Welcoming Cubby Bear!

Cubby is a 12 week old puppy found in some one's driveway off a freeway in Bakersfield. T.L.C. was contacted to see if we could foster this little gal and of course we said yes!

She is a playful little pup full of energy and love. I have been putting her in a crate at night to sleep and she usually sleeps the whole night. She will wake up in the early morning hours but usually I will feed her and back to bed she goes! She is a typical puppy that loves to eat, sleep, and play, all in that order.

She resembles Chi mix but has short legs with a long body and the face of a little polar bear cub. (hence the name Cubby)And after she eats her little tummy expands sideways..like a donkey :) She has a healthy appetite and plays with her toys and her foster sister Isabella. She likes to wrestle with Isabella and bite my toes so you better watch out for your feet if she gets next to them!



She will just about sleep anywhere she is whether it be under the table or on your feet. If she is tired she will plop down and to bed she goes. She does cry when she has to be put into a x-pen so a nice little playmate would be good for her. But as long as she's is out and about with Lucy and Isabella she doesn't cry at all. Cubby just wants to be around people and doggies! Too cute!

Poor Sunshine...

Poor Sunshine keeps getting left behind as others get adopted and go onto their furever home and I just don't understand why... She's such a sweetie and I think it's because she doesn't show well at adoptions... She doesn't stick out with some amazing markings... She's more of a one-on-one kind of dog

But every night? She curls up in bed with me on my shoulder, laying her head in the crook of my neck with her nose underneath my chin... Sunshine could readily be taught to be a "purse puppy" for she loves to travel and walk around, out and about... She accepts being dressed up and wears a small size... Sunshine would make an awesome companion for someone who wants to spoil a little one, but yet not go through the gruesome puppy stage of *poopin', piddlin', eatin' and sleepin'* (to be repeated from the beginning over and over again)... (smile)...

We need to find Sunshine's furever family... Are you all out there somewhere?

Chihuahua Takedown - Elvis & Lizzy

Kimberly's GREAT NEWS

We had some great news about Kimberly last week that I forgot to blog on... Her new blood panels came back and everything is in the normal range... Our vet believes the great depth of neglect Kimberly encountered with her owner prior to being dumped at the shelter cause her liver to be inflammed, the body tried to heal itself and we just caught the whole situation in time... There's something about good karma that repeats itself back when you engage in doing good things in your passions... Had we not pulled Kimberly when we did from the shelter, get her the medical treatment when she needed it so much, she might not be with us today...

Kimberly has also gained a pound and a half with us on a good nutritional diet... She's still a major kissy-face pupper, but as sweet as she was in that poor state initially, she's even sweeter now that she feels great and is healthy again - WAY TO GO, KIMBERLY!

A mother's work is never done - Jayda

I have a PhD in anthropomorphism (putting human emotions onto animals), but I couldn't resist taking this photo yesterday of Jayda... I can almost imagine her thinking with a sigh, "A mother's work is never done..."



And here's a close-up of that face... (smile)...



Jayda's pups are getting larger by the day, but their milk teeth have started coming in so this week we are starting to introduce solid foods in their diet in an attempt to wean them off of her earlier than normal... This will slow down the depletion of the calcium drain from Jayda and speed up her recovery with her leg as well...

Puppies and solid food is always a messy ordeal... What goes in (and messy) comes out and is messy (plus SMELLY!!!)... Not one of my favorite things with dog rescue at all, but always a necessity!

Jayda's hobbling around pretty well and has never once complained about the whole ordeal... She's always sweet and loyal, ready with a wagging tail and happy to see us... I can't imagine any other dog going through this and it not affecting their temperament... She goes in for her three-week checkup next week and at that point we'll know more about how successful this whole surgery has been once new Xrays have been taken... I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it exceeds my expectations, that's for sure!

Typo errors - NOT my fault, but Sarah's!

If I have any typo errors in the next few weeks, it will be Sarah's fault and not mine! She LOVES to climb up into my lap and sit there while I work on the computer! Shame she can't work a keyboard, 'cause I'd put her to work! (smile)

I've taken to keeping a pillow at close reach for she'd rather lay across my forearm and then I can't reach the mouse without disturbing her! What a goober, but a sweetie she is!

I'll have to get a photo of this (once I clear off my desk and get caught up on my computer work!)

Sarah's out and about now too...

All three of the moms are now out and about... They spend time with their pups, let me know when they want out of the Xpen and then back in... Sarah's a real sweetheart... Little and with a beautiful face, she has figured out what the doggie door is and faithfully holds herself until I open the Xpen door - then off she scoots outside to do her business. While Xena plays with her pup, Sarah is more motherly with Gorgeous (could be because Gorgeous is so gosh darn tiny too!)... Sarah will make a great family pet for a furever parent down the road!

Jayda...

Jayda has been getting out and moving around more and more... She gets along very well with the other dogs, but still she follows me like a shadow whenever she can... Yesterday after adoptions, she found a way up onto the couch and fell asleep on my chest... She is SUCH a sweetie!

More pictures of Xena!

I finally did it!

As much as I have been raving about Xena's eyes to everyone, I finally was able to get a good photograph of her without the red eye... I did nothing more to this photo than shrink it down to size... There's been no retouching or Photoshop done... Isn't she got the most amazing eyes???!!!! As does her son, Thor, too!

She crawled up into the Chi penthouse by my desk and was sitting there so I grabbed the camera and snapped a close up photo of her... I also got "Xena kisses" today as she's been out and about with everyone else... She's a great momma and very sweet with him as well as us... How did this dog ever end up in the shelter with her baby????

Scooby has started to play now, little by little...

Little by little, Scooby is starting to come out of his shell... Adoptions are still tough for him, but here around the house, he now sleeps in the bedroom with us in a doggie bed on the floor, eats with everyone else and has started playing with some of the other dogs...



His favorite to play with is Princess (the smallest one), so I guess you have to crawl before you can walk! I snapped these photos today of Scooby and Princess playing on a big, plush velour blanket I threw on the floor for them...




