I am technically challenged!

The family that is interested in the General asked me to send them a few more pictures or videos.  I take the videos and then Yahoo won't let me attach them.  Bummer...  No problem, I think I will upload on the blog and just send a link by email to the nice folks.  I have to say, I have never had this much trouble before.  Everything is taking sooo long.  Just to upload this 1 minute video it is taking over 10 minutes.  What am I doing wrong??? 

Thank You for Your Support!!!

Last night we had an adoption event at the Petco.  While we didn't move any dogs into permanent homes last night, we did have a few very serious prospects.  I really like it when people take the time to think about adopting.  Adding another dog to the household is like adding another child!  Our hope is that people seriously consider the commitment and then make a decision. 

But the big new of the night came from a wonderful lady who gave us a generous donation!  We certainly appreciate her help.  (I forgot to ask her if it was okay to use her name, so I won't publish it!) The 12 puppies we have had over the past few months have really added to our spay / neuter costs dramatically.  The money will be used to offset this expense. 

Another bit of good new is that we may have found a home for General.  The folks at American Lab Rescue have a potential home for him.  We have worked with them before and they do a fantastic job finding the right home for the dogs.  It seems as if there aren't many big dogs up East.  As soon as he is neutered, we will put him on a transport to Connecticut if the adoption is approved by them.  Thank you American Labs!

And a big thank you to Dezzi Falgout and Lilly Manuel for helping with the adoption event.  I couldn't do it without you!!!

Well, it is now daylight and I can start my day!  Kennels have to be cleaned, dogs feds, eggs gathered, goats, donkeys, chickens, turkeys, ducks, and rabbits tend to, fall veggies planted,  and the list goes on and on.........

Is this a dog or a pony?

Look at the size of this Great Dane!  His name is General, The General, that is....  He weighs 135 lbs. and is such a sweetie.  Yesterday afternoon I received a call from the Denham Springs Animal Shelter about a man at the gate with this huge dog.  Unfortunately since the man didn't live in Denham, they could not take the dog, so they called me.  Although we can't take any permanent residents now, we will be the temporary home for The General until he can be placed with another rescue group.  Not every facility or foster home has the space for such a large dog.  I put him in our 10' x 10' run, which seems very spacious for our large 85 pound lab/dane mix and this dog absolutely fills the space!  He can't get inside the dog house, so at night he will have to come inside.  Fortunately, he is housebroken and very well behaved.

What a Week!

I must admit I normally handle stress very well, but this week is trying my patience.  First the death of Daphne and the potential for other young dogs to get sick and now a tropical storm that has threatened to flood the kennels.  If the water comes up another 2 feet I will have to move the dogs to wire crates on my porch or other parts of the yard. I really prefer to keep them in the large kennel runs so lets pray for the wind to come out of the north and blow the water out of Lake Maurpas.  Then things will begin to drain properly.  Right now the water is draining away from the kennels, but it is close!  We made a few trenches to relieve the situation.  The back side of the big dog kennel is near a large drainage ditch. It is overflowing and beginning to creep up into the yard! 

If we get too much rain tonight, I will be moving dogs in the dark and in the rain.  I can put two or three medium size dogs in the 10 x 10's and just move two large dogs into wire crates on my porch.  Still, I'd prefer to leave them where they are.  Everyone is dry, and nobody is barking and carrying on about being locked up in a crate! 

To add to this misery, my condo on the Tickfaw River is probably going to get a few inches of water in it.   We have been through this before with Hurricane Ike.  Fortunately, I planned ahead and the cleanup will not be so bad this time.  When I remodeled, I knew we would get water again at some time.  We have vinyl wainscoating with no fiberglass insulation in the first 12" from the floor.  The floor is vinyl and can just be washed off!  The furniture is up on blocks so hopefully we will not have too much of a mess.

Stress, stress, stress,  thank goodness I can take a few minutes and pray.  God always seems to relieve my worries.  He reminds me it is just stuff!  He reminds me that family and furry friends are far more important!

