Introducing Bella

I just got this four-month old boxer puppy tonight.  She's so funny - she has all this puppy energy, and her legs seem to be growing faster than she can keep up with them, so she's hilarious to watch when she plays.  She's enjoying playing with all the cats, although I'm not sure they are enjoying it so much.  Like a typical boxer puppy, she likes to stand on her hind legs and "box" at the cats with her front feet.  The other cats aren't quite sure what to make of it, but Artemis is very willing to box right back with her.  I'm just not sure he's playing like she is. 

Bella will meet Remi and Noelle tomorrow.  I think she is going to love playing with Noelle.  Although once again I will have the issue of trying to catch the attention of two deaf dogs playing together.  With one deaf dog playing with a hearing dog, I just have to get the attention of the hearing dog to make the deaf dog stop and look at me.  Then I can give the deaf dog commands using sign language.  But with two deaf dogs, it's a little more complicated.  I will have to figure something else out! 

Puppies!

This is Daisy and her eight puppies - Czar, Pumpkin, Martin, Cutie Pie, Elizabeth, Little Home G, Charles and Becky.  Daisy was found searching through a dumpster trying to find enough food to eat.  She is incredibly skinny, and it's amazing that her puppies are as fat and healthy as they are. 

Daisy and her puppies are now safe in foster care and they are being spoiled rotten. 

The family who is fostering them has kids - and they have friends - and last time I talked to the foster mom she said there were eleven people at her house taking care of the puppies right then... and there are only eight puppies!  These have got to be some of the best-socialized, best-trained puppies ever.

Daisy has gorgeous blue eyes, and it looks like her puppies may have inherited the same color eyes.  Most of the puppies have blue eyes, but three of them have one blue eye and one gray eye.  There are five girls and three boys. 

Here is Darean, showing she is up for the challenge of caring for the puppies!

This is Tiara with Daisy.  

And here is Mika with Pumpkin.

I love hearing about puppies who are lucky enough to end up like this.  There are so many out there right now, alone and without adequate food or shelter.  The good news is tonight there are eight less puppies shivering in the cold, and one less momma dog digging in a dumpster to find enough food to eat.  So thank you to Melanie and her family, and to the workers and volunteers at the St. Charles County Pet Adoption Center who made this possible! 

Happy Thanksgiving!!

Remember Joker?  He's the little pit bull puppy that was dumped on the side of the road.  Someone felt compassion for him and took him to their home.  They gave him food, medical care, a safe place to stay, and then they searched for a loving, permanent home for him.  What a great example they have set for their children, family and friends.   

And this puppy?  He has a similar story.  This is Petey, and he was found alone in some bushes, abandoned by his people.  Someone found him, felt compassion for him, and brought him to PetSmart so he would not die alone in the bushes.  Then an All Paws volunteer took him into her home, gave him medical care, affection and love simply because she felt compassion for him as well.  Now, like Joker, Petey is available for adoption and looking for a forever home.  And in the meantime, the nice family who saved Joker from the side of the road is taking care of both Petey and Joker.

These are two lucky puppies. 

Celebration of Lights

The city of O'Fallon, MO has an annual drive-through Christmas light display at Fort Zumwalt Park.  Each scene is designed and funded by local organizations, churches and businesses.  All Paws Rescue is one of the local organizations that participates each year.  So if you get a chance to visit, make sure to look for the All Paws display.

The event was started in 1991, and it attracts over 8,000 vehicles each year, and over 5,000 individuals on walk-through night.  The one-mile long display has over 1 million lights!   I set up five of those lights.  Okay technically they probably don't count the spotlights as lights.  But I helped to set up a few of the spotlights, and the Santa in this picture.  Other All Paws volunteers did the rest of the All Paws scene set-up.  They did a good job. 

Here's a close-up picture of the manger scene, with one of my favorite reindeer - Binky the reindeerdog!  He was just a temporary guest though - I don't think he'll be there every night.  He has better things to do, like sniffing out hidden Christmas presents.  And cookies.  I think Christmas might be Binky's favorite time of the year. 

There is also a walk-through night on December 8th between 6:00pm and 9:00pm.  On that night, you can walk through the park, visit with Santa and his reindeer, and visit booths filled with holiday crafts, gifts, and fesitval food.  There will be fireworks at 7:25pm. 

