playing, training, and other direct interaction with the dogs.

I'm grateful for the advent of Spring. The warmer weather will also simplify husbandry chores. During the winter I can't fill the water buckets/bowls out in the yard using the hose. I fill two gallon milk-jugs at the kitchen sink and haul them through the house and out in to the yard, and fill the water dishes that way. It takes two trips each time they need to be filled, twice a day. But with the temperature above freezing, I can fill the water dishes from the spigot out there. It's also going to make crate cleaning a lot easier. During the winter, crate cleaning is a pain. I have to take the crate apart and put it, one half at a time, into my bathtub to rinse out/clean, then dry, then reassemble. Inevitably, I get dirty water all over my bathroom, so it has to be cleaned afterward. When the weather's above freezing, I can just haul the whole crate out into my driveway, rinse it out with the hose, leave it out there to air-dry, then haul it back in afterward. No disassembly or reassembly required most of the time, and no bathroom-cleaning afterward!

We did home visits for the three puppies yesterday. They'll be neutered on Thursday, and they'll be going to their new homes that evening. Duncan is going to a young couple, Bentley is going to a family with 3 children, and Brando is going to an amazing home with a lovely young woman and her large, dog-loving family. (Brando's going to be the most socialized puppy on the face of the earth, I think.) An added bonus is that both Brando and Bentley will be within easy driving distance of my obedience class in that area, so I'm hoping to see them both in class the upcoming term!

Sinatra, Cider, Frannie, and probably Geraldine will also be going in to be spayed/neutered on Thursday. I hope someone falls in love with Sinatra, soon. He's a wonderful dog, very affectionate and sweet, but he's a bit of a bull in a china shop and this little china shop is just not big enough for him. He'll be a great family companion and he'll probably settle easily into a new home, and with the one-on-one time he'll get in a home of his own he's going to be a really wonderful pet.

I can't believe we've had so little interest in Scooter, the little white poodle boy. He's a great little dog, very social, affectionate, and funny. He makes me laugh all the time. He has very little residual psychological damage from his life in the mill, and he's got such a happy, gung-ho attitude that any lingering shadow of his former life will soon be a thing of the past. He's young, no more than about 2. He loves other dogs, he's great with cats, and he'd probably be great with kids too. And he's a poodle for goodness' sake. I'd sure like to see him settled into a loving home.

Puppies!

I saw a post come through on the freecycle list for 4 male Boxer mix puppies. I got in touch with the people and made arrangements to pick them up on Saturday. I thought about stopping there on my way into town, but I went to town first and stopped there on the way home. As I was walking in, a pair of women were walking out with one of the pups, a fawn brindle and white fellow. If I'd stopped on my way into town instead of on the way home, I'd have gotten all 4. But I talked to the women about getting their new pup neutered, gave them info about the low-cost spay/neuter clinic, offered to drive him down there when I go, and gave them my card so they could contact me if they changed their minds about keeping him or had any trouble getting him settled in.

Here are the three boys I picked up:

Bentley

Brando

Duncan

The mom is a Boxer mix, they said with Beagle and Bassett, but nobody's got short legs and I don't see any Bassett influence. Beagle maybe, though. The dad is a small fawn Boxer mix, he looks almost purebred. There has to have been another dad, though, because both Duncan and Brando have soft, feathery coats. Maybe setter? Both adults have gentle, calm temperaments, that bodes well for the adult temperament of the pups. I talked to the owners of the mama dog about getting her spayed, and they're going to let me take her to the s/n clinic the next time I go.

Donovan, the cute little Shih Tzu boy is going to his new home this afternoon. I'm glad he's going - he just needs more attention and lap time than he was getting here - and I'm sure he'll be glad to be in a quieter environment where he can get more snuggles.

We had an incident this last week. Rudy, the 10-year old Rat Terrier mix, has always been a little crosspatch. He's just not a happy guy, and he's quite dominant. His previous owners probably let him do whatever he wanted, I doubt they told him 'no' very often. I pulled him from the pound the end of October, on impulse. I'd gone in to get Beanie the Beagle/Dachshund mix, and Rudy was in the next kennel run, skinny, dull-coated, and looking thoroughly miserable. When I found out he was already neutered and up-to-date on his rabies vaccine and would only cost me $20 to pull, I thought, "how can I leave him here? Poor little guy." So Rudy came home that day too.

