Save the Best for Last - Ruby

By:  Faye T.

How to begin with Ruby? There are so many stories that come to mind with my “Save the Best for Last” foster pup. I must confess that in the short time she was with me, I fell in love. Had I not had three dogs of my own, my first foster would have been a “foster fail.”

Ruby had been adopted and returned because of her high energy level. That wasn’t too much of an exaggeration. She was a bit of a whirlwind.  A play date with her brother Fritz led to a tired Fritz and an energized Ruby. I could see how she could tire someone out. I was told that in her first home she managed to break into the neighbors’ house, gather their clothes and shoes and spread them on the lawn…they had to change the doorknob! A bored Ruby was not a good thing, as she apparently became a felon.

What wasn’t mentioned was her intense desire to please, her gentle spirit and her incredible smarts. She learned very quickly what she should and shouldn’t be doing. That wasn’t to say she didn’t try to test the limits. She would do something she wasn’t supposed to do, like steal socks, and wait for me to respond to her.

I called her by a variety of nicknames, “Ruby, Ruby-doo”, “Ruby Gloom”, “Ruby Blue” (I was painting the living room and she helped a little) but finally settled on “Ruby Roo”. If she felt she was being criticized unfairly she would sit back on her haunches, make eye contact and “roo” back at me. As in, “Ah roo roo roo”. Her sense of justice extended to walks. If I corrected her on lead one too many times, in her opinion anyhow, she would grab the lead in her mouth and shake it hard as if to say, “See if you like it.”

Ruby in her foster mom's back yard.

She was a cuddle-bug too, and loved nothing more than to be with me. If I weren’t paying enough attention to her she would either jump on the couch to cuddle, or steal the nearest shoe. She never chewed a shoe, just paraded through the house wearing a huge doggy grin as she carried it past me. The idea, of course, was to give her attention. Ear rubs would cause her to stretch her neck like a little deer, and wait for her neck to be massaged too. She was also the master of the “drive-by licking.” A run past the sofa where I lay watching TV was cause for a fast lick as she moved past, and if I wasn’t appreciative enough, the cat’s ears could always stand a cleaning.

Ruby’s adoption was bittersweet. I could not have imagined a more perfect family for her if I had picked them myself. She has a sister named Olive, who is as highly active as she is herself, and two human dads who dote on her. I will confess that I did cry on the way home. She has such a presence that the house felt terribly empty. I am grateful for being given the chance to get to know her and to help bring her into a loving home. I have heard, “I couldn’t foster, I couldn’t give them up.”  I felt that way with Ruby.

I have since come to realize that fostering is actually very selfish. I get to love lots and lots of “fur babies”. I get to bring joy to the people who adopt them. I also get the support and friendship of a lot of people who understand how I feel about animals. 

Kennel Cough

Kennel cough has a dry, hacking sound, almost like a gag. 

By MMDR

What It Is

Kennel cough is a very contagious upper respiratory disease in dogs. As the name of the disease suggests, its symptoms include coughing and hacking because of irritation to the trachea and bronchi. This disease is found throughout the world and is known to infect a very high percentage of dogs at least once during their lifetime. It is also medically referred to as tracheobronchitis and Bordetella.

Where It Comes From

Most of the time there has been a recent boarding that has placed the dog in contact with a number of other dogs.  If an infected dog shares the same space with another dog, it is likely to catch the disease.  Your dog is unlikely to catch kennel cough from other dogs at the dog park or brief meetings, unless they tend to play very closely and “swap spit”.  

Treatment

Usually, no treatment is needed for otherwise healthy dogs that contract kennel cough.  If your dog is alert, but has only minor symptoms along with the recurrent cough, then it is often left alone to go through the course of the disease, just like the common cold in humans. Most of the time an anti-inflammatory medication (such as Metacam) will be given to your dog in order to reduce the severity and frequency of coughing episodes and to make the dog more comfortable.

*NEVER give your dog “human” anti-inflammatory drugs like Advil, as they are usually toxic to dogs!