Stay dry everyone!

IN LOVING MEMORY OF DAPHNE

My heart is heavy tonight.  A sweet little 13 week old puppy, Daphne, contracted Parvo a week ago and died tonight.  She was the best new friend to a wonderful family and now she is gone.  I feel so helpless and so responsible.  I could have waited to have her spayed. We did everything right. The moment she was listless the foster family called me and we rushed her to the emergency clinic. Their quick response to her decline in activity gave us a real sense of cautious optimism.  The recent spay surgery was not progressing as we had hoped.  She had developed a huge seroma and we were afraid of infection.  She was given antibiotics for the infection.  She ate well that night,  but the next morning she was throwing up.  We  took her back to the vet and  she was tested for parvo.  Unfortunately it came back positive. She had the best medical care and attendants 24 hours a day to monitor her.  This afternoon she was holding her own - no improvement, but no decline.  Then just hours later the doctor calls me to let me know she had crashed and they could not save her. Normally if they make it past the 3 day period, you begin to feel that they are going to make it.  But she fought hard for 4 days before she lost the battle.

She probably contracted the virus here.  This is the nightmare of every kennel, shelter or rescue group. This just shows how deadly this virus can be on young dogs.  She had two series of vaccines before she came down sick.  It just wasn't  enought to counter the infection from surgery and parvo.  So, to the family, I am so very sorry.  In her short time with you, she received much love and affection.  You are absolutely the best.  You gave a rescued dog a chance.

I can truly say I understand the feeling of losing a pet.  I've lost several over the years.  It is never easy.  We never get over it.  But time does heal and God is faithful to restore us.  Our memories of our lost friends are more precious as the years go by.  While Daphne's time on earth was short, she brought laughter and love into the lives of many. 

.  We had one other young adult dog that came down with parvo at the same time, but he was strong enough to fight it.  He spent one night in the hospital. It is possible he was shedding the virus before he exhibited any symptoms. He was an owner surrender and we were told he was fully vaccinated.  He never came in contact with Daphne.  So we presume we humans brought it into the house to her unknowingly.  My biggest fear now is that I have 5 other young dogs that have not finished all three vaccines that were in the house with Daphne.  None of them appear to be ill at this time.  We have one more week to go before we can say they are probably going to be okay.  The dogs in the kennels next to the young adult had all been fully vaccinated and those who had contact with him in the exercise yard had all been vaccinated so they will be fine.

Our rescue will be closed for adoptions for 2  months.  We will only take foster dogs who have not been on the property to Petco for the next month.  The following month we will only take adult dogs.  All the young dogs will remain here until they have had all three vaccines and have had time for them to work properly in their systems.

Thank you all for your understanding.  Please keep us in your prayers.

New Guests at Swampy Paws!

Don't you like the phrase "new guests"?  That implies that they are only here temporarily!  That is what needs to happen.  Take a look at these cuties.  Show their picture to your friends.  Make sure everyone knows there is a place where they can get an AWESOME CANINE COMPANION! 

Meet Shadow - He is a 100% purebred American Mystery Mix.  He is long, low, and solidly built.  He was found in the woods, full of tick and fleas.  Whenever you would approach him he would yelp as if he was hurt.  Someone in his past was not good to him.  However, after a week or two of kindness he is warming up to people.   

Pepper looks as if there is a little Boston Terrier in her lineage.  She is small, 15 lbs, and just loves to be held.  Her new best friend, Shadow, plays and chases her all day! 

The German Shepherd mixes are growing.  They are now 8 weeks old.  We have two females that need homes.  Ginger is taller than her sister and quite laid back.  Ebony has the darkest coat of all the litter.  She is coal black with the tan eyebrows and markings. Both of the little girls are being crate trained and Ginger is really coming along.  Next week they go to the vet  for another round of vaccines.