The "miserable" look I saw at the pound has never left his face. He threatened to bite me on a regular basis and I knew he meant it, so I didn't push him. I didn't think he'd do more than nip, though, so I hoped to find him a nice quiet home with an indulgent senior citizen, where he could live out the rest of his life without being a threat to anyone. Earlier this past week, he refused to go outside with the little dogs. Instead, he stood in the kitchen and, looking me straight in the eye, peed on the floor. I scooped him up and went to put him in a crate, and he turned into Cujo, biting furiously and viciously. He nailed me in the heel of my hand, a deep tearing puncture, and he'd have gotten me several more times if I didn't have really good reflexes. That makes him not placeable, and I won't live with a dog that'll bite me like that. So he's halfway through a 10-day rabies hold, and later this week he'll be euthanized.

(Rudy must have had some nasty bacteria in his mouth, because even though I started Keflex immediately after he bit me my hand got infected. $120 for a doctor's office visit and a stronger antibiotic (Augmentin), and many hours of soaking my hand later, I'm healing. Still sore, but not infected any more.)

I've been bitten by one of my own dogs, but it was an accident - I was trying to break up a disagreement and he was aiming for another dog, not for me. He has a tendency toward redirected aggression - if he can't get to the dog he's ticked at, he'll turn around and go for whichever dog is closest to him. He rarely actually bites the other dog, it's mostly just noise, but if a human was between him and his target, they could get bitten. And that's why he's mine - 98% of the time he's a sweet, silly boy, I love him, and I'm willing to take the chance he'll bite me again, but he's not safe to place. If he - or any of my personal dogs - ever deliberately bit me with the intent and intensity with which Rudy bit me, we'd be on our way to the vet as soon as I could find my car keys. It would break my heart, but I'd do it.

I hate having to euthanize dogs, it's the hardest part of doing responsible rescue, but sometimes it has to be done. I firmly believe the public is entitled to safe dogs, and we won't accept owner surrenders with a bite history, and I won't pull dogs from the shelter that fail my temperament test. (I didn't temp test Rudy (though I doubt he'd have exhibited aggression at the pound, he was pretty cowed), I acted on emotional impulse. I should know by now that never turns out good.) Once a dog is in the program, if I discover s/he's not safe to place, I'll euthanize. At least Rudy has had 4 months of good food (he's gained a couple of pounds, his coat is glossy, and he's healthy), and he got a second chance. There's nothing else I can do for him, except buy him a couple of cheeseburgers at McDonald's on the way to the vet.

Bibi the mill cockapoo continues to make slow but sure progress. This past week she started approaching me when I was sitting, and doesn't shy away when I reach out to pet her. I sure do like her, I hope someone will see her potential and help her become the delightful companion I know she can be.

Coming and Going

Frannie the larger cocker/poodle mix has gone out to foster. Friday afternoon we picked up Donovan, a 1.5-year old Shih Tzu boy who's a real sweetheart. I took Zuzu the Brussels and Norman the Chihuauzer along for the ride, so Donvan already had a couple of friends by the time we got home. He settled in immediately, and has been a joy to have around. I think he'll place very quickly.

The trip was good for Zuzu. When we left the house she was huddled down, frozen in place. But by the time we got home she was sitting up, looking around, and interacting with everyone. Just this morning, she went outside all by herself. In the last week she's worked her way through the kitchen gate, then down the hall, and then this morning, hesitantly and with lots of coaxing, past all the noisy dogs in the family room to the door and, finally, over the threshhold and outside to me in the yard. This is big progress, and it'll make both her life and mine easier. (I won't have to carry her out any more.) In a couple of days she should be able to do it with only minimal coaxing.

Bibi cracks me up. She's such a bright, funny little thing. She's getting braver all the time. When she got here she wouldn't meet my eyes. Wouldn't even look at me. Now she watches me all the time, doesn't look away when I look at her face, and her tail wags when I talk to her. Once I capture her and take her over to my chair and sit down with her in my lap, she really enjoys the skritching (and, recently, combing/brushing). Last night she got so relaxed she draped her chin over my forearm and went to sleep. She still moves away if I move toward her, but she comes a lot closer to me if I stay put and coax her. She's getting there. Someone's going to be lucky to get her, there's a very neat little dog lurking in there.

