Wordless Wednesday

Beauty and the butt

Miss Molly, gone too soon

2 weeks ago a friend emailed a photo of a dog looking so scared, so lonely, and so defeated in a cage at a high kill shelter. She looked like a bully mix (immediate death sentence here in the south) and had a broken leg (another way to move to the top of the euth list). I get a lot of email blasts of deserving dogs slated to die because their families gave them up. Most days I don't read them because I truly cannot handle it. I'm the kind of person who has nightmares when she watches the news. On this day, it was sent directly to me and I couldn't look away.

I began spreading the word about this poor girl looking for a safe harbor knowing every rescue is filled past capacity right now. Their bank accounts are past empty trying to save dogs who don't have broken legs. So I did something I don't usually do because he has a history of saying no. I asked my husband if we could save her life and foster her. If we didn't, she would be put to death on Friday the 13th. How cruel and unfair is that? Amazingly, my husband granted my Christmas wish and I had her pulled with the help of some veterna rescuers. We got her to the vet the next day and began the task of raising funds for her surgery and care. Molly was full of every worm imaginable, but miraculously was heartworm negative. It appeared she had been hit by a car, breaking her femur in half. X rays were taken that showed multiple pelvic fractures. Through it all, she was nothing but a big ball of love. If you have never felt the joy of a bully kiss, then you are truly missing out. The vet decided to rest her, feed her, love her, and give her antibiotics to help the surgery go a little smoother. 1 week later Molly was slated for surgery.

On Friday the 20th of November, Molly had a pin placed to hold her broken leg together. The surgery was a little more complicated than expected, but she did great and went into recovery just fine. While in recovery, Molly crashed. The vet and her staff worked for 30 minutes to bring her back, but she was gone. We were all devastated. Many strangers were rooting for Molly and had dedicated money to her care. And so I went breaking the bad news, devastated that I had not even had the chance to touch my never was foster dog. All I have is the picture you see here.

In rescue, you win some and you lose some. It's the ones you lose that you remember the most they say. I will remember Molly forever and I think I have found a way for others to as well. All donations made to the vet are going to remain at the vet to care for the next hard luck case that might be dead otherwise; pay it forward. All donations made to Molly's paypal account are being passed onto Stormy, a dog very much in need. Stormy was drug behind a moving vehicle and suffered tremendous wounds. Without funds to continue covering her care, her rescue was considering euthanizing her. Well, Molly deserved a shot despite being broken and so does Stormy. You can read all about Stormy here: http://thestormystory.blogspot.com/
(but I warn you, you had better have a box of tissues next to you)

So in the spirit of Stormy, find a way to pay it forward this Thanksgiving. What might feel like the smallest of contributions could very well change someone's life.

Lather.Rinse.Repeat...

Under supervising is not cause for overreacting but rather reflection. Lather. Rinse. Repeat.

• If you leave your baby unattended around a pool and they fall in, it’s not the pool’s fault your baby drowned.
• If you don’t baby proof your electrical outlets and your baby sticks your keys in the socket, it’s not electricity’s fault your baby got zapped.
• If you leave a sharpie marker in reach and your toddler colors on your new dining room set, it’s not the marker’s fault your furniture is ruined.

Yes, I am a broken record on this subject because someone needs to be. In this era of helicopter parenting I find it puzzling that somehow supervising a child around a dog suddenly becomes too much work, requires too much effort, and is somehow impossible. Those who demand the dog’s head on a platter after a snap become the vast majority and I become the minority, aka the crazy dog person. I had no idea supervising my child and shaping his behaviors around animals made me certifiable. Quick, someone better call CPS on me.

So let me scream this at the top of my lungs a little louder. It is YOUR job to make sure baby and beasts are all on their best behavior. It is YOUR job to monitor their interactions and determine when someone has had enough. It is YOUR job to raise your child to respect an animal’s boundaries. It is YOUR job to become acutely aware what those boundaries are. It is YOUR job to baby proof your pets long before it becomes an issue.

I know my parents didn’t do much to prepare our dogs for kids. They got lucky. I yanked on Winston’s hair to pull myself up and learn how to walk. I used to try and ride my Doberman Satan for fun. You know what, they got really lucky and in hindsight they know it. It is not a reasonable expectation that a family pet will not at some point have been dished out more than it can take. You have so many tools at your disposal, you just need to implement them.

