Happy Birthday Cheetah & pups!

[pictures to follow later]

I can't believe it has been almost a year since I helped Cheetah whelp in my bedroom closet. Feb 2, Cheetah will have her honorary 2nd birthday (since we don't really know her actual day) and 7 of the puppies will turn 1. Feb 3 the youngest will celebrate her very own day to herself :-)

I can't begin to tell you the impact that Cheetah and her babies had on me. It was not something I wanted to share at the time, but with a little time, I am ready to share a pretty intense story how our lives intertwined. In many ways I feel that Cheetah saved me as much as I saved her.

January 2009 I got a call from the head of our rescue. We had pulled a dog who was not on the list but she was so pretty and sweet that the transport could not resist saving her from certain death. She was chunky and a little shy, and her name was Anastasia. She was adopted immediately off of the transport by a nice single woman who lived nearby. But when they took her to the vet - surprise! - Anastasia, now renamed Cheetah, was expecting "at least 7 puppies." I was the only one Kristina (rescue founder) could think of that could possibly take this on. We were still a pretty tiny rescue at the time. Poor Mr PM listened to me on the phone knowing something was up. I had to help - there was no one else to do it. But I cautioned, I was in the middle of an invitro cycle and these puppies had to be out and with other fosters the second they were weaned. (yeah right)

So into our house entered what Mr PM dubbed the trojan dog; sneaking 8 additional dogs with her! I was immediately taken with her. She was sweet natured and very sedate (ha!) and followed me everywhere. I took her in as we suspected her labor would approach so that she could get used to me and the house before giving birth. I would sit and watch her belly undulate and twitch and she would just look at me as if wondering what in the world had happened to her world. I read everything I could get my hands on about whelping. For some reason I was entirely confident we could do this despite the fact I had never done it before. She was a larger breed, unlikely to have complications and by the time she had her puppies, I felt like a certified midwoof.

In the mean time, I was going through my own pregnancy fun. I was taking my hormone shots to stimulate egg production so we could start ivf. The big day arrived and I went in for the procedure, where they put you under general anesthesia and aspirate your egg follicles with a needle. Turns out I was a bit prolific and we had a good showing. :-) They took the eggs and proceeded to fertilize them all and would report to me the next day that we had 10 embryos out of the over dozen eggs they had gotten from me! To put it in perspective, the woman in the bed next to me yielded 3 eggs. So we were pretty pumped. But I am getting ahead of myself.

I came home on vicodin because it was pretty painful - and I was supposed to stay in bed the rest of the day. But I had a funny feeling about Cheetah, who insisted in burrowing into my closet. So instead of laying in bed, I hauled a bunch of boxes out of my closet and moved all of my clothes, lined the closet with newspaper, and got out my whelping supplies while Mr PM was out at the pharmacy. He was none-to-pleased with me when he returned to discover my little moving job. Before my procedure we had prepared the spare bedroom with a place for Cheetah, but she wanted none of it.

My mom called to see how I was doing and I looked down and there was a puppy in the closet with Cheetah! That puppy was Mocha and she was being dragged around by her umbilical, as Cheetah had not yet birthed the placenta. So I basically hung up on my mom and began my long vicodin filled night of delivering puppies. And so went the day Button was conceived. All went really well and we delivered 9 live pups - a few of which I had to stimulate into breathing but they all made it! I put them all in a laundry basket lined with soft towels and blankets and a hot water bottle. It completely amazed me how trusting Cheetah was with me – not to mention what she let me do to her in the way of examination, etc. She sat in my lap for a lot of the labor and pushing.

Cheetah wanted nothing to do with nursing the puppies and was snapping at them. A breeder I spoke to said that was fine until she finished birthing (turns out this was bad advice). We took Cheetah and the pups to an emergency hospital when she continued to push and there were no puppies (she was, in fact, done; but better safe...) and while there, we lost the smallest pup. At that point I had Kristina and the owner, who both attended most of the whelping session, hold her down and I latched all of the puppies. I wasn't screwing around anymore. We also had the oldest and smallest pups tube fed to make sure everyone was hydrated and fed. I still blame myself for the loss of that one little female. I made the mistake of entrusting her to the vet on duty, who was, quite honestly and frankly - a complete ass. (I later saw her not be able to differentiate Cheetah’s uterus from her intestines on x-ray!!! *I* could do that and I did not attend veterinary school.) I feel I could have done a better job of re-stimulating that puppy. But in the end I guess it is what it is (and I am a control freak). Now I know for next time, if there is one.

Following is a list of the pups to refresh everyone’s memory:

PUPPY 1: “Mocha” (now still Mocha) Born 2/2/09 at 8:55pm – 11.5 oz female. True to her name, Mocha is a red merle. Mocha seems like she may be the first to walk – classic overachiever first child! :-) She became very talkative and loved to try out her voice in growls and barks. She led the pack in learning how to scale the fence of her enclosure (thanks a lot Mocha). She was adopted by a great guy in NJ who I have known for years and he is wonderful to her. She is very social and playful and is doing great!

