2012 in Review

2012 was quite the rollercoaster - absolutely the toughest in our short history, as well as some amazing saves.

The year started off when I was just 2.5 weeks out of brain surgery, but I could not turn away tiny puppies that needed me.

By Valentine's Day, these babies all had their own furrever homes. While I always say I am going to take a break after the hard work that goes into caring for puppies, it never lasts long. Within a week, I felt the need to go help Joplin Humane Society. Crazy dog lady kicked in and I came home with a car full including the precious Feisty (now named Piper) and incredible boy named George (Saint Bernard/Basset hound mix - Oh I loved him).

We had a season where one to three young puppies came in at a time, which made it a wonderful opportunity for our amazing foster homes to help start house training and socializing. Unfortunately, this also introduced us to the awful, yet treatable, tummy bugs including coccidia and giardia. Sanitizing absolutely anything and everything the puppies touched became even more of a priority.

We took a huge leap of faith in March on a precious dog with the absolute worst case of demodex mange that our incredible vet had ever seen.  Yes, I mean Nani (means "beautiful" in Hawaiian").

95% covered in mange. Every crack in her skin infected. Her eyes and paws horribly infected, yet she seemed to know that I was there to help get her feeling better. She started on ProMeris (topical that kills the demodex mites), antibiotics, extremely high quality food, and vitamins for wellness and skin and coat. Within just a couple weeks, she looked like a different dog.

During this time we were also trying to help a small litter of puppies, our dear Stormin' Norman that was a challenging case to adopt due to his medical needs, owner relinquish Maddie (absolutely gorgeous amazing girl) and dear Georgia who also was taking many months to find a good home. While my KS State license allowed me to care for this many dogs, the city does not. So we had to move dogs around. Thanks to an amazing rescue community, a couple fosters, and Maddie being adopted, all dogs were safe. We just had to refocus on only having puppies in my home and adult dogs had to have foster commitments if we pulled them.  

Stormin' Norman was adopted through another rescue to be spoiled and medical needs cared for.  

Georgia was adopted by a sweet, older couple, and I am not sure I have ever seen anyone more excited as her new dad. 

Max, Jackson, Teddy, and Digby were all single pups that came through our rescue in the spring and found amazing furrever homes.  We had the Scooby Doo pups that I only fostered until they were transferred to the Wisconsin Rottie Rescue - they completely stole hearts. 

Early April we were called about 10 day old puppies whose mom had been shot by police as she tried to protect them. We took half the litter and another person took half the litter since they would need bottle fed for at least a couple weeks. Precious little pit bull mix babies.

Late April we took in a litter of puppies to help find homes for them. These babies will remain forever in my heart as the biggest scare and learning opportunity. While we are always so careful to keep their area clean, sanitized, and watch carefully for any symptoms the puppies may have, these puppies broke with parvo the weekend they were supposed to be going to their furrever homes. Two puppies had already left. I made sure to get the adopters their fees back to go towards their care and focused on making sure to get the puppies still here back to optimal health.  I was incredibly emotional and know that I could not have learned more in such a short amount of time as I did with these puppies. Bleach and I became the best of friends.

The sweet girl climbing out of the pen is now an AKC Canine Good Citizen! Take THAT for starting out ornery!

These gorgeous pittie mix puppies all found amazing furrever homes!

Now we come to the most difficult part of our year... Millie and the Miracles.  We pulled this sweet girl from a small Arkansas shelter with her ELEVEN babies. Millie was so skinny and we just knew we had to help. Trish drove all the way to Springfield, MO to meet transport and get the brood.

 

It wasn't long before we knew something wasn't right with Momma Millie. She had a runny nose and an awkward head tilt. We reviewed her vet paperwork and health certificate - nothing noted except antibiotic at the shelter for possible uterine infection, but it was not continued at the vet. HUH? Of course we got her to the vet and started her on meds and high quality food, homecooked rice and boiled meats, Dyne, and anything we could think of to get her healthy for her and the puppies.
Then the puppies started having runny noses. We rushed them to the vet and started them on meds. Needless to say, symptoms just kept getting worse. Spots appeared on some of their faces, coughs started, mucus got thicker and a couple could barely breathe. Vet visit after vet visit and we finally had some tests run.  The news was absolutely devastating. The sickest puppy tested positive for Mycoplasma (worse than pneumonia), Distemper (life long issues), and Canine Herpes (a certain death sentence). All with similar symptoms and all extremely serious.

