Introducing Pepi...

Sometimes a dog's sweet disposition can save their life in our shelter system - such is the case with Pepi... He arrived at one of our local shelters on September 30th... But because of his underweight size and a limp as he held up one of his hind rear legs, he could find no takers who wanted to adopt him...

So sweet, Pepi was pulled off of the kill list three times by a shelter staff member until we were contacted...

A bit of a shabby coat and being underweight is easily corrected by a good and nutritional diet combined with time and TLC... But it will take a lot more to correct what has happened to Pepi than just TLC...

He has either been kicked severely or had a collision with an automobile... His pelvis bone has been fractured in three places and allowed to heal... Being out of kilter, his back leg bone cannot sit correctly in the joint and this causes him pain and discomfort - therefore the limp...

This is his shelter photo...

You can almost see the pain in his eyes as he leans to help support his hind quarters...

Well, we decided it was not Pepi's day to die so we took him into the TLC rescue... He's been to see two different vets now and neither one agrees with the original recommendation to amputate that hind leg... Both recommend a FHO which will take a much longer rehabilitation time than an amputation but once done, the bone-to-bone pain will be gone... At 2-3 years old, Pepi is just too young to lose a leg, but both vets are very confident the quality of his life will be radically improved if he gets this surgery.

I was once again reminded of just how sweet and endearing a gentle dog can be... Yesterday Pepi sat in my lap as we drove to the second consultation, just enjoying the view as the scenery passed by...  These are the times I wonder exactly what is wrong with the human race to allow such terrible things to happen to such gentle and loving creatures... He loves riding in the car and I couldn't help but wonder why he is now in the shape that he is...

Whether he was not on a leash and allowed to accidentally run into the traffic or (God forbid), some heartless person kicked him hard enough to break that pelvis bone, I can't understand either act... When you call his name, Pepi rolls over and presents his belly for a rub... How could any sweet dog like this end up with such a traumatic injury? ::shaking my head here::

Regardless, Pepi is not ready for adoption until he has the surgery, goes through rehabilitation and get healthy again... If he is this sweet when he is in this much pain, I just can't imagine how much sweeter he will become once he can walk and not be in so much discomfort!

Introducing... Walter!

At TLC, we foster a lot of puppies because we have the policy of pulling the hard cases consistently... Puppies always adopt fast, but the hard cases always take time to rehabilitate and/or get healthy again before they can get adopted... And with getting healthy for the hard cases, always comes heavy vet bills... 

Every once in awhile, we come upon a dog in the shelters that we just scratch our head and for the life of us, can not figure out WHY the dog arrived in the shelters to begin with... Or why anyone would allow a family member to get into such poor shape... Such is the case with Walter on both points... 

The shelter thought he was about 10 years old because he arrived thin, dehydrated and in such overall poor general condition... Once we took Walter to our vet, she believes he is half that age, but just sorely neglected for a VERY long time... 

Walter is just the sweetest little munchkin EVER~!!!... He has a wag for everyone he meets and despite it being a 'rat tail' because he's lost all the hair on it (plus on various other spots of his body), he wags his tail all of his heart!

We don't know how his coat is going to eventually turn out, but with good nutrition and medicated baths every two days plus vitamin E and other supplements, it just takes time and TLC to bring him back.

He arrived in the shelter with an open wound underneath his right eye and the shelter folks thought he just didn't like being kenneled, so he rubbed the bars... Turns out, Walter had a cracked back molar down to the root, it developed an abscess and burst through the skin!

He's been in already to get a dental and have that molar (and a few others) removed.  Walter should now be able to gain back some weight... especially that is not painful to eat now that his mouth is straightened out... 

We have yet to hear Walter bark... He's content to sit in your lap and cuddle, or curl up in a doggie bed by your feet... Walter has a stiff gait to his rear legs that is just precious to see!  And because he's missing a canine on the one side, his little tongue hangs out a bit... His Walter kisses are just as precious and sweet too!

We will get Walter healthy and once he gains a bit of weight, he'll be ready for adoption to the right home (no small children or big dog breeds for Walter is only 3.4 pounds and when he gains enough weight, still under 4 pounds).

