Yesterday we went to CCHS for a gathering of Daisy’s puppies to celebrate their first birthday. Everyone but Oakley was there. It was great to see the pups fully grown, happy, and with their very enthusiastic owners. The biggest surprise was that little Oliver, now Cooper, the smallest of the boys, is now the biggest dog. Wyatt, now Wiley, looks just like his mama and is about the same size as his sisters.
Hopefully we’ll be able to get these guys together again later this summer.
It’s amazing to me that we’ve had more than 10,000 visitors to this blog since February 2009. Harriett and I thought we’d share a behind the scenes look into a foster home and the type of extra care some animals need before they can go up for adoption to permanent homes. We’re overwhelmed and grateful that so many people are interested in their stories. The goal of this blog, PuppyCam, our Twitter feeds, and Facebook are to use social networking to get these guys into good forever homes.
Obviously we couldn’t do this kind of work alone. The Champaign County Humane Society (CCHS) provides an enormous amount of support. It starts at the top with M. “Tief” Tiefenbrunn, the Executive Director, sending Tweets and mentioning us on TV and Radio. Michelle McKnight, the Shelter Manager; Dr. Jennifer Stone, CCHS’s Veterinarian; and Karen Simmons, the Medical Lab Manager and Foster Care Coordinator; help us keep our foster pets healthy. The adoptions staff at the front desk help match our fosters to good homes.
The animals we take care of are innocent victims. Some of cruelty, some of ignorance, and all of a disposable pet mentality. One way everyone can help them is to spread the word that they are at CCHS and available for adoption. They can use everyone’s help to find good forever homes.
Most of the time we have moms and puppies, but occasionally a dog like Madrid who needs some recovery time after a medical procedure comes through. Here’s a look back on the first half of this year and who’s appeared on the blog.
| Madrid (Feb 2009) Medical Foster |   |
| Boogie (Feb 2009) Foster Mom |  |
| Daisy (Feb 2009) Foster Mom and Litter |       |
| Lucille (May 2009) Foster Mom and Litter |         |
| Bonnie and Clyde (July 2009) Foster Pups |   |
We almost never know what happens to our foster litters. It’s extremely rare that we meet their families, see them as adults, know how big they got, or what kind of personality they have. We know that the puppies and mom get adopted, but we almost never find out who has them or what they’re like when they grow up.
Daisy, Maggie (nee Gertie) and Cooper (nee Oliver) were adopted by people who saw them on this blog, watched them on PuppyCam, and came out to visit a few times. We’ll be able to follow those three over the years because we know the adopters.
Annie was adopted by a neighbor of someone who followed the blog. She and her husband saw Annie in her neighbor’s yard and went over to visit. It’s possible that a family play date will be set up between Maggie, Cooper, and Annie, so maybe we’ll have some news about her every now and then.
That left Oakley and Wyatt’s whereabouts unknown. Until late last week…
We had one of our cats and a dog at the vet last Friday and were very surprised when the receptionist said, “I think we saw one of your foster dogs earlier this week.” She went on to describe Wyatt. The vet also mentioned him to us and told us how big he’d gotten and what a nice pup he was. That just left Oakley.
Harriett was at the Shelter to pick up some Garage Sale paperwork and one of the people who works the front desk told her, “I’m babysitting one of your foster pups.” It turned out to be Oakley. He was adopted by a friend of hers so we’ll get news about Oakley every now and then as well.
A few years ago we had a litter of Coonhound pups. One of the adopters kept in touch with the other owners and had a birthday party for the litter when they turned two years old. Harriett and I were invited to go out to see them. It was the first time we had ever seen so many members of a litter in one place after they left our care. It was really nice to see them with their families. Here’s a video I shot of the party:
Coonhound Birthday Party from Tom Schaefges on Vimeo.
First the good news. Daisy, our last foster mom, will be going home today. Her new family is excited to be getting her and we’re very confident this is a great match. Her adopter has been out to visit several times and Daisy went on a field trip to her new home yesterday. Later today Daisy will have her “go home” physical and go to her new family this afternoon.
The bad news is that a routine screening has shown that Daisy has heartworms. As their name implies, heartworms live inside the dog’s heart. Needless to say, this is a serious condition that will have to be treated.
Every dog adopted from CCHS is screened for heartworms. Blood is drawn and examined under a microscope. The microfilaria could be seen swimming in Daisy’s blood indicating she was infected. The worms are transferred from one dog to another via mosquito bites. Left unchecked, the worms take up residence in the heart and will eventually cause severe complications. The disappointing thing is that heartworm disease can be easily prevented by giving the dog a pill once a month. Once infected, however, treatment is not so easy.
