Two doggies that need our help!

Wroooo! Happy Wednesday! I'm not doing a Wordless Wednesday post today, because I want to write about two doggies that need some help.



The furst one is the doggy from my post yesterday, Daisy. Eduardo the Snuggle Puggle told me about her, and her situation is so similar to mine that I feel like we're kindred spirits. She's the doggy that was injured and not taken care of. Now she has had one operation, and she needs another one. The cost of Daisy's medical care is estimated to be between $5,000 and $7,000, and her foster mom has set up a fund to collect any donations that anybody can make. Go to Eduardo's post for the information on how to donate. (Eduardo made this really cool button, and I wanted to post again so I could share it with you!)

The other doggy I want to mention is named Sasha. She is being fostered by Tatum Tot Spice and her family for Utah Collie Rescue, and they are worried that the rescue group doesn't have enough money to pay for Sasha's medical care. Look at this beautiful girl!

You can see that Sasha has a problem with her nose. It actually extends to her mouth, nose and ears, and she is going to have a biopsy done on December 23rd to see what is causing the problem. There are apparently three possibilities, and if you'd like to read about them, please go to Tatum's Mum's bloggy. (At least I'm pretty sure that Cynthia is Tatum's Mum!)


Sasha also has kennel cough (which is being treated right now) and an infection in her mouth. She's got terribly bad teeth, too. There's a lot going on with this girl, and we want to help her cuz she's a really sweet girl! You can go to Tatum's bloggy to find out about donating.

It is really a hard thing for rescues and shelters when they are caring for doggies (and kitties, and all kinds of other animals!) who need medical attention. The Girl has volunteered at our local SPCA for years, and she has seen so many wonderful animals come in who would make the BEST addition to a family (good temperament, sweet and happy disposition). The only problem is that they have some medical need.


The BCSPCA decided to do something just for these animals. They created the Biscuit Fund, the sole purpose of which is to provide emergency medical treatment for homeless and wild animals. I've posted about the Biscuit Fund before here, and my own story is here. Yes, it was the Biscuit Fund that provided the funds for my operation! I even have a button somewhere on my sidebar, BOL.


Not evfurry rescue and shelter organization is lucky enough to have a Biscuit Fund set aside that is specifically for medical care. So they have to raise the money on a case by case basis. I know that this is a hard time of year, especially THIS year, but if you are able to give anything, evfurry dollar counts. Maybe you have to buy a pressie for somebody who loves doggies, and you can make a donation in their name!


The Girl and I have no money to donate (darn disability!), but we're helping Eduardo and Tatum to get the word out. You can help that way too, if you want to mention these two wonderful doggies on your bloggy.


Thank you, my furends, for reading about Daisy and Sasha. I know you all care about them, cuz I know you! Pass the word around the bloggy-world, you never know who will be able to help!

Polly needs our help!

This is Polly. She's a five year old Border Collie who has been rescued by the BCSPCA. This is what she has to say for herself:


"I'm told it's Sponsor a Dog Month. That works out well for me since I'm a dog and I need sponsorship. Before I arrived at the SPCA I was stuck living inside a dirty chicken coop with another dog. As a result of this neglect I needed surgery on my ear as well as treatment for a nasty skin infection. Now I'm in recovery and I'm excited for the day I can move in with a loving new family."


The BCSPCA Biscuit Fund has provided the funds for Polly's operation, and they need to continue raising money in order to continue helping animals who need emergency medical treatment. If you would like to sponsor Polly, please go here. You don't have to live in BC; you can sponsor her from anywhere!!


Dannan's operation to remove his leg was funded by the Biscuit Fund, so it is a cause dear to our hearts!

Pictures from the pre-op days

Well, hello, everypup! The Girl is feeling really guilty for not posting much lately (although she can't really remember when she last posted here). So I told her to just sit back and I'd take care of it.

When I was at the SPCA, I got adopted by a family who eventually had to bring me back. They had taken me to the vet and discovered that I needed an operation on my front leggy, but they couldn't afford it (it was really expensive). So they had to bring me back to the shelter, and they were very sad.

Lucky for me, not long before that, the BCSPCA had started a new program, called The Biscuit Fund. The purpose of the fund is to pay for emergency (and often non-emergency) veterinary care for the animals who come into the care of the BCSPCA. Jennifer at the Kamloops SPCA thought I was a perfect candidate. So she took a bunch of pictures of me so that she could make up a poster asking for donations to the Biscuit Fund. And I got to have my operation!

Anyway, these are some of the pictures that Jennifer took of me. The Girl looks at these and always says how funny I look, because she says I look so different with four legs instead of three!

I call this one my Noble Dog photo. Notice the torture device (The Girl: Dannan, it's just a bandana!) around my neck.

Here I am, running with joy. I have always LOVED running!

And this is The Girl's favourite pre-op photo of me:

Don't I look fantastic??


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Shelter dogs -- the original "designer dogs"! Make the SPCA your first adoption option!

Beginnings

I have to say that I start this blog with no small amount of trepidation. I have been gorging myself on all sorts of clever blogs about dogs, with amazing photographs and witty content.


