Busy, busy...

After a long dry spell without any applications we recently received 3 and although one didn't make the cut the other 2 look like great fits for Mayzie and Kanga. Actually, Mayzie's application is already approved and she will be heading to her new home on Saturday. Mayzie turns 1 yr old on the 23rd of this month and I think that a loving mom and new home are the best gifts this tiny girl could ask for.

Kanga will be meeting an applicant on Sunday and also meeting a possible rat terrier brother, Scooter. Since Kanga loves everyone, dog and human alike, I'm pretty confident it will go well and we'll be able to move forward. Nonetheless, everyone wish Kanga luck on Sunday afternoon. She's been through a lot with ending up in a shelter, staying for a week in a foster home, flying from Chicago to Seattle, and then 2 knee surgeries to get her ready to find a home. In spite of it all she loves unconditionally and even gave the vet a kiss after he was feeling her just operated on knee.

Frisby and Nimh are each still waiting for someone to find them and we also have a couple great boys, Doc and McLovin' in Yakima looking for a special spot so if you know of anyone looking for a new family member, point them our way.

We also currently have 2 new Washington state foster homes going through the approval process so that will mean even more dogs that I can tell you about. The poor volunteer coordinator is likely getting very tired of my impatient E-mails asking for updates on the status of the foster home apps. I can't help myself! We've got more rat terriers to save.

In the photo above you see Kanga, Frisby (front) and Nimh squeezed into a crate together. Although we have 3 open crates loaded with beds and blankets (including a huge 500 series crate) they always hang out like little spotted sardines in one of the small ones.

Some positive things happening...

After several weeks of no applications for Washington New Rattitude fosters, and no open foster spots for dogs that were urgently awaiting rescue, I have some good news at last!

Sweet tiny Mayzie has a great application that is currently being processed and will likely be a really good fit for her. Also, a couple came to meet Frisby at the Petsmart adoption event and applied to adopt him. That will finally get us down to our typical fostering level of 2 fosters at a time which will be much appreciated by my husband and son. :)

Other great news: a couple really great applications in Western WA to foster for New Rattitude. To foster for New Rattitude you go through an approval process that is much like when a person applies to adopt a dog. That is followed by a short training session with our treasurer and then the person is assigned a mentor and is ready for their first foster. So I'm hoping that sometime soon I'll be able to be pulling some dogs urgently awaiting rescue for these new spots.

Many thanks to Julee for attending the adoption event and taking my fosters Kanga and Frisby with her. She developed some really great arm muscles thanks to Kanga being stressy and wanting to be held the entire time. Kanga is fit and trim but she still weighs around 18 pounds so she's not a light load. Thanks also to Julee for volunteering to help out with marketing our dogs - getting fliers posted in spots where good potential adopters are located. Because of the slow economy the number of applications for our dogs has dropped considerably and this extra publicity for them is going to be an incredible help.

So things are looking up. Mayzie has quickly healed from her surgery and has a new favorite past time - wrestling with Nimh and Kanga. She's still a bit of a fraidy cat with people but with the dogs and with me she has become much more playful and confident.

Waiting...

Well, I got a second opinion from my regular vet clinic today about Mayzie's hernia and they said the same thing - watch and wait until next week. The good news is that she's acting more herself, has a good appetite, and is pooping normally which is a big relief. She'll go in on Monday morning for the surgery.

Until then she's going to work with me and hanging out in the playpen behind the counter. Lots of good treats there and people to oooh and aaaah over her which she seems to appreciate - especially the treats.

Keep sweet Mayzie in your thoughts

Mayzie came home from her spay surgery today and was doing fine and her incision looked great. A couple hours later I heard her vomitting in the back yard. When I went over and picked her up there was a large lump in her groin area. I ran her back to the vets and they have diagnosed an inguanal (sp) hernia. Unfortunately it wasn't caught when they were in there and she will need another surgery to repair the abdominal wall in that area.

The vet who did the spay said just to watch her and unless the swelling increases greatly that we can wait a week until she is healed up from the spay and do the second surgery. I'm really stressed though so I'm going to take her into another vet tomorrow for a second opinion. I don't want to rush things and have her undergo a second surgery so soon but I also don't want to end up at the emergency vet this weekend.

I'm taking her to work with me tomorrow and my boss (another rescuer) said it would be fine if I need to take time to get her to the vets.

Right now she is resting in a crate so I can keep her activity down, although she isn't wanting to move around much. She's still peeing and her tail is still wagging so that is good. There hasn't been any additional retching which is also good. Sheesh, I'm really worried about her and stressed out. Not sure how I'm going to sleep tonight.

Latest Pupdate

After having things calm down for awhile we've had a busy week again. Our newest foster girl Mayzie (was called Leah at the shelter) has arrived in Western Washington and she is a heck of a cutie. Little Mayzie is named after the character Mayzie La Bird from the book "Horton Hatches an Egg" but unlike Mayzie La Bird who is big and flamboyant, Mayzie La Dog is a tiny little quiet thing. Ms. Mayzie is 1 year old and weighs about 7-8 pounds. She's timid at first but once she gets to know her environment and people she is super playful and cuddly. Our guess is that she is half rat terrier and and half miniature dachshund. She has rattie markings and coloring but has the bowlegs and proportions of a doxie. Let me tell you this is one cute little gal.

Today she had a heartworm test and it was negative so tomorrow morning she'll be spayed and then she's ready for a loving person to swoop in and give her a wonderful home.

Other big events this week: Kanga had her second knee surgery yesterday and I picked her up this morning from the vet. She's doing much better than she did after the last surgery and already is using the leg a bit when out on potty breaks. So far she hasn't had to wear a cone yet which makes everyone happy but we'll put it on tonight at bed time so she won't chew on her leg wrap. Since she's done with her surgeries now I sent in the photos and bio to get published on Petfinder and Adopt a pet. She's been with us for quite awhile because of her knee problems so it will be tough to say goodbye when she finds her family.

And finally, our first rat terrier, the boy who made us fall in love with ratties, Frodo turned 5 years old on the 1st. For his gift he received a "Go Dog" roadkill squirrel that honks and squeaks and flops around, just asking to be attacked.

When the heart can't say no

Everyday on Facebook and in my E-mail inbox I am inundated with photos of dogs that are about to be put to sleep - probably 50 or more each day. Furry face after furry face. So many that they start to blend together and no matter how much you want to say yes, you know that you just can't save them all. I scan the posts, sometimes not even opening certain E-mails when I know there is no open foster spot for them. You grow callouses on your heart and learn to focus on the reality that there is no room even if you want to save one of them.


Well yesterday that callous on my heart cracked and a face looked out from my Facebook page that was tough to look away from. I shut down the computer but came back to is several times and there she was. Still scared and still scheduled to be put to sleep today, 10/21, at 5 pm with 5 other small dogs. Even though all our permanent foster spots are full I decided to put some feelers out to see if someone would temp the girl until a spot opened up. Space was found and yesterday evening I decided to try and see if it wasn't too late for this girl all the way down in Los Angeles.



Well, I'm happy to say that instead of being euthanized today she underwent a spay surgery so she could be released to a New Rattitude foster parent down in Southern California. They'll pick her up early tomorrow morning and in the meantime I'm working on getting her transported to WA. I probably should have listened to my head and said no, but I'm glad that every once in awhile I let myself listen to my heart.