Chapter 18: When Pregnant Dogs are Abandoned/Forfeited

When a foster comes to you there's one thing you worry about. What about the pregnant moms that get surrendered BECAUSE they are pregnant? These dogs are surrendered because the families know they can't take care of them, or owners were careless and didn't spay/neuter therefore know the pounds will "take care" of the situation before the puppies even come.

Bless the heart of the animal shelters down south, if they see a pregnant mom that can be rescued our rescue will bring them up. Imagine the overload on our foster homes and our blessed foster homes that are willing to take the mom AND the 5-9 puppies they may have. Everytime this happens, these foster parents have the puppies for at least 8 weeks until they can be weaned from mom.

After weaning, the moms are tired, they've been freshly abandoned, and exhausted. But once they can be weaned from their puppies, they can start their new journey. (Sadly these pregnant moms are young and probably shouldn't be having litters, let alone multiple litters)

They deserve to be loved on their own as family pets and spoiled just like the rest of them.

Where I come in is after the weaning. They come to me thin, exhausted, and tummy droopy and nipples engorged. It's amazing again I point out how resilient they are because they just live through it.

These mommas are shy and tired, so they need rehab on their own. They are not used to being center of attention and they no longer need to worry about their babies.






Assessments and priorities:
1. feeding and eating to replenish lots of nutrients and weight loss from them being great mommas

2. see if they have any behavioral separation depression from being pulled from their puppies. By this time they are probably looking for a good rest away from puppies, but all dogs are different.

3. Slowly introduce the new environment

4. Once they get the idea, spoil them like crazy. These mommas eventually get used to cuddling and realize this is something they missed out on and deserve. (My favorite part!)

5. Assess the nipple swelling, if their belly drags watch for cuts and redness. Unfortunately they may get engorged and older practice was to relieve them by milking them, but that only makes it worse. Just leave it be. (REALITY: it will take MONTHS for her belly to get back to the same size and the nipples to retract back to pre - puppy times)

Chapter 19: Adopting A Dog From A Hoarding Situation

Chapter 17: The Puppy Mill Rescues and How to Help Them Adapt

I think it's very important to understand what you are getting into when you adopt a puppy mill dog.

Problems:

• Locked in a very small cage crowded with multiple dogs
• Constantly standing in own pee and poop
• Cages are mostly stacked on top of each other to save space, so dogs may be getting peed and pooped on
• There is barely to NO human interaction with these dogs/pups
• There may not be adequate or appropriate vetting
• Dogs are interbred over and over again and may have illnesses due to environment or genetics

If you are aware you're adopting a dog from a puppy mill assess for these things:

• How shy your dog is
• Is there fear aggression? (tail down, backing up in a corner, growling, gritting teeth when you continue to walk toward her/him)
• Does the pup pee when you look or walk toward or pet him/her? (which is submissive peeing)
• Does him/her yelp, cry, or curl up in fear when you pet it?
• Does there seem to be health issues?
• Breathing
• Deformities (short snout, glossed over eye or blind, leg/arm deformities, etc)
• Stomach, digestive issues (diarrhea, blood in poop)
• Completely new to home life
• Does not seem potty trained, no matter what age
• Fears human touch, scared when you reach to pet him/her 
• Appears to love other dogs but no idea what a human is
• Pulls away from leash having never been walked on leash before
• Scared to explore spaces in your home (never seen a place so big!)
  

TIPS for adopting the puppy mill dog:

