Pups Is Pups

Lola and Her Puppies

2012-01-19T19:43:00.001-06:00

Today we welcome Lola, a seven-year old Labrador mix and her eight three-week old puppies. Lola is an unclaimed stray who was transferred to the Champaign County Humane Society from animal control. She’s very nice and I think we’re going to enjoy having her around.

The puppies are in very good shape. Lola’s been going an excellent job feeding them and keeping them clean. Their eyes are opening and they’re getting pretty mobile. It won’t be too long before we have to let them out of the whelping box. Each pup has a unique color pattern.


Luke (m)		Laney (m)


Landon (m)		Lauren (f)


Layla (f)		Lexi (f)


Levi (m)		Link (m)

Pups Have Returned to CCHS

2011-12-12T10:14:00.001-06:00

The puppies went back to the Champaign County Humane Society this morning. They will be spayed today and will probably be ready for adoption when the shelter opens on Wednesday afternoon.

Britney
Christina
Fergie
Jessica
Katy
Miley
Taylor

Puppy Update

2011-12-10T13:04:00.001-06:00

The puppies have finished their treatment for coccidia and are ready to return to the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS). They’ll be going back on Monday for their spay surgeries and should be up for adoption when the shelter opens on Wednesday afternoon. The pups are nine weeks old. This group is one of the most friendly, outgoing litters we have had in a long while.

As for their breed mix, it’s impossible to tell. The brindle color does not automatically indicate that they are any particular breed. Here is an incomplete list of breeds that can be brindle: Boxer, Greyhound, Cane Corso, Whippet, Bulldog, Chihuahua, Cardigan Welsh Terrier, Great Dane, Mastiff, Pug, Plott Hound, Irish Wolf Hound, Dashsund, Akita, Staffordsire Bull Terrier, Pitbull, Rat Terrier and anything they mix with! Personally, I’d call them a Lab/Boxer mix.

Contact CCHS for information about adopting one of the pups.

The puppies are very active. One way we teach them patience and work on bite inhibition is by teaching them to sit. Harriett has been working with them a couple of times every day. Using their normal kibble as a lure, the idea is to hold the food just slightly higher than nose-level and move it back toward the pup’s head. As the pup moves her head up to get the food her butt will naturally go to the floor. She only get the food if she keeps both front feet on the ground. It’s hard for at first, but you can see in the picture on the right that they learn pretty fast.

Please Help CCHS Help Homeless Pets

2011-12-02T16:46:00.001-06:00

Every animal that comes into the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS) gets a certain amount of medical care. There are vaccinations, flea and tick medication, worming, heartworm tests, feline leukemia tests, and, if necessary, spay or neuter surgery.

Every now and then a dog like Ciara comes to the shelter needing much more than that. In addition to all of the regular care, Ciara needed:

surgery to remove an obstruction from her stomach,
barium x-rays to help diagnose her regurgitation issue,
hip and back x-rays to help diagnose her lower back pain,
blood tests to diagnose her hypothyroid condition,
post-surgery antibiotics,
non-steroidal anti-inflammatory medication to ease the pain in her back, and
medication to help control her thyroid problem.

It’s wonderful that our local shelter can provide this type of care when needed, but a case like Ciara’s depletes the funds available for extraordinary care. Local veterinarians often help by discounting or donating services, but CCHS has to cover many of the costs. We’d like to help CCHS refresh their reserves so there will be money available for the next dog or cat that needs some extra help.

By making a donation to “Ciara’s Fund” you can be a part of the generous group of donors that lets our shelter continue to go beyond basic care when necessary. Please help by clicking the Donate button in the column on the right and making a contribution. It means a lot to the homeless dogs and cats at CCHS.

Puppies!

2011-12-01T19:55:00.001-06:00

Harriett stopped by the Champaign County Humane Society this afternoon and picked up a litter of seven, 7-week old puppies. The person who brought them in said they were found by the side of the road. All of the pups were all together so they couldn’t have been out for very long.

The puppies are being treated for coccidia and will be with us for about two weeks.

Britney	Christina

Miley	Jessica

Fergie	Taylor

Katy

Ciara Update

2011-12-01T17:29:00.001-06:00

Ciara is now available for adoption! Contact the Champaign County Humane Society for more information.

Ciara continues to get more comfortable around the house and is acting like she’s lived here forever. She is reliably house broken and will go into the crate when we get ready to leave the house.

Ciara no longer has to be crated at night, though when it’s cold she wants to sleep on our bed. That’s a bit of a problem because of her size and the fact that she insists on lying crosswise or snuggling very close. We working on getting her to sleep on one of the many dog beds on the floor in our room.

All-in-all, she’s a wonderful, friendly dog.

We’re slowly working through Ciara’s medical issues trying to get firm diagnoses and treatment plans. Here’s where we stand:

Stomach Surgery:
The incision is completely healed and she has returned to full, normal activity.

Regurgitation:
Up until a few days ago Ciara was regurgitating food and water a couple of times each day. There was a concern that the problem may have been a complication of her stomach surgery. Ciara had a barium x-ray last week that showed she had esophagitis (inflammation of her esophagus), a condition unrelated to the surgery. We have started giving her an acid-reducer twice a day and it seems to be working. More time is needed to know if that’s the solution.

Lower Back Pain:
Ciara has a pinched nerve in her lower back that’s causing some neurologic difficulties. It was difficult and painful for her to stand up and sit or lay down. She had a seven-day treatment of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug which caused an immediate improvement. We’ll be watching her carefully for the next few days to see if the pain comes back to determine if another course of medication will be necessary.

Hair Loss:
Ciara has some skin and hair issues on her belly and tail. Yesterday we took her to CCHS where they drew blood in order to test her thyroid function. Turns out she’s hypothyroid and we’ll be starting her on medication soon. It’s possible that this condition caused her to lick herself so much she ingested enough hair to create a hairball that had to be surgically removed.

Taken separately, these problems are not very serious, but whoever adopts Ciara will have to be aware that they have to deal with these problems. The hypothyroidism is relatively inexpensive to treat, but it’s something that may have to be done for the rest of her life. Same with the lower back pain and regurgitation issues. Ciara will have to take some pills every day to stay healthy, but she’s a wonderful dog and deserves the extra care.

Ciara Update

2011-11-24T18:31:00.001-06:00

I’ve been meaning to write an update about Ciara, but it became apparent that she had some medical issues and I have been waiting to hear the results of some tests.

But before we get to the medical stuff, let’s talk about her personality. Ciara is a very friendly dog and has been getting along great with the Base Pack. She has no resource guarding issues which means she shares toys and doesn’t squabble over food. Eating near the other dogs does not bother her and she sits politely in the treat line and waits her turn. We’ve discovered that she knows “sit” and “down” and is pretty good about being in the crate when we leave the house. She also seems to be housebroken.

Ciara is a little reserved and it’s taking her a little while to seek out affection from Harriett and me, but she’s coming around pretty quickly now. She’s very easy to live with. At first she didn’t want to come back into the house after “going out,” and it made us wonder if she lived outside in her previous home.

One of the functions of a foster home is to monitor and watch for medical problems. This is especially important in surgical recovery cases like Ciara’s.

Ciara occasionally regurgitates food and there was a concern at the shelter that the cause may be related to her stomach surgery or a condition such as megaesophagus.Since the problem has continued while she’s been with us, Ciara had x-rays yesterday to find out if she has megaesophagus. The results indicate she does not have that condition, but that still leaves us with a dog that regurgitates food once or twice a day for an unknown reason. Next week, after everyone gets back to work after the holiday, we’ll speak with the shelter vet and decide what to do next.

We also noticed that Ciara sits or lays down very slowly and is very slow to get up. While she was at the veterinary clinic yesterday we asked them to look at her hips. They found that her hips were in excellent condition, but she has a pinched nerve in her lower back. We’ve started giving her anti-inflammatory medication and there are already signs of improvement.

Ciara

2011-11-17T17:06:00.001-06:00

Our newest foster dog is Ciara, a 3½ year old female Chocolate Labrador. She was relinquished to the Champaign County Humane Society about two weeks ago because she needed surgery to remove a foreign body from her stomach. The surgery went well and now she needs some time to finish her recovery before she’s put up for adoption. Ciara’s been having some mild stomach upsets and we’ll be keeping an eye on her to be sure she continues to make progress.

Ciara’s a bit nervous, but that’s very normal for a new dog in the house. She has no problem at all with the Base Pack. I’ll post an update after she settles in for a few days.

Kittens

2011-10-31T19:30:00.001-05:00

A couple of days ago we picked up five 6-week old kittens. Rarely do we have kittens in foster care, but kittens are coming into the Shelter fast and there are no other foster homes available. To be put up for adoption kittens must be at least 8 weeks old and weigh at least two pounds. These guys (they’re all boys) weigh about 1.75 pounds so they’ll be here for three weeks or so to gain some weight. They’re healthy and very friendly.

Shades
Midnight
Storm
Boo
Shadow

Puppy Update

2011-10-01T21:15:00.001-05:00

The Townie pups are seven weeks old and everyone’s doing great. The pups were wormed before they came to us and it took a couple of days for them to eliminate all of the parasites. In my initial post I mentioned that one of the pups had some health issues, but once the parasites were gone everything cleared up on its own. The litter is very active and healthy. Tonight they got their first set of “puppy shots” as well as an intranasal vaccine for kennel cough.

Today was another benchmark. The pups had their first visitors, a family who came to see them for a potential adoption. It looks like Fisher may have found his forever home!

The pups will return to the Shelter next Wednesday. They will be spayed/neutered and then made available for adoption. If you’re interested in adopting one of these puppies you can call CCHS for more information.

Fisher (m)
Gibson (m)
Homer (m)
Sydney (f)
Philo (m)
Ogden (m)
Paxton (m)
Champ (m)

The Townies

2011-09-17T20:55:00.001-05:00

Today we brought home a litter of eight puppies that were relinquished as a result of an investigation. Covered with urine and feces, these five week old orphans will require some medical care to get them into shape. They have been treated for fleas as well as internal parasites, and one of them has a prolapsed rectum, a bump on his eyelid, and enlarged lymph nodes.

We’ll refer to this litter as “The Townies.” The staff at the Champaign County Humane Society named them after the small, surrounding towns near where we live. The litter is unusual because it has seven males and one female.

You can see that they have Dachshund-like bodies. Supposedly their mom was a Labrador and dad was a Dachshund. Since dad probably didn’t stand on a box, I assume mom was either a very small Labrador or, most likely, not a Labrador at all. You’d be surprised at how many people cannot identify the breed of their dog and many people assume that any short-haired black dog is a Labrador.

I’ll be posting updates over the coming days. The puppies will be with us for at least three weeks.

Fisher (m)
Gibson (m)
Homer (m)
Sydney (f)
Philo (m)
Ogden (m)
Paxton (m)
Champ (m)

Chocolate Has a Home

2011-08-16T17:14:00.000-05:00

We are very pleased to announce that Chocolate has been adopted! She'll be going home this weekend.

Tara and the puggle pups: Update

2011-08-16T17:08:00.000-05:00

Tara's puppies are ready to return to the shelter, but they will have to stay with us for a little bit longer. Due to recent cases of Parvovirus and the number of dogs in the shelter building with kennel cough, we will keep the puppies here for another week. They have already been vaccinated against those diseases, but we will wait a bit longer to insure their safety.

Tomorrow they will go to CCHS to be spayed. The surgical suite is a very clean environment and it is safe for the pups to go from our house directly there for their surgeries. We'll pick them up tomorrow afternoon and they will stay with us until next week.

In the mean time Tara and her puppies will be available for adoption. For information on this litter or to find out how to adopt one of them, call the Adoption staff at the Champaign County Humane Society.

Tara

Scarlett

Bonnie Blue

Belle

Melanie

Puggle Pup Update

2011-07-28T21:48:00.001-05:00

Here are a few pictures I took during TV time with the pups this evening. They are all doing great and are very playful and active.

Puggle-Mix Pups

2011-07-24T11:20:00.001-05:00

Late last week we picked up Tara, a two-year-old Puggle-mix mom and her four five-week-old puppies. Tara is a pretty nice dog, though a bit undersocialized. She seems to be housebroken and is easy to handle and get along with.

All four of the puppies are female and they are friendly and outgoing. They will be with us for about three weeks and then they’ll go back to the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS) for adoption.

We’ll have more pictures and information about this litter over the coming weeks.

Puppy 1
Puppy 2
Puppy 3
Puppy 4

As is typical during the summer vacation season, CCHS is seeing a huge increase in the number of incoming animals. Foster homes provide an important way for the Shelter to move dogs that need a little extra time before they can be adoptable out of the building to make room for others that can go up for adoption immediately. Dogs might need extra time to resolve a medical issue or adjust to their new situation.

Unfortunately, there is a severe shortage of foster homes for dogs and puppies. By becoming a foster home you can make an immediate, positive impact on a dog’s life. To sign up or to find out what’s involved in fostering, call the shelter and ask to speak with Laura Davis, the Volunteer Coordinator. You can also email Laura at 2.volunteer@cuhumane.org. There’s no better feeling than being the one who gave an animal a second chance.

Rascals Update

2011-07-10T15:43:00.001-05:00

It’s been a while since I’ve posted about the Little Rascals litter. All ten puppies are doing great. At seven weeks old they’re very active and quite a lot of work. We’ve enlisted our new Base Pack pup, Morgan (the yellow one on the left above) to help play with and socialize the puppies.

Two of Chocolate’s puppies, Darla and Ms. Crabtree, have been sent to another foster home to make the group a little more manageable.

Ms Crabtree (f)

Darla (f)

You may recall that four of these puppies are from a different mother and were born four days before Chocolate had her litter. Those four pups will be returning to CCHS on Wednesday to be spayed/neutered and then go up for adoption.

Mary Ann (f)	Dorothy (f)
Wally (m)	Wheezer (m)

The other four and the two at the other foster home will return to CCHS on Friday for their surgeries and then they will be put up for adoption.

Shirley (f)	Spanky (m)
Alfalfa (m)	Jackie (m)

Chocolate will stay with us a little longer. We have to wait for her milk to dry up, then she’s going back to CCHS and will be available for adoption, too. Chocolate has been a good mother. She enjoys playing with her puppies and has taken very good care of them.

This kind of play may look a little rough, but actually Chocolate is being very careful not to hurt the pup. They enjoy playing “mouth games” with each other and it is an important game for the puppies to learn. Mouth games help the pups learn to inhibit their bite and to use their teeth gently.

If you are interested in adopting one of these puppies contact the Champaign County Humane Society for more information.

Delta Has Gone Home

2011-06-30T20:42:00.001-05:00

When Delta arrived here in March we had a dog who was scared and timid. No one could get within a few feet of her and there was certainly no way to touch her. The Delta that left for her new home this morning was a completely different dog. Although a bit cautions with each person at first, she approached people and readily accepted petting. You could almost call her outgoing.

To be honest, three months ago I never thought Delta would make such incredible progress in such a short amount of time. I think Delta demonstrates, once again, how resilient and adaptable dogs are.

