Pupdate: Katie & Suri's Adventures Continue

Ultimate Cuteness!

Hey everybody! Thought I'd post a little update on my favorite girls, Katie and Suri since the focus has been on Raven recently. They're both recovered from their colds and are doing great. Suri finally weighs over 5 pounds (6.4!) and was able to get spayed today! She's feeling a little drunk, but is doing fine. Now they're both on track to go on transport to SSR in NJ next weekend. I am so excited for these two sweet girls!

Katie and Suri absolutely LOVE playing outside together. They love to play in the bushes and in the leaf piles. Don't worry, I always check for ticks and such afterward! Katie's pretty rough on Suri, but she holds her own quite well. Suri's getting much bigger...she's almost half mama's size! We've seen her torso stretch longer and her ears get bigger and floppier. Her fur is getting fluffier and looks like it might grow in long. She still doesn't look anything like Katie or a dachshund, though. Whatever she is, she's a cute little monster! Her teeth are all coming in nicely (read: SHARPLY) and her gums are nice and pink. They were super pale when we got her because she'd lost so much blood to fleas. So happy to see her thriving!

Katie's skin/fur before and after!

Katie is also doing well. She recovered just fine after her spay two weeks ago. She loves to play and snuggle. I think she's goofier than Suri. Mama Katie's fur looks SO much better! I've kept her on several supplements to spur healing and fur growth: Pet Kelp, Scratch-Attack Anti-Itch Gel, therapeutic levels of fish oil each day, Biotin, and Zymox medicated shampoo. It's really made a difference! Check out her skin/fur before and after pictures. These pictures were taken about 3 weeks apart. Pretty awesome progress! She still has the big bald spot on her left side where the skin was really bad, but it's healed nicely. I'm not sure the fur will ever grow back there because the skin is so scarred, but at least it doesn't bother her anymore. The rest of her coat really looks great. I'll have to write some product plug blog posts on some of these things I've used on Katie's skin...stay tuned for that.


I have to say, Katie and Suri are among my favorite fosters. If I had to rank them, here's how it stands: #1 Pickles, #2 Cowboy, #3 Katie and Suri. They are both just SO SWEET, loving, cheerful, and happy-go-lucky. Not to mention they fit right into the rest of our pack, which I very much appreciate. Neither of them ever causes a fuss over anything. They just roll with the punches and are happy to go along with whatever the day has in store. In the world of dogs, it doesn't get much easier than that! These girls will surely make somebody very happy in NJ. I can't help but cross my fingers that they get adopted together because they are quite bonded, but I think they'd be fine either way. Can't wait to see what happens! Enjoy the pictures and videos.

Pictorial Pupdate: Mama & 10 Pups

Mama Molly in the rescue barn

I know y'all remember our mama and her litter of ten adorable puppies we had back in September. Guess what? They're growing up FAST! They're all thriving under the care of Wendi at Pound Puppies N Kittens in Social Circle, GA. At 7 weeks old, they are almost ready for adoption. Mama Molly is doing well, but she's still a little shy and won't be available for adoption for a while longer. They had some pretty goofy shelter names that have since been replaced with...drum roll...Harry Potter names! I love it! Check out the comparisons and enjoy the cuteness! If you want to donate, apply to adopt, or share the puppies' info, please use this link to visit Pound Puppies N Kittens' website: http://www.ppnk.org/dogs-pups.html

5 weeks ago...they were 2 weeks old...

Just look at how different Molly's little girl looks! 2 weeks old (left) to 7 weeks old (right).

Diggory (top left), Dobby (middle), Fred (top right), Gryff (bottom left), and Hagrid (bottom right)

George (top left), Harry (middle), Hermione (top right), Lupin (bottom left), and Neville (bottom right)

Check out this video of the pups having a blast in the rescue barn: https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10202317360638499&set=vb.1326172413&type=2&theater

Pupdate: Raven's Recovery

Left: Before; Right: 2 weeks later

Ok, I'm finally getting a chance to sit down and type this update. I picked Raven up from the vet last Monday. Dr. Montgomery showed me how to change her bandage, which I've done every day. Drew was out of town all week, so a couple of friends were kind enough to pop over and help hold her still while I put fresh bandaging on her leg. It's super easy and I've really enjoyed gaining experience with wound care. Raven's injuries are healing very nicely. The minor scrapes on her back feet and shoulder are almost gone and the fur is growing back over them. The underarm wound is doing ok; it's not as great as it could be but there's no infection or anything bad. She popped the stitches and licked at it a bit the first few days, so it's just a little more

