Butterfly Jungle: pets

Showing posts with label pets. Show all posts

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Full of Grace

Do you remember this pitiful, dirty, wormy little German Shep-Black Lab mix of a runt? This is the photo her owner texted me when I called about the free puppies. Can you see the sadness in her eyes?

Even cleaned up the day we brought her home, she was still pretty pitiful. It's been a long time since I've worried about a puppy as much as I worried about her those first few days. Five weeks and she could barely stand.

We gave her all the loving we could but she always seemed so sad, even when she began to put on some weight.

She would sit by herself and just look at us, observing us. It seemed like she was just biding her time, waiting for something, but for what?

We loved her more and more, and then one day, before we even knew what happened ....

... she sprang to life! Holy Cowabunga! She's a rock-n-roller now! I think our sweet Miss Gracie Mae figures she cheated death once so all bets are off. She feels invincible! How else to explain her near obsessive wish to befriend the ever frightening Smudgie, the Alpha Dog Cat.

She loves to garden. Notice the nice trimming job she did on my Echinacea by the bridge in the rain garden.

Here she's deciding if the lilies need to be trimmed.

She's not as big as her big brother Remy the Rat Terrier yet but she will be soon. And then some, judging by those feet and her lineage, however dubious it may be. Every two or three days we say to each other, "I think she grew today."

Um, just a little note- we don't really have anything against tails at our house. We just don't have any, other than the cat's. Remy's tail was docked before we got him and Miss Gracie never had one to start with.

She loves her big brother and is a perfect pesky, tag-along little sister. He is as patient as the day is long. He's a good boy.

She is intensely observant of the world around her.

We recently kenneled the dogs with the vet while we took a four day weekend. When we picked them up, dear Dr. S came out and shook his head with a little laugh. "That is the feistiest puppy I've ever seen in all my years as a vet" he said. That made me proud of my girl. Oh and is she ever feisty- always ready for a tussle, not afraid to jump in, full of opinions and fearless energy. Do first, ask questions later. Questions like,

"Will I be able to get my head back out of there when I'm done barking at Remy downstairs?" The answer to that one is, "No, not without help from the momma."

I've gotten several wonderful emails from some dear Butterfly readers who have also taken in German Shep-Lab mix runts, even a few photos. I'm so thankful for each of these folks who let their hearts rule and have been so encouraged, especially early on, by the photos of their big robust happy GermShepadors, as my Zippy girl calls them. As I mentioned in my original post, all of my pets have been runts but this one had me worried.

As I looked at pictures of "GermShepadors", it struck me how so many black lab mixes have the white speckly chest and feet. Turns out Black Labs came from a now extinct breed called the St John's Water Dog, which originated on the island of Newfoundland. The characteristic white chest, feet, muzzle, and chin markings, called tuxedo markings, still manifests in lab mixes and occasionally as a white chest medallion in Black Labs.

We still notice our Miss Good Gracious Gracie Girl sitting quietly, observing. But I don't think she's sad any more. She's just waiting- to get the party started.

Have a great day and don't forget to play hard, nap soundly, splash in the water, and slobber when needed.

Wednesday, May 25, 2011

It's Puppy Love

Image via Healthy Pet Food Guide

She was supposed to be a German Shepherd. I mean, just look at that gorgeous dog. I have long told myself that my next dog, and she would be MY dog, was going to be a German Shepherd. Female. I already have her wonderful name picked out, for goodness sakes!

After my beloved Senor Poquito passed away last fall, I was surprised by how much I missed that cranky little guy. I don't mean for a couple of weeks but well past the new year. Truth be told, I still miss him. But the German Shepherd lurked in my dreams and even though I'm not sure I would pay big dollar for a registered dog, I always thought a German Shepherd-black lab mix would be nice. Then one day last week, there it was in the newspaper: German Shepherd mix puppies-free. When I called I was told they were Germans Shepherd-black lab mix. Eureka! And free!

Call me a softie, but all of my dogs have been runts. They make the best pets. Even as my husband headed out the door to check out the Rat Terrier puppies for our daughter a couple of years ago, I called out, "Get the runt." So when the woman on the phone last week said there was a female runt in this litter, I got pretty excited. She emailed a photo.

No.

No, my heart was set on a German Shepherd and if it was a mix, it was going to be a very German looking mix. I was determined. This gal looked too heavy on the black lab genes. No.

Because life has been inexplicably and insanely busy the past few weeks, it was two days before I could get out to look at the puppies. By then there were only three of the original six puppies left. And yes, there was a very German looking female puppy running around, the one I would have most likely taken. Until the woman said, as she roughly ripped the top off of the igloo dog house, "Here's that little female."

It was all over with. I desperately wanted and was determined to take the German Shepherd looking female- I was committed to it- but there she was, this itty-bitty runt. Pitiful. I even called my husband to see how he felt about getting two puppies, even though we already have one dog. Bless his big teddy bear heart, he never said no. Funny thing, my daughter and I fought over turns holding the runt and I never even picked up the German-y looking female. We went home with one puppy. The runt.

Like I say, I have a fair amount of experience with runts but this gal was the most pitiful one I've brought home. She looked markedly worse than the picture we had gotten two days earlier and I was afraid I was going to lose my first runt-puppy. From what I can find out, a German Shepherd weighs on average seven pounds at 1 month and a black lab pup hits about five pounds. This is highly variable, of course, but our girl just barely touched two pounds. Once we got her home and really checked her over, I don't think she would have lived another week. I would have given her five days, tops.

