Faith & her puppies

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Update: November 22, 2003 
After a year of spending her remaining time pampered in a MAESSR foster home, Faith is now at the Rainbow Bridge.

Update:: November 19, 2003 
If you have been watching Faith’s progress, you know that this girl has had a whirlwind of a life in the past year and a half. She has gone from a show dog to a stray, to a pampered princess. During her time in foster, we uncovered that she had a kidney infection that would never heal and thus she became a Permanent Foster, sponsored first by volunteers, then by her previous owner/breeder who was shocked to learn one of her dogs ended up in foster. We were all proud that her breeder, Celie Florence, took responsibility for her dog and paid for her continued care (after reimbursing MAESSR for the expense thus far), enabling MAESSR to help so many more. We’ve also watched knowing some day we would get unwelcome news. That day is nearing, and it is with sadness, we report that Faith’s BUN and CREA levels have increased. She is at home with the Smith’s and though she had a day or so without eating she has received fluids and with her appetite increased and she perked up. She will continue to receive fluids now on a regular basis. The fluids are no cure, but they do keep her much more comfortable. We do not know how much time Faith has left but wanted to keep everyone aware of her status because we know how very many of you have been touched by her story and have offered and provided your love and support. Please continue to keep Faith in your thoughts. 

Update: 
We are all aware of the importance of circles in our explanation of the ways of the world. We use phrases such as circle of friends, the circle of life and coming full circle. We can say with full confidence now that Faith has come full circle.

Hayes and Katie Smith have been fostering Faith since October. Active in the show community, or the fancy, they were sure that Faith had been in the show ring at some point. 

MAESSR, as we do with all of our foster dogs, took steps to locate her owner. We located her microchip, but the AKC told us that the chip had not been registered. We found a tattoo, but could not locate the owner through it either. 

As some of you may recall, Faith came to MAESSR in horrible shape. She was matted, emaciated, with a littler of puppies. All but two of the puppies died, despite our best efforts. Many, many times, we grumbled about who could have thrown this lovely sweet girl out. 

Throughout this all, we have helped Faith battle a persistent kidney infection. When we learned that she had about 75% kidney failure, the decision was made to keep her as a MAESSR foster dog forever. 

Shortly after this Celie Florence, of Telltale Kennels, stopped by to visit Hayes and Katie. She walked in the house and immediately asked them what they were doing with her dog. Celie called Faith to her, using her call name Tirsi. Faith came bounding over, ecstatic at seeing her. As Faith/Tirsi laid with her head in Celie’s lap, story unfolded. Faith, CH. Telltale’s Aquarius, was a show dog and whelped a few litters. At age 6, Celie sold her to a pet home on a spay contract. This family had come to see Faith four times and professed undying affection. It seemed a perfect match. This was January 2002. 

Apparently, Faith got loose, and this family did nothing to find her. Nor did they contact Celie and ask her help. Nor did they spay her. We don’t know how long she was on the loose before we pulled her from a shelter. 

We tried to understand what went wrong. Faith had been microchipped and the chip registered before AKC bought out Home Again. We assume that information was lost in the transfer. Nor did anyone at the AKC offer to identify the veterinary office to whom the chip had been sold, which would have brought us back to Celie. 

We misread the tattoo. The prefix once pointed out is clear and registered to Celie through a specific registry. Again it would have brought us back to Celie. We talked about how Celie felt that the system had let her down. She had taken all of the responsible steps to safeguard her dog. I agreed with her, but not completely. Because, ultimately, the last safety net, rescue, had caught her dog. We brought her in, cared for her, loved her and have kept her as safe as we can. 

Faith will stay with Hayes and Katie. It is a great home for her and there is a mutual lovefest. Celie has voluntarily and willingly stepped forward and accepted all responsibility for *all* of Faith’s medical bills, the few thousand we have already spent and all of the bills in the future. This act of generosity and responsibility will permit MAESSR to help so many other dogs. As well, she is purchasing a microchip scanner for MAESSR. 

Faith/Tirsi has come full circle. She has been reunited with the breeder that whelped her. She is again loved, safe and cared for. Our deepest thanks to Celie Florence for stepping forward and reassuming responsibility for her dog. This is how breeder’s should respond. 

And, to everyone who has offered financial support of Faith, please know that those funds will go to help other needy dogs. 

Update: 01/23/03

Our prayers were answered with the adoptions of Zach and Angel. They both turned out to be happy, healthy puppies and both found wonderful homes. Now are concern is for poor Faith herself. Faith has had a kidney infection since she was turned into the shelter and most likely for a long time prior to that. For months her foster family has been battling to get her well. Many vet visits and multiple types of medication have not cured poor Faith. Through her various treatments she has continued to be quite the trooper. Here is the latest from her wonderful, caring, foster family:

It is with a heavy heart that I write the summary of Faith’s visit to the specialist today.