Harriett and I are not canine behaviorists. We, along with our Base Pack (the four canines who are permanent members of our family), provide a stable environment in which a nervous or timid dog can begin to feel comfortable and learn that people can be a source of pleasure and fun. Many of our friends are enlisted to help with these types of cases. But the dogs themselves are the ones who have to make the changes and learn to think about people in a new way.

There is a very short window of about the first four months of a dog’s life during which they must be socialized with people and other animals. If the windows closes before the dog has had good experiences with many types of people and situations they can never recover from that setback. Luckily Delta came to us in time and she was able to make a positive change in her life.

Poor socialization and lack of training are one of the most common fatal diseases of dogs who come into shelters. Anyone who acquires a puppy or, heaven forbid, whose dog has a litter of puppies, needs to keep in mind that it’s their responsibility to properly socialize the pups before they are four months old. Delta was very lucky. Unfortunately, many dogs who find themselves in shelters aren’t.

The Rascals Have Names

2011-06-14T21:46:00.001-05:00

The Rascals litters are doing very well. The puppies were getting so big that it was quite a burden on Chocolate to try to feed them all. When two of them stopped gaining weight Harriett offered them solid food softened in milk replacer. Everyone dug in and we were able to start the weaning process. The pups are active and playful.

Chocolate was not very well socialized when she came here, but there are signs of progress. She is now accepting of petting and has started to seek out contact with us. Tonight during TV time she jumped up onto the couch with Harriett.

A few of the pups joined us for TV time tonight. Our work now will turn toward their socialization.

Naming the Rascals was a bit of a challenge. Some names, like Spanky, Darla, and Alfalfa are instantly recognized as Little Rascals, but many others are not. You can find the cast names at the Our Gang article on Wikipedia.

Chocolate’s Pups
Shirley (f)
Spanky (m)
Darla (f)
Alfalfa (m)
Ms Crabtree (f)
Jackie (m)
Tiny’s Pups
Mary Ann (f)
Dorothy (f)
Wally (m)
Wheezer (m)

Delta Update

2011-06-14T21:10:00.001-05:00

Delta is still with us and she’s doing very well. She was spayed last week and is fully recovered. Harriett has started taking Delta for walks and has started teaching her to walk on a loose leash.

Delta continues to improve. She is available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. For more information on Delta call the shelter and ask to speak with Michelle or Laura.

The Little Rascals

2011-06-06T20:40:00.001-05:00

After more than 20 years and almost 1400 foster animals you’d think we would have seen everything. Yet here we are with a completely new situation on our hands.

The Little Rascals are two foster litters, born to full sisters, themselves from the same litter. The moms, Tiny and Chocolate, only ten months old, gave birth just three days apart. Tiny had four pups and her sister Chocolate had six puppies three days later. The whole group was relinquished to the Champaign County Humane Society when Tiny’s pups were just ten days old. It should come as no surprise that their pre- and post natal care was inadequate.

female

male

Foster homes are in very short supply so we took everyone into foster care here. Sadly, Tiny didn’t make it, leaving us with four orphans. The puppies are a bit big given the size of their moms. Harriett had a hunch that Chocolate, who had been with Tiny since they were born, would be comfortable with the orphans. The problem was that she’s too small to to support all ten puppies. The compromise was to transition the smallest of Tiny’s litter to Chocolate’s care and bottle feed the remaining three. Harriett’s hunch proved to be correct and Chocolate accepted the addition to her litter, feeding and cleaning him as her own.

The incubation time of many diseases in in the two week range and we’re beginning to see some signs of illness in the pups. We’re going to have our hands full while we try to stabilize the situation and do what we can to be sure all ten survive. I’ll post an update in a few days.

Chocolate

female	male	female
male	female	male

Delta Update

2011-05-16T19:37:00.001-05:00

I was recently reminded that I have not done an update about Delta in over a month. She’s still with us and doing much better than we ever could have expected. Delta fits in so well in our house that it doesn’t seem like she’s been here that long. She’s very easy to live with and her transformation has been truly remarkable.

The most important area of progress has been interacting with people. Rather than cowering away, Delta is now approaching everyone, even strangers, and allowing most of them to pet her. She seems to especially enjoy older children, though she’s not sure what to make of toddlers and will stay just out of their reach. For the most part, she acts like a normal family dog when it’s just Harriett and I or some people she has met frequently.

She’s learned the “Kennel Up!” command and is completely comfortable in a kennel. She’s sleeping quietly through the night and doesn’t stir until the other dogs wake up at daybreak. She has learned “Sit!” and takes treats very gently.

She sits in the treat line with the other dogs and waits her turn. Delta eats dinner with Bella, Russell, and Sidney. She doesn’t steal food and it’s no problem to touch her bowl or take it away while she’s eating. She loves and depends on the company of other dogs.

Delta is not destructive with toys and enjoys playing. It turns out she’s an expert with the Buster Cube! We were astonished at how quickly she learned to roll the cube to release pieces of food.

Delta is a highly adoptable dog, but there are still a few issues for her to work through. The most important one is that she is only comfortable in the company of another dog. She gets very nervous and shuts down when she’s the only dog. Delta will be very happy in a multiple-dog household, but for now we do not believe she will do well as an only dog.

We’re calling her “a project” dog because there are issues that will take some time. She’s going to need a lot of positive experiences and patient training. She’s only about six months old and still needs work on housebreaking and basic commands, walking on a loose leash, etc. But you know, that’s not atypical for a dog of her age.

The Champaign County Humane Society is looking for a home for Delta. They’re looking for a family that already has a dog and understands her issues will not be resolved quickly. Luckily, she’s easy to live with and is very easy to have around. She’s pretty cute, too!

We’ve had some pleasant surprises with Delta. I wonder what else is there.

If you’re interested in adopting Delta call the Champaign County Humane Society and ask to speak with Michelle or Laura.

Delta Update

2011-04-11T11:42:00.001-05:00

This picture looks simple enough, but it represents an enormous milestone for Delta. After nearly four weeks we’re finally able to touch her without her ducking away or evading us. Harriett made the breakthrough a few days ago and I was able to pet her for the first time this morning. Twice! She’s got a long way to go and it’s going to take many more months of patient work to help her gain confidence, but she’s made real progress.

After basic health issues, puppy socialization is the most important thing we deal with as foster parents. The window of opportunity to shape a puppy into a friendly, well-adjusted dog is very narrow. Puppies are most receptive to new experiences from weeks 3 through 12. After that 12th week they are much more cautious about anything they haven’t encountered before. The opportunity to socialize a puppy declines very quickly from weeks 12 to 18, and after that it can be nearly impossible to get a puppy to accept something it finds frightening. This is the challenge we face with Delta.

Many people who get a new puppy assume that “socialization” means having a few people pet or play with their pup and maybe having the puppy play with a few other pups in a “puppy class”. But it’s much more than that.

That short, eight to ten week socialization period must include such diverse experiences as different flooring surfaces—wood, tile, carpet, grass, gravel, concrete, etc.; different types of toys; all manner of noises heard in a typical household; a wide variety of people, male and female, of various ages, sizes, and types; a wide variety of dogs of various breeds and ages; and so forth. Some people use the “Rule of Twelve” described by Margaret Hughes in her book Positive Paws Dog Training (© 2002) as:

By the time a puppy is 12 weeks old*, he/she should have:

Experienced 12 different surfaces
Played with 12 different objects
Experienced 12 different locations
Met and played with 12 new people
Heard to 12 different noises
Been exposed to 12 fast moving objects
Experienced 12 different challenges
Be handled by owner (and family) 12 times a week
Eaten from 12 different shaped containers
Eaten in 12 different locations
Played with 12 different puppies (or safe adult dogs) as much as possible.
Been left alone safely, away from family and other animals (5-45 minutes) 12 times a week.
Experienced a leash and collar 12 different times in 12 different locations.

Less well known is that there is another, overlapping period from weeks 8 through 11 called the Fear Imprint Period. During this period the puppy is highly susceptible to conditioning from pain and fear. An experience that scares the puppy during this time may result in a dog who is afraid of similar circumstances for the rest of its life. That’s why it’s not uncommon for people to adopt a well adjusted puppy at 8 weeks of age, but have it regress and become fearful of certain situations or people after it goes to its new home.

We often meet people who tell us that a dog they adopted “must have been abused” because of a fear it has shown. I believe the incidents of actual abuse are very low. Most often in these cases the fault lies with poor socialization, not abuse.

Delta

2011-04-07T20:55:00.001-05:00

Although we have not had a litter of puppies lately, we have been quietly working on a special project for the Champaign County Humane Society. Today I’d like to introduce you to Delta, a five-month old puppy who was relinquished to CCHS about a month ago.

Delta spent the first four months of her life living loose in someone’s yard with very little, if any, human contact. In order for dogs to be properly socialized, the experiences they have in the first 12 weeks of life are critical.

The puppy’s experiences during this critical period strongly influence what kind of companion they will be and how well they will get along with humans, dogs, and other animals and how they will react to unfamiliar situations. As hard as it may be to believe, once this tiny window of opportunity closes it it extremely difficult to repair the damage a lack of socialization causes. (This is one reason why puppies from puppy mills often have very bad temperaments.)

Although Delta is very shy and does not trust people, she showed a glimmer of hope. She was sent here to see how well she could adapt to living in a home environment. We’re happy to say that we have been able to make progress with her.

With the assistance of a few of our dog-savvy friends and our Labrador, Sidney, we’ve gotten to the point that she will take treats from our hands and is slowly beginning to accept being touched and pet. We’ve been able to take advantage of the fact that Delta grew up around other dogs and is very comfortable with our Base Pack. She’s not protective of food or toys. She’ll sit in line with them to get treats and has no problems eating her food with them nearby.

Our goal is to make enough progress with Delta that she can be placed in a permanent home. Even though she’s only five months old, it’s going to take a long time to make up for the lack of socialization she had in her very early days.

Update

2011-04-06T09:00:00.001-05:00

There haven’t been any litters of puppies for us to take for quite a while, so things have been very quiet around here. To fill the news gap we have two updates to pass along.

Molly

Many of you will remember Molly as Lisa from the Simpson’s litter we had in January. Last week we received a very nice update from Sarah, her new owner. Here’s what Sarah has to say about Molly.

First of all, and most importantly, she's finally potty-trained!! She will go and sit next to our front door until we let her out. She has had very few accidents in the past few weeks but we are SO proud of her!
She also graduated from puppy training class at PetSmart 2 weeks ago. In her class, there was Ned, Marge, and Homer. At the first class, they all recognized each other and played like crazy! The instructor had a hard time in the class because they only wanted to play. Haha! She's very very smart and learned all of her basic commands almost immediately! Her favorite is to shake!
Molly also now has two sisters, cats named Milo and Abby. Abby is her best friend. They play and chase each other and wrestle (all in good fun, of course!) Sometimes they even sleep together. Milo, however, is scared of Molly’s big paws and playful personality so she keeps her distance. Molly loves to climb up the back of our couch and into our big bay window to watch the neighbors outside and other dogs walking by. She also has a favorite toy (name Pinkie) that she doesn't let out of her sight!
We will definitely keep you updated as she grows with pictures and stories! Thanks again for all you've done!

Sarah sent us a few pictures to show how Molly is growing. Beautiful as ever! We love hearing about our foster dogs and seeing them in their new homes.

Chihuahua Birthday Reunion

The Chihuahua pups we had in foster care last June are planning a reunion for their first birthday party. All five puppies will be here. The party will be held on June 11 after Max returns from his winter residence in Arizona.

Puppies return to CCHS

2011-03-03T15:31:00.001-06:00

Harriett took our foster pups back to the Champaign County Humane Society this morning. They will have their spay/neuter surgery today and should be up for adoption tomorrow (Friday). Jake and Charlie have holds, but Alan, Heidi, and Ruby are available.

The puppies have made great progress and have become more outgoing over the last two weeks. It is still important, however, for their adopters to continue working with the puppies over the next couple of months to have them meet as many different types of people as possible and give them positive life experiences.

CCHS requires everyone who adopts a puppy sign up for a training class at one of the local dog training facilities. Every one of our foster puppies goes to puppy class, but Harriett and I strongly recommend that everyone take their dogs to another, home companion class once the pup is about a year old. It’s in this second class that the dog will learn useful life skills, like sitting on command, coming when called, and walking on a loose leash. Everyone in the family should be involved in training the puppy and will all live happily ever after.

Ruby (f) A66794
Alan (m) A66796
Charlie (m) A66797
Jake (m) A66798
Heidi (f) A66799

Roy

2011-02-23T19:25:00.001-06:00

Roy is a six-year old Yellow Labrador Retriever. He’ll be with us for a little while, but is currently available for adoption through the Champaign County Humane Society.

Roy was relinquished to CCHS because his owners had a baby. They said Roy wanted too much attention. He wasn’t bad to the kid, he probably just wanted the same amount of attention he got before the baby arrived. I have to admit, I have a soft spot for adult dogs, like Roy, who lose their homes through no fault of their own. I’m sure he doesn’t understand why his world had to get turned upside down.

Roy is incredibly handsome and generally a great dog. He’s got a couple of issues, though, that need to be resolved. Although Roy is great with other dogs, he’s relentless with sniffing and mounting. The problem is that he’s intact and never learned proper canine etiquette. Dogs who ate neutered at a young age don’t have this problem, but Roy’s six years old and steeped in hormones. Austin and Russell, the males of our base pack, have had it with his constant sniffing and attempts to mount them. They have let him know, in no-uncertain terms, that this is not acceptable behavior. He has finally taken the hint and has been leaving everyone alone. Roy will be neutered on Monday and after a few months this behavior will probably go away.

The second problem is that Roy gets frantic when he’s in a kennel. He was hurting himself at CCHS so they asked us to take him to find out if he would behave the same way in a home environment. Unfortunately, the answer is Yes. Roy cannot be kenneled without getting very upset, even if we’re in the room with him. Although we prefer our dogs to be kennel trained, many people don’t use kennels and he may have not been kennel trained as a youngster.

We’ve discovered that he’s very housebroken and will ask to go outside, takes treats nicely, doesn’t steal food or toys from the other dogs, rides in the care nicely, and is generally great company to have around. I’m going to guess he’d be great with kids. As a field-style Labrador he’s going to need a certain amount of activity, and would be great for someone with an active lifestyle.

Roy is going to make a great companion for someone. If you’re interested in adopting Roy or would like more information, call the Champaign County Humane Society and talk to someone at the adoption desk.

Puppy Update

2011-02-22T19:48:00.001-06:00

The pups have been here for almost a week. They’re still shy, but are making progress. The three boys are acting pretty normal—climbing on us if we sit on the floor and generally seeking attention. The two girls are better, but have a little ways to go.

We’ve had a few visitors who have chosen names for the pups so now everyone has a name. Here they are:

Jake (m)
Charlie (m)
Alan (m)
Ruby (f)
Heidi (f)

For information on adopting a puppy contact the Champaign County Humane Society. Applications are now being accepted.

