Day 476 Leonitis - Another beautiful day, I love the cool fall temps. Today was a typical Sunday except there was an annual Dogtoberfest celebration going on in town so a ton of dogs were out all day at the event looking for their forever homes. With dog gone it gave us extra time to get the dogs out for walks and for us to spend some one on one time with our newest dogs getting to know them a bit better. One of those new dogs is Jeffrey, we are still working on a new name for him as we want something that matches his personality. Jeffrey is the dog that had been deathly ill and in quarantine that weve been posting updates on for the past month. He if finally healthy enough to join us. He is heartworm positive and still needs to go through his heartworm treatment once his strength is fully returned but he is settling in well so far. Jeffrey is a handsome boy and we arent exactly sure of his breed mix other than our guess of Collie/Chow. From the side view you would think he is a Collie, from the front with him looking at you, he looks like he has some Chow in there. Whatever the mix, hes beautiful. He is still a bit unsure of strangers and has to give them a quick look over to make sure their intentions are good before approaching, that could resolve itself in time though once he feels more comfortable here. Everyone welcome Jeffrey (for now) to the program! We were able to get our two new puppy mill survivors outside and into the sunshine. For Carlos the Japanese Chin, maybe for the very first time in his life. Daisy the Beagle was apparently found by the breeder on the side of the road a few years ago and was picked up and forced into the breeding life. She likely was someones family dog at some point. She was thrilled however to be back outside and allowed to roam free once again. I think her story is almost more sad than Carlos story. Carlos likely was born into the puppy mill environment and knows no other life, whereas Daisy lived a normal life at one time with a family and was then held captive in the puppy mill environment for years. Poor Carlos showed all of the unfortunate signs of having lived his life in a cage. He had no idea of what an uneven surface was and would stumble and fall over every bump or divot in the yard. He also kept tripping at any step up or step down and falling on his face. After a few minutes he began to get the hang of it and fell less but it will take a few times outside before he grasps the full concept of steps up and down and looking for that barrier or drop off in front of him. Carlos also did a lot of circle and pacing behaviors, especially at first when he was nervous and excited about being outside. Often puppy mill dogs will run in small circles or will pace back and forth and back and forth even in they are in an open area. This comes from years of being locked in a cage and spinning around the inside of the cage or pacing from one end to the other end of the cage. This is learned behavior and it often becomes self soothing in times of stress. Often puppy mill dogs will continue this behavior in times of stress even years after being released from their cages. Overall it was a great day here, all the dogs got out on walks, some got to meet face to face for the first time, some got their first taste of freedom and many dogs got out of the facility entirely for he day and hung out at a big event with lots of new people. More tomorrow!
Posted on: Mon, 20 Oct 2014 03:25:29 +0000
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