 Ultimately, we lost all of them and let Millie go as well. 12 lives that could have been saved with a simple vaccination to Momma Millie, and unfortunately we got her too late. They will forever be in our hearts.

In honor of Millie and the Miracles, we had to push on and rescue others.  I had to go see Nani. She spent some time in a wonderful foster home and was even adopted for a short period, however we came to learn just what a challenging case Nani was being a street dog prior to our rescue.  She is happy and healthy and in the hands of some wonderful rescuers. Happy, goofy girl!

We pulled some more puppies - Logan & Kindall, the pure bred American Eskimo puppies. Then we had two chihuahuas and a min pin (Sunny, Summer, and Vegas). All are in wonderful homes.

We also snagged a gorgeous lab mix boy just before an animal control agency was going to have him put down. Thank Goodness! Jet is now a spoiled boy with an amazing mom!

Then came the next scare of the year. I agreed to pull a litter of healthy puppies from a shelter that were ready to be adopted. They had two puppy vaccinations and just needed homes.

 Within 24 hours of being here, I noticed symptoms in one of the pups - loose stools, mostly. Praying it was worms or easily treatable stomach bug, but unfortunately it was again the dreaded Parvo. We fought aggressively and even hospitalized Rita and Rollie. Rita came home quickly while Rollie gave us quite the scare. However, after 6 days of IV fluids and professional love and care, Rollie came home to be adopted by an amazing woman that had already fallen in love with him. Yet another litter of puppies that have an extra special place in my heart, especially Rollie (now Samson). Rae (now Cordy) is impressively well trained already and I received a beautiful Christmas card from Rita. It brings tears to my eyes to know these babies are now such treasured family members - prayers answered!

October brought the adorable and precious blue pit puppies. Oh how so many of us wanted one. They too are all now in amazing homes!

End of October was a time when some beautiful, wonderful dogs were on death row at various shelters simply due to being extremely full!  We had some wonderful fosters step up for FIVE amazing dogs. Alfie quickly found a home to be spoiled in and Baby instantly foster failed (foster mom kept her). Shockingly, three of these dogs are STILL waiting for their furrever homes. First there is the adorable Presley, a 4-5 year old pug/beagle mix. Who can deny that face?

Then we have the gorgeous Lily - 1-2 year old bully breed mix of some sort. Her hugs are absolutely priceless - such a snuggle girl.

The incredible Jambi - 1-2 year old boxer/bully boy. Yet another snuggler, tires easily and so well trained.

End of November we also took in a litter of abandoned puppies that a shelter wanted rescue for quickly so they wouldn't get sick. These little shepherd mix babies have been wonderful. All the girls have found homes and now we are hoping the last 3 boys find their homes quickly in 2013.

While we unfortunately lost 15 precious lives this year, we were able to save 73 lives. Over 2700 miles driven to get dogs to safety, 9 temp fosters, and just an amazing year of loving on furrbabies. We could not have done it without our wonderful foster homes, volunteers, and incredible supporters. Thank you for an incredible 2012 and we wish everyone the VERY BEST in the new year with lots of slobbers and furrhugs.

Love, sometimes, is not enough.

Rainbow bridge gained two more Crossroads' canine friends in the past couple days. This time it was not due to illness or old age, but human aggression. Brett Titus of the Denver Police Department, says it quite well,  "The dog is one of the most amazing creatures in the world. The unconditional love and companionship of dogs is unmatched by any comparison. Like anything managed by Mother Nature, they do come with faults. One of the greatest faults is the unwarranted aggression towards humans. Often times we attribute this to abuse, especially when it is an adopted dog. But that is not always the case." 

In these two cases, it was simply not explainable. Colby Jack was bought as a puppy, fed good food, neutered, maintained his vaccinations and wellness visits, and even worked with a trainer for some time - beautiful home and wonderful family. Big Boy Max was adopted from Crossroads as a puppy at 9 weeks, went through puppy kindergarten, evaluated by another trainer, extremely well socialized, regular at doggie day care, fed good food, perfectly healthy - neutered, vaccinations and preventatives all current. Again, beautiful home and wonderful family he lived with.