Sometime next week Daisy will be given injections with a drug to kill the adult heartworms already in her heart. As the worms die they will break down into pieces and eventually get eliminated from her body. The problem is that if the breakdown is too fast the pieces are too large and can cause blockages in her circulatory system. So for five weeks or so after the treatment Daisy will have to be kept as quiet as possible. After that period she will be treated again, this time to kill the baby heartworms circulating in her blood.
Our house is anything but a quiet place and Daisy’s adopters have agreed to take her now and care for her during these treatments. The plans for enrolling her in dog training class have had to be put on hold as has scheduling her for spay surgery.
Three weeks ago I wrote A Healthy Investment detailing the type of medical care CCHS provides for the dogs they take in. They wind up dealing with heartworm positive dogs several times each year. At a private clinic the cost of the treatment would be close to $1,000. The fact that they are willing to do these treatments shows how seriously they take the health of the homeless animals they take into the Shelter.
If you have a dog, please be sure to have it tested for heartworms and be sure to keep up with the preventative medication. This is a disease that does not have to happen.
We are very happy that Daisy, Gertie, and Oliver have homes lined up. There’s been some interest in Wyatt, but we don’t have a firm commitment for him.
We’re in the process of scheduling the puppies return to the Champaign County Humane Society. Our goal will be to have the adopted pups in the Shelter for a short a time as possible. Illinois State law requires that dogs adopted from a humane society must be neutered. We adjust our return schedule based on the surgery schedule at the Shelter so the pups do not have to wait there before going up for adoption.
With that in mind, Annie and Oakley will be returned to the Shelter for their surgery on Wednesday and they will be available for adoption on Thursday. Gertie, Oliver, and Wyatt will go back to the Shelter on Thursday. They will be neutered and go to their new homes that same day. Daisy has to stay with us for another three or four weeks until her milk dries up and she can be safely spayed. Then we can line up a date for her surgery and she can move to her new home.
If you’re interested in adopting one of the available puppies call CCHS at 217/344-7297. There are other puppies available at the Shelter, too, so go out to visit them if these pups aren’t exactly what you’re looking for. They also have adult dogs in need of homes available all the time. Adopting an adult dog can make a lot more sense for many people than adopting a puppy.
The CCHS website has information on their Adoption Policies and Rules. The website also has a searchable list of all the animals available for adoption.
The pups are seven weeks old today and last night they underwent a behavior assessment. A behavior assessment is standard procedure for all animals we foster for the Champaign County Humane Society.
For the dogs we foster the assessment doesn’t determine whether or not the animal is adoptable. That goes without saying except in very rare, exceptional cases (see my post about our dog Bella). The purpose of the assessment is to help the Shelter staff make better matches. The evaluation can yield information regarding a dog’s energy requirements, play styles, tractability, trainability, as well as reaction to children, other pets, and household activities.
We very much want the first adopter of our foster dogs to be the last, i.e., keep the dog for life. However, when most people go to a Shelter to pick out a new companion they will spend a relatively short time, maybe a half hour or less, with that animal before they decide to adopt it into their home. Many people make their decision based solely on color or breed. The behavior assessment provides additional information to help the adopter make a more informed decision.
For example, some people want a high drive, high energy dog that will play dog sports, go running, or in other ways lead a very active lifestyle. Other people want a quiet companion around the house who’s happy to sit on the couch and watch TV. Some families have small children or other pets, other don’t. Some people enjoy the challenges of dog training and advanced classes, others not so much.
The problem is that the first, and often only, meeting many adopters have with the prospective pet is a few minutes in a “Get Acquainted Room” at a shelter. Emotions run high on both sides. The people, especially children if they are involved, are excited to meet the new puppy. The puppy is excited, and probably a bit nervous, about meeting with new people. If there are children involved and it’s one of our fosters, it may the the first time the pup has seen a little kid. It’s almost impossible to judge the “normal” behavior of the dog under these circumstances.
But the behavior assessment has been done based on our living with the puppy over a multi-week period. We know how active they are, if they ever rest, what they like to play with, how trainable they are, how they are with new people, etc. The assessment form guides us through answering questions about these things and more. It gives the shelter staff and potential adopter more information than they can get under typical conditions at the shelter.
We’ve been following the development of Wyatt’s teeth since the second week. Here’s the latest addition to the pictures, this one taken at six weeks old. You can see the further development of the canines and incisors, but what’s really interesting this week is how many molars are in place. The pictures run from left to right, top to bottom, and were taken at 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 weeks old.
