Spring and Summer Update

In real life, happy endings can get complicated. Spring, Summer and babies struck gold when they landed in Peggy's Puppy Palace, but since it's reality and not a movie they didn't just live happily ever after. Eight out of ten of the puppies became ill with the canine herpes virus and did not survive. The herpes virus is transmitted via the mother during birth. The mother will usually show no symptoms or possibly a slight upper respiratory ailment, but the puppies usually become ill between 1 and 3 weeks of age. There is no treatment and once a puppy becomes ill it is a certainty that he or she will die. Anyone who has ever cared for a litter of pups with canine herpes is forever changed- we hold our breath for the first three weeks of every subsequent litter!

For happy ending number two, Spring and Summer are happy, healthy and about to go to a new home together. Baby Zena the warrior princess is already in her new home and Baby God Zeuss is well on his way.

As for Peggy and Dave, they have proven their mettle by not abandoning future puppies who need them and are ready to welcome the next group, though they might hold their breath for just a little while...

Spring & Summer: It takes a Pack to Raise a Puppy

Spring and Summer are two lab mix females who were recently rescued from a home in WV with their pups. The twist is that Summer is actually Spring's mother, Spring having been born to her less than a year ago. Well, as happens when folks don't spay/neuter their pets, Summer got pregnant again and so did her teenage daughter. At the same time. Maybe by the same male. Where is Jerry Springer when you need him I ask??

When rescued by animal control, Summer and her remaining nine babies (she gave birth to twelve)were living outside in a travel crate covered by a tarp. Spring was in the tool shed with her one baby. One baby, I say. Wait. Did you see how many she has nursing in the photo? FOUR. Spring and Summer, you see, are happily sharing parenting responsibilities for the brood of ten puppies. When Spring feels she needs a few extra puppies on her side of the room she just walks right over and borrows a few from Summer and carries them to her own bed. Summer doesn't object. Probably,she is grateful for some help with all of those hungry mouths.

These two moms struck gold when they got delivered to Peggy's Puppy Palace aka the home of Peggy and Dave, puppy fosters extraordinaire. They will now be able to raise their extended family in safety and comfort while all of them learn about love and trust. Best of all, since every single baby will be spayed or neutered before it goes to its forever family, we can say for certain that the cycle has ended.

Lyla

Sammi is Ready for Santa

Sammi continues to enjoy the comforts of home now that she has returned. Her family wonders how she survived so long without a couch!

SAMMI IS SAFE!!

Wow.... we are still smiling at such unexpected good news. We had pretty much abandoned hope of ever seeing Sammi again or even of knowing her fate, but today the Christmas miracle came early and we learned that Sammi is alive, well and back at home with her adoptive family.

Sammi was found more than 10 miles from her home lurking around a neighborhood. A wonderful, patient family put food out for her each night and worked on gaining her trust. Finally, after more than two weeks she finally walked into their house and found her way to safety at last. Sammi as still wearing her collar, but no tags (they were attached when she left home) so the family had to do some research. They found a "missing" post for Sammi on www.fidofinder.com and contacted her adopters who drove right out to get her.

Today, Sammi got checked out by the vet (who pronounced her underweight but otherwise in good health) got a bath at the groomers and is doing a lot of power-napping on the couch according to her family.

All of us at Lost Dog Rescue are so grateful to her adopters for never giving up on her, to Sam and her tracker dog, Brando, for all of their efforts and especially to the wonderful family who reunited Sammi with her loved ones.

It's a good rescue day.

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.