My Fire Hydrant

Bailey was born on March 11, 1996.

We did this birthday video last year. I think, in my heart, I suspected it would be the last time we celebrated Bailey’s birthday. I have very fond memories of the day we shot this. It’s pretty silly.

In memory of Bailey, join our online Bichon Bash by clicking and donating to Small Paws Rescue. No donation is too small, and every donation will make a difference in a dog’s life.

Our First Bichon Bash--Bailey and I are on the left, in the first row.

BICHON BASH?

A Bichon Bash is when you get a bunch of little white fluffy dogs together and have a party. Just imagine a sea of white pooches! OK, if you’re into Labrador Retrievers you might not appreciate the cuteness factor. But if you like little dogs, it’s an overdose of cute!

Bailey, attending her first Bichon bash, is annoyed when she discovers that she is not the only cute white dog at the party.

Over the years, Bailey and I attended several Bichon Bashes here in Dayton. And that’s where we first learned about Small Paws Rescue.

This month, I’m working with my friend Romeo and we’re having an online Bichon Bash to raise money for Small Paws Rescue.

WHAT’S SMALL PAWS RESCUE?

Small Paws Rescue was started by Susan Sebring and Robin Pressnall (Executive Director) eleven years ago when they were turned down by an already existing Bichon rescue group because they were “not been suitable for rescue work.” Robin and Susan decided they would form their own Bichon rescue and Small Paws was born.

Higgins begins his Small Paws journey!

SOME NUMBERS

• Over 800 volunteers, over 6,000 members in 20 countries: Small Paws is the largest Bichon Frise rescue in the U.S.
• Available to take in Bichons in need 24/7/365
• Since September 1998, has rescued, vetted and re-homed over 7,500 Bichons
• 18 experienced Team Leaders oversee rescued Bichons and volunteers regionally
• Typically, 150 to 200 Small Paws Bichons fostered all over the U.S., are available on Petfinder every day
• Typically, 50 to 100 Small Paws Bichons are in various stages of quarantine, heartworm treatment, surgeries, or permanent hospice care every day
• Over 5,000 Small Paws Bichons have been flown to their forever homes without incident
• 25 adoption processors to thoroughly screen each applicant
• Typically between $25,000.00 and $50,000.00 per month is paid out in vet bills (posted publicly on the site)

HOW DOES SMALL PAWS RESCUE BICHONS?

Small Paws is entirely supported by donations and fund raisers. Donations are generated mostly from the membership though a newsletter. Small Paws also raises money through an eStore and on eBay–both great places to shop if you’re looking for Bichon-oriented clothes and accessories.

Small Paws is totally volunteer-driven. It is virtually an army of  foster parents, pooch transporters, shelter-watchers, prayer circle participants, blanket-makers, eBay suppliers, auction attenders, financiers, and emotional supporters. Every member is connected to the group through the newsletter, emails, phone calls, and a shared urgency to help Bichons.

A SIMPLIFIED VIEW OF THE SMALL PAWS PROCESS

Robin Pressnall, Executive Director, holds some rescued Bichon babies who will soon have furever homes.

• A Bichon–or “Fluff”–enters Small Paws through owner surrender, from commercial kennel auctions, from shelters, or any other avenue that results in a homeless Fluff.
• Each dog’s health is evaluated by a veterinarian, and a medical plan is made.
• For major medical expenses (for instance, surgery), a call goes out to the membership for donations.
• Once the Bichon’s health issues are taken care of (also spay/neuter if needed), the Fluff is placed in a foster home with a Small Paws member
• Often, the foster home is a learning and socialization environment for the orphan Fluff
• Photos are taken, and posted on Petfinder
• A prospective pet parent fills out the application form on the Small Paws site
• Each applicant goes through an extensive and proven screening process that includes an interview with the applicant’s veterinarian.