And then tired, he curled up in the Chi penthouse and went to sleep!

I'm SO proud of Kelly, I just had to share!

I try to train all fosters to use the crate for a wide variety of reasons (wildfire evacuations, going to the vets and having to stay, etc.)... But in less than 3 nights, Kelly has learned to jump into the crate simply by opening up the door and saying "Kennel" (although technically it is a extra large crate... This is where she sleeps at night and without those canines, she has no means to protect herself, so it is for her safety as well as having an extra skill/training...

I am just SO proud of her! This is one VERY smart and quick learning dog... She's doing sit on command for me along with other things... And has even learned to like the daily baths... She now eats peacefully with the other dogs and has learned to share (a biggie in a multi-dog household)...

Throughout the day, she roams freely around like everyone else and has not had one accident in the house yet... What a dog!
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Lizzy, Lizzy, Lizzy...

Lizzy was born on May 21st and weighs two pounds. According the Xrays and the vet, someone dropped her when she was about 4 weeks old and the trauma did damage to the growth plate on the kneecap of her back left leg... Surgery is not going to help and basically, Lizzy will always have a 'hitch to her giddy up'... It certainly doesn't slow her down any, for she's been playing with Elvis, Sugar and Cinnamon this week like there is no tomorrow! On occasion, she'll sit funny but she readily walks on all four legs without any pain or effort.



Lizzy is a beautiful little soul and sweet as can be... Quiet but yet playful, she'll make a great pup for her new furever home!



Lizzy is up-to-date on her shots, micro-chipped and spayed.



Lizzy will need a rabies shot when she turns 4 months and then licensed. A set of the Xrays taken will be given (digitally) to the new adopter in their adoption packet, as a baseline means for their vet to compare with down the road (if need be).



Are you Lizzy's new furever home?

If you are interested in adopting Lizzy, download the adoption application on the website and fax to 805-578-2604.

Latest update and photos of Jayda

We have been overwhelmed and humbled by the sheer generosity of SO many people who have heard of Jayda... Thank you VERY MUCH to all that have supported her and TLC in this endeavor to save her leg!!!

A week after surgery, Jayda went back into Dr. Novy's to have her bandage changed and they tell me it looks really good underneath there... She had a week of complete bed rest with limited mobility, and so far, so good...

They tell me the leg is starting to turn inwards, so next week they might have to add a splint to force the leg to heal correctly... Eventually we expect a 2nd surgery to break the adhesions that formed around her kneecap while the leg was broken and not attended to, but for now?... We're not buying trouble ahead of time and taking it one day at a time!

Although Jayda is only allowed to walk around once I carry her out to the backyard to go potty, but she's a sunbather like most Chihuahuas, so the other day I thought to myself, "Why not let her lay in the sun here for just a few?"... She sunbathed and started falling asleep in the warm sun until she heard the snap of the camera shutter...



And then we both got hot, so it was time to pick her up and carry her back inside, but I am POSITIVE she REALLY enjoyed the extra little pleasure!



She's getting all kinds of goodies plus her meds, so I am feeling really positive all is going well in the healing process... Her pups are still doing well and will be four weeks old on July 26th! Hurrah!... Amazingly though, none of them are black like Jayda is!

Jayda's puppies - Joy, Hope, Faith & Justice

At 3.5 weeks, we've weighed her pups and they are listed below, along with links to each puppy's blog:

Joy - 12 ounces - Darkest tan with the white heart on her forehead - Blog
Hope - 14 ounces - Light tan with the white heart - Blog
Faith - 14 ounces - Mostly white with a black spotted nose - Blog
Justice - 16 ounces - All white with black on the backs of her ears - Blog

Bella... a couch potato - NOT...

Bella and Ruby play non-stop throughout the day... So much so, it is almost like 'bowling for Chihuahuas' and everyone else clears out the pathways once those two start, for it is fast and furious play... But afterwards?



They both find a place to crash and regenerate... LOL...

So while this is a serene photo of Bella, she and Ruby are very active and non-stop dogs that is very enjoyable and refreshing to watch as well!

Typical Elvis behavior....

This is SOOOO Elvis behavior... He's still just so 'full' of himself... He's got the entire doggie bed and asleep, while Sugar's asleep half standing up and half resting against the doggie bed!

And now Opal, plus her son, Andre'...

Opal is probably going to take me quite some time to get a great picture of because she has the blue eyes like Siberian Huskies have... If you can imagine coal black where the red eye shows up when you take a photo (like above), the effect is nothing less than STARTLING when she looks at you!

And so far, it appears that her son (Andre') is going to have the same eyes!

Opal is 3 years old, and weighs 6 lbs. 10 oz but she is still nursing her son, so she'll eventually weigh less than that once she's weaned Andre'. She is up-to-date on her shots including rabies, micro-chipped and will be spayed and licensed for the County of Ventura before adoption.



If you are interested in adopting Opal, please download an adoption application and fax it to us at 805-578-2604.

Kelly's vet visit and some sad news...

Kelly went to the vet's office yesterday... And we had scrapings done - she comes through clean on all accounts (no mites, dead or alive) and we're on track to resolving her skin condition with everything we are doing...

As I suspected, Kelly's four canine teeth had been surgically removed... Frankly, I'm not sure how we can explain this for the only dogs that routinely have this done are "bait dogs" used in dog fighting circles... As I was told "no reputable vet would do this surgery" and it's not cheap ($500 and up), but it clearly was a deliberate act by someone...

This would also explain why Kelly reacts in a negative fashion to much bigger dogs than her in size (regardless of their gentleness or submissive nature)... Kelly has lost the means to defend herself without the canine teeth, and probably has past bad personal experiences with bigger dogs... sigh...

In TLC we consistently see some very inhumane acts done to these dogs and have never walked away from taking dogs in deplorable conditions and restoring them as best we can (i.e. Kimberly's poor ears deliberately hole-punched, Jayda's broken leg never attended to, etc.)... Kelly's furever home will be one that understands she was probably a bait dog and needs to be with other dogs her size or smaller... She is a sweet dog and loves to be loved... We'll get her skin and coat back in order and Kelly will find her way into someone's heart... We'll do our part and she will do hers!