Faith spent the day at VRCC under the watchful eye of a great vet. Her experiences included an ultrasound and blood work. The ultrasound revealed a considerable breakdown of the structure in both kidneys.  In fact, the pictures did not remotely resemble a normal kidney. Dr. Davies advised that Faith has likely had this infection for many, many months ~ possibly even years. The extent of damage is too great to repair, however, our hope is to clear up the infection and allow Faith to live comfortably for the remainder of her life. Dr. Davies estimates Faith’s age at about 6yrs and unfortunately the kidney damage will shorten her life span. However, if we cannot clear the infection and slow the progression of the disease, Faith’s time with us may not be long.

The treatment is to continue Baytril twice daily; replace the Cephelexin with Clavamox twice daily; and continue sub cu fluids at 300 each evening. We will recheck her kidney values (blood work) in 7 days and will do another culture in 3 weeks.

Faith is receiving the very highest level of care, both professionally and personally. She is extremely spoiled and loving every minute of it!  Please rest assured that for the most part, Faith is very happy; extremely loving and even playful with us and our 9 year old springer, Sadie.

Now for some funny stuff!  Faith is a real stinker about taking pills. So this evening I thought I’d introduce something new and put her pills in miniature marshmallows, since this has worked for our other dogs in the past. I put those little treats in with her food, fully expecting her to wolf them down.  Oh, no. Not Faith. She spit the marshmallows out onto the floor – pills still intact.  I had just eaten my dinner and had some ketchup left on my plate. So, I picked one of the marshmallows up and dipped it in the ketchup and guess what?  You got it! The silly dog loves ketchup! Especially when it’s on a marshmallow!  Go figure!

Again, please keep Faith in your prayers. Now that we have entered a more serious prognosis and lengthy treatment her expenses are mounting.  So for those of you who have shared from your hearts by way of monetary gifts ~ thank you.  If you have considered donating to MAESSR in the past and perhaps just didn’t get the check in the mail, please reconsider.  This is a wonderfully responsible group of individuals who have come together to take care of these creatures who cannot take care of themselves.

Update: November 10, 2002 
This young lady came to us with her sweet little babies about 5 weeks ago. Faith has fallen into the household routine beautifully and is a terrific companion for our 9 year old female Springer, Sadie. They have become best buddies.

Faith is one of those dogs that likes to rearrange her bedding to suit herself. We love watching her paw at an afghan for a good 30 seconds before settling into a small ball to take a nap. She still wants to look at her puppies, but only from a safe distance now. Those little critters have teeth you know!

Faith loves to look at herself in the mirror too. After all, a girl has to check her hair every now and then. She was groomed this week and she was just perfect on the table. After her grooming we found that besides having an inner beauty, Faith is beautiful on the outside too. She is great about going outdoors to relieve herself and only has an occasional accident (wet) in the house. We attribute these accidents to her urinary tract infection she’s been battling. The vet wasn’t able to give her strong antibiotics until after the pups were weaned. Now that she’s on Baytril, she’s doing much, much better! We are attempting to teach her to go on command, just like we have taught our other springers. We use the command “go potty” which once learned, is a wonderful command to have when traveling, or on a rainy day.

Faith is a terrific cook ~ at least she seems to think so! Hayes can barely fix a meal without her assistance. She lounges in the doorway from the kitchen to the dining room while he’s cooking. She’s also a wonderful bed buddy (when invited) and loves to cuddle up to you and keep you warm, and she just loves a down comforter to sleep on.

Now ~ about Zach .What a little pistol! He’s such a funny little puppy! Zach enjoys tearing off a piece of paper and jumping at Angel with it in his mouth as though he’s trying to smack her with it! He loves to play and romp, and he howls just like his mama. He’s a little larger than Angel but we still don’t expect him to be any larger than a springer, about 19 to 20 inches. You could call him Mr. Personality.

Miss Angel is one of the sweetest puppies ever born. She loves to cuddle up under your chin, with a paw on each side of your neck. However, don’t let that fool you! She also likes to romp with her brother, and she has a particular toy animal that’s her favorite. She takes it in her mouth and shakes it really hard until she falls over. It’s so cute to watch! Just this morning, she napped with her little head on the toy. Oh, and she howls just as well as her brother and puts everything she has into it!

Both puppies are very healthy, with shiny alert eyes and very shiny coats. They both carry their tails up and wagging ALL of the time. Their attitudes are terrific! They’re happy to play with you or just rest happily in your arms. Remember the pumpkin from their Halloween photos? Well, that plastic pumpkin made a great puppy toy. We cut the carrying straps off and pulled out the rivets so they wouldn’t get hurt. They roll that thing around their pen and attempt to climb on it, just to roll off. Angel puts her head in it and walks around, too cute for words!

What a joy this has been ~ having Faith and her family stay with us. 

October 25, 2002 
Here is an update on Faith and the pups: 
Zach & Angel went to visit the vet today to make sure they are doing okay. Zach received a clean bill of health, and Angel was diagnosed with a slight case of coccidiosis. Evidently, she has not recovered from her previous fight against it. She will be on meds for about 10 days. The vet agreed that both pups are immature and may be a little small for their age. Considering their early lives, they are doing very well. Faith and both pups are schedule to visit the vet again on Monday for vaccinations.

