We are going to add a new feature to our blog - "Notes from the Director's Chair" or "DC" for short... (we are big on acronyms in TLC!)... Nothing earth-shattering, but just 'down-home', 'back stage' kind of stories from our side of doing rescue... We hope you enjoy this new feature and start following our blog... It might help you to see what we go through to save dogs' lives!
One of the neatest things in rescue is to take a dog you know is going to die and then bring them up to 'adoptable' speed... Once they are at the rescue shop and waiting for their furever home person to come along, they can do the wackiest of things and we all grin and giggle when we see them...
Take for example - Rooney... Every time I see Rooney laying out like this, I gotta laugh... He lays with his back legs spread eagle and flat... Doesn't that hurt?... It must be his Poodle side that allows him to do this...
He sorta/kinda reminds of my Bearded Dragon, Gerard, who is built like this and Mother Nature... But it still makes me wince when I look too hard at his hips!
And then you have the sad parts of doing rescue... The dogs that are so ill, you take weeks and weeks to get them healthy... We don't win all of the battles we face, but it is not for the lack of trying...
Right now we are battling the good fight with two young pups, KathyLea and TessaLea... You'd be amazed at how EXCITED you can get over a dog's solid poop, they're having the ability to stand up on their own or even eat on their own!... This is the energy-sapping part of rescue that wears us out... (and depletes our financial resources too!)...
But what do you do?... Give up?... No, that is not what we rescue folks are all about... You dig in, you find the time, money and strength to keep on saving lives... So that is today's glimpse into today's 'backstage view' of TLC!
As Always,
Linda, Director
At first glance, this photo might just fill you with absolute horror and sadness, but it really is a glance of happiness and joy yet to come... Rooney (whose butt you see) was pulled out of a high kill shelter about three weeks ago... Not only did he he have demodex, he also had kennel cough and was severely emaciated...
For three weeks, he has barely moved out of his cushy bed... Not even to pee... He'd widdle on himself, lacking the physical strength to walk or move very much at all... Dutifully, he'd allow us to give him medications, syringe feed him to keep up his strength and sit in a nebulizer once a day for twenty minutes... Just hacking and coughing throughout the day and night seemed to sap all the strength out of him...
Last night, he got up and walked across the floor... We just sat and watched him - totally amazed....
Tonight, Rooney heard the feeder being refilled. He got up from his spot on the blankees, trotted across to the feeder and with his unorthodox manner, proceeded to eat on his own.
Granted, his position is not something we can explain - why the food closest to him was not what he wanted, and choose to perch on the edge like this is remarkable if nothing else!
The feeder sits in a tray because another foster digs through the food in the feeder with her paw, picking out specific pieces she wants... And she can easily empty out the entire feeder and have it across an area 5' away in a matter of 5 minutes or less... So the tray catches her 'discarded' pieces of kibble...
Maybe it is easier for him to stand like this?
Dunno, but it sure was unique and different! (smile)...
And Rooney proceeded to eat until he was full, protecting the entire feeder from any other dog that ventured too close to his side of the kibble... Amazing stuff... From being so close to death's door and then after three very long weeks, to see him do these things is very heart warming!
We are not so sure the other dogs appreciated Rooney deciding to step all over the kibble before he was done, but they didn't complain too much!
Hence the photos we could not resist taking! Yep, truly photos of happiness!
