So Much for My Dogless Cottage

This cottage can’t stay dogless for long. It lasted all of five days, and then Melisa from the Humane Society messaged me- Could you foster a pregnant dog? She needs to get out of the shelter.

It’s not the best timing. We leave on shelter tour tomorrow. But how could I say no to helping a dog in my own community? So, of course, I said yes.

On Thursday, the shelter took her to the vet to check to see how far along she was and to get a 4dx test. They also vaccinated her for distemper and Bordetella, but didn’t give her a rabies vaccination. This surprised me. I don’t know dog law in Virginia well, but I’d assume a rabies vaccination would be required, at a minimum, to transfer a dog to rescue from a shelter.

I was surprised to learn that she’d been at the shelter for five weeks. And yet she got her distemper vaccination only two days ago after the rescue committed to taking her.

Not vaccinating dogs on intake is a risky practice. I’ve visited at least five shelters in the south where that practice led to a distemper outbreak that ultimately killed dozens of dogs, which led each of those shelters to a new practice of vaccinating on intake.

A distemper vaccine, purchased in bulk can be as little as five dollars. It seems insane to me that any shelter doesn’t mitigate their risk with that small investment. But my county’s shelter practices are a conversation for another day. I’ve got a sick little dog to deal with.

Back to our little girl. The shelter named her Brownie, but as she’s more the color of caramel, the name doesn’t fit and we plan to give her a new one. For now, let’s call her Sugar, because she really is a sweet little pup.

The vet (not one I’ve ever used), took radiographs and could not confirm a pregnancy. He said that either it’s a False Pregnancy or it’s too soon to tell. Doing the math on that idea, five weeks at the shelter means, and assuming she didn’t get pregnant at the shelter, that she would have to be at least 35 days pregnant. A quick google search says that you can’t see a pregnancy (skeletons) until between 42-49 days.

So, the jury is out on whether this dog is really pregnant.

What she is, though, is very sick with tick-borne diseases. She tested positive for Heartworm, lymes, ehrlichia, and anaplasmosis. That’s a first for me. I’ve fostered dogs with one or two of those diagnoses before, but never all four.

So, Sugar is here, settling in. She’s yet to eat anything I’ve offered (other than treats). She’s quiet and already my shadow. The thing that has brought her the most joy, so far, is discovering my recycling box. She LOVES to chew paper. Here is a homework-eating dog in the making. She is curious about my dogs, touching noses through the fence, but more focused on me and where I am.

At forty pounds, she’s the smallest dog I’ve fostered in quite a while. The shelter listed her as a Jack Russell mix, but I’ve yet to see any energy or intensity befitting that designation. Nick said, “If you were pregnant and had Lymes and all that, you wouldn’t have much energy either.”

Fair point.

Her stubby tail and long legs make me lean more toward Feist mix. No matter what breed she is, she is adorable, with a sweet face and doe eyes. And desperately long nails I need to work my nerve up to trim.

The Humane Society is committed to this pup no matter whether she’s pregnant or not. Treating her for Heartworm will be expensive. I continue to be impressed with this little Humane Society that goes above and beyond for the animals in our community, picking up the slack left by the shelter (I’m discovering just how vast that slack is the longer I’m here). Just this week HSSC took in a cat with a broken leg and another that has to have an eye removed.

The rescue has scheduled Sugar for a full exam in ten days at the vet I use for my dogs so hopefully we’ll get a firm answer by then whether she’s pregnant and come up with a treatment plan.

Meanwhile, we will keep wooing her with new recipes until we get her eating. I’ll be dog sitting for a former foster dog right after I get back from shelter tour and he will be the perfect sized playmate for this little girl.

And we’ll come up with a better name. How about Butterscotch Krimpet? Or Twinkie? She is a little bit of an imp, though, so Sugar doesn’t cover it.

Two of my five kittens were adopted. Yay for Geo and Allie –they went home with a darling couple to be spoiled and adored. I’m not so great at the cat adoption thing and didn’t remember to snap a picture!

That leaves Trig, the long-haired friendly boy, and Boots, the shy sweet girl kitten, and our mystery teenager cat Cinder who takes a minute to warm up but is so worth it. At the moment, she’s my biggest fan in the quiet cottage.

Here is a video of Krimpet/Sugar. Want to make bets on whether she is pregnant or not?

Nancy will be here later today to get ready for our shelter tour starting tomorrow, so she’ll get some better pictures of all the remaining kitties and our newest guest.

If you’d like to help the Humane Society out with their vet bills, click here to donate.

If you live in/near Richmond, please come out to see me on Sunday October 14 between 4-6pm at Intermission Brewing. I’ll be signing books and hanging out with adoptable puppies from Operation Paws for Homes. Click here for more info.

Until Each One Has a Home,

Cara

For information on me, my writing, and books, visit CaraWrites.com.

If you’d like regular updates of all our foster dogs past and present, plus occasional dog care/training tips, and occasional foster cat updates (!) be sure to join the Facebook group, Another Good Dog.

And if you’d like to know where all these dogs come from and how you can help solve the crisis of too many unwanted dogs in our shelters, visit WhoWillLetTheDogsOut.org and subscribe to our blog where we share stories of our travels to shelters, rescues, and dog pounds.

If you can’t get enough foster dog stories, check out my book: Another Good Dog: One Family and Fifty Foster Dogs . Or its follow up that takes you to the shelters in the south One Hundred Dogs & Counting: One Woman, Ten Thousand Miles, and a Journey Into the Heart of Shelters and Rescues.