Small Paws takes lifetime responsibility for the Bichons who enter the Rescue. If an adopted Fluff is ever orphaned, it is returned to Small Paws and a new home is found. The Small Paws Bichon is carefully matched to his or her new home–at a high rate of success. And there are followups done on every adoption.

Scarlett and Rhett, a bonded pair with a questionable heritage, just arrived from a shelter. They will be placed in the same furever home.

Sometimes a Bichon will enter Small Paws as half of a bonded pair–two dogs who have bonded emotionally (and often they’re not both Bichons). Bonded pairs are never separated, but are offered at the adoption fee of a single dog. Senior dogs’ adoption fees are always reduced. And puppies are reserved first for people who are grieving for a lost loved one. A home is found for all–no matter what the special needs.

The volunteers of Small Paws operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. They are tireless and creative in their missionto help orphaned Bichons find furever homes. At first, they appear to be a loose  gathering of do-gooders. But on further examination, they are a refined organization motivated and motivating people to work together to make this world a better place.

That’s why I love them!

Angela (Pet Care R&D) with Cheech, Asanya, and Samson (AKA Bubba). 

"All of my pets are seniors now, which makes them all-the-more valuable to my husband and me. Even though they're way passed the puppy years, we still catch them doing the most adorable things."

Today is SPAY DAY! Why should you get your pet spayed or neutered? 

Spayed females won’t GO INTO HEAT. This means:

• No need to deal with pet-sized sanitary napkins or stains on furniture or carpets (gross!).
• No worries about Fife running away to find her Rover or attracting unknown male suitors to your yard.
• No more noisy late nights. There are few things more calculated to keep you from getting a good night’s rest than the plaintive meow-yowl of a female cat in heat. The pacing alone totally gets on my nerves. Have you HEARD the noise they make when they actually mate? And they always do it at 3 AM.

Neutered males won’t ROAM FROM HOME. This means:

• No more one-night stands. Intact males often go looking for one-night stands—they have a strong desire to escape and roam (like the bad boy in a trashy romance novel.) This “pets gone wild” attitude can increase his chances of injury by other animals or cars.
• It also provides opportunities for him to eat bad garbage or drink contaminated water.
• And then there’s the time and the legwork you’ll have to invest in creating and distributing “have you seen?” posters when you have to go look for your roaming Romeo. Not to mention the natural stress you’ll feel because he’s lost.

There are HEALTH BENEFITS for spayed females, including:

• Prevention of uterine and, ovarian cancer and a possible reduction in the risk of breast cancer.
• Prevention of pyometra, an infection in the uterus common in older, unspayed females.
• Don’t use the risk of weight gain as a reason NOT to spay or neuter. Pets get fat because we give them too many calories and not enough exercise. There may be a link between hormone changes and weight gain, but we are the gatekeepers on calories and without an over abundance of calories there can be no weight gain.

Neutered males get HEALTH BENEFITS too. They include:

• Prevention of testicular cancer.
• Can help prevent development of perianal tumors and some diseases of the prostrate.
• See bullet point above about weight gain.

Pets can get time off for GOOD BEHAVIOR:

• Your unfixed male furball will probably become increasingly protective of his territory as he ages. This can include aggression towards other animals–especially other males, and especially when the other male enters your furball’s territorial boundaries. Territorial aggression can cause fights, which can lead to injury and vet bills and possibly a legal summons. Neutered males tend to be less aggressive.
• That same unfixed male furball likes to mark his territory with pee. Females will also mark turf—especially when they’re in heat. Spaying/neutering reduces hormone levels which can reduce territorial marking.  
• A “false pregnancy” can cause an unsprayed female to go through behavioral (and physical) changes associated with pregnancy—which can sometimes be very unsettling for the pet’s human.
• Neutered males tend to be less likely to exert dominance over your friends and family members. So you don’t have to apologize as often for Rex humping your neighbor’s leg.
• IMPORTANT: Just because you neuter him or spay her doesn’t mean you still don’t have to teach them good manners. Spaying and neutering is not a replacement for training.

