Widowed?

Everyone is wondering, no Smith is not dead. He is here. We have just amicably decided to go our own ways. For the next year we will be separating all the things that it has taken 13 years to put together.
I will NOT be coming on the trip on the 21st. Smith is either coming with his Dad or alone. I will miss meeting everyone and seeing my friends but I have to tend to things here.
Smith will take over CSRW and I will take Carolina Cockers which has been my baby from day one.
On the flip side congrats are in order for my adoption of Folly. A toy fox terrier/jack russell mix. I swear I blame this all on Cheepers, Caspian, Trump. Truffles and Lana!
Sorry I will miss everyone but truly I need to be here.
Once Maggie is finished with high school I will proceed with moving home, Smith will go his own direction and he can always use CSRW as long as he chooses to rescue. Great cudos to him for becoming a rescuer in his own account.
I personally will not be rescuing, I will be gathering together and regrouping my own life. For the next year I will be responsible for all cockers, my personal dogs and Walt and Disney. I will need to find places for all of our rescues and Walt and Disney. Any ideas?

Last Chance Highway

The big question I am getting lately is are we like Last Chance Highway? Well, sort of, the same theory applies. Really we are VERY much like what they do. The differences are that we don't have the same amount of funding they have, we work on a VERY short budget and that I don't like other people transporting my dogs. For one thing it is extremely expensive and I don't know how much those people charge but the estimates I have gotten are much more than it costs me to do it myself. Besides what if something happens during the trip? Someone gets sick or something else weird? No one is back there keeping an eye on them and that worries me. I know every dog I rescue and tend to be super paranoid about things so it is just easier on my worry factor to hand them over to their new parents myself. I have sent them for years on legged transports, planes and everything else, I don't have a moments peace until the parents call me and tell me they are ok. I am not kidding it makes me insane. I was up until 4am worrying over Clifford getting to Canada a few months ago. So a lot of money, time and effort has gone in to figuring out how to keep me from going hysterical basically...People who know me know that it's really worth it for me to put my hands on each of my dogs during the trip. Of course then I have to worry about the ones staying home...so I use valium for that. I am an insane worry freak and will go into full blown panic attacks instantly if something happens to my dogs.
Still the whole rescue then transport thing takes it's toll, it is about a week after we get home that I can even move at a normal pace. So the bottom line for the differences between what we do and what they do is #1 Money, #2 My total insanity level when it comes to my dogs. Other than that the answer is yes, we are the same.

Saturday

Well, Farm Bureau called and said they have declared our RV a total loss. We have to meet with them on Tuesday to negotiate a way to keep the RV and get money to fix it. Then the question will be will they still insure it? It is VERY expensive to repair these beasts apparently. The door alone is $900. But we think we can still fix it if we search the internet and find replacement parts and so forth.
This little toy fox is running around my house as though she's been here forever. Everyone keeps calling her PeepPeep Jr. Although really Cheep Peep could never be replaced. Delightful little creatures that make me smile. Truthfully I need to smile, I need some happiness around here. She fits right up here in the chair next to me beside GiGi. GiGi has been adopted again. Don't know how that is going to work as she is a fixture around here. We are going to miss this little bouncing baby. All of 4.5 lbs now you can't get her to stop eating!!!

The Greenwood cocker is sick, I can't figure it out, will try a few things over the w/e and if nothing works off to Doc. He's all wobbly, like he's drugged.
Got Bugg's yesterday too, he's going to live with Adam formerly of HSoG and wow...this dog is non-stop play. Didn't take him two minutes to discover McGraw and those two ran my entire yard for hours.
Jack is here too, put him in the little play yard and watched, he shrank into a corner for a while watching Karo, Uno, Zero and Pepper then decided to check out his surroundings. By this morning he will be playing like a mad man I am sure.
Shaving dogs today, I finally got the tick situation completed. It was what I said to do from day one. From now on maybe people will listen to me.
Ah well need to help get these new babies adopted then off to shave, shave, shave. Many bald cockers and maltese by the end of the day!