PUPPY 2: “Hoover” (now Zibby) Born 2/2/09 at 9:07pm – 10.5 oz female. Hoover was named after a famous seal, who could mimic human vocalizations. She reminded me of a seal when she crawled around and was definitely the most talkative of the bunch! She was the larger black and gray merle with the smaller spots. Hoover was the loudest of the bunch and also one of the smartest at the time. She was the first to figure out how to drink water without submerging her nose :-) She was adopted by a great couple who live in a townhouse in DC and take great care of her. She is an exact replica of Cheetah from markings to personality, and she seemed to remember me when I saw her at the dog park months after her adoption – a testament to her smarts.

PUPPY 3: “Junior” (now Schroeder) Born 2/2/09 at 9:19pm – 7 oz male. Junior had the exact same markings as Cheetah, down to the white blaze on her chest. He is very pretty. He was the smaller black and gray merle with the larger spots. Despite being second smallest, Junior really caught up to the rest of the group. He was the calmest of the merles and was pretty low key. He was Mr PM’s favorite puppy. He was adopted by a wonderful family with older kids, and a mom who is a dog whisperer in her own right. He has an elderly sister now and keeps her young, and gets a long great with his kitty sibs as well. All of the pups are high energy dogs, but he still strikes me as having a mellow streak the others don’t have.

PUPPY 4: “Mouse” (now still Mouse) Born 2/2/09 at 10:06pm – 5.5 oz we originally thought female, then hermaphrodite, now we know MALE! Mouse is our surviving runt and we spent lots of time being paranoid for him. But he got in there to nurse with the best of them and always had a lot of heart! He looked and sounded like a mouse, and was is all black with a little bit of white on his chest and paw. Mouse later developed a white muzzle and multicolored paws. He was adopted by a lovely family who didn’t give a fig about his gender confusion :-) He is the family clown and they adore him. He definitely caught up with the rest of the puppies on size!

PUPPY 5: “Blondie” (now Poppy) Born 2/2/09 at 10:25pm – 10.5 oz female. Blondie was the lightest of the all blonde puppies. She had some undefined white on her head and had the pinkest nose. Like all of the blondes, she slept well and was laid back. Blondie was affectionate and you could put her to sleep almost instantly with a belly rub. Pawpads were pink rimmed in black. Poppy was adopted by a single woman who is also a vet at a prestigious local animal hospital. She gets to go to work with her owner every day, has made multiple news appearances and is often the subject of her owners blog!

PUPPY 6: Angel Puppy (never got a name): Born 2/2/09 at 10:37pm – 5.5 oz female, brown and black merle. She really struggled and it took me a while to get her breathing when she was born. For the next few hours she labored. At about 4am, we took Cheetah to the emergency vet to make sure there were no remaining puppies. While there, this little one passed on. We believe her lungs were underdeveloped.

PUPPY 7: “Cuddlebug” (now Belle) Born 2/2/09 at 10:59pm – 12.5 oz female. Cuddlebug was one of the 3 blonde puppies. She had a defined white star on her head. She was one of the first to separate herself from the group to sleep and would whimper. When I picked her up she snuggled right in, quieted down and was completely content to sleep in my arms. She was the smallest of the blondes, slept the most and is still very cuddly - pawpads were black. Belle was adopted by a family with two small children. They could not handle her and returned her. However we almost immediately found a fantastic couple who now dote on her the way she deserves. She sounds happy as a clam!

PUPPY 8: “Mugsy” (now Charlie) Born 2/2/09 at 11:51pm – 12 oz male. Mugsy is the third blond puppy. He was named for the black 6 o’clock shadow he had on his muzzle. He also had a defined white star on his head and he had really cute teeny pink and black pawpads. His 6 o'clock shadow went away, but his paw pads were pink and black alternating. He was adopted by a family with a lot of land, and loves to explore every inch of it.

PUPPY 9: “Velvet” (now Maddie) Born 2/3/09 at 1:30am – 13.5 oz female. Velvet was completely black. She was born the largest and works hard to retain that title! Truly she was last but not least! Velvet developed neat, merle colored socks, but I think they have since gone away and she has similar markings to Mouse. She was super friendly and always came over to say hi to the people first. She is now a little more picky about who she likes and she is a whopping 80 pounds!!!!! She was adopted by a teacher who lives in a group house and they all adore her. She gets to spend summers playing with her owner, loves the beach and is a sweet dog.

* * *

For the next 4 or 5 weeks you all watched the puppies in my bedroom closet. I could see them from my bed and they were pretty low maintenance. Once Cheetah got the hang of nursing, she really did all of the work and was a good mommy. She did develop some soreness, and I would occasionally get in there with her to encourage her to nurse. She would sit on my lap and I would pet her while the pups nursed. In the mean time, I had the embryo transplant and was expecting! Mr PM and I were absolutely thrilled. I was tired, but overall I felt surprisingly good (first indicator of a problem).

I think the puppies were about 4 weeks old when we transferred them to the pen in the spare bedroom due to size and their ability to scale the board keeping them in the closet. We weaned them on a combination of puppy kibble mixed with puppy milk formula, and as the weather got warmer we started taking them outside to explore the yard. Cleaning that pen was no fun! Nor was getting up at the crack of dawn with them. But they were so sweet and so happy to see me whenever I came in, I barely noticed it.

