30796 - the dog in the back room

I wrote the blog below on December 22, 2008 for a group I used to work with. Sadly in the 2 years since this was written little had changed for the thousands of dogs who are still suffering in sub-standard kennels in Ohio. 30796, the dog in the story below, could be Mason, Prince, Oscar, Holly, Punkin, Myla or Callie - they all came from sub-standard kennels and anyone of them could be the dog below:


Hello, is anyone there? I thought I heard someone, I guess not. I am so lonely. There are other dogs here but I am in a cage all by myself in a back room in this building. There are no windows so I cannot see very much. I do not know if it is day or night but it is dark and cold. There are cracks in the walls and the snow and wind are blowing. I'm so cold I cannot stop shivering.

I'm hungry and thirsty, it has been a long time since The Man came in here. He put water in my dish but it froze before I could get enough to drink. He threw some hard, dry food in my bowl and his hand hurt me when I went to get a drink of water. I don't like hands - they hurt. After The Man left, I ate some food. It hurt my mouth. I heard someone say that my teeth are abscessed, I'm not sure what that is, but I know when I put something in my mouth it hurts.

Everything hurts me. My eyes are so sore and my hair sticks to the corners when the runny stuff comes out. My ears ache and smelly stuff oozes from them and mats the hair together. It hurts. When I try to move to get comfortable, the hair on my belly and neck and legs is all one big, huge mat and it pulls and hurts really bad. I am so cold and hungry and thirsty and I hurt.

I heard the children talking the other day. They were playing in the snow and talking about something called Christmas. They are very excited about Santa Claus. Apparently, this Santa Claus person checks to see if the children were naughty or nice and then he brings them many presents. They make a wish list and if they were nice, Santa fills it.

Later, I heard The Man and The Woman talking and they said that my puppies all sold at the pet store so Santa would be very good to the children this year. Is that you Santa? Can you hear me? Do you care about dogs? Just in case you do, I'm going to send you my wish list:

I wish for a home, a real one, where I can live inside and have food to eat every day and where there is always fresh water (the kind that is not frozen please.)

I wish for a human with a soft voice and a soft touch to love me. Just me. I wish for them to talk to me softly, to love me gently and to protect me from The Man and The Woman.

I wish for a bath and I wish for my hair to be brushed so that it flows pretty like the dogs in the pictures. I wish to be clean and mat free.

I wish to go to the veterinarian and get my teeth fixed. I wish that my mouth would stop hurting, my eyes would stop seeping, and my ears would no longer cause me pain.

I wish to be warm in the winter and cool in the summer with no fleas or ticks or parasites or heart worms to bother me.

I have a lifetime of love I've been saving to give a human, so yes please, I wish for my very own human. I want to give them nose licks and kisses, I want to protect them from strangers and alert them if a leaf falls in the yard. I want to welcome them when they come home every day. I want to share their life in good times and bad and I want to show them how special they are and make sure they know they are the best person in the whole wide world.

I wish for my own name, I think I would like to be called Angela.

Please Santa; take me away from this cold, dark place. I'm a good lilttle dog and I have so much to give, please help me. I'm so very, very cold.

Thank you for considering my wish list,

30796 - the dog in the back room

Nicky is being fostered in Ohio and is looking for a forever home. . . .

Nicky was dumped in the country in Mechanicsburg, Ohio. The daughter of the man who found her is a vet tech at a local veterinarian's office and called asking if we could help her, as all the local rescues were over flowing and no one had room. Just a Touch Rescue out of Rhode Island said they would take her into their group if I could foster her so this little silky came to Camp Spoiled Royals. 

Nicky was brought up to date with her vaccinations, spayed and put on heartworm preventative (all her blood work looks great and the vet thinks she's probably about 2 years old.) She is a playing fool! Nicky gets all the dogs here playing with her from our geriactic Tucker to our pissy, self-important Gaylin.

If you are looking to adopt a Silky Terrier and Nicky appeals to you, feel free to submit an application on the Just a Touch Rescue web site http://justatouchrescue.com/JATR/Adoption_Application.html.

Nicky needs at least one other dog to play with (non-negotiable) and she needs a fenced yard.  She was clearly abused in a past home so a patient, soft spoken, loving caretaker is needed to help her understand that she won't be hit and she won't be yelled at but that she will be loved.  She truly is a precious, lovely little dog who is going to make someone a wonderful companion!

Joey - from KY to MI to OH to KY to TN to KY to OH - he's home for good!

Joey started his life in Kentucky as a much loved little Maltese. Sadly, he developed several expensive medical conditions that stretched his original owner's budget to the breaking point. Joey had severe allergies which resulted in horrific ear infections and terrible skin infections. He was often hospitalized for one condition or the other and of course there were allergy tests, medications, monthly shots, prescription dog food, antibiotics for skin and ears - never ending expenses that sometimes ran several hundred dollars a month. Then he developed Cushings Disease and that medication, along with his continuing allergy issues, broke the bank. As much as his owner loved him, she could no longer afford his medical care. Kentucky is a poor state - a dog with expensive medical conditions had very little chance of being adopted so his owner advertised him on the internet and hoped to find a good home for him.

A rescue friend in Michigan read the internet advertisement and offered to take him.  Joey moved to Michigan and shared his new home with twenty or so other dogs. He was well cared for and quite happy for a year or so until a situation occured requiring Joey's new owner to downsize the number of dogs in her home.

Joey came here for a month or so while another rescue made room for him. He was a cute little guy who did a lot of "growly talking." It sounded like he was growling but when we watched the other dogs, they never reacted - apparently he was just a "growly talker." He did need to be muzzled in order to clean his ears or snip his toenails. We figured with all the ear infections his ears probably were painful and we knew his allergies made his feet sore. Anyway, a rescue friend in Kentucky helped transport him from Ohio to TN to his foster home.

He was in TN for a couple of months when we received a call telling us his foster mom said he was aggressive, had bitten both her and her husband and that he was not adoptable. There was talk of euthanizing him. We've worked with aggressive dogs before so I asked to have him sent back and once again our KY buddy helped get him from TN to Ohio. (Thank you Jeanie.)

Anyway, Joey did come back to OH and he is now a permanent Spoiled Royal. We think his growly talk may have intimidated his foster parents and perhaps they reacted to it.  I'm really not sure.  I suspect that it may simply be the case that Joey was supposed to be our dog and things were going to happen until he came back here.  He's here to stay, he no longer needs muzzled to clip his nails or clean his ears.  He still does his "growly talk" and we just chuckle at it.  We know he is saying "I'm home and I'm the last Spoiled Royal!"

Animal websites to keep handy. . .

Humor & smiles:

This has to be one of the absolute best websites anywhere. Most days you will laugh, some days you end up with a tear trickling down, but they are always genuine and heartwarming: http://drawthedog.com/

For cat lovers, you'll laugh at these: http://tinyurl.com/Funny-Kitty-Cats

There are also charitable organizations that help with medical expenses and medical emergencies. Below is a list of a handful of them - you can also do a Google search to find others.

Help with Spay or Neuter: If you know someone with pets who needs help with spay or neuter costs help may be very close. Friends of Animals has a database that is searchable by zip code - you can get a certificate mailed to you by going to http://www.friendsofanimals.org/index.html.





IMOM.org also has a national spay/neuter program. More information can be found here: http://www.imom.org/spay-neuter/itshere.htm

Help with medical expenses: Know someone with no funds whose pet needs expensive medical treatment? If there is an AAHA Accredited Veterinary Hospital in the area, their vet may be able to apply for financial aid for them through an AAHA grant. Information here: http://www.aahahelpingpets.org/grant_guidelines.html

To find an AAHA accredited facility go here: http://www.healthypet.com/Accreditation/HospitalSearch.aspx



United Animal Nation (UAN): http://www.uan.org/index.cfm?navid=28

Help a Pet focuses on helping pets of physically and mentally challenged individuals, senior citizens or children of the working poor. http://www.help-a-pet.org/

The Pet Fund: http://www.thepetfund.com/

Angels for Animals: angels4animals.org
Brown Dog Foundation: browndogfoundation.org/home
Feline Veterinary Emergency Assistance Program: fveap.org

Diabetic Pets Fund: petdiabetes.net/fund/
The Mosby Foundation: themosbyfoundation.org
The Binky Foundation: binkyfoundation.org


God's Creatures Ministry Veterinary Charity: http://www.all-creatures.org/gcm/help-cf.html Jake Brady Memorial Fund: http://www.myjakebrady.com/memorial_fund.shtml

Cat specific:


Feline Outreach: felineoutreach.org



Cats In Crisis: catsincrisis.org

Cancer:
The Perseus Foundation (cancer-specific): PerseusFoundation.org

Canine Cancer Awareness: caninecancerawareness.org

Cody's Club (radiation treatments): codysclub.bravehost.com/

Magic Bullet Fund (cancer-specific - dogs): themagicbulletfund.org



There are also breed specific organizations who provide financial aid for pets in need of medical care and there are illness specific support organizations for pets in need. When doing an internet search, try searching for help by breed or medical condition too.