So what changed? What happened? For Colby Jack, maybe it was all the changes of his mom moving, getting married and having a baby, or maybe it was a medical issue we could not find.  Something over his almost six years of life had him terrified of loud noises, any sudden movements, or of even being petted. He resource guarded (vehemently protected) absolutely everything indoors - the person he was sitting with, his bed, the room he was in, and his kennel. Colby just wanted to be left alone. I could walk him for short distances, but if a loud truck went by, he would drag me back to the front door. As soon as we were inside, he would growl, show his teeth and nip at me.  Two weeks of constantly, patiently working with him and the only time he would respond appropriately was if I had cheese. It broke my heart when he would give me a glimpse of normalcy by offering a play bow, or briefly run with the other dogs. Sadly, Colby had a history of many nips and bites, including at least a few that drew blood.  His original family had worked with a trainer and sought advice and meds from their vet, yet Colby lived in fear and anger.  This is no way for this boy to live.  After many discussions with our vet tech, Colby's former trainer, vet behaviorist, and our own vet, the decision was made to let him rest in peace. We tried everything for this poor boy. Dog speed and white light,  Colby Jack. We love you.

Then there was this little guy that I called Mr. Ornery from the day I sat by and supported his Momma Violet while she delivered him. He quickly became a family favorite, as he scooted away from mom and cried. Mr. Ornery grew to be the biggest pup, so he was then called Big Boy. With his unique tri-color markings, he was incredibly handsome to look at as well. 

Big Boy was adopted by an amazing family and named "Max". Not only did he get a great family, but CDR gained incredible supporters. Not only did they contribute financially, but eventually became one of our amazing foster homes. In fact, if you follow us frequently, you will know that Trish frequently took our single pups until they found homes, until she got very brave and asked if she could open her home to a mother dog and babies.  Yes, Max's family is the one that took in Millie and the Miracles back in May. Trish spent countless hours and sleepless nights caring for Millie and her 11 sick babies.  We all know that even though we tragically lost Millie and all her babies to illness, her hard work did not go unnoticed - it was the BEST six weeks Millie had ever known in her life and her puppies on had the best of care.

Just 4 short days after we lost Millie and the Miracles, she found a baby deer on the side of her house covered in ticks.  Big Boy Max knew by smell that something was on the other side of the fence. As neighbors came over to help clean up the deer, Max was very excited and barking. Trish's son was asked to let Max in the house. It was late in the evening and the house was dark. Little did her son know that the neighbor girl was standing in a dark corner by the front door. In an unfortunate, freak situation, Max thought there was an intruder and bit the young lady. Max was immediately kenneled and the young lady rushed to receive care.  Suddenly an amazing family dog is deemed vicious. While I do not make light of the situation at all, had this truly been an intruder, Max would be a hero.

After a 10 day rabies hold and further discussion with animal control and the courts, it was determined that Max could not stay in his home.  Trish and family fought for their dog by gathering reports from doggie day care, trainer and even seeking an expensive evaluation with a vet behaviorist. The liability and risk that he would bite again was still too high. This amazingly gorgeous boy that was so incredibly loved by his family went to rainbow bridge this past week.

If there is a lesson here, it is even when you seem to do everything right, love, sometimes is not enough. 

Colby Jack: Work in Progress

Bless his heart - this sweet, 6 year old, poodle/shih tzu mix is absolutely terrified. He is nervous meeting new people and is not fond of loud noises. Poor boy has a very difficult time relaxing. Since bringing him into my home, he has attached himself to my daughters. There are times he is so terrified that he will not even eat.

So we are now implementing classical counter conditioning techniques. This may take a very long time, as this is an even more severe case than the other three fear cases that I have worked with, but Colby is worth it. 

What is classical counter conditioning all about? Basically I want to re-teach Colby to have a pleasant experience with something he once feared, in his case it is generally with strangers.  While Colby is quickly bonding with my children, he is still anxious and showing warning signs when I approach him.  To overcome this, I am tossing a high value treat in his direction, such as tiny piece of ham. After a few minutes, I am able to offer him the ham from my hand. There can be no sudden movements or loud sounds to interrupt our session. Nothing can be forced.  After four days of doing this at random times of day for a few minutes, Colby now allows me to approach him and put his leash on.  Baby steps. This may seem like a very slow process, but as I said - nothing can be forced or he will regress.

Tomorrow, we are venturing to Dr. Jarrett's office to update his shots.  With his fear of strangers, he may need to be muzzled, however we want to make sure he is healthy and there is no medical reason for his fears.  We will also be updating his shots.

Millie Plus Eleven

    Friday, May 11th, our wonderful foster mom, Trish, had no idea how much her life was about to change. She has been amazing in fostering 1-3 puppies at a time, but never a mom with ELEVEN babies! Bravely, she drove to Springfield, MO to pick up this skinny mom and her precious brood. Trish took to this like a natural, while realizing just how much work is involved in keep momma fed, clean water, and a puppy pen of eleven puppies clean.
     We knew Millie was not well due to her malnutrition, but were not sure the extent. She also had a little bit of a runny nose. By Sunday we noticed that she didn't want to get up very easily, and seemed lethargic.  First thing Monday morning we rushed her to the vet and ran a complete blood panel - slightly anemic, but otherwise healthy. Hmm...We also did another fecal and she still had some roundworms. So nothing was obvious about why she was acting that way. Her stools were a little loose, so she went back to Trish's on antibiotics, panacur (for worms) and metronidozale (for loose stools).
     For the next 10 days all seemed well as Millie started feeling better, gaining weight, and settling into life as a spoiled, special girl in a warm, loving home. Her only issue continued to be periodically having issues with her hind legs and a quirkly head tilt every now and again.  Then I got a message from Trish that a couple puppies had snotty noses, so off to the vet again for the normal cold/kennel cough that we are used to with every litter that comes from a shelter... or so we thought. We started them on amoxicillin. Then a few days later the snotty noses turned green and 2 of the puppies had really weapy eyes, even a bit of crust - like you would see in a child with conjunctivitis.  I rushed over with a gel that is an antibiotic for the eyes and knew we needed to go back to the vet the next day.  Obviously amoxicillin was not working.  The vet changed to a stronger antibiotic and gave Trish drops instead of gel, and to come back in 5 days.
    Within 5 days, the first puppy started feeling better and a few others had a short couple days of
not feeling well, but had recovered. A black puppy with quite a bit of brown still was not feeling well and others were just starting what seemed like a bad cold that spread to their sinuses and eyes.  Third vet visit (Saturday), he said just keep doing what Trish was doing and gave more oral and eye antibiotics.
   Well, yesterday (Tuesday, June 5th) Trish said that the two blonde boys were not doing well. As you can see in this picture, poor Lucky's eyes look awful. We also noticed that some started coughing, and a few were pretty lethargic. One of the original ones that got sick almost two weeks ago, was still not acting right.  I felt it was time for a second opinion.  This is one of the reasons that we work with two vets, so I made an appointment with our other vet.
   Which brings us to today. After extensive conversation with other long term rescuers, our vet tech, and then our vet, we agreed that it was necessary to test for distemper.  After having just gone through our first outbreak of parvo, this was the scariest thing I could imagine, and it was right before us.  Our other vet was pretty confident it was just a bad cold because in a well vaccinated community, distemper just does NOT happen! However with Millie's history of coming from a possible drug house with unknown caregivers (if any), the probability of her ever being vaccinated is pretty low.  Here is a link to read more about distemper.
    This may be the longest 24-48 hours in our rescue history as we wait for the test results. Our vet took 4 swabs of Lucky's eyes, nose and mouth, plus 2 viles of blood. She is testing for every possible respiratory illness it can test for.  We have started the puppies on yet another antibiotic (doxicycline this time) and a different eye drop. We are watching for further symptoms such as head shaking, vomiting and watery diarrhea.  As we have shared, all puppy visits are on hold, and we will not finalize any adoptions without more information and making sure the puppy is as healthy as possible.  Sweet Murphy, 2nd puppy chosen for adoption, looks great. But again we want to be sure she will always be healthy!

Miss Charlotte still has goopy eyes and  is coughing. Lucky and Thunder (blonde boys) both have horrible looking eyes and poor Lucky is struggling to breathe. Trish has a cool mist humidifier going for them, and is taking Lucky into a steamy shower room to help loosen up his congestion.  I am telling you, Trish is an angel for these babies. Erica and I have worked incredibly hard for all the babies that have come through our rescue, but it seems Trish jumped into rescue full on and is getting broke in quickly. Bless her big time!

