The pitter patter is gone....

When your in animal rescue and your an active foster mom you get used to things.   But it takes a while to get used to it....Then once its gone you feel empty even with a house full of fur babies left.

Tonight I have 11 dogs - down from 13 just hours ago.  Bella an 8-10 week old pit bull I rescued from the Cedar Rapids Animal Control only 6 days ago has a new family - 99% sure so she went on a home visit.  Then little Luke a 12 week old pit bull I rescued from a high kill shelter in Chicago came on Saturday and he is now in ICU at Bright Eyes and Bushy Tails fighting for his life with Upper Respiratory Infection- Pneumonia on both sides of his lungs.  

Let me take you back over the past 6 days.   When you introduce new dogs to an already good sized pack there is a certain level of calm insanity and a little stress because everyone is figuring out if they are going to kill them or take them under their wings.  So we have mass hysteria, noise, and lots of feet sounds.   Then by day 2 everyone is happy but its still mass hysteria only because the noise of feet is 8 paws louder every time we play, run, chase, go outside. 

Then everyone gets really comfortable on the 3rd day and the playing REALLY starts so add 52 paws, and 13 voices and you have some noise.

By the 5th day the new puppies are testing their boundaries with their foster mom just to make sure she is still the pack leader....And this is when the other 11 dogs decide to try it too:)

Then comes the 6th day when a foster mom has to take one to the ICU and worry then take the other to their new family and so many emotions at the same time can't be more confusing.  But it doesn't truly hit you till you come home and there are 8 less paws and 2 less voices and it feels like your house is empty even with 11 dogs still home.

What a wonderful day for Bella and a scary day for Luke and all I can say is I'm proud to have been their mom!   I look forward to the day when I hear Luke's big clumsy feet clomping on my floor! 

Luke is on the left, Bella on the right and Koda in back.  3 of the most wonderful bully kids a foster could ask for!

Phoenix - She found freedom today!!!

I find myself so busy sometimes doing rescue work at home that some of the most amazing things I dont see until after the initial moment happens.   You see when you work a full time day job and get home at night you have 2 hours of animal care to do before you even start your rescue work.  So on the weekends after fundraising events, board meetings, site visits, emails, and phone calls you just simply work it all away.

Today I am in my usual spot - STANDING at the kitchen island with my netbook working away while briefly interrupted by the occasional cat who walks across my keyboard and ever so rudely puts their hind end in my face to say "I'm here", all the while I do the normal sllliiiddddeeeeee them to the side so I can finish what I am doing before I get another call or another email that has to be addressed.   Then there is the occasional pack leader that has to come out and say 'knock it off' to the occasional dog spat on the floor by my feet (why do dogs have to be right where you are anyway;)

So only moments ago a cat walks across my keyboard and i do the usual sllliiiidddddeeee her away and I realize that its Phoenix and about had a heart attack!  I wanted to jump up and down and act like a 5 year old getting her Christmas presents a day early but knew that was a VERY bad idea.  Instead I grabbed my blackberry right beside my netbook and took this picture...

She stared right into the camera and didn't move.

Let me tell you her story and why this is a miracle.  The day Phoenix (she had a different name) was rescued she was living in a home we identify as a hoarder.   Most people think that the definition of a hoarder is someone who has allot of animals.  The key is not the number of animals but the medical attention they receive and the living environment they are surrounded by.   This woman had 30 cats in her home infested with fleas, overflowing litterboxes, poop and urine on every inch of the floor and the cats were in less than ideal shape physically.  Let me tell you that there are hoarders that have 5 animals so its not the number of animals but the conditions in which they are found.

So as we worked hard to find placements for them there were two left who needed safety.  As the founder of an animal rescue group you often times get the "last picks' because I wont let an animal be put down unless there is good medical cause.

Phoenix was FERAL.  She would bite, scratch, rip your eyes out if you let her.   We left her at the vet clinic so she could get spayed right away and my intention was to find her a farm home.  Well as things unraveled she came home with me the next day with her friend...They lived in my master bedroom - became bedroom kitties.   I didn't see or hear Phoenix unless it was 2 am and I opened my eyes to see in the mirror of my bathroom that she was sitting on the corner of the counter.

I couldn't find that cats hiding place for 4 months!   There were several weeks I NEVER saw her and tried 'smelling' for a dead corpse (sounds terrible but what else do you do to find a feral cat!)