Yes, she is Gorgeous!

Gorgeous is a 5-week old Chihuahua female - her mother is Sarah and her father looked very similar to Sarah, so how Gorgeous turned out this way is beyond us, but her name is appropriate to her appearance, that's for sure!

Today I caught her eating out of her mother's bowl, so Sarah has already started weaning her apparently!



Gorgeous weighs less than a pound right now but once she reaches 8 weeks and weighs at least 2 pounds, she will be spayed, up-to-date on her shots and micro-chipped prior to adoption.

Say hello to Sarah!

Sarah is an extremely little Chihuahua mom who is 3 years old and weighs 6 pounds, 10 ounces... Her daughter is Gorgeous (see Gorgeous' blog for photos!). Beautiful coated in shiny ebony with a white blaze on her chest, Sarah is as beautiful as her daughter!

Sarah is very friendly and readily hands out kisses to one and all.

Despite being a nursing mom, Sarah lets you know she needs to go out and then heads out the doggie door already. I'm VERY impressed! She's quiet and not barky, has already proven to have a healthy appetite and will make someone an excellent family pet.

Sarah is up-to-date on all her shots including rabies and is microchipped. Once she has totally weaned Gorgeous (in approximately two weeks), Sarah will be spayed and then licensed for the County of Ventura prior to adoption.

If you are interested in submitting an application for Sarah, please download the adoption application HERE and fax to 805-578-2604.

Princess has arrived...

Princess is a 3-year old tan female Chihuahua who currently weighs only 3 lbs, 8 ounces but could easily stand to gain a pound or so. She is woefully thin right now, but with good nutrition and TLC, she'll rapidly spring into her potential. As a frame of reference, this is a SMALL Boots & Barkley dog bed!



Princess has eyes you can melt into though --- and her temperament is just as sweet!



Princess is spayed, up-to-date on all her shots including rabies, micro-chipped and licensed for the County of Ventura. If you are interested in adopting Princess, download an adoption application HERE and fax it to us at 805-578-2604.

Update on the Kellygirl...

Every morning when I get up, I pull the two brown pillows off the futon and throw them on the floor - one for Kelly and one for Scoobydoo - for they come and sleep close to where my computer sits... And Kelly likes to sleep close to the puppies' Xpen for some reason... Kelly is ALMOST the same color as the suede fabric on the pillows and when she curls in to sleep, it's hard to immediately see she's there in dim light~!



I disturbed her when I snapped the camera, so I quickly took another picture:



I can already see the difference the meds and baths are creating in her coat.

I also was able to take a nice picture of those gorgeous yellow eyes:



Once we get this skin/hair issue under control and all of her hair grows back in, this is going to be one VERY striking dog, along with her sweetness already!

Kelly... Chocolate Chihuahua with yellow eyes...

Kelly is a 4-year old female Chocolate Chihuahua who weighs between 8 and 9 pounds... She's obviously had puppies somewhere along the way in her lifetime, but ended up in the shelter and sat there for almost 5 weeks - most of it in isolation because she has alopecia...

For more on alopecia, this is a great website to visit here, but basically in layman's terms, alopecia is an autoimmune disorder that causes hair loss... It is not contagious... But the condition is aggravated by conditions such as fleas, etc. so while she sat in the shelter, we can only assume that it got worst...

Once she arrived here, she got two medicated baths in one day, so I'm sure as much as she doesn't care for baths, by the time we get this cleared up with daily baths, she'll learn to love them! She's on meds too and a good diet of nutrition now, so in time, her hair will grow back in... The predominant areas of hair loss is behind her ears as you can see in this photo below:



Sadly, skin conditions like this are like a kiss of death in the shelter system... With staff levels and tight budgets, they simply don't have time to give a dog daily baths with medicated shampoo, add in vitamin E to their diet or put the needed lotions onto the affected areas... The general public does shy away from dogs like this, so Kelly ended up on the kill list right before we made the decision to rescue her...

Kelly is VERY sweet and friendly... She took a particular interest in the puppies when they were out romping in the Xpen during the afternoon... Her tail was wagging non-stop as she watched them play, so maybe she recently had puppers of her own...



Kelly is getting along with the other dogs her size, but she doesn't really care for dogs much bigger than her... She's learning to eat politely and share, but in isolation, many Chihuahuas practically wig out so I'm not surprised she's having to relearn what it is like to live in the canine community again... Five weeks in isolation would cause effects even on the most balanced of dogs...

Scooby-do!

I have a lot of problems with my back and can't sleep for any long period of time or it will lock up on me... Accordingly, I usually get into bed around 10PM, asleep by 11PM, but I'm up most days around 2-3AM... The first few mornings here, Scooby-do would stay in the family room, tucked away in a corner out of sight in a doggie bed...

But the last few mornings?... Scooby-do hears me stirring, opening up the doggie door, grabbing my Starbucks and he waits patiently aside of my computer desk, tail wagging and in anticipation for a doggie bed to appear on the floor not far from my desk! Once I put one down, he crawls into on the spot, circles around for a few times and then sleeps in from 3 to 6AM or so...

Yesterday he went to adoptions for the first time and initially he was very nervous and detached... I looked over at him and several times I thought to myself that I could almost hear him saying, "Oh bother... yet again... sigh..."... I had put a doggie hammock into the Xpen where he was and he tolerated people picking him up, petting him, putting him back in the Xpen, etc. I am SURE this was all very confusing to him...

Scooby-do and the latest foster (Kelly) have snarfed off at each other several times... It is natural... He was at the bottom of the pack's list, then in comes a foster who wants to move up, he's not going to allow that, etc... Everyone has to find their own place in the pack, and my job is not to allow aggression while the shuffling around occurs...