Gaylin found a home

Gaylin came into rescue from a bad home environment. He and a female were abused in their home and another foster mom was approached by their owner and offered the two dogs. Gaylin was in his first foster home 13 months but was moved here due to a newly developed attitude problem. He started attacking dogs in his original foster home then moved on to attack his foster dad. His foster mom tried a variety of corrections and finally asked if he could come here for an attitude adjustment.

Gaylin belonged here from day one. He got along with the other dogs, liked his foster mom and dad, just a great lttle dog. After a month or two, we discovered that he did not like brooms and will "kill" any broom within reach if permitted. Althhough he is better, we tell him no, stop him from attacking the broom and try not to laugh out loud when he sits in front of the broom closet to ensure that wild & crazy broom does not escape.

A few months later he decided he wanted to be the alpha dog and started attacking Tucker (at least 5 times Gaylin's size) multiple times a day. That behavior took a good month to break but he finally learned that unless he wanted to be in permanent time out, he needed to

behave.

As sometimes happens, the rescue group that had him, became impatient that no applications were coming in for him and complained constantly. My husband & I got fed up (as many foster homes do) and just adopted him ourselves as we were concerned that the rescue group would send him off to the first applicant who applied whether it was an appropriate home or not.

One thing you learn very quickly in rescue is there are less than stellar rescue groups (and rescue people). There are also quite a few "cherry picker" rescues. Those are the groups who only accept the young, cute, healthy, easily placed dogs that can also command a high adoption fee.

Gaylin's rescue was not bad, just impatient and short sighted. Fortunately, they did take him in when he needed a safe haven. Regardless, found his forever home and he's here to stay!

The Boys. . . appearances can be deceiving

Prince and Mason, our two Maltese, were playing the other day and I caught it on video. They are well loved and well cared for, and look as healthy as can be. Appearances can be deceiving.



Mason came here scared to death. He started life in a mill in Texas, was sent to a mill in Oklahoma and eventually was rescued by a dear friend from Puppy Mill Rescue. He was flown from TX to OH and immediately became Mason the Magnificent and owner of my heart.



Prince's mother was purchased pregnant at a MO auction. Prince and his sister were both born with hydrocephalus, microvascular dysplasia and a few other problems as a direct result of poor breeding. Their two brothers fared a bit better, no hydrocephalus or MVD, but they too have poor teeth and luxating patellas.

They are both doing well today and to look at them, you would never know that at Prince's last dental he had 29 teeth removed or that Mason has lost a total of 26 teeth. Poor nutrition for generations of mother/father, grandparents, great grandparents along with inferior breeding practices have resulted in bad teeth being common place in Maltese.

Another common but avoidable condition is luxating patellas -Prince has Grade 2 in both knees and Mason has a Grade 2 and a Grade 3 - their knee joints do not stay in place sometimes making walking difficult. So far, we have been able to avoid surgery by managing their diet and keeping them at the proper weight. However sometime in the future, we expect Mason will need surgery as his luxating patellas are a bit worse than Princes'.

You'll also see Prince do his little "head shake" about half way through this video - a result of his medical issues. So far, Prince has not had seizures that often accompany hydrocephalus, but we are ever watchful.

I wanted to share this video because so many times, when taking the boys out in public, people see this kind of behavior and think that now that they are out of the mills and in a good home, Prince and Mason's mill experiences are behind them. But the sad fact is that regardless of how well they are cared for now or how cute, how playful, how down right adorable they are - they will carry the damage inflicted on them at their respective mills for the rest of their life. We manage their health problems, but they are still there. Sub-standard kennels are producing thousands of dogs just like these every year. Please gt involved and support the legislation needed to ensure the welfare of all of the "Prince's and Mason's" being born each year. As you can see from this video - Appearances can be deceiving. . . .

In pursuit of a new groomer. . . .

We lost our groomer, I'm not sure what happened, her shop is closed. No notice, no phone call, just an empty shop and a phone that is no longer in service. The economy? A personal situation? I don't know, but I wish her well even though I wish she had called.

She was a really good groomer, my dogs jumped for joy - literally - when it was their turn to go "get pretty." She was great with them, most are mill survivors, none ever crated except when they were groomed. She understood that and whatever happened in her shop when I wasn't there was all good. My pack loved her. I did too, sigh. . . . Kathy, I miss you.

