Wednesday, May 3, 2006

Ruby

As told by Angela, a foster Mom for pugs through MAPR.

I happened upon an ad in the paper about a found female pug wandering around a neighborhood. I called the number and found out it was a vet’s office. They were closed by the time I called on Saturday. I left a message letting them know who I was and if I could be of any help to please give me a call.

Monday came and went, then Tuesday. And it just donned on me that I forgot to call back on Monday to check the status of the lost pug! I called and got a hold of someone and they told me they still had her, and that someone from another rescue was on their way to see her. I was relieved that someone was going to take care of her. I said thanks and left my name and phone number.

I emailed my co-rescue group to let them know, and then I got an e-mail back saying they told the other rescue agency that they had a foster right down the street, so they handed her over to MAPR. So Thursday, I am off to see Miss lost pug! I arrived at the vet’s office, and walked into the clinic and heard this sweetest little barking sounds coming from behind the counter, I leaned over and what do you think I saw? A little pudgie pug walking around like she owned the place- I guess that’s why they were calling her princess.

They vet's office told me a lady found the lost pug wandering around, and brought her in. They placed an ad in the paper and NO ONE CAME! Someone must have died because I can not for the life of me figure out why (if you were able) you would not have looked for or found this girl. I also couldn't help but wonder how she got out in the first place. Well, they can’t tell their story so you have to just imagine.

The vet's office did very good by Ruby. When she arrived she was covered in fleas. The vet's office gave her a bath, cleaned her ears, checked for parasites and gave her all the necessary shots. I scooped her up out of the assistant's arms and carried her to my car and sat her in the front seat and said “well, you’re on your way to a new start girl”; and off we went.

She wanted to sit in my lap (she’s 28 lbs). It was uncomfortable, but I let her. She was anxious to see where she was going, but I am sure she never dreamt she was going to go see a 4.5 mo old female pug and a wiener dog. We got home, and walked in, and you would have thought she was just coming home……..I just knew at that point……..girlfriend was staying here. But I did not tell my family that, I kept it a secret for a while, until I was 100% sure that Ruby would be staying with us.

Then I got the email that made my stomach cringe…..one from the rescue……..saying…..lets get some pictures up on the site so that we can find Ruby a forever home! OMG!!!!!!!!!! I was ill…….I could not let this happened….so I emailed my coordinator and told her of my dilemma, hoping they would not be angry with me because I failed my 1st foster assignment. She emailed me back, and was very understanding, and told me what do to next.

Ruby is still with us today, and she is just a blessing to us. I love her so dearly and she loves me in return, and we live happily ever after.

Wednesday, March 8, 2006

Nelson & Punky

Shortly after returning from their honeymoon, Carrie and Nick began the search for a small dog to help make their new home complete. During their search they found Nelson and Naomi, two pugs, on the Seal Beach Animal Care Center’s (SBACC) website.

Nelson and Naomi had been through quite a bit before they were taken in by volunteers at SBACC. Both of the pugs had been found in a local shopping center and they both were infected with sarcoptic mange. While each was brought into the SBACC at separate times, volunteers quickly determined that Nelson and Naomi were from the same family and were best of friends. Naomi’s mange was considerably worse than Nelson’s and so much of her fur was missing that she was described as looking like some creature from a “Star Wars” movie.

Since sarcoptic mange is contagious to both animals and humans, the Seal Beach Animal Care Center had to take extra precautions to make sure other dogs in their care and the volunteers of the center did not also become infected. Before Nelson and Naomi could be walked, volunteers had to suit up and put on surgical booties, a surgical gown and gloves. Despite the extra care they required, Nelson and Naomi quickly won over the hearts of all the volunteers at SBACC. Since they were both infected they were able to share the same run and cuddle and comfort each other while they were recovering.

After visiting the SBACC website, Nick and Carrie arranged for an interview with Nelson. When Nick and Carrie met Nelson it was love at first site and after their interview with the handsome pug they knew they wanted to adopt him. SBACC was thrilled to have found such a loving home for Nelson, but they also wanted to adopt Nelson and Naomi together since they were so close and had come from the same home.

Nick and Carrie had seen Naomi on the website and they originally did not setup an interview with her because her condition was so bad, but after realizing that Nelson and Naomi were so close, they both agreed to interview with Naomi as well. Before they could go to see Naomi, Nick and Carrie had to suit up in surgical gowns, gloves and booties since she was still contagious. During the interview, Carrie held Naomi and Naomi rested her little head on Carrie’s shoulder and flashed her big brown eyes. Carrie’s heart melted and both Nick and Carrie knew that despite Naomi’s condition that adopting both was the right thing to do for their family.