Coco’s Litter

2011-02-17T19:19:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon Harriett stopped by the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS) to pick up five 6-week old puppies. They were relinquished to the shelter with their mother, Coco, and two other dogs. Coco and the other two dogs are at CCHS and we’ll keep the puppies for two weeks.

I met Coco today to get a picture for this blog. She’s a nice looking dog and really tiny, maybe 20 pounds. When Harriett met her on Wednesday Coco approached and licked Harriett’s hand, but it took a bit of coxing for Shelter Manager Michelle to get her close enough to me to get this picture. The shelter was told she gets scared “if a man yells at her.” What’s that all about?

The pups are going to look a lot like their mom. They’re shy, but will be fine after they’ve been with us for two weeks. We don’t have names yet, but will pick some in a few days. Here’s the litter. The numbers next to the pictures are the CCHS ID numbers.

A066796 (M)
A066797 (M)
A066799 (F)
A066794 (F)
A066798 (M)

Simpsons Pups Return to Shelter

2011-01-31T08:54:00.001-06:00

Due to the terrible weather forecasts for our area over the next few days we’ll be taking the Simpsons pups to the Champaign County Humane Society later today. So far Maggie, Maude, and Bart have holds. Our last visitor is deciding between Ned and Lisa (leaning toward Ned).

The puppies’ surgeries are scheduled for tomorrow and they should be available for adoption on Wednesday.

Contact the Champaign County Humane Society for information on the puppies or to fill out an application.

Bailey’s Going Home

2011-01-22T12:35:00.001-06:00

Bailey will be going to her new home today. There’s been a family waiting for her for a couple of weeks who will welcome her into their family later today. They’re getting an incredibly friendly, playful little girl who’s a real joy to be around. There’s a lot of positive things to say about Bailey. We like her a lot.

In the three weeks we’ve had Bailey she’s gained seven pounds. She’s made progress on almost every major issue, though she still has a long way to go. Her new family will have to closely monitor her weight, letting her gain more weight without letting her go too far and getting heavy. The Champaign County Humane Society has arranged with a local veterinarian to remover her extra canine tooth, but that surgery will have to wait for a couple of months until she gains more weight to make the anesthesia safer. And finally, there’s an ongoing, unresolved issue of why she drinks twice as much water as a dog of her size should. It’s impossible to know if there are any “hidden” problems. Malnutrition can cause damage that won’t be apparent for some time.

I thought it would be interesting to look at before and after pictures so we did a set of photos to match the ones from my first blog post about Bailey. The pictures on the left show Bailey on the day she arrived here, the ones on the right are from this morning.

Bailey has gained seven pounds in the last three weeks. Her score on the body condition scale has gone from a 1.5/9 to about a 3/9. Her ribs are still visible, but much less so.
We were worried about Bailey’s feet. They were splayed out from lack of exercise. Notice how her toes are now together rather than spread out.
Check out those knuckles! She had flat feet from lack of muscle tone, but not any more! Instead of hearing her feet slapping on the floor we now hear a nice pit-pat noise of a normal dog.
The infected wounds on her legs and feet are either healed or healing.
The infection on her spay surgery site has healed leaving her with a smooth, pink belly.
An arrangement has been made for a local veterinarian to remove Bailey’s extra canine tooth, but look at how much cleaner her teeth are. That’s from eating dry food and chewing on bones and other toys.

Simpsons Litter Update

2011-01-20T21:15:00.001-06:00

The pups are getting big and they’re all playful and active. We’ll have them for about three more weeks. Applications for adopting the puppies are being accepted at the Champaign County Humane Society.

Meet the Pups

2011-01-16T12:37:00.001-06:00

Meet the Simpsons pups on a live PuppyCam broadcast today from 1:00pm – 2:00pm (CDT).

You can view the broadcast and participate in an online chat from our ustream account: http://www.ustream.tv/channel/PupsIsPups.

A New Litter

2011-01-12T15:40:00.001-06:00

Yesterday afternoon I picked up seven 4-week old puppies from the Champaign County Humane Society. We’ll have them for a month or so, then they’ll go back to CCHS for adoption.

They’re filthy, smell really bad, and were infested with fleas and roundworms. Fleas can be a very serious problem for puppies. Not only do fleas carry tapeworms, if the population gets out of hand the fleas can actually suck enough blood from a puppy to make it anemic. The pups will be tested for tapeworms in a couple of weeks.

Roundworms, which look a little like spaghetti, are equally dangerous. They live in the intestines and take up nutrients that puppies need to grow. A telltale sign of roundworms in a puppy is a large, distended belly. People often mistake a puppy’s big belly as a cute sign of health, but it’s actually quite the opposite.

The medical staff at CCHS gave them medication to kill the worms and treated the pups with Advantage to get rid of the fleas. The pups will be wormed at least one more time before leaving us to go to their new homes.

Bart (m)
Ned (m)
Homer (m)
Maude (f)
Lisa (f)
Maggie (f)
Marge (f)

Baily Update

2011-01-05T20:51:00.001-06:00

Bailey’s been with us for 6 days. What a nice little dog she is! It’s a real pleasure to have her around the house. She has settled in nicely and her condition is rapidly improving.

A major milestone has been her transition to a normal diet. Dogs that have been starved have to be eased into eating normal amounts of food. The shelter staff started Bailey on a diet that would be very easy on her digestive system. She was eating a small meals of prescription dog food several times a day. We’ve transitioned her to regular puppy food, increased the amounts, and put her on a normal, two meals a day feeding schedule. She’s gained about 1.25 pounds since she’s been here. Her ribs are still easy to see, but her hips are not quite as prominent as they were last week. Getting her to a normal weight is going to be a long term project.

It never ceases to amaze me that dogs like Bailey, who have known only misery in their lives, are so incredibly resilient. She's very friendly and loves to snuggle. She's also quite playful. Yesterday she went found a tennis ball and played with it for a while. Today she was carrying a bone around the house.

With the increase in exercise comes other improvements. Her feet are getting stronger and her toes are starting to round over to a normal shape.

She's really good in the crate. Bailey knows her name and comes when she’s called. And she's a pretty quick learner. Harriett's got her sitting on cue.

The downsides are that she's not housebroken much, if at all. That's not a surprise, though. It’s unlikely that someone who didn’t feed her would have done any training. She will also do submissive urination if she gets scared, though much less now than on the first day. That, too, is normal for a young pup, and with patient training and positive experiences she’ll gain confidence and grow out of it.

Help CCHS Help Bailey

2010-12-31T19:30:00.001-06:00

The photo above shows the medication Bailey will need for the next three days. Here’s a partial list of the care she has already received or is going to need:

Treatment for fleas
Treatment for tapeworms
Treatment for whipworms
DHLPPC vaccination
Heartworm test
Treatment for an infected surgery site
Vitamin supplements
FortiFlora supplement to help her digestion
Pepcid to calm her stomach
Prescription diet (Science Diet I/D)
Rabies vaccination (required for foster care)
Tooth extraction

These expenses go well beyond the amount the Champaign County Humane Society usually has to spend on a dog coming into the shelter. CCHS has made a commitment to Bailey and will cover the costs of whatever treatments are necessary.

Many people have asked how they can help Bailey, and one of the best ways is to sponsor part of her medical expenses. You can do that by clicking the link and making a donation to CCHS on her behalf. By helping with these expenses, you’ll ease the burden on CCHS and make it possible for them to help more animals in need. Help us make the New Year a great one for Bailey.

Bailey

2010-12-31T16:49:00.001-06:00

For some dogs, the day they come to CCHS is the best day of their lives.
-- Mary “Tief” Tiefenbrunn, Executive Director, CCHS

Yesterday, after the Lab pups were dropped off at the Champaign County Humane Society we were asked if we’d be willing to take a dog that needed a lot of work. Today we went back to CCHS and picked up Bailey, an eight-month old Shepherd mix who has been horribly neglected.

Bailey was adopted from another rescue organization in July 2010 by a young girl who, it turned out, was unable to care for her. Bailey wound up living with the girl’s mother who relinquished her to CCHS on Tuesday. When relinquished, Bailey was soaked in urine and had urine burns on her body.

The first thing you notice about Bailey is that she is horribly emaciated. For a puppy of her size, Bailey should probably weigh about 35 pounds. When she was weighed at the shelter this morning she weighed only 16.8. There is a widely used body condition scoring system to rate the amount of fat and muscle on a dog’s body. The ideal score is a 4 or 5. Bailey gets a 1.5.

When she was examined carefully by the shelter’s medical staff they discovered a laundry list of problems.

The sutures from Bailey’s spay operation in July were never removed. Because this simple procedure was neglected by Bailey’s owner, the left over suture material had caused an infection at the surgery site.
Bailey’s feet have not developed properly. This is most likely due to poor nutrition and lack of exercise. Those of you who were with us through the care of the Redbone Coonhounds will recognize this “flat footed” condition.
There are open pressure sores on all four of Bailey’s legs and on her front feet. I was told by the staff at CCHS that these types sores are usually the result of a dog being kept in a small kennel with a concrete floor. That’s consistent with her having to lay in her own urine and having urine burns.
She still has one of her baby canines. That should have been removed when her front teeth came in. She’ll need surgery to correct this problem.
She was infested with fleas and had whipworms and tapeworms.	(I’ll spare you the pictures of the number of tapeworm segments coming out of her.)

And you know what? Despite all of these problems she wants badly to be with people. Of course she’s a little cautious at first...her life has been turned upside down in the last week. But she’s warming up to us very quickly and will be acting more normally in a day or two. She’ll stay with us for a little while to finish her medication and make a smooth transition to a proper diet. We’ll also be evaluating her behavior. Watch here for updates.

Lab Puppies Return to CCHS

2010-12-29T21:37:00.001-06:00

Tomorrow (Thursday) morning the Lab pups will return to CCHS. They’re scheduled for their spay/neuter surgeries on Thursday and will be available for adoption on Friday.

This is a great group of pups. Typical Labs, they’re outgoing, friendly, and love to play. They’re going to make great family members.

Ted (m)
Marshall (m)
Barney (m)
Robin (m)
Lily (m)

Puppy Update

2010-12-27T18:52:00.001-06:00

The Labrador puppies are doing great! They’re outgoing, friendly, and very playful. We’ll be taking the litter back to the Champaign County Humane Society later this week. If you’re interested in adopting one of these puppies go to CCHS and fill out an application. Applications are already being taken and the sooner you get approved the better your chances are of getting one of these puppies.

Gracie Lou Went Home

2010-12-27T18:25:00.001-06:00

After being in foster care since July, Gracie Lou has finally gone to her forever home. Over the last 5 months she’s become more confident and is now approaching people instead of barking and backing away. The couple of months that she spent with Nicole and her husband in another foster home did wonders for Gracie Lou’s confidence. We don’t think it will take very long to fit in with her new situation.

Good luck to Gracie Lou and Alison, her adopter.

Buddah

2010-12-20T13:30:00.001-06:00

Buddah is not one of our foster dogs, but he’s been at the Champaign County Humane Society since August and the CCHS Staff would like to find him a home.

Buddah had a really good canine buddy named Bella at CCHS, but Bella’s been adopted and Buddah is a bit lost without his playmate.

Buddah knows sit, down, and is learning leave it. He will also “take a bow” and roll over for food. He has a lot of energy and would do best in a home without small children or cats. He loves toys and plays fetch. If this looks like the kind of dog you may enjoy as a companion, please stop by the shelter for a visit.

Buddah’s video on YouTube.

Scout Comes For A Visit

2010-12-15T18:28:00.001-06:00

Scout, formerly known as Donald, was one of the Redbone Coonhound Pups we had in foster care in the fall of 2009. We got three of the five pups from the litter. All of them had generalized demodectic mange, infected skin, and a host of other problems. Despite being given a 50/50 chance of survival, four pups survived and were adopted. They were the most labor intensive, difficult foster litter we have ever had.

We heard earlier in the week that Scout’s family was going to be passing by this afternoon so we jumped at the chance to arrange a visit. You can see in the picture at the top of this post that Scout has grown to be a very handsome dog. We’re told he’s extremely friendly and loves kids and other dogs. It was obvious that his family loves him very much.

We were especially interested in seeing how his feet were doing. The picture below, on the left, shows Scout’s front feet the day he came to us. He had an extreme case of hyperextended carpals. Given his adult size this is not something he could live with. It would have been very painful and seriously interfered with the function of his front legs.

Scout and his sister Daisy suffered from this problem. They both had to wear special fiberglass splints to hold their joints in the correct position while they “grew into” their feet. Two orthopedic surgeons, two orthopedic vet techs, and the OrthoVet company were involved in the treatment of his legs and feet.

We were very pleased to see Scout’s feet (picture below, right) are now in the proper position and his toes are pointing down.

We rarely get to see our foster alumni after they’re adopted. This was a very special treat for us, and we thank Scout’s owner, Rebecca, for bringing him over to see us.

Redbone Coonhound Update

2010-12-13T15:56:00.001-06:00

We received a note this afternoon that completely made my day. It was an update on Scout (we called him Donald), one of the Redbone Coonhound pups we had a bit more than a year ago. The picture on the left above shows Scout when we got the litter. The pups were hairless because of generalized demodectic mange, had infected skin, hyperextended carpal joints, and a laundry list of other problems. The photo on the right shows him today. What an incredibly handsome dog he turned out to be!

I just thought you might be interested in a couple of updated photos of our Redbone Coonhound dog, Scout, that you fostered. He was named Donald. He is doing great. His mange is gone, thanks to some extensive care from Caring Hands Animal Hospital and he is such a sweet dog. His front legs are doing good, too.

And to top it all off, we’re going to have a visit by Scout and his family late Wednesday afternoon. Here’s a couple more pictures of Scout with his family.

You just have to look at these pictures to see why we continue to be foster parents.

Labrador Pups

2010-12-09T19:48:00.001-06:00

We got a call yesterday from the Champaign County Humane Society requesting a trade. They wanted us to bring Lester and Earl, the guinea pigs, and their cat, Ocho, back to the shelter. In return they wanted to give us five 5-week old Labrador puppies. Who could pass up a deal like that? Tonight we welcome our latest foster litter.

According to the person who relinquished them to the shelter, these pups were a result of an “accidental litter”. The father is a Yellow Labrador and their mom is a Black Labrador. We’ll let them settle in tonight.

Here’s the family:

Robin (f)
Lily (f)
Barney (m)
Marshall (m)
Ted (m)

Catching Up

2010-12-04T12:06:00.001-06:00

Other than our 20th anniversary of fostering animals for the Champaign County Humane Society, November has been a pretty slow month. We have five foster animals in the house that are about ready to return to the shelter. Here’s an update.

Rosie

Rosie, a 3-year old Boxer, has been with us for a few weeks. She’s over her upper respiratory infection, but now she has a urinary tract infection (UTI) that will require medication for two weeks. Other than that, she’s ready to go back to the shelter and to a new home.