And in the spirit of the Christmas season, a fellow Chi lover donated $10 for each of her friends to pay for Walter's dental instead of giving gifts: 

Dan S., Elly C., Michael J. D., Randeep B., Cindy C., Ellen M., Eleen V., Matthew K., Lisa A.M., Charlie W., Edward M., Scott John M., Paul M., Debbie S., Rob K., Tiffany O., Michael W., Stacy C., Lisa K., Siraj M., Birdie S., Theresa E., G Koji S., Aj M., and Scott Morgan C.

What a lovely way to share the joy of the holiday season, huh?  Walter's sending each one a Walter kiss which is absolutely priceless!

Charleyboy found his furever home just in time for Christmas!

Just in time for the holidays, Charleyboy has found his new furever home!

Personal note from Linda: As a foster parent, we are always asked, "How can you stand to give them up?" and our standard reply is that if we kept them all, we'd have no foster spots to save the next dog from dying in the shelters tomorrow.  We know that when we adopt a dog today, tomorrow we will go back into the shelters and rescue another one - probably on a kill list whose time is running out.  Although you love all of the fosters as you get them healthy, tend to their medical needs, rehabilitate any bad habits and/or give them new ones, you tend to keep them to somewhat of a distance because if you do allow them to crawl into your heart, it is just too hard to let them go and be adopted.

Charleyboy was one of the few special cases where I needed to be on my constant guard to not get too attached to a foster.  Because he tends to look at you with his wide-eyed attention, I found myself talking to him more like a human than a dog.  And because he had become my shadow, he and I did have a lot of conversations as I always needed to look behind me before I stepped back fast, or if he'd followed me somewhere, make sure I called him when I left.

A few people who were interested in Charleyboy had children or too active of a lifestyle for his best interests --- and his well being was paramount because we humans certainly didn't treat him fairly the first time around!   We attempted to place him with a sweet young lady who had cats, but Charleyboy didn't care for the feline species.  And it is better than a TLC dog comes back to us to find a better furever home than for them to stay in a situation where the new owners' life is turned upside down... just bad karma all the way around.

When the application came in on Charleyboy, I was very encouraged.  We wanted a calm, laid-back home for Charleyboy... He is still very young for a Chihuahua and I could relate to his sight limitations for without my glasses, I can't read now!  I loved the conversation I initially had with Charleyboy's new potential furever parents, and felt very positive when we set up the meet & greet.  Although we had a bit of a hard time finding their home, I stood in the grass with Charleyboy while my husband found a place to park his car.  And in the darkening dusk, I looked around at the lush grass and trees and sent a small prayer Heaven-ward that the people we all were about to meet would be as nice as that spot we were standing in.

It's funny how God answers your prayers when you least expect them, ya know?  Our hearts are still SO heavy from losing our dearly beloved Mr. Sweetie on November 27th... At 16 with doggie dementia, pancreatic issues, major anxiety issues, dual hip surgeries followed by failing back hips and then front legs, it was probably one of the hardest decisions my family has had to make about a dog for years... People just aren't interested in adopting anything less than the 'perfect dog' and the three years we'd had with Mr. Sweetie were ones we will always treasure... My vet called us 'the home of the misfits and unwanteds' but frankly?  Some of these 'misfits and unwanteds' have been some of the best dogs EVER... 

Discovering Charleyboy's new adoptive parents was a spiritual and soul regeneration for me that night... No, Charleyboy is not perfect but he is a sweet and loving kindred soul that (more than most) deserved a second chance at a better hand of cards he'd been dealt in the game of life... He won the jackpot with his new family and now has his very own home just in time for Christmas!  Here he is in his new doggie bed, all wrapped up nice and warm... 

Santa already came for Charleyboy!  Thank-you to whoever was listening to my prayers up there!  I'm sure you are there, Mr. Sweetie.... Thank-you for putting in a good word for Charleyboy!

 

Tips and Tricks...

We're adding a new feature to TLC - "TLC's Tips & Tricks" - ideas, tips we've used on the shelter dogs we have rehabilitated and other good-to-great suggestions you can use on your companion to change behaviors... There is no 'one-way' to train a dog or un-train bad behaviors, for every dog is unique with their own set of issues, back story and personality quirks.  We offer these only as a starting point for you to explore and try... We also encourage you to share your tips and tricks that have worked for you... Together we can all build a fantastic community of rehabilitated shelter dogs who have found their furever homes and live great, balanced lives!