When the puppies were about 4 weeks old, we went for our 6 week pregnancy ultrasound and there was no heartbeat. As it turns out, we had what was called a blighted ovum. There was a pregnancy sac, a placenta, a yolk sac, but no baby. It took them a couple of weeks to convince me that there was really no baby in there. But my body apparently liked being pregnant and I had plenty of time to learn to accept it. I was so happy at that point to have the puppies to nurture and throw myself into their care. It was devastating news after thinking we had been successful after three years of trying to conceive and it helped a lot to have those little beings to love.

At around 7 weeks old, they were fully weaned and Cheetah went home to her owner. It took about a week to start getting reports that Cheetah was not doing so hot in her home. By this point she had spent more time with me than the owner. She was also still dealing with postpartum hormones, and was left alone in the apartment for 11 hours a day while her owner worked. She decided to do some redecorating by ripping up the carpet and eating some expensive textbooks and became very people aggressive and barked a lot. Her owner sadly decided she could not keep her without getting evicted, so I agreed that after the puppies were placed, I would take her back and find her a new home.

In the mean time I started doing interviews for the puppies. That was incredibly difficult for me because I felt a huge responsibility to make their lives as great as I could. I had a few applicants that were very bad choices, although I could not have told you why at the time. I learned to follow my instincts and I think that in the end, everything worked out for the best!

When the puppies were 8 weeks old, they started going home. This was about the time that I also had to have a D&C to terminate the pregnancy that wouldn’t go away on its own. For those of you who watched the puppy cam – you saw exactly how emotional I was. It was a lot of loss all at once. Mocha went a little before she was 8 weeks, and everyone was home by 9 weeks. A day or two after the last two puppies left, Cheetah came back to me fresh from having her spay surgery. She had a lot of trouble with her incision and I was giving her multiple pills a day and putting warm compressed on her incision to nurse her through. I think this is when the bond between us really solidified. I was in terrible grief and she was in trouble (again) and needed me. She could read me like I can’t begin to explain and responded just the way I needed.

Cheetah stayed with me until we were ready to try again. She was adopted again during that time, but it didn’t work out. As most of you know, she took a great amount of energy for me to train and rehabilitate. She had a score of issues, but by the time she left, we had addressed most of them. I was so proud of her. I often had to shut her out of the room when Mr PM gave me the shots to prepare for another ivf pregnancy, because she did not take very kindly to something she could tell hurt me. But I started holding onto her when I took them (they were intramuscular and very painful) and she would sit still and look at me while I hung onto her fur for comfort. Then on August 26, we finally had the procedure to transfer one of the frozen embryos we had conceived on the day she whelped her own puppies. I immediately became exhausted.

In the mean time Belle was coming back. I knew that Belle and Cheetah together would be too much for me. And Belle needed me just a little more in the immediate. So I made arrangements for Cheetah to go into foster care elsewhere. There were a couple of days of overlap when I had them both, and Cheetah was very jealous of Belle. It was the right decision not to have them here together. While I had Belle, Cheetah was desired for a foster to adopt situation. I *knew* that it was not going to work out, much as I liked the people. But I figured it was a good temporary option. By the time the people realized it wouldn’t work and Belle had been placed again, I was so sick with being pregnant that I couldn’t take her back. So Cheetah ended up in a no-cage boarding facility that works with the rescue. She also spent some time at the rescue founder’s house.

All reports were that she was doing very well. I saw her occasionally at adoption days, but it was hard for both of us – when I would leave we’d both cry (and I would throw up). Finally I was told she was placed. I had horrible guilt for my lack of involvement, but I was *still* completely incapacitated with being sick (this lasted through 18 weeks – very healthy pregnancy this time). I did communicate via email a little bit with the new owners, but I was getting reports that a lot of her old behaviors were resurfacing and I was very concerned. I gave as much advice as I could and promised to visit as soon as I could manage it.

This past Sunday I finally made it over there. I have to tell you – these people are FANTASTIC. I could not have picked better owners for my Cheetah. They are so patient and committed to her that I know she will be OK and work through her issues once more. When I saw Cheetah again she was so excited she whined and peed all over the place. She was clearly beside herself. We played and went through our tricks and I petted her and petted her. Eventually she laid down on my feet so I couldn’t move without her knowing. I spent two hours with her and had a great talk with her owners. She clearly loves them and they her. Finally I said “well I should probably get going” and I swear she understood me. She undoubtedly felt something in my demeanor shift, because she immediately started jumping on me and whining again. She always read me so well. But this time, I felt no guilt – she is in a perfect home and I know I will see her again.

I love Cheetah with all my heart and miss her every day. I will never forget what she gave me during one of the most difficult times in my life. She gave me purpose and a love like only a dog with a soul like hers could give. She understood me and comforted me in a way that even Swiffer could not. I helped her through the worst time in her life and she did the same for me.

Thank you Cheetah. I love you always. Happy birthday.

Belle 11.18.09

Belle 11.10.09

Belle update 9.28.09

Belle is doing great.

As promised, we are having long LONG walks everyday, she seems to like it, and again, she starts felling more confident, although sometimes she gets very scared about very simple things such a trash bags, weird big plants or even umbrellas (Saturday was raining so I pull out and umbrella from the closet and she cuddle down scared right away, so we walked without it) therefore I'm avoiding things that may scare her.