Last night when I did the "Let's go take a nap" (my command for I'm going to bed, come if you're coming), Scooby followed me down the hallway and I could tell he wanted to go where all the other little dogs were going, but he just wasn't ready to go there... Yet... He will one day, and I don't expect it to be that far away either... But he stood midway in the hallway, wagging his tail and looking, trying to decide if he wanted to pass through that doggie gate or not... In the end, I made the decision for him and said goodnight, whereas he turned around and went back up the hallway and into the family room where my husband had continued to watch TV...

This is a lot of progress for an emotionally detached little guy... I am VERY proud of Scooby-do already and watching him realize his potential is very self-rewarding to me... No dog should be that detached or fearful that they shut down emotionally...

Scooby-do has already started gaining weight for me and his coat is very beautiful... While he's afraid to step out and eat with everyone else, he now knows when I'm at the kitchen sink, it is usually meal time and willing stands (if at the outside of the pack) until it arrives... So it won't be long until he fleshes out well and is no longer so underweight!

Great news for Chloe!

Chloe has found her furever home with three other Chihuahuas... Her foster mom has done a great job giving her that final "I can trust humans again" touch, and Chloe had become so much friendlier at adoptions - even begging for hugs and kisses from me!... She was always excited to see me at adoptions, but she loved her foster mom as well... Chloe was always a work in progress, but she has SO much potential and just needed the time and patience to undo the damage that had been done to her by another human being... sigh...

I ALWAYS loved that coat of Chloe's for it was like silk... Her markings struck me from the moment I laid eyes on her and seldom do you find Sable Chihuahuas with such even markings in rescue...

Chloe was never an aggressive fear biter - she'd rather run when the fear of humans struck her... The first few weeks were touch-and-go as we tried to figure out how to walk that fine line between ignoring them and giving little nudges to prove to them we were trustworthy... Thank goodness her sense of safety was quickly established with a kennel, for without that extra tool of rehabilitation, fear runners can never be caught when you are trying to demonstrate you are not going to hurt them... If you are successful, they will love (eventually) the doggie pats, massages and affection... But chasing them just adds to their internal fears about humans...

The family who adopted Chloe already have experience with just this type of situation, so I couldn't be any happier for Chloe! Congratulations, little one... You deserve a great furever home and I know the only way now for you is up!

Jayda's home!

I just updated her blog with photos from today!

I've decided to name her pups Faith, Hope, Joy and Justice - it says to very much to me in this situation and what Jayda stands for!

I'm a quiet boy...

Scooby spent his first day feeling pretty yuck after being neutered... But on the second day at night, my husband was able to coax him into his lap and cuddle for about 90 minutes or so... My husband kept remarking how thin the dog was and I guess it takes these kinds of reality checks to appreciate when dogs are healthy and at their proper weight, ya know?

I haven't quite figured out Scooby's back story yet... Could he have been the runt of the litter and dominated by the others? Could he have not been socialized properly as a pup? Could he have undergone some traumas in his past? Dunno, but only time, patience and understanding will give out clues as to why he is so shy...

He's friendly - it isn't that fearful shy/scared nor that fear/flight thing... Maybe Scooby's biggest challenge will be to learn it is OK to trust... That the normal behavior is to consistently interact and socialize with us humans...

This morning in the middle of the night at 3AM (my normal awake time), I could tell he was hungry so I coaxed him out of the doggie bed and once he realized I had food, he willingly came and gobbled it down...

Every dog you pull out of shelter is a crap shoot... You have little history or information to go on... You don't know why they were turned in or dumped at a shelter, even if the owner gave some info at the counter for most will not be 100% truthful and upfront... They don't realize little information or inaccurate information lessens the chances of the dog being adopted... There is a home for EVERY dog if you just have enough time to find the right person for them...

Shyness is as debilitating in dogs as it is in humans, but it's not a death sentence by any means... It certainly isn't a reason to be put down or dumped in a shelter (or returned as Scooby was)... Some people thrive in 'shy' and see it as a challenge... Others understand it and can relate, then have the compassion and patience to help a dog like Scooby overcome it...

It just takes time...

Jayda's out of surgery...

I just spoke with Dr. Novy and the surgery was a lot more involved than he thought it was going to be, but he says he's very proud and happy about what they were able to do... Because the break is probably three weeks old, the ends of the bone had calcified, the leg tendons had contracted and adhesions had formed around the kneecap as she kept it tucked up... All of this had to be undone basically...

But he feels it is put back together good and tight...

She's coming up now from the anesthesia and has the shakes as normal... Jayda will stay overnight at the hospital and I'm to call tomorrow at 10AM and see when she'll be able to come home...

She will have a long incision underneath that light bandages and Dr. Novy said it will be cumbersome for her try and get around on it for the next two, three months... Once he sees her progress, we may have to go in later and using anesthesia, break those adhesions that have formed around the kneecap...

But in the meantime? Jayda is doing well, getting pain meds for comfort, and she'll be on stepped-up calcium and vitamin D to help the ends of the bone knit together as I start trying to wean those pups off of her...

I'm emotionally exhausted and it will be a long night... Her puppies are not hungry enough to cooperate with bottle feeding yet, so we'll see... But at least for today, we know we've done our very best so one day Jayda will be able to walk and maybe even run on all four legs again!

Update on Jayda's surgery

Jayda is in surgery as I type... Her pups are starting to stir and they'll need to be bottle feed the rest of today, tonight and most of tomorrow until she comes home and can help until I can get them weaned early...

Anxious... worried... nervous... Should know something by 4PM today how it all went.

Don't readjust your computer screen...

The stuff we do as rescuers and fosters! Mr. Freckles is camera shy and I've been patiently trying to get a better photo of him without much luck... Those rose eyes you can swim and melt in! So today as he likes to hang around underneath my computer chair, I leaned over, lifted up my skirt and snapped his picture!

{{still a bit dizzy from the effort here}}... {{or dizzy than normal... smile}}



If this were an iPhone, you could just jiggle your computer screen and you'd get to see how precious this little face of his is... But it's not, so I'll do it for you!



Aren't those eyes just the most gorgeous ones you've ever seen? And he's even prettier when his ears are erect, but I guess he didn't expect me to lean over like that with the camera!

