Couch Potato Central

For those of you who have not been to the shop recently, you might not have seen our expanded 'Couch Potato' section... 

This is where our low-energy dogs hang out throughout the day... These dogs are small lap-sitters who we have observed as being low energy and would enjoy sun bathing, going for slow enjoyable walks, companion-type dogs, ya know?

Each section has its own doggie couch, a FreshPatch to call their own and a mini kitchenette to eat and drink at their leisure... Sorta/kinda like a mini studio apartment just for small dogs!  And comes with a maid and cook to boot!  How could you ask for anything more?

To hang out here, the dogs must be communally minded for they 'dog pile' and cuddle up together to take their naps, play well with other little dogs and can be counted on to be nice with the general public.

The Fresh Patches retain their potty training, and they are also walked in the afternoons with the volunteer dog walkers (known as the 6PM Club).  These are the kinds of dogs that would do well in a low-to-medium energy lifestyle, could be a solo dog or a companion for someone who either does not work or works from home.

If you are looking for this kind of rescue dog, come visit the back of the shop and interact with our 'Couch Potato Crew'!

Big Red has been adopted - WTG!

Big Red has now found his furever home --- and a new name - "Pickles"... She looks quite comfy with her new family, huh?

Yet another first for the TLC rescue shop....

Long past the usual puppy season, we have 4 female dogs either who have given birth in a foster home or still pregnant... Normally our pregnant females go into foster homes to deliver and raise their babies until they start getting their puppy shots... And then once we feel comfortable about the increased handling that happens to puppies at the rescue shop, they come back to be seen and drooled over, adopted into a furever home, etc.

But yesterday became yet another 'first' at the rescue shop - a delivery of puppies by Scarlett, a Doxie mix who with her brother (? mate?), Rhett came to us because they have demodex... Watching Scarlett closely for days, I thought we had at least 1 week if not 2 before her delivery... And because of her large size and talkative nature, I was holding off sending her to foster...

Having cleaned her area at the shop less than an hour before, I was really surprised when one of the volunteers came into my office to tell me Scarlett had a pup with her... We all sprang into action - removing wet blankets from her water breaking, adding in a bed warmer underneath her and the pup, warming up the wet pup, etc.

Many of the TLC volunteers have never witnessed live birth and it fascinating for them to watch... The 'chatty-ness' of everyone diminished rapidly and there was a hushed quietness that descended upon all... We usually are QUITE busy at the shop from the moment you step in to cover your shift until the moment you leave... There is ALWAYS something to be done or attended to... But for five minutes or more, everyone was gathered in quietness to just watch Mother Nature take over and create live birth...

The photo below is of Scarlett and her five hours old pups, all cleaned up and nursing...  Scarlett and her five pups (4 boys and 1 black female) are now in foster and doing well... She surprised us all, just as Scarlett O'Hara did in GWTW!

Bathing Brigade

Can you bath a dog and have some extra time for a few hours one day a week?

Come and join TLC's "Bathing Brigade" - help our rescues remain sweet-smelling and become adopted faster.  

For more detail see this page at our website or contact Teri directly via email.

Update on Aspen....

I thought I'd post two photos we'd received from Aspen's foster dad, Big Joe... 

One of Aspen's favorite places to hang out is on a cushy couch on their back porch --- especially in the mornings when the sun comes in and she can sunbathe for as long as she likes...

He sat down and snapped this shot initially:

And little by little, she repositioned herself until she was aside of her dearly beloved foster dad --- and laid her arm across his leg:

Eventually, the glasses had to come off due to the kisses (which can be a bit slurpy at times) and she was quite comfortable!  What a love muffin she is, huh?

 


 

Just another normal day at the shop... LOL...

Twice a month (every 2 weeks) we receive our water delivery and as we lined up the bottles yesterday for pick-up, I just had to grab a photo of this visual.  The line of empty bottles is longer than the 'Wall of Life' - small photos of the 875+ dogs we have saved in the past 3 years.

People have asked us why we pay for water (20 bottles @ $6 a bottle every two weeks and a $3100+ annual expense for us).  

And yes, that is all the TLC rescues drink at the shop.  

But many of the shelter dogs come out with parasites, intestinal issues that easily grow into diarrhea, nervousness as they recover from shelter shock, etc.  The more consistent and routine we can create in an environment, the easier their recovery from shelter trauma.

This means we provide them with a stable and nutritional diet with few changes, monitoring of their poop and addressing health issues as soon as we notice them. 

Municipal water sources are not monitored to the extent 'water for purchase' are --- it usually contains more chemicals and can even have excessive rust, depending upon the route it takes from generation to someone's tap.  Our experience has shown that the quicker you get to routine in their life, the faster these dogs recover from being dumped in a shelter.

Most dogs don't retain but throw off the 'B' vitamins they get in their diet when under stress.  And we also supplement their diets with probiotics as well.  It can take up to 6 months for a dog to recover from the shelter experience --- from losing their owner suddenly, new food and new people, maybe living on the streets for some time --- to the shelter environment with loud audio levels, a ton of unfamiliar smells and a whole new routine they might not be familiar with.

Most people don't realize this, but the audio level in a shelter are usually greater than 100 db (source).  To put this in perspective, 95 db is a subway train and 110 db is a jackhammer, so a shelter environment's sound level is right in the middle most of the day and sometimes into the night.  Another one of the reasons we work so hard on providing a serene and quiet environment for our rescues...

Changes of any kind can spark diarrhea in a dog, and for some of these dogs we pull, they are already underweight, might have been nervous and upset for some time, etc.  A bout of diarrhea can push their digestive system into overdrive and even dehydration and death!

This is why we use bottled water, recommend it to new adopters, supply a small portion of the kibble we have their new pup on during the adoption process and stress SLOWWWWWWWWWWWWW changes in diet.

Janey's puppies are now ready for adoption

PookieBear, ScrappyBear and LittleBear (the girls) along with YogiBear (the only boy in the litter) are now available for adoption.

Amazing donation received....

This donation left all of us TLC volunteers speechless and humbled.  It began from a few comments left on someone else's FaceBook page about us, and a TLC volunteer noticing it.  This might seem like a small pile of donations, but this kind person ordered $250+ worth of cleaning supplies from our wish list and had Lowe's deliver them to the shop today.   For the majority of the items, this is a week's worth of what we buy to keep the shop clean, the dogs' blankets washed and nice, etc.

For the at least daily complaint from someone in the general public about the smell at the shop, this was a major morale boost in the arm to us.

Let's face it - dogs smell.  But I will trade this 'living' smell hands down any day to the smell of dead dogs' carcasses at the back of any shelter after their euthanizing for the day.  And every dog in the TLC rescue was destined to die for one reason or another.

We run the shop with a very limited amount of funds and volunteers' energy and willingness to come in and help.  Receiving this today can't erase the hurt you feel from someone coming in and being rude, but it shows my volunteers that people DO care and support what we are trying to do here!

Thank you again, Annette Ferrara, for this massive donation and uplifting us all with your generousity!