It’s a GOOD NEIGHBOR policy:

• Spaying and neutering reduces number of animals on the streets.
• Roaming pets can prey on wildlife or other pets, can cause car accidents, and can frighten children (or adults—have you ever come face-to-face with a Great Dane looking to get laid?)
• Roaming Romeos get into your neighbors’ garbage and use your neighbors’ yards for potties—when you’re not there to pick up after them (as all responsible pet owners do). The noise they make with their late-night one-night stands keeps hard-working folks from getting a good night’s sleep. Invoke the no-roaming clause: roaming behavior can be effectively stopped with neutering.

It can be more COST EFFECTIVE. Spaying and neutering:

• Costs less than the cost of having a litter.
• Costs less than vet visit due to pet fighting while roaming.
• Can help keep municipal animal control costs down due to reduction in orphaned pets.
• Can’t afford the cost of spay/neuter surgery? Did I mention that today is national Spay Day? Many animal welfare groups have programs providing reduced cost spay/neuter services to celebrate. Check with your local groups to see what’s available to you.

SEX ED? The BIRTH module is on YouTube:

So many people say they want their dog or cat to have a litter so they can show their kids the miracle of life. There are lots of videos on YouTube showing the miracle of pet birth, so there’s no need to breed puppies or kittens to provide this lesson to your kids. And a video is so much less work for you!

Help fight OVERPOPULATION in your own backyard:

• There are different estimates as to how many pets are euthanized in shelters each year due to lack of homes–the number ranges from 6 to 12 million. That’s 16,438 to 32,877 orphan pet euthanized EACH DAY. Do you want to be part of this terrible statistic? Spay and neuter your pets. Talk to your family, friends and neighbors and help them to understand why this is so important to do.
• Two really great tools illustrate how an unspayed female pet and her mate can be a population explosion waiting to happen. Check out “Did you know?” (for cats and for dogs) on SpayUSA. Get educated about pet overpopulation!

IT’S YOUR CHOICE

In my opinion, people have a right to decide whether to spay or neuter their pets. But when you decide not to do it, I firmly believe you also take on the responsibility of not adding to the population of orphaned pets.

And if your four-legged female is pregnant, then as that female’s human partner you are responsible for providing:

• The best possible nutrition for mom and the babies.
• The best possible veterinary care for mom and the babies
• Mom with help and care during all phases of the pregnancy.
• A consistently clean and warm space for mom and her babies.
• Proper socialization for the babies according to their needs
• Homes for the babies with people you are certain will properly care for them and for re-homeing them, if things don’t work out. 

In my opinion, it’s easier and more practical to spay and neuter. 

Lastly, it’s NOT JUST DOGS AND CATS!

Spaying and neutering is not just for dogs and cats—rabbit reproduction speeds are no joke! Talk to your veterinarian about spaying and neutering for other pets too.

MORE INFORMATION

Each month, we (Iams) invite people to vote for their favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays organization in our Feed Pets in Needcontest. At the end of the month, the two groups with the most votes will win a month’s supply of Iams Pet Food.

This program was launched this past November, and ANH is our first of two winners for that month.

ANH (Animals Need Help) of Bear Lake is located in Montpelier, Idaho. On their very sweet, very musical web site, I found beautiful images of some of the dogs and cats they have available for adoption. I also discovered a truly wonderful video that brought tears to my eyes. Good tears.

My contact at Animals in Need is Lorrie Jensen, and she kindly consented to be interviewed by email:

Sweet little Chloe may be the right kitty for you!

Please tell us about how ANH operates—do all the pet orphans live under the same roof?
We have a very small facility. When we are full we rely on foster homes to help us out. We work totally on donation and fund raisers. We require a reference to adopt and check every reference to make sure our furkids will be safe and happy. Everyone is spayed/neutered, up to date on vaccinations and socialized before they go home. We are not an open shelter but meet the adopting families at their convenience.

Delilah is a sweet pooch who needs a home.