I am an indifferent photographer at best, with little prospect for improvement. (There are just too many other things I want to do!) I have... aspirations? pretentions?... oh let's just say that I hope to occasionally be clever, and sometimes witty. I have been inspired, and I do love to talk, and write, about my dog!


This is my dog:




His name is Dannan (taken loosely from the Irish for "little brown dog", apologies to any Irish-speakers who may read this). He came to me just over three years ago (gawd, can it really be that long?) when I fostered him for the local SPCA.


He was brought in to the Kamloops SPCA as a stray, sometime in the early spring/late winter of 2005. We don't get many smallish dogs, so he was a hit right away. Oh, and the staff named him "Ducky", after a dinosaur in some children's movie, Land Before Time, I think. I was the dog assessor at the shelter at that time, and I don't remember much about his assessment. What I do remember is him climbing onto my lap, then onto the boardroom table as I wrote up his results and recommendations.


Before long, "Ducky" was off to his new home. All dogs brought in to the shelter are examined by very knowledgeable shelter staff, and no one had noticed anything amiss. "Ducky" was taken to the vet for his free exam, then taken back to be neutered. And the vet clinic staff noticed nothing amiss, either.


It was not long after that point that his new people noticed that he didn't put much weight on his front left leg. He sort of held it up off the ground when he walked and ran, and even when he stood. So the poor little critter went back to the vet again. And this time, they noticed that something was very amiss.


The vet's best guess was that "Ducky" has been hit by a car as a puppy, and not taken to the vet or cared for properly. I have never quite understood what exactly had happened, but something had fused that shouldn't have. (Remember, at this point, he was just a dog that I had assessed, three or four weeks and dozens of dogs earlier.) At any rate, the vet said that because of the damage, and the way it had healed, "Ducky"'s best option was for the front left leg to be amputated.


The adopters, although and because they loved him, couldn't afford the $1300 price tag that came along with that treatment plan. And they had to bring him back to the SPCA.


Fortunately, the BCSPCA had just recently launched a new program, called the Biscuit Fund. This is a fund that is strictly used for the medical needs of otherwise adoptable animals that find themselves in the care of our shelters. "Ducky" would get his amputation, funded by the animal lovers of BC!


However, he couldn't get an appointment for surgery for a couple of weeks. The shelter manager (my very dear friend, Jennifer) didn't want "Ducky" stuck in the shelter while he waited, and so I agreed to foster him until he had recovered.


I live with another very dear friend, Karen. It is her house, so she had to agree to this plan. She knew all along that once he came, he wouldn't be leaving, but at the time, I was deluding myself that we could foster him for a few weeks and then take him back to be adopted. Even knowing the inevitable result, Karen agreed that "Ducky" could come to stay with us.


The rest, to use a worn-out cliche', is history. Darling "Ducky" (Dannan, as he soon became) came home.


His left front leg was, of course, amputated. Not that he notices, mind you. He runs like the wind (any skeptics out there are welcome to come to our backyard and watch him tear around like a little brown hurricane). In fact, we've often been at the dog park and it's only once he stops running that people notice that he's only got three legs. He has no inkling that he's any different from the other dogs, and it certainly doesn't slow him down.


Speaking of the dog park... A question I am often asked is, "What kind of dog is he?" This question irritates me slightly, because we as a society always want to identify the breeds that make up a mixed breed dog (I'll probably rant... er, write more about that later). My answer is always that he's a little brown dog. When pressed, I'll say that I think he's probably some sort of houndy/spanielly mix, but no one will ever know for sure.

(Blogger keeps deleting the rant that I want to insert here.... perhaps I should take a hint. But I never let better judgment prevent me from ranting.)

(Rant begins: I am also often asked if Dannan is a "baby pitbull". This question annoys me greatly, and the answer is NO! I am not annoyed because I dislike pitbulls; on the contrary, I like them extremely well, and the next addition to our family will likely be one. My annoyance stems from the fact that this question illustrates quite plainly that the general public has *no idea* what a pitbull actually *is*. Yet some in our society presume to judge, and then ban, them. The question is a flaming symbol of our collective ignorance; when we legislate in ignorance, lives are at stake. And pitbulls don't deserve it.)

(I am a ranter, you will have noticed. ;) )

I did mean to make this introductory post short, but I'm not very good at "short". (Another fault that is quickly apparent!) I will post pictures, and I do intend to take a lot more candid shots. (We'll see how long that resolution holds. Permanently, I do hope, because one of the thing I like best about other dog blogs is all the pictures.) They won't be of great quality, but they'll at least be pictures.

Mostly, I expect, I'll write a lot about what Dannan is doing. I'll also rant a bit about my pet peeves, talk about our roommates (human, canine, and feline), and indulge in some journalling. I'm not sure yet whether this blog will be of any interest to anyone else, but even if it just turns out to be a fun thing for me to do, it will be worth it.


Some pics of Dannan, just because I like them:




Dannan's "Noble Dog" pose, pre-op








Havin' a run, pre-op

My favourite pre-op picture, Dannan With Joy.

Crazy running dog. (Often, he "slimes" himself while running like this!)

And finally:






After the running stops...