Dog 2 Dogs

We were contacted by our vet that someone had dropped off kittens that appeared to be a couple of days old and they needed feeding. They for some reason or another did not have a mother. This is such a sad thing since there could be so many reasons for not having a mother but seldom have I seen a mother cat abandon her children. We go pick them up and they are the cutest little babies ( as they all are). They are grey and nothing but legs and eyes. Looking at them I would say they were 10 days old. If you have ever hand fed an animal you know that it is such a rewarding experience. My oldest daughter takes on the bottle feeding unless we get too many at once.  She gladly took this on. The next day the vet called again to check on the kitties and to let us know that they had another litter brought in and this one was a critical care nursing situation. We went to get them as well and this can be very heartbreaking. The results are usually not good. We literally watch them with out sleeping to keep them comfortable. They have been without mothers nutrition for too long and their body temperatures had cooled so they have a long way to go. With in the first 12 hours we had lost 2. For us that is 2 too many. Those little babies had a fight in front of them and to ask them to be strong when they are at their weakest is too much for some.  For the others they are survivors and for our own sanity that has to be where we put our focus. It has now been a week and we have 2 black and 3grey healthy little kitties. Some of our other cats have decided that they want to help with the love and grooming. As amazing as it sounds our biggest help in these situations is always our little Pom Chi mix dog. Her name is little girl and she was a rescue herself and has decided that anything that comes through our doors she is going to be involved in their care. She specializes in kittens. But when the babies get hungary they run to us. They are doing beautifully. I will keep you posted.

As the door bell rang  we opened the  door to find a teenage boy with red eyes holding the leash which led to a pit bull great dane mix dog that reached his hip in height. As the boy started to speak the crack in his voice could not help but tug at my heart. He said that his mother had told him that they could no longer afford his dog. He said that his girlfriend had given the dog to him as a birthday present when it was just 5 weeks old. The mother let him keep it for 8 months and then decided that he had to take this dog and find it a new home. He had gotten so atached to the dog as well as the dog to him. He kept petting the dog letting him know that he would be ok. The dog would look into his eyes with such trust sensing that something was wrong it was heartbreaking. When I ask why now he said that he is in school and has to get a job also so that would leave no time for the dog. He had no fence and the mother said that it was not fair to the dog to leave him roaming free for hours and hours a day. There was also the fact that they were having trouble feeding him. That scenario is being repeated in so many places everywhere with todays economy. People feel that they have no choice but to dump the family dog because he is another expense. This is so heartbreaking when he has done nothing wrong and is considered an easy cut to make. I explained to him that if he could leave his dog for about an hour I could find out if he could get along with our general population of dogs. He immediately fit in and he has been a perfect fit for us every since. We renamed him Brutus because it just fit his regal attitude  so well. The boy and his mom have since moved but he did come back on a couple of occasions and Brutus was glad to see him and would walk him to his car but never actually tried to go with him. I think Brutus knows this is where he belongs and now the boy that he was so faithfully devoted to is just a friend as he stands so proudly on the porch among his family as the boy drove away. As heartbreaking as it is to see this happen I am very proud of the boy that he did not just drop off his dog he found it a home and for that we are eternally greatful.

Dog2Dogs

A few years ago we moved to an area out in the country that has some of the most beautiful land you have ever seen. Everything is so fertile and green. Our neighbor has horses and cows. We have sheep and goats on our road as well. The homes are so far apart but close enough. This is far different from where we came from. We have so enjoyed this decision to move from the city. The sky is so big at night it is as if we are getting a private show of the sky just for ourselves and we are actually in the sky itself.

When we moved it was just my family and my 5 cats and our 2 dogs. That all began to change. It was not long before we had a dog show up on our front porch. We began knocking just knowing that somewhere there was an owner out looking for their pet. She was cute and friendly and eager to go looking with us for her home. We came back home that night with what became our third dog with a sad feeling. We were told that you better get use to that that dogs are dropped off regularly out here. That was an understatement. In the next five years we have found homes for at least 3 dozen of our canine friends. We consider ourselves an animal sanctuary of sorts.  We have some of the most amazing and appreciative dogs you could ever want. Those that have stayed with us some how know that they are special and many of them have had an extremely hard life until now. Some were clearly abused and some their owners just could not afford them anymore. From one extreme to another they make up our family. My wife and kids do amazing work with them to get them socialized and happy again. When you first see that tail start to come up and then to begin to wag there are few greater feelings. This project that we have taken on is a 24 hour a day 7 day a week job. We sat down as a family and saw the need. This is another of those decisions that I do not regret. It does take all of us to do this. I work 2 jobs and my wife and kids work on odd jobs from passing out flyers to website work. Some how we make it. The kids were willing to give up asking for some of the things that many teenagers want and Christmas can get small but the rewards are daily. The togetherness over the triumphs and the sadness that comes along with working with animals is immeasurable.

There are so many things that happen daily in our animal world that we have decided to blog about them and share them with other people that are going through the same thing or those that might just find it inspirational or sometimes just plan funny.

When you work and live with a large group of animals you have the priviledge of observing animal behavior first hand. Living with this many dogs is like living in a day care of 2 year olds all the time. There are many personalities and lots of play and nothing is more appreciated then nap time. We have an obsticle course that my son runs them through and they each go with us on walks and that wears them out. When we first were thinking of taking on this challenge or what has become a way of life we asked our vet could he give me a tip on how this might work best or if it could be done at all. I mean we have 7 Pitt Bulls in the mix as well as Australian Cattle dogs which are high energy. The one statement that he made that is our philosophy and has worked for 5 years is a happy dog is a tired dog. He said that this can work if we work them out daily. We have been lucky with only an occasional squabble. I think that it is the dedication of my kids and mostly my son to keep them in the play yard until he is the only one standing and they are asleep. My daughters are in charge of the washing and grooming. My wife does alot of the feeding as well as the kids and we all do the cleaning up after them. When we have company we always get the same comment that they cannot believe how well behaved our dogs are and how clean everything is. If they only knew what it takes to make it stay that way. We are very dedicated to what we are doing and that takes more of the chore out of it. I look forward to sharing our adventures with you.

Our Dogs.
Called Canis lupus familiaris.
Estimated to be 400 million dogs in the world.

Dogs are a domesticated sub-species of the wolf. A carnivorous animal. When you get bit you will know it. These creatures are members of the Canidae family of the order carnivora used for both feral and pet varieties. Everything I have read shows that the domesticated dog has been one of the most widely kept working and companion animals in human history. Saw somewhere there was even a Keeshound with the three wise men.

Our domestication of wolves, most think the gray wolf took place around 15,000 years ago somewhere in the central Asia region. Dogs quickly became everywhere across most cultures of the world. With the resulting domestication process, dogs have developed a sophisticated intelligence that includes unparalleled social cognition, along with a theory of mind that is important to their interaction with humans. Just love it when you come home and they wag there tails until they are silly. Their social skills have helped dogs to perform in protection of humans, hunting, animal herding and currently assisting handicapped individuals.

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