Red or Blue–There’s One for You

I was looking at my blog stats and one of the biggest drivers of traffic are the search terms related to heeler/Australian Cattle Dog rescue.

It just so happens, I have connections! Texas Cattle Dog Rescue (TCDR) rescues and adopts out blue heelers, red heelers, Queensland heelers and Australian Cattle Dogs. TCDR rescues dogs from city and county shelters throughout Texas. They find new, loving homes all across the state for these incredibly loyal and intelligent dogs.

If you’re a heeler fan, this is a great resource. Check out the TCDR brochure.

Pixie and Ivy

This is Pixie

I’m taking a foster break. That’s what I have to tell myself every time I walk through BARC and see all of those sad eyes looking at me. Fostering is a tough job and sometimes you need a break to restore your sanity, your household, your bank account…

Apparently I fell off the wagon because a few weeks ago, I pulled a sweet mom and her pup from BARC. In addition to being on an alleged break, I also said I wasn’t going to foster any more puppies. Guess I messed that one up, too. And they’re small dogs. While I don’t have a thing against smaller dogs, I’m really more of a big dog gal.

Little Pup, Ivy

Pixie, the mom, is by farthe easiest foster I’ve ever had. She’s house trained, quiet, well behaved, HEALTHY, cute, sweet–and she has an adopter! She’s going to her forever home with a very nice, caring couple next week.

Luckily, I have a great friend who not only comes up with excellent pet names (Pixie and Ivy), but is also fostering Ivy until Pixie gets adopted. Ivy is cute–seriously, damn cute. And she’s smart. An excellent combination of beauty and brains!

Any guesses on the breed mix for either of these two? I think dogs like this are the reason someone invented doggy DNA testing. I think Pixie (about 18 months old and 16 lbs.)  is spaniel/sheltie and Ivy (about 10 weeks old and 8 lbs.) is spaniel/Australian shepherd. Who really knows? And does it really matter? Not to me. Mutts rule.

 

Willow Needs Your Help

 

Help Willow with her Vet Bills

This sweetie is Willow, rottweiler puppy rescued from BARC, Houston animal control/City pound, at the end of July after all of her litter mates were euthanized.

Willow has spent her very short life in and out of a shelter, foster homes, and vet clinics. One minute is seems like she’s fine, the next she’s in an oxygen tent fighting for her life. Rottilove Rescue is footing the bill while vets try to do their best to make her healthy. Willow has pneumonia and an oxygen block in her lungs. This is a photo I took of her the day she was sprung from a certain death from the shelter.

The bills have really stacked up for the small, underfunded Rottweiler rescue group. They could use some help with Willow’s treatment. Bills for this little pup will exceed $1000. I’ve pitched in $100 and will try to do another $100 in September.

No amount is too small. Seriously, $5 can help! Donations can be sent to:
Rottilove Rescue, Inc.
175 Fawn Ridge Rd.
Cedar Creek, TX 78612
Include a note that your donation is for Willow. Rottilove is a 501c3 non-profit organization and all donations are tax deductible.

 

Willow in an Oxygen Tank

Don’t let funding get in the way of this little pound puppy having the life she deserves.

O Happy Day for Mel

I’m so happy! Melbourne, my Australian Cattle Dog foster, has officially been adopted. There ended up being several people interested in him but the final choice was pretty obvious. Mel’s new Dad is a very nice guy who had a heeler for 15 years. Man and dog bonded almost immediately. Mel will live in the city but will spend weekends in the country on several acres with cattle. Mel the cow dog will get a chance to see cows! The adopter is willing to continue to work with Mel on obedience and socialization and seems to be a very committed owner. I couldn’t be more thrilled. I hope there will be many happy days ahead for Mel. He has been through a lot and he deserves a happy and fun-filled life.

Update on the Heeler Pups

I have two minutes to breathe and write an update about the pups. It’s been almost two weeks since I pulled them from BARC. They were stinky dirty, flea infested and had big wormy bellies. After a bath, three vet visits and one trip to a compounding pharmacy, I think they’re going to make it!

Their names are Sydney, Ranger and Shiner. They all had diarrhea which was diagnosed as coccidiosis. They were also sneezing which seems to have just been an upper respiratory thing and nothing more serious. Sydney also had a urine burn on her tummy from laying in a dirty kennel at BARC. I got them dewormed and on appropriate meds for their ailments. Now they’re active and bouncy and playful. Eat and play, eat and play.

I set up their area in a different spot than last time I fostered pups. Last time I fostered pups, I set them up in the laundry area by the back door. There was always a lot of activity and just getting in and out of the house without creating a commotion was difficult. These guys are upstairs in the spare room. I set up two crates side by side sitting on top of the plastic carpet runner stuff. I have a big covered trash can for all of the newspaper they’re going through. I also have separate bins for food, cleaning products, toys and clean newspaper. It’s all very organized. I can transfer them to the clean crate while I clean the dirty one. Plus they have a good sized area where they can tear around and wrestle and climb on me.

