Welcome To Our Home Page
About Our Rescue
We aim to provide the very best for our rescues, whose lives have been hard enough! This means that all dogs are fed the best food (Nature's Variety Frozen Raw) and bottled water. All dogs live with families, in foster homes, no kennels. All dogs are professionally groomed. With young puppies, we often pay staff to sit and hold and socialize these dogs as well as walking them often, to facilitate housebreaking. We are also here to help you with any common problems you encounter. We aim to educate and help people.
Where The Dogs Come From
We receive dogs from everywhere! Wherever there is a dog in need, if we can help, we will.
Choosing A Good Match
I have been finding that a lot of people just want to adopt a cute ,lovable dog. Nothing wrong with that! The problem is that all purebred dogs were "designed" with a different purpose and lifestyle in mind. The story of dog breeding is a story of work. Every purebred dog was bred to DO SOMETHING and they all have different characteