Chihuahua Rescue Victoria Newsletter, August 2019
The life of a rescue worker has plenty of sad times, and many happy times. Let me tell you a bit about it in our August 2019 Newsletter. If you would like to comment on this newsletter or just say hi, feel free to comment on our Facebook post for the August 2019 Newsletter
The life of a rescue worker.
Sunday, 4th of August 2019
We post so many photos and descriptions of little dogs looking for a home. Many think “oh how wonderful to have all these little dogs to play with and love”!
It is far from the truth.
What most people do not see is the work and heartache that happens behind the scenes.
A typical day goes like this.
We get up at six am to let the little ones out for toilet then pick up all the accidents from overnight. We mop and disinfect the floors where they spent the night and lay down towels to dry the floors totally. We pick up the towels and let them all back into the centrally heated rooms! (Or cooled, depending on the season.)
While this is happening, we have a quick look at any emails that came in overnight and reply to them as quickly as possible!
Then it's back to the doggies and give any requiring eye washes, eye drops, ear drops, and medication. We prepare their food for the morning, along with our own breakfast! We have our breakfast, give doggies their breakfast and clean up the dishes. With a bit of luck they will keep quiet while we brush and comb them, clip their nails, bath and dry any that need it while at the same time putting through the washing machine a few loads of doggy towels and bedding.
Somewhere during the day all the paperwork needs to be done, all the phone messages answered, more emails attended to etc.
These are the good days.
We see many little dogs come in who have been impounded and released to our care. These dogs involve the saddest part of our work. They come in to our care with so many issues.
- Starvation. Some newly rescued dogs are so weak and desperate for nutrition. However their little insides have begun shutting down, so we cannot feed them huge amounts of food! This would cause terrible medical issues later on. No, we have to be strong and start with just a teaspoon of good quality puppy food every half hour, day and night.
- Flea ridden and poor little body raw from scratching, quite often infected. We put them straight on to antibiotics and antiseptic cream with flea treatment to get rid of the fleas.
- Full of worms so worming treatment on day one.
As soon as they get a little strength it is off to the vet for a full check up.
This trip can go either way. A good result is that there are no major issues. A bad result is that there are many conditions and all require special treatment.
Occasionally we get the heart breaking news: “cancer, in the final stages”. Then we need to make the decision, with vet advice. Do we put them to sleep, or give them a limited time in our care with pain killers, love and warmth? Either way we are going to say goodbye too early, holding them close, our hearts aching and tears falling onto their little bodies as they peacefully go to sleep. Every time this happens we say to ourselves: “never again, we cannot do this again.”
You see the lovely photos of a healthy little dog listed for adoption on our website or Facebook page. You may never know how much love, time, and effort has gone into getting him or her to this stage. They are gently handled, nursed, and loved until they are ready to take the next step to a new life in a loving forever home with a family and security.
I am not saying that it is all bad days. There are so many good days, so much fun and love come from these little doggies. Yes it does give us great satisfaction. It also gives us great sadness.
People wonder why we say: “Please keep in touch. Please let us know every now and then how the little one is going. Please share little stories of their new life and adventures, and please send photos!!”
It is because we love them.
And on the good days
Monday, 5th of August 2019
After I wrote the first part of this newsletter, I realised that it only focuses on one side of the story - an important one certainly, but I needed some balance. So here is the happy side!
The days when we have a happy little dog come in to our care are the really good days.
The first hour is spent just sitting, talking gently and reassuringly to the new doggie. Soon after come introductions first to one then two of the others in care with us. These first few hours are often filled with smiles and belly laughs when we see how happy they become and how silly their antics are.
We take the new baby out into the back yard and slowly lower him or her down amongst the others who will all be milling around, desperate for a nose on nose meeting! The newbie can sometimes be a little edgy so they are pulled back up into my arms and gently reassured “Grandma will not let them hurt you!” Slowly we lower the newbie down again. This can be repeated several times until I can feel the body language of the newbie become relaxed and no longer worried.
The most joyous part of this introduction is to watch as newbie does the rounds of the yard - it's a cause for celebration! They go about marking every blade of grass they can see! (Yes the girls do that too.) The funny part is watching the others line up - one behind the other - all marking over the newbie’s pee! No one gets out of line, they very patiently mark in their own turn!
Many times (in the case of surrenders) we receive a phone call: “how is newbie?” and “does she miss me”? Well, actually, not much. In our experience, it is unusual for a little one to show signs of missing their old owner! Over the years we have come to believe that the dog adapts relatively quickly to a safe and comfortable environment and doesn't really get the chance to feel lonely when surrounded by the other doggies. We think the attitude of the little dog is “well this is fun; I am safe, I have friends to play with and so many toys! Best of all there is a lot of very warm stew to eat for breakfast, and yummy home cooked biscuits to chew on before going into a nice warm (or cool in summer) room with heaps of beds to sleep with all my new friends.”
These little ones often join in very quickly. Within twenty four hours you can see how easily they have fit in and become relaxed, making themselves completely at home.
This makes up our loving and enjoyable side to “rescue”.
The reason why
We got a question in relation to this story.
I am quite disturbed by the number of these poor little dogs that are up for adoption.. I love my Chi and can't imagine why they're up for adoption unless extreme situations exist. Not being critical just wondering.
Unfortunately such conditions occur often. People pass away, develop dementia, get put in to homes where they cannot have their dogs. Sometimes we get dogs from the pounds and microchip information is not kept up to date, meaning the owners cannot be found.
It is never a simple thing, but in every single case it is for the benefit of the little dog. We never divulge the the reasons as mostly they are so sad (cancer, accidents etc).
Yes it is very sad at times. Whenever we can, we send photos and update stories. The previous owners often write back to say how happy they are to know their baby is happy and loving life.
A few of our rescues lately
Please enjoy this gallery of a few of our most recent rescues!
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