Friends and neighbors have been kind enough to reroute their newspapers from their recycle bin to me. I’m sure the free publications in the area appreciate that since before I’d just lift those.

I’m going to try to get some photos of them this weekend if they’ll hold still long enough. They go back to the vet tomorrow for boosters. So far, so good. And my sanity is still intact, for now.

It’s Official. I’m Crazy.

I must have been out of my mind Sunday when I decided to pull the 3 heeler pups to foster. I just couldn’t stand the idea of them getting sick and dying at BARC. So they’re home with me.

They’ve been cleaned up and I’ve taken them to my own vet. They have sniffles, but are in generally good shape. They’re on a couple of different meds. I’m getting some excellent advice from people who have a LOT of experience with sick BARC puppies which is helpful for a novice like me. I’m keeping a very close eye on them. I don’t want anything to happen to these babies!

There are two males and a female. I call the female Sydney. The males are Ranger and Shiner. More to come.

Australian Cattle Dog/Heeler Needs a Home

Mel the Australian Cattle Dog is Looking for a Home

A couple of months ago I wrote about 2 Australian Cattle Dogs I was trying to get out of Houston Animal Control. The female was adopted. I lined up the male to be transported to a humane society in Canada for adoption. I went to BARC to pick him up and realized he’d never been tested for heartworms. The vet tech said testing had been attempted several times but the dog always resisted. I figured they were probably man-handling him plus the stress of the shelter situation. Anyway, the vet tech tells me since the dog has issues with restraint he’s unadoptable and would be euthanized and I couldn’t pull him. Luckily, the volunteer coordinator stepped in and I was able to take him.

So I loaded the dog in the car and asked myself–”What now?!” I called my vet as I drove and told them the situation. He was so stressed that they did have to sedate him to do the heartworm test. He tested high positive for heartworms. While he was knocked out, I asked my vet to neuter him. For the second time within about an hour I asked myself “What now?!” And to top it off, I was about to leave town for several days.

I call him Melbourne, Mel for short. I kenneled him at my vet until I came back. I then lined up a longer term kennel that frequently helps BARC rescues. I started his heartworm treatment at PetCare Express. He needed three shots–#1 followed by 30 days of rest then shot #2. Shot #3 came 24 hours later followed by another 30 days of rest. Mel was a trooper and did really well. He just finished up his 60 days of rest.

Mel is still living in the kennel. I can’t bring him home because Scout is still recovering from her ACL surgery (a long story for another post). On Saturdays, I pick him up and we go out exploring. We went to the dog park this weekend and he was fabulous. He was mostly interested in sticking close to me, but interacted appropriately with the other dogs. After several hours of dog parking, walking, riding and hanging out, we ended his outing with two plain McD’s burgers. Happy dog.

I’d still like to try to get him into breed rescue, but there isn’t one in Texas. I have him listed on an ACD forum that has been very helpful. I’ll keep trying. I have him posted on Petfinder and on his own site, AdoptThatDog.com where you can read more about him. He’s such an awesome dog.

Puppies and Mommas

I lived in a duplex with a huge live oak tree outside the dining room window when I was in college. One spring, a pair of blue jays nested in that tree. I was thrilled when the eggs hatched and I saw two little blue jays in the nest. One night in their early lives a thunderstorm blew in. One of parents sat on top of them throughout the entire storm with their wings over the nest to protect them. The parents instinctually protected those little ones throughout that storm. The next morning, all birds were safe and soon the babies learned to fly and they all left.

Today at BARC, I came across a number of sweet, exhausted momma dogs with litters of pups. All were doing what they could to keep the little ones warm and safe and fed. Problem is, no matter what those moms do, if a dog foster doesn’t pull the moms and pups, all will be put to sleep within three days of entry into BARC. It’s painful to see the moms work so hard in vain.

If this alone isn’t a testament to spaying and neutering, I don’t know what is.

Wrigley Goes Hollywood

OK, maybe not Hollywood, but YouTube.

The owner of the doggy daycare Wrigley visits a couple of times a week shot a really cute video of him. Hopefully this will help market this cute dog and find him a forever home! Be sure to watch the whole video–the end is pretty cute. What a ham.

Doggie Discrimination

I’ve spent countless weekends at adoption events with my black Lab mix foster dog, Wrigley, only to have people pass right by.

Unfortunately, “black dog syndrome” is a reality. It doesn’t matter what kind of colorful bedding Wrigley is sitting on or what type of cute bandana he’s wearing–he’s still a black dog.

People! Open your minds and judge dogs on their personality and not the color of their fur!