2 home runs and 1 strike out...

Brownie and Cleo quickly found their furever homes this past weekend - both in multi-canine homes that are larger than them... So congrats to both and their new furever parents... 

Yukon unfortunately was returned when it was discovered he does not care for cats... As his foster parent does not have cats, this is something we can never guarantee and it is always a crap shoot at best... At TLC we know there is a furever home for EVERY dog and puppy we rescue off the kill lists --- if just given enough time --- so as they say, 'no harm, no foul'... It is all about the dogs in rescue... If a dog or puppy is not working out in someone's lifestyle and home, we'd rather keep searching until we find one that will... 

So Yukon is back with his foster parents and fit in again like a hand and glove... He immediately took back his spot on the couch and looked for the cuddles and pats he has become accustomed to... 

Yesterday at adoptions, we gave Yukon a Greenie for the first time... Now that his mouth is back and order without all those teeth that were causing so much pain, he THOROUGHLY enjoyed gnawing on it... It was like an 'all day sucker' for Yukon and he wasn't interested in anyone as he slowly devoured the Greenie...  Good for you, Yukon!   Things all worked out for the best and we're sure your new furever home is right around the corner for you too!

Kelly and her duck, plus Scudders

Kelly usually gets passed by at adoptions because she's non-descrip and a Chocolate Chi that is over sized... Maybe part of it is because she was a bait dog used in the dog-fighting industry and that might intimidate some people, fearful that she'd been mean or nasty...

While Kelly has no lack of self esteem (and probably saved her life while used as a bait dog), I wanted to post these pictures I took the past few days of Kelly and Scudders... Scudderbutts is a 12-year old Chi (also a rescue) and weighs about 4 pounds dripping wet... He and Kelly have struck up a friendship over the past few weeks... I'm sure Kelly is like sleeping with a hot water bottle and Scudders is always cold because of his small size...

Kelly is three times Scudders' weight and yet?  He feels comfortable with her temperament to climb in, cuddle up and nap with her in the Chi penthouse...

Kelly has this squishy duck dog toy that she carries around with her... I'm not sure exactly what she thinks the duck is, but she tends to cuddle up with it too... Maybe it's a surrogate for a puppy she once had... Dunno...  But I usually find it close by her during their naps...

How could you not fall in love with such a sweet picture, huh? 

Kelly has come a VERY long way since we rescued her out of the shelter... Her coat has all grown in thick and shiny... And she's put on a few pounds - in fact, I work her every other day on the treadmill now because we don't want her to gain too much weight... Just like us humans, it is not for Chihuahuas to be overweight either...

What a sweet girl~!!... Kelly really needs to find her furever parent(s) who love her because of what she is today - not what she once was... It was not her fault she was used by a bad element of the human society, then dumped into a shelter once she no longer served their purposes!

Introducing Cleo...

Cleo is probably a tri-color Te-Chi (pronounced "tea-chee")... Not quite a Chihuahua except in coloring, she sports a 'wirehaired ruff' around the back of her neck and the strip down her head between her ears can be easily brushed into a mohawk (poor thing~!!) as you pet her... Then she'll give you that 'sadder than sad' look that makes you feel bad for brushing it up like that!

The shelter can provide no backstory to this little gal, but we suspect after fostering her for a bit, Cleo had some separation anxiety issues going on... And that could be the reason she was dumped in the shelter... Easily enough fixed with a Kong and crate training, Cleo rapidly settled down in the foster mom's home...

She is a snuggler and 'roots' almost like a baby piglet until she finds that spot underneath your jaw bone and neck bone... Once her head is firmly entrenched underneath your chin, she's good for an hour's nap as she curls into your chest...

Primarily chocolate with white markings, she sports tan eyebrows - only the ruff is wirehaired - the rest of her coat is smooth and silky... None of the Chi personality, she's a submissive female who is outgoing and friendly to all - dogs and humans alike... She wants nothing more than to be picked up and cuddled...