My Fire Hydrant

I love this story.

Little Annie came from a puppy mill to foster with Rachel. Small Paws has some specific rules when it comes to Fluffs rescued from puppy mills:

• There needs to be another dog in residence to show the puppy mill dog how to live in a home with a family.
• No children under the age of 10.

The rules are there to give the adoption it’s best chance of success. But sometimes the rules can bend a little!

Annie, newly rescued by Small Paws

Meet Annie Small Paws! Annie was the third foster dog I took in with Small Paws in August 2009, after first two I fostered were adopted out to wonderful “furever” homes. Annie came to us from a commercial puppy mill in Andalusia, Alabama. She made the long trip to Rochester, NY by plane, and by the time she reached our home she was a scared little girl. She was extremely skinny too, weighing only 11 pounds, and was estimated to be 8 years old.

In the first couple minutes she was in our home, I fell in love. She was sad, scared, and damaged, and I knew she was going to be mine. We spent the next couple months working with her and a wonderful trainer on trust, and some basic obedience. She was still afraid of me, and terrified of my husband, but she loved my other 2 bichons. They would romp and play in the yard, and snuggle together on the bed.

Annie sunggles her pregnant foster mom.

In December 2009 I found out I was pregnant…with twins. We knew the Small Paws rule about not placing puppy mill dogs in homes with children under 10. I was afraid they were going to re-home her, so I contacted Joanne R. and asked (OK, begged) for them to let me keep her as a foster. I explained that even though she was still terrified of us humans, she had created a special bond with the dogs and I didn’t think there would be any issues. I promised if there was we would contact them immediately for re-homing. Small Paws agreed and she stayed with us as a foster while we waited for her “furever” home to come along.

One night in January I was sitting in my chair falling asleep (as pregnant women often do), and Annie jumped in my lap on her own. It startled me, because up to this point I had not been able to get her to sit with me, or even come near me on her own. She then rested her head on my belly and looked at me. I could tell she knew there were babies in there…we bonded. From that point forward our nightly ritual became snuggling in the chair. About 2 weeks later she gave me a kiss on the hand, and I cried.

In February 2010 I submitted my application for adoption. At 8 years old she was a senior dog, and she needed somewhere to hang her hat…I mean leash, forever. There had been no interest in her in the 6 months I had her, and I feared that no one wanted her because of her age. I also couldn’t bear the thought of her having to readjust to a new place. It took her that long to become trusting of me, I just wanted her to be happy for however long she was going to remain on this earth, she deserved it. After some conversation regarding my situation, the craziness that twins was going to bring, and my assurance that if for any reason I thought Annie wasn’t handling the kids properly I would contact them immediately, Robin, Joanne, and Bonnie agreed to let me adopt Annie!

To our surprise and pleasure, Annie took right to the babies. She would sleep in their room, she would come in and watch while we fed, and she would discipline the other two bichons when they became too rambunctious. Our trainer commented that Annie is a mommy, whether the baby has two feet or four it’s still a baby, she knows how to handle them.

Annie and her pal, Maddie

The twins are now 19 months old and adore Annie. We still snuggle in the chair every night after the kids go to bed, and she has become more tolerant of my husband. I wouldn’t describe their relationship as loving, but I think she finally realizes he is not going to hurt her. On a rare occasion she will even give me a kiss, which still makes me cry. She is a healthy (18 pounds! So much better than the 11 pounds she came to us at) playful, loving family dog who is trying to forget her past.

Just look at the smile on her face in the photo of her and my daughter Madeline. She has finally found her purpose in this world…

Small Paws saves dogs! You can help–donate some bucks, save some Fluffs!

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Thanks to Rachel for sharing Annie’s story!

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."

I was visiting my Aunt Martha a few days ago, and was struck by how beautiful she and her cat, Black Kitty are together. 

First, let me say thank you for those of you who have left comments of support and those of you I’ve talked with. We all love our furbabies, and your kind words are treasured.

I hospitalized Bailey this morning.

Yesterday morning she had to be coaxed to eat her biscuits. She flat-out refused the MiniChunks. In the afternoon I noticed a slight change in her behavior. She was a little more confused than normal (she’s almost 14 and I’ve noticed signs of canine dementia for quite a while).  And she totally lost interest in her biscuits. We made her some lean hamburger for supper–she reluctantly ate it. By bedtime she only took a couple of laps of water. She didn’t wake me during the night to get her off the bed for a drink and potty–I woke her at 4 AM–she very reluctantly went out to potty and had absolutely no interest in water. I knew then that it was time.

