April 2018
Our lives have been consumed with the care of the three puppy mill girls. We take turns sitting with them in the garage, which has been converted to their home, trying to get them used to human presence. Getting them close enough to touch, and then actually putting hands on them, has been a huge challenge. Sophie is the bravest and will take food from our hands almost all the time. Fena has finally begun taking food, while we can’t get Tessa near enough even for the best treats. The progress in the past month has been measured in tiny bits. We understand this is going to be a project that takes at least a year, and we’re not positive we’re up to the task.
In the days before this report, Kathy was finally able to pet Fena while she was on her bed snoozing. It’s a big accomplishment for such a fearful dog. There is no question the girls have been mistreated by a man at some point in their
lives. Kathy can stand close, and sit even closer, and is the one who makes the breakthroughs. I can sit within five feet while they sleep, and hand food to Sophie (nearly always), Fena (once a day at best), but must toss it to Tessa.
On March 27 we loaded Fena into a crate for a trip to the vet for her chest x-ray. It showed the heartworms are a little worse than we thought, and she received her first heartworm shot. The experience was not a good one for her. The evening before we gave her a double dose of Trazodone, followed by the same dose three hours before the appointment. Fena did not react well and was sedated for nearly 48 hours afterward. We have to repeat the shot the last week of this month, with the third shot one day later. Those who have been through this treatment warned us there is a real possibility of her not making it through this, since the heartworms can die and go into her lungs.
Tessa has a heart murmur. When she is able to be handled we’ll take her to a cardiac vet for an echo cardiogram. We know the White Fire dogs have cardiac problems and we have to find out how severe it is before we can consider placing her in a new home.
We would like very much to find foster homes for two of the three dogs. We feel confident if they were split up and put into well-socialized packs that they would do much better. Here they feed off each other’s fear. The problem is finding a qualified home. It must be with someone who has Samoyed experience, knows how to work with a fearful dog, and has absolute security with a double fence. We already had one escape when they dug under their fence, and if we didn’t have a second fence they would have been gone forever. If they escape there is nobody who could ever catch them. The foster home must also have at least one other well-socialized dog.
The rescue picnic is planned this year for July 21.