***

I wouldn't completely keep things away from her she is afraid of. Just introduce them slowly and a teeny bit at a time. For example, now that you know she is afraid of the umbrella, maybe leave it out where she can see it once in a while. Once she seems ok with that. Pick it up and put it down when she is watching. Once she gets used to that, open it in front of her - maybe leave it out where she can see it opened for a while. Once she is ok with that, pick it up in front of her a few times. Once she is ok with that, open it and close it in front of her. And so on. Just teeny steps in amounts she can handle over a period of plenty of time. Otherwise she will never get used to it and chances of her never coming across an umbrella in her life are pretty slim! :-) Then eventually, when you take the umbrella out when you actually need it, she won't think it is such a big deal. Same kind of thing with the vaccuum cleaner and other things you notice she is afraid of. And if you can think of a way to make it into a game - all the better. You can reinforce with treats as well.
***

Beside that she is really getting use to the place and of course to us, she LOOOOOVES being kissed and hugged, sometimes she kisses back and lately, sometimes, she follows more commands, but once she sees a toy, then she can't focus anymore, I know it is a matter of training and time.

I have to confess that I'm such an easy mom, yesterday, she just "upgrade" herself to nap on the couch, and I let her be, little by little she is gaining some space toward her boundaries but at the same time she's getting use to obey other unbreakable rules, such as not jumping or look for food over the oven (never) or chewing furniture (she tried), chewing our clothing or sleeping on our bed, somehow we are getting along with each other, we like her very much.

Yesterday she was very cute, I gave her a shower and she behaved very well, after I dried her hair, she started jumping and running all over the place very happy and exited, after all her running she decided to take a nap. She seems happy to me, and we are really happy to have her.

Belle update 9.22.09

Everything goes well with Belle inside the house, she seems happy and apparently is getting used to us, the only thing about it is that now she starts crying when we need to go to work, and cries very sadly as complain when we get back, I sincerely feel very guilty of leaving her by herself for so long, so although I do go on lunch time to walk with her, I am hiring a dog walker for Belle not to be alone for so long.

Another thing I wanted to mention, yesterday morning we were doing our usual walk, when all of a sadden a very aggressive dog came barking at us from one house's fence, the dog went insane trying to jump out of the wooden fence to attack us and Belle panicked horribly, first she went behind me and as the dog keep barking furiously at us, she started shaking very hard and getting is this weird position kind of cuddling with her legs below her body REALLY tense, when I tried to calm her she wouldn't listen to me at all, she keep shaking badly and as I was trying to take her away from that situation since she was cuddling as rock, it was impossible first for me to lift her, so I had to take her face and said "he can't hurt you, you're with me", so I put myself in front of her in a way that she could hear the aggressive barking without seeing the dog inside the fence. so she finally moved, but sadly, her confidence went down again, her tail is not coming up as it did before, now no matter where we walk, she just walks nervously fast with the tail hidden between her legs like escaping. Meaning, she is not enjoying the walk at all.

I am buying the book you suggested me today, but meanwhile, do you have any suggestion about how to make her feel better?

I will appreciate any advice.

{I am showing my response here as I feel it could be useful info to others.}

Belle would definitely prefer to be with you rather than alone. But rememebr that whining growling and barking is her only form of verbal communication. It doesn't always mean she is sad when she whines. She may be saying - hey I'd rather you didn't go - when you leave in the morning, but she does fine by herself. When you come back she is whining with excitement and joy so see you again - she's not sad at that point. Her mom does that too when she is excited. If you respond to her feeling guilty - she will pick up on that and do it more - either to elicit the response or because she feels you being sad and uncomfortable so she figures it is justified that she is concerned you are leaving. What I always did with her (and Cheetah) was to give them something fun - either a toy or a chew - and say in a very happy voice that it was time for me to go but I would be back and to have a nice time and be good while I was gone. Then I would quickly and confidently slip out the door. If you are able to do this consistently - eventually she will get the idea that when you leave you come back, and that there is nothing to worry about because you are happy and confident walking out the door.

I saw Cheetah this weekend (she is currently at a no cage boarding place where she has loads of fun). When I left she whined and barked like "hey you are forgetting me!" and I felt lower than dirt. I cried all the way home. However I guarantee you that she gave it about a minute before she moved on. Dogs live in the moment, so when you are gone she is not sitting around thinking how lonely she is or how awful you are for leaving her. She is probably sleeping. I would never tell you NOT to get a dog walker. But in these economic times, if the money is at all a concern, I can tell you that (especially if you are coming home in the afternoons to walk her) she does not NEED one.