Shortly after their interviews with Nelson and Naomi, Nick and Carrie were able to bring their two little ones to their new home despite the fact that Naomi was not completely free from the mange. To help keep the two pugs together, SBACC allowed Nick and Carrie to foster Naomi until she was given a clean bill of health. It took 4 months before all of Naomi’s mange was finally gone and during that time SBACC graciously paid for all of Naomi’s many visits to the vet. Once given the all clear, Nick and Carrie were finally able to officially adopt Naomi and after few months of much needed TLC, Nelson and Naomi began to thrive in their new home.

Nick and Carrie soon discovered that Naomi was full of energy and big dog attitude. They decided to rename her Punky, a name they felt matched her personality and her bright and shiny disposition. While in the loving couple’s care, Punky’s gorgeous coat grew back and the little pug made a full recovery.

Nelson also made a full recovery and was able to overcome his hand-shyness. Carrie and Nick nicknamed Nelson “The Lover” since he is such a gentle and sweet boy. Nelson is definitely an extrovert and loves being around all people, although he isn’t too fond of the neighborhood cats. But most of all, Nelson enjoys spending time with Punky. The two are joined at the hip and love to cuddle.

Being just married, Carrie and Nick treat Nelson and Punky as their children. Carrie describes the pair as “spoiled rotten and loving every minute of it.” For a pug, it doesn’t get any better than that!

Friday, February 17, 2006

Louise

Meet Louise! Louise is a lucky pug that was given a second chance at life when she was rescued by her new forever home. Read on to find out more about Louise's Rescue Story and how she has adjusted to life in her new home. As told by Louise's owners: Aug 2004 - preparation An employee from the SPCA informs my wife that they have a small dog he thinks we would like. We had been there earlier looking for an appartment-sized adult dog to adopt. We didn't want a puppy because we were both working and felt we couldn't really devote the extra time a puppy would require. So my wife calls me and starts the conversation out by saying "Don't kill me, but could you go over to the SPCA this afternoon to see a dog we might adopt?" As it turns out, when I went over to the SPCA, they not only had the aforementioned dog, but they also had a Pug that had been removed from the previous owner's care due to neglect. Her previous owner was breeding English Mastiffs and had over sixty of these dogs, many being kept in 4 foot by 4 foot crates. The owner was alone and did not have any hired help to maintain the animals, so they were left to live in their own filth most of the time. Many dogs had severe kidney failure from prolonged exposure to their own urine, etc. Some dogs were literally starving to death. It was a pretty bad situation, and when I visited the SPCA, they had about 35 of the Mastiffs at the compound. It would take the SPCA a couple weeks to get legal ownership of the dogs, so they could not be adopted until then. As for the Mastiffs, a rescue operation out of Calgary, AB came in, paid for all of the medical costs required for the dogs, and pre-arranged adoptions for all of the dogs to qualified homes, all of which had prior experience with raising this breed of dog. So virtually every one of the dogs that was recoverable was placed in an ideal home. Sadly, many were in too poor health and some didn't survive. My wife and I decided to spend time with both of the small dogs and we would go over to walk them regularly. We both eventually fell in love with the Pug, and started making plans to adopt her into our home. As a rescue dog, there were behavioural considerations that we had to think about. This dog was living in it's own filth for quite a while, so we had to assume that it was not house trained. Also, we had no idea how she would be around children or other animals. We already had cats, and didn't want things to be disrupted too badly. We were discussing names for the dog one night, and the conversation went from serious to silly. At one point, I suggested we call her 'Wheezie' and my wife asked me "What, like George Jefferson's wife?" That kind of settled things. The dog would be named "Louise", or "Wheezie" as a nickname, named in part for the TV character, and in part for the obvious pun on her breathing. Sept 2004 - Louise moves in As it turns out, Louise was in fact house trained. The only accidents we have ever had were due to us not taking her out of the house often enough, and we learned pretty quick to put her on a schedule. Also, Louise was pretty manic for attention, from just about anybody nearby. She would run from person to person, begging for attention above all else. She was also like this with other dogs, which wasn't always well recieved. As such, Louise is usually friendly toward other dogs so long as they are also friendly to her. She can get a bit aggressive if the other dog is 'rude'. Louise is simply fantastic with children. I have had complete strangers come up and play with Louise, even pick her up and she has never shown any aggression. She simply loves attention from people. It took about a month for Louise to start wagging her tail. She was simply that stressed before moving in with us, and it took a while for her to relax and accept that we were going to stay with her. Now, her tail wags every time we come home. She continues to try to socialize with our cats, and most of the time they tolerate her. They don't like when she chases them though, but at least they can jump up onto something tall to get out of harm's way. Sometimes they forget themselves and we catch them snoozing in the sun together. Louise is a special dog and a permanent member of our family. Since being with us she has lost a little weight and now breathes easier because of it. We have started giving her an occular lube and have seen positive results (her eyes are much clearer now.) The vet we use just happens to be the same person who was involved in the initial rescue effort, so he knows Louise's background very well. His best guess at her age is at around seven years so we hope to have lots of time with her yet. I suppose I could go on, but the continuation of her story is already documented on Heavy Breathing.