Raven's fancy 80s bandage

raw and irritated than we'd like to see. The big awful carpal injury is getting way better. The vet used the phrase "a world of difference" to describe how it looked when we went for her follow-up on Friday, so that's awesome. You can see in the picture how much the tissue has filled in compared to the pictures I posted of it the day we drove her to the vet. That's just two weeks of progress! It's amazing how quickly dogs heal.

Silly girl!

In my very first post I said part of this blog's purpose is to serve as an outlet for me through our fostering challenges, as I knew they'd crop up eventually. Well, our journey with Raven fits squarely into that category. Now I mentioned briefly that Drew was out of town all week. Just in case I haven't expressed it clearly in the past, I want everyone to know how much he helps me with all the dog stuff (and everything else, for that matter). My rescue friends are always quick to comment about how lucky I am that he is as involved as I am. They're right. I REALLY missed his help this week. As it turns out, fostering a GSD with serious injuries + juggling five other dogs that she's incompatible with (one being Satan's Chihuahua and another being an infant puppy) + law school + BY MYSELF = a freaking train wreck. Surprise! Who might have thought? Sigh.

I love this dog bed!

The first night/day with a new foster is always tough, for sure. My first night with Raven was beyond an utter disaster. She completely destroyed my giant 48" crate. She managed to pop a few wires and just ram straight through the front panel. She locked herself in my bathroom and turned on all the faucets. We're talking sinks, tub, everything. The sad, mopey, timid dog we left at the vet the week before existed no more. Raven was at max energy and I had to make sure she a) didn't hurt any of the other dogs, b) didn't re-injure her wounds, and c) didn't tear the house down. One of my friends generously came and spent the night in my bed with my dogs so that I could sleep upstairs with Raven. I needed to stay with her until I could get a new crate. I got very little sleep that night, and even less the next night. Fortunately, a rescue friend who lives nearby loaned me a giant hard plastic crate that Raven can't escape. And hey, she didn't eat any of the other dogs and didn't wreck anything but my crate. Things definitely could have been way worse.

With each day, things get a little better. My dogs had to sleep without me all week, I had to sleep in the guest room with Raven so she wouldn't bark all night, and I spent every ounce of energy each day trying to balance the six of them while keeping them separate, but we managed. Drew changed his flight to the red eye and got home Friday morning. He'll be gone again for the next two weeks, but at least I've caught up on my sleep while he's been home this weekend. We've finally gotten Raven to sleep quietly in her crate during the night. This means I can sleep in my bed with my dogs again. We're all happy about that.

At this point, the worst part of it all is that Raven isn't able to integrate with our dogs. When she snarled at Oliver and went into stare-down mode, we knew we couldn't take the introductions any further. Oliver is as docile, mellow, and straight up neutral as a dog could possibly be. If Raven didn't want to coexist nicely with him, there is no way she'd be able to deal with our other crazies. It just isn't at all worth the risk of someone getting hurt. I knew it was unlikely that she'd be able to integrate with our guys, but I was a little thrown by the exact dynamics. Raven is not at all dog-reactive. She doesn't care when she hears them in the other room or sees them through the window. We can even take them on walks alongside each other with no problem. The issue arises the second any personalized interaction occurs between me or Drew and one of our other dogs. That really pisses her off. Example: She was totally cool with Oliver sitting in the living room near her, but the moment I patted his head or directed my attention toward him in any way, she stiffened and flashed her teeth. So, again, she's not reactive or aggressive. She's people possessive. We are hers and she has zero interest in sharing us with other dogs. Consequently, everyone stays separated. This makes my life a living hell, but it keeps everyone safe. It's only a few short weeks after all.

Burning some energy and strengthening that leg!

I've carried on long enough about the challenges we face with Raven. Let me tell you all about Raven's great qualities. Raven is SUPER SWEET. She absolutely adores all people, new or familiar, male or female. Like I said earlier, I've had friends come by to help out this week and she's showered them with affection. Raven loves to play fetch, even with her bum leg. She really enjoys spending time out on the deck and in the yard. Like a typical GSD, Raven is very smart and picks up on everything in a flash. She knows "sit", "shake", "go lay on your bed", and is beautifully housebroken. She sleeps in her crate quietly now, but she will also sleep on her dog bed like an angel all night as long as it's next to the people bed. She likes going for walks and doesn't pull on the leash. I think Raven would very much like to be an only dog, but she really is going to make somebody an amazing companion. Not to mention she's absolutely beautiful!

Here's the bottom line(s): Drew wanted to foster a real true GSD and I wanted to broaden my experience with doggy medical stuff beyond heartworm treatment. We got exactly what we asked for. I knew Drew would be traveling so much this month and I knew it would be a challenge, but we signed up for it anyway. We made a commitment to short-term foster for CPR and we are not in the business of breaking promises. We will see Raven through her recovery and then send her to the CPR facility. It's going to be a less than ideal next two weeks, but we will make it work and save a life along the way. This learning curve we're riding is steep, but it's worth it. We now know our limits even that much better. Fostering is a great adventure and I know it has made me a stronger, patient, and more compassionate person. If you'd like to apply to adopt Raven or donate to Canine Pet Rescue in her honor, please visit their site: http://www.caninepetrescue.com/home.html

Raven: A Rough Start for a Sweet Girl

Still smiling despite her pain

Raven is a wonderfully sweet German Shepherd mix girl who came into DeKalb County Animal Services as a stray with a terribly injured leg. We are fostering her for Canine Pet Rescue while she recovers from her injuries. The first order of business was to get her straight to the vet. The drive from the shelter to the vet was agonizingly long. Raven is such a trooper and did incredibly well in the back of the car for almost a whole hour, despite being in tremendous pain. We felt so bad for her...knowing she'd had those nasty wounds for at least 4 days. *Don't get me wrong, the folks at the shelter did everything they could do for her, including keeping her on pain medicine and antibiotics*. Regardless, we wished we could just time warp her to the vet. Every time I'd look back to check on her, she'd give me a big sweet kiss. You can see her soul in her eyes. She never once fussed at us when we were getting her in and out of the car.

Armpit wound after sutures

The carpal injury

Raven has spent a full week at CPR's vet in Dacula. I'm going to pick her up this afternoon and bring her home. Leaving her there was hard, but we knew she was in the best hands. The worst of her injuries is an awful wound to her front right leg at the carpal joint. The tissue was torn away, exposing the bone and tendons. The vet cut away the dead tissue and bandaged the wound. He explained that you don't suture those types of injuries; you've got to keep them bandaged until the tissue granulates (regrows) and fills in the wound so the bone is no longer exposed. That's the biggest reason she had to spend all week at the vet. Connective tissue takes time to reform. She has another wound up under her right arm that was more of a gash. The vet had to debride it, put a drain in it, and suture it. Her mouth was bruised, her nose scratched, and she had some other minor owies on her feet and shoulders. We're not sure if her injuries came from a dog fight or from getting hit by a car.

On way to vet

While Raven was under for all of her trauma treatment, the vet also tested her for heartworms. I cannot tell you how incredibly happy I am that she is HW NEGATIVE! So exciting and really surprising. It seems almost every Shepherd that winds up in our animal control turns up HW+. A couple more pieces of good news for Raven: her teeth are in good shape, she's a healthy 60 pounds, and although she's not been spayed it does not appear as though she's ever had puppies. She was actually in heat when we took her to the vet, which means she would have been ready to breed by the end of the week. This girl is super lucky she got off the streets when she did.

Raven will stay with us until her leg heals. After that point, she'll go to the CPR facility out in Dacula until she gets adopted. CPR specializes in GSD rescue. They do amazing training and have a remarkable kennel. I can't wait to see what this girl's future has in store. Paws crossed for Raven's speedy and full recovery! We'll keep you posted.

