Lyla and her Little Ones

Lyla Elizabeth is a shy hound girl who spent most of her pregnancy in the Spotsylvania County Animal shelter. She came to us a few weeks ago with a nice big belly and we waited and waited for her to go ahead and deliver those babies. Finally, on Tuesday, November 27, baby number one made its way into the world. Baby number two, however, hit a roadblock. Hours went by and all we saw of number two was a little bit of placenta so we packed Momma Lyla Elizabeth and her newborn baby up in the back of the Forerunner and took them to Blue Ridge Veterinary Associates in Purcelville. With their help (and some drugs) Lyla birthed six more babies, though number two was stillborn. Number eight, however, refused to cooperate and after a long day of birthing, Lyla, had to undergo a cesarian section. The final pup was fine- she's a squalling, demanding black and white girl. Lyla, however, had complications. Her blood simply would not clot and she continued to bleed out for some time after being surgically closed.

Lyla had to be transferred to an emergency hospital where she spent the next three nights at a HUGE expense... a little over $3000.00 with our discount. The first 24 hours were really bad and we were warned that her chances were slim for survival. On her second day, however, we found our Lyla a hero. Basil the plot hound (available now for adoption!) generously donated some of his own healthy blood to Lyla and before the transfusion of whole blood was even complete, she stood up and wagged her tail!

Thanks to Basil, Lyla continues to recover and is receiving followup care back at Blue Ridge. She is eating and responsive and the bleeding has nearly stopped. Meanwhile, her 7 babies are being cared for by three awesome vet techs from the hospital. Each of the three is taking babies home with them every night and bottle-feeding every few hours. During the day, they snuggle together in the incubator at the hospital. We can't say enough about how the staff at Blue Ridge has gone the extra mile for Lyla and those babies.

If you'd like to make a dontation to help pay for Lyla's care, please go to our website at http://www.lostdogrescue.org/.

Stay tuned for more on the pups as they grow.

Farewell to Fred

FREDERICK JAMES, 1998 - November 29, 2007

At 8:20 pm on Wednesday November 29, our beloved Fred was gently and peacefully eased from this world. Barely three weeks ago a limp became a neurological problem became a brain tumor and rapidly robbed Fred of his mobility and balance. When the clear next step would be a loss of dignity we held him in our arms and said goodbye.

Right to the very end Fred was all cattle dog- stoic, loyal without limits, intelligent beyond comprehension and particular about the people and the dogs allowed to be near him. Even when he couldn't walk in a straight line and getting up meant exerting considerable effort, Fred never ceased to follow me from room to room, never let me out of his sight and made sure the other dogs continued to give him the respect he had earned. After all, one doesn't need to be able to walk to work up a good snarl...

Fred was the first dog in my life who chose me to be his person and I always understood that to be a great honor. Your typical Golden Retriever chooses everyone who walks by to lavish with affection and a hound will choose anyone with a snack, but cattle dogs like Fred, well, they have criteria. Who knows what they are, but I stand a little taller when I remember that somehow I met Fred's character criteria and was allowed to be his number one person.

Fred was a shelter dog- several years old and abandoned for unclear reasons in a rural shelter. He was saved by Lost Dog & Cat Rescue Foundation and adopted into a loving home where he remained for two years. Unfortunately, he developed a bad habit of nipping at male visitors to his home and ended up back with Lost Dog at about the same time I began to volunteer . It was love at first sight for both of us.

Fred went to many adoption events and ignored every person who tried to get to know him. Finally one day I left him with a wonderful couple for 20 minutes. When I returned, Fred was sitting with his back to them staring in the direction of my exit. They told me he hadn't moved from that position, hadn't even looked at them or acknowledged the treats they offered and that I should just take my dog home and stop trying to get him adopted.

That was three years ago and it wasn't enough time.

Searching for Sammi

Sammi is one of those dogs in rescue who just gets to you- one who carves a space in your heart and plants herself there. Maybe it's because she is older or because her eyes are so wise and soluful or maybe it's because her needs are so, so simple- she just wants to know that she is safe and loved.

Sammi ufortunately bolted from the front door of her new home in Baltimore on November 15, 2007 and raced away on her long greyhound legs. Probably the city noises were frightening since she was just getting used to city life after so long in the country. Whatever the reason, she has not returned and we are gutted to think of her out there on her own.

On November 20, we headed out to look for her with the professional assistance of Sam and her tracking dog, Brando, of Pure Gold PetTrackers. Brando picked Sammi's scent up immediately and took us for a very, very long walk.

We didn't find Sammi that day but we did find a lot of animals (and humans) in some pretty frightening circumstances. Our search for Sammi lead us through some of Baltimore's more troubled neighborhoods, to put it nicely. Within two blocks of Sammi's beautiful townhouse we were ambling past boarded windows, stores with iron bars covering every entrance and young men on the corner offering various items for sale (and I don't mean fake Coach purses).

The most frightening and saddest moments were in a tiny alleyway behind a row of falling-down homes. The state of the homes was enough to feel bad about, but when a large muscular pit bull managed to get his head and shoulders through the gate to his yard in an effort to get to our tracking dog, things took a serious turn for the worst. Sam got Brando the tracking dog away from the fence just as we heard a voice from inside the home yelling at the pit bull. As we moved down the alley we could hear the person beating the dogwith what sounded like a stick. At the same time, I grabbed up a tiny kitten hoping to save it from its future, but had to drop it when it panicked and tried to scratch and bite. A few steps from where I released him lay an adult cat, dead on its back, mouth wide open. It had clearly not had an easy passing.

The rest of the afternoon continued in the same vein...a trek beneath highway bridges amongst the makeshift quarters of homeless people, alleyways with dead animals and hopeless- looking people, miles of railroad tracks and a final journey through what surely must be one of the larges remaining public housing complexes on the East Coast. Unfortunately, none of it led to Sammi.

As of this writing she is still out there in a dangerous world. Her adopters and her Lost Dog family are anxiously awaiting news, so if you see her or hear of her, please call 703-295-DOGS.

Annabelle's Second Job

Annabelle and her A+ pups are all doing well! In fact, all 9 babies are almost ready for adoption- spay/neuter surgery will be next week. And Annabelle proved to be quite an asset to us. When her babies were about 3 weeks old and eating on their own a bit, we were "gifted" with a litter of beagle puppies whose mother had been hit by a car. The puppies were less than 2 weeks old and needed to eat every few hours. Bottle-feeding 6 babies like that is a mind-numbing, sleep-depriving job, but with Annabelle in the house, it was a breeze. Three times a day we pressed her into service, lifting her into the bathtub where the babies were kept and laying her down to allow them to eat. I can't say that Annabelle enjoyed her job, but she tolerated it each time and the babies thrived. In fact, they have moved on to another foster home where they are running and playing and working their way to adoption-ready as well.