What is your job at ANH? What do you do?
We are all volunteers at ANH. We each take a turn every day caring for and playing with the animals. Between us we are out to the shelter about 5 times a day. Each of us does something different with the animals. Some just go for a walk, others go for car rides and runs. We try to get them used to as many different experiences are possible. We all help with the cleaning, laundry and daily chores. I do the Petfinder site and our website. I answer calls and emails and screen new potential families to make sure our furkids have the very best homes possible. I also do deliveries when needed. Lots and lots of fund raising time. From vet runs to eye meds, toenails and removing stitches. We are all available for whatever is needed. We have the most dedicated group of volunteers you will find anywhere.

Adorable Keisha and Kierra might be the dogs you're looking for!

What’s the most important thing that ANH does to help animals?
We make sure our animals are healthy and socialized before they go to a new home. We also care that it’s a good match when we place one of our kids with a new family. If there is ever any problem, we are always very happy and willing to take them back. I think the very most important thing we do is love them. When they leave our shelter, they know someone loved them. They are happy wonderful little guys who are ready to be family members.

What’s the most inspiring thing that happened at ANH during Iams Home 4 the Holidays?
It was so amazing how many people helped us in the voting [for the Feed Pets in Need contest]. We are so small and wondered if we even had a chance. We have a wonderful support team and they all rallied to help. The phone call that we won was fantastic too. I felt like we had won the lottery, actually I could barely talk, I was crying so hard. You will never know how much we appreciated this opportunity and how much it helped us.

Mazzie is a beauty who would love a furever family!

What is the hardest part of your job?
I can hardly stand it when I see animals that have been abused and neglected. I wish we could help more. We try to stay as positive as possible. We know after they are with us, they are safe. We have made a commitment to keep our site positive and not always talk about the sadness we see. We like to present our furkids like this is a new beginning.

What do you love the most about your job?
Seeing happy pets with wonderful loving families. We keep in touch with so many of our families.We get to hear and see that they are really safe and sound. Oh and who doesn’t love all those wet kisses and furry hugs.

Niki could be the playmate you seek!

What advice do you have for anyone who wants to volunteer at a shelter?
Do it. People say that they love animals too much and it would just be too hard. That’s exactly the kind of person shelters need. Someone who will never drop the ball and will fight every single day for these wonderful homeless animals. Besides it’s a way we can each save our little corner of the world.

What can people do to help ANH?
Spay and neuter pets. Speak up for the animals who can’t speak up for themselves. When you see something that needs help. Just help.

What is your perfect day?
[This past] Sunday was a perfect day. We placed two sweet animals in wonderful homes, heard from both families later on that night that all was well and The Saints won Yay!

Little Sassy is looking for a furever home!

From Bev: The dogs and cats who’s photos appear here were available for adoption from ANH at the time of this post. They’re cuties, so if you’re interested in adopting one of them you better get busy!

Help your favorite Iams Home 4 the Holidays shelter to win free food: FEED PETS IN NEED (Terms & Conditions)!

The folks at the Helen Woodward Animal Center are holding a “best adoption story” essay contest for the participating Iams Home 4 the Holidays organizations. The finalists have been narrowed down to 5. Between now and the end of February, we are all invited to vote for our favorite!

My buddy (and hero!) Mike Arms says:

Mike Arms, President of the Helen Woodward Animal Center and founder of Home 4 the Holidays

“These stories all have happy endings but for some of them it was a long, hard battle. Some make you cry, others make you laugh, they all touch your heart. 

We need help from animal lovers worldwide to select the most heart-warming and most successful pet adoption story from this past holiday season. There are so many great stories about pets that were saved during the holiday season. Now they’re starting the new year with a new, “leash” on life.

We’ve narrowed this down to the top five. Between now and February 28 we’re asking people to vote on their favorite story. The animal shelter or rescue group that submitted the winning entry will receive a $500 donation from Helen Woodward Animal Center.