Take some time to learn how dogs communicate:
http://www.greenacreskennel.com/pages/Articles/ART_How_Do_Dogs_Communicate.html
http://www.amazon.com/Canine-Body-Language-Photographic-Interpreting/dp/1929242352

Prepare your dogs before the baby comes home from the hospital:
http://www.dogsandstorks.com/
http://www.amazon.com/Childproofing-Your-Dog-Complete-Preparing/dp/0446670162

Raise your child from day 1 to follow these rules of respect. The rules will not only keep your child safe around YOUR pets, but also animals that are unfamiliar.
1. Do not ever touch an animal while it is eating.
2. Do not ever touch an animal while it is sleeping; further do no allow them on the dog’s bed and or in the dog’s crate at any time. These are baby free zones.
3. Do not ever hit/pinch/pull/kick/or hug an animal.

Invest in tools to help manage babies and beasts for those moments you can’t be in all places at once. Minimize the opportunity for an accident to occur. Be observant and be vigilant.
http://www.kongcompany.com/
http://www.dog.com/dog-crates/exercise-pens/7/
http://www.dog.com/dog-crates/plastic-crates/1293/
http://www.dog.com/item/bully-sticks-by-the-case/130662/
http://www.babyhomesafety.com/pressure_gates.htm

I don't want to be on a soap box. I don't want this to be twisted into some contest of who is a better parent. I want this to be a wake up call for everyone. I want this post to help save a dog's life. I want this post to protect your child from getting bitten. Please read it and then stew on it with that frame of mind.

Who has questions for me?

I wasn't able to pull a transport last month and my home life with the baby and beasts is thankfully status quo. I've been keeping myself quite busy with various fun endeavors like photographing my former foster Princess' family engagement portraits.

Currently, I'm fresh out of topics so help a gal out. What burning questions or issues do you face as you mingle babies and beasts? No question is too great or small to tackle so let me know what's on your mind.

Dog Day Afternoon

A local shelter has this event yearly and we finally made it to one! Too bad Becks was in a sleep deprived foul mood, but I was able to pop off a few good shots. I'm just sad I have to wait a whole year to try again. There were so many cute pups around and they were all so eager to have their picture taken! I was especially proud that as usual my dog friendly kid walked right up to some of the biggest dogs there for loving. No fear, no bias based on outward appearances, let's hope that lesson carries over his entire life.

Gasp!

What kind of a mother encourages her child to feed a PIT BULL goldfish right out of his mouth?

Me.

Note: No child, no dog, and no real live goldfish were injured during this photo op.

1 toddler, 2 bullies, and 3 puppies

I am again remiss in updating. Still battling Mack's incision from emergency obstruction surgery. This is week #3 of the cone of shame if you are keeping tabs. We are all ready to ditch it, but probably most of all Becks. Poor kid keeps getting rammed and knocked over now that our bull in the china shop's head circumference is three times it's normal size.

Becks and I had the pleasure of driving a car full 2 weeks ago. Oh my. This one was a tad bit stressful. In hindsight, we now know that both Pudge and Chico had been recently neutered... but Pudge was really in pain from his. Any signs of exuberance on lovey dovey Chico's part were met by a growl and snap from Pudge. Not good when you have a toddler in the back and you are doing 80 down the highway. I stopped at least three times trying various configurations before Chico was tethered just right to keep from pestering Pudge. Problem was, he was so close to Becks that he wanted to melt into Becks. Becks wasn't too thrilled with it, but they all eventually settled down and we made it to our hand off spot before driver #3 arrived.

The darling little puppies were actually used as bait and left to die on the side of a highway. To complicate matters, one of the puppies broke with Parvo immediately following the transport. Tiny Tim is holding his own and we pray no one else catches this insidious virus. Parvo is not curable, only manageable. It will be up to Tiny Tim's body to win this war with supportive care. It is also highly contagious and takes me out of the running for transporting puppies for about a year. I am working on cleaning my SUV as best as I can with anti-virals but it's still a risk I don't want to take. I have also had to bleach the grassy area driver #1 met me at while giving them all a potty break. Luckily I did not let them touch the ground at my hand off, so my usual meeting spot should be Parvo free. What I have learned however is that I am adding a spray bottle of anti viral to my arsenal so I can spray areas used for bathroom breaks on transports just in case.

Please send some love Tiny Tim's way, he needs all he can get. I will keep you posted on his fate.