Some good ways to help your dog stay comfortable at home while getting over kennel cough include:

•        Feeding warm, wet meals such as homemade stews or bland diet with broth added to them. This will help soothe their throat and chest, just as it would for you if you had bronchitis or a cough.
•        A humidifier can be left on near your dog’s crate at night to help ease their coughing.  We all know how uncomfortable it can be to be kept up coughing all night!
•        Warm, moist towels wrapped around your dog’s neck (loosely!) while you give them some attention can help as well. 

 Antibiotics will be used if your dog is not eating, is running a fever, and is showing signs of severe respiratory troubles, as this may indicate pneumonia.  If your dog coughs up very thick mucous that is green or bright yellow, or blood, he or she needs a vet visit ASAP, but this is very rare with kennel cough.

Prevention

In order to prevent this disease, it is recommended that you not expose your dog to kennel like or boarding conditions, where large populations of dogs are contained and mixed together.

Common sense care is very important in helping to spread any disease:

·       Always wash your hands after handling a dog that has been coughing or otherwise appears ill before touching your pets.

·       Keeping your dog away from others that appear to be coughing excessively or ill.  Don’t allow your dog to visit with others at the vet; you do not know why the dog has been brought in!

·       When you bring your dog to places with large numbers of dogs (such as groomers or doggy daycares), make sure that you ask if they have policies about kennel cough and how they strive to prevent spreading the disease. 

Talk to your veterinarian about what is available for your dog, since there are certain vaccines that can have worrisome side effects. Therefore, vaccines to prevent tracheobronchitis are generally only given to dogs that are at high risk.

This blog contains excerpts from “Kennel Cough in Dogs” with permission of petMD.

Most Wanted Chloe, Our Shining Star

By MMDR

Chloe is the perfect girl to kick of Manitoba Mutt’s Still Wanted Campaign, where we plan to feature some of our most exceptional dogs who need a healthy dose of time in the spotlight.

Imagine being homeless, without a consistent source of food or shelter.  From what we can piece together about Chloe’s past, this is where her story begins.

Chloe has her own video! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BY0Oe3iCvmo&feature=youtu.be

Her Past:

After spending some time as a stray, Chloe eventually found her way to Winnipeg Animal Services.  Once she was safe and sound, her bright personality really began to shine.  It was quickly realized that as a true puppy at heart, she craved attention and direction from the people around her.  It was also discovered that her time on the streets had caused her to become slightly protective over her kibble...and who could blame her?  When there isn’t a lot of food to go around, hunger and fear can sometimes create habits that take some time to break.

Her Present:

Enter Manitoba Mutts.  Chloe was transferred over to us where we arranged a foster home and a routine that includes exercise, love and a program to help her learn to share her food.  Her amazing foster parents have been committed to working with a dog trainer on some training techniques and Chloe is learning so much every day. 

Her Future:

Now we ask you, the devoted dog community of Winnipeg: How can we find the perfect home for this loveable girl who is just looking for a second chance after she was dealt an unfortunate hand?

Hint: We need to find a family that is willing to continue Chloe’s training and routine to optimize her doggie-happiness for the rest of her life.  She gets a kick out of learning so her new family should be just as excited about teaching! 

She has a loyal nature, loves to be silly and knows how to put her heart-melting eyes to good use.  She’s also house trained, doesn’t chew and likes her kennel.  Like so many dogs, a good walk or jog will make her day but she’s never fully satisfied until she gets a good cuddle session in.  Now here’s the really mushy part - she would love to be your only dog and claim the spotlight of your heart all to herself.  Trust us, she is more than worth it!

If you’re looking for a free smile, check out this video of her.  We guarantee it will brighten your day.

Sitting Pretty!

Chloe Loves to Learn!

Minnie Series Part 3 - Princess Jasmine

By Jacquline L.

In keeping up with our recent posts about Minnie and her litter, here’s the story of Jasmine, one of MMDR’s many foster fails! Jasmine was brought into care, and her foster mom just couldn’t bear to let her go after the roles were reversed and the foster dog became the care giver for the foster parent. It’s always important to remember that sometimes we might rescue the dog without realizing we’re in need of some rescue ourselves.

