Big Paws Only Dog Forums

Derby and I went to The School for Exceptional Children today to read a story about a dog named Molly who went to a dog park and met a lot of other dogs. This is a public school for children with severe developmental disabilities - everything from Down's Syndrome to Autism to severe physical and cognitive disabilities.

The story had a lot of opportunities for the kids to interact with the story - it asks them to bark like sad dog, a bouncy dog, a sausage dog, etc. and has them sniffing the air and each other every time Molly meets a new dog.

Derby was a HIT - and he was soooo good! He greeted all the kids before we started the story. He was so gently and calm and the kids just loved him. There was one little girl in a wheelchair who was just kind of "there" when they brought her in. She couldn't see, but the teacher's aide put her hand out to touch Derby and he licked her hand and all of a sudden, her face just lit up!

We had so much fun and I am so proud of my boy! After the kids left, they brought in another little boy with severe autism. He couldn't say too many words or even speak those clearly. When he saw Derby, he screamed a little. He didn't want to pet Derby, but he wanted to be near Derby. He wanted to take the leash out of my hand so I let him have it. Normally, Derby pulls on his leash when I don't have him on the halti, but with this little boy he just walked around the cafeteria with a loose leash, wherever the little boy wanted to go.

The teacher said usually all this boy wants to do is bolt out the door, but she was amazed he didn't even try to escape once while he was leading Derby around. And, after about 15 minutes of walking Derby, he even got up enough courage to touch Derby's tail!

Derby gave out so many kisses and got so much attention today. I just can't stop talking about how proud I am of him and how much fun we had. I can't wait to do it again.

http://canadianpress.google.com/article/ALeqM5hypnrKz4XIn0z_3HtnYQeQXL7B9A

If you don't want to hit the link, the gist of the story is this: a mayor in a small Iowa town is offering $5.00/each feral feline brought in. All cats, if not claimed will be euthanized. Apparantly, the mayor feels the town is overrun by feral cats and this is the only solution.

There are soooo many built-in flaws and potential hazards with this plan, I don't even know where to start discussing them. Why can't our leaders think through these things and ASK FOR HELP before doing something like this.

This is a NEW Hurricane Katrina Rescue story. There are still many dogs and cats, displaced by the hurricane 3 years ago, wandering the streets of New Orleans trying to survive. Once domestic and loved pets, these dogs have become nearly feral, afraid of strangers, and live as scavengers.

This is the story from Alissa, the rescuer:

I received an email about a mother dog hanging around an abandoned grocery store (Com-Pak) in New Orleans East on Tuesday.  I went to check on her immediately after work that day.  She was just sitting in front of the store, obviously nursing.  I couldn't believe it.  The grocery store is on Hayne. 

I brought her wet food every day to gain her trust.  On Wednesday I searched the outside of the building for the puppies, but I did not find them.  Every time the mother would get scared she would run across Hayne to cross the levee to reach Lake Pontchartrain. 

Saturday morning when I went to feed her, the national guard was sitting in front of the building.  I explained that I wanted to go inside looking for the puppies and rescue the mother.  They said I had permission and would stay outside in case I needed assistance.On the side of the building I found a break in the outer wall, I'm sure it was used to loot the building after Katrina. I managed to squeeze between the studs in the wall to go inside. 

I was very amazed to find SEVEN puppies inside the building.  The mother had them on insulation for warmth, so the puppies were completely covered in insulation.  They were curled up next to a dead chicken.  I assume the mother brought her puppies some food.  YUCK! 

The grocery store had flooded during Katrina and it has also burnt at some point after Katrina.  There was no roof in parts of the store.  The building smelled moldy and burned.  The shelves were empty where the store has been raided since being abandoned.

I put the puppies in a large plastic dog kennel up against the dog trap in order to bait the mother into the dog trap.  The mother barked at the dog kennel for an hour but would not go in.  The national guard told me that when they first pulled up in the parking lot the mother was eating food out of a McDonald's bag.  I rushed to the McDonald's.  I put a chicken sandwich and double cheeseburger in the dog trap. I went back five minutes later to add the rest of my fries I didn't eat and the mother was in the trap.  She must have a thing for McDonald's. 

The mother and seven puppies are now safe in my house.  They are so cute.  There are five boys and two girls. The puppies are four-five weeks old. The mother is so gentle with her babies. She doesn't budge when the puppies crawl all over her.  If you look at the photos, you can see the mother's ribs.  She is nothing but bones.  The mother is very skiddish. She has obviously been very abused.  She is slowly warming up to me.

You can view photos of the mom & pups at: http://s258.photobucket.com/albums/hh276/johnsa1/Vincent%20and%20Hayne%202008/

Alissa's contact info:  alissacjohnson@gmail.com
 
 People can give donations one of three ways:
Donate directly to my vet: Dr. Garcia at Bayou Animal Clinic in Slidell at 985-643-6300.  The mother dog is listed under Suga Momma.
 
Monetary donations mailed to Alissa Johnson, 4643 Good DR, New Orleans, LA 70127

Donate supplies for their care.  (Some of the supplies can be ordered from KVvetsupply.co m and shipped to me. KV vet has no shipping costs.