The living conditions were horrible: muddy and heavily soiled with feces, as the mom and another dog were chained to a tree with only three feet of chain each. The puppies were roaming around loose in all of this mess, next to a very busy road. I was assured that all the pups were eating dry food but our little girl had no idea what to do with dry food. I've never had a runt I couldn't get to eat. She could barely stand. Like most puppies, she had worms but this little gal was FULL of worms. Her eyes had a good bit of goop and we were concerned about distemper or parvo. And when we bathed her--- I have never, never, NEVER seen so much dirt come off one dog much less a puppy. But then again, she had been living in a literal poop pile, in the rain and mud, for five weeks. And we, like so much of the country, have had some terrible storms this spring and more rain than our ground can handle.

She washed up nicely that first night and she was sparkly-pretty for her trip to the vet. Weak, but sweet. Fluids, vitamins, de-wormer galore, and advice. We love our vet, dear Dr. S. I once made an emergency trip after work to a local vet with a runt kitten and he guy took one look at the kitten and said, "That cat's gonna die tonight. I'm surprised she's alive now." Outraged, I picked her up, left without paying, and made the thirty mile trip to Dr S. He gave us advice, vitamins, free food and supplements, and encouragement- and now that kitten is the Alpha Dog at our house. I know, she's a cat, but at our house she's Smudgie, the Alpha Dog. Fourteen years old.

Anyway, six days after bringing our sweet puppy-girl home, she is not only eating and drinking, she is also following Remy the Rat Terrier around, exploring, snuggling, and beginning to play and frisk. She's still pretty weak but she has gained a pound.

The story about her lineage and that of her mother evolved as I talked with the woman who had the puppies (well, the woman didn't give birth to the puppies but you know what I mean). I'm sure our little girl has German Shep in her, but how much......?

Oh, who cares. We have our girl, our Miss Gracie. She no longer runs in panic-striken circles every waking minute (a total of two hours that first day), whining desperately. In fact, she's a very quiet little girl. We're on the hunt for jingle bells as she really is cat-quiet.

I can't even describe how horrified I was by the living conditions of these puppies, as well as the mother and whoever that other dog chained to the tree was. The woman who had these puppies didn't even know about our Gracie for the first week and then didn't know how small she was until just over a week ago. I still struggle with going back for the others just to save them, whether we keep them or not. The only dog that lived a clean, well-feed, attended-to life was the male German Shepherd on the premises. And all I heard about was how this woman wanted to get a female registered German Shep so she could breed and sell the puppies. Isn't that a mini-puppy mill? Honestly, I really am trying not to be harsh about how these dogs were being cared for but the facts are the facts.

Listen people, I'm just gonna say this straight out and not with nearly the gentleness that I should: we are responsible for those little lives. If you do not have a dog that you plan to breed in a responsible manner, get it spayed or neutered. And yes, I understand that sometimes "things" happen, but if they do, you are still responsible for those little lives. Take care of them- or don't get one. Yes, yes, I'm ranting (and venting) but you know I'm a dog lover. We are responsible to take care of them with gentleness and grace.

Just ask Miss Gracie. Oh, and Remy? He's coming around to his little sister.

Here are some links related to spay and neuter programs and other issues related to saving our little runts. Maybe I should start a national campaign--- Save The Runts!

American Society for Prevention of Cruelty to Animals has partnered with PetSmart Charities to develop a searchable database for low-cost spay and neuter programs.

The Humane Society has a page on their site that discusses the top reasons to spay or neuter your pets.

VetInfo also has a very good list of reasons to spay and neuter.

The Daily Puppy offers information on caring for runts.

Saturday, February 12, 2011

My Token Valentine Post- sort of

Look at that magnificent under bite.

This is Remy, my daughter's two and a half year old Rat Terrier. Ratties are an American breed, popular in the first half of the 1900's. Bred from a mix of strong, fast hunting dogs with good sniffers, Rat Terriers were used to control the rodent population on farms. They mostly lived in the barn and for a while, your farm wasn't a farm if you didn't have at least one Rattie living in your barn. Our Remy will dig up half the yard trying to catch a chipmunk or mole. I've seen him climb straight up one of our apple trees after a squirrel (I mean straight up and into the branches), and he will stake out the stove for an entire day if a mouse runs underneath it.

I do mean an entire day.

Both photos from Terrierman's Daily Dose

Teddy Roosevelt had a Rattie named Skip and is thought to have "started" the breed, but it's sort of a long-ish story and not pertinent to our post today.

Via PopArtUK.com

This is also Remy, from the Disney movie Ratatouille. He's a rat too.

Get it? Remy the Rat? Remy the Rattie?

Anyhoo...

A couple of years ago, Zippy's class had a Valentine Box contest: make your own box to hold all of the class Valentine cards, bring it in for the party, and there will be a box judging contest. Pretty straight forward stuff. Oh we love a good creative challenge like that at our house and at our house "Make a Valentine Box" means "Build a Valentine Box."

This is Robo Remy: a small shoe box with cardboard legs and docked tail, covered with papier mache and painted with Remy's piebald markings. Then Zippy cut the lid back off of the shoe box so she could get to the cards inside and, more importantly to my sweet mini-Chocoholic, the candy. Then she cut the slit on top for the cards, added the photo-face and heart collar and she's ready.

Oh wait, no you're not because this is a Robo Remy.

Hot glue Robo-Boy to another shoe box and glue down some doggie treats. Ready? Nope!

Strapped to the inside of the green shoe box is the motor and chassis of one of the countless remote control cars that my daughter (yes, daughter) owns.

So that year, Zippy's Valentine cards came when called and if you didn't get the goods delivered quickly enough, Robo Remy could chase you down!

First prize- Best Use of Technology.

Way to go Zippy!

To all of you fabulous folks building relationships with your family one remote control car, one recycle craft, one tree fort, one finger paint heart greeting card, one whatever giggling fun you get cooked up at a time ....