In the meantime, please follow this link if you'd like to donate to Canine Pet Rescue so they can help Raven and others like her: http://www.caninepetrescue.com/how-you-can-help/donate.html
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Pupdate: Katie & Suri

Tired Suri (AKA Poopface)

My household has been super mega busy with dog stuff recently! With all the hoopla over Pickles leaving (he's doing pawsome, by the way) and some stuff going on with my own dogs (everybody's ok, just an ear infection for Oliver), I realized I'm overdue for posting a pupdate on Katie & Suri. I took them to the shelter vet to get spayed today. Hurray! This may not seem like the most ideal "hurray" situation ever, but it's such a hugely exciting thought that Katie will never have to have puppies again and that Suri will never have to go through that at all. A few days of pain is well worth a long, healthy lifetime.

Sleepy Katie

As it turned out, Suri still does not weigh enough to be spayed yet. She's 4 pounds and needs to be at least 5 before the shelter vet will operate on her. Boo. I was pretty surprised because she's such a stinkin hog...I thought for sure she'd weigh in. Oh well. But! She did get her second full round of shots and dewormer, hurray! So that's super awesome. So, she's got to hang out with us for another couple of weeks and gain that last pound before getting fixed. Once she's fixed and recovered, she can head to NJ to See Spot Rescued and await adoption. So we're probably looking at transport on November 2nd for Suri.

Suri chillin in her daytime pen

Mama Katie is successfully spayed. She is recovering now at home with us, not so comfortably but that's how it goes. Spay surgery is WAY more intrusive and major than neuter surgery. Sparing you all the obvious details, the vet has to cut through the abdominal muscles during a spay operation. Needless to say, that makes for a very sore doggy belly and a considerable recovery period. Now, hold on to your hats for the best news of the day: Katie is HW NEGATIVE!!!!!!! Woot! I am SO relieved and thrilled by this news, I can't even express myself. So as soon as she recovers fully from her spay, she'll be able to head to NJ. I imagine she'll be able to make the October 19 transport, unless SSR wants us to keep her with Suri until November 2 and send them together. We'll see.

Suri & Oliver

Both Katie and Suri have upper respiratory infections (URI). This is common in shelter dogs. They'll be on antibiotics for ten days and will feel much better soon. Katie's skin is doing a lot better, too. It's not so inflamed anymore and her fur is starting to fill back in. Suri is chasing her tail, climbing stairs, running wild in the yard, and even digging in the dirt. All in all, these gals are really doing great. Enjoy some new pictures and videos and stay tuned for more pupdates on Katie and Suri (be sure to adjust the movie quality to 720!) :-)

Happy Tail: PICKLES!

Love at first sight!

I cannot believe I am writing this post...Pickles has been adopted! I am so excited, it's stupid. The Pickles Project is finally complete. We sent him to New Jersey yesterday on the FODA transport bus. He arrived safely this morning and is already SO in love with his wonderful new mommies. We had Pickles (now Preston!) for 6 1/2 months. He came so tremendously far during that time. Despite having never met his new mommy before, he let her hug and kiss him right away when he got off the transport bus. No bites! This little dog's journey has not been easy, but he has made me so very proud. Seeing pictures of him all snuggled up and looking perfectly blissful brings peace to my broken heart. I know it will heal with time, but because of all the updates and photos it is already a million times better!

Goodbye, my blatch!

I can't even begin to describe how difficult it was for me to let Pickles go. I became so deeply attached to this little dude. Long-term fostering is not a cake walk. It's trying, emotionally draining, and it hurts so much more when it's time to say goodbye. At first I felt so bad for him, then about 2 months in I think I actually hated him for a couple weeks. He was so difficult and I was convinced he'd never get adopted. Then one day I realized a small part of me didn't want him to go. That small part became my whole heart very quickly. I fell completely in love with his poor little Chihuahua soul. A rescue friend of mine likes to say that the hardest fosters are always the hardest to let go. She's right. Pickles was such a project and I poured so much of my heart into helping him learn how to trust and love. He truly was an exercise in great patience, but it was worth every frustrating second of it. I left the shelter with a terrified, undersocialized, fear aggressive disaster dog and 6 1/2 months later waved goodbye to a bubbly, snuggly, loving companion. Pickles is still not perfect, but what dog ever is? Perfect is boring. What matters is that he's to the point where he can enjoy life with confidence and zeal.

Check out my new sweater!