So at 7 I got up and got dressed–normally Bailey would have moved from her pillow at the head of the bed to the foot of the bed in prep to getting down, but not today. She refused water, food, and she wouldn’t go out to potty. I called the clinic–both Dr. B (our usual dogtor) and Dr. C (our stand-in from Friday) are off today, but good fortune smiled because Dr. T was in. I used to work with Dr. T, so I knew we would be in very caring hands.

The folks who work at the BR clinic are so wonderful! The 2 receptionists were so caring and empathetic as we waited to see the vet tech. They made a point of coming out from behind the counter and giving Bailey a scratch and me a pat. They are such lovely people.

We met first with the vet tech who got Bailey’s vitals. Dr. T was actually scheduled for surgery–but he was able to put it off so he could meet with us first. He did a very thorough exam, asked me lots of questions, looked over Bailey’s records, and took lots of notes. He also did x rays of her lungs and her liver.

The lung xray was to make sure that there was no cancer in her lungs. They’re clear.

The liver x ray was to see if we could get any hint of what might be happening. Her liver is enlarged, but Dr. T also had an x ray of her liver from a year ago and her liver was enlarged then, too. So no significant change in the size of her liver over the past year. He also looked at her blood-work–again, we had the same panels from last year and there’s no significant change.

He called Bailey “our little enigma.” He said that between the blood-work and the x rays he cannot find a reason for her symptoms and maybe we’re looking at a combination of things. Some of the older dogs he treats have lately had more problems with arthritis because our weather has been so cold. Also, he confirmed something that my friend from work Dr. Amy said to me yesterday: Sometimes older dogs who have symptoms like this simply need some fluid support to snap out of it. I’ll call him later this afternoon to see how she’s doing.

One thing I know for certain: we will not do any “heroic” measures to prolong Bailey’s life. I will not put her through invasive surgery or chemo. Her comfort is my paramount concern–and I will not consent to causing her pain just so I can have her companionship for a few extra months. This is a decision I made 4 years ago when we discussed putting her through chemo and radiation. And please understand, what’s right for me and Bailey is not what I consider right for every pet owner. We each make our own decisions based on our own experiences and knowledge of our pets.

I will probably have the dogtors take care of the bad tooth that Dr. C found on Friday–but I need more information about it before I make a decision.

So Bailey is now in hospital, and I miss her like crazy. The house seems empty without her here. But I still feel confident that I’ve made the right decisions. Keeping her home over the weekend allowed her to rest comfortably, and made me feel better too. But today her condition is beyond my skill and she needs the help of professionals. I’m going to do my best to keep thinking positive and hang on the idea that many dogs snap out of these symptoms after fluid support at the vet’s.

But, oh Dog! the house is so quiet.

It’s been a long time since I posted an update on my little girl. Today, we went to see our favorite veterinarian, Dr. B., for Bailey’s monthly check up.

 In case you didn’t know, Bailey was diagnosed with cancer over 3 years ago, had surgery to remove her left anal gland and 2 lymph nodes, and given only a few months to live. That was in December, 2005. Since that time, we’ve gone monthly to our vet to keep track of any resurgence of the cancer. Some people might think the money would have been better spent paying off my Visa bill, but I disagree.

To check the status of Bailey’s cancer, Dr. B must (OK, this may gross you out) stick her finger up into Bailey’s butt. It’s a really good thing that Dr. B is a petite person–her fingers are small! And today we found…….everything NORMAL, NO CANCER! [[doing my happy dance!!]]

Bailey’s heart is beating very well–no murmurs, her lungs sound good–she’s taking nice deep breaths, her reflexes are good (though her back legs are a little weak), and her weight continues at 18.9 pounds.

Now the other side of the coin: her cataracs have gotten noticibly worse–Dr. B has said that every visit for the past 3 months. I suspect my girl is going to be blind very soon. And I have been a very neglectful mom in that I have gotten out of the habit of cleaning her teeth and it’s starting to show!! BAD MOM!!! (where’s the rolled up newspaper?) I have GOT to make a better effort to brush her teeth!