Jasmine was named after the princess in the Disney movie Aladdin. She came to us at six weeks old along with her two sisters Alice and Rapunzel. Jasmine was the energetic one and the instigator out of the three as she would pounce on her sisters to engage them in play. She also loved cuddling up on our lap for her naps. The longer we had Jasmine in our care, the more we fell in love with her. We tried to get friends and family to adopt her as we really wanted to see her grow up, however no one was in the market for another dog. Jasmine was brought to the Morris Stampede for the Manitoba Mutts adoption fair. We were relieved to see her still around at the end of the day!

Seeing her play with our 8 year old dog Kyzer and our 6 year old dog Dameon made us fall in love with her even more so. She had made herself at home and seemed to be part of the family by then. While fostering Jasmine, my husband and I found out we were expecting our first child. As much as we wanted to keep her, we were unsure if we wanted to take on the responsibility of raising a puppy while taking care of a baby. Five weeks later, we were devastated as our third ultrasound of the pregnancy showed that the baby's heart had stopped.

Throughout that week filled with emergency hospital visits, surgery and the beginning of a physical and emotional recovery, Jasmine was by my side. She would lie next to me all day, only leaving my side to go do her business outside. She has been a blessing and an angel in disguise. We could not imagine our lives without Jasmine in it. As far as she ever knew, we were always her parents and she was oblivious to the fact that she was up for adoption. The home she had was the only home she knew. She has filled our lives with joy and laughter since the day we brought her home. Jasmine has engraved herself in our hearts. Jasmine; our girl; our princess.

Congratulations to Jasmine on finding her forever home and for helping her adopted Mom through such a tough time. It’s always great to see the positive impact that our mutts have on the lives of their human families!

Swim Time

Helping Win at Cards! 

London, the England Babies AND the Itty Pitties

By Erin D. 

London is now in her Forever Home! 

The day London came to us was miserably hot, muggy and overcast. Her trip from
Winnipeg, crated in a stranger’s van, had terrified her, and although I was able to
coax her out of the crate, Hubs had to cradle her overripe body in his arms to carry her into the house. Yes, London came to us so pregnant that we were amazed she could so much as move! Her delicate, once 40-pound body was clearly carrying at least half that weight in puppies.

Quickly, as she recognized that she was in a safe and loving place, London began wagging her tail, giving kisses, and even jumping up for attention. In spite of the clear discomfort of her heavily pregnant body, this was a sweet and kind dog just wanting someone to love her. We were enchanted. As we do for all of our fosters, I started London a Facebook page (London and the England Babies) to help get the word out about our new family of adoptable dogs.

Only a few days after her arrival, London went into rapid labour. I camped out with her the entire time to play the roll of Midwoof. One miracle appeared rapidly after the others, and London soon needed my help with tying off umbilical cords, drying and cleaning her babies between births. Eight beautiful, wet, goo-covered puppies later, Hubs looked at me with wide eyes and announced, “101 Dalmations did not prepare me for this!” Sadly, one pup was stillborn (little Brandon is buried on our property so that he will always know a loving family). London’s labor was 7 parts joy and one part sorrow, but our sweet mama dog readily moved on to the task of feeding her healthy babies.

When London’s babies were just over a week old, we got an email from MMDR asking if we thought that she would be able to handle a few more. Another mama dog was too ill to feed her litter, so 8 Pitbull puppies were looking for surrogate mothers. When our 4 little surrogates arrived, London took one look before cleaning her new babies and happily allowed them to tuck in to some milk. Her selfless, loving nature allowed her to take on 4 strange babies even when she was already so taxed with her own 7 VERY large pups.

The England Babies were large right from the start (each was born at over a pound of weight!) but they grew just as quickly. By 2 weeks old, they had teeth coming in and were ready for “puppy mush”, kibble soaked in water to make it soft enough for babies. I quickly became known as Mush Lady. They also quickly decided that outdoor recreation was the best, and needed to be carried up the stairs to the back yard in a laundry basket. It wasn’t long before they were just too heavy for Mush Lady to carry, so Hubs became Basket Man. We had many an adventure with our little poopers, and seeing them grow into individuals is absolutely amazing!

