Sunday, May 31, 2009

Puppies, Spay and Neuter Problems Continue, Adoption Issues...Yup Another Week at the Rescue!

Well, we're wrapping up another week here at PAWS and what a week it's been! First off, let me get to the cute! Sadie's nine pups are doing fantastically and are growing well. Sadie has been such a great mom - we haven't even had to supplement the puppies with formula. She's also bounced back very well from the birth. They turned a week old on Friday! At this point of their development, their eyes have not yet opened and they are still unable to hear. We should be seeing them open their eyes in the next week or two with the ears shortly after! Without further ado, pictures of the little babies:



Sadie is doing very well with me coming and looking at her puppies. She got a little nervous when I was holding the black and white one, so I was unable to get a picture of him...didn't want to stress mama out!

What started out a mostly quiet week, most certainly did not end that way. Wednesday, we received an email from someone who was supposed to have an adoption finalized this Sunday. They had discussed it as a family and had too many reservations about the dog to be comfortable with the adoption and chose not to go through with it. While it was disappointing that we did not find the dog a forever home, I know I am appreciative of the family for being honest enough with themselves (and us!) and not going through with the adoption. It is a much better option than going through with the adoption only to regret it and potentially return the dog.

Thursday we were supposed to have four dogs spayed and neutered. None of these things happened. Two dogs came down kennel cough and it was recommended they not be neutered until they had been on antibiotics for a couple weeks. One dog had something going on with her ears and the other had a bit of an upset stomach and it was advised he not be neutered. So, we're back to being behind getting some of the dogs fixed. Hopefully things will clear up nicely and we can get them in as soon as they rebound. The dog with the upset stomach is back to normal and everyone else is well on their way to recovery.

Thursday night, I also went out to meet a potential new foster dog. What I knew about him was he was a Pomeranian who needed rehoming and had some problems with the kids in the house. Having a soft spot for Poms (my current foster is a 14 year old Pom), I agreed to go out and meet the dog and potentially take him in as a foster. So, off I went to go meet the dog and his family!

I showed up and was welcomed by his family - all of whom were very nice. Unfortunately, the dog was not appreciative of my presence. Every attempt I made to get close to him ended in him either gnawing on me, going after my legs, or some serious growling. I've never had a dog be that aggressive towards me, nevermind a Pomeranian. It saddened to tell the family that we would be unable to help at this time - we just don't have the resources available at this time to give him the type of training and help he needs. He was very sweet with his family, but he would try to bite anyone who came near them. Living in a populated area with no yard, he could not come live with me since he couldn't be trusted out on a walk. We also would not be able to bring him to adoption events with the behaviors he is showing.

Not having the resources to help a dog who needs it is certainly one of the harder parts of rescue work. I had to remind myself (and have some of our board members remind me) that we can't save them all...as much as we'd like to. I hope things work out for this little guy. He shows promise, but will need some intense work with a trainer to turn around. I've definitely been thinking about him since Thursday.

Saturday morning, the lovely folks at Bark 'n Bubbles and All Friends Pet Care held the first K-92k and Doggie Expo. They were gracious enough to invite us to sell prepackaged food and drinks to the participants. Thank you to Bark 'n Bubbles and All Friends for thinking of us! Every little bit certainly helps when it comes to fundraising. During the event, I ran into one of our past puppies who went home a couple weeks ago. She's doing great and getting big!

We also had a FANTASTIC adoption event on Saturday and now have seven dogs pending adoption. Reggie, Al, Angel, Blue, Docky, Red, and Rusty (the puppy) all had great applications and will hopefully be going home within the next week or two. Thanks to the Sterling PetSmart and to everyone who came out to see us! As always, a HUGE thank you to all of our volunteers for your help this week.

Monday, May 25, 2009

Another Busy Week at PAWS!

I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend! We had another busy and exciting week here at PAWS! Sadie had nine puppies on Friday and is being such a good mom! All the pups continue to be healthy and Sadie is starting to relax a little. When I was over on Saturday, she was coming up to me asking for some attention. She is such a sweet, pretty girl. I think she will find a home as soon as she's able to wean her puppies.