Home from Trip

We got home from our last trip on Tuesday morning at 6am. The trip started as usual with dog washing and preparing everyone in the rv. Finally left 2 hours late as usual. Around Gastonia we decided that we would need an extra battery for the rv as the kids wanted to plug in all kinds of cell phone chargers, computers, ps2's and so forth. So we stopped at Walmart in Gastonia to but a new battery. We already have 3 but one more wouldn't hurt. As we were leaving we hit a giant boulder in their parking lot. It literally tore out the stairwell in the rv. The security guy got the manager out and I called the police to make a report. The whole thing took several hours and then of course we had to go to home depot to figure out a way to keep the stairs attached to the rv while we were traveling. Then on to advance auto to get a bracket to hold the battery. This took another hour.
So we arrived in Wayne at 10am instead of 6am as planned. Nevertheless, everyone went home, well except Cindy who we left at Wayne. Her Mom decided that she didn't want her at the last minute. We had been holding Cindy for two months for her, in that two months we could have found Cindy 10 homes. She didn't want her because she didn't appear to be pure bred.
The great news was that on a fluke we saw a couple walking up to the shelter with a little brown and tan min pin. It took us all about two seconds to realize that it was Gibson! They didn't know we would be there or even that Gibson had come from us. They had adopted Gibson from the shelter last year after we left him there for adoption! As it ended up they came to adopt another dog and our little Della fit their bill perfectly! So now Della lives with Gibson! Perfect match!
Wendy came and brought Chaos. I couldn't believe how gorgeous he is. He was worried that I would take him back home though and was reluctant to come to me. Sad when that happens but my greatest joy comes from knowing that he is so happy in his home that he didn't want to take any chances of me taking him back! Cindy was there with Pepper and Tiffi and she took Rose home for foster. Of course Lynn was there too but didn't bring Copper and Cole-sad face. Fantastic seeing everyone though, my dearest friends and some of the few humans in this world that understand what we do and why we do it. Missed seeing Alice though, don't know where she was, probably hiding so we didn't send her home with another dog!!! hahhaha...
Sally kept Leyla there until her parents could get there to pick her up. They had to work all day so it was really nice of Sally to babysit.
On to Scuffy's where we left Kiwi, Kosmo and Karo. Then on to Secaucus. Parked there and took the kids into the city. Went directly to Central Park where we met Anna with the wonderful Joplin and Joey and Bryn came in with Truffles. Of course seeing Truffles only made me miserable because I miss my Cheep so much it hurts. I thought after time it would get better but that doesn't seem to be the case. Not a day goes by that I don't think of her all day long. I really should know better than to get attached like that. How can you help it though? It was great to see the babies running all around and playing. Joplin appears to own Central Park! That is HIS yard and he has free roam to play, he knows every single dog that walks there too and was the southern gentleman and introduced Truffle to each one! hehehee...Like Truffles needs introduction because he is quite the outgoing little man himself.
Then we took Chandler to Katz Deli for his (late) birthday dinner. Of course they give you too much food so went home with a doggie bag. Stopped in at MOMA and then to Times Square and I don't know where else, we were everywhere. I think the kids enjoyed the city, Lindsay wants to live there permanently.
Slept in Secaucus and woke up to find out that Scuffy's didn't want to keep Karo because of her recent spay. Ridiculous but we went and got her which made us terribly late getting to Washington. Then when we got to Cherry Hill, our campground, we found that they had no power because of recent storms. YIKES, because of the accident we had no hot water, had to shut down the lp tank because of the damage. So that wouldn't do at all, found a koa who had power and went there. Got there late but they had one space left. The kids got showers, I took a cold one in the rv and went straight to bed. At least we got to plug in and attach to their water. The next morning we drove into Washington and parked, had to take Karo into the city with us so hid her in Chandler's book bag on the metro. Crazy. We stopped at Arlington, which was quite sad really so many lives given for our country. Of course we saw the Kennedy's and the Unknown Soldier. We went directly to the Smithsonian and walked the mall. Got some very expensive hot dogs and then walked to the National Archives. The kids and I went in and Smith sat outside leaning up against a tree. I told him he should have turned his hat upside down and people would throw money at him. He was dressed all funny and nothing matched, he had this little homeless dog with him leaning up against a tree. But after waiting in a line for a short time the kids and I went in. Chandler went to the Public Vaults and Maggie, Lindsay and I went in to see the Declaration, Bill of Rights and Constitution. Really the highlight of my trip. I don't know why but that was really exciting for me. I was just thrilled.
After that Smith met up with a friend of his who works in Washington and is part of fixing the bp spill situation. He walked us to the Spy Museum and the girls and I sat outside while Smith and Chandler went in. After an hour the girls and Karo and I realized there was no reason to just sit there. We caught a cab with a great driver who drove us past the White House and on to the Lincoln Memorial. That was what Lindsay really wanted to see and everyone else got to see what they wanted so I was going to make sure she got there. I let the girls go up all those steps and I walked Karo down by the reflection pool. Karo was truly the hit of Washington, that child did not meet a stranger, she allowed small children to run up to her screaming and allowed every single person who wanted to touch her rub her little head. Not once did she complain or get fussy. I don't think any other dog I know would have put up with all that. She was unbelievably good the entire day.
Then we got back to the rv around 6pm and got on the road. Stopped at a Golden Corral for dinner and got in the rv. I went to sleep for a few hours while Chandler sat with Smith. Then I made Chandler go to bed and I sat up for the rest of the night. We finally got home at 6am which gave the kids 2 hours to rest and get ready for work. Fortunately they had a half day so they came home after lunch and went back to bed. Smith and I took care of everyone, got a eye check on everyone and went right to bed. Yesterday wasn't much better, I was still in my pajama's when the insurance adjuster showed up to take photos of the rv. He said it may be totalled. I sure hope not, but he did tell us that we have options even if they total it.
The only thing I did of use yesterday was wash Tink, Ariel and Uno. All in my media room are filthy for some reason. I expect I will have to wash them again today.
This morning I have a terrible headache but have to get to work. My babies need me. Geez my head is screaming though. Such a long trip, so many unfortunate issues, but I am happy that everyone got to their new homes, I got to see some of my adopted babies and the kids seemed happy to see all they did. Lonnnnnng weekend though....whew. Thank goodness for Auntie Angela and Lois for taking care of my babies here while we were gone though.
Oh and found my cell phone, it was on the back deck during all the storms we had and everything. Will tackle getting a new one sometime.