On the 4th month something amazing happened - She started appearing out from one of the drawers in my vanity!   She had found that she could get in behind the drawers and have all the privacy she wanted.   SOOOO RELIEVED!   So I upped the ani a little and pulled out both bottom drawers (which now make great sleeping boxes).  within two months she would start sleeping on the foot of my bed!

3 weeks ago she decided to join me while using the bathroom and i touched her head for the first time.  2 weeks ago she started DEMANDING I pet her every time I was in the bathroom and now today she decided to COME OUT OF HER SAFETY ZONE ALL TOGETHER!  SHE came out of her den for the past 6 months and was sitting on my kitchen counter!  13 dogs and all!

What a PROUD moment and a reminder to pay attention to the small things even when the world is moving fast!  Welcome to the world Phoenix.  You have truly risen from the ashes!!!!

I'm expecting!!!!!

Yes you hear it right - I'm expecting!   I just heard the news...I'm going to be a new mom.

Little Isabella an 8 week old pit bull puppy and Luke a 12 week old pit bull puppy will be arriving this weekend.   Fast pregnancy hun?

I have wanted to foster some of the dogs at SHIC for some time now but none of them were a good fit for my pack - We have 10 adults at the havens and my pack accepts puppies or seniors and nothing in between. 

After seeing the MANY pit faces cross my email in the past month I saw two pictures out of the hundreds that jumped out at me!

Meet Isabella (Izzy for short)

8-12 weeks old and seen thrown from a car in Cedar Rapids.   She is in an emergency shelter in a home in CR but will be gracing my packs presence in the very near future.

Meet Luke

12 weeks old and scared to death to be in his prison cell in Chicago.  He is being neutered today and will be arriving soon to learn what its like to have a pack, a family, and a life outside of solid walls.

So when told I am a "saint" for pulling these puppies I say actually I am legally insane and I say so with a smile on my face.

When others judge me because I'm not taking a Safe Haven dog its because they don't understand how dogs work.  You can't just throw them all in together and expect everyone to get a long.  You have to KNOW your pack and know what works and what doesn't.  I'm just lucky enough to be able to help a few young pit bulls who will find wonderful forever homes.  

So now my "Island of Misfits" will include 3 pit bull pups - the worlds most compassion and loyal breed in the world!

Even compassionate animal advocates have bad days....

My day started as a happy, laid back kind of day...I like those days because they dont happen often.  By 12:00 I knew a call to the dentist was in store.....OUGH!   What I thought was an absess (never had one before) turned out to be an impacted wizdom tooth with a cyst which is well infected....So go to the pharmacy and they proceed to tell me my insurance isn't good until Oct 1st.   So I pay the full fee and my shoulders start to sink....

So I get home and as Im pulling in the driveway I see two heads peaking over the back of the couch through the bay window....Koda (formerly Wizzie) and Lily....

Koda had figure out how to OPEN the locks on his wire crate then proceeded to let Lilly loose as well.  So I had Kodas arch rival Albert free in the hosue, and Lilly's arch rival EVERY CAT that runs..

So immediatly I start search for body's....All the cats were accounted for, no blood found anywhere! 

Then I start to SEE what my hosue looked like    PEE PUDDLES EVERYWHERE and in every room!!!

All I wanted to do was murder 4 dogs!   But the good mom that I am I cleaned up all the messes then made them dog treats!

That is how you punish your dogs ya know....Make home made treats....

The calm AFTER the storm

He didn't WALK into our house he RAN!   Things including cats went flying in all kinds of directions and I said "Oh my god what have I done".  In came Koda (formerly Wizzie) a 11 months old large, muscular and ALL puppy pit bull.  My dogs about had a heart attack seeing this FAST large boy zoom in like he owned the place. 

The first night was a little chaotic to say the least.  I got NOTHING accomplished but introductions and seperating spats...He was the energizer bunny and didn't stop exploring for a second until 1:30 that morning. 

He was a puppy and has no skills so thats what happens when you combine the two.  He even figured out how to jump on the kitchen counter!   Bubba would have been proud of Koda!!!!

He spent the entire evening sniffing every cat butt, dog butt, and tried playing with everyone!   Some of my dogs were not appreciative and had to show him where his place was and there was a lot of barking BUT then last night at 9:30 he CRASHED!   He hit the bed so hard that he didn't move an inch at all last night. 