As for the other dog, that is really unfortunate. It is going to take some time to build her confidence back up after a bad scare. It was a perfect response that you got in front of her and told her you would protect her. That increases her confidence and bond with you. And it did work - she was able to move. Now what you will need to do, beside avoid that path for a while, is make every outing really fun for her. Bring special treats she loves but does not otherwise get, bring a special toy she gets to have at certain times on the walk that she loves to play with and doesn't otherwise get (maybe the purple thing?). Then she will start focusing on you and the thing she wants and not think so much about how afraid she is. If you give them to her at certain times or places in the walk - that will give her a goal and something to look forward to after she starts to see the pattern. It will probably take a while, but that is what I would do. Also I would start working with her on some more complex training. Training is believed to increase a dog's confidence level. Teach her to look at you, target, sit and stay - that thing I gave you is helpful for that. The training should take place initially at home but as she gains aptitude you can start using it in more stressful situations to help focus her. The only other thing is do your best not to feel bad for her. Definitely reassure her, but don't feel sorry for her. Again, she will pick up on the fact that you are feeling bad and think she must be justified in being scared herself! Try to stay positive and happy and confident around her and that will help her a lot.

Belle night 4

Last night she slept again the whole night, this time I got her bed in the room and place her blanket in there, she was not happy first and she decided to go to the bathroom, I guess it is cooler, but later on she moved to her bed and cuddle in there nicely, this morning I saw her sleeping in her bed with her legs up, so it seemed to me that she was pretty relax and comfortable.

Today, we did register Belle at the ----- county today as planned so tomorrow we will be taking her to the doggy park for her to be off leash, and see how she behaves.

By the way, today I got more food and found the probiotics at pet-smart as you said.

This morning she found all the toys that came on her bag and she was very happy, especially with the purple heart that makes a funny noise, it was just like as having a two year old kid with one of those super loud music toys that usually parents get for them, a real non-stop, until she found another and decided to switch it. {she drove us crazy with that thing}

We had another visitor and she actually was OK, kind of greeting him before she started barking, she later brought her toy to the guy inviting him to play. She is very very smart so she is finding her place to hide stuff and when ever she wants to play, then she brings it to us, same thing with the leash, when she sees me putting my shoes on and my cap even before I take the leash, she seats close to the door waiting for me.

I like her very much, she is getting use to us and our place very quickly, every time any of us has to go out, when we come back she always receives us very happy, tender and full of love, same thing in the morning, she wakes up really happy and exited, ready to start another day, I am so happy to have her. Thank you very much for letting me have her. she is such a great pet.

=-)

Belle night 3

Things are getting smooth with my girl, last night she slept the whole night straight without trying to go outside in the middle of the night, still, she tried the bed acting, in a more relax attitude, though, she was barking and complaining because she was not able to go up the bed, but no intent to bite us at all. She slept next to my bed over her blanket, that seats over a rug, no interest at all in her bed =-(

Today is her first day staying on her own half day, I kind of want to go now to see her already =o) before [husband] gets there, but she needs to get used to the place. By the way we moved all the birds to the laundry room so if she wants go down to the basement, she can, I made sure there where no things around she could chew or choke on. {they have a whole bunch of birds that Belle would just loooove to get a hold of.}

I have notice two things, one she loves balls, I guess she used to interact with that, any time she sees someone playing she wants to join and second, she is really scared about vacuums, yesterday I was about to clean up the messy seeds from the basement and as soon as saw me pulling the vacuum out she ran and hid, without me even connecting the things to the electric power, so I asked her if she was scare of that and I put it the vacuum away and then I went to pamper her, she was really scared, so I guess she has a bad memory from it.

I have to mention something else, seems to me that she does not recognized her Cuddlebug name, I believe it has to do a lot with the fact that me and [husband] have such a hard accent that the sound that come out is not the one she used to hear from you guys, so we thought about maybe giving a try to her last name Belle (because is shorter and our chances of messing up the sound of the word is smaller) we decide to test if she does something when we call her by the Belle name and actually she does, every time either one call her Belle, she stops what she is doing and comes to us. {obviously whatever works for them is fine by me}

cuddlebug update 9.17.09

You are absolutely right, we just came from a walk and literally as soon as we came in she started whining again that she needed to go out.

I don't think is a bladder infection, she is actually, as you said working me. Right now she is trying to sit on my lap while I am working, kissing me and everything, she is very smart so I have to be more careful otherwise I will become her slave, I am just concern that if I do not take her out she will pee inside, that could be a problem because she could get use to manifesting her frustration that way.

I will give a second thought to the walking dog girl, tomorrow instead of [husband] staying full day with her, I will ask him to come back from work around noon, just to see how she does half day on her own.

Cuddlebug second night 9.17.09

Last night it was a little better, I gave CB a long walk and we ran for while over the grass behind the last set of townhouses behind our house, before we went to bed, also I made sure she did all her duties, that way nothing could happened at home.

By the time we went to sleep, immediately she jumped again over my bed, so I did as you said, I pointer out the floor ordering to go down, but she was determined not to, so I keep giving her the instruction repeatedly and instead of trying to bite me as the night before, she started rubbing her face on the pillows, roaring and rolling like saying "come on, don't take me out of here"... , she was sincerely sooooo cute that I almost laugh, but I didn't, so she kept doing funny sad eyes, and rolling around the bed, but little by little she was approaching to the end of the bed until she just gave me this super sad look and jump out and walk around just complaining with a few noises, she was OK after a few minutes. I know, she is pushing her boundaries.