Starting Trip Countdown..

This is going to be a weird trip this coming w/e since the kids are going with us. I imagine quite a jammed trip up there. Hopefully they will have fun though and their help will certainly be a plus. Getting laundry done today, still monitoring two sick pups and one in the hospital on IV. I don't get these two here though, they get up and eat and one was playing with my hair this morning. I am in their crate almost constantly as it is right here smack next to my computer. If I am not in there Smith is. Their poop is normal, no worms, no throwing up, no temp, nothing. They just are not thriving like I need to see. It's weird. The rest are acting like little banshee's bouncing off the walls. Jazz messed up his neck rolling around with his collar on in the cedar shavings. Something must have irritated it and he went to scratching it. We have to find a home for Trinket as Tinsel is going home and Trinket won't do well all alone. Right now they are learning bad habits from my personal dogs so need to get her into a home before she is totally rotten.
Tomorrow the rest of the crew have to go to the spay/neuter clinic. That means another early/late day!
A lot of people wonder why they always get Smith on the phone but not me, well, because I am usually tied up with dealing with the dogs and family. Besides it's hard to answer a phone when you are in the kennel or with your head inside a crate.
Right now Smith is fussing because I am not out there helping him put the crates back in the kennel. See I don't take them out, he does, he likes to pressure wash them every day. I clean them right where they are. So mentally I must be resisting how he does this. The honest truth is that I am flat tired of being sweaty and covered in poop. I just would like a few days in a row where I am neither.
I think he had a good birthday yesterday though, we went out to lunch with his Mom and Bud then the kids went down to their house to clean the Helms. Apparently they didn't get far cleaning it before it started storming though as they came banging on the door about an hour later. We watched a movie and relaxed most of the day though and ate cake. Can't complain about that!
Ton's to do this week though, must do kennel linens at the laundromat, shop for groceries, adopt out the rest of the pups or find them fosters, clean the house, get the rv cleaned and ready to travel and someone HAS to trim these hedges around the yard before our house disappears underneath them all. I have to go to Spartanburg tomorrow then we are in slam mode getting the rest done. Paperwork will have to be organized, etc. By the time Friday gets here I will be totally worn to nothingness. Today isn't so bad though...I think Chandler and Smith are in the pool think I may go in too.

