Paris' Fight for Life

Paris is a little teeny that came out of a high kill shelter... This is her story so far...

Another convert! (smile)

Allow me to introduce another foster mom to you all --- Maria --- and she's having her first Chi litter with TLC... Maria stepped up when she learned of a preggo Chihuahua in a local high kill shelter... And Maria is a self-professed "big dog lover" so this is a whole new frontier for her - watching and waiting for another little one (Italia) to give birth...

Follow Maria's story with Italia on her blog - The Wag Tales...

Stay tuned for more puppies are on their way! 

First photo of Dulcie's puppies!

We received the first photo of Dulcie's puppies from her foster mom... Drum roll please, Maestro.... 

Introducing Delta, Dawn and Darla~!!!  

Our best guess is that they were born on August 18th, so they won't be 8 weeks old until October 13th.  Dulcie has been a great mom so far, and after only 48 hours of settling in, she jumped into her foster mom's lap and started handing out kisses!

 

~~~ Linda

Maddy: Special Girl with a Huge Heart

There are so many special furbabies in need of help.  They are termed hard cases because of one reason or another.  Maddy is one such pup.  The reason she was considered a hard case was because of the fact she was neglected and as a result, she developed a condition called Demodex Mange.  She was seized, along with her brother, after a Good Sam reported spotting them in the backyard, suffering in horrible conditions.  Animal Control stepped in and Maddy found herself at the Pasadena Humane Society.

Demodex mange is non-contagious and is caused by common skin mites that irritate the skin when a dog is under great stress, causing the hair to fall out, and eventually large, painful welts develop.  The stress on the immune system is awful, but the condition is easy to treat.

When I got the good news that TLC had a spot for this hard case pup, my twin 7 year old daughters and I headed to the shelter to pick her up.  After filling out the paperwork, we waited in the lobby, excited to see this girl and feeling that wonderful feeling inside, knowing this life was going to be saved!  A few minutes later, the shelter director emerged from the medical ward with a giant dog bed, inside of which, a little partially hairless head peeked out at us.  I remember thinking what big, beautiful eyes this girl had.  They were kind and trusting, and most of all - grateful. 

I swooped her up in my arms, bedding and all, and my daughters and I headed back to our car.  The girls took turns in the back holding this little peanut, careful not to move her too much in case her skin was sore.  We took her back to our house to pick up another foster and jumped back in the car to adoptions where the TLC volunteers would take their first look at this peanut.  We loved this girl already, and decided to call her Maddy  in honor of one of my beautiful little neices. 

When we got to adoptions, Linda, the Director of TLC, looked her over real good and declared that she'd be feeling much better in a day or two.  Her mange was probably on a scale of about a 4 out of 10 - not too bad so it wouldn't be long until she'd be healthy enough to adopt out. 

Linda took her home and began the process of healing her with daily baths and medications.  About 6 weeks later, Maddy returned to adoptions and my daughters and I were quite blown away to see a totally different dog. 

Maddy is BEAUTIFUL!

She still has big, beautiful eyes that are not only grateful, but happy now!  This baby girl has the best personality.  She LOVES to give kisses and she is tender and gentle with children who respect her smaller size.  I have seen other dogs try to engage her in play, tugging at her ears and annoying her, yet she takes it like a champ - playing if she feels like it or walking away if she's not in the mood.  Maddy is one of those dogs that I can honestly say we'd have adopted already ourselves, if we weren't at our max!  She is just that special. 

A few months ago, I put together a video of Maddy, in the hopes someone would see how very special she is and adopt her into their loving home.  She was a puppy when she was pulled, but we are now approaching a year since she's been in foster care.  Her demodex had come back and was cleared again, so she had been in a holding status.  Under stress, it can flare up.  This is unfair for Maddy, who should really have spent her puppyhood as somebody's furever baby.  Black dogs tend to get overlooked without even given half a chance, but this girl is not only gorgeous, she is one of the most special girls out there.  Her heart is truly beautiful.

Check out here video by clicking on the link here: Maddy's Video and come in to meet her in person.  She has come close a few times to being adopted, but is still waiting for just the right family to finally call her very own!  Perhaps she is waiting for you...
~ Jen

Introducing "Boots"...

We named him "Boots" because of the pair of white boots on his front paws, but we could have just as easily called him the 'Come Back Kid'... Boots was not showing well at a high kill shelter and was considered 'unadoptable'... He preferred to hide UNDERNEATH his bed and not come to the front of the kennel run to be seen by the general public... Eventually, not adopted and his time had run out, he ended up on the kill list... 

One of our foster dads took on Boots as his own personal foster and 'project'... We suspect that Boots was the victim of a big dog attack, for his personality issues were all fear based... And centering around other dogs... 

Once the fur dad gained his trust, they moved slowly in the rehabilitation process...  Being picked up, Boots immediately went into 'statue' mode, stiffened up and gave you the impression if he wasn't looking at you, you couldn't see him either... Any dog that came too close would also put Boots into alabaster stiff... 

The foster dad continued every day, working with Boots... A big step was Boots being in an Xpen in his family room with other dogs around, but Boots not screaming for dear life... It took a few days for Boots to realize the Xpen was 'HIS' safety zone, and although he could smell, see and hear the other dogs, they could not get into the Xpen to hurt him (not that they would)... From there, the foster dad moved to holding Boots on his lap for long stretches of time... Originally, we had our doubts if Boots could be rehabilitated and overcome his fears, but the foster dad is pretty determined once he sets his mind on something!