You see there is so much for stimulation and playing around the "Island of Misfits" that when new foster dogs come (Ive had 4 in the past 4 months) that it intrigues new dogs til they almost explode.  Then when they get to the fenced in 1 acred back yard they run and run and run until they can't run anymore!  It really is a dogs heaven!  During the day they get their individual crate time to calm down and gear up for a fun night:)

So after the first night of complete exploration and running and playing the 2nd night becomes Mom sharig her pillow with a pit bull who can't play or explore a single ounce longer! 

This is what we call the sweet "Island of Misfits" and life is good...

Saying goodbye is the hardest but they always leave soemthing behind.

When a new foster arrives are your home you can't help but look for qualities in them that remind you of the past kids in your life...There is always that hope that somehow we will find that one cat or one dog that will somehow fill the void in out lives after loosing someone so special in our lives.

It dawned on me last night that I get to share my life with animals even though some of them are only temporary and as if a ton of bricks hit me over the head I realized that most of my newest newcombers fill some pretty big voids.

On August 3rd I lost my Salty Sand man - a rescue who spent the first 12 years of his life in a tiny cage being a breeder and father to hundreds of puppies at the expense of his own health and comfort.   I brought him home two years ago and he quickly became know for burrowing and licking anyones skin that he could.   He was my little boy weighing in at a whole 7 lbs.  He hated winter and was a rather odd duck in so many ways.  Then came Lily the Boston who is now my constant licker.  Meechie then came along and he is my burrower....

On Valentines Day I lost a 9 month fight with Kidney failure with my best friend in the whole dog world...Barkley and I spend 9 months in and out of the ICU, everyday we did sub q fluids three times a day, did medications, and towards the end he ate whatever we could get him to eat.  He had a heart of gold.  He loved anyone and everyone.  His favorite thing was to steal the bed from me.  He would get his massive 145lb St Bernard body onto the bed and I had to sleep around him.  Last night after 3 hours of trying to sleep Koda (formerlt Wizzie the Pit Bull) did something that remind me so much of Barkley.  He finally plopped down right on top of me and wouldn't move for the life of him!  

Barkley used to make himself comfortable whereever he wanted and if I ran to the bed first to beat him he made himself all to comfortable right on top!  His head must have weighed 40 lbs itself..

Sometimes I think they leave us because they know another is in need, I think they send us certain ones too.  Shortly after Barkleys passing came Piper "the devil" dog, a corgi who is wired just a little (ok a lot wrong) and after having her in my home for 5 minutes I KNEW she would have lost her life if I hadn't taken her.   We happily exist with only minimal use of blocking tools to save my feet and legs from being shredded by her teeth...We have an understanding that I dont mess with her if she doesn't mess with the other kids. 

So thanks Salty and Barkley for bringing me great fosters who remind me of you both on a daily basis.

I still miss you like crazy and can't wait to meet you over the rainbow bridge.

Ill always be your mama and always be forever grateful for what you gave me....

You have lots your wizzin marbles!!!!!

Its moments like tonight where I ask myself "are you out of your mind?"  Yep I think the answer is officially yes...

It all started about a month ago when a woman contacted us to get help with her dog.  She couldn't get custody back of her kids until she rehomed her dog - guess what his breed is....Yep the vicious, unpredictable, scary, aggressive pit bull. 

10 months old and grew up in a home with happy go lucky children, and a 3 month old pit bull puppy as his canine playmate.

So I knew of someone looking for a rottweiler or a pit bull and immediatly contacted him.   It was a match made in heaven until his business insurance agent showed up and informed him he would lose his business insurance unless he paid an extra $5,000.00 for liability coverage for owning a pit bull or rehome the dog. 

So I spent the next 10 days posting and posting and posting and calling and emailing and trying to find someone to help Wizzie the 10 month old pit bull who was being thrown from not only one home but two simply becuase he existed.

I found a temporary foster home for 2 weeks until my largest foster dog Bubba Gump was adopted.  Then he was coming to my house.  Its such a devestating trend we see with pit bulls - even people in our own rescue communities have allowed the media to sway our compassion...More pit bulls loose their lives not becuase they are visious, terrible dogs but becuase even our rescue communities have been convinced not to trust them. 

More people should try fostering a pit once becuase they are by far the most loyal and compassionate dogs on the face of this earth.  You want a dog that is family oriented you get yourself a pitbull but before you do be sure your in a community that allows them and make sure that you have plans for your pit in the event that a life changing event finds you needing to find a new home becuase this society is not designed to help this beautiful breed.