Mr. Freckles consistently comes up to my knee, begging to be picked up and cuddled... This morning he was handing out kisses to us... Whenever I lean over, I REALLY have to resist the temptation to scratch 'that' spot that's connected to his back leg...

Freckles - from my nose to my toes!

I've named this little fella "Freckles" - for he has them from his nose to his toes! I idly sat and watched him for some time and tried to count them, but gave up!

Freckles is not quite 9 pounds according to his records, but he's probably less than that... He's 7 to 8 years old, but that's only midlife for a Chihuahua for they have a life span of 15-20 years if taken care of... You'd never know his age if you watched him for sure...

He came out of the shelter absolutely filthy and covered with dirt and dust... And was numerous shades whiter once he'd had his first bath (which he took very well)... He spent his first few days here in a state that I call 'shelter shock'... Not very friendly to anyone and totally confused as to why he ended up where he did, I watched him in the kennel run at the shelter as he laid curled up in a corner and knew he was totally confused as to all the sounds, barking, five other dogs with him in various states of mental distress - I just knew instinctively he was a good dog and couldn't figure out why he was there or how to cope with the overload of stimulus, craziness and other things going on...

Once home, a good warm meal in his belly, a nice bath and then dried off with warm towels and blankees from the dryer, he immediately settled in on my husband's lap... Freckles is an UC (undercover Chihuahua) and it wasn't too long before my husband reported that long, deep, deep sigh of relaxing his nerves and body as he slept one of those long sleeps that comes from days of sleepless nights and days, ya know?

Freckles absolutely loves my daughter (age 20) and started following me around the house within a day or two... He's housebroken, up to date on his shots including rabies and microchipped... Polite eater, he also gets along with the other dogs, is not yappy or barky and not dominant nor aggressive so far...

I suspect he was snoozing one minute in someone's home, dumped at the shelter and figured he's been having a bad nightmare ever since during his stint through the shelter system...

He has a spot right behind his left ear for scratching that is directly connected to his foot... And he'll sit forever on your lap as long as you're scratching that spot or petting him somewhere...



And he has those ruby colored eyes that match the pink nose, a classic trait of cream Chihuahuas, but I suspect the avid Chi lovers would classify Freckles as an Irish spotted... I prefer to enjoy the variations in his coat as simply freckles, but he sure is a pretty Chihuahua if nothing else!

Update from Chloe's foster mom...

This is Chloe’s second week with me and she look like she’s is getting comfortable. Last weekend at adoptions she wasn’t so barky and seemed a little calmer when strangers approached the pen to take a look at all the adoptable dogs.

She will come up to me when I get home from work and wag her tail follow me, which is a good sign and it shows that at least she likes me! Ha! She does absolutely great with my little dog, Lucy, and has since started playing with her. They always play chase in the morning while I am getting ready to go to work and I can always hear their little bells jingling from running around the house.

Chloe is very patient and not aggressive with Lucy, even when Lucy tries dominate her and “push” her around . Chloe has never charged or bitten Lucy, and that’s what I love about her. She recently started sleeping with Lucy the past couple of nights which is hilarious since she sleeps in a little pink bed. But they manage to squeeze in there together! I have got to get a picture of it and I will be sure to post it! I posted a picture of them on the couch and they love to sit on it during the day and night. They are usually always together or at least keeping an eye out for each other.

Chloe is always becoming more playful with me also. A couple of times I have played chase with her and talked to her and she has her tail up and wagging and she does the doggie stance (her front paws on the floor but her butt in the air!). She is getting better about people coming into the house and doesn’t bark at much. I have made it a habit to at least pick her up everyday and hold and pet her for at least 5-10 minutes a day to get her used to the human touch and to feel the “love”. I can usually get her to go into her kennel and the once she is in there, I will pull her out and hold her. She has never bitten me when I stick my hands in there to get her.

Next step…get her to love taking baths!!!

Great news for Jayda!

Late update... Last night long after the office had closed, I got a call from my vet's office and although they don't do plating, Dr. Novy believes he can pin the leg so Jayda will be to use it. Having seen the Xrays online and read the estimates the surgical hospital gave, he is willing to do the surgery for $2,000, take what we have collected so far in donations ($600) and give us 60 days to pay the balance. I applied for a grant from an organization and they already pledged $200 for Jayda, so we're 40% there at having collected $800.

Dr. Novy wants to see Jayda today in person at 10:15AM, and if everything is as he believes it is, surgery will be done right away. I'll have to wean the pups early - within a week - to stop the calcium depletion and allow Jayda's bone to knit together as quickly as possible.

I'm not one of those crying types, but after I got off the phone with him, I'm not ashamed to admit I got pretty emotional. I've been dealing with this since July 3rd and you can't meet this dog and not fall in love with her. Even to take the Xrays, they didn't need to sedate Jayda!

She's so gosh darn young to lose a leg, and it was tearing me up inside to consider that option.

Anyway, if you'd like to donate directly to the veterinary clinic, Jayda's surgery will be done by Valley Veterinary Clinic, 845 East Los Angeles Ave, Simi Valley, CA 930665 (805-526-0917) - just make sure you mark for Jayda on any check that you send.

And again, THANK YOU for ANY help you can give towards helping Jayda!!!

Ginger's puppers...

My scale shows the puppers as:
Sugar - 3 pounds
Honey - 2 lbs, 8 ounces
Cinnamon - 1 pound, 14 ounces

All three puppies now have home visits that have passed and approved adoption applications. They should be spayed this week (unless Cinnamon's weight prohibits her from being spayed) and onto their great furever homes!

Ginger's milk sacks are still too large for her to be spayed, so that should happen next week.

Donations coming in for Jayda

Some very generous people have donated towards saving Jayda's leg and we now have $600 of the $3,000 we need. THANK YOU!

She and her pups continue to do well... Some of the puppies have started opening their eyes, the one with the circle around her eye has managed to climb out of the box twice now, so I keep having to collect her and put back on the air mattress again...