While her babies grew and mostly slept, London began to integrate with our family upstairs. Her foster siblings quickly grew to love her, and her two fellow big female dogs showed her how to play and have a good time. London learned many things quickly and well, such as off leash recall, and that one should never chase horses. She proved herself good with her small dog foster siblings, and even did pretty well with a cat visitor. Having come from a Northern community, London was used to charming humans for food, so she was always great with all human visitors. London was a fantastic mom to her babies, and  reminded us every 2-3 hours that she needed to go down to feed her brood. She spent the first 4-5 weeks sleeping downstairs with her babies, and when she had mostly weaned her  babes, she got to move into her very own bedroom at night. Bedtime quickly became one of her favorite times of day! Mama dog had not been well cared for in her previous life, so we had the fun task of fattening her up a bit, and the not-so-fun task of getting rid of her massive parasite infestation. Through good and bad, London was a bright little star, always sweet and loving.

After weeks of promising London that we would allow her to go to only the very best of homes, we finally had our first meeting with a family! It was clear to me from the very first that this was London’s forever home. When her babies reached 6 weeks of age, London moved into her new home and is now the queen of her very own castle. We miss her dearly but couldn’t be happier with her new life!

All the while, the England Babies and the Itty Pitties (so named because they were so tiny on arrival) were attracting a lot of attention. Their sweet puppy antics and faces won each of them adoptive homes. The England Babies will start moving into their forever homes this weekend, and the Itty Pitties will begin their new journeys next Thursday. We have a special bond with each puppy, so it makes me so very happy to know that each and every one of our babies will be going straight to their very own families, having never known the traumas and horrors that so many of our rescue dogs do. They have each known love, attention, affection, grooming and proper care from day one.

Of course, Basket Man and I will be starting our adventures all over again very soon with another litter. Fostering a whole family is messy, chaotic and loud, but also full of sweet puppy kisses, cuddly mamas and the wonder of new life. We wouldn’t want it any other way!

London and her babies are such celebrities and special puppies that they have their very own Facebook page!! http://www.facebook.com/LondonAndTheEnglandBabies

Puppy Party!! 

Protecting your Dog from Mange

Chomper is Recovering from Mange while in Care

By MMDR

What It Is

Mange is a skin disease caused by several species of tiny mites, common external parasites found in companion canines. Some mange mites are normal residents of your dog’s skin and hair follicles, while others are not. All mites can cause mild to severe skin infections if they proliferate.

Where It Comes From

Mange comes in three varieties: Demodectic, Cheyletiella and Sarcoptic. It is caused by different species of mites, tiny eight-legged critters related to spiders.

Treatment

The symptoms of mange depend on which type of mite is present. Demodectic mange tends to cause hair loss, bald spots, scabbing and sores. Secondary bacterial infections can make demodectic mange an itchy and uncomfortable disease.

Sarcoptic mange tends to cause intense itching. It can result in restlessness and frantic scratching, symptoms that generally appear one week after exposure. It also can result in hair loss, reddened skin, body sores and scabs. The most commonly affected areas are a dog’s ears, elbows, face and legs, but it can rapidly spread to the entire body.

When passed to humans, sarcoptic mange causes a rash of red bumps, similar to mosquito bites. Humans cannot get demodectic mange from dogs.

Depending on the type of mange and the breed of your dog, medication may be given orally or applied topically, by injection, or via shampoo and dip.

The first step in the treatment of sarcoptic mange is isolating your dog to prevent the condition from spreading to other pets and humans. Your vet may prescribe antiparasitic medications, as well as medication to ease itching, inflammation and secondary skin infections. Results are usually seen after a month of treatment.

Medications and managing physiological stress are essential when treating demodectic mange. Some infected dogs may also require special treatment—such as medicated shampoos—for secondary skin infections.

Prevention

Proper care, good hygiene, and the maintenance of good health will increase a pet's resistance to skin disease. Canine mange mainly occurs on young animals that are undernourished, suffering from internal parasites, and kept with infected animals, usually their mothers.
Pets should not be permitted to mingle with mangy animals or contact premises occupied by them since individual contact is the most important method of transmission. In almost all cases of mange on pets, a veterinarian should be consulted.