Rosie is an incredibly nice dog who wound up at the shelter when her owner passed away. She’s been extremely friendly towards every adult and child she’s met and has taken a special delight in playing with the kids. She’s also great with other dogs and is crate trained and housebroken. Rosie is very playful, especially when a tennis ball is involved. She also knows a few basic commands, such as sit, down, and come. We’ve been told she lived with cats in her previous home. Rosie is going to make an incredible companion for someone. She loves contact and is very easy to live with.

Rosie will be back at CCHS as soon as her UTI treatment is finished, but in the mean time if you’d like to meet her contact the adoption staff at CCHS and ask about her.

Lester, Earl, and Ocho

Lester and Earl are the first guinea pigs we’ve had in foster care. Normally CCHS send foster guinea pigs to our friend Brad, but these two had Cheyletiella mites, sometimes called “walking dandruff.” Those mites are very contagious so these two had to be kept in isolation with Ocho, a cat that was relinquished to the shelter by the same owner.

Did you know guinea pigs’ squeaks have specific meanings? It’s really interesting. They make their “Hey, feed me!” squeak whenever they see Harriett (she’s the one who feeds them). They’re crazy for kale and parsley, too.

Ocho didn’t have the mites, but since he was in the same household as Lester and Earl he had to be isolated and treated as well. All three were treated with Revolution and were mite-free at their last checkup. They’ll get another check next Sunday, and if they’re still mite-free they will go back to CCHS for adoption.

Gracie Lou

Gracie Lou is back from her other foster home. She’s been treated for mange and looks great! Compare how she looked when she first arrived (left) with the way she looks now (right).

Gracie Lou still has some issues with being at the shelter building, but she’s been fine with new people after a few minutes of introduction. She is available for adoption. If you’re interested in Gracie Lou, contact CCHS and talk to the adoption staff.

20th Anniversary, Part 4

2010-11-20T10:43:00.001-06:00

We have used social networking to help our foster animals get adopted since our first litter with Millie. In the days before the internet, blogs, and Facebook, Harriett carried a stack of photographs with her and showed them at meetings. She was an administrator at the University of Illinois and started many meetings by passing pictures of our latest foster litter around the table. If someone pulled out pictures of their children or grandchildren before she got the puppy pictures out, Harriett would pull out an even larger number to pass around.

Because of the photographs, word spread about the animals we had available. People would know someone who was looking for a dog or puppy and tell them about the litter. Friends would tell friends and by the time the litter went back to CCHS people would go out there specifically to see them. But as time went on that market got saturated, then Harriett retired and we needed to find an alternative method of marketing “our pups.”

In late August of 2006 I started this blog with a post about Max, a puppy with a broken femur and our foster animal #877. But right after Max we had a litter of five puppies that were in very bad shape. I was afraid of blogging about puppies dying so I dropped the blog. I didn’t post for two and a half years until we had a pup named Madrid here for surgical recovery. I thought his case was really interesting so I started blogging again. After Madrid came Daisy and her newborn pups and the start of live PuppyCam, streaming video from our puppy room.

The PuppyCam attracted the attention of an audience much wider than we ever could have imagined. A group of women who call themselves the “Cyber Aunties” found us thanks to Nancy “Cindypup” Kramer. Before we knew it we had viewers from all over the world. The Aunties who are regular visitors to the PuppyCam come from across the USA as well as Canada and Australia. Although we’ve only met Nancy, it’s like a bunch of old friends getting together when they join in on a chat. We’ve been honored that many of the Aunties have sent gifts to the puppies and became financial supporters of CCHS.

The Humane Society Facebook page was created around this time and we began to coordinate postings about foster animals. We added twitter to the mix soon after. Because of these efforts, news about foster animals is widely disseminated. More than 60% of the foster animals we have had in the last two years have been adopted before they returned to the shelter. Most of those animals never spend a single night in the shelter building. That’s a huge win-win-win for the animals, their adopters, and CCHS.

And on a personal note, social networking has allowed Harriett and me to stay in touch with the people who adopt our foster animals. We’ve had pictures and stories sent to us and it’s a wonderful feeling to see the pups all grown up or the moms in their new homes.

Traditional Media

Over the years we’ve had several TV crews out here to do stories on our fosters. Jim Dey, who often came out with his daughter to visit puppies,has written about several of our foster animals in his column in the News-Gazette. All of this exposure has helped our foster animals get homes and publicized the work being done at CCHS.

We helped many students with projects in print, radio, and video. I think the best one was done just a couple of months ago by Liz Clancy-Lerner, an award-winning broadcast journalism student (and one heck of a roller derby skater). You can hear Liz’s story below.

Wrap-up

In the ideal world there would be no homeless animals and our fostering efforts wouldn’t be needed. You can do your part to end the surplus of homeless animals by spaying and neutering your pets and encourage everyone else to do the same.

Consider helping the homeless animals at your local shelter by fostering. Volunteering to be a dog walker is a great way to enhance the life of the animals in a shelter. If you don’t want to work directly with the animals, consider volunteering for events like garage sales or other fundraisers. Don’t just sit by and say, “How can people give them up?” You can make a difference in many ways. Just do it.

20th Anniversary, Part 3

2010-11-18T10:09:00.001-06:00

The most common question about fostering we hear is, “Isn’t it hard to give them back?” For us, the answer is “No!” for puppies and “Sometimes.” for adult dogs. Over the years it’s gotten much easier to take puppies back to the shelter. For one thing, we’ve established a great relationship with the adoption staff at CCHS and we trust them to screen adopters and make the best matches possible. Second, the mandatory spay/neuter laws are working and puppies are much less common than they used to be. There’s few enough that pups will get adopted within a week of returning to the shelter.

The moms on the other hand—now that’s a different story, especially if they’re not a popular breed or they’re older. We worry about the moms getting adopted at all. We worry about bully breeds getting adopted for the wrong reasons. But the track record at CCHS with our foster animals is pretty good and we’re confident they’ll give the returning adults all the time they need to find a forever home.

But here’s the thing. The dogs and puppies are going to keep coming to CCHS no matter how we feel. Those animals deserve a chance at a home and better life. The sad fact is there are not enough foster homes to meet the demand. If we stop fostering because we feel a little sad to take puppies back to the shelter, a future litter will have no chance of life. It’s not a tradeoff we’re willing to make.

Base Pack Additions

Of the 1,138 animals we have fostered we have kept three. Like many foster families we kept our first foster animal. We officially adopted Millie on December 29, 1990, the day we took her pups back to CCHS. She died at 11 years of age on March 11, 1997 from mast cell cancer.

Bella was our second adoption in November 2001. She came from a hoarder who had 42 dogs and his invalid mother living in and around a small house in central Illinois. Bella grew up in a pen in his back yard and had not had any human contact for the first four months of her life. She came to us with two siblings, all three being semi-feral. The other two puppies never got over their fear of people and were euthanized, but we saw a glimmer of hope in Bella. Ten years later, she’s alive and still with us, though she has never fully recovered from the bad start she had in life.

Our third adoption was Taylor (aka “Squirt”). Her mother and litter were found living in a drain pipe near CCHS. When Taylor was seven or eight weeks old she developed spots on her head that looked very much like ringworm. After two months of diagnostic tests it was determined that Taylor had a horrible, genetic disease called Dermatomyositis. Because of that disease she was not adoptable, but by the time we had a diagnosis we were very attached to her. We adopted Taylor on January 11, 2005. Taylor’s lifespan was projected to be 18 months, but with expert help from Dr. Curt Thurman, veterinarian for the Base Pack, and careful management, she lived to just a couple of months short of her fourth birthday. She died on August 23, 2008.

On Saturday I’ll wrap up this series of posts with a discussion about the effect of social media on our fostering activities.

20th Anniversary, Part 2

2010-11-16T07:36:00.003-06:00

Right from the beginning, our personal veterinarian and then-president of CCHS, Dr. LeRoy Neitzel, was instrumental in getting us started on the right foot. It would be impossible to overstate how important Dr. Neitzel was to the successes we’ve had and to the entire foster program at CCHS. LeRoy shared his expertise to help us set up vaccination schedules and worming programs. He treated sick foster animals. He kept us grounded and realistic. He consulted on the design of our puppy room and taught us how to deliver puppies and tube feed seriously ill animals. He took our middle of the night phone calls for help. LeRoy has retired and moved out of the area, but Harriett still calls him when we run into problem situations. He’s as generous with his knowledge and time as ever.

Early in our foster career we often faced losing foster animals to diseases that are treatable today. I remember as though it was yesterday coming home to find that Edy, the sole survivor of parvo from the five pups in our fourth litter, had died of heart failure while we were away at work. She was the first foster animal to die at our house. It was a devastating experience. Dr. Neitzel cautioned us that if we were to continue fostering shelter animals we were going to see a wide variety of diseases and problems including “some that you’ll wish you never had to see.” He was right.

Here’s a list of some of the things we’ve dealt with in the last 20 years: abscesses, allergies, anemia, biting, bottle feeding, campylobacter, coccidiosis, conjunctivitis, corona, cruelty, dehydration, demodectic mange, Dermatomyositis, distemper, ear infections, eye injuries, fading kittens, femur fracture, flea dermatitis, food guarding, fungal infections, Giardia, heart murmurs, heartworm, hook worms, hyper-extended carpals, infected wounds, inguinal hernias, jittery, kidney stones, knee surgery, lacerated tongue, lice, mastitis, mites, nervous at the shelter, ocular ulcers orphans, parvovirus, patella luxation, periodontal disease, pneumonia, pregnant, quarantine, resource guarding, ringworm, round worms, seizures, skin infections, splayed feet, strangles, teeth infected, too small, too thin, too young, toxic commercial milk replacer, toxic mother's milk, tube feeding, upper respiratory infections, urinary catheter, urinary tract infections, urine burns, vaginitis, whip worms, yeast infections, zoonotic diseases.

Interesting Fosters

Leona was our second foster animal and one of the smartest and most interesting. She arrived on July 30, 1991. Leona was a pig picked up by the Urbana Police Department after a massive brawl broke out at an apartment building on North Broadway across from Crystal Lake Park in Urbana when some residents of the building took exception to the way she was being treated. She was intended to be the main course at a resident’s Fourth of July barbeque, but instead she was confiscated and he was cited for animal cruelty for keeping her in his car in over 100 degree heat. Leona was friendly, smart, clever and fastidious. She wound up at the Centennial Park Petting Zoo after surgery to correct a hernia. Leona started us on our way to being vegetarians--we haven’t eaten pork since taking care of her.

Petula, a friendly pygmy goat, arrived on February 14, 1996. She was picked up as a stray by Animal Control, running loose on north Lincoln Avenue in Urbana. We kept Petula in our indoor emergency horse stall, but she was an expert climber and often ventured out of the stall when we were not in the building. Petula was adopted by a family with other pet goats.

Annie arrived on May 8, 1995. A big Yellow Lab mix, she was the first dog to go into labor at our house. Dr. Neitzel had gone over the birthing procedure with me in great detail. He saw to it that we had the proper equipment and knew exactly what to do and what to watch for. I don’t remember much about Annie, but I remember her two puppies, Hamilton and Jackson! She had apparently mated with a Mastiff and they were much too big to be born naturally. I wound up taking Annie for an emergency caesarian to deliver the pups. They were the biggest puppies we have ever had, weighing about two pounds each at birth and 15 pounds at eight weeks of age. Annie and both of her puppies were adopted.

The Redbone Coonhound Pups were the most complex, labor-intensive foster project we have ever done. They arrived on September 30, 2009 and were afflicted with generalized demodectic mange, skin infections, compromised immune systems, and orthopedic problems. Consultants on this case included four veterinarians, two orthopedic surgeons, and two orthopedic vet techs. One of the five puppies died, the other four were adopted.

The Chihuahua Puppies, who arrived at six days of age on June 4, 2010, were the smallest puppies we have ever dealt with. They weighed about 4 ounces each when they arrived at the shelter after their mother died when they were three days old. CCHS Surgery Assistant Jessica Buchholz was instrumental in their survival. Jessica had experience tube feeding baby squirrels and other tiny animals. She was able to coach us on how to care for these little puppies. Jessica literally saved their lives when they started crashing due to reactions to the commercial milk replacer we were using to feed them. All five puppies were adopted.

On Thursday I’ll post about the three dogs we adopted into our Base Pack.

Twenty Years of Fostering

2010-11-13T07:27:00.002-06:00

Twenty years ago today, Harriett and I began what would turn out to be one of the most rewarding projects we would ever undertake. That’s the day our first foster dog, Millie, a beautiful 4-year old Yellow Labrador, and her six puppies came to live with us.

Harriett became a volunteer adoption counselor at the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS) in 1984. She came home one Saturday with a story about a pregnant 4-year old female Labrador who had been found running loose at Allerton Park with her mate. They were picked up by a park ranger who kept the male and took the female to CCHS where she gave birth to nine puppies. Probably due to lack of good prenatal care, three of the pups died at CCHS. Back then there was no foster program, no staff veterinarian, and medical care was limited to the basics. Knowing our love for Labradors, Sarah Hurley, the shelter vet tech, asked Harriett if we would be willing to take Millie and the six surviving puppies into our home until they were all old enough and healthy enough to be adopted at the shelter. We accepted the challenge.

Millie’s pups grew up here before returning to the Shelter. Harriett had been carrying a stack of puppy pictures around everywhere she went for weeks, and even without today’s internet-based social media, hundreds of people knew about the litter of Yellow Labs. They were all adopted within a couple of hours. Like most foster families, we adopted our first foster animal and Millie became part of our family and what would become known as our Base Pack.

We didn’t give fostering another thought until almost a year later. Peaches, an Akita/Shepherd mix, was rescued with her 11 newborn puppies from under a porch in a snow storm. The Shelter Manager thought it would be better for the pups to grow up in a home, and once again we took them in. About four months after Peaches and her litter left we took in Buttons, a little terrier mix with three pups. Little did we know that the floodgates were about to open. From that point on, for the next several years, we were never without puppies in our house for more than three weeks in a row.

It wasn’t only puppies that came our way. We had Leona the pig, L.K. the miniature horse, Lyvenia the pot bellied pig, Petula the pigmy goat, Mort the duck, and an assortment of cats and kittens. But mostly we had dogs and puppies.

We’ve had almost every breed of dog that’s common in this area: Labradors, Shepherds, Terriers, Beagles, Schnauzers, Coonhounds, Pit Bulls, Pomeranians, Dobermans, Rottweilers, Collies, Shelties, Bassets, Fox Terriers, Malamutes, Greyhounds, Airedales, Mastiffs, Retrievers, Rhodesian Ridgebacks, Border Collies, Boxers, Cattle Dogs, Spaniels, Dachshunds, Chows, Akitas, Chihuahuas, Huskies, and every mixture thereof. You name it, we’ve had it, usually with a litter.