Jayda continues to follow me around like a shadow and I've gotten to the point if I know I'm going to be up, down, back and forth, I put her with her puppies so she won't follow me and put so much stress on that one remaining good leg...

Today is bath day and as soon as it warms up a bit more, Jayda's getting her weekly bath... She does the very best she can to keep herself clean and potty outside but because of the hopping, she can't always make it in time... With her long hair, I am consistently checking her butt to make sure nothing is caught there --- the boon of my life - to be a dog butt checker!... (smile)...

Update on Kimberly...

Kimberly is doing much better and will be at adoptions today... We'll have more blood panels to get run next week, but she's put on some weight and has turned out to be one of those major 'kissy-face' dogs that can't get enough of your chin, neck and/or any other place of your body!

At night, she sleeps with Nacho in his crate and if she can, she sneaks in to sleep with Paul once I get up around 3AM each morning... She's another one of those cuddle bunnies that couldn't be sweeter if she tried!

Jayda update... Xrays are in...

There's good news and there is bad news in regard to Jayda's leg... The good news first... The leg is savable... The thigh bone is broken midway down - the top half has slipped forward and the bottom half connected to the knee bone has folded towards her back end... Unless the bone is brought back together again at the break, reinforced with a plate and pinned, Jayda will eventually lose all use of the leg and it will need to be amputated...

The surgeon's opinion is that there was an automobile collision and then very shortly thereafter she was dumped at the shelter - either by a 'Good Samaritan' type that saw the accident or by the owner who didn't want to deal with the injury (or couldn't)... She sat in the shelter with a broken leg, and then two days later delivered her pups...

Well, that's the good news... The bad news is that the longer we wait to get it fixed, the lower her chances get that Jayda will regain any use of her leg... And the cost? Between $2,800 and $3,200... We've collected $170 in donations so far to save this leg... (sigh)...

I put up a page with Jayda's Xray and diagnosis on the website HERE and another with an update of the amount of donations given towards saving this leg HERE.

I'll tell you just how sweet this little girl is... Yesterday they didn't even have to give Jayda meds or sedate her to take the Xrays... The technicians were amazed, especially after seeing the Xrays, that they were able to stay still and lay there while they took the images! And it was a LONG way from our home to the surgeon's (about 50+ miles one way) - Jayda laid in the cushioney bed I placed aside of me on the seat... On the way back, she rested her head on my thigh and slept most of the way home...

Like I've said earlier, if this were a mean 'junkyard' dog that was snarling and nasty, I could understand how she was never treated for this broken leg... But NO ONE that has met Jayda can believe how sweet tempered she is, especially with all she's gone through so far...

Another day, another step.... Jayda

I'm a big believer in the 'power of the pack'... My dogs are the core of what I do in rescue - without them being well mannered and accepting of the fosters, I could not help the dogs I have pulled from the local shelters! The 'alpha' in my canine pack is a 13-year old female named 'Peanut' who rules the roost and lets everyone know right from wrong from the very start! :)

Today we did introductions between Jayda and the crew... I usually do this after a new foster has been with me for a bit - once I know they trust me and realize I won't let anyone hurt them, that's the beginning... They learn my tone, the smells of our home, etc. and I can't totally explain it effectively enough in writing, but I know it when I see it and sense it... I do introductions via an Xpen in the backyard and today I felt Jayda was ready...

After we did our walk together to check the tomato plants this morning, I picked her up and carried her over to the Xpen I'd already set up... Tail was up and wagging, Jayda could see my dogs and fosters through the Xpen, they could see her... Then I put Frito in the Xpen with Jayda... It went exceptionally well... I stood by with spritz bottle in hand just in case there was any unfriendliness...

These are the times that I am grateful for the gifts of rescue... Seeing dogs interacting with each other in friendly and welcoming manners... Every dog in this house is a 'reject' that came through the shelter system and from the youngest (4 months) to the oldest (15 years), they all get along - I don't allow aggression and barking (my two pet peeves)...

Jayda has spent at least half of today outside of the Xpen which provides the safety needed for her puppies... She's been hopping freely throughout the house, patio and backyard... Periodically, I put her back in with her puppies to nurse, but for the most part, she's no more than a foot or two away from me at any given time...

I added a few cushy doggie beds around so that when she tires, she can readily sit down and regenerate... Any time I look at her, the tail is wagging and although she's hopping, Jayda is a very happy camper today... At breakfast and dinner, she ate with everyone else and that's the sense of community I was looking for... She's put on a small bit of weight already, but she was so woefully thin, she's still got a ways to go...

Good things always come in three's... Early this morning, an orthopedic vet called me after receiving my fax yesterday and tomorrow Jayda is going in for x-rays to see what we're actually looking at in regards to her leg... At that point, we'll know if there are really no other options to save her right hind leg... Shortly after that, I introduced Jayda to the crew and that went so very, very well... I opened my mail this evening and about broke down in mistiness as someone I know sent a $100 donation for Jayda, having read about her on the website...

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that we have good news tomorrow after the vet gets to review the X-rays... If nothing else, we'll know that we've exhausted all possibilities and did not turn a blind eye to the previous neglect and care she did not get... Let's think good thoughts for Jayda tonight in our prayers!

Puppy Photos - Jayda's litter

Their eyes are just starting to open up... There's one snow white (still), but it seems they change colors almost daily:



There's another one that started out snow white with just a grey patch over one eye, but as she grows, so does the black behind her ears... She's always the one who's at the other end of the bed, or crawling around (or on top of the other puppies):



This one seems to like sleeping on her back, for she does it frequently and has the beginnings of black growing on her face as well:



It seems like I can never get a shot of the tan colored pup - she's always right there and nursing no matter the time of day... :) And of course, the one with the patch over her eye is there as well!

Photo of Jayda in her new bed

I wanted to include a nice photo I took of Jayda and her pups relaxing on the air mattress thingy we found over the weekend.