We have about 10 dogs waiting to go to their forever homes and seven more that got to go home this week. We'll be getting caught up on some of our spays and neuters this coming week, so we should be able to get more dogs home this coming week.

On Saturday, I borrowed the president of our rescue's Jeep, packed up my foster dog, and headed out to Hagerstown, MD to meet transport. I was picking up four puppies from a rural West Virginia shelter. Thankfully, we missed most of the bad Memorial Day traffic and arrived just in time to meet transport. It was quite full this time around. There were at least 15 dogs that were on their way to rescues. Our four are Lab / Mountain Cur mixes - three girls (two black, one tan) and one boy (cream colored with a black tipped tail).

The condition of dogs off transport always varies. Sometimes they are very clean, sometimes they are covered in dirt because they've been living outside as strays, sometimes they have had accidents in their crate and are covered in that and everything in between. They are almost ALWAYS happy to be there though. Occasionally, we have incredibly shy ones, but even then, the tails usually start going at some point. I can't imagine what the dogs think is happening to them when they go on transport.

In the case of these four, they were in ok condition. They needed baths and some flea/tick treatments, but still happy to be there. They weren't sure where they were going, but they seemed to figure out that it's better than where they came from. I pulled them out of their crate and moved them into the crates in the jeep and we headed back to PetCo for the end of our adoption event.

As usual, a HUGE thank you to the Sterling PetCo for supporting us during our adoption event! Unfortunately, due to the holiday weekend, not much was going on when I got there. I had some of our Key Club volunteers help me unload the dogs and bring them in. It was there we realized that the dogs were covered in fleas and baby ticks. We got some flea and tick medication for them, but it wasn't enough. We saw the fleas jumping off the dogs and onto the volunteers. Definitely not a good situation! Thankfully, we were able to bring them to the groomers in PetCo who gave them all a flea and tick treatment before they went to their new foster homes. Keep your eyes on the website for pictures of these new additions!

Friday, May 22, 2009

Welcome to the New Members of PAWS!!!

What a big day for little Miss Sadie!! Her first pup was born at about 2pm and the last pup was a little after 6pm. In all we have 9 healthy little pups - 6 boys and 3 girls. Sadie is doing very well and everyone appears healthy and strong. Without further ado, let me introduce you to Sadie and her new family!!






From what we can tell, this was Sadie's first litter...and most definitely will be her LAST! She's an excellent mom who is taking great care of her newborns. With so many puppies on hand, we are going to have to bottle feed them to supplement Mom's milk. We'll be watching them closely over the next weeks and once everyone is old enough, they will be up for adoption (Sadie too!). Congratulations Sadie!! You're a great new mom!

The Puppies are Coming!

One of the dogs we took in off transport last week, Sadie, arrived to us very pregnant (surprise!). We had no idea that she was pregnant when we accepted her, but sometimes things like this happen. Thankfully, we had a foster home willing to take in a pregnant pup and this morning, Sadie is getting ready to give birth to her puppies! I don't have any updates yet, but as soon as I know more, I'll post it here along with any pictures I may get.

Thursday, May 21, 2009

The Delicate Economics of a Rescue

I hope everyone enjoys their Memorial Day weekend! If you're traveling, please be safe and remember hot cars plus dogs is a very dangerous combination. I encourage traveling with your pet and have done it often myself, but please make sure you have ways to keep him or her out of the car in the heat!

We hit a bit of a bump this week with our spays and neuters. Consequently, this is delaying getting some of our dogs to their forever homes. Our usual vet had an equipment failure that has made it so he cannot spay and neuter our dogs for at least a week. We didn't want to have our dogs waiting any longer than possible to go home, so we started the search for alternatives. This is not as easy as it sounds!