Another night

Another night of up all night hydrating puppies. Caught this in time thank goodness. I seriously hate people who dump litters of puppies or pregnant dogs in shelters. They catch God knows what from the concrete floors and other dogs then when you go and vaccinate them they pop up with all this stuff because you are introducing a live virus. This time the culprit was bordatella. Kennel cough can make one quite sick though. We are working through it.
Was very sick all day today myself, managed to get to the vet and back and later go and get Ruby but that is about it for my day. That and hydrating puppies. Tired but since I didn't work all day I am still up. Odd for me, usually I am in bed by 9 at the latest.
This couch makes me itch, why is that?
I cooked dinner but no one seemed to want to eat it. So I put foil on it and put it in the frig, will heat it up again tomorrow and see what they think about it then.
Nothing on tv tonight either. Had a bonus night of Ghost Hunters last night but that Mary O show and the Paranormal Testing show were both lame. Of course I am still devastated by the loss of Phil Harris. I don't watch a lot of tv, only two shows really, Ghost Hunters and Deadliest Catch. But I require everyone to behave on both nights. Never happens.
We did add netflix recently, the one where you watch all the shows you want for $9 a month. I got hooked on Merlin and then Cake Boss. Of course I could only watch certain segments. I think I had enough of both really. Merlin is pretty silly but sometimes you need silly, non thinking shows to take your mind off things. Cake Boss is great but I heard the line to get in there is like a mile long all the time so I won't be running to Hoboken any time soon to taste those goodies.
Well now isn't this a lot of useless chatter....

All is well

Somehow my lack of posting on this blog has some people worried. It isn't that I haven't wanted to sit down and take notes on everyone it's just that I have been so very busy that I haven't had time. I went into a panic when I saw ticks in my kennel and moved every single thing out of the kennel and either into my back yard or into the puppy room. Then after treating the kennel and letting it air out we had to move everything back in. I mentioned the other night that I know we research our adopters homes quite well but how many of them actually look at ours? We are totally surrounded by trees and forest areas, not to mention on the lake. Keeping these pests off my property is a non ending process. Last summer we had it kicked from the start, we put Zema collars on all the dogs and found durasban at a country store/feed store. That controlled the problem. Now we can't get the Zema collars and no more durasban. At any rate, a few $$$$ later we seem to have them somewhat at bay. It's been like a war zone here, us against the bugs.
All dogs seem to be just fine though, the puppies are thriving, I have two that I am taking in this morning who are coughing a bit but other than that everyone is having a blast. I think they think this is summer camp or something. I put all the puppies (except the ones in my office of course) in the puppy play yard yesterday and they were so precious running around that I stood there for about thirty minutes just watching them play. I had put some cedar shavings in a turtle sand box that we have in there, Jazz and Cinnamon proceeded to jump in and roll and roll in it! Where is my camera when they do things like this?
So now we have to sift through all the stuff still sitting in the back yard from my massive panic attack. All that on top of dealing with family stuff today and don't know what it was, either something I ate, drank, smoked or inhaled but have had a terrible tummy ache for two days now. Yesterday Smith took Hogan to meet his Mom who flew in from Queen's to Charlotte to pick him up. She didn't want to wait the extra week and is retired so wanted to do this. After I got the kennel cleaned and everyone fed I came in and took a shower and crashed basically for the rest of the day. I am just so weak.
The good news is that Smith got the muffler for the RV yesterday, hopefully we will have a much quieter trip next week.
Have to meet Ms. Turner today with Ruby. For those of you who haven't been here and met our official greeter, Ruby is a 17 year old blind cocker who was adopted by Ms. Turner 9 years ago. Ms. Turner had knee surgery 2 years ago and now doesn't feel that she can walk Ruby as much as is needed. We adore Ruby here so are glad to have her but share "custody" with Ms. Turner and try to get her over to visit whenever possible. Ms. Turner has done a great deal for our rescue over these years and has become one of our dearest friends.
If anyone of the three people reading this blog find Zema Tick Detach collars on sale anywhere please let us know. We've got frontline on everyone, sprayed the kennel and yard and house and are still seeing a few of these nasty creatures. I need 50 collars and if I can get them for under $7 each I will do whatever it takes to get them. I need them SO bad.
I also have to place an order with Revival today. If anyone wonders where their donations go I can flat tell you, Walmart, Revival and the vet. Smith was standing at the vet the other day to pick up our spay/neuter crew and was listening to a couple of ladies fussing about their bill. When Autumn gave Smith our $1000 bill he said they were quiet all of a sudden! hahaha....no one adds up what it costs to do this! My Revival bill today with ordering doxycycline, shots, dyne and everything else I am almost out of will be $500 at minimum.
Well, just wanted to let everyone know that all is well here, no one really ill, have a few that we are tending too and giving everyone summer power boosters to keep them hydrated in the heat but other than that they are all fine. Have been shaving everyone to the skin so I have a bunch of naked cockers! It's kind of funny actually.
Off to do these things and hopefully my tummy will behave and let me get through the day.