After that she sleep next to me (I put her blanket next to my bed), around 3:00 am she asked me to go outside, so we went to the backyard, where she pee and came back to room to continue sleeping. This morning she walk up around 6:30 am again and asked me to take her outside, she looks very comfortable going to the backyard, so I am trying to pay attention once she lets me know she needs to go. Speaking about the backyard, she found some fascination for the fig's tree, she finds very fun pulling figs from the tree and running around with it on her mouth, she does not eat it, she just chews it and throw in the air and then catch again, she really enjoys it.

I stay with her today again, [husband] will stay home tomorrow, that way she does not get just used to me. Yesterday she received [husband] very happy by the way, jumping here and there much much friendly. Later on we had a visit ([husband] invited his sister to met CB) ... first she barked at this lady, but the lady appear to be familiar with dogs (I sincerely didn't know) and she manage the situation pretty well, first she ignore CB, then she allowed CB to smell her, later on CB was on her lap kissing her ( :-/ took me longer to gain her [acceptance]) anyway, what I saw is that she can be very friendly and sweet, and that under supervision, she wouldn't harm anybody. I think.

So far I am setting her up for 2 long walks (40 minutes each) one at 7:30 am another at 6:00 pm, and three small walks (20 minutes each) during the day,noon, three pm and 9 pm. Eventually I will change those long walk for runs, yesterday she sleep for a few hrs after her first long walk in the morning, maybe because she didn't sleep well the night before, but today she was full of energy after the long walk, she was jumping here and there playing with her leash, which tells me she needs a more consuming energy exercise, I want to wait because of her surgery, but I may need to start running with her over the weekend.

A cool detail about the short walk is that she is getting familiar with the area and sometimes, for little short periods, her tail gets

more relax and she weaves it up happily until she gets a little scare again and the tail goes down, we are walking the same path, that way she can recognize where is her home, and she will get familiar with all the noises around. For the long walk, she still get anxious, when she get nervous she crouches in front of me so I need to get her use to go in just one side, I had been close to follow over her more than a few times, because any sudden noise get her very scare, so she tries to go behind me coming either in front or between my legs. The long walk is an extended version of the short, half way we pass the same houses, meaning she is more comfortable and then we go behind the golf course, where we get some more noises, either from barking dogs, cars passing by, and even people chatting or working on the street, so there is when she struggles a little more.

...

By the way, she really is into ripping stuff, there is no toy that can survive more than half an hr before is chew out, but the cool thing about it is that she is chewing just toys, I saw her just once walking with one of my

socks in her mouth, but once I said no, she just let it fall from her mouth and continue walking like nothing happened.

Last thing, (I hope I am not overwhelming you with this longs e-mails) [Never!] It seems to me that she can't hold her pee for more than 3 hrs, so since I can come once at lunch time to take her out, I am planning to get a dog walker, for her to come around 11:00 am, then I would come around 2:00 pm and last [husband] is usually here around 5:00 pm.

Cuddlebug first night 9.16.09

Good Morning Melanie

After we went to the basement when you guys were leaving she came up right away looking up for you, she went upstairs, downstairs, upstairs again, so I a got a toy and a few treats for her to calm her down so we went to the backyard to play for a while. Then she had dinner around 7:00.

She barked at [husband] for a while but later on she started getting a little close to him. She is really playful, so [husband] played with her for a while and she got more comfortable.

She was OK until 8:00 pm, after that she started making this soft crying and just going close to the door like she wanted to leave, so we took her for a soft walk (we changed the collar) just for her to see and get familiar with the area, after the walk she calm a little bit.

The only unexpected incident is that by the time we went to sleep, she wanted to sleep on my bed, she jumped on and got a little aggressive when I asked her to come down, she kind of wanted to bite me, I got her down, and she jumped again trying to stay in my bed and trying to bite me in a more aggressive matter.

So I brought her blanket next to my bed but she still wasn't happy, by the time we turn the light off, she walked around our bed and suddenly I smell something funny, she poop twice around the bed.

=-(

I assumed she was upset and it was her way to complain, so I clean up, show her what she did I said it was wrong what she did and I went back to sleep (she knew she did wrong because her face was kind of guilty, expecting to be punished, but as I told you I do not hit dogs... so we went back to the room), she sleep next to my bed, she woke up about every two hrs almost all night, so I had to pamper her a little bit for her to relax and get back to sleep.

This morning we took a walk, a longer walk, (I needed to see how much walking does she need for her to be relaxed while I go to work) she did great! when we came back home she sleep for about an hour, now she is getting a little more active so we will be getting for another walk in about an hr.

Another thing is that sometimes she cries softly, I guess she miss you guys, to many changes for a really short period. I hope she really feel better soon.

Mocha and Cuddlebug

I apologize I have not been good with the updates - haven't been feeling well.

Cuddlebug went to her new home on Tuesday 9/15. She is doing OK - testing all of her limits to see where the boundaries lie in this new place.

Mocha had her spay surgery the same day and is a walking lampshade now :-) She is not loving that. But it sounds like she is doing pretty well. She was pretty drugged out so I'm just waiting for the latest report.

Again, sorry for the lack of updates. I will be better about it as soon as I am feeling better.

webcam is up and running again

I can't guarantee you will see Cuddlebug, but if she walks into the living room you will. http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pell-mel-foster-puppy-cam

More updates soon.