The finances of a rescue, especially one as new as we are, are incredibly delicate. We are constantly trying to balance affordable adoption fees, having enough money to care for the dogs we have, and having a little wiggle room for emergencies or unanticipated expenses. The costs of spays and neuters, even for rescues, makes this all fairly challenging. When you've got an average of $200 for a spay or neuter, plus all the other costs - microchipping, deworming, food, crates, shots, heartworm tests, pain medication post spay/neuter, etc. - that doesn't leave a lot left after the adoption fee. One case of parvo, one bad case of parasites, one special needs dog and any "spare" money is gone. It is a fine line that we walk to keep our fees as reasonable as possible as well as provide quality care to our rescue dogs and be in a position where we can continue to save as many lives as possible. We are still trying to find the best way to balance this and if you know of any resources open to rescues, please leave a comment or drop us an email. I'm hoping to try my hand at grant writing when we get our 501(c)3 letter and hopefully we can find some relief there. If any of you out there are experienced grant writers, your suggestions would be most welcome!

Change of Venue - Saturday's Event

In case you didn't see it on our website, our adoption event is now at the PetCo Sterling from 12-3pm. The address is 22000 Dulles Retail Plaza, Sterling. We hope to see you there!

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

And Now Some Pictures from Sunday...

Here are some pictures from Sunday's trip to Ms. Elgin's class! Thanks again for having us!




Tuesday, May 19, 2009

A HUGE Thank You to Ms. Elgin's Class!!!

Earlier this month, PAWS received a great email from Jennifer Elgin on behalf of her third grade class at Beth Chaverim Reform Congregation in Ashburn. PAWS was selected by the class to receive their charitable donation for the year called a tzedakah. We were incredibly honored and excited to be chosen by the class. They have been fundraising for us all year by selling cookbooks that they wrote as well as other donations such as parts of their allowances.

This past Sunday, I packed up Honey and Annabel and we headed over to meet the class and accept the donation. What a great visit we had! All the kids were great with the puppies and were very excited to have us there. They asked me really great questions about what we do and what the money will be going towards. The donation will help us care and feed for some of the dogs at our rescue. Spays, neuters, microchips, shots, food, beds, toys...the list of needs seems never ending some days and any amount helps. Thank you again for your generosity and thinking of us! We are truly touched and it's experiences like this that really excite me about the work we are doing.

Once I got Annabel and Honey back to their foster home, we brought all the dogs in the house outside for a bit. We had 10 puppies, 4 adults and one pregnant dog all running around the yard and wearing themselves out. It was quite the sight with everyone so happy and playing. The four adult dogs belonged to the foster parents. The other 11 either have found their forever homes and are waiting to go there or are still looking. After a very challenging week at the rescue, the events of the day were a great way to end that week and start a new one.

Before I go into the details of that, I'd like to say a quick thank you to the doctors and staff of Caring Hands in Ashburn. I saw them quite a bit this past week and they were great every time (as usual)!

So, where to start with this past week? Sunday morning (Mothers Day), I found myself in urgent care with a allergic rash from the Demodex shampoo for my foster dog. Tuesday night, we had a complication from a spay where an internal stitch was popped and the the dog started bleeding quite a bit. She is fine now, but it was a long night getting her situated and then back to the vet in the morning to get the problem fixed. At some point between Tuesday and the end of the week, we had a round of kennel cough and puppy mange sweep through the home of one of board members and foster parents. Thursday morning, I was driving one of our pups to get to his neuter. He's peeing in the backseat, my foster is throwing up in the front seat (she was on her way to the vet's), I have a rash up to my elbows and I'm thinking "how the heck did I get here?!" Of course, now that it's behind me and everyone in that scenario is ok, I find it quite humorous and am very thankful for the leather seats in my car that clean up nice and easy.

There is plenty of good news. Our adoption event at PetCo was a success - five dogs found their forever homes at the adoption event and three found homes outside the adoption event. Everyone has rebounded from their various ailments. We were able to finalize adoptions on ten of our dogs between 5/10 & 5/16. That's ten lives that are getting to start over and live a life where they can be dogs instead of being scared, hungry, or in a shelter. That's a pretty good week if you ask me.