I'm smiling in my sleep

Pickles's new mommies have been following his Facebook page for four months. They waited for him until he was ready. I am so glad they did and I know Pickles is, too. They are head over heels in love with him. Seeing how happy he looks already on his very first day with his new family erased all the pain I felt letting him go. It was just meant to be. They went shopping for sweaters right away because it's chilly up there and Picky has no fur. They also went for a nice hike in the woods to get to know each other a bit (look how pretty their hike was!). It wore Pickles out, so they went home and took a snuggly nap. I'm so happy that he had such an amazing first day of his furever! I'm also super excited that he lives mega close to his old buddy, Cowboy Cody! Can't wait to see the pictures of their reunion. I will have to post pictorial updates, for sure. HUGE thanks to everyone who shared Pickles's Facebook page, liked his photos, offered me moral support, and of course to Chrissy for personally delivering him to his new moms. 

I miss Pickles a ton. It's sad sitting in my reading chair without him, but I know he has such a love-filled life ahead. I'll always love him. Best of luck to you, my little Blatch, my Blatchy, my Picnic, my Pachelbahn, my Picky, my Packles, my Packle Wackle, my Pickman, my Pickwick, my Picks, my Pickwicky, my Proudly Pugnacious Pickles. You're the best little blatch a girl could ever ask for. Congratulations on finally finding your furever family!

Katie & Suri: Your Daily Dose of Adorable

Hold still while I get ya, Mama!

We likes to snuggles

Hey everyone! Just thought I'd write a little post letting you all know that Katie and Suri are doing great. Suri's learning new dog things every single day. She's barking, play bowing, climbing stairs, going down the stairs, and today she even did the dirt-scratching kick after she went potty! I'm having a blast watching her figure everything out. Mama Katie's really enjoying being a house dog. She got to go to lunch with me and Aunt Chrissy on Monday. We sat out on the patio and she soaked in the sunshine. She's a super sweet girl who I thought really deserved a little break from her puppy. Nothing too new to report, just that they're doing very well. Mostly, I just need an excuse to post a bunch of pictures and videos. Enjoy!

Katie Holmes & Suri Cruise: No Longer On Their Own

Just sayin'...

It's not every day you see a mama with only one puppy come into animal control. Y'all know we just temp fostered the houndy mama and her litter of 10, so when we saw this pitiful pair we just couldn't resist. Their intake photo interested me. You can see the independence and determination in both of them. Mama is alert and sitting up straight. Puppy is sitting tall next to mama, not hiding underneath or behind her. They both just kind of seem to be saying, "Yep, here we are. We made it this far, just the two of us. What's next?". When I got to the shelter and saw them in person, I knew I wasn't leaving without them. I took mama out without her puppy to see how she acted around people and other dogs. She was totally cool. When I walked back to her kennel, puppy was just sitting there just like she is in the intake picture. She wasn't fazed in the slightest. Ok then, off we go!

Adorable

The rescue group taking them is See Spot Rescued (SSR) in New Jersey. SSR likes their dogs to have famous first and last names, so Drew came up with Katie Holmes and Suri Cruise. We think it suits them well. Their shelter names were Becky (pup) and Darlene (mom). I thought those were really cute too, especially Becky for the puppy. Unfortunately, I didn't watch Roseanne growing up and so we didn't realize they actually already had celebrity names. Plus Drew is way too proud of himself for thinking up Katie and Suri given his profound lack of celebrity knowledge. So, Katie and Suri it is!

Katie's poor skin

Suri post-bath and sans fleas

Katie and Suri are both at good weights and seem to be in general good health. They were picked up as strays by an animal control officer a few days before I brought them home. Suri was completely infested with fleas. We used the shower handheld and bathed her with Dawn dish soap. They use that stuff on wildlife because it is so gentle and good at de-gunking. We washed her for about 15 minutes and the fleas just poured off of her the entire time. I have never seen so many fleas on one dog before, let alone a three pound dog like Suri. Poor thing. It was really bad. I can't believe she was still so strong with all those awful things leeching off of her. It makes me wonder if mama had one or two other pups that were just as infested and didn't make it. Who knows. I just know Suri felt so much better once we got rid of all those fleas. She's doing really well and only has some scabs from where the worst of the fleas were living on her. Mama Katie didn't have any on her, but she'd been chewed up by them really badly. Her skin is a WRECK. It's just horrible. At the shelter, I noticed she had pretty serious hair loss going on, but I didn't see the full extent of it until we got her home. Her poor skin is just torn up. Dogs can have severe allergic reactions to a single flea bite. When they scratch and chew and dig at their own skin it just makes