• The KEY is PATIENCE!!! (If you want a normal, happy go lucky dog, this may not be the option for you)
• The key to potty training is consistency. Since they come from a neglectful environment scolding and negative feedback doesn't help their already "shy/scared" behaviors.
• Clean up their messes (best not to let them see it when you're doing it)
• Create a consistent potty schedule within the family
• Positive reinforcement when they potty outside (ie treats, high pitch "good girl/boy", loads of petting)
• The leash:
• Give small treats while introducing the leash
• Lay the leash nearby, gently graze the leash along their neckline and treat if they don't back away
• When you click leash on and they don't pull away, treat
• Every time it becomes more of a norm, give verbal praise until it's a regular thing
• Introduce the human touch
• Where ever they find comfort, let them settle in the first couple hours and leave them be
• I find if there are other dogs available, they mingle better and observe how you interact with the other dogs
• Sit down where they are with treats in your hand and just ignore them unless they sniff (then treat or verbal praise)
• Slowly start leaving your hand nearby palm up and see if they will engage
• Pet them if they allow and slowly pet them longer and longer periods of time
• Progress (may take days or weeks) to belly rubs, hugging, holding, picking up
• New spaces
• A house and/or a big yard can be overwhelming!!
• Keep them to one room at a time and let them explore. 
• If they are completely shut down, leave them be and walk away and wait til they come to you or start exploring themselves
• Let them find a safe spot in each room
• Reinforce their safe spot with a doggy bed or blanket so they can associate comfort
• Normalizing
• Once they understand the leash, find the love of human touch (they ALL will love it once they discover it!), and realize a house is a home, the REAL training begins
• Apply walking, heeling, pulling disciplines
• Play with their paws and mouth often to adjust them for vet checkups and nail clipping
• If they insist on staying in one spot, do away with the bed or blanket and make they comfortable with a bigger area 

** Of note, all the photos on this page weren't of puppy mill dogs. They were quick snapshots of dogs in the crates on one of their journeys in the car awaiting to arrive at their furever homes. That's why they all look clean and happy. :) 

Chapter 16: Caring for Heartworm Positive Dog

Sweetie was a hyper young lady who was full of energy and loved attention. She came to us shy as ever and any eye contact would make her submissively pee to surrender. With her, we learned if we or anyone ignored her she felt "invisible" and allowed her own timetable to get comfortable with people.


After opening up she loved to cuddle and needed to be by your side at all times. When she wasn't interested in walking or the leash she was plant her butt down and you couldn't pull her if you tried.

Sweetie was forfeited due to her heartworm positive status. Unfortunately owners believe heartworm preventative medication is expensive. HOWEVER, treatment is even worse. It's 2 shots of almost lethal medication and the dog HAS to be low energy for 6 -8 weeks after. (Imagine our surprise considering how energetic Sweetie is). We were very lucky she didn't have symptoms of bad heartworm so treatment was an option, some dogs are too far gone to survive treatment.


CRUCIAL UNDERSTANDING: The treatment kills worms growing inside all the parts of the heart. Once the worms die, they break down into chunks and these "chunks" can turn to clots which IF move around can cause your dog to have a stroke and DIE. Therefore low energy keeps the clots from moving into areas of the heart, lungs and brain too quickly to cause stroke. The rescue has had dogs who didn't make it through treatment (imagine how scared we were).

Even though she was an energetic dog, she also loved being mellow and cuddly. We never want to constantly keep a dog sedated with medication, so there are many ways to prevent them from being "too" hyper.


1. Keep them on a leash so they cannot run
2. Make sure they take their time at meal times not to rush and scuff their food
3. If they usually jump/scale couches and beds, give them steps or a way to get on the furniture without jumping
4. Do not rile them up with excitement and try to calm them down after returning home
5. Keep your activity to a minimum so they don't need to keep up (dogs feed off your energy)
6. Crate them or gate them in a small area when you are not home so they aren't roaming around potentially jumping on furniture
7. All family members should be on the same page about the expected energy level
8. If there are other dogs, let them out separately if need be, your dog in treatment will HAVE TO have special treatment, don't feel bad, it's saving their life!!


We made it through our 6 weeks, and she was adopted with much education on heartworm prevention for the rest of her life AND year round. Dogs who have been infected before have increase chance to get this again.


Her family contacted us several times after her adoption regarding her shyness and asked for suggestions. Her new family was god send, and so patient with her and kept re-reading our blog for her and realized she was beating all her milestones in shorter times than with us. They were motivated and loved her sweet face. It's all worked out and they just love her.

Chapter 15: When Buddy doesn't like anyone but you

Buddy was a labradoodle we had shortly and was one of the biggest dogs we've had in our home. He was truly sweet as pie, but soon after we got him home we realized he did not like our other dogs. But only when they came around when he was already cuddling with us on the couch or the bed.

He was a human bonder and he was very jealous of us giving other attention to other pets.Otherwise he was quite the docile dog. The dogs would even lay next to each other in the bed. It was just random time with random energies that Joey would growl and I never can guess.

