Straydog UPDATE posted FRIDAY 5/23/03 at ~11:47 p.m. CT

Pat's Daily Dog Log

FRIDAY MAY 23 2003

Another new arrival, a deaf Pit Bull puppy, is welcomed to our Happy Home for Strays

     It seemed to me that the voice mail message to us from another animal shelter was pretty urgent, saying that a little, 10-week-old white Pit Bull puppy, who was deaf, needed a home as soon as possible, and they were wondering if we could take in the pup. The sweet little puppy had been left in a box on their doorstep.

Because of her special needs we agreed to take the little pup

     Our shelter is full, there is no doubt about that, but when we heard of this special-needs puppy, we knew we would be able to find a place for her in with one or two of our other pups until we find her a home or until she dies of old age. The pup has two strikes against her, which is why other shelters do not want her: She is a white, blue-eyed Pit Bull, and she is deaf. (These two characteristics in a breed that is never white seem to go together, we have been told.)

     When Bill and I arrived to pick up the puppy, we saw that the facility was very nice, and what really impressed us was that all the dogs and cats are housed in an air-conditioned building. We told the receptionist we were there for the pup, and one of their staff members brought "Megan" to us. What a cute little, affectionate pup she is! I got lots of happy puppy kisses as I held her.

     The director came to meet us, and she expressed her feelings of relief that we were able to take Megan and said they would reciprocate sometime if we had a dog we couldn't keep. They felt that because the puppy is a Pit Bull, and deaf, her chances for being adopted are extremely slim, as we well know. Most all handicapped dogs and pups are very hard to place. The director went on to say that because of Megan's handicap of not being able to hear (plus being a Pit) she would most likely be with them for a very long time, and it just wasn't right for the little pup to have to be kept in a cage for possibly months or years. Because Megan is a young puppy it is very important for her to be able to run and play and socialize with other puppies in order that she grow up to be a happy, well-adjusted dog. We agree totally. And our facility can give this to Megan.

     The director took us on a quick tour of their shelter, which is a very nice and clean facility. The dogs and pups are kept in clean cages and the cats and kittens have several "free to roam" cat rooms, and cages too. I'm not sure how many dogs and pups they have, but it seems we must have about four or five times as many dogs and pups! We, on the other hand, have no cats (except for Star Kitty, the feral cat who lived here before we moved Straydog onto the property), and this shelter had lots and lots of cats, who no doubt keep their staff as busy as our 65+ dogs and puppies keep us busy.

     Bill and I told the director how very impressed we were with their facility, and how lucky the dogs were to be housed inside a building--especially because it had air-conditioning, and the director seemed just as impressed with the appearance of our shelter from the aerial photo we gave her. She really liked our back-yard-size kennels and that we have such a huge (grass-covered) play yard for the dogs and pups to spend time in every day.

We said our goodbyes. and Bill and I left with the adorable little pup

     On the way home (an 84-mile trip one way) we had to stop for gas, which was a good opportunity for Megan to take a potty break, so I leashed her and walked her on a small grassy area. She immediately took care of business and then looked up at me as if to say, "Okay, I'm done, pick me up and let's go home!" She slept all the rest of the way curled up in my arms.

Megan meets Tinkerbell

     Since both pups have joined us within one day of each other, we put them together in Tinkerbell's little puppy kennel. After several minutes of sniffy greeting the pups got to know each other, and all has been fine ever since. They've had a fun time playing with each other and tugging on a new tuggy-toy!

     Megan has already had her first puppy vaccinations and puppy wormer, and she seems very healthy, as does Tinkerbell. Now they can go through their quarantine time together.