Outta here!

Well just for the day, have to attend the funeral of my step Grandmother in Charleston. Taking Casper with me as a lady from NY is there and wants to meet him. Then have to stop by Angela's to pick up a cocker that she has been holding. Long day ahead of me here. The funeral isn't until 3 but for some reason they want me there at 12. Doubt I will make that schedule. If it gets too late I will have to spend the night at Angela's. I am so tired and exhausted though that spending the night on her couch with Annie, Lissie, Brewster, Buddy and Darly is not that appealing no matter how much I love them. Besides no one will get their meds and I will come home to messy crates. Smith can't do it all by himself.
So I am off for the day.

Shelter run

On my way to Greenwood this morning, I have a few specific dogs that I need to pick up. Rainey emailed (and I honestly did not know she knew how) she has a Mom cocker and her two 4 month old pups. Getting those tomorrow.
Lost our Bailey last night, he was perpetually overweight, my fault completely, and I guess the heat did nothing to help that even though he was in a cool area. Most likely a heart attack. He weighed almost 50lbs. I am told to fuss at my adopters for letting their dogs get so overweight but it happens to me as well. Still it is sudden losses like this that break my heart. Baybay had been with me for almost 7 years when his owners, complete with a stitched up chin dropped him off here. The first week he was here he ran across the yard to bite me on the ankle. But that makes me laugh now because he learned to give me kisses and would lay on the grooming table and stretch out like it was a spa. He turned out to be a very loving man and quite tolerant of me and my clingy maternal behaviors. We will miss him but he was Smith's boy, I know his heart is just broken. Bailey was never adoptable because of his unpredictable behavior, he was also blind. When he went blind I think that really took his enjoyment out of life, he could no longer find the toys to play thus turned to food for comfort. Love you Baybay, I will see you at the Bridge. Wait for me.
Tink and I are going on a diet today.

4th of July

This day has never been one of my favorite holidays. These fireworks seem endless and upset my dogs terribly. Rocky goes crazy and lets everyone out and for some reason PT is now refusing to go back in the kennel at all. I think I should choose to totally ignore it. Doesn't matter anyways because by the time I finish my work for the morning I am too exhausted to celebrate anything anyways.
We did spend time watching the Deadliest Catch marathon last night, so now I've seen each episode for the 10th time. I can't seem to get enough of that show. Of course without Phil I don't think it will be that interesting next year. Ah well, there is still my ultimate favorite Ghost Hunters.
Smith and I both are totally ready to be done with rescue, problem is, we have all these dogs. What would a normal life be like? No barking constantly, no doggie spludge on my baseboards, no up all night feeding sick puppies, time to enjoy my pool, work in my yard, have a garden and enjoy my personal dogs before they get so old they don't care to be with me anymore. I would even like to work again I think, perhaps at a book store or even pet store...of course the postal service labeled me with a 20% disability so not sure what I can do. Then since they only guaranteed me 1 day a week there was never any real reason to file for disability. Even though they and I both know I was working 7 days a week and was no longer a sub but had my own route. At that time my route was considered an Auxiliary route so apparently that doesn't count. Two weeks after I was out it was changed to a Permanent Route. Ah well....
Need to talk to Smith now, plan our day...strategy meeting of sorts.

