Daphne

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Update 10/13/04:

Good news!  Daphne has finished her heartworm treatment and is now on a heartworm preventative.  She will need to be rechecked in 4 months. This sweet girl  is down to 69 pounds, and is ready to start exercising to lose some more.  At this point Daphne is ready to be adopted! Can you provide Daphne with a loving home of her own?

Update 9/24/04:

Daphne is doing very well in foster care. She is truly a sweetheart. Daph was a wonderful mother to all eleven of her puppies, although she was probably happy to see them go to their adoptive homes. She gets along great with her foster brothers and has also met some cats which she basically ignored. Daphne craves attention all the time and loves to be petted and cuddled. When she wags her tail, her whole body wags with it. Whether Daphne is happy or being reprimanded, she squints her eyes and appears to be smiling.

Daphne has a few bad habits. She is definitely a counter surfer and very adept at it. Daph has eaten anything from barbecued ribs to newly baked cakes. Of course, one can get around this by leaving any food off the counters. She is also a trash can picker. Similar to counter surfing, this can be stopped by hiding the trash.

Daphne’s foster family believes she may have been hungry at some point in her life. When giving Daph treats, one has to remind her to go easy or she will grab them. For this reason, Daphne may do better in a home without small children.

Daphne was spayed in late July and came through with flying colors. No more puppies for this girl! Unfortunately, Daphne has heartworm disease. She has gone through several treatments for this with her next and final one to be on October 6th. Since Daphne has started her treatments, she has to be kept quiet. No running, jumping, or playing for this poor gal. In the beginning, this would not have mattered too much to her. Now, however, she is feeling better and wants to play with her foster brothers. Her foster family is walking her on a long leash and when she tries to run, a quick ‘no running’ stops her. Daph really tries hard to please.

She has become a little overweight since she cannot exercise but should trim down when she gets to run and play again. Interestingly enough, before Daphne’s heartworm treatment, her coat was very coarse and dull. Since the last treatment, her coat has become silky and shiny. Once Daphne’s heartworm issue is cleared up, she will be ready to be adopted. Are you willing to give Daphne the home and love that she deserves?

Update: May 19, 2004:

Not much time for more than a quick update, but Daphne had her puppies. There were 11 live births. Momma and pups are doing great!

Original:

I had been talking to the shelter in Louisa County, VA which is very close to where I live about a black/white female springer that they had found as a stray. They were calling her Daphne. They said that she was very sweet and was keeping her cage clean. We were waiting until her “holding” time was up so I could go get her.

Thursday was the day that her holding time was up. I contacted the shelter and they said that no one had come to claim Daphne, so we could bring her into MAESSR’s care….and then the shelter volunteer says “Did anyone tell you that we think she could be pregnant?”. I said no…but that is not a problem….thinking I could get her in and moved to another foster home. When this statement was made to me, I envisioned a dog that was just barely pregnant….they did say that they “thought” she MIGHT be pregnant!

Since the shelter closed early, I took the afternoon off to go “rescue” Daphne. The people at the shelter were “THRILLED” to see me..they said that they really wanted to get Daphne out of the shelter because she was miserable. I go in to meet Daphne and here is this HUGELY pregnant springer. I look at her and think…she is going to deliver any moment. She is clearly so pregnant and miserable it just breaks my heart. I get her into my car and realize…….she is COVERED in ticks!!! Hundreds of them!! Some are attached…some are crawling on her (and then start crawling on my car). The good news is that Daphne is so grateful to be out of the shelter.

We get home and I get the opportunity to get a good look at Daphne. Her hair is a disaster. She was clearly an outside dog her entire life. It is obvious that she has had puppies previously. The white part of her hair has years of ground in dirt and stains…so badly it looks brown. The black part of her hair is so faded and dirty…that it looks dark brown. I decided that I needed to just shave her down in order to get rid of the nasty hair and the TICKS! Daphne was not comfortable with the clippers..so we used scissors until we could get to know each other better 🙂

Daphne has now been at my house for three days and no puppies yet. I am sure they will come at the most inconvenient time…but we are still waiting. Daphne has not had any accidents in the house, but we do have to go out frequently. She will trash can dive at every opportunity. She will almost take your hand off for a treat, which indicates to me that she has been VERY hungry at some point in her life. She has been great with my three year old grandson. She has decided that being inside is the most wonderful thing in the world…to the point that she will not go out the door unless I go first!! She really has a great disposition and once she is finished being a Mom, she is going to retire from momhood and just allow someone to spoil her for the rest of her life.