SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 1 2002

Another blind rescued stray joins us this morning

     At 5:00 this morning an emergency call came in from a woman named Shanna, pleading with me (almost to the point of being hysterical) to please help the blind dog she had just found outside in the darkness in the middle of the road near her house. Shanna's voice was shaking as she went on to say that "something is terribly wrong with the dog's eyes! They are all pink inside--like she doesn't even have any eyeballs. She can't see! She is walking around in circles! Please, can you help her?!" she pleaded.

     Shanna said she'd found the dog when she woke to her own eight dogs barking at something, and when she went outside to look around, she saw the pathetic little white and brown dog frantically walking around and around in circles in the middle of the country road in front of her house. Shanna and her husband live in a rural area on a quiet country road, which is often used as a "dumping ground" for inhumane humans' unwanted pets. Shanna and her husband have already taken in eight dogs and pups who had been cruelly abandoned in the area.

     Shanna went on to say that at first she thought the dog was sick, from the way it was acting, but as she went closer to look at the small dog, she realized the dog couldn't see. She felt sure the dog had been dumped, and she picked up the sightless frightened dog and carried it to her yard and then called us.

Get the dog to a safe place

     This is our advice to everyone who calls us about the strays they try to rescue, when they don't know what to do with the dog or pup. Getting the dog into a safe environment gives us all time to stop and think and try to come up with a solution, and during this time the dog will be safe while we all try to come up with some way to solve the problem. If they can't secure the dog at their home, then try to board the pooch at a vet clinic.

     I told Shanna to just get the dog to a safe place, which will give us both time to try and figure this out, and in the meantime I told Shanna I was going to see what we could do about bringing the dog here.

At 6:00 a.m. the dog is safe

     Shanna called me again an hour later to say that the dog was now safe in her mom's fenced yard. The problem Shanna faces is that she can't keep the dog at her house because of the eight previously rescued strays that she already has. Shanna's mom has dogs too, and right now those dogs have to remain in the house so that this new fella has a temporary safe place to stay (in the mom's fenced yard). They stressed that they needed to take the dog somewhere right away, and they feared that because the dog was blind, and "possibly pregnant," she wouldn't have a chance of surviving anywhere but our shelter.

     Shanna knows us already. We took in two pups she found a year ago, Hope and Hannah, (who have been adopted into good homes), and she said she hoped we could take in this dog because she knows that any dog coming here will always be safe.

We make room for "Freckles"

     We have one "sort of extra" kennel that is by our house, which we use for little Snowflake on occasion, and which we also use for Julie twice a day while Julie waits for her special food and insulin. We figured that Julie could get her insulin and meal in the "feeding gate" area of her and Jed's kennel, so this kennel is more or less "available" and would be perfect for a small blind dog, because it's right beside our house so we can keep a close watch on Freckles, just as we do for Helen, whose kennel is right beside this "available" kennel.

Freckles joins our Happy Home for Strays

     Freckles arrived about 9:30, much sooner that we expected, so we were in the process of "Freckle Proofing" the kennel--preparing it for a blind dog--when Shanna and her mom arrived with the small blind dog.

     Shanna and her mom parked their car at the front of our shelter, and Randy carried Freckles past the long row of kennels (that line the south side of the big play yard) and all of dogs in those kennels barked their greetings at the new arrival in Randy's arms, as we passed by them.

     Freckles appears to be totally blind and we'll take her to our vet tomorrow (Monday--Labor Day--if the clinic is open and Tuesday if not) to have the doctor examine her for her new-arrivals checkup, and it looks like she may be pregnant.

     In her kennel Freckles walked around in circles as she familiarized herself with her new surroundings. She did bump into her shelter and the fence, but she was so cautious as she slowly felt her way around, that she barely touched the things that were in her way, so she didn't hurt herself. We discovered that she is frightened of a cloth leash so we all helped guide her as she mostly circled her way around her yard.