Aggressive dog disclaimer: As labradoodles are the well fave of many breeds unlike the revered pit bull, he (however sweet) was proof that all dogs can be the most gentle or aggressive animals. I am not a believer that pit bulls should be rid of in this world BECAUSE of the misunderstanding that all dogs can bite. YES I do understand the bite strength of a pit is very bad, I'm a nurse in the operating room, we see children with bites that result in years and years of plastic surgery to correct scarring and damage. HOWEVER, I just don't believe in blaming the breed or dog, I blame the irresponsible human owner incapable of realizing each dog has natural instincts to bite when they feel cornered, fearful and threatened.

Yes babies and toddlers are quite innocent to look at, but they just do not understand etiquette. So YES I believe a responsible adult must watch dog and child at ALL TIMES. 1 second in time lapse may result in trauma. It's no different than 1 second lapse and your child falls and bump their head. You don't blame the table, you blame yourself and gravity. Your dog is NOT your babysitter.

Disclaimer cleared: back to Buddy. Our story started stressed because there were 3 males in the house and our Joey is just not a social dog. Everytime Buddy got remotely close to us, Joey would growl. Our PJay, being the innocent friendly one, always stepped in at the wrong time. When energies were anxious and high stressed, PJay would walk up and Buddy would attack PJay (whose not much of a fighter).

After the 1st fight, which was inches from me and I stopped, PJay was fine and unscathed. But it happened again, the same as before, with Joey hyping up the energy and PJay idly walking by. Buddy's attack this time left a forever scar across PJay's right ear. He tore PJay's ear and the gash healed eventually but you can feel the ridge when you pet his ear. But his fur grew over it in time so he nor I notice anymore.

As it pained me I had to return Buddy to the rescue and now he had a fight with another dog and biting on his record. I was more than heartbroken, but I could not risk Buddy and PJay fight again. I cried because I felt I gave up on Buddy and I was just beside myself.

Coincidentally, I also did home visits for adoption approvals and the rescue reached out to me for a visit nearby me. As I read over the application, I realized I was approving the home for Buddy and I was personally invested for this one more than the other visits, (for the obvious reasons).

IT WAS MEANT TO BE, this gentleman lived in a home by himself with a huge yard and planted edibles all over his fence and just wanted a companion in the home. With no wife and children and an adult brother would visit and dog sit. It was perfect because Buddy would be his only best friend with a big house and yard to live in. I talked to this gentleman about the episodes with PJay and he reassured me he'll be careful around other dogs, but he didn't think it would be an issue since Buddy will remain an only child. It was a sign I received this home visit to know Buddy would go to a loving home which fit his circumstance.

Chapter 14: Luke and Cataract Surgery, Coping with the Blind Dog

Luke came home with us knowing he'd have a long road ahead of him. He was forfeited because he had double cataracts and the surgical option was too expensive. Other than that, he was just the cutest thing. It's truly amazing how resilient dogs are to any medical condition because we were prepared for lots of adjustments when we brought him home. We kind of have practice with Joey (our adopted) since he's got one eye, but this was more total blindness so we were more cautious and careful.

My understanding of cataracts is not total blindness but more blurred vision. So I don't think Luke was totally blind, but more see shadows and light. With that, my husband and I communicated that we would walk him around out house after introduction so he could get the lay of the land. He would occasionally bump into the gates and our legs if we stopped abruptly, but he adapted quite quickly.

Blindness for dogs are almost unnoticeable because their scent leads their site so well. We only noticed his blindness for certain instances. Our snotty cat would bat him with his paw as he walks by, but he always did that to our Joey on his blind side as well. It was such a bully move, but it was kind of funny at the same time.

Blurry vision or blindness, these are the precautions and evaluations we take in our home:

• Walk your furry new pup around your house and front and back yard so he/she can familiarize themselves with all the spaces
• Keep hallway and rooms cleared of clutter so they have less things to bump into
• Have steps available or other methods so they can have a safe way to get onto surfaces like couches and beds
• Always have certain activities in designated area not to cause stress (ie feeding bowl, water bowls, dog beds, etc)
• Before full adaptation, keep an eye for your new dog and make sure if there are any obstacles you try to eliminate them or teach them how to get around them safely (blind dogs jumping off beds because they know they can but not knowing what is underneath can be very dangerous, especially on wooden floors.)