Zach weighs 4.2 lbs and is starting to show his playful attitude a little. His dark black coat is about as shiny as can be. He is getting a mouth full of teeth and is a very pretty pup. One cute thing about Zach, he barks in his sleep. We’re sure he’s dreaming of something fun.

Angel is very pretty and weighs 3.2 lbs, a little smaller than her brother. You can tell she is a bitch just by looking at her, she is very feminine. Her coat is a little lighter than her brother’s, with almost a little brown tint in the sunlight. Angel likes to be held and cuddle up under your chin while she falls asleep.

Since they have been so dependant on their mother, they almost refuse to be weaned. They have absolutely no interest in eating anything but Mom’s milk. Our goal is to wean them during the next week and it will be a challenge. The vet gave us a can of special puppy food to help get them interested. None of the usual things have worked. She said that no dog will turn it away. We are going to follow her instructions and see how it goes. WISH US LUCK!!

Faith had a urine test today to determine if she has a suspected infection, which she does. She has a lower urinary tract infection. Meds were prescribed so she will be fine in a few days. She has been drinking a LOT of water and peeing a lot, both good signs for testing.

Now for the good news, Faith was at 21 pounds when she entered rescue and now weighs. . . ready for this? 34 lbs!!!!

She’s not there yet but is on her way. Based on her frame, she should be about 38 to 40 pounds when at her best. She will be a lovely lady when her weight is back and she has grown a nice coat. Faith still has one of the best personalities that anyone could ask for. She likes to lay by the TV in the evenings and nap.

We want to thank MAESSR for allowing us to provide a foster home and care for Faith and her pups. It isn’t often that you come across that one in a million dog, and Faith is definitely that! She is friendly, loving, gentle, wonderful mom, playful, and VERY willing to please. She obviously comes from a home where she had some training. She knows a few commands but she needs a little reminder that doggies have to do it outside. We believe she will be totally housebroken by the time she goes to her permanent home.

Her new family will be getting a wonderful treasure

Original: 
Any pure breed rescue handles hundreds of dogs per year. MAESSR is no exception. We love them, clean them up and send them to their new homes. There are however the occasional dogs that come in that touch our hearts in unique ways. Recently, a little bitch has come into rescue who is destined to affect us all profoundly.

This little girl came out of a shelter in Virginia. She had just whelped 7 puppies and they were all in desperate need. By the time we got to them, 2 of the puppies were already dead. A MAESSR volunteer stopped in, confirmed the dam was a Springer and committed to come back the next day. When the volunteer came back to pull them, another puppy had passed.

Nervous and worried about the remaining puppies and their dam, she took them all home and set up the whelping box in her bedroom. The first night, the fourth puppy died. This little guy had been struggling, but we had all hoped that the supplemental feedings would save him. Sadly, it was too late.

We talked about naming the puppies. We decided to wait until we saw how they fared. It’s hard enough to lose a puppy. It’s even worse when you’ve named them, thus, intensifying the bond.

Today, puppy five died. The high note is that the last two puppies are looking strong, fat and happy.

Let me take you back to the dam. This girl’s physical condition almost defies description, but I must try. She is about 20 pounds underweight. After one day at her foster home, they had to bathe her. They could not stand the stench any longer. After three bathes, the water was still not running clean. This little girl was so weak and tired, they had to stop.

She was dried off, patted and allowed to rest. Later, they went back and began trying to cut through the mats to give her relief. This poor girl was covered with mats. When her foster mom got to her rear end, she faltered. As she cut through the mats, she found maggots. Fearing what she would find, she nonetheless continued cutting away. What relief! The maggots were “only” in her mats, there was no underlying injury.

As skinny as this girl was, she wouldn’t eat. Food after food was offered to her, she would only pick at some noodles, nothing else. Chalking it up to the wormer and stress, her foster mom decided she would settle for giving her her meds. When she turned her nose up at a piece of hot dog with a pill embedded within, something had to be done.

They brought her into the kitchen and opened her mouth to give her the pill. But there was something already in her mouth. Closer examination revealed that it was embedded in her mouth. They worked it, wiggled it and finally pulled out a piece of plastic what was embedded in her gums and worked between her teeth. Removing the plastic must have been painful, but throughout it all, the girl stood patiently, waiting, trusting.

We don’t know where she came from or anything about her past. We do know that she has a big heart. She is a patient, doting mother. Yet, she trusts all of the people who come to see her. She welcomes her new human family as they come to view her family.

Now we are ready to name the babies. We hope the worst has passed. With few exceptions, we name our dogs in alphabetical order. In this case, the puppy boy and girl need A and Z names.

And momma? Her name was the only one that was obvious to us – Faith. After all, in situations like this, ya gotta have faith.

Update: October 2, 2002: 
The puppies continue to do well, see their pictures below. They have been named: Angel and Zach, thanks to Anne Gilliam for the specific story that drove our choice.