Overall we’ve had at least 1,139 foster animals at our house: 96 dogs, 842 puppies, 39 cats, 157 kittens, and 5 other species. Of those, 982 were adopted, 152 died, 3 were adopted by us, and 1 was transferred to a petting zoo. Most of them were from the Champaign County Humane Society, but we have also taken foster animals for Douglas County Animal Control and two local veterinarians.

Our experience with Millie and her pups was the start of what would become the CCHS Foster Program. There are now about 39 licensed foster parents working with CCHS. Thousands of dogs and cats have been helped by the program.

Our mentor, Dr. LeRoy Neitzel, once told us that if we kept taking foster animals we would see many diseases. Little did we know we would see an alphabet’s worth. On Tuesday I’ll post about the types of things we’ve encountered over the last 20 years.

Rosie

2010-11-12T13:29:00.001-06:00

I’m not going to pretend I can make Rosie look beautiful. That severe underbite is hard to hide. You’re going to have to look to her inner beauty to fully appreciate her.

Rosie is a 3 year old Boxer. Her owner passed away and she was brought to the Champaign County Humane Society when friends and family were unable to find a home for her. She’ll be with us for a week or so while she gets over a mild upper respiratory infection

You don’t have to spend very much time with her to find that she’s a real pleasure to be with. Rosie is very friendly and loves contact. She also gets along great with other dogs, is crate trained and housebroken.

It also turns out that Rosie has a very playful side. It doesn’t take very much to set her off on a mad dash around the yard, spinning and jumping with a big smile on her face. But she’s also quick to settle down and is very well behaved in the house.

Unfortunately, dogs like Rosie often get overlooked at the Shelter because of their appearance. But this is a dog that’s easy to live with and will make a wonderful family pet.

For more information on Rosie contact the Champaign County Humane Society.

Christina

2010-11-11T16:31:00.001-06:00

Christina is not one of our foster dogs, but CCHS Shelter Manager, Michelle McKnight, asked me to post about her today. Christina has been at CCHS for over 4 months and she needs a home. I’ll let Michelle tell Christina’s story:

Christina is a beautiful 4 and a half year old Bulldog/American Pit Bull Terrier mix. She has gorgeous brown brindle markings all over her body and a patch of white on her chest.
Christina lived in horrible conditions before coming to the Humane Society. She was chained up and left alone outside 24/7, had never been to a vet, and her name was “Psycho”. When Christina was first at the Humane Society, she was extremely shy and didn’t know how to be a dog at all.
We gave Christina time to adjust in our holding area because we could tell she was a very sweet dog at heart, she just didn’t know how to act around so many new people and dogs. Christina has been at the Humane Society for over 4 months now and has totally come out of her shell. She is a big goofball and has become quite a favorite among many staff members and volunteers at the shelter.
Since being at the Humane Society, Christina has become almost totally housebroken, knows “sit” and “shake”, and loves to give kisses! We are not sure if Christina has ever had puppies but it appears as if she might have at one point.
You can usually find Christina behind the front desk while the Humane Society is open to the public, and she likes to curiously follow around staff members and socialize with patrons. She is a very gentle spirit and needs someone to give her the love she deserves. Christina will provide endless amounts of unconditional love to her forever home, come to the Humane Society today and see everything Christina has to offer!

I have a real problem with people giving “bully breed” dogs names like Psycho. As if they don’t have enough baggage already. And what kind of person keeps a short-hair dog like this outside in Illinois winters? Christina deserves much better.

The staff at CCHS has a huge emotional investment in Christina and they would like to find her a home where she can know the companionship and comfort she didn’t have in her previous home. You can tell by Michelle’s story that this dog is anything but Psycho. She’s friendly, loves kids and cats, and is a quick learner

If you’d like more information on adopting Christina, please contact the Champaign County Humane Society.

Anniversary Party

2010-11-01T09:12:00.001-05:00

Later this month Harriett and I will be celebrating the 20th anniversary of the arrival of our first foster dog, Millie, and her puppies. Yesterday some of our friends got together for a party in honor of the event. We were honored to receive the picture above, a collage of photos from the PupsIsPups blog signed by the people who were at the party.

Thanks, everyone!

Tony’s Moving On

2010-10-29T13:27:00.001-05:00

Early tomorrow morning Harriett will take Tony back to the Champaign County Humane Society. From there he will be transported to the Dogs Deserve Life rescue in Barrington, IL. Dogs Deserve Life is a foster-based rescue. That means Tony will be living with a foster family until he finds a forever home.

To be honest, we were pretty nervous about Tony before we brought him home. He had serious issues with resource guarding and there were also indications he was aggressive towards men. Away from the shelter environment, however, we found Tony to be a friendly, playful dog who’s really quite nice to have around.

The more comfortable Tony has become around us, the more his playful side comes out. He absolutely loves tennis balls and will retrieve them for treats. He also is prone to take off in a mad dash around the house in a canine version of an obstacle course.

We’ve learned a few things about Tony that we hope will endear him to new owners:

He’s crate trained and will eat and sleep in the crate. He stays in the crate when we’re not home.
He’s very food motivated and is a quick learner. He’s very smart!
We have not had any problems taking food or toys away from him. He has never shown signs of resource guarding toward us or the Base Pack.
Tony gets along great with other dogs (but he does not like cats).
He sits politely in the treat line with our Base Pack dogs and always takes treats nicely.
He’s been friendly toward the men and women who he’s met while at our house. He’s never showed fear or aggression toward anyone.
He loves to cuddle and enjoys human contact. He will actively seek out affection.

We’re very hopeful his next foster home will have the same experience with Tony as we’ve had. If all goes well, he’ll find a forever home before too long.

Antonio (“Tony”)

2010-10-22T19:32:00.001-05:00

Antonio (“Tony”) is a 6 1/2 year old black Cocker Spaniel. Nice looking little dog. He weighs just under 30 pounds and has been neutered. Tony has been with us for almost a week. His story isn’t a happy one.

Tony’s owners died when he was three years old. The person who took him in decided to keep him outside. He lived outside in the yard for three years with no maintenance, no interaction with the family, and little food. Finally, in early August, he was relinquished to the Shelter. The owner said she didn’t have time for him. No kidding. She just figured that out. I want you to look at the pictures below. Look closely. The pictures were taken within a few minutes after his arrival at CCHS. You can click on the pictures to see a larger size.

Tony was one huge, filthy, infested blob of matted fur. Check out that photo on the right. The matted hair had completely blocked the vision of his left eye. Compare the size of his front leg in the photo on the left with the picture at the top of this post. The Shelter shaved seven pound, that’s right, seven pounds, of matted hair from his body. Matted hair interfered with every bodily function, from movement to elimination. His life must have been a living hell. The Shelter staff told me you could smell him from 25 feet away. He was that filthy. How could anyone allow an animal to get to this condition? What kind of person can look at this for over three years and not be bothered by it? How can someone let their kids grow up seeing this? It’s outrageous. It should be some kind of crime, but sadly, it isn’t. I sincerely hope that karma will ultimately even the score.

Mary '”Tief” Tiefenbrunn, CCHS Executive Director, often says that the day a dog comes to CCHS is sometimes the best day of its life. That was certainly true for Tony.

So why did Tony wind up in foster care with us?

CCHS, like many, if not most, shelters, gives each dog a temperament test before putting it up for adoption. At one extreme, these tests are used to flag animals that are potentially dangerous before they get put into a home with, say, small children. Most of the time they’re used to find areas that potential adopters may need to work on with extra training. In Tony’s case, he failed his first test for “resource guarding” by being extremely protective of whatever was near him. Food, toys, a TV remote control, you name it, he wasn’t about to give it up. Resource guarding can be very dangerous. You could get very seriously bitten trying to take something away from a dog that shows that behavior. Children and new pet owners are especially at risk. Tony also had issues with other dogs, men, and cats.

CCHS behaviorist, Laura Davis, as well as a few volunteers worked with Tony for weeks to get him over his resource guarding issues. Although he was much improved, he failed his second try at the test. The staff had a big emotional investment in Tony, yet he couldn’t go up for adoption after failing the test twice. That’s when we became involved.

Laura and Shelter Manager Michelle McKnight asked if we would take Tony for a few days to see how he would act in a home environment. Sometimes dogs are very stressed at the Shelter and behave in a different way than in a home. We were to see if the test results held up away from the Shelter. So last Saturday I stopped by the Shelter, picked up Tony, and brought him home.

Within ten minutes of coming in the door he jumped into my lap and licked my face. So much for being aggressive toward men. Next we did introductions with the Base Pack. We have this part down pat. Bella was first to meet him. We haven’t had a foster dog yet that she hasn’t gotten along with. Next was Sidney, then Austin, and finally Russell. Tony was a bit intimidated by their size, but there were no problems. That answered the part about aggression toward other dogs—there isn’t any.

When it came time for dinner Harriett hand fed him his entire ration of kibble. No issues whatsoever. The next day for breakfast, same thing. That evening’s dinner—no problem. Then she tried moving his bowl while he was eating. No problem. Finally, after three days, Tony started showing interest in toys. He picked up a tennis ball and I reached down and took it out of his mouth. He gave it to me without any problems. We’ve tried playing fetch (he loves it!) and using other toys to play with and have not had any problems getting things away from him.

Michelle stopped by yesterday and checked him out herself. He’s a completely different dog here than he was at the Shelter. He’s a friendly, playful little guy. Michelle gave us the go-ahead to post about him so CCHS can start looking for a suitable home. He probably won’t be able to go to a home with small children, and he may not be the best choice for the first-time dog owner, but for someone who’s willing to put some time and training into him he’s going to make a great companion. He deserves it after the life he’s had so far.

If you’re interested in adopting Tony, call the Champaign County Humane Society and speak to a member of the adoption staff.

KittyCam!

2010-10-19T17:39:00.001-05:00

Tonight we change PuppyCam to KittyCam. Join us starting at 7pm (CDT) to meet Crosby, Kitten I, and StrayKitty. Special guest Sarah will be here to talk about the care of young kittens.

I Like Big Mutts and I Cannot Lie

2010-10-11T16:25:00.001-05:00

OK, ok…it’s not original, but I’ve been waiting to use that line. This is Thanos, a gentle giant of a dog who we’ll be keeping an eye on for a few days. Is this a handsome dog, or what!

Thanos hurt his knee and wound up with a luxating patella. The patella is the bone we know as the knee cap. The patella guides the action of the muscle in the lower leg. It also protects the knee joint. Sometimes, due to trauma or physical defects, the patella will luxate or “jump out of its groove” sideways. This is a very painful injury that results in the dog not being able to walk. Surgery is the solution, but usually costs well over $1,000. A local veterinarian offered to do the surgery for The Champaign County Humane Society at a reduced rate. The Shelter made an appeal to raise $500 to pay for Thanos’ surgery and wound up surpassing their goal. You can read about Thanos on Mary Tiefenbrunn’s blog, Pause and Reflect, in posts from September 28 and October 6.

The recovery after this type of surgery is strict cage rest, usually for six weeks. It’s critical that the dog not be allowed to jump around or use the leg too much so everything has time to heal properly. It’s hard for many people to stick to this plan. They feel sorry for the dog having to be in the crate all the time and let them out to run around “just for a little while.” Unfortunately, the results are a devastating failure of the surgical fix which requires yet another surgery to correct.

After Thanos had surgery, CCHS knew there was one foster home especially suited to insuring the success of his recovery. That was with our friend and fellow foster parent, Kim Knap and her family. Kim is a specialist in canine orthopedic rehabilitation and there is no one better able to oversee Thanos’ recovery. Some of you may remember Kim from her involvement with the Redbone Coonhounds. Thamos has been with Kim and her family since his surgery. We’re taking care of him for a few days while she’s out of town. He’ll be back with the Knap family by the end of the week.

Thamos is about a year and a half old and probably weighs about 90 pounds. He’s very lean and muscular. He’s available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. If you’re interested in Thanos, call the Shelter and speak with the adoption staff.

Crosby Gets Some Friends

2010-10-10T16:27:00.004-05:00

Those of you who know me well will be surprised to hear that I asked Michelle, the Shelter Manager at the Champaign County Humane Society, to find us a couple more kittens. Because of Crosby’s parasite problem, he has to be completely isolated in the puppy room. We had planned on bringing him upstairs for socialization, but the risk of spreading the mites to the Base Pack is too great. I was concerned that he was going to spend an important period in his life for socialization by himself and he could never get this time back.

The Cheyletiella mites will be gone after another treatment or two or Revolution. It’s just that in the mean time, unless Crosby can be isolated, the mites may spread to his human caretakers and their pets. We’re one of the only foster sites that has a room dedicated to housing our foster animals. This semi-isolated environment is why we could take Crosby when none of the other foster homes could take a chance of bringing him in. But isolation is bad for socialization, and for foster animals, socialization is just as important as health issues.

In consultation with the medical staff at CCHS it was decided that the risk to other kittens was extremely low as long as they were treated to give them protection from the mites before being brought into contact with Crosby. In cooperation with fellow foster parent Sarah, a plan was worked out to give Crosby some friends to grow up with. Thanks to Sarah we were able to introduce Crosby to Kitten I and StrayKitty about an hour ago.

I’m sure it wasn’t easy for Sarah to agree to let these two move in with Crosby. She’s been taking care of them for some time and has been working through medical issues with each kitten. It’s hard to let go of foster animals when you’ve been treating illnesses, bottle feeding, and worrying about how they’re progressing. Thanks to Sarah, though, we all hope Crosby will grow up to be a well-socialized companion.

Kitten I and StrayKitty are two months old, but they are only slightly bigger than Crosby. Kitten I, a female, is a very pretty calico with a beautifully marked face. StrayKitty, a male, is a brown tabby with an eye problem. Both of them have been treated with Revolution to protect them from the Cheyletiella mites. These two kittens will be with us until the end of Crosby’s treatment for mites. At that point he will no longer be contagious and will probably move to Sarah’s house with Kitten I and StrayKitty. If all goes well this will be in just a few weeks.

Sidney, the Social Director of the Base Pack, introduces herself to Kitten I.
Crosby tries to catch StrayKitty’s tail.
Kitten I meets Crosby with a raised paw.

More on Crosby

2010-10-08T17:07:00.001-05:00

In yesterday’s post I said Crosby had lice. It turns out that is not correct. He actually has Cheyletiellosis, Michelle sent me some information on this disease:

Cheyletiellosis is an itchy, scaling skin disease of cats caused by infestation with Cheyletiella mites. It is often called "walking dandruff" because when you examine an infested cat, you may see that the "dandruff" is moving. The movement is actually caused by the mites moving around under the scales. Although the mites inhabit the entire body, the scaling and itching often seem worse over the back.

Cheyletiellosis is a contagious and a zoonotic disease which means it can be spread to and from other cats, dogs or humans. Cats can acquire the infection from other pets or humans. The mite is transmitted by close contact with infested animals. Since the mite can live for a few days off the host, it is also possible to become infected through environmental contamination. Eggs are also shed into the environment, which is believed to also be an important cause of reinfestation.

This disease is very contagious making it more prevalent in shelters, humane societies, boarding facilities and grooming establishments where there are lots of pets. Poor sanitation, poor nutrition and overcrowding can lead to infestation.