I greatly appreciate any and all donations, no matter how small.  If anyone has any other dog food besides Pedigree, I can always use it. I give food donations to residents of New Orleans East that cannot afford dog food and I also feed strays & feral dog packs.
 
The puppies will be up for adoption at 8 weeks, if anyone is interested.  This will be in roughly 3 weeks.  It will be much longer for the mother to be rehabilitated, but she will be up for adoption also. 
 
Supplies that are needed:
-Paper Towels, LOTS
-Fantastic cleaner (to clean crate)
-Puppy toys
-Metal bowls or buckets to attach to cage, Momma dog has broken the plastic ones off the cage & I don't want the puppies swimming in bowls that are on the ground.
-Puppy replacement milk for momma
-Collars for 7 puppies
-Flea preventative for 7 puppies and mom (Frontline, Advantage, or Advantix)
-Bordetella & Lepto shots (I already have DHPP. Will need enough for 15 shots of each type) I order my shots from KVvetsupply.co m . Someone can order the shots, pay for them, and have them delivered to my house. 
-Syringes (45)
-Old towels or sheets
-Pedigree puppy dry and can food
-Simple Solution Oxy Solution Pet Stain & Odor Destroyer (put in washer to get puppy smell & poo out of towels)
-Small space heater (I'm having to bath the puppies & momma dog daily.  I don't want the puppies catching a cold.)
-Disposable pet bath wipes (I'm having to sponge bath momma dog daily since everything is making her sick.  She's not used to dog food & is not used to going outside yet.)

I am watching "Ellen" and she has Paris Hilton on (why? I don't know). Paris, who Harvard just honored with Woman of the Year (why? I don't know) just told Ellen she has 17 dogs.  Ellen asked her why she has so many and Paris said,
"because they keep having babies and I feel bad about giving any of them up."

So, Ellen says, "Paris, you have to spay and neuter your pets."

"Hee hee. I know, they all just got fixed."

"All of them?"

(pause) "yes"

"You're lying!" says Ellen, because she obviously was.

Good for you, Ellen.

I can only imagine what kind of irresponsible breeding was going on with those dogs...

I know there are some of you out there that have birds so I'm hoping you can help me.

One of my employees recently told me that she had her pets, 2 dogs and a cockatoo, living all day in her truck because her apartment wouldn't let them have all of them inside. They recently paid the pet deposit and got the young dog to live inside, but they had been sneaking the others inside at night.

I told her I would try the cockatoo at my house. He is 22 years old, in good health, but very attention-needy. He loves to be pet, sit on your shoulder, but he's like a needy cat who is always trying to get you to pet him.

He doesn't talk, which I find strange since he's 22, but he screams A LOT!!  They are not really bird call screams, more like an annoying phone, but it's very loud and the dogs will bark outside whenever they hear it (which makes me nervous that my psycho neighbor is going to freak out again).

Then, last night, I had the bird (whose name is Busch) on my shoulder while I worked on the computer and he started making clicking noises with his tongue so I was making kissy noises back at him and he got really excited and bit me right below the eye.

Later on, when Aaron got home, he had been petting Busch for about an hour and he started doing the same behavior and rolling his head around while clicking his tongue and he ended up biting Aaron on the side of his face.

Did we get him overstimulated do you think?

Also, how do I train him not to scream? Should I ignore him while he screams and give him attention when he gets quiet?

Whoever thinks animals don't have a soul needs to read this:

http://www.itchmo.com/dog-misses-feline-best-friend-retrieves-cat-from-grave-4490

I had been working since 5:45 this morning and just got home about 7pm from a meeting in New Orleans (about an hour drive) this evening. As I got out of my car I hear this horrendous screeching coming from the backyard.

First I thought the dogs had cornered one of the stray cats that the neighbor feeds. Then, the screeching got louder and more pained sounding so I thought 'Tucky and Derby must be killing a possum or something. So I ran into the backyard and found 'Tucky on her back under Derby, who was standing, but it looked like 'Tucky had Derby's neck in her mouth and he was the one squeeling. I ran over and instantly checked for open wounds on Derby and found none.

Then, I noticed 'Tucky had Derby's collar in her mouth not his neck.  The collar was twisted around and nearly strangling him and she would NOT let go. I told her to "drop it" (a command she knows but hasn't quite mastered) and tried to pry her teeth apart, but she was having none of it.

Finally, the light bulb went off in my dumb head and I took Derby's collar off.

'Tucky has always played this game where she grabs Derby's collar and drags him around. She must have been doing this and flipped over on her back, twisting the collar and almost strangling him.

After I released the collar, they both started jumping around like nothing was wrong and "Oh, Joy! Mom's home!! HI MOM! PET ME NOW!!"

I don't know if I should be concerned that this will happen again when I'm not here or more concerned that sweet Derby wasn't smart enough to get himself out of that situation. I guess I'm going to have to find a break-away collar for him. Even though they are microchipped, I hate to leave their collars off when we're not home in case they get out. Not everyone around here is smart enough to have them scanned if they are found.