Many many thanks to Dezzi Falgout.  She made this wonderful spread sheet with all the dogs and the dates of their vaccines, weight, dob, spay dates, etc.   You can't believe how helpful this is when you have lots of dogs!  I have used this spread sheet a dozen times in the last two weeks!  I am glad I know someone who is knows how to do things on Excel!

Construction is finished and WE ARE FULL!!!

Look at the new addition!!   We are so happy to have the ability to keep everyone in a larger run when we must leave the property.  I only wish I have room and energy to help more adandoned / abused dogs.  But I must be firm.  WE ARE FULL AND CANNOT TAKE ANOTHER DOG UNTIL WE GET A FEW ADOPTED!!!

This past week I have turned down calls from people desparate to find a home for a stray.  The count for the first part of this week alone is 7 - Yep thats right - SEVEN dogs in less than one week.  And this is just from the people who know about us.  Please Plesase Please make animal control an issue in Livingston Parish.  Call the council members and the policy jury (because they control the purse strings) and let them know we need some help.  To bring a dog into my system takes money - $150.00 to make sure the animal gets properly immunized, free of parasites, and neutered.  This does not include any medical issues that need treatment.   A dog with mange, an injury, a skin infection, or intestinal issues can run up the bill dramatically. 

I know we may face a situation where the animals enter into a parish shelter and then be euthanized when their time is up.  I HATE THAT THOUGHT.  But what I hate even more is a dog straving to death in a slow and painful way because it has been dumped.  I hate seeing a dog mangled on the side of the road because some one dumped it.  I hate seeing puppies so thin and sick from parvo because some owner didn't protect them from the deadly disease and then get dumped beside of the road like trash. If a dog gets to the a shelter then we have a chance to save them.  Dogs dumped have no chance!  They will die. Much of this can be totally avoided by an aggressive spay/neuter program.  We need to make this a priority.  Education and an affordable price is the key to making sure we get as many dogs/cat spay or neutered as possible.  COME ON PEOPLE - LET'S WORK ON THIS TOGETHER!!!! 

Okay, I've vented long enough - I have to clean up after EIGHT puppies. 

PLEASE COME TO THE MEETING TONIGHT AT THE SPRINGFIELD / ALBANY LIBRARY.  6:30 pm - Call me if you have any questions.  225-772-8836

SAVE THE DATE

THURSDAY - AUGUST 18 - 6:30 PM
The Humane Society of Louisiana - Livingston Chapter

SPRINGFIELD LIBRARY
26941 La Hwy. 43

Please join us and learn how you can help the abandoned and abused dogs of rural Livingston parish.  We are NOT going to ask you to foster a dog!  We ARE going to ask you to help with fund raisers, adoption events, monitoring council meetings, and getting information on the dogs waiting for a homes distributed through social media.

We can make a difference one dog at a time!

Email me if you need directions or additional information.
swampypaws4@yahoo.com

A Real Hero in our Midst!

Yesterday I received a call from  Susie Wascom who lives in Killian.  She pulled a mother German Shepherd out of the river and needed assistance in finding a home for her and the four puppies Susie found.  It seems as if the mom was dumped at the boat launch not far from Susie's home.  We think one of the puppies must have tumbled into the water and the mother dog went in river to save her.  Once the puppy was on the bank, the mother dog went back into the water, perhaps to check for more pups.  She was so weak, that she could not climb out and was thrashing about.  Susie had to pull the 56 pound dog up the side of her dock!  Mrs. Wascom is a petite lady so this was quite an accomplishment.  The mama dog would have drowned if it wasn't for her quick action. 

If you can foster one of the puppies, let me know.  We have 4 little girls that need to be weaned.  The vet wants the mother dog to use all of her energy putting on weight.  You can see from the pictures just how thin she is. 

The puppies are about 6 weeks old and have had their first set of shots.  They are eating canned puppy food .  They are in good shape given their rough start in life.

Look At Her Now!

Several months ago we resued a little blind Pomeranian puppy.  She was thin and recovering from parvo.  Well, look at the before and after photos.  She now has her full coat of fur and has adapted to her disability quite well.