Our journey ahead was followed by pre operative visits to Green Bay and then finally he had his surgery in Madison. Before this surgery we had Luke for several months and my husband completely fell in love with him. Luke became partial to him since he worked 3rd shift and he was home sleeping all day and cuddling with all the pups. Luke was so partial that if I even walked down the hallway after coming home, he would bark to wake my husband up to alert someone approaching. We've never before had a foster take to my husband more than I. (That made the drives to Green Bay more fun and elective for him since I worked during the day.) lol

After surgery was the journey to recovery that was more worrisome. Luke was a spunky, excited dog, who also had a laid back side as well. With cataract surgery, the doctors never want to dog to be over excited or any high activity, not even a collar which can cause higher pressures in the eye after surgery.


They gave us pain medication, pressure controlling medication, eye drops, and a sedative and a cone so he didn't scratch his own eyes. I am one to always follow instructions but sedatives to me are so strong and I hate to use them if I don't have to. So we did the first 48 hours, but then decided if we were home, we'd rather have him always by our side and watch him and control his activity, versus sedating him and not care where he was or what he was doing.

The one moment that was great for us to witness was his sight after surgery. He never bumped into anything and he knew where everything was. There was new detail to his approach to things around the house and the yard. It was amazing to watch the transformation.

It was very different watching Luke be tired and lethargic because we knew he was such an otherwise happy go lucky dog. Once we went to his 1 week follow-up then every week until 6 weeks later, our plan worked and he recovered beautifully.


My husband had such a hard time separating from Luke but he understood it was time for him to find a good home. We are sometimes torn that we've done all the hard work and families get this healthy dog they haven't gone through trouble with. But we also understand he was abandoned because of his condition that our rescue spends the money necessary to clear his condition so it IS easier for him to be adopted.

We couldn't have asked for a better family, a couple with 2 boys who absolutely fell in love by the car ride home. We have received pictures of how comfy and how spoiled Luke is with his fluffy doggy beds and sweaters and haircuts. And we've found out he DOES attach to dad more than most. Just like he did my husband.






Some deem dogs will illness are high maintenance and you have them for so long, you may get attached. But it's such a great learning experience and so rewarding, I would do it again.

Chapter 13: Back at it again with McGregor

At some point we adopted one of our fosters (Joey) and our apartment lease only said 2 dogs and 1 cat, so I couldn't foster any longer. It was quite a decision my husband and I made, but it was the best choice for Joey and we don't regret it one bit today.

When we got a house, I couldn't even wait the first month and asked my husband if I could pick up our first foster. He sensed my eagerness and couldn't deny my passion. As I contact the rescue, they said it was the perfect timing and they had the PERFECT dog for me.

The thing that makes me different than other dog owners is I am always drawn to the dog that backs away instead of all the happy go lucky ones that run up to me. And true to that nature, McGregor was the one way back in some corner while all the other doggies were jumping and barking for attention when I picked him up.

He wanted NOTHING to do with me, nothing. He was bigger than the past fosters I fostered, but I managed. He was frozen in fear.....so I picked him up and plopped him in my front seat and off we went to start out journey.

For the next two days we were reminded why shy dogs were so hard. We had not fostered for almost 5 years. The most touching thing was my husband coming home and asking where McGregor was so he could meet him. It was such a great moment to see him change into this loving soft tone and come up ever so slowly to him and say hi. It's a great reminder how greatly an entire family can affect the transition of one dog.

When McGregor was on the leash outside, he froze and sat down and didn't move. When we fed him, he didn't care, not even with soft food. He did not poop for 3 days and did not eat for the next 2 days. By the 3rd day I bought some hot dogs and sat by his crate and broke off bite size pieces to hand feed him. He gobbled it up and it was an amazing feeling.

After several days he went to the bathroom regularly and no accidents in the house. A little soft food to lure him to his bowl. Once he got more comfortable we would pick him up and hold him and lay on him to make him used to human companionship.

He was always more comfortable laying in his own bed and had an easier time around the other dogs, but he was coming around slowly. And before we knew it, he had a new family.

I tend to be more honest about each of my shy dog behaviors then be overly optimistic. I believe if you know the worst, you can tell me whether you want to deal with it or our rescue has plenty of "regular" low maintenance dogs. It takes the utmost patience and love to open these types of dogs. But as I always say, they are the most rewarding and have the most love to offer.