All Paws will be selling hot chocolate and cookies - yum!  Please stop by and say hello.  I may be helping to sell  the hot chocolate and cookies, but they may have me doing something different since I can't be trusted around cookies.  Binky and I have that in common.

Click here for hours, cost and directions.

Blogging

I've made some new friends since I started writing this blog.  It's great to find other people out there with similar interests, and to read about their lives as well.  Here are some of the interesting people I've met through my blog:

Amanda - she lives in Minnesota, and she takes the best pictures ever.  I love this picture she took of her son at Halloween with her dog and two foster dogs.  She's also super-nice and gave me some photography hints and encouragement.  She fosters pit bulls, and has an adorable son.  You can visit her blog here.

Ellen - she is the founder of the St. Louis Senior Dog Project, and she finds homes for senior dogs like Sara.  Sara lived most of her life chained up outdoors in North Dakota, but thanks to Ellen and many other volunteers, Sara is now in a wonderful home.  Ellen takes in the senior dogs that many others give up on, and does an amazing job finding them homes.  It's great to hear about others in the St. Louis area that I may have never known about if it weren't for the Internet and blogging.  You can read more from Ellen's blog here. 

Sara - This time Sara is the human, and Layla is the dog.  I just checked out Sara's blog today when she left a recent comment on one of my blog posts, and I am very impressed (and jealous).  Not only has she adopted and then helped a dog with a lot of issues, but she also does all those things that interest me (dog training, obedience, rally, agility, etc) that I never seem to find time for.  You can check out her blog here.

 



And I would be remiss if I did not include my friends Angie and Rhonda.  I did not meet them through blogging, but they both write excellent blogs about rescue and they have become good friends of mine.

Angie not only inspired me to start this blog by reading hers, but she has always continued to give me help with rescue questions and photography questions. She's a professional photographer and puts up with my questions like "if I am using a lens that doesn't have a zoom, do I actually have to MOVE to take the picture?"  Seriously, I asked her this on Saturday, and not only did she not laugh at me, but she assured me that yes, I did actually have to move the camera and there was no secret button I didn't know about.  You can read her blog here.

Rhonda is one of the best writers I've ever met.  I always look forward to seeing new posts on her blog.  She's also an awesome photographer, and another crazy rescuer like me who takes care of too many dogs and cats, and loves every minute of it.  You can view her blog here.

Saturday Adoptions

I got to see a lot of my old friends at adoptions on Saturday.  I even saw some of the Heartland foster pets that I had at my house temporarily in the past.  Some of them remembered me.  Some of them pretended they didn't. 

This is Jackson.  He is the cat who my niece named Princess.  This is before we knew he was a boy.  Jackson went to my friend Julie to be fostered, and he is doing great.  I excitedly greeted him, and he barely opened his eyes, looked at me, and then went right back to sleep.  I tried not to take it personally - I know how important naps are to cats.  He really did used to like me, even though I called him Princess. Not that anyone would guess he ever knew me from the way he ignored me. They had to get out the feather toy to get him to lift up his head long enough for me to take this photo.  How embarrassing. 

This is Rusty, being held by my friend Barb.  Rusty stayed with me for a few weeks, several months ago when he was a tiny kitten.  I fell in love with him and came really close to adopting him.  He's an awesome cat - very affectionate and loving.  See him reaching out in the picture?  He's reaching out to me saying how he loves me.  Okay not really - it was that feather toy again.  But I did hold him and he did seem happy about it.  I'll have to settle for that. 

This is Athena.  I temporarily fostered her at the same time as Rusty.  They aren't littermates, but they were put together at the animal control facility where they were turned in as kittens, and they've been in foster care together ever since.  Athena is a beautiful fluffy cat that probably needs to be in a home without other cats.  She is a bit of a diva.  Remember the wet cat contest?  That was Athena in the picture.  She looks much better when she's dry.  She was another one not so happy to see me - I think she remembered the baths I gave her. 

KERMIT!  My guy.  The reason I am a dog person more than a cat person.  When I came up to him and said "Hi Kermit!", he didn't ignore me, or go back to sleep, or pretend he didn't know who I was.  He got excited, and he showed it!  He was as happy to see me as I was to see him.  And that made me feel good.  I love this dog.  I've talked about him several times in the past, and he's always on my mind.  I've even asked if I can foster him, as soon as I can make room for him.  I just miss him so much.  It's nice to know he misses me too. 