So with 10 dogs and no grooming skills, I'm in pursuit of a new groomer. I debated and decided to try the groomer we had for 9 1/2 years. She always did an okay job on my pack (only 6 at the time) until the day her assistance shaved Prince and Mason in the middle of winter. When I went to pick them up, I literally did not recognize Prince at first. I was furious, she said they were matted. I keep them in puppy cuts, they go to the groomer once a month - if they were never brushed they could not matt so badly in a month that they needed shaved. When I cooled off, I called to talk to the owner - no apology - no offer to do my dogs herself again - not the least bit upset when I cancelled the standing apointments for my pack.

But, she was close, most of my pack knew her so I called and asked if she wanted to do my dogs again as my groomer had gone out of business. She said yes, so I said if I bring them back there are several non-negotiable conditions we need to discuss. I wanted her to do my dogs, not her assistant - no problem. I want to bring them in 3 at a time, she does my dogs then calls me to come get them - I want them crated for the minimal amount of time. I dropped them off at my previous groomer between 7:30 and 8:00 and picked them up between 10:30 and noon at the absolute latest. Could she do that? no problem And none of my dogs were ever to be shaved. If she thought one was matted and needed shaved - just bathe them, trim as best she can and we'll discuss when I come to pick them up. no problem She made an appointment for Wednesday as she was not busy and could easily do my three within the time requested.

I dropped Prince, Mason and Punkin off at 8:00 am and restated no shaving, she does my dogs and do my dogs right away then call me. no problem

At 1:15 I called and asked how soon I could come pick them up, she said an hour and a half, she was finishing one dog and had another to do before she finished mine. I'm not a happy camper. At 3:15 I called and her fiance answered the phone saying he was just starting Punkin - come get them in 35 minutes. I asked if he call when done - he said no, just come in 35 minutes. Okay.

I arrived at 3:50 to pick up my dogs. Punkin is shaved almost to the skin - you can see the freckles on his little body. He will be in T-shirts and sweaters fot the next month - it's 36 degrees out today - a heat wave in comparison to the past month. She said she debated which attachment to use and apparently had chosen the wrong one. Uh huh.

Prince and Mason are cut pretty short, not as bad as Punkin so we'll live with it. We have lots of T-shirts and sweaters. Their faces are somewhat of a mess but hey, they'll grow. I pay the bill and leave without making another appointment for the remaining dogs. We won't be back, I did not waste the hours past noon waiting for her to call saying they were ready.

I did an internet search for other groomers nearby and called several and interviewed them over the phone. I explained my needs and asked if they could accommodate them. I spoke to one who seemed to understand and was agreeable. We have an appointment Monday for the next 3, we'll see how it goes.

In this economy, I would think small busines owners would want to keep their clients, I would think they would be happy to add 10 dogs to their client list, I would think they will do what they say they are going to do. I did change from taking my dogs every 4 weeks to every 6 weeks, but that's still 10 dogs they know will have a standing appointment. I don't get a discount, I pay the going rate for small dogs that are well-maintained.

So I wonder. . . . was today's groomer trying to send me a message? If so what was it? She doesn't want my business? I certainly picked that one up. That she detests dogs and could care less what she does to them in the winter? Got it. That her word is no good? Got that one too. That she will not have a customer tell her when they want to pick up their dogs? Yep, I reading her loud and clear. Does she think she is doing me a favor grooming my dogs? Maybe, but I am not looking for favors, I paid the price she asked in exchange for doing what I asked. Only one of us lived up to our word. Did she want me to know that as the owner of the business, things will be her way and not the customers? That message was received - I sure get it.

Small business owners certainly have the right to run their buiness any way they choose. With or without integrity. Customers agree or disagree by patronizing the business. I disagree, I won't be taking any of my pack back - 8 hours to groom 3 small dogs is ludicrous. Doing my dogs last is ludicrous. Caging 3 mill survivors to make a point (whatever your point was) is ludicrous.

Dog grooming services need customers willing to spend their discretionary income at their facility. They are dependant on a customer's want, not a customer's need. I don't have any dog grooming skills but I certainly could trim my dogs myself. I choose to spend my dollars on dog grooming services and I want it to be a pleasant experience for my dogs. Gosh, I miss my old groomer. But life goes on and I will find another groomer who is good with my dogs. I will find the groomer who's attitude and care of my dogs literally makes them jump for joy when it is their turn to go.

I suspect a lot more small businesses will not survive this economy. I don't know if this particular groomer will or not. I do know that my 10 dogs will be going to a different groomer. I was looking for a new groomer when I scheduled the first group and I'm still looking . . . . I am doing what we all do when we are dissatisfied with the service we receive - I'm taking my business elsewhere. Message sent - perhaps she will get it.