So. We. Wait.

In the mean time we can focus on how beautiful Millie has become! As of today, she has gained 18 lbs while in Trish's care, is learning to play, chew, and act like a dog. She was a perfect lady on the ride to Lawrence and back to Trish's in the passenger seat of my van, occasionally giving me kisses or dozing off.  I am so proud of how far she has come and what she has in her future.

As usual, thank you so much to everyone for your unending support, well wishes and prayers. If you would like to donate to Millie and her puppies' care, please click the link below. Every dollar is extremely helpful and appreciated!

KU COMS Team Fundraiser

Once again, we have a wonderful group of KU Students working to raise money for the rescue.  The money raised will be split between caring for puppies and a building/facility fund. They will be having a car wash on Saturday, April 14th oops! SUNDAY, April 15th at CVS at 23rd and Iowa St from 12 noon to 4 p.m.  They will also be collecting old towels and blankets to be used for the care of the dogs and puppies.

If you are unable to go get your car washed and would still like to donate, you can do it through this link.
Thank you so much for your contribution!

Love Thy Neighbors

"Love thy neighbors as yourself." Mark 12:31
Ugh. I wish this was not so difficult lately.

Here is the back story and the reason for me needing to move all but four dogs out of my home.

We bought our home here about six years ago and it just seemed perfect for us. We met our neighbors and everyone seemed really great.  I started getting involved in rescue about three and a half years ago now. Since we already had a dog, we were conscientious of our neighbors by making sure the yard was clean, free of smell, and not excessive barking - certainly not after 9 p.m.

No! Not this sweet face. ~Frank

Then Frank started jumping our fence. He barks at people, but it is all bark - fear bark.  My neighbor behind us, Cindy, freaked and started calling animal control. There was only once that I did not catch him before they arrived.  We made accommodations to our fence to prevent him from jumping, and he also gained enough weight he is too fat now to jump anyway.

After I became a Kansas State Licensed Group Home Foster Rescue, we had always tried to keep the number of dogs in our home as close to the city limit of four as possible, but as is the case lately, there is so much need. I began recruiting foster homes, however I also fully understand that not everyone is "the crazy dog lady" like I am, so dealing with certain issues is more challenging. I do not ever want my foster homes to feel trapped or stuck with a dog, so I always provide support and take the dog back if necessary.

Well, between my four children and four (or more, but I never have more than four in my yard at once)  dogs playing in my backyard, it was too much commotion for Cindy. Over the past 2 years I am aware of two calls to child protective services and over thirty calls to animal control. The calls to animal control were for excessive noise, bad smell, not picking up when my dog eliminates on walks (but I have a box of poop bags by my front door - those are just for decoration), and dogs at large (when dear Titus was jumping the fence, but I always caught him before he got in trouble).

Then came the visit on Wednesday.  My husband was in the backyard with the kids and our personal dogs. They were barking for him to throw the tennis ball. He noticed that Cindy was peaking through the fence slats. We both kind of blew it off since she is so nosy. But about an hour later, Chad woke me up from a nap saying that animal control was at the door.  This time she was not so nice.  Cindy had called them 12 times in the past 4 days with complaints of all kinds, including way too many dogs.  Unfortunately, even though my state license allows me up to 19 dogs, the city limit is 4 and takes precedence.  While they have always known about my rescue efforts, due to the number of complaints from Cindy, they are having to enforce the city ordinance. They gave me 48 hours to be back down to 4 dogs and/or puppies under 10 weeks of age.

Did I mention that the north edge of our property is the city limit?  Yes. If I lived across the street, this would NOT be an issue.

So needless to say, I would have to find a new home for even one of my personal dogs to continue with adult dog rescue.  I can have orphaned puppies, but they have to be gone by the time they are 10 weeks old.  I will not give up one of my personal babies.

I am so thankful to be a part of a WONDERFUL rescue community that all came together to help in this situation.  Within minutes of AC leaving, the animal welfare director at Lawrence Humane Society offered assistance. By end of the evening, I had offers of help on almost every dog and puppy.  Many people have asked about Nani. While I miss her immensely, Nani is in GREAT hands at Winding River under direct care of Julie Jones and her colleagues.  I will be visiting her, covering the costs of her vetting, and getting regular updates.