Facebook

I should also note here for any of you reading my blog that I am on Facebook. If you search for Kerry Martin Bryce you will find me and I check that pretty regularly. I can chat with adopters there as well.
As for today, not sure what the schedule is, I was awoken by Demetri screaming to be fed. I honestly don't know if he'll make it or not, he is on his meds but this upper respiratory infection has really done a number on him. I was up a few times during the night feeding him as well. He is weaker last night and today. He either threw up or pooped in his crate last night and after that he was so weak. This is a challenge as I know this is all I can do, keep him on meds, on low heat on a heating pad and feed him every hour. I told him about Theo running and playing in Central Park and how Theo was once just as sick as he is...he seems interested in the story but not motivating enough for him I suppose. I told him about Cheep too who is now having a lifetime of fun and love with our dear friend Phylis but no go.
Was notified last night that our Caroline went to the Bridge. She apparently went to sleep in her crate and just didn't wake up. This is very sad to me as she was such a good girl and deserved so much better in life. I think she was just tired. I tried to tell that other rescue to take her as she wouldn't do well here with all these dogs but people don't listen to me. They assume she is safe in rescue and therefore will live a long and happy life. That isn't always the case with these seniors, they don't do well here with puppies and stronger dogs running all around all day. They end up seeking out a corner and giving up.
As for the flea/tick test it appears that biospot is in the lead. But the Zodiac flea/tick spray is right up there as well. It kills anything on the spot too. Well within about 10 seconds. We counted.
Well off to start my day. I woke up in a panic because Maggie wasn't up yet. After knocking on her door to wake her up I realized it was Saturday. She doesn't have to be at the Sail Club until 1:30...she didn't really appreciate that I don't think. I haven't posted much about that but I am extremely proud of my daughter. For the past 4 summers she has given her time to the Lake Murray Sailing Club helping teach young children to sail. This summer she is getting paid to teach them! She loves doing this and they encourage her a great deal. We are hoping that a good sailing college will see her at one of the regatta's this summer. All of the best sailors ask her to crew for them. She gets more beautiful by the day, of course she was born gorgeous and I swore she couldn't get prettier but daily she does. Since I chose to only have one child I can honestly say that God blessed me with the best one! I can't believe she will be a Senior this year...ah so much to do along those lines.
Going to try puppy juice with Demitri.

Puppies!

Getting ready to go out and take photos of all of the puppies and get them listed. Everyone seems to be fine this morning. Max got up and ate puppy food and Demitri woke me up wanting some nourishment. So who knows maybe it will be a good day after all.
Smith says my blog is getting rather scary. I have to vent sometimes and am sorry that you all have to read how frustrating rescue truly is on most days.

My head is going to explode!!!!!

