New Kids in Town

Astro and Lucy came into the rescue a little over a week ago, along with 2 other females. They were all from puppy mills in PA. Apparently there were around 350 dogs, of different breeds, that needed foster homes. The gist is that PA has new laws regarding puppy mills so many had to get rid of their dogs. But, I could be misinformed and this just could have been another raid. In my opinion, and many others', puppy mills should be against the law...second to that would be pet stores, but I'll stay off my soap box for now since I want to introduce Astro and Lucy.

Astro is a funny boy, shy in a way, a little skittish, friendly, loves attention, and will be a great boy once loved and trained. Considering what he came from he'll make progress quickly. Typically, there are so many issues with puppy mill dogs that it takes months to get them into normal society. Astro is currently being crate trained, he doesn't want to go in, but he's OK once he's there. If he had come to us housebroken, it wouldn't be such an issue but now I am going through the process with them both as if they were puppies. Teaching them that peeing is for the outside, that a collar and leash aren't horrible things, and that they have to have good manners inside the house. Add to it that Lucy is in heat and although Astro just got neutered, he still has the drive for breeding. This will wane over the next couple weeks, he gets worked up when Lucy is near. Not being a breeder, and not realizing that although snipped, he still had that drive, I've had to keep them separate lest I find them once again in the backyard stuck together. I wanted to go to bed and went to look for them and when I found them they looked at me like, "uh, what do we do now?" Well, we wait....and then we keep them separate...always!

Here's his cute mug:

OK, here...

ahhh, try again...

once more...

Finally!

He didn't make it easy that's for sure. It took about 25 shots to finally get some decent ones.

and here's Lucy:

It will take some time with Lucy. She has low self-confidence and juvenile cataracts. She sees very little and mostly just out of her right eye. She doesn't mind affection but will run if you come toward her. She'll come up to you on her own terms, very briefly, and mostly just to sniff you. She's a sad, lost soul. She will hopefully progress, but it will take time. She doesn't trust and add that to the fact that she can't see...

Whomever ends up adopting her and working with her further, also, if financially able, could have cataract surgery done. This generally costs around $2000 or more, something the rescue does not have, otherwise, we would do it to give her a chance for a quicker sense of self.

She is somewhat attached to the comfort of Astro, but he may be going to his new home on Friday, and she will have to learn to be alone. This is actually a good thing for a dog that has low self-confidence, they learn to make it without a crutch. I've seen them become a better, happier, more confident dog when not under the wing of the more dominant sibling.

I'll be getting some extra tasty treats to entice her movement around the house and teach her where things are. Once they get the hang of using their other senses, sometimes you think they aren't even blind! I hope this happens with Lucy.

Haley and Layla are the other two females and they are very bonded and have some personality! You can see them on our website. Also on the site, Bradley will be going to his new home on Saturday and we got a new boy, Lenny, in today.

Hope you're having a great day where you are!