     I think that once she becomes familiar with the things in her kennel (her shelter, dog house and drinking water bucket) the circle-walking will stop. Right now this sweet little dog has gone through a horrific experience by being taken away from the home she knew and being cruelly abandoned in the middle of "nowhere," as it must have seemed to her, not knowing where she was and not being able to see. We just hope that the loss of her eyesight was not caused by abuse of any kind.

     Can you imagine the fear and panic she went through until Shanna rescued her? And most likely Freckles was "dumped" because she is pregnant, and her ignorant, inhumane owners just "threw away" this precious dog to get rid of their "problem."

Freckles gets a much needed bath and a meal

     This little fella was covered with big fleas, so Shanna helped me give her a sudsy bath with the mildest puppy shampoo we have. This did a great job of getting rid of the fleas and Freckles smelled much better too (but she is not fond of baths!) After her bath we fed her a meal, which lets her know that this is where food is now. Shanna had also fed her, so Freckles has a really full tummy now.

Evening Update:

     It's 5:00 p.m. now, exactly 12 hours from the time we got the panic call pleading with us to take the little blind dog. Freckles seems fine. I've seen her go inside the open front of her shelter and then into her hay-filled dog house, but so far she has always come out again to sleep in the cool, wet, sandy scoopy hole she made for herself beneath the shade of her porch top.

     I've been in to visit with Freckles many times throughout the day. She finds her way to me when she hears me calling her (and I meet her half way), and she still walks in circles, but a little less now, I think. She walks the very same way blind dog Stevie did at first, by lifting her front feet very high as if marching, to feel each step she makes as she brings her paws down. How interesting this is and that Helen does not walk this way.

     Helen who is blind and deaf, got around instantly when she arrived, never bumping into anything, while both Stevie and Freckles, who are sightless also, but can hear, react more cautiously than Helen. I guess they don't have the "nose radar" that Helen has to alert them to new things they may walk into.

     Your support to our Happy Home for Strays will enable us to make sure Freckles, Helen, Little Max and Kalli will continue to get the medical attention they need.

     WE ARE FOREVER GRATEFUL FOR YOUR HELP

MONDAY SEPTEMBER 2 2002

     Extremely short-handed today (no one wants to labor on Labor Day, which is understandable). Bill and I are helping take up the slack and letting the completion of the newsletter slide. We're low on funds (thus the urgency for getting a newsletter in the mail), yet the daily routine must and will go on. The dogs don't know Labor Day from last Tuesday.

     All the new doggies are doing okay. Freckles will see the vet tomorrow when the clinic reopens.

TUESDAY SEPTEMBER 3 2002

Freckles sees the doctor

     New arrival Freckles, who is blind, and pregnant, was rescued from a country road where she had been "dumped" last Saturday night/Sunday morning. [See Sunday's entry below.] She was found frantically walking around and around in circles in the middle of the road at 5:00 in the morning. When she joined our Happy Home for strays later Sunday morning, we suspected this little dog was pregnant which, we knew, was most likely the reason her owner had abandoned her.

     Today was the soonest I could get Freckles in to see the vet, and when we arrived at 9:00 a.m. I carried the heavy little white dog with brown splotches of fur, inside the clinic. She can't see and is afraid of any leash around her neck, and still walks in circles, so until we have the time to get her used to a harness, or leash, we'll carry her where we need to take her.

Results of Freckles examination

     The doctor saw us right away, and he looked at Freckle's eyes first. After the careful examination of the pink mass that we were hoping was just a covering over Freckles' eyes, he said that she has no eyes, which is most likely caused from a birth defect, which is hereditary, which means there is a big chance that some, or all, of her puppies will be born blind too. We were hoping that something could be done to restore
Freckles' sight, if this was even a possibility, but now it's clear that nothing can be do to help her see.

     After the rest of Freckle's examination the doctor said that the puppies will probably be borne in about three weeks and that Freckles seems healthy enough to give birth without any problems.

     Freckles is about two years old and weighs 39 pounds. She is a mix of Heeler and something. The doctor treated her for hookworms and ear mites, which is what all strays seem to have, and he did the blood work, which results will come back tomorrow, to see if she has heartworms.