Back to losing my marbles - I now have 11 dogs again including my fosters and now I find myself with a large exuberant playful puppy who is reactive to barking.  HELLO thats what most of my dogs do is bark...They tell me exactly when someone has pulled into the driveway, knocked on the door, etc.   ADd to that several senior dogs who are grumpy who dont care for a young dog running from one end of the hosue to the other and sliding across the hard wood floors. 

Oh yeah and dont forget the bark that this boy has found from deep within.  My cats look at me like "Have you lost your marbles....AGAIN".

So while the pit bull continues to lose its life all across this county that we call the Just, Free, and Proud I will give a little of my own comfort to save this one!   He is only one but he is an important one...

The drama will continue to unfold as our home learns to settle with a large strong puppy in the house but as we settle in so will Wizzie who has been through so much in the past 30 days....Its my job to make it work, to teach him and to train him and to give him a 2nd chance at life....I am a true rescuer...but I HAVE lost my marbles

When Fear Becomes Happiness

I met him on August 21, 2010.  Most people would have said "why would you make friends with HIM?"  He was mean, didn't want anything to do with people, he just wanted to stay by himself.  He was homeless, cold, and obviously scared out of his mind.  He was big too which made him scary in itself.   But I made up my mind that no matter what I was going to break through his outer shell.

We sat there on the steps under the overhang of a building in downtown Cedar Rapids and I sat there silently for at least 10 minutes.   Occasionally he would grumble a little but he wasn't going to speak - he was only going to make sure I knew he wasn't happy that I was bothering him.

I sat there for a good 10 minutes, almost in his lap and refused to budge.  He refused to budge too. 

Then something happened.   After 10 minutes of silence he sniffed my shirt.  I didn't say a word nor did I look at him,touch him or talk to him.   We are on his terms simply because his growling at another volunteer 15 minutes prior told us he meant business...The police had now arrived after someone reported him as a vicious pit bull (thats a whole nother topic).   So my work was really cut out for me. 

It was time to PROVE to the CRPD that he wasn't a threat to anyone including myself who had spent the last 15 minutes in silence next to a dog sitting taller than my own head.  I asked the Officer to stay back and let me work with the "'vicious pit bull" he seemed all too happy to allow me to handle him.   I told him who I was and what I did and he relaxed just enough to allow me to finish my "dog whispering" activity.

This boy continue to come close enough to sniff as I continued to ignore him for about 2 more minutes after the officer arrived (and kept a safe distance).  We had been selling dog treats at the farmers market this day so I had a stash brought over from our table and slowly began the treat game.

We started we setting a treat down on the ground and he ate the first one.

Then I bumped the ani up a bit and he had to start eating it out of my hand.  Within 20 minutes from start to finish this growling, shaking, thin, halk hairless dog was walking on a leash with me down 5th Ave!

I contacted my rescue friend DeAnne and she met me with her vehicle and we opened the back door and he jumped right in.   She took him to Cedar Rapids Animal Control Center and they scanned him for a chip (nothing found) and they told her he would be euthanized because of his skin condition looking like Mange and the fact that he would be labeled a pit bull mix.

I gave her clear instructions when she picked him up that if there was any issues to call me and tell me and Id find a way to get him into my own large pack at home.   Well the call came not 45 minutes after they had left for CRACC...And we made plans to bring him back to my home base...At 12:30 DeAnne brought Bubba Gump III to me and we drove home the 45 minute drive while he slept with his head in my lap the entire time.

He has spent the last month in my home with my 10 other dogs and has been the BEST Rottweiler Mix ever!  He loves my nieces who come to visit often, loves every dog and cat I have and more than anything loves sleeping in my bed at night.

Today is a special day for him - He is meeting his new family!  I foster allot of cats and dogs and the moment they meet their new families is so bitter sweet - more sweet than bitter but you spend a lot of time with thes kids sometimes they are in the worst of shape not only physically but emotionally and you help them heal.  And then they find their forever home and you shed a tear out of pure love for them.  Happiness that they found the perfect family.
 
That Bubba Gump III became my friend that day because I didn't label him, didnt show fear but strength, and because I opened my home to ONE MORE DOG even when I had so many already.   It was his fear that gave me strength and determination to SHOW him that the world is a better place because of humans and not the other way around...

Bubba got a 2nd chance and was saved from euthanasia but he reminded me that all dogs deserve a 2nd chance even when the outside shell tells you to run away!