We probably see the greatest physical changes in the pups even though we only have them for two months. It's fun to look back on their short time here to see how far they have come. Just five and a half weeks ago they were helpless newborns. Now they are fast-developing pups, each with it's own unique personality.
Here are three pictures for each pup. The one on the left was taken when the pups were 5 or 6 days old, the center picture was taken when they were three weeks old, and the one on the right was taken last night at nearly six weeks old. If you look closely you can see the changes to color and markings. Some are subtle, some not so much.
| Wyatt (male) | ||
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| Gertie (female) | ||
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| Annie (female) | ||
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| Oliver (male) | ||
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| Oakley (male) | ||
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Here’s an update on the development of the puppies’ teeth. These pictures are of Wyatt’s mouth, taken at 2, 3, 4, and 5 weeks old. The shape of the incisors and interlocking of the canines can be seen clearly in the latest photo (click it to see a larger size).
It’s a fact of life that puppies get infected with internal parasites. The most common internal parasites we deal with are roundworms and tapeworms. The most common external parasite is the flea.
Puppies get the roundworms from their mother, either through the uterus or via her milk. The in utero larvae are transferred from mother to puppy and live in the pup’s lungs. When they are born, the puppies cough up the larvae and swallow them. The worms then grow in the small intestines. That’s why nearly all puppies have roundworms…they are infected before they are born.
You can’t help but to be amazed at the Rube Goldberg nature of the lifecycle, but roundworms are especially bad for the pups. They live in the small intestine and absorb nutrients that should be helping the puppies grow and can actually damage the lining of the intestine. There are no outward signs of a mild infestation, but pups with a heavy load of roundworms have dull hair coats, pot bellies, and can become anemic with vomiting, diarrhea, or constipation. Sometimes people will comment on a puppy with a big belly being “cute.” It’s not cute at all. It’s a sign of a heavy load of worms.
Tapeworms are carried by fleas. At this time of year fleas are less of a problem, but if mom had fleas in the fall while she was pregnant she may have passed tapeworm eggs to the babies. Daisy had a tapeworm when she came here so it’s possible the pups will have them, too. We’ve already checked Daisy and the puppies for fleas and, thankfully, didn’t find any.
How do we know the pups had roundworms? We saw live worms in the poop. Now that the puppies are eating solid food they are moving a lot more volume through their intestines. The puppies get a growth spurt, but so do the worms. They look like spaghetti.
The treatment is very simple…half of a milliliter of Strongid liquid by mouth is all it takes to kill the adult worms. We repeat the dose in a couple of weeks.
“You sure know how to plan a meal!” --- Stan Laurel, Them Thar Hills (1934)
Weaning the puppies off their mother is a little more than just dumping out some dry kibble and expecting the pups to eat it. The pups vary on when they’re willing to start eating solid food. Generally speaking, sometime between weeks three and four they will be ready. Occasionally there’s a special case, like big pups without a mom, that we try to entice earlier.
We ultimately want them to eat dry kibble because that’s what the majority of owners will feed when these pups go into their adopted homes. At this stage the pups don’t have enough teeth to chew kibble and we have to introduce that idea slowly as their back teeth come in between weeks five and six. 
To start out we use a 50/50 mixture (by volume) of Esbilac® milk replacer and dry food. The dry food gets soaked in the formula until it is completely soft, then pulverized with a stick blender to make a creamy gruel. There are special weaning foods available, but we don’t find any advantage in using them so we don’t bother unless someone donates it to the Shelter. We always use Esbilac® because we have never had a problem with it. The dry food is Science Diet® Small Bites because that's what the pups will eat when they go back to the Shelter.
The food is warmed to between 90°F and 100°F to come close to mom's body temperature. We start out feeding each pup separately on a paper plate. If they take the food easily we move them to a “flying saucer” shaped communal feeding pan. If they won’t take the gruel we add a little more water and try again. Not all of the puppies are always ready to be weaned at the same time. If one’s not ready we just try again at the next feeding. Once they are all eating gruel we slowly alter the blend to 100% kibble, but we soak it in a little hot water instead of milk replacer. Then we reduce the amount of water until they are eating dry kibble. The whole process takes about a week and a half.
Although they will be eating solid food the pups will still want to nurse. But the demand will be less on Daisy so she will produce less milk. The process of drying her out can begin and that’s critical because she can’t be spayed or go up for adoption until she’s no longer producing milk.
If you missed it, here’s a replay of the first feeding from this morning.