Minnie Series - Part 2 "Minnie Adopts her Person"

By Carolyn G.

Minnie in her mini pool! 

My entre life I have wanted a dog, so why now after all these years? Why did I give up that inexpensive, fantastic apartment for a place more expensive but dog friendly?  Possibly in some zone that only dogs are privy to; like where they hear ultra sound and are in touch with the supernatural; Minnie got fed up with waiting and adopted me. I guess my photo was posted on some dog frequency, with a little ribbon across me that read, 'Adopted!' and all dogs were just waiting, panting, for Minnie to pick me up. That would be the only way to explain it, because I filled out a MMDR application form for another dog and then without pause -- deleted it, scrolling back and looking at that dog smile of Minnie's that had amazed me from the start.  Then I fired off the form for Minnie.

When I went to meet her at her foster's home with my best friend Melanie Wight (MLA of Burrows) who had decided to buy me the dog of my choice for my birthday to stop me mooning over dogs and actually begin enjoying one, we drove around a bit, because we were early.  I swore up and down that no matter what I thought of Minnie, I would wait 24 hours. But as soon as Minnie came out of the front door, it was clear I belonged to her and she'd worked her dog mojo. She'd finally got to pick me up. 

I'd read on the MMDR site that her back had been burned, that she'd suffered abuse, but so focused on her sweet face, it hadn't really sunk in. That first meeting, the fosters Mallory and James braced me and then took off Minnie's shirt.  Minnie backed up against me pressing this most vulnerable part of her into me.  We humans sat on the grass and chatted while Minnie let me stroke her soft, warm bare back skin, and scratch around the periphery where stubble was growing.  Her fosters offered to show me photos of Minnie before her medical treatment. Unfazed by her bare back, I did not think the pictures would bother me.  I was wrong.  They are horrific.

Everywhere Minnie and I go, people ask why she's wearing a shirt, or notice the skin peeking out at the edges and ask about her.  People actually praise me or thank me for taking her on.  It's difficult to explain in these brief chats how the praise should go to the people who saved her life, who nursed her back to health, to MMDR and all their amazing fosters, and how grateful I am to have Minnie in my life.  To think she was so abused when she is the most good-natured, joyful, loving creature I could imagine.  Minnie once lived tied to a tire by a short, filthy yellow rope in a dirt pile.  She was starved, parched, and burned, and those are only the things we know for sure.  

A mini list of Minnie’s tendencies:

-Sleeps with her mom, cuddles her at night and again in the morning as soon as their eyes meet. And every chance they get in between.

- Relentlessly pursues a study of squirrels, birds, and gophers.  

- Takes her mom and many friends for walks down streets and lanes they would never have noticed before. 

- Proved she is a world-class digger.

- Deconstructs her toy lion.

- Climbs trees when given half a chance.  I told her that she couldn't, but she can.  

- Eats healthy meals and treats, does damage to bones.  Even though my apartment is rather small, I have a water dish for her in two rooms, to always remind her that she will never be thirsty again.  

- Sniffs the air and observes her city during car rides.

- Makes friends and plays at Sprockett's Doggy Day Camp when mom is busy.

- Socializes with the dogs in the suite downstairs.  Wrestles with the young one, licked the muzzle of the old one with arthritis when she couldn't get up.

- Hits the pool occasionally.

- Charms people everywhere with her sweetness.

I've often thought Minnie had the brains and agility to do a job.  When neighbourhood children inevitably run to her and wrap their arms around her neck to hug her, because it's impossible to resist loving her, and then ask about her back, Minnie and I educate them about the importance of being good to animals and never allowing them to be abused.  It's preaching to the converted with the young folk we meet. Their little bodies stiffen up with the injustice of it when I put her story - as mildly as I can to them.  They all love Minnie.  So perhaps Minnie and I have a bit of a job already.  Maybe she masterminded this whole thing so I'd speak for her; put her thoughts and feelings into English.  I'm grateful she took me on.

Who says dogs can't climb trees? 

Minnie taking her mama for a walk!