My Rejects

My mom called my special needs foster pets "rejects".  I have been giving her a hard time ever since.  I know what she meant - they aren't perfect, and they were rejected by someone before they get to me.  And even after I get them, they are rejected by many potential adopters because of their special needs.  I understand why most people don't want a special needs pet.  I know they take extra work, and extra time, and not everyone has that to give.  But I think they give extra love that makes it all worthwhile.  So sometimes I seek out the rejects. 

Some animal rescue people take on really difficult cases, like bottle-feeding newborn kittens who need around-the-clock care, or taking on a dog that requires eyedrops several times a day.  Even if I didn't have a full-time job and was capable of doing that sort of rescue, I don't think I have what it takes to make that commitment.  I admire those who do, but I am content saving my favorite type of rejects - deaf dogs and pit bulls.  So when my recent special needs pets were adopted and they were no longer rejects, I decided to look for another one of my favorites and see if I could help them.  I went looking for one and found three! 

Mia is a senior pit bull.  I don't know why she was abandoned by her family, but she's been to several adoption events as an All Paws dog and so far she has not been adopted, due to her breed and her age.  I fell in love with her when I first met her.  Her current foster mom lives pretty far away so can't get her to adoption events very easily, so I offered to foster her since I could get her to adoption events every week.  I'll try her after Thanksgiving and see how she does with Noelle, and if she does okay, she'll be my newest reject... I mean foster dog. 

I was sad that my last deaf foster dog was adopted so quickly - I really enjoy working with deaf dogs - so I contacted another rescue group who has had a deaf pit bull at their shelter for quite some time.  This is Boo Bear.  She was living in a car before she went to the shelter, so she's never been in a house.  She needs some work with house-training and manners, but the rescue group who has her absolutely loves her.  I can't wait to go meet her.  I don't know if I'll take her home or not, but it's a definite possibility. 

Of course after offering to try out Mia and Boo Bear, I got an e-mail.  The heading just said "Deaf Boxer Pup".  I immediately started laughing, and said to myself "you've got to be kidding!".  Because I had after all just offered to take an adult deaf pit bull and an adult senior pit bull, and both were likely to be long-term fosters.  But I just couldn't resist - even before opening the e-mail I thought "Okay, I'll take it!".  I'm hopeless.  Bella is a deaf four-month-old Boxer puppy. She's become a reject because she is deaf.  I'll start her on some basic dog training using hand signals, and hopefully she won't be a reject for long.

Update on Orca and Chenille

This is my foster kitten Orca, all curled up in her crate during adoptions at PetSmart last week.  She's the last one left of the Black/White Sea Creature litter (wow, I really need to come up with a shorter description of Penguin, Puffin and Orca as a group.)  Anyway, she's been going to adoption events for a month now and still hasn't been adopted.  This amazes me since she's so tiny and sweet and perfect.  I love this kitten. 

She loves to climb on my lap and just lay there and purr for hours.  She also plays really well with the other cats, and as you can see, her and my cat Merlin have become close friends.  They are sitting here on my computer chair waiting for me to get back and cuddle with them some more.  Don't they look impatient?  No really, they do.  They miss me, I know it. 

This week I've had Chenille, my previous foster Pomeranian, back for a visit, and last night both her and Orca were curled up on my lap together.  Fortunately they're both very small!   



Chenille is living at another foster home who plans to adopt her once she is ready for adoption.  She's had some health issues so for now she is still a foster dog.  I enjoyed having her stay with me this week.  I am waiting until after Thanksgiving to take in any new foster pets, and it'll be very strange to come home to only Remi, Noelle and the cats.  Fortunately Chenille has been there this week to make things easier on me.  And I already know who I'm taking in next (stay tuned tomorrow!) so I have some new fosters to look forward to in about a week. 

Dear beta testers...

You guys are great.  Some of your test adoption applications made me laugh out loud.  I especially enjoyed the one from the person who said their pet's primary caregiver would be the dog (among many other funny answers).