Two reasons that I got into rescue: 1) When I was younger and more naive, I bought a 12 week old puggle puppy that needed to be rehomed... little did I know it was a backyard breeder who wanted the puppy gone because he was too old. That puppy is now my whole heart - Frank, aka Butt Munch (when he's in trouble). It was him that had me doing research on animal welfare and how I could help make those breeding conditions STOP!  2) I also wanted to do dog training to help prevent families from taking dogs to shelters for what seemed like dumb reasons. However, once I spent a little time in the shelter environment, I found a passion for wanting to get them out of there and rehabilitate their fears and pain. So my rescue efforts began.

At this point, I am not sure what direction Crossroads Dog Rescue will take. I LOVE the rehabilitation and training side of rescue. I also really want to help families that are having challenges so that dogs will not end up at the shelter.  I am not sure I could turn away a plea for help bottle feeding puppies. I am going to take some time with my family and we will see. One thing is for sure - I will ALWAYS be available for our adopters - please do not hesitate to contact me if you have questions or concerns about your dog if it is a Crossroads' Alum.

There are no words to express my level of appreciation to our adopters, volunteers, supporters and friends.

New Life for Nani

The opening sentences of our mission statement are:
"Crossroads Dog Rescue specializes in the rescue and placement of abused, unwanted and abandoned companion dogs. We never discriminate on the basis of health, age or breed."  
Today's rescue pull, I believe, epitomizes our goal to not discriminate on the basis of health.  While I am fairly new in rescue (about three years), many others I spoke with said they had never seen a case this bad.
Meet Nani.

This was the first picture I saw of her when she was posted on Facebook.  Nani (meaning "beauty" in Hawaiian), was a stray brought into the shelter. She is only about 8 months old. My heart sunk, tears came to my eyes, and I immediately shared.  But that was not enough for me.  I had to do more. I shared her over to the rescue page and begged (I don't like to beg, but Nani was worth it!) for our supporters to help foster a couple other dogs in our rescue.  My heart NEEDED to help her.

As is always the case, our amazing supporters stepped up within minutes! So I emailed the shelter and said I would take her.  While I did have a moment of extreme anger - WHO DOES THIS? or rather does NOT do anything for a dog that is suffering? - I quickly moved past that to thinking, "how quickly can I get to her to start her on the path of healing, toys, hugs, and a new life?"

When I arrived at the shelter, the coordinator took me back. As I looked in her kennel, she wagged her tail! We carried her to the car and I put her in the kennel with quite a few towels. I looked down at my sweatshirt and I was covered in scale-like dandruff and had drops of blood on me. Again a moment of - WHO DOES THIS?  Moving on...  While driving home we had to have the windows partially open. The smell... there are no words to describe the smell.

When we got home, she stood up and wanted out!  I put a loose lead on her, but she was so excited to be free that I had to hold on tight.  We went for a short walk and she had to potty!  Then I took the following pictures:

Looking back at these pictures bring tears to my eyes. No living thing should have to live like this. She kept shaking and trying to itch her face, which is already torn and cracked.  Every move of her face and blood and puss oozes out.  Her left eye is almost swollen closed with green puss oozing out. 

I took her in to get her settled in my master bathroom. The smell... oh. my. goodness.  Nothing can prepare someone for the smell of mange.  Then I made her some boiled chicken and rice, mixed in her antibiotics and pain meds, and she snarfed it down! Well, at least she is eating well. I walked her again and then came in to get a treat - YOUCH!  She likes treats - watch your hand if you have one around her! :-D

Upon putting her in her kennel for the night, she was shivering. We put a t-shirt on her and gave her more towels to stay warm.  I will go buy some fleece tomorrow for her to sleep on, as that is easily washable too.  Here are some pictures I took before saying good night:

Nani, our beautiful girl, has an amazing future ahead of her. Today is her first day of a new life. Tomorrow we see our vet and get her on her way to being the healthy, happy puppy she should be.  It will be a long journey, but so worth it.

If you'd like to make a donation to Crossroads Dog Rescue for Nani's care:

You can also contact us at crossroadsdogs@gmail.com.