YIKES!!! Two puppies not eating and continuously barking. I had to separate them as well...I don't know why, they both show symptoms of coccidia and I was told by someone that I had to separate puppies if they were sick. Maybe I read it somewhere, who knows.
My best friend left a message for me to get the dog she is fostering because it ate one of her dogs toys. God knows I adore this woman, I have never in my life had a friend so caring, thoughtful and loving, but DAMN girl, I am battling 50+ dogs here and being upset over a $6 toy is just not one of my major priorities. I will replace Darly's toy but I am so slammed right now that bringing in a newbie is going to have to wait.
Then everyone on the planet it seems wants to return their dog. Yesterday I brought back in Sunshine, worlds most perfect cocker. Ok, the dog IS housebroken you have to take it actually outside or it WILL go in the house. After 3 years this dog is back here. She adores children, behaves as she always has and is a total angel. How many cockers do you find in white anyways? So the lady gets a doggie door and puts it in her garage, except no one can remember to close the garage door. So Sunshine, being a dog (and I hate it when they act like dogs) goes out the garage and down to the lake to chase the ducks. Animal control is called by a well meaning snobbish southern neighbor and Sunshine is ditched back at my house.
I am honestly at the point though that I am not so sure that there aren't a totally different form of idiots in the North though. We had a dog returned because she had a tick. Caused me all sorts of trouble moving this dog all around and I am still not finished moving her but low and behold those people want an instant refund of their adoption donation. When I ask for people to send me an email saying that they agree to the terms of the Adoption Contract is that just a total waste of time? They bring me these signed Contracts that specifically state that you are NOT paying for a dog you are contributing to the cause of rescue, yet they want their money back. What are they saying? They are clearly saying that they do not believe in rescue. On YouTube I have a video of one of the shelters I rescue from, my YouTube Id is Cockeresq go look at the Greenwood video. Are you saying that those dogs don't deserve a second chance? That they deserve to die? That is exactly what you are saying. All that time spent moving this one dog around could have been spent...I don't know, tending to the 50+ dogs I have here. But do those people give a damn? Nope, send us our money and from now on we will buy from a pet store. Idiots, those dogs have ticks and fleas too, not to mention they come from puppymills so lets keep puppymills going by all means. NOT to mention again, that I was told by a very reputable breeder in this exact area that ticks of this form are rampant there...just so happen these adopters have a few acres they let my dog run around on before they bothered to bathe her in flea/tick shampoo like we told them to. Although we have ticks and fleas here in SC we don't happen to have this particular form of tick. We all were in awe actually as we had never seen one like this before, I had to look it up on the internet. AHHHHHHHHHH.....that is me screaming.
Two other puppies have severe kennel cough and their vet has them convinced that their dogs may die, a few other kennel cough cases though not severe. My guess is that someone had it in the rv since the dogs were totally separate here. Still this is all my fault somehow and I have to handle refunds to help with medical costs when all I really care about is that my dogs are ok. I have been violently ill since Sunday worrying over two of them.
Oh and guess what? 4th of July is here that means my own crazy neighbors are shooting fireworks off over the lake. Tomorrow they will call saying my dogs were barking.
I have come to the conclusion that people are people no matter what part of the country they are from, their nationality, their status and anything else. Hence I am getting ready to re-open adoptions in SC because if idiots are everywhere I might as well adopt to some closer to me. Like that woman with the family who can not close a garage door whose favorite word is shit. If I heard that word one more time I was going to rip her vocal chords out.
I feel like totally shutting down my mind and body for a week, a vacation but with these constant refunds I can't pay for dog food much less a vacation. I guess people think we have a secret stash of funding around and since they don't read their Adoption Agreements they think that they have PAID for a dog and want their money back. I am literally scraping my change bucket to buy dog food but they don't care. They got a dog that wasn't perfect and want their money.
Someone please remind me why I do this? Because I am running out of motivation.....But no time for that as the puppy who hasn't eaten in days in my master bathroom is screaming to be force fed, Smith is out there banging on something to get the dogs to stop barking at the fireworks, my house is a total wreck and my puppies will need fresh water in the next hour. No rest for the weary right?

Skipped a few days due to exhaustion.