I do appreciate all of you testing the website for me and offering suggestions for improvement.  I've incorporated several of your suggestions into the website, and would love to hear more ideas to make it even better.  You can visit the website here:  http://allpawsrescue.info/.

FIV Cats

I'm sure that some of you who are reading this know much more about FIV than I do.  But for those of you who don't know much about it, here's a quick lesson.  I'll try to make it painless.

- FIV (Feline Immuno-deficiency Virus) is a slow virus that affects a cat's immune system over a period of years. 

Chester

- FIV is a cat-only disease and cannot be spread to humans or other non-felines.

Bart

-  FIV cats most often live long, healthy, and relatively normal lives with no symptoms at all.

Arnie

- FIV is not easily passed between cats. It cannot be spread casually - like in litter boxes, water and food bowls, or when snuggling and playing. It is rarely spread from a mother to her kittens.

Hallie

- The virus can be spread through blood transfusions, badly infected gums, or serious, penetrating bite wounds. (Bite wounds of this kind are extremely rare, except in free-roaming, unneutered tomcats.)

Milo

- A neutered cat, in a home, is extremely unlikely to infect other cats, if properly introduced.

Morris

- Many vets are not educated about FIV since the virus was only discovered 15 years ago.

Theo

- FIV-positive cats should be kept as healthy as possible. Keep them indoors and free from stress, feed them a high-quality diet, and treat any secondary problems as soon as they arise.

Turner

FIV Facts courtesy of Best Friends Animal Society

As you probably guessed, each of the cats shown above is a cat waiting for a home.  They've each been waiting a long time, because they tested positive for FIV.  The crazy part is in some cases they may not even have FIV.  If they were ever vaccinated against it, they will show as positive for the virus for the rest of their lives.  And even if they do have FIV, they may go their entire life without ever showing symptoms.  FIV positive cats can live long, healthy, happy lives.  So please, if you're considering adopting a cat, consider one of these very worthy FIV cats. 

All Paws Adoption Events

We have fun at our adoption events.  We throw balls for the dogs to see how well they can catch them.  This is Shady.  He looooooves his ball. 

Sometimes we dress up the dogs in fun collars.  This is Morty.  He's getting a head start on the holidays with his cute Santa scarf.  I hope he finds a home in time for Christmas! 

This is Beckett.  I love this dog. 

Doesn't she look like she's having fun?

This is Momma Mia.  She seemed to be saying "How embarrassing. They make me wear this silly collar and sit in this chair just to take my picture."  Secretly I think she liked it. 

Sometimes when we're really bored we wrap up a dog's head in bandages and ask for money to have his ear sewn back on. 

I'm kidding!!!!  Unfortunately Bobby Hill had a small run-in with another dog and had to have his ear bandaged up.  Here's a picture of his nemesis:

Okay - so the other guy didn't really look like that... but I bet in Bobby Hill's mind he does!

Farley was adopted!

Yes it's true.  I have adopted out all four of my foster dogs this week.  I want to be happy about it.  I'm trying to be happy about it.  In fact, part of me IS happy about it.  I am glad that each dog found a home that will hopefully last forever.  But there's always a part of me that worries when a dog is adopted.  I worry that the family won't know what that dog needs, or that the dog will be scared in its new home.  I can't handle worrying about four dogs at once - especially since three of them are hard-to-place dogs.  They weren't supposed to all find homes in the same week!  I can't stand it.  I'm pathetic.  If you adopted Lizzy, Bear, Dodger or Farley, and you're reading this, PLEASE let me know if they're doing okay. 

Okay, on to details about Farley.  Farley was awesome - he got a ton of attention all weekend, and everyone loved him.  Many people were impressed that he was so well behaved and knew so many obedience commands in spite of the fact that he is deaf.  It was a great educational opportunity to teach people a little bit about deaf dogs.  I can't take any credit for his training - he went through the Humane Society of Missouri's shelter dog training program and learned basic obedience such as "sit" and "down" through sign language from their classes.  They did an awesome job with him! 

Farley went home with a very nice couple.  The wife met him on Saturday, then talked about nothing else to her husband all day on Saturday and Sunday, so on Sunday they came back up to PetSmart and adopted him.  I think he will be very loved in his new home. 

We had one other dog adoption this weekend.  Bistro, an American Bulldog, found his new home as well!