We also discussed the fact that Bailey has had a few more incidents of  “backwards sneezing” lately, and some rough breathing. Dr. B. feels very certain that this is due to environmental allergies which we will take care of with some baby Benadryl.

When the exam was over, Bailey retreated to her Sherpa bag–her safe place. Poor sweetheart! Not only did we inturrupt puppy nap time for the vet visit, but she had to undergo the indignity of having her butt checked! One of the wonderful women who work at the front desk at the clinic gave Bailey a cookie, which didn’t exactly make up for her lost dignity, but which certainly helped make her feel better.

Small Paws Rescue Bichons on PetFinder.

This week I’ve been highlighting a few of the special-needs pets available through PetFinder.com. If you’re looking to adopt, think again before you bypass an animal that might have a disability or is older. These pets need love too!

This is Harper and Polly. They are a bonded pair–which means they must be adopted together. Small Paws Rescuehas dropped the second adoption fee so a lucky someone can adopt 2 little fluffy sweethearts for the price of one! Harper is around 14 years old, Polly is around 11 years old. Harper spends most of her time snoozing–though she likes her share of cuddles and kisses. Polly–though she’s bonded to Harper–will follow her human around and enjoys lap-snoozes. Both of these girls will potty outside–though Harper needs to be reminded when it’s time to go. These girls are being fostered in northern California.

Two very sweet old girls for one low price! Such a deal!

This is Walter. Walter is a sweet little gentleman who gets along with other dogs–in fact, it is recommended that there be at least one other dog in his forever home. He is between 9 and 11 years old. He doesn’t hear well, and his eyesight has started to cloud up, but he enjoys his foster home canine playgroup when they romp around in the back yard. He is housebroken, but he does wear a belly band so that there are no accidents. Walter is being fostered in northern California.

Is there a place in your heart and your home for Walter?

Small Paws Rescue Bichons on PetFinder.

This week, in honor of Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day, I’ve been featuring special-needs Bichons from Small Paws Rescue who are listed on the PetFinder site and are available for adoption. Today it’s Greg, who makes me want to cry because he looks so much like Bailey.

Little lover!

Greg has spent nearly all his life in a commercial puppy mill. He must be placed in a home that already has a socialized dog, because he needs another pooch to show him how to be a pet! He was born in 1993, and is mostly potty trained. He is being fostered in California.

This sweet boy deserves your love!

Small Paws Rescue Bichons on PetFinder.

In case you didn’t know, yesterday was ADOPT-A-LESS-ADOPTABLE-PET DAY. What kind of pet is less adoptable? Older pets. Pets who have behavior problems (like shyness or lack of house training). Pets who’s fur is dark. Pets with handicaps. To help bring attention to these pets, Petfinder.comdesignated yesterday as Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day. And because I have a special place in my heart for Bichons, I decided that this week I would highlight a Small Paws Rescue Bichon from Petfinder each day.

Just $75 buys you a soft bundle of lovin'!

This is Casey, a Small Paws Rescue Bichon being fostered in Connecticut.

Casey is 11 years old. She doesn’t like cats much, but she would be very happy to live with another dog as her friend. Like my Bailey, she needs a little help when it comes to stairs. She is house trained and also walks well on leash.

Are you looking for a little cuddle-bug? Casey is looking for you!

Reco = Recommendation

TODAY IS ADOPT-A-LESS-ADOPTABLE PET DAY! So my net recommendation for today is www.Petfinder.com.

 You’re reading a pet blog, so I’m assuming you’re into pets and you probably already know about Petfinder.com. You may have even found a four-legged friend to adopt from Petfinder. But have you taken the time to get to REALLY KNOW this site?

In addition to an excellent “Search for a Pet” tool, there are some really good training articles on the site, as well as some pet health articles.

The site also hosts forums like the Ideas and Helping Hands board where  folks can discuss ways to help pets. 

There’s a Fun pagewhere you’ll find ecards, games and videos. There’s also a Petfinder Bog!

And so many available widgets! I had a really hard time choosing one for the Fire Hydrant!

Lastly, because this is Adopt-a-Less-Adoptable-Pet Day, here are links to a couple of Happy Tails about Cow and Cooper a dog and a cat who had special needs and were adopted by special people. Enjoy!