Back from NJ now and still suffering from fatigue and total exhaustion. Still have managed to get the kennel cleaned and pick up the 9 puppies from April that she pulled for me. One is currently living in my bathroom with a severe upper respiratory infection and having to be force fed but otherwise the crew looks good. One other little pup screams like a banshee constantly so have had to utilize my earplugs to get any rest. I honestly don't know how she keeps that up without a break, it's not like she's miserable she is in a puppy pen with her brother. I need one of those doggie snugglies to carry ones like this around with me. I think she just wants to be held. That is Mocha who looks just like Nutmeg (who was adopted yesterday.)
Woke up on time this morning and checked on my "hospital crew" in my master bath. Max is in there, he is rail thin and has some sort of infection. I haven't given up hope for him though as he is eating and drinking. This is the point where I would be told to rush him to the vet, but there isn't a vet on this planet who would not just recommend I put him down. So I am syringing cephlexin and metronizadole into his mouth twice a day and he honestly seems to be perking up. This is the dog who came in with no hair and now has so much that I didn't see him losing weight as fast as he did. Whatever it is I seem to have caught it in time and I fully expect him to be back terrorizing the other cockers in a week. He isn't adoptable really as he is around 12 and mean as a snake to other dogs.
Yesterday we started a major flea/tick test on all the dogs. The larger dogs, Walt, Disney, Tater and Dixie got Tri Force last week. I still find small ticks on them.
6 dogs got Freedom 45, 6 dogs got Biospot, one got kiltix and the rest were sprayed with Zodiac flea and tick. All labels say wait 48 hours. So tomorrow we will do a full check and see which product works best for our dogs. At that point I am going to start recommending that particular product to my adopters. I am rather excited by it. Smith swears it will be the Biospot but since Frontline changed their formula without telling anyone we have to find a new product that works. My personal dogs are all on Bayer Advantage Multi and have no issues but they also wear preventic collars. Of course I can't afford to use this on every single dog so need to find a cost effective alternative.
Dee brought me the cutest little bugs yesterday. Two teacup havanese, a chocolate poodle, a Reba twin named Paisley and Pepper's relative named Ripple. She has some other one named Merlin but not clear on what he is. Whatever I am sure that he will be gorgeous. She also has a few people who can work for us here. I am REALLY excited about that.
Hoping that we can go to the movies today to see Eclipse I have been waiting a long time to see it and didn't even realize that it had already come out. A little personal time wouldn't hurt either.
On another personal note my mother informs me that my step Grandmother, Azalea Petit, is not doing well and hospice is in taking care of her. I am waiting on my brother to let me know if I need to go down there and be with him. Although I was never close to them she is my brother's Grandmother and I will go if he needs me. Her son was my "Dad" so I probably should go. I have always found them peculiar people, guess they find me peculiar too most people do. Carol, my step father's sister has always been wonderful though and her son Matthew is one of the nicest people I know. Odd how I seem to have chosen those who I say I am related to and those who I do not.
Also have to plan a route for Cadence back to NJ today. Her adopter had some kind of meltdown and returned her. Told me to get my dog at 8am Sunday morning when we were halfway back to SC. Thank goodness for kind people. I found a kennel who offered to take her in at no charge for a few days and a dear friend in PA who went last night and picked her up for us. Now I have to find a place for her to go in NJ and then re-home her. Nothing at all relating to her, she is an angel. Again why I so dislike most humans but at least we made new friends in PA now who seem to be the most wonderful people and always willing to stand in and help. The lady who owns the kennel's husband died and was buried on Saturday, she never said a word about it on Sunday morning, she just stepped up and offered a place for Cadence. People like this are truly incredible, with all she had going on she opened her heart and her kennel to this little homeless puppy. It reaffirms my faith in the human race as something that should even continue.
Will post the results of our flea/tick test tomorrow but for now need to provide guidance on changing our website with Smith. We have GOT to get these adopters convinced to go ahead and buy the pet insurance...

Day 1 and on the Road

Decided to start this blog, although I have never blogged before I have been told I am quite verbose at times so it should work out well.
I have been in animal rescue for over 25 years now, 13 years ago I added my husband (he claims it was because I was tired of cleaning poop!) I have, up until recently only rescued cocker spaniels.
The economy hit all non profit organizations rather badly, ours was not exempt. Whereas we used to have enough donations at Christmas time alone to carry us through the year this past year donations would not have carried us through that week! YIKES!
So what to do...let homeless cockers die in shelters? hmmm...not an option.
A dear friend of mine, who I might add is always coming up with fresh, young ideas, asked me to accompany her to NJ on an adoption trip. Her group is GROWL, although I like to brag that I brought her into rescue via her cockers, she has far surpassed me in rescue! At any rate, she offered to post a few of my cockers on her NJ Petfinder site for me in hopes that I may get a few adopted on the trip. I was skeptical but went ahead. I adopted 11 cockers that week! BIG news for us who on a normal month adopted perhaps 2-4 cockers.
So a few weeks later I was walking through a SC kill shelter and saw all these precious little faces. Not all cockers but some just plain cute, some puppies, some pure bred smaller dogs...so I pulled them! I started a NJ Petfinder account, I have been with Petfinder since the very early days so that wasn't an issue. We established several volunteers and other organizations to sponsor us in the area.
FAST FORWARD, on our way to NJ today with 30 dogs, this trip is mainly puppies. Smith is now fussing at me to talk to him so trying to wrap this up. Just wanted to give you all a little background.
At the end of 500 days I hope to retire from rescue. In 500 days my daughter will have graduated from high school and I can start winding down our two rescue groups.
More later!