everything that much worse. She was so terribly inflamed, raw, and itchy. We bathe her with Xymox shampoo and conditioner. Katie gets biotin, therapeutic dosages of fish oil, and pet kelp to help restore her skin and coat. We also rub her down with an herbal gel to give her some instant topical relief from the itching. The gel is called Scratch Attack Anti-Itch and has yerba-mate, boswellia, arnica, chamomile, witch hazel, aloe vera, rosemary oil, peppermint oil, and tea tree oil. All of these ingredients are good natural remedies that should help Katie feel much better. Her skin has already improved. It's no longer red and inflamed, although she still has a long way to go. It will probably never look perfect, but all that's important is that we get her feeling more comfortable.

Check out those double dewclaws! Little freaks!

We think Suri is probably about six weeks old. Mama is a Dachshund mix who is probably about 25 pounds and roughly 2 years old. Suri looks nothing like mama. They both have super funky, fairly unusual double rear dewclaws. If it wasn't for that, I'd almost wonder if Suri was mama's pup. She's still nursing, but we're trying to help mama wean her because she has teeth and is rather rotund. Suri's really a little boss...she eats everything in sight (even if she has to shove mama out of the way) and she loves to chase the Chihuahuas. Bunkin, Flea, Oliver, and Pickles are pretty scared of her. It's hilarious. We spend a good deal of time playing in the backyard so she gets plenty of fresh air and exercise. Suri is running faster and steadier every day. Yesterday she sailed over a log at the end of the driveway mid-stride and kept right on running without stumbling! She even

conquered the very bottom step of the outside stairs and the slightly raised threshhold of the backdoor. Mama Katie is super spunky and likes to play pretty rough with little Suri. She'll shove her around, roll her over, pin her down, chomp on her ears, and run zoomies around her until she starts to cry uncle. Then she'll back off and Suri will resume chasing after Flea and Pickles. Yesterday she sent Oliver bounding away in terror and Bunkin decided he'd be safest hiding behind my legs. What a goof troop!

It seems like Mama Katie was a house dog at some point. She's completely house-trained and is even trying to teach Suri where to go potty. When we're out in the yard, Katie grabs Suri by the ear/leg/arm and drags her into the grass where she fusses at her until Suri goes potty. It's like she's saying, "Look here, this is where we go and we're not going back inside until you do!". It's super funny. Katie is VERY people friendly. She loves to crawl up into your lap and give kisses, even if she's just met you. She made herself right at home from day one, cuddling with us during tv time, leaning against our feet when we're standing in the kitchen, and squeezing in alongside me when I sit in the recliner to study. She's super tolerant of all the other dogs, too. Normally mamas with young pups are slow to warm and a bit protective, but Drew is a champ and seamlessly integrated Katie and Suri in with the rest of our pack in a day's time. In short, she's a really well-behaved girl. It makes you wonder what happened for her to wind up in this situation. My guess, for what little it's worth, is that mama may have be owned and loved but was never fixed, escaped her yard/house, got knocked up, birthed her pup as a stray, and wound up in animal control. No doubt she's a flea bitten mess, but she seems to be in good shape other than that and doesn't seem to have any emotional scars. It's really sad, no matter what their story may be. The great news is they're both safe and loved, mama will never have to go through this again, and Suri will never have any babies of her own. The hard part of their journey is over for good.

We will probably have Katie and Suri for three weeks or so. Suri has to gain a couple pounds before she can be spayed and Katie's got to be fixed once her milk dries up. Hopefully I can get Katie's skin in better shape during that time before they head to New Jersey. I really have nothing but awesome things to say about these two girls. They're both fantastic little dogs and I know they will make somebody very happy. We're certainly enjoying having them around! Huge thanks to See Spot Rescued for committing to take them and also to Friends of DeKalb Animals for transporting them to NJ. Stay tuned for more cuteness! I'll be posting occasional updates with lots of pictures over the next few weeks.