And yes, that is a 'slide-under-the-bed' plastic box for storage... We weren't able to find a tall enough box that would allow Jayda to step over with comfort, but keep the babies from falling out accidentally... Then it had to be long enough for the mattress to spread out and I just don't think these things were made to fit inside regular dog beds...

But she sure looks comfortable in it, huh?

Extra note about Ruby...

Having watched Ruby devour my home cooking, she acts like either 1) meals were few and far between throughout most of her life and/or 2) she had to fight more dominant dogs to eat. She's not food aggressive, but consistently looks over her shoulder and watchful when eating, gulping down food too quickly.

Hopefully as time passes and she realizes no one is going to fight her for her food, there will always be two meals a day and plenty for all, this behavior will subside and eventually stop.

Update on Jayda...

Several times a day I carry Jayda out to the side of the backyard that is sectioned off and as I tend my tomato plants, she does a bit of running around, does her business, then follows me around like a shadow... If I happen to sit down in the grass, she'll quickly climb into my lap and just lay there quiet, content to sit and get pets and cuddles...

This morning the grass was still wet and as she waited for me, she walked up to the one dandelion in the grass, sniffed it and it exploded~!!! I'd seen it earlier and had intended to go get my forky thingie to remove it from the roots, but then I spotted more ripe tomatoes and got side tracked (common when you are older than dirt like me!)...

She looked at me with total disbelief when it occurred as in "WHAT HAPPENED??" and then became a little fearful as I laughed aloud at the expression on her face... When she saw I was not upset at her, she quickly hopped over and hid underneath my nightgown skirt, stuck her head out between the snaps and looked up at me!...

What a funny little goober she is!

Update on Ruby...

The more I observe Ruby, the more I believe she's a Manchester Terrier, be it a flop-eared one which isn't AKC standards but she sure has the personality of one - intensely devoted, vigilant, watchful but not barky, etc.

About 3PM, she starts standing 'guard' on the recliner by the garage door, waiting for Desiree to come home... She gets down, goes potty, comes back and resumes her 'post'... (smile)... Unfortunately Desiree's schedule tends to be quite hectic at times, so there is no fixed arrival time at night... Some afternoons Ruby has quite a long wait until her bestest friend comes home!

The other thing that is absolutely precious about Ruby is that she picks up and carries around soft doggie toys... Takes them out back, doesn't necessarily chew on them, but cradles them in between her front paws... She'll pick up one and bring it back inside the house, go get another one - maybe she'll repeat these several times until she's accumulated a few - and then Ruby just sits with them...

I suspect this is a throwback behavior to losing her puppies and arrival in the shelter system... So if I get beyond the reason and just watch the behavior, it is heart warming to see how delicately she does this at least once a day...

Ruby LOVES those rope toys and will spend hours chewing on one... She doesn't chew on anything but that and the dehydrated chicken strip treats... So in this respect she's had some form of training by a previous owner...

Ruby's tummy is slowly shrinking now that the meds are kicking in and she's not in discomfort from the mastitis... She can make it through the night without having to go potty, so thank goodness for modern medicine!

Update on Kimberly...

Blood work is back and it's not good, but the vet is not 100% sure what is going on... Read more at Kimberly's blog HERE.

Morning with Jayda...

When I got up this morning, Jayda (in her new digs) was standing there looking at me through the gate and wagging her tail... She's such a good pup and apparently housebroken, so going on a pitty pad is going to be a new learned behavior for her... Once I took care of the 'raptors' with their goats milk and morning breakfast, I closed the doggie door and picked up Jayda so she could explore the backyard alone... Well, almost alone as Mr. Sweetie and Kimberly were outside, but they wouldn't bother a flea...

Jayda took a few hops and then got 'down to business' as did my morning routine of 'picking up the presents'... Once she was done, she started following me around the yard and I felt bad seeing her hop like that... Her good back leg is weak, so while in my head I know she needs the exercise, in my heart it hurts to see her following me around like that... sigh... Oh well, I can do 'presents patrol' later on in the day...

Another rescue recommended an orthopedic vet they've been using and have been exceptionally pleased with, so today my job is to call and discuss this, see if he will take on another rescue case and go from there... We have three weeks to gather up the funds, do our research and get prepared to do whatever needs to be done...

Hopefully, things will stay as they are right now -- Hope, Joy, Peace and Love will make it, Jayda will continue to gain a bit of weight and improve without any additional stress on her injury and we'll continue to move forward on the goal of making this right for her...

What a sweetie Jayda has developed into... How she can be this sweet towards me with all that my kind has done to her is absolutely amazing!

Update on Jayda...

It's hard to not fall in love with a dog that wags their tail every time they see you, ya know? ... sigh...

This weekend I was fortunate to find a doggie air mattress for Jayda and we swapped it out... I could almost see the enjoyment in her as she laid down with her pups and sunk into the cushiness of it... It must feel much better, especially with that old injury of hers...

Several times a day, I pick up Jayda and take her out into the backyard to let her hop around and do her business... She's always exceptionally friendly with me and I have to admit - I've been spoiling her already with extra goodies, extra pets, and extra attention... I have a weakness for black Bandits anyway... There's something about that look that just melts me... I guess it's a throwback to the wolf look without the huge size and aggression of that branch of the canine species...

Now that Jayda is used to me, my smells, my tone of voice, etc. today we moved to a new and large Xpen... I opened up the visuals so she could see the other dogs and they can see her through the gate of the Xpen... She now knows I will not let anyone hurt her or her pups, but we are a multi-dog home here and everyone MUST get along, not be ugly with each other and co-exist in a friendly fashion...

We've decided we're going to try and save that leg if we can... The next step is to have Jayda see an orthopedic vet, get Xrays done and go from there... Maybe the only solution is an amputation, but before we sign off on such a dramatic surgery, we want to make sure we are doing the right thing for Jayda...

We need financial support and help to do this so we've created a "Jayda's Fund" page where people can donate... Even a few dollars will help and if you just gave up one Starbucks a week in Jayda's behalf, I know we together as a humane community can do this... Here's Jayda's page to read more on her story and see an updated photo I took of her today... How can you not melt into those eyes, or allow her to be hit by a car and not seek medical attention? I don't get it, but to add salt to the wound, not having her spayed and then allowing her to get pregnant was beyond inhumane IMHO.