Cuddlebug the Power Chewer

Cuddlebug has managed to chew through the faux wood on (kind of a crappy) filing cabinet of mine and I would her walking around proudly with the caster wheel in her mouth last night. The cabinet was not a big deal but I was surprised she would still do this. It is easy to forget that she is still 100% a puppy.

I asked for some advice from other puppy owners regarding whether to give them rawhide. Mouse's owner says yet but is careful about the shape so that there is less danger of splintering. She also gave me some advice about stugging a kong with peanut butter and freezing it. I will be forever grateful for that one - it went over huge. I had heard of it before but had not tried it because I was afraid of getting peanut butter all over my house. She assured me the pb would be gone before it could possible hit the floor - and she was absolutely right!

Ashley, the veterinarian, had this to say about rawhide:
My view on rawhide is that it is fine to give provided you follow common sense and a few guidelines:

1 - Keep the size of the rawhide and the size of the dog similar. You don't want to give a tiny dog a huge bone and let her eat all of it at once. Conversely you don't want to give a huge dog a small rawhide which he could potentially choke on.

2 - Always be with your dog when they are chewing on a rawhide, that way if they are eating too quickly or start choking you can do something about it.

3 - A holistic vet told me that most of the rawhide sold in Petsmart is made in China and has been found to have arsenic in it. True or not I find that off putting so I usually look for something made in this country, organic is good too.

Chewing on tennis balls is bad as it grinds down their teeth. Nylabones are OK (some reports that if they are too old then they break off in big chunks which can cause obstruction.) Kongs and Petstages toys are great.

I have a couple of Power Kongs for Cuddlebug. She is much more interested in ripping things apart. She is also not acting like she is used to having limits. We are teaching her that she does not always get what she wants by grabbing, barking, whining, lunging, jumping, etc and she is RATHER shocked by this!!!

We got a good look at her fear response yesterday when her potential adopters visited. I really liked them. But she went nuts - she wasn't as bad as Cheetah used to be, but her body language was very fearful and she barked a LOT. She is more vocal than Cheetah - which I never would have thought possible. But she did not lunge or nip and the adopters handled it very well and were very patient. Mr PM said later - he would've been outta there if a dog we were looking to adopt did that! I am not sure I would've been outta there but I certainly would be cautious. But they are willing to work with her and they are calm and gentle with no kids and I think will offer a great environment. I offered to start using a differnt name with her, as she does not seem to know her name (so I reverted to Cuddlebug or CB ("SEE-Bee") when talking to her), but they like Cuddlebug! So looks like she is getting her old name back. We do have one more adopter to meet, but I am relatively certain these are the people.

I had the webcam up and running the other night - I wish there was an automatic notification sytem when it is broadcasting and when it is not because it will be spotty. But I took video of CB and Cheetah playing and it is on the channel.

New Foster cam

When I am sitting in there, you will see Cheetah and Cuddlebug at play. At least until tomorrow when Cheetah is off to a different foster.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/pell-mel-foster-puppy-cam

Sadie, Cheetah, Belle and Swiffer update 8.30.09

I saw Sadie today and she is like a different dog. She is so much more confident, she has some meat on her bones and she wants to play with the other dogs. She has that doggy sparkle back in her eye. What a difference from the tail tucked entirely under her, wouldn't stand up, emaciated little thing I first met.

I have to tell you, Cheetah was pretty cute with her. There were a good 15 dogs or so in the enclosure today and if someone got too rough with Sadie, Cheetah took it upon herself to herd them right away from her. Cheetah was the enforcer generally. If someone was barking too much - she would get right in their face and bark once sharply and back away. It was as if someone whistled through their fingers (I always wished I could do that) bc that dog would be shocked right into silence. It was fun to watch.

Cheetah was unamused that I was with Belle today. She did not like that one bit. I am HER person and that is that. She has been staying the last few days with Kristina, head of the rescue, to give this household a break. She has always like Kristina and literally (I kid you not) rolled down the car window and jumped out when she saw Kristina when I was dropping her off. Luckily I was going about 1 mph and she was leashed by her harness as opposed to her collar. I was able to release her from the seatbelt quickly and Kristina grabbed the leash with Cheetah none the worse for wear. I usually keep the child locks on the windows bc while she has never jumped out, she has done the roll down the window trick before (damn smart dog), but I had rolled down the front window to talk to Kristina so the child lock was off.

Anyway, she was herding dogs away from Kristina too when she was in the pen. She is crapped out on the floor right now - busy day of protecting everyone for her!

Kristina said she did awesome at her house and wasn't even territorial! Woo hoo! I declare her cured. I think she really would do best in a household with another dog. So Cheetah will be with me for this week, and then Sat night she is going to another senior foster's house so I can take Belle, who needs me more right now.

Back to Sadie, she has had all of her bloodwork and this week has the actual heartworm treatment. This treatment is painful so please keep her in your thoughts. She will also be on pain meds for her hip - I spoke to Kristina about it today. And we are investigating specialists to work on her leg. Our goal is not to amputate, but follow Ashley's suggestion of the procedure with the big long name that will stop bone from rubbing on bone. She is already functioning with the leg. The musculature has healed around it and she has figured out how to work with it. So we just want to deal with the pain it must be causing her. My guess is that it would be cheaper to amputate, but no one really wants to do that.