Kittens seem to be more susceptible than older animals, but infestation of adults is also seen. Long-haired cats appear to be predisposed.

We have to be very careful how we handle Crosby to prevent infesting ourselves, the Base Pack, and our foster dogs. We’ll keep him isolated in the puppy room. Luckily this condition is pretty easy to treat and Crosby has already had Revolution applied to his skin to kill the mites. He’ll get another treatment in two weeks.

Crosby

2010-10-07T18:55:00.001-05:00

What’s this?! A kitten?

We don’t often do anything other than dogs and puppies, but today we welcome Crosby, a 4-week old kitten. Crosby came to the Champaign County Humane Society by way of Champaign County Animal Control, but it’s not clear why he came alone. Unfortunately for Crosby, he has lice, and that makes him persona non grata. He’s been treated with Revolution, a drug to kill the lice, and his intake form says he was given subcutaneous fluids, which means he was dehydrated when he came to the Shelter. We’ll see if we can find out his story.

Kittens have to weigh 2 pounds before they can go back to the Shelter for adoption. Crosby weighs 0.6 pounds. He’ll be around for a while.

Updates on Panda’s Pups

2010-10-05T17:08:00.001-05:00

Myla (Jill)

We received a nice note from Molly B, the person who adopted Myla (Panda’s pup Jill):

Hi Harriett!

I just wanted to update you on Myla (Jill). She has been doing great! She is about 90% housetrained, sleeps through the night, and hasn't chewed on anything but her toys. She already has learned to wait at the doorway until I tell her it is ok to go outside. We are working on sit and down, and she is starting to catch on. She listens when we tell her "No" and we can trust her outside without the leash on (in our yard). If she runs just a little too far away, we can call her and she will come running. She is also learning how to fetch a tennis ball, even though it is way too big for her mouth, but she still tries to bring it back! She is a great puppy and we all love having her!

Thank you SO much for everything that you and Tom have done for Myla and all the other fosters!!

And thank you for the toy you sent with her. We play with it every night and she carries it around the house!

I've attached some pictures of her now. Her ears are standing up 100% of the time now and the spots on the back of her neck are getting darker. She keeps getting prettier every day!

Molly

Terabyte (Kelly)

We also had a quick note from Erin:

Kelly (who we renamed Terabyte) is adjusting excellently as well. One of our cats, Pixel, just loves to play with her, and she chases him around the house in return. She's a real cuddle bug.

Pippin (Charley)

And one from Robert:

Charley (now Pippin) is adjusting well to life in his new home. He's taking to the crate like a charm and is learning to go potty outside really fast. He and the 3 cats are still keeping some distance from each other, but they'll get to be friends I think. We're thrilled with him.

CindyPup’s Visit

2010-09-26T15:22:00.001-05:00

Nancy K and her husband Gus came to visit this weekend. Nancy is one of a group of Cyber Aunties that goes from puppy cam to puppy cam to watch each litter of pups develop. I think Nancy was the first of that group to find our channel when we went live on Ustream at the beginning of 2009. You will often see her signed into our chat under the screen name “cindypup”. Nancy and Gus came for the Champaign County Humane Society’s Fur Ball, but she also asked if she could have a look at our old foster albums.

Before I switched to digital cameras in 1999 we kept photos of most of our foster litters in albums along with our stats sheets. Between 1990 and 2000 we accumulated 9 of these albums covering the hundreds of animals we had in foster care during those years. They mostly have photos, stories, and statistics sheets on litters of puppies, but there are also a few pictures of kittens, Leona the pig, and Petunia the pygmy goat.

Nancy was exhausted after going through so much material.

Panda’s Pups Move On

2010-09-24T14:40:00.001-05:00

Bosley has a nap with his Aunt Sidney before leaving for CCHS

They’re gone. Harriett just took Bosley to the Champaign County Humane Society. He’ll be picked up by his adopter later this afternoon. The other four pups went home yesterday.

Bosley spent the last two days upstairs with us. We’ve been struck by what a good boy he’s been and how easy it is to have him around.

Panda will be with us for another four weeks or so, then she’ll be spayed and move to her new home. Her adopters are anxious to have her. As always, we wish these pups a long, fear-free life.

Panda’s Litter

2010-09-20T21:31:00.001-05:00

Panda and all of her puppies have been adopted. If you’re interesting in adopting a puppy or an adult dog, please go to the Champaign County Humane Society in Urbana, IL to see more great companion animals.

Panda

Bosley (m)

Charley (m)

Sabrina (f)

Jill (f)

Jill will be called Myla by her adopter and she has her own blog. You can check on Myla’s progress by following her at A Puppy Named Myla.

Kelly (f)

Panda’s Pups Ready To Go

2010-09-20T15:22:00.001-05:00

This will be our last full day with Panda’s puppies. Surgeries are scheduled for tomorrow. They will go to the Shelter in the morning, get spayed/neutered, and come back here to recover. They will start going home on Wednesday, depending on their adopters’ schedules.

Join us tonight for the last PuppyCam featuring Bosley, Charley, Jill, Kelly, and Sabrina.

Gracie Lou Moves On

2010-09-15T15:41:00.002-05:00

Harriett just returned from taking Gracie Lou to the Champaign County Humane Society. Gracie Lou is moving to a new foster home where she’ll be able to get more one-on-one training time and socialization. Treatment for her demodectic mange will continue as well.
For more information about Gracie Lou contact the Champaign County Humane Society.

Panda and Her Pups

2010-09-13T17:24:00.001-05:00

Panda and her pups had a great weekend. Both Panda and Kelly now have holds! We now have adopters lined up for Panda, Bosley, Jill, and Kelly. Charley and Sabrina are still available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. Contact the adoption staff at CCHS if you’re interested in adopting Charley or Sabrina.

Charlie (m)
Sabrina (f)

What’s Up With Gracie Lou?

2010-09-13T17:18:00.001-05:00

Gracie Lou was heavily infested with fleas and had some hair loss when she was relinquished to the Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS). That’s not unusual. Many dogs come to the Shelter loaded with parasites. The hair loss is usually caused by an allergic reaction to the flea bites. The CCHS medical staff applied a topical flea control to Gracie Lou to kill the fleas and started her on a course of antibiotics and antihistamines. The hair loss normally resolves itself within a few months after the fleas are killed.

But we noticed something unusual about Gracie Lou’s skin. First, despite the medications, and even after being free of fleas for a few weeks, there was no sign of new hair growth. (Hair loss is evident on her cheek and shoulder in the photo above.) Second, and more worrying, was that her skin would occasionally turn bright red and look inflamed and painful. Last week we took Gracie Lou for a consultation with a Dermatologist at the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine (UICVM). CCHS has a working relationship with the UICVM that makes it possible for us to get expert backup for dogs that need special care.

Within a couple of hours of being at UICVM we had a confirmed diagnosis – Gracie Lou has demodectic mange. Demodectic mange is caused by tiny mites as shown in the picture on the left. All dogs carry these mites in their hair follicles. The mites are transferred from the mother to pups as they cuddle during the first few days of life. Most of the time the mites reach a state of equilibrium with the dog and do not cause a problem. But sometimes, due to a suppression of the dog’s immune system, the mites proliferate out of control. That’s what happened to Gracie Lou.

Long-time readers of this blog may recognize demodectic mange as the disease that caused so much trouble for Donald, Daisy, and Pluto, the Redbone Coonhound Pups we had in foster care one year ago. If you click on that link you can read about the Coonhound pups and what can happen when demodectic mange is left untreated. I’ll warn you, though, those pups were not a pretty sight.

We’re treating Gracie Lou with ProMeris, the same drug we found so effective on the Coonhound pups. She’ll need a treatment every two weeks until all of the mites have been killed, but she’s on her way to recovery. The redness is gone and I’m sure she feels better.

Gracie Lou will soon be moving to a new foster home. She needs some dedicated training time, and that’s hard for us to do with the Base Pack and other fosters to take care of. I’ll pass long information on her progress.

Gracie Lou is available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. Contact the shelter for more information and to arrange to meet her.

Panda’s Pups at Five

2010-09-03T14:02:00.001-05:00

Panda’s puppies are five weeks old and growing. The weaning process started early last week with gruel made from puppy food kibble soaked in water until soft, then beat into a paste with a blender. They’ve already graduated to partially dry food and within another week or so they’ll be eating dry kibble.

The puppies have also had visitors and are doing well with their socialization. Puppies Jill and Bosley have been adopted. Each of the adopters has been out twice to see their pup and they’ve had a few other visitors as well. We’re happy to see that they may have inherited Panda’s personality. The pups are friendly and outgoing and not very mouthy for their age.

Panda, Charley, Kelly and Sabrina are available for adoption. If you’re interested in one of these dogs contact the Champaign County Humane Society for more information and an application.

Bosley (m)
Charley (m)
Jill (f)
Kelly (f)
Sabrina (f)

First Gruel

2010-08-23T18:52:00.001-05:00

Panda’s pups will have their first taste of gruel, live on PuppyCam, at 8pm CDT.

Alice, Peter, and Ralph Have a Play Date

2010-08-18T15:52:00.001-05:00

Alice, Peter, and Ralph Have a Play Date from Tom Schaefges on Vimeo.

Last night on PuppyCam I mentioned that I would have a surprise video posted here by Thursday. Here it is. Three of the Chihuahua pups having a play date.

Alice and Ralph were adopted by Harriett’s nephew and his family. Peter belongs to a friend of ours. Alice and Ralph are staying here for a couple of days while their family is on vacation, so Harriett thought it would be fun to set up a play date with Peter. The video starts our near the pool. Harriett set up a small wading pool with the hopes that the Chihuahuas would be interested in swimming. Alas, Chihuahuas aren’t water dogs and none of them, were interested in swimming, but they ran around and wrestled.

After playing outside we moved downstairs, next to the puppy room. You’ll see that the pups had a wonderful time. It was interesting to see the three of them together again. We don’t often get to see our foster dogs after they leave.

Gracie Lou Update

2010-08-18T14:57:00.001-05:00

Due to lack of foster homes, Gracie Lou is still with us. She’s a very nice dog and we’ve learned quite a few things about her:

she’s affectionate
she’s good with other dogs
she’s crate trained (she sleeps in the crate and stays there when we have to leave the house)
she’s housebroken
she knows “sit”
she takes treats very nicely
she’s learning her name

She’s still a bit timid with people at first, but warms up in literally minutes, especially if the new people give her treats. Once she gets to know someone she seeks out attention and contact. Gracie Lou will need more training. She especially needs work walking on a loose leash, but we always recommend that people who adopt an adult dog take it to training classes. She’s probably not the best choice if there are cats in the household.

You’ll notice some missing hair on the full body photo below. That’s left over from the skin condition she had when she came here. She’s in much better shape now and everything’s under control. That hair will grow back in a few months.

All-in-all, Gracie Lou is a wonderful dog. She’s available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society. Call them or stop by and speak to one of the adoption staff about her.

Panda & Pups on PuppyCam

2010-08-12T11:19:00.001-05:00

Panda and her pups will make their PuppyCam debut tonight starting at 7:00 pm (CDT).

Panda and Her Puppies

2010-08-09T15:38:00.001-05:00

Today we welcome Panda, a 10-year-old Australian Shepherd mix, and her five 10-day-old puppies. Beautiful dog, isn’t she? Panda and her pups were relinquished by their owners because they had too many dogs. Take note, everyone…the way to solve that problem is to have your animals spayed and neutered.

Though only slightly large for their breed at just over two pounds, after dealing with the Chihuahuas, these pups are giants! Panda herself weighs 50 pounds, but at least 5 pounds of that has got to be milk.

Panda seems like a very nice dog. We’ll let her settle in for a few days and I’ll be able to tell you more about her.

Here’s the family:

Charley (m)
Sabrina (f)
Bosley (m)
Jill (f)
Kelly (f)

Stewie Update

2010-07-31T12:19:00.001-05:00

Stewie may be little, but he has a mighty big heart. His new owners have given him a big name…Maximilian. Here’s the note we received from his new “mom,” Helen, late last night:

What a good send off Stewie, aka Max had. Everyone had their kisses and when he arrived home he investigated his new home and loved the grass outside. After all this, he did his duties and came in, entered his equipped crate, blankets and toys, took a short nap and continued to investigate. We were invited out to dinner, he went along and was a big hit. He now is sitting by me in my chair while I write this. He has already figured out what it means to ask for a kiss and he welcomes ones he receives. We love him so much. Just more of good things to come.

And this morning we received another note:

We had a perfect night, no whining at all. He went into his little house where his bear is and slept well until 6:30 this morning. He didn't eat much breakfast and is laying by me cat napping while I tell everyone how he is doing. He has been whining some this morning. I think he misses his bro's and sisters. I will keep you up to date as we go along.

I’ll continue to pass along updates as we receive them.

Gracie Lou

2010-07-30T14:43:00.001-05:00

Gracie Lou is an 8-month old female puppy. She was found as a stray by people who kept her for five days and then relinquished her to the Champaign County Humane Society. She’s a bit timid and will spend some time with us to help her relax around new people. She has flea dermatitis, round worms, whipworms, and we’ll be working on some skin issues as well. Gracie Lou was pretty dirty and she smelled bad, so Harriett’s first order of business was to give her a bath.

It’s too early to know her personality. I’ll post an update in a few days after she’s had a chance to settle in.

Stewie Has Left The Building

2010-07-30T14:33:00.001-05:00

We just got back from dropping Stewie off at the Champaign County Humane Society. He’ll have his “Go Home” physical and will be picked up by his adopters early this afternoon. Stewie had a little Chihuahua kiss for CCHS Shelter Manager Michelle McKnight.

Chihuahua Pups Are Going Home

2010-07-30T12:22:00.001-05:00

We’ve come to the end of our time with the Chihuahua pups. Despite the health crisis during the early weeks, these orphan pups are strong and healthy. Harriett and I are grateful to CCHS Surgery Assistant Jessica for her quick work and improvisations to keep Stewie and the rest of the litter alive when they were crashing, and to CCHS Shelter Manager Michelle for taking care of Stewie when he was in so much danger. As I have often said, there are a lot of people involved in these special-needs cases and it’s due to their hard work and dedication that we’re successful.

Stewie is going home this afternoon and the other four pups will be going home tomorrow. Not only is this the smallest litter we have ever had, it’s unique in that we knew all but one of the adopters before we had the pups. We expect to have updates to post periodically. As a special bonus, the 12-year old son in the family that’s taking Alice and Ralph has created a blog to let everyone follow their progress. It’s called Chi Puppy Life and I’m looking forward to following the little guys through their puppyhood and training through his eyes.

Our next foster dog is already at the shelter waiting for a spot to open up. I’ll post her picture and story after she arrives.

Here’s a picture of each of the puppies. The one on the left was taken the day they arrived when they were six days old. The one on the right was taken earlier today.