     Freckles is such a sweet little dog. She still walks in circles, but sometimes the circles she makes are getting bigger, and sometimes she will walk several feet in a straight line. She knows where everything in her kennel is now, and she likes to sleep in her hay-filled dog house at night.

UPDATE on the other new arrivals:

     Kalli, the small Boxer, is doing just fine, and so is Helen and Little Max, and now that little Freckles has joined the group of New Arrivals I'll be reporting on her too. She seems to be getting around better each day.

Freckles was really happy this morning

     I Freckles a new, little, purple, soft stuffy toy, and she loves to play with it and shakes the soft teddy bear as she walks around in her safe little circle. She was very playful this morning and likes to try to "catch" my hand. We'll try a harness on her tomorrow and begin to walk her in her kennel, in a straight line which may help to get her out of
her circle-walk a little sooner.

WEDNESDAY SEPTEMBER 4 2002

Misty goes for her allergy injection, lab tests are back on Jed's tumor biopsy and on Freckles' heartworm test

     Misty and I arrived at the vet clinic at 9:00 this morning for her bi-weekly allergy injection. While we were in the examining room, the doctor came in and slowly slid two papers on the table in front of me as he gave me a rather serious look, as he said to read them and he'd be back in a minute--he was finishing up with another patient. The papers were the lab test results on Jed's tumors, and Freckles' heartworm test.

Jed's tumor was cancerous

     Jed had had two tumors removed from his anus about a week ago. The results of the biopsy show that one tumor was cancerous and the other tumor had some long medical term ending up saying "which can be a precancerous change."

     So, for Jed we just keep a close watch on him to see if more tumors develop, and if they do, we'll handle the situation just as we did this last time. The fellow is feeling fine now. We'll also put him on a strict healthy diet.

Freckles has heartworm disease

     I wasn't a bit surprised when I saw "POS" typed on the lab test results of Freckles' heartworm test. Certainly this is not good news, but it just didn't surprise me. Whenever we take in an adult stray, we worry about heartworm disease; whenever we take in pups, we worry about Parvo virus. This sweet little dog has so much going against her, this news was not good to hear.

     The outlook for Freckles will be: First she'll have her babies, which are due in about three weeks, and after they are weaned (about eight weeks later) we'll have her spayed. After she recovers fully from the spay surgery and is really feeling good, then we'll have her treated for heartworm disease. Six months from now this little dog will have recovered from everything, and she will be available for adoption. Who knows, a
kind-hearted person, or family with a whole lot of love to give, may be looking for a special little dog just like Freckles.

The doctor thinks Helen maybe can see a little bit

     After going over the results of the tests on Freckles and Jed the doctor reminded me that Helen and Sweetie are coming in tomorrow to be spayed and that got him onto a conversation about Helen. He believes that Helen can probably see a little bit, from his examination of her eyes during her vet visit last week, and he will be very interested to hear what the eye specialist in Arlington has to say when we take Helen to see him next Monday. Bill and I are very much looking forward to having Helen examined by the eye specialist in Arlington as well. The way she gets around is incredible!

Helen and Sweetie will be spayed tomorrow

     I'm taking them early in the morning, and I will stay while the pups have their surgery, and when they wake up from the anesthetic, I'll bring them home. This way Helen, who is blind and deaf, won't have to stay at the clinic in a cage, which may be very confusing to her.

THURSDAY SEPTEMBER 5 2002

Helen (the deaf and blind Great Dane pup) and and her kennel mate, Little Puppy Sweetie, were spayed this morning and are doing fine!

     Guy and I had the pups at the vet clinic by 9:00 this morning for their spay surgery. Guy left me with the pups, and he drove back to help with all the ongoing work at the shelter. Guy would then come back and pick us up about 11:00 when the dogs' surgeries would be completed.

     When we were in the examining room, one vet tech took Sweetie to the hospital room, and another tech came in and gave Helen an injection that would soon have her heading off to Puppy-Dog Happy Dream Land, the vet tech said, and she told me to call her when Helen became "loopy."