So Belle. She is a tiny little thing! She's only 35 pounds and looks so little to me next to Cheetah. She is smaller than the other puppies I have seen as well. She is cute as a button and I know there will be a ton of interest in her. As a matter of fact, we already had one application! (3 kids though). I spent about 20-30 minutes with her just getting her used to me, and before we were done, she turned her back to me (I was flattered by this!) and she jumped into my lap and licked my face. So we are buds. I brought chopped up hot dog with me to offer as a high value treat, but she was slow to accept it. She did finally eat out of my hand and we started some basic targeting training. She is not super food motivated, which will make training a little more difficult. But certainly not impossible.

She is very fearful, but not as bad as Cheetah was, nor as reactive. Add to that that she is younger, and I am very confident that I can get her where she needs to be. Here is my plan:

1. Get her spayed ASAP. Her owner was advised by her vet to hold off bc she was so skittish. I don't agree with that evualtion, but regardless, I am of the opinion that now, hormones are exacerbating the situation. Plus, it needs to be done.
   
2. Once she is spayed I can take her to an off leash park - I found this helped Cheetah immensely. Fearful dogs are often more fearful on leash, bc they can't run away if they are scared. This can mean they feel they have to defend themselves, which is never good.
3. Change her food! She is currently on Puppy Chow, a corn based dog food. We have discussed before how corn can block seratonin uptake in a dog, increasing anxiety, fear and aggression. The Rescue has changed over to Blue Buffalo - to which I say BRA.VO. Cheetah has been getting Solid Gold, but I will probably switch Belle to Blue Buffalo for consistency. We'll see how I feel when I go shopping :-)
4. I will start a basic obedience regimen with her. This will cause bonding with me and increase confidence. It will also help me to control situations better and distract her more effectively when we are facing her fears.

Swiffer is still limping :-( We are still on pain meds and I have scheduled an appointment with a different vet in the practice for Saturday. My biggest fear is that she has an injury which is healing improperly. We will likely need to do some x-rays next. She and Lexy had a very nice break while Cheetah was visiting. Lexy followed me from room to room like a dog and Swiffer did too, come to think of it :-)

Belle update 8.25.09

First I am sorry for the lull in updates. I just haven't had much to say.

I am heartbroken to tell you that Belle (Cuddlebug) is being surrendered back to the rescue. The family first contacted me about a week ago with concerns.

About 2 months ago our vet raised a concern about Belle’s personality and her being skittish. She can be very sweet and then wants to bite and cowers... She is good and playful with our 2 girls. She likes to eat their toys but we are working through that. I just left the vet and she thought I should reach out to you. We love Belle and she is part of our family but have concerns if she is going to be skittish and possibly bite our children’s friends, etc. Our vet has seen improvement but feels she will always have this issue and require extra attention. We want to make sure Belle has the best possible life and our vet thought she might be better with a family without children and were she can receive a lot of exercise and attention. The vet thinks her skittish behavior could cause her to bite one of our children or friends out of the blue with this type of personality.

Dogs do not bite out of the blue. Anyway, I put them in touch with a friend of mine who is a behaviorist and was hopeful that it could be worked through. Generally I prefer to hear from a vet regarding health and a behaviorist regarding - well, behavior. It is not the same training. This friend of mine specializes in fear and aggression issues and I think she really knows her stuff.

Belle is in adolescence, which is a time when there can be regression and problems in many dogs, just like in a human teenager. I see a ton of dogs between 6 and 18 mos in rescue, I suspect for this reason. The fact that she is young indicates a strong likelihood that we can figure out her triggers and work with her to stop the unwanted behaviors. The family told me last night that they do not feel they have the extra time to put in to such training.

We are working out the terms of surrender now: whether Belle will remain with the family until she can be rehomed, or Rescue Angels will take custody and foster her until then. I am sad that I can not take her in myself. But there is no way I could leave Cheetah and Belle alone while I am at work. I KNOW they would get to playing and the house would be in shambles when I come home. And I am not comfortable crating for an entire work day. Not to mention poor Mr. PM, Swiffer and Lexy. I am going to try to figure something out though so that I can work on her training a bit myself, and definitely have some play dates with Cheetah. You know I will stay involved.

I always wondered why many rescues don't adopt to families with young children. I get it now. After the experiences I have had so far, someone is going to be hard pressed to convince me to let one of my dogs go to a home with kids under 10 again.

I would like to publicly thank Dee Hoult for doing me the favor of pro bono consulting on this case. As always I would prefer to keep comments on the positive side - no bashing please . We can not judge the position of the family without being in their shoes. I don't get the impression they made this decision lightly.

Belle Update 7.17.09

Belle is doing well. She is great at bedtime – sleeps from 10 to 6:45ish. We are still working on breaking her on the puppy biting but most of her teeth have come in. She was at the vet today for another round of vaccinations and weighs 33 pounds. They are expecting her to be about 40 pounds which seems really small to us since we were use to two 90 pound boys. Our oldest daughter wishes she could sleep with her but we told her Belle had to be at least a year before she could have a sleep over. I have attached a few pics of Belle.