Alice

5 ounces	2 pounds, 15 ounces

Ralph

5 ounces	2 pounds, 8 ounces

Peter

4 ounces	2 pounds, 2 ounces

Lois

4 ounces	2 pounds

Stewie

4 ounces	1 pound, 14 ounces

Spay Day

2010-07-28T18:47:00.001-05:00

The Chihuahua pups went to the Shelter this morning for their spay and neuter surgeries. The girls, Alice and Lois were spayed, but Peter is the only one of the boys who could be neutered. Ralph and Stewie have undescended testicles and will have to grow up a little more before they can be neutered.

Harriett picked up the pups and they were back here early this afternoon. As is usual with pups of this age, you can’t tell by the way they are acting that they had major surgery this morning. We have them separated by gender to keep the playing to a minimum so they won’t tear open their incisions.

The adopters have scheduled their pick ups for Saturday, so the pups will stay with us until Saturday morning, then they’ll go back for their final medical check and then on to their new homes.

Wonderful Weekend for the Pups

2010-07-19T11:27:00.001-05:00

Chihuahua Pups (l-r): Ralph, Peter, Stewie (front), Alice, Lois

The Chihuahua pups had a very busy weekend. On Saturday they had a visit from Nancy (aka Cyber Auntie Cindypup) and her husband, Gus. David, Janelle, Logan, and Sean, the family that has adopted Alice and Ralph, also stopped by.

A visit from Nancy and Gus wouldn’t be complete without a picture of the puppies in a basket. Nancy brought an extra small basket for this group.

And Sunday evening we had a visit from Patricia and Ronald, a couple that has applied to adopt Lois. Lois spent nearly their entire visit snuggled in Ronald’s arms. When Lois goes home with them she will have a big sister, a 4-year old, long-haired, black Chihuahua.

Peter and Stewie are available for adoption. You can apply to adopt a puppy by going to the Champaign County Humane Society in Urbana and talking to the adoption staff.

Chihuahua Update

2010-07-14T11:50:00.001-05:00

The Chihuahua Pups (l-r): Alice, Ralph, Peter, Lois, Stewie.

The Chihuahua pups are six and a half weeks old and everyone’s healthy and doing great. Stewie, the smallest pup, finally made it over the one pound mark yesterday when he weighed in at 1 pound, 1 1/2 ounces. Alice, the largest pup, is very close to weighing two pounds. These are, by far, the smallest dogs we have ever had in foster care. We have to be very careful when walking or stepping anywhere near the pups so we don’t step on one of them. It’s not uncommon for small dogs like this to get broken legs from being stepped on, dropped, or even jumping off the couch. I can only imagine what we must look like from their point of view. Given our relative sizes, it would be like me looking up at a person who was as tall as a five storey building!

Despite their small size, these pups are developing just like every other litter we’ve ever had. They’ve settled into a normal routine for six week old pups with one exception. Normally puppies at this age are big enough that we give them the run of the puppy room. These guys, though, are so small that they can stay in the whelping box with plenty of room to spare. Since we haven’t been on PuppyCam for almost a week, we get them out at night for socialization. They had their first TV time a couple of days ago. Stewie, especially, enjoyed the experience.

Within the last week we’ve made a change to the feeding regimen. Rather then feeding each pup individually, we’re using as communal food bowl and letting the puppies eat in a group. We felt comfortable making this change because they were all eating well on their own, and steady weight gains indicated that everyone was healthy and getting enough food. We’ve also started leaving the water bowl in the whelping box. The pups are big enough and strong enough that we no longer worry about drowning.

Have a look at Lois’ picture at the top of this post. Within the last few days her ears have lifted and are now erect like the other pups. She’s pretty cute, isn’t she?

This weekend the pups will have some visitors. Cyber Auntie Cindypup and her husband, Mr. Cindypup (aka Gus), will be here on Saturday afternoon. They will be joined by David, Janelle, Logan, and Sean, the family that’s adopting Alice and Ralph. If our internet connection is stable enough (see below) I will try to have the visit on PuppyCam.

Alice and Ralph have been adopted. If you’re interested in adopting one of the other three go to the Champaign County Humane Society in Urbana and fill out an application.

PuppyCam

Our internet service provider is upgrading the equipment that’s on top of the grain elevator in downtown Sidney. Our connection has not been very fast or stable for some time and that has made it impossible to have PuppyCam. I’ve been told that they are having a problem getting the necessary parts. However, despite the difficulty, we’re going to try to have a PuppyCam broadcast on Thursday evening starting at about 7 pm (central time). If our connection holds out and the video streams properly, we’ll get back to a regular broadcast schedule.

PuppyCam Cancelled

2010-07-08T15:15:00.001-05:00

Our internet service provider is doing work on the tower that provides our radio connection for the internet. Until that work is done, our connection will not be fast or stable enough to host the PuppyCam. I hope we will be back on sometime next week. I will post an update here when we start broadcasting again.

Josie Comes For A Visit

2010-07-07T19:20:00.001-05:00

Josie is a two-year old terrier mix we had in foster care in April. Her new owners, Mary Beth and Tom, brought her by the house today for a visit. She’s as cute as ever.

Josie’s original owners told CCHS that she could not be trained or housebroken. We didn’t agree when she was with us, and Mary Beth and Tom tell us she doesn’t have accidents in the house and she is learning a bunch of new tricks. It’s a shame that people often make up stories about the pets they relinquish to the shelter. The shelter has to include that information in the animal’s record, but you always have to do your own evaluation to see if the information is really correct.

We were very happy to hear everything is working out for her. Josie is a great dog and we’re pleased that we could be part of her getting a second chance.

Chihuahua Update

2010-07-06T13:43:00.001-05:00

A lot has happened in the last week! The biggest news is that Megan and Brian have been adopted. They will be going to the same family and will have two boys (10 and 12 years old) to play with. The family has decided on Alice and Ralph as their adopted names so we have changed our records accordingly. The blue dots next to the pictures below indicate the puppies have been adopted.

All of the puppies are eating solid food and we have dropped down to four feedings per day. This is a big milestone for the pups and a welcome break for Harriett and I. The quantities are still very small. Alice gets 12 kibbles per feeding, Ralph gets 11, and Peter, Lois, and Stewie get 9 each. We’re soaking the kibbles in water until they are soft. The pups have teeth, but they are still coming in and the pups have very small mouths.

This afternoon we’ll do the first of two sets of vaccinations. Each puppy will get a dose of DHLPPC vaccine. Each letter stands for a disease; D=distemper, H=hepatitis, L=leptospirosis, P=parainfluenza, P=parvo and C=corona. Because there are 6 letters in the acronym, this vaccine is sometimes referred to as “6 way vaccine.” The pups also get a dose of Bordetella, or kennel cough, vaccine. Depending on the veterinarian, puppies get a series of three or four sets of “puppy shots”. They will get the first two while under the care of CCHS. About a week before they go back to the shelter we’ll give them the second set. This will help protect the pups while they are at the Shelter. The adopters will take the pups to their own veterinarian for the other two doses of each vaccine.

We have been able to have the pups on PuppyCam Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday evenings from about 7 pm to 10 pm. We do the last feeding of the day on cam at about 10 pm and then sign off for the night.

If you’re interested in adopting Peter, Lois, or Stewie you can go to the Champaign County Humane Society in Urbana, IL and fill out an application. The adoption staff can arrange for you to visit with the puppies. We’re hoping the puppies will be ready to go home in three or four weeks.

Alice (was Megan)
Ralph (was Brian)
Peter
Lois
Stewie

Megan Breaks the Pound Barrier

2010-06-30T18:30:00.001-05:00

Megan had a little growth spurt and she now weighs more than a pound. The pups will be five weeks old on Saturday and only one of them weighs more than a pound. These are the smallest pups we have ever had and it’s been a very interesting experience dealing with such little puppies.

Last week we learned that the person who brought the pups in said their mother was a purebred Chihuahua and their father was a Chihuahua/Rat Terrier mix. Rat Terriers are small dogs, though bigger than Chihuahuas. We think Megan and Brian take after their father and the other three are more Chihuahua like. It will be interesting to see what they look like fully grown.

Rosie Goes Home

2010-06-30T18:21:00.001-05:00

Rosie’s gone home. Harriett took her back to the Champaign County Humane Society late this afternoon and by now she should be in her new home. Rosie is a wonderful dog and will make a great companion to her new family. We’re very happy for her.

Chihuahua Update

2010-06-28T11:41:00.001-05:00

The Chihuahua Pups are four weeks old and doing well. Stewie has a little congestion, but he’s getting better by the day. We’ve had quite a few developments in the past week.

All the pups, except Stewie, have made the transition from bottle feeding to eating kibble that has been soaked in water to make it soft. It’s been interesting to figure out much to feed these little guys. We’re looking for slow, consistent weight gain from one day to the next. At their current size, Megan gets 8 kibbles per feeding, Brian gets 7, Peter and Lois get 5 each, and Stewie gets 3. Stewie is also getting a small amount of milk while he works through the congestion. We don’t want him getting dehydrated. As long as the general trend on the weight chart is up we’re doing fine. We’re down to five meals per day and by the end of this week or the beginning of next, we should be down to four. We’ll stay at four meals per day until the pups are ready to go back to the shelter.

Behaviorally, the pups have also made progress. We’re getting a lot of mouth games, pawing at each other, and generally what could be called play fighting. This is critical behavior and helps the pups learn proper dog etiquette and bite inhibition. They’re staying awake a little longer and are a lot of fun to play with.

PuppyCam

2010-06-24T13:02:00.001-05:00

PuppyCam will be on tonight starting at 8pm (central time).

PuppyCam Returns

2010-06-22T14:48:00.001-05:00

PuppyCam will return to UStream tonight from 7-10pm (central time). If you would like to participate in the on-line chat, you can sign up for a user name on UStream and connect to the PupsIsPups channel directly from their site.

We’ve had rain and thunderstorms most of the day. If the storms continue, our internet connection will not be reliable enough to stream the video and we will cancel the program.

Chihuahua Update

2010-06-21T20:48:00.001-05:00

Since last week, things are looking up for the Chihuahua pups. All of the pups are stable, alert, and eating well. The shelter had some of the old formula milk replacer in their freezer and since we’ve switched back everyone’s doing great. We’re still hearing some congestion noises, but all things considered, I think we’ve turned the corner. Harriett and I are allowing ourselves to be optimistic about the outcome of this litter.

The pups were three weeks old on Saturday. This is the age at which we see many physical and behavioral changes. Their eyes are open and they can hear. The shape of their skulls is changing to a classic Chihuahua shape and their ears are starting to lift. Their teeth are also starting to come in.

We noticed tonight that Megan and Brian are starting to play mouth games (also known as play fighting). That’s a major milestone for puppies. I’ll be posting more on this important behavior in a future post.

The pups also had their first visitors on Sunday. They’re still not terribly active, but they stayed awake for about 15 minutes and didn’t mind being held and passed around.

It’s hard not to be amazed at how small they are! Megan, the biggest pup, is smaller than some newborns we’ve had in other litters. The three little ones only weigh about a half pound each. When fully grown, these pups will probably weigh only a few pounds.

Now that the puppies seem to be healthy, we will begin regular PuppyCam broadcasts later this week. I’ll send a tweet and post a note here when we decide the schedule. If all goes well we may be able to have a broadcast on Tuesday evening. Keep in mind, however, that puppies of this age sleep about 95% of the time. Don’t expect too much action.

Rosie

2010-06-19T15:16:00.001-05:00

I was gone for a few hours on Saturday morning and when I got home, I found Harriett had picked up another foster dog. Rosie is a 4-year-old Yellow Labrador Retriever. She weighs 60 pounds and is on the small side for a Labrador. Rosie has severe mastitis and infected ears. She’ll be with us for at least a week while these problems are being treated.

Rosie is very friendly, gets along great with the Base Pack (our 4 dogs), is supposedly housebroken, and I’ve been told she’s good with children, but not cats. Although she is not at the shelter building, she’s available for adoption from the Champaign County Humane Society in Urbana, IL. You can call the Shelter for information about Rosie and to arrange a visit.

Jessica’s New Foster Home

2010-06-18T11:19:00.001-05:00

Once a foster dog leaves the Shelter we almost never hear about them again. We took Jessica back to CCHS on Wednesday morning and she was transported to the Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue that afternoon. For the first time ever, we got a note from the new foster home. And get this, the same foster home has a dog they picked up from CCHS last year that is about the same age and has the same color pattern and similarly tipped ears as Jessica! Littermates? Siberian Huskies are not that common in this area.

Hi Harriett,

I'm Jessica's new foster. She sure is a sweet girl. I'm attaching a couple pictures. I fostered then adopted a dog from the same shelter about a year ago and I'm sure they must be littermates. What do you think? His name is Blue.

Sara

Josie Update

2010-06-18T09:46:00.001-05:00

Remember Josie? Adopted as a puppy, she was relinquished to the Champaign County Humane Society in April. Her owners had her for two years and told CCHS she could not be housebroken or trained. We found Josie to be a delightful little dog. I posted a bit of a rant about people giving dogs a bad rap by not telling the truth when they relinquish their pets. Here’s a note we received from Josie’s new family in May, soon after she was adopted:

Hello Harriett and Tom,

I should have gotten this Email out to you much quicker, however, time has just been speeding by the past few weeks! No question Josie IS home and here to stay for good!

As I sit here typing to you Josie is on my lap with her curled tail over my left arm and her head on my right leg. What a sight we must be, but how I love it and how we love her.

Our first night of bringing her home must have been very different and I am sure unsettling for her. That night she did soil her crate both ways. We looked upon that as adjusting to our times and routines. She is such a good dog when meeting other animals! Both our parents love her and Tom and I adore her. When someone is sitting down, there is Josie up on our lap or by our side in the chair. She remains reserved about meeting people at first giving a soft growl, however, once she is use to someone she becomes a friendly tail wagger wanting attention.

When I am crocheting she is curled up in the chair with me and has even gotten use to having yarn tickle her ears once in a while....as well as learning it isn't to chew on. What a character she is. She loves to get out and run, wow can that little dog run! She has made fast friends with the two Basset Hounds,cat and children next door as well as with dogs at Tom's parents. We hope to have her meet both our brothers dogs soon and see how they all get along.

She has taken quite well to being walked on a leash, though she pulls sometimes she is really picking it up quickly. She is very good around doors and not running out. She has only had one accident in the house the first week here and though we are not sure when it occurred she has had no more since then. We are still keeping her limited to 3 or 4 rooms until we know for sure she is on a routine schedule and will not have any more accidents. We continue to crate her at night.

Our only major issue with Josie is while she knows her name and reacts whenever it is used, she does not want to come at all, she often runs up, teases and runs quickly away. This has caused some issues and is something we need to work on getting resolved. We want to look into some obedience classes (any recommendations would be very welcome) and continue working with her on it. She sits beautifully, shakes hands (um paws), will "give you five" with a paw and we are working on "sitting pretty" and staying.

