Feral Chihuahua

This 5 pound Chihuahua puppy lived in an industrial park by the railroad tracks for approximately six months. The employees at a warehouse spotted her in the parking lot one winter day, skinny and limping. They called her and tried to lure her indoors, but she wouldn't come close to them. They put out food and water for her, and saw her nearly every day. They spotted her squeezing through a small gap into their truck bay for shelter now and then, but mostly she lived outdoors, vulnerable to coyotes, larger stray dogs, owls, cars, and the elements.

Eventually some of the men enticed her close to them with tasty treats; she seemed to enjoy their company, and would take food from their hands, but they couldn't pet her or catch her. One man, Andy, won her heart by feeding her canned food and turkey slices; he tamed her enough that she would shyly lick his fingers and let him scratch her chin before skittering off. One day, he spotted a tick clinging to her skin, and managed to catch her when she came close for a treat. He put her on his lap and removed the tick. She stayed in his lap for five minutes, letting him pet her, before he put her down and she scampered off again.

Andy's wife finally convinced him that an industrial park is no place for a tiny Chihuahua, and to contact rescue groups about finding a home for her. When I heard her story, I had to help. I asked Andy if he thought he could catch her again; he said he thought he could. We set a time to meet, and he brought her to me in a pet carrier. When I transferred her from his carrier to mine, she panicked and struggled and threatened to nip me, but she didn't. I named her Andie.

I have a small yard with a covered patio off my kitchen, and this became her temporary new home. At first, Andie was terrified of my three dogs, but she quickly realized they meant her no harm, and within a couple of days she was nose-kissing and wagging her tail at them shyly but playfully. She was fascinated with my cats, and would flirt with them through the sliding glass door. When my partner or I would step outside, she would run away, then quickly trot back to sniff our legs and lick our fingertips, wagging her tail happily. We decided she was only semi-feral.

By the third day, Andie spent most of her time laying by the sliding glass door, gazing in at us longingly. We began to try to coax her inside; for two days, she would put her head in the door, then her front feet, but run away at the slightest movement or sound. On the fourth day, it started to rain, and we were determined to get her inside. The rain probably convinced her it was worth the risk. She explored the house, sniffed the cats, and soon learned that she could go outside again whenever she wanted. Luring her inside got easier each time. That night, we caught her and carried her into the bedroom, where we put her in a crate with our dog Darby. She slept quietly all night.

We've had her for about 2 weeks now, and she hasn't gone potty in the house once. She trots right into the crate whenever we ask. Since she is both house trained and crate trained, we figure she's only 1/4 feral. Today she let my partner reach out and pet her body without skittering away for the first time. She still doesn't enjoy sitting on my lap very much, but I keep trying!

Terrible news

The picture is puppy Wanda, second smallest of a litter of 11, next to her big brother Wags, a.k.a. "Gordo", the biggest of the litter. Their brother Walter had a serious upper respiratory infection that wasn't improving. He stayed at the vet for several days so that he could receive supportive care. They also ran some tests, and on Friday we learned that my worst fear had come true: Walter had distemper.

Distemper is a terrible disease. It is fairly rare in the general pet dog population, since most pet owners vaccinate their puppies; however, it can flourish in economically depressed areas where dogs are rarely vaccinated. Many of the dogs that end up in our county pound come from just such an area, so it is not uncommon there. Puppies are especially vulnerable, and we lose entire litters. One or two may survive, but sometimes puppies that appear to have recovered will suddenly succumb to neurological damage, including seizures and blindness. And while you wait to see if any puppies survive, chances are high that all or most of them will suffer terribly. We have seen entire litters die horrible deaths one by one. This is why it's our policy to euthanize all of the puppies in a litter when one has been diagnosed with distemper.

The foster mom was completely devastated. She has nurtured and loved these babies for over a month. But she could see that at least 3 of the puppies were already deteriorating quickly, and the rest were strangely lethargic. I feel sure that every one of them had contracted the disease and was already beginning to suffer, and euthanasia was the most merciful option. The foster kissed each puppy goodbye, and thanked them for bringing her so much joy. I told them I was sorry we couldn't save their lives. We both cried.

Wendell a.k.a. Duke, the tiniest of the litter, was separated from his brothers and sisters and sent to a different foster home on the day they were rescued from the pound. We are hoping that he was not exposed to the disease. It's possible that he has already had it, and recovered; or, he could develop symptoms at any time. Because of his early separation from his littermates, and because his foster family intends to adopt him, and because he has been thriving for several weeks, he will not be euthanized. His foster mom is enjoying every moment she has with him, and feels he is a gift from God. She says he gets stronger and develops more personality every day. He visited the vet today, where he got two tiny stitches in his eyelid to lift the lashes off of his eyeball; the vet hopes that full entropian surgery will not be necessary. They took a scraping of his skin problem; hopefully we'll know soon what it is and how to treat it. He weighed in at a whopping 3.2 pounds!

Please pray for Duke, and for all of his brothers and sisters. I know they will be waiting at the Rainbow Bridge for the foster mom who gave them so much love in the time they had together. doGspeed Walter, Wags, Waffles, Weeble, Wasabi, Waverly, Wellesley, Wesley, Wanda, and Webster.

Cutest puppy ever?

Mama Wendy is a Shar-Pei mix, and fairly big; she weighed about 50 lbs. when I rescued her, and was at least 15 lbs. underweight. As I picked up her 11 puppies one by one to carry them to the car, we noticed a wide range of sizes, and when I came to the last puppy I exclaimed at how tiny and thin he was. He was wriggling and full of life, but it was obvious he hadn't been getting much milk and couldn't compete with his much larger siblings. The volunteer who was helping me impulsively offered to take the puppy home and give him the extra care he needed. I knew the foster of the emaciated mom and the other 10 puppies would have her hands full, so I accepted her offer.

Wendell, a.k.a. Duke, had a lot of obstacles to overcome. Besides being skinny, he battled with kennel cough, coccidia (an intestinal parasite that causes diarrhea), corneal scarring due to entropian (a condition where the eyelashes touch the eyeball and cause irritation), a large lump on the side of the neck that may have been "puppy strangles" and a scabby-looking skin condition that may or may not be ringworm. He also hasn't grown much; he's about 7 weeks old now, and only weighs about 2.5 lbs. Could his daddy have been a Chihuahua?? One of his littermates is so big, I have to wonder if HIS daddy was a mastiff!

Wendell's foster mom has done a great job caring for him, and now I get to puppy-sit while she's out of town. He is mostly over the coccidia, the kennel cough is gone, the lump on his neck disappeared, and he's getting eye drops for the entropian until it can be corrected surgically; the only problem that isn't under control yet is the unknown skin condition, but we'll figure it out. He's eating like a little piggy, and loves to play with soft tuggy toys, other dogs, and my foster kitten Ivory. Just watching him toddle around makes me laugh.