One vote per person. This isn’t about which organization can convince the most people to vote. It’s about which story touches your heart.”

If you love animals, then these stories will make you cry–but in a good way. I just cast my vote–you should too!!

Meet Truman!

New photos from my friend Daniel! He adopted an Iams Home 4 the Holidays dog in late December.

Truman is a 3-year old Cocker Spaniel mix. In his email to me, Daniel says:

“He’s a fantastic little stray rescue but clearly has a loving owner in his past – he is brave, smart and extremely well behaved and is settling in nicely to his new home. No surprise that our home is an Iams home, and he goes crazy for his Lamb & Rice meals. The shelter described him as ‘the perfect little cocker spaniel with a perfect little way about him’ and I couldn’t agree more!”  

I am so happy for Daniel to have such a wonderful new companion in his life! And I’m thrilled that Truman has found such a loving furever home!

Somewhere my little Bailey is giving a paws up to Daniel and Truman for their good fortune in finding each other.

My friend Emily over on Eukanuba Unleashed posted today about how to throw a “pawty” on February 6 when Animal Planet broadcasts the AKC/Eukanuba National Championship. Em has got all the bases covered–from invitations to decor to drinks. She even includes a scorecard–the Bone Collector Grid–that you can use in a game to keep track of which dog is moving forward for the win. Actually, I think the Bone Collector Grid might be a fun game to play at any dog show–especially for kids who might become a little antsy during the judging.

A step forward, and a step back.

She’s vomiting more often. Last night when we went to bed, and again around 3 AM. Three times this morning. It’s nearly all water, cause she hasn’t eaten since 6 PM last night. She is again refusing food.

Just got back from the vet where we did a repeat of yesterday–fluids under the skin, blood glucose check, buprenorphin, famotidine, metoclopramide.  I came home with 2 syringes of buprenorphine (for pain), and 1 of  metoclopramide (for the vomiting).

We (Bailey, me, and Dr. B) are back on the path that may end at the bridge. It depends on how she responds over the next 24 hours.

Well, we’re pretty certain it’s not cancer.

I have that kind of headache that you get with crying.

Dr. C called a little while ago. Her calcium levels are normal (that’s what makes us think it’s not the cancer), her white/red blood cells all normal and blood count good, thyroid normal, her pancreas is good. Even though her bilirubin and albumin are normal, other liver values indicate that there’s something going wrong with her liver. In his words, “Her liver is not pulling its weight.”

His counsel:

• Hospitalize her today
• See a specialist early next week for an ultrasound and a liver biopsy

I pushed back on the hospitalization, and I’m still trying to figure out if I’m being selfish or doing what’s best for my dog.

Bailey and I are very bonded. This has really become apparent during the times I have had to travel in the past year and leave her at home. In nearly 14 years I think I can count on one hand the nights we’ve spent apart. I cannot tolarate the thought of her all alone, in a cage at the vet’s. I KNOW the folks at my vet clinic would take real good care of her–I’ve seen them in action. But they’re not there 24/7. And they close for the weekend today at 1–so it’s not like there would be regular office hours tomorrow. The other option is the emergency vet down the road from my vet. They’re there 24/7 but I have no experience of their work and I am reluctant to leave Bailey in their hands for the next 2 days.

Dr. C says the reasons to hospitalize is so that she can have some support in hydration and electrolytes. But he didn’t work too hard to try and talk me out of keeping her home this weekend. So, as long as she’s willing to eat (anything!), as long as she’s drinking water (and I’m pushing her on that), as long as she’s acting “normal” and not vomiting we’re fine. If she totally refuses to eat anything and/or starts vomiting I will take her to the emergency clinic for hospitalization.

So now we’re again in waiting mode. Dr. C will contact the local canine liver specialist on Monday and arrange for Bailey to have an ultrasound and probably a liver biopsy. She’s an old girl–nearly 14. I have got to do my best to make my upcoming decisions based on her quality of life and not my own selfish needs.

I wish I could stop crying.