She is eating well and our Vet at Meadows Animal Clinic says she is all clear of the worms she had. For the 1st time she is caught up on all her vaccinations and is a very healthy little girl. The staff there just love her and were so happy to see we had adopted another dog after loosing our 13 year old Black Lab in January of this year.

Josie is a happy little dog and we are very happy to be her owners now. I have included a few photos of her, though not the best as I am not much of a photographer I think you will enjoy them. She enjoys the "puff" dog bed here too! Josie is indeed home....and very loved.

With Appreciation and Thanks,
Tom and Mary Beth

We received another update last week:

She continues to learn tricks and to settle in. She now has the run of the back yard as we have it all secure. Tom and I still enjoy walking her and she does excellent on a leash. Since that first week no issues at all with going in the house or her night crate.

She is standing here whinnying at me with a toy in her mouth wanting to play which I am attempting to explain I will do in a few more lines! It is the only time she is fussy with me, she hates it when I am on the computer! Our compromise is that I let her lay on my lap while I type and she seems happy and I can use the computer in silence!

Each evening she still enjoys sleeping on one of our laps, however, come time for that last walk before bedtime and there is NO holding her back!

The Last 48

2010-06-17T21:13:00.001-05:00

When you eliminate all other possibilities, what remains, no matter how improbable, is the answer. – Sherlock Holmes

The last 48 hours has been a real roller coaster.

On Tuesday evening I posted an entry about Stewie beginning to crash. He was lethargic, doing abdominal breathing, and moving his mouth as though gasping for air. Bottle fed orphans are always very high risk fosters, and we were at a loss to explain how his condition could decline so dramatically in just a few hours. We got him to the shelter as soon as we could.

CCHS Medical Director, Jessica Buchholz, gave Stewie a thorough examination. Aspiration pneumonia is a constant worry with bottle-fed pups, but his lungs sounded fine. We don’t know why Stewie’s mom died. Could he have caught something from her that’s just now showing up? The only thing Jessica could do was supportive therapy. Stewie was put into a makeshift oxygen tent to ease his breathing and he was given subcutaneous fluids to treat his dehydration and Nutri-Cal to boost his blood sugar. Frankly, no one expected him to make it through the night. Shelter Manager, Michelle McKnight, took Stewie home with her so she could keep an eye on him. Michelle spent many years in the medical lab at CCHS and had access to anything she might need if his conditions worsened. I left CCHS depressed that we may have lost a pup with no idea why and no idea what implications there were for the four others in the litter.

On Wednesday morning we hadn’t heard any news of Stewie so I called Jessica. “Is he still with us?” I asker her. She told me Michelle hadn’t come in yet and she wasn’t sure of his status. I was going to have to check with Michelle. It’s the sort of call you don’t want to make, but have to. I called Michelle at home to see what happened over night. I was stunned when she told me that no only did he live through the night, but that they got him to eat almost a half jar of baby food! Apparently he wouldn’t take any formula from the bottle so they tried strained beef out of desperation. We met Michelle at CCHS, picked up Stewie, and brought him home. Despite his ordeal he had only lost a few grams of body weight. Amazing.

Everything was going fine on Wednesday all the way through the noon feeding. Jessica decided to come out to look over the litter to check each of the pups. She arrived in time for the 3 pm feeding. Each pup was given a check up. Jessica didn’t hear the telltale lung sounds of pneumonia in any of them, allowing us to rule out pneumonia as the cause of the problems. While Jessica was here we heard some nasal congestion noises and almost every pup blew milk out of its nose as soon as it started to nurse. Now what? With nothing conclusive to go by we decided to wait out the rest of the day to see what would happen.

Harriett went down to do the 7 pm feeding and called me to come down to have a look at Brian. He had been one of the strongest pups in the litter and was fine when Jessica was here four hours earlier. But now he was starting to show the same symptoms that Stewie had the night before. Again we were immediately on the phone to Jessica. Brian was not as bad as Stewie had been, so the decision was made to do the supporting therapy here and call her if he took a turn for the worse. Harriett decided to sleep downstairs next to the puppy room. She wasn’t going to be able to sleep anyway and she’d be close enough to check on him throughout the night. By 11 pm almost every pup was beginning to show the same symptoms, even Megan, the largest, strongest puppy. Something very bad was happening and we had no idea what it was or what to do about it.

At about 2 am on Thursday morning Harriett had a revelation. She kept asking herself how was it that Stewie made such a fast recovery? Why is every puppy getting sick now? Why is Stewie sick again? What has changed? Then it came to her and she started putting the pieces together. A couple of days before we had run out of Esbilac and she had opened another package. We buy milk replacer powder in bulk and keep it in the freezer. We had been using “old formula” Esbilac but the new package was of a newer formulation. She checked the labels but didn’t see any difference. She did a few searches on the web and, BINGO!, there it was. Many people, especially wildlife rehab groups, had reported severe problems when they started to use the new formula milk replacer. Web forums were full of speculation that ran the gamut from the product being tainted with metals to problems with the fat and other components not staying in suspension. Things were starting to make sense. While Stewie was away he didn’t get any of the new formula. Too tired to keep searching, at 3 am Harriett sent a note with a few links to CCHS Web Mistress, Barbara Meyer, an internet research expert and early-morning riser. Then she went to bed.

By the time we got up on Thursday morning, Barbara had found many reports of problems with the milk replacer. She also found a few sites that proposed solutions. So there we had it. The formula we were using was making the puppies sick. We took the entire litter to CCHS on Thursday morning. Jessica rigged up an oxygen cage using an old aquarium and the pups spent several hours under her watchful eyes. Each pup was given fluids and Nutri-Cal as needed through the day. They all improved. CCHS still had “old formula” milk replacer in their freezer and by 4 pm all of the pups had started eating again and were ready to come home.

They’re all back. Tonight’s 7 pm feeding went very well and hopefully this episode is behind us. This story illustrates the incredible support system CCHS has in place to back us up. Without the oxygen system in the surgical suite at the Shelter or the knowledge and expertise of Jessica and Michelle the outcome would have been very different for the pups. Barbara was able to find, in a very short time, information that other people would have taken days to locate if they were able to find it at all. I’ve always said that Harriett and I could not do this job alone and this is an excellent example of that truth.

Jessica Leaves / Stewie Returns

2010-06-16T10:55:00.001-05:00

We took Jessica back to the Champaign County Humane Society this morning. In a few hours she’ll be on her way to Northern Lights Sled Dog Rescue where she will be in foster care until she’s adopted. Jessica is a nice dog with good house manners. We wish her the best.

While we were at the Shelter we picked up Stewie. He had a very bad day yesterday and spent a few hours on oxygen yesterday evening. When he was taken off the oxygen his breathing became very labored. It was not clear that he would make it through the night. Shelter Manager, Michelle, took him home to care for him. Although he would not nurse from the bottle, Michelle’s housemate, Erin, was able to get Stewie to eat some baby food. He was a bit more active this morning so we brought him home to be with the litter. Despite his ordeal he only lost 2 grams yesterday. We’ll be watching him closely for the next few days.

Stewie’s Crashing

2010-06-15T18:55:00.001-05:00

Everything was going well with the pups today. They had all eaten the required amount of food for their first three feedings and were acting like normal, two-week-old puppies. But when Harriett went down to do the 4:00 pm feeding she noticed a serious problem with Stewie. He was having trouble breathing and was very lethargic. A rapid decline like this is called crashing and is always a critical situation. I immediately called the shelter and talked to Jessica, the Medical Director. She told me to bring Stewie right over.

Jessica met me in the parking lot and I gave her a quick review of Stewie’s day. I told her I was worried about aspiration pneumonia, a common problem with bottle-fed newborns. Another factor to consider is that we don’t know why Stewie’s mother died, and we’ve had him for roughly the amount of time it takes for some nasty diseases to incubate. Jessica took Stewie to the surgery suite and put him on oxygen. After checking him over she administered subcutaneous fluids and a gave him Nutri-Cal to boost his blood sugar level.

The medical staff was going to be at the Shelter for a couple more hours, so the plan we agreed to was for me to leave Stewie with Jessica and she would keep him on oxygen until they closed up the surgery. Jessica volunteered to take him home with her so she could keep an eye on him over night.

We don’t know how this will turn out. Pneumonias can be fatal for such small pups. If that’s what it is, all we can do is provide medical support and wait to see if he’s strong enough to pull through. We’ll be checking on him tomorrow morning and I’ll post another update when I get some news.

Update on Michelle (Gertie’s Daughter)

2010-06-11T21:08:00.003-05:00

We received a note from Dani, the person who adopted Gertie’s daughter Michelle. Michelle was born in our house in mid February. Isn’t she cute? Dani was kind enough to allow me to post her photos for everyone to see and to include her note:

Hi Tom and Harriet!
We just got back from her vet check-up today. She is 19 lbs now! Tripled in size from the 6 weeks since we got her. She is learning pretty quickly, we have her almost completely house trained other than the few accidents now and then. She is too smart for her own good though. On days Jeff and I will be away from home more than 8 hours, we were gating her into a hard floor area so she could play and romp around and then would have a dog walker come, but she climbed the gate. We got her a gate that was a foot taller than the previous, and with no surprise she climbed that too. We locked her in the laundry room and she scratched a ditch into the door On top of all of that, she learned how to get out of her crate, so we had to get her a larger crate we call puppy Alcatraz that she has been doing much better in. Our neighbors have two dogs that she loves playing with, she loves it so much she found a small gap in the ground and the gate that she squeezed under one day when I let her out, and we found her on the other side playing with the other dogs. She's very friendly and playful, and a cuddler when she tires out. I do wonder how her brothers and sisters are doing though, I am curious as to how big they are. Attached are some pictures we took right before we went to Mexico! Hope everything is going well with you and your doggies!

It’s really nice to hear about our foster pups and see what they look like when they grow up. Dani has promised to send more pictures in the future and I will post them here when they come in.

Here’s what Michelle looked like about a minute after she was born.

Interactive PuppyCam

2010-06-11T11:24:00.001-05:00

During the PuppyCam broadcast tomorrow afternoon I will be taking questions from the viewers. You can participate in the conversation by logging into our channel on UStream TV at

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pupsispups

There’s a “Sign Up” link in the upper right corner. Create a user name and you will be able to Log In to join the interactive chat.

PuppyCam: Meet the Pups

2010-06-10T11:28:00.002-05:00

We’ll have a special PuppyCam broadcast on Saturday afternoon, June 12, from 1:00 to 2:00 pm CDT. We’ll introduce the pups, weigh them, and do their scheduled feeding. The event will be recorded, so if you can’t make it you’ll be able to see the replay.

Jessica Update

2010-06-09T17:19:00.001-05:00

Is she a beautiful dog, or what?

Jessica’s still with us and she’s doing fine. We’ve discovered that she walks pretty well on a leash, doesn’t mind cats, and takes treats very gently. If she gets nervous about someone she just backs off. We no longer crate her at night. She sleeps on a dog bed in our room.

CCHS is still working on sending Jessica to a breed rescue. But if you’re interested, there’s still time to meet her. Contact the Champaign County Humane Society for more information.

New Scale

2010-06-08T16:52:00.001-05:00

We’re switching scales. Our old one weighed in 5 gram increments, but these pups are so small that that’s not accurate enough to tell us how they are doing. We’re upgrading to get more accurate weights for this litter. The new scale uses 1 gram increments.

Since we switched scales there may be a “bump” in the weights for the second weight today.

2010-06-07T20:27:00.000-05:00

It's been a while since we've had puppies on this blog so I thought it would be a good idea to review the kinds of records we keep for our foster pups. Harriett designed a chart that lets us see, at a glance, the status of each puppy.

For each pup we record the gender and a short description on the far left. Once the pups get named we’ll add the name to that information area.

Our main indicator of progress are the puppies' weights. For the first 10-14 days each pup is weighed twice a day. We record the weights, in grams, on the chart. If everything is going well, each pup will gain weight every day. If the weight stays the same or decreases it indicates there is a problem. The circles on the weight chart highlight these situations. If we have the mother we’ll do supplemental feedings or sit with the mom and pup to be sure it gets a chance to eat properly. We sometimes use NutriCal, a high-calorie supplement, to support the pup (indicated by an ‘N’ on the bottom line of the chart). If the weight does not stabilize and start to increase within two days we might have a serious illness developing and we’ll watch for other symptoms and consult with a veterinarian.

For orphans we record the volume of formula, in milliliters, each pup eats at each feeding. Those are the single-digit numbers in the sample above. We know how much each puppy should consume based on its weight, so we can run down the columns and add up the daily amount to be sure we’re at, but not too far over, our target. It’s bad to under- or overfeed the pups, so we watch these amounts carefully.

Special treatments, such as subcutaneous fluids, are also indicated on the last line of the chart. We use that information if we have to talk to a vet about a problem.

We will post a graph of the puppies’ weights at the top of the left column of this blog until the pups are about 5 weeks old. The weight is shown in ounces on the graph because that measurement is more familiar to most of our readers. Each pup is represented by a colored line.

For the first 10-14 days there will be two weights per day. If the pups are healthy at the two-week-old point we’ll drop to one weight per day. We’ll stop the daily weightings at the five-week-old point if everyone’s doing well and there are no problems.

Let’s hope we see all of the lines moving up as we go to the right.

Pups Is Pups

Lola and Her Puppies

Pups Have Returned to CCHS

Puppy Update

Please Help CCHS Help Homeless Pets

Puppies!

Ciara Update

Ciara Update

Ciara

Kittens

Puppy Update

The Townies

Chocolate Has a Home

Tara and the puggle pups: Update

Puggle Pup Update

Puggle-Mix Pups

Rascals Update

Delta Has Gone Home

The Rascals Have Names

Chocolate’s Pups

Tiny’s Pups

Delta Update

The Little Rascals

Delta Update

Delta Update

Delta

Update

Molly

Chihuahua Birthday Reunion

Puppies return to CCHS

Roy

Puppy Update

Coco’s Litter

Simpsons Pups Return to Shelter

Bailey’s Going Home

Simpsons Litter Update

Meet the Pups

A New Litter

Baily Update

Help CCHS Help Bailey

Bailey

Lab Puppies Return to CCHS

Puppy Update

Gracie Lou Went Home

Buddah

Scout Comes For A Visit

Redbone Coonhound Update

Labrador Pups

Catching Up

Rosie

Lester, Earl, and Ocho

Gracie Lou

20th Anniversary, Part 4

Traditional Media

Wrap-up

20th Anniversary, Part 3

Base Pack Additions

20th Anniversary, Part 2

Interesting Fosters

Twenty Years of Fostering

Rosie

Christina

Anniversary Party

Tony’s Moving On

Antonio (“Tony”)

KittyCam!

I Like Big Mutts and I Cannot Lie

Crosby Gets Some Friends

More on Crosby

Crosby

Updates on Panda’s Pups

Myla (Jill)

Terabyte (Kelly)

Pippin (Charley)

CindyPup’s Visit

Panda’s Pups Move On

Panda’s Litter

Panda’s Pups Ready To Go

Gracie Lou Moves On

Panda and Her Pups