P.S. I've decided to call her pups Faith, Hope, Peace and Love.

New foster home for Chloe...

One of our TLC foster volunteers has taken on Chloe... Chloe is 'right there' now, coming up and giving me kisses, sitting in my lap and allowing me to pet her, allowing me to reach over and massage her neck and back as long as I do it slowly as I approach, etc.

She's still not friendly at adoptions with strangers, and her new foster mom has 'the touch' with these little ones, so this might just be the ticket to nudge her over the edge from 'unadoptable' to 'adoptable'... Her foster mom is another avid Chi lover and you have to almost feel passionately about this breed to help the fearful ones... Chloe has NEVER been a fear-biter, just fearful because she was unsocialized like most backyard breeder stock is...

We're hoping for good things from this change and look forward to updated progress as well! Chloe's new foster mom is going to blog about her progress HERE

Lots going on...

Ginger and her pups came to adoptions on Saturday as new prospective adopters of the pups wanted to meet the pups and see Ginger in person... Cinnamon and Honey have adoption apps and home visits scheduled... Sugar is still up in the air as of this moment...

Ginger's rear is getting better and she's developed into a bit of an escape artist where I am concerned - if I'm headed out the door? She wants to go and thoroughly enjoys riding 'shot-gun' in the center of the seat of the truck... :)

Bingo was adopted and is going to be the reverse Oreo cookie... His new home has two gorgeous, extremely well-cared for Malteses... Snow white and groomed to perfection, Bingo is definitely going to be the 'brown and white' center creme of that crew! Congratulations to Bingo and his new furever family!

Trixi was also adopted, but she is still with me until she undergoes her spay surgery on Wednesday :( ... Her new furever home has another dog that could be her sister in color but with erect ears... Plus she has two toddlers to grow up with... She's such a sweetie, so this should an excellent new life for her once we transition through the spay and arrival at her new home at the end of the week! Yet another dog did not have to die in the shelters! HURRAH!

Jayda and her pups...

After you do dog rescue for awhile, you almost get a hardened perspective on the human race for we see all kinds of tragedies, neglect, inhumane treatment towards animals, etc... You almost get to the point where you believe you've seen the depth of inhumane treatment and then you get emotionally smacked into the face with yet another tragedy - such as Jayda and her back story...

Jayda was born on December 25, 2007 and she's probably a poorly-bred, long-haired black Bandit Chihuahua... Currently she weighs 9 pounds... While she's a bit over the AKC standard for the Chi, she's also nursing 4 puppies right now, which were born on June 28th inside one of our local shelters...

Doesn't sound so bad, huh?... Well, settle back and allow me to tell you just the absolute depths of inhumane treatment a dog can get from their owner...

According to our vet yesterday, Jayda has an old injury - probably was hit by a car - and where the top of her leg bone should be (where it should be connected to her pelvis at the hip joint), it is sticking up and out several inches higher...

Basically, if you took where the top of your leg folds as you sit down and put it up at your waist, you'd be in the shape Jayda currently is... Accordingly when Jayda walks, she is holding up her right leg as it is now much shorter than the left leg... She has limited use of it and can step down on it, but it is hanging (more or less)... And in her short life span of 18 months, it healed like this WITHOUT medical attention... Her owner never had the injury attended to at a vet's office and while it must have been excruciatingly painful when it occurred and she recuperated, the inhumanity didn't stop there...

Jayda was not spayed and she was allowed to become pregnant... And two days before she delivered her puppies???... Jayda was picked up by Animal Control as a stray (and with a microchip)... The owner never came to claim her from the shelter...

At this point, we have Jayda and her four pups (all female and all appear to be doing fine)... After seeking another medical opinion yesterday, we've confirmed that she is not in pain from the old injury and the wound on her side is slowing healing as well (not connected with the old injury, if you can imagine!!!)...



If you look at the picture above, her cream-colored puppy is resting her head on the top of Jayda's femur bone that protrudes and when comparing the length of her two legs, you can see how much shorter the right leg is from the left... We intend to seek another medical opinion to see if anything at all can be done, but options we were given so far is to do nothing about the leg or amputate it once Jayda has weaned her puppies... As we were told, "She's not had any use of it for quite some time so she wouldn't feel as if she's lost anything if we go the route of amputation"...

Jayda is an EXCELLENT mom already with her pups... And she's not aggressive or mean - if she were, we might be able to understand (??) why someone wouldn't take care of her like this... Maybe...

She's undergone many things since she's been with us... Trips to the vets... All that manipulation, poking and prodding to determine if she was in pain from the old injury... Repositioning her and her pups to accommodate her need to stretch out (we found a HUGE dog litter tray that has one side lower so she can readily step out, but the pups are still contained so they don't accidentally fall out)... A bath which required her to be held up gently by one person as the other person gave her the bath... Moving and touching her pups... You name it, we've had to do it and NOT ONCE has Jayda growled, snapped or showed any sign of aggression despite having a very young litter of puppies...

She's been put on a highly nutritional diet for her sake as well as her puppies' sakes... Jayda now is clean, well fed and comfortable (or as comfortable as you can be in a situation like this feeding a litter of puppies)... She greets us with a wagging tail and is already getting spoiled with extra home cooking and treats, extra protein and goats milk as well... We just say her name and she looks up with a sweetness that breaks your heart as that tail wags for you... sigh...

The puppies' eyes are still closed and as you watch Jayda lovingly attend to them, you cannot help but become angry at her previous owner... Fearful at venting unbridled angry emotions at the human race, we'll leave it at that! However, this will be a long-term care endeavor and rehabilitation, so stay tuned to her blog for more details and photos as she recuperates and her puppies grow.

If you would like to donate towards Jayda's medical costs, please visit our website HERE... Even a few dollars will help procure a specialist to address Jayda's health conditions...