Once the foster dad and Boots could sit together quietly and calmly, little by little he was introduced to other foster dogs using the umbilical method... From there, the 'umbilical cord' was unhooked and Boots was allowed to sit or stand on the floor but without his 'safety cord' to the foster dad... Following this step, the foster dad began to leave the room for very brief times and always returning, showing Boots that it was OK to be in a room with other dogs and not one would attack him... 

We thought Boots had his break through when he started walking freely around with the other dogs - but we were wrong... 

Years (?) of fear turned into aggression towards other dogs... The foster dad kept up his end of it, not allowing Boots to be aggressive towards the other dogs, but still keeping Boots' trust in him... It was a tedious task of retraining and took weeks, but Boots and the foster dad succeeded (and extremely well!)... 

Boots is now able to freely move around the foster dad's home and backyard with other fosters... He now eats with other dogs and just recently, starting sleeping with another foster in the crate at night... 

Boots still likes to sleep under the covers and probably always will, for it is a common Chihuahua trait... But Boots has some other breed in him (Boston Terrier?, Bulldog?) if you look at his conformation and shape... He's small (about 6 pounds) but he is ALL solid and chesty... 

Boots wears his 'tux' well, don't you think? ... He's always ready to go to a gala ball with those white 'gloves', tux and tails... He has a white 'bow tie' and shirt, but the rest of him is solid black with just the very tips of his back toes in white... 

Another 'human' moment...

One of the things we humans tend to see in our dogs and fosters is the repetition of feelings and/or events we ourselves have gone though... 

Yesterday was one of those days that no matter how hard I tried to stay ahead and get done what I needed to do, something or someone kept getting in the way... I find when I get frustrated about these turns of events, the best thing is to go with the flow and just enjoy the flowers and smells along the way... 

About a week or so ago, I set a kennel down on the patio enroute to something else, and I noticed that Felix liked hanging out in it... So I threw an old bathroom rug inside of it as a temporary measure so he was not laying on a kennel floor and bare block patio floor... That lasted for just a few days until one of the puppies got ahold of it and ripped it into pieces... sigh... 

Yesterday as I made another trip to the backyard, I noticed Felix was once again laying inside of the kennel... My day and schedule was already out of whack, so what is one more thing, ya know?  I grabbed the kennel, scrubbed it down, mounted it on a small furniture doily and replaced it back in the same spot --- but this time with a nice blankee inside... 

And sure as sugar, within a few minutes Felix wandered back inside of it and laid down - content once again... One of his favorite playing buds immediately crawled inside with him and I remember my first apartment times...  Calling up friends and inviting them over as I was a "big girl now with my own digs"... "Hey, why don't you come over and we'll watch some TV and talk, or watch a movie?"...

One friend would tell another friend and when I thought I had enough cheese dip and crackers for our 'party', more people would show up unexpectingly!  You have been there, right?  You end up trying to be the 'hostess with the mostest' and all you really wanted to do was not be alone on a Sunday afternoon with nothing to do!... 

Next thing you know, you are the one running around, filling up glasses, replenishing the chips and dips, scanning your cupboard to find something to serve your guests and eventually, you question why being alone on a Sunday afternoon was a bad idea, after all!

I got that same feeling as I watched Felix enjoying his new 'digs'... One friend arrived, and then another... What fit fine with just him became OK with one friend... The second friend made things a bit cramped and uncomfortable, but Felix was still doing his best to enjoy his new space with his two buds... 

And then a BIG friend showed up and Felix just wasn't having it!... LOL..."Enough already... I was doing fine here Berlin, and then she brought a friend, but Frisco, you are just too darn big for my comfy new space!... You are ouutttttTTAAAAA HERE!"


As I'm snapping photos of the events as they unfolded with my iPhone and Felix is reminding Frisco just WHOSE new digs this really was, it really did cause me to LOL... 

That sound got everyone's attention... Felix paused for just a few seconds and then decided he did indeed crash the party... He had an about face and decided there were other things in the backyard more interesting to pursue... The two 'party girls' then left as well, and Felix settled in to TRULY enjoy his Sunday afternoon in his nice, clean, comfy special spot all by himself!  Yes, we can always relate to our dogs and fosters - it is a sideline benefit of rescue we all enjoy!
~~ Linda

I was bitten by the Foster bug

I've always had a soft spot for stray animals. On a whim my mother would bring home a new dog from the shelter. I never knew if there would be a new dog in the backyard when I came home from school. As an adult I carry dog food and extra leashes in my car. You never know when you might need it. I've often thought about starting my own rescue saving just one dog at time.


When a friend decided that she didn't want to work through her dog Bonnie's issues and dumped her at the pound I knew I had to act. Not only did I know this dog, but it didn't deserve to die. If I could help this dog why not others?


After working with Bonnie to find a home I knew I needed to team up with a rescue group. I finally connected with "Tiny Loving Canines." I attended several month's of adoptions with Bonnie and was so impressed with the people and their core values that I knew this was my calling. Almost 2 years later I'm still here and loving it!


Since rescuing Bonnie I've fostered 5 dogs. One of my littlest, Ava, is sitting on my lap as I type. She was deemed "a biter" and not worthy of saving, according to the shelter, but I can proudly say she is a real love with a few senior moments. I've failed fostering twice, but I'm hopeful I'll graduate with honors when Bojangles & Ava find their furever homes. Yes, Bonnie ended up becoming a part of our family.  It's because of Bonnie that I'm able to live out my dream. While at the dog park today with my Fab Four (my original pack), a very special little guy that I fostered, Moe Moe, came by to visit. This was a total surprise. He looked amazing and ran up to me to say Hi. It made my day! It's hard to express in words the feeling you get when something like this happens. If you love animals you've got to foster. Knowing that you've saved a life and found them a new home is priceless. Introducing Ava & Bojangles, my new foster babies.

 

Holly