Cider continues to improve, the lesion on her leg is healing nicely. She's a good little girl, very sweet and affectionate. She's a big lap dog, she can't think of anything she'd rather do than snuggle. She's very responsive, she'd be a great companion for a single person.

Minnie came back. She seems happy to be here. I'm thinking maybe she needs to be in a home with another dog, and a fenced yard so she can get out and play/exercise with her canine companion. I took her (and several others) over to play, yesterday, with an adopted alumni, and she really enjoyed herself. She gets along with everybody - human, canine, and feline - and is surprisingly mature for an adolescent.

Updates

Well, all of the dogs at the pound from the last post were adopted - the boxer mix, the beagle/dachshund (I helped a family with a little girl decide on that one), the older-looking beagle girl, and the beagle mix puppy. Two days after I posted last, the shelter called. They had a little brown dog in there with a wounded leg, technically she wouldn't be available for adoption for another 6 days but the leg was in bad shape. She was also emaciated, and the shelter said if they took her to the vet they'd probably just euth her, but she was so nice they wanted to see if a rescue would take her. They knew the right sucker to call, so I went and got Cider:

A week of antibiotics and a little wormer have gotten Cider healing up and gaining weight. She's a very sweet girl, she gets along well with other dogs, is good with cats, and absolutely loves to cuddle. She's a petite little thing, can't be any more than 30 pounds, and she thinks she's a lap dog.

I got a call from the shelter again late last week. I had seen a fellow there I liked a lot, a blue-eyed lab/hound mix the shelter was calling Frank. I had them put a note on his card to call me if he didn't get adopted. They called me the day he became available - the shelter was full, they wanted me to come get him ASAP. I was able to find a sponsor for his pull fees so Frank - now Sinatra - came home with me.


The shelter was, indeed, full. Over-full. More than half the kennels are occupied by dogs confiscated from a hoarder, and some of those dogs are housed 2 to a run. There must be 25 of them, everything from a Saint Bernard to labs to a couple little scruffy terrier mixes. I took Sinatra into the cat room to see how he'd do with cats and I found two of the cat cages occupied by dogs - in one cage were 4 adorable baby Lab/Rottie mixes, and in another cage was a little scruffy dog. I didn't even look at the little dog, just went back to the office and told them "I'll take the little guy, too."

He's a 4-month old Chihuauzer (that's pronounced cheeWOWzer), a Chihuahua/Schnauzer mix. We lost one of our personal dogs early in December, a little Chihuahua/Dachshund mix named Dudley. Dudley raised Sparky (a Chihuahua/Dachshund/Shih Tzu mix) and Sparky has been bereft without his buddy. I've been looking for a small puppy for Sparky, and for me. I need a new demonstration dog for my obedience classes, my sweet 11.5 year old setter has been my demo dog for years but she has trouble with the slick floors in the rooms where we teach so she's semi-retired. This little shaggy boy might be exactly what we've been looking for. Now, if I could only come up with a good name for him!

We also received three more mill dogs a little over a week ago. A pair of cocker girls - one buff (Taffy), one red with a full tail (Bit O'Honey) and a little blonde Brussels Griffon (Zuzu). These girls are in much better shape than I've come to expect of mill dogs, both physically and psychologically. The candy girls are beautiful, sweet, and social and won't need any special skills/experience in an adoptive home. Zuzu is a little more timid, but coming around very quickly. She loves, loves, loves to cuddle, and thinks hanging out on a lap is just the best thing ever. She loves other dogs, loves to play. She may never make it to Petfinder. *grin*

We've got a dog going out to foster on Friday. Maybe Frannie, maybe Sinatra. We'll see which one the fosters like best.

Keeping Track of What's at the Pound

I stop into the county pound once a week or so, to see what's there. They have a Petfinder site, but it's not always current, and some dogs never get posted. (I have no idea why.) I stopped in on Friday and temp-tested a few dogs, including a black Lab mix someone had asked me to pull. The Lab failed my temp test, I told the person who asked me to pull him that I wouldn't accept him into our program.

I stopped back in again today. The Lab had become a moot issue - rescues are not allowed to take dogs until the day after they become available to the public, the Lab became available on Saturday and was adopted then. I hope they didn't have children. A lovely 3-year old Keeshond, an owner surrender, was adopted this morning. There's a Boxer mix fellow there I like, he becomes available to the public tomorrow. I suspect he'll still be there on Wednesday, he's got something intestinal going on and is "leaking" a little poop, and I can't imagine anyone would adopt him. But he's already neutered, I cat-tested him today and he passed, and he's a nice young fellow, so if he's still there on Wednesday I'll pull him.