     Helen was perky as ever as we waited, and waited and waited. Then about 10 minutes later Helen, who had been walking around the little room sniffing everything many times, came to me and "looked" up at me, then sat down abruptly at my feet and slouched the rest of the way down to the floor. I called the vet tech and told her Helen had reached the "loopy" state, and they came to take Helen to the hospital operating room.

     I wanted to stay with Helen and Sweetie instead of leaving them in a kennel there until they woke up, because I didn't want Helen to become confused when she woke up in unfamiliar surroundings (and probably hurting a little from the surgery). Even tho she can't see or hear, a small kennel would have been unfamiliar to Helen, and the smell of the clinic would be different to her too and might panic her.

     I sat in the waiting room reading a magazine for an hour (the first time in years I've had time to read anything for that length of time), and then Dr. Morton came out to see me and said that the operations were over and both dogs were doing just fine. He asked if I wanted to see the pups, and I followed the doctor to the operating room, where both dogs were lying sound asleep on soft blankets and towels on the floor. Donna, a technician, was sitting on the floor beside Helen and Sweetie, petting them both while they slept. Dr. Morton and his whole staff, are so nice with their animal patients.

     Guy picked us up as scheduled at 11:00, helped us load the sleeping pups into the van, and we arrived back at the shelter about 11:30. Randy, Guy and Trey carried 95-pound, sleeping Puppy-Dog Helen to their shelter using the towels beneath her as a gurney. Next Randy carried Little Sweetie from the van to the kennel, and we laid them beside each other, on their soft towels to "sleep it off." I took pictures of these two pups as they lay on their towels, in the shade of their shelter, and a little breeze was blowing, so it is a nice, peaceful way for them to wake up.

FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 6 2002

     [A two a.m. note from Bill (the editor and "webmaster"), working the evening shift in Dallas at my regular job: In a phone call from Pat last evening she told me that the girls (Helen and Sweetie) had both woken and moved their sleeping positions (and places) a couple of times, and they seemed to be doing okay, just taking it really easy. Pat will report more later today in an email to me, which I will edit and add to this page probably late afternoon.]

FRIDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:

Helen and Sweetie pups are doing fine day after spay surgery

     Yesterday morning these precious pups had their spay surgery, and afterwards we brought them home, still sleeping from the effects of the operation and the anesthetic. I thought they were going to sleep all afternoon in their kennel, on their towels where we had laid the sleeping beauties, but they finally woke up around 5:00 p.m. and began walking around a little.

     Today these two fellas are feeling good! They were very hungry for their breakfast, and have been tussling around a little bit today.

Julie went to the doctor for her glucose check

     Julie is doing fine. Her blood sugar levels were okay.

Saturday's Adoption Day will at Canine Commissary in Plano

     Daniel will be officially adopted tomorrow and will be going to his new home.

     We don't know yet what dogs will be going to our Adoption Day, but we'll try to get that update on as soon as possible.

     If anyone would like to volunteer to help us on our Saturday Adoption Days please call 903-479-3497

SATURDAY SEPTEMBER 7 2002

Daniel goes to his new home! No other dogs adopted

     Beautiful Chocolate Lab, Daniel, went to his new home today, so at least this fellow has now become a happy house pet. Brian, whose parents have just today officially adopted Daniel, came to our adoption day to pick up the beautiful Chocolate Lab to take him to his new home, where Daniel's excited adoptive "parents" were anxiously awaiting Daniel's arrival. After a shopping trip for new toys and a special ball, and his food, and other needed doggie items, Daniel happily jumped into the car with Brian, and off they went. We are so happy for Daniel!

Amber and Melissa

     Amber and Melissa were the only other dogs who made the trip today, and even tho several people came to look at the well-behaved young dogs, neither was adopted.

Now Tipper needs a new kennel mate

     Daniel became Tipper's kennel companion when he arrived, and now that he has been adopted, we'll see how (new arrival) Little Max gets along with Tipper tomorrow, as we begin trying to find Tipper another kennel mate so she won't be lonely. (Little Max arrived two weeks ago, and has been sharing the kennel with Amber and Melissa.) ... More tomorrow on our Sunday Update.