There are 3 other dogs there I'm interested in, all either beagles or beagle mixes. sigh One is, I think, a Beagle/Dachshund, built very much like Beanie and with the same sweet, affectionate temperament. Another is a little tiny female who looks old, but isn't. The shelter staff said they think she's probably about 10, but her teeth say otherwise. She's got a little tartar but not much, I'd put her in the 3-4 year old range. Very sweet, and totally overwhelmed by being in the shelter. They both become available on Friday, so I'll be going Saturday morning to get them. The third is a puppy, another tri-color (but mostly black) beagle mix. Very sweet and very cute, her tail wags her whole body. She becomes available on Thursday, if she's still there on Friday I'll go get her.

There's a new mom and litter there this morning. I don't know what she is, she might be part pit bull but might not be, too. And she has 7 or 8 little black babies with her, they look to be 6-7 weeks old. Very cute. Mom's a quiet dog and the pups are quiet, too. Someone called me a few weeks ago about a litter of pit/Lab mix puppies and I couldn't take them at the time. I wonder if they are the ones in the shelter.

In other news, Molly will be going to her forever home some time this week, probably Friday. Bibi, the shy Cocker/Poodle mix is starting to be less timid. She loves to play with other dogs, she runs and jumps and spins and play-bows and her tail wags furiously. She'd be a great companion for an active dog. She's also gotten brave enough to run past me now, going out or coming in, coming down the hallway, going through the gate between the hallway and the kitchen. And though she still moves away from me when I move toward her, if I tell her "Up!" she'll go into the kitchen and just stand there, waiting for me to come pick her up. Frannie (the larger, more outgoing Cocker/Poodle), Pearl (who needs a different name), and Scooter are all going into their kennels voluntarily now. This morning I had to crate them when I went out, and all three went right into their kennels when I tossed treats in. I won't have to be chasing them all over the house any more when I need to crate them, that will make life easier.

Pearl is a gem

I spent a couple of hours this afternoon getting the rest of the ick off Pearl, the cream miniature Poodle girl. I held her on my lap while I worked with scissors, and she relaxed so much she was nodding off. There are a few odd bits that need cleaning up, still, but she looks like a different dog, and she's feeling much better. She's getting a little more brave, a little more curious. She follows everyone out to the yard, and back in again. She's also easier to "catch", starting to hunker down and wait for me to pick her up, instead of making me chase her all over the place. I'll get some new pics of her later.

From Mill Dog to Real Dog

On January 9th, we received 4 dogs from an Amish puppymill in OH. All are 2-3 years old - a small (10 pound) white Miniature Poodle male, a cream Miniature Poodle female (possibly mixed with Bichon), and two black-with-white female Cocker/Poodle mixes. They're all shy, but coming around. Scooter, the male poodle, is making the quickest progress.

Scooter was quarantined in the half bath off my bedroom for the first week. He was a mess when he arrived, his fur matted 1 inch thick all over his body, his head and face obscured by big dreadlocks, big ball-shaped mats on his front legs. It took 7 hours over 3 days to get the worst of the ick off, and I've been gradually working on the rest of it with scissors. He's starting to look pretty good!

Before:



Today:

A week ago I moved him out into the living room, into his own crate. He's doing extremely well. He follows the other dogs outside to potty and get a drink, and follows them back in. He enjoys running around the yard, and he loves to scoot around inside too. He loves to be skritched and petted, and will snuggle in my arms for hours. He's learned that "Up!" means I want to pick him up, and when I tell him Up! he comes close then hunkers down and waits for me to pick him up. He was neutered yesterday, and did very well with the "strangers" at the clinic.

Scooter has taken to being a "real dog" with gusto. I think he'll have completely put his past behind him in another couple of weeks. He's a delightful little guy who gets along with everyone - both other dogs and cats - and is liked by all in return. Such a nice little dog!

Welcome to My World

Welcome to Katzenwoofers Pet Rescue Blog. We'll be sharing the day-to-day activities of our small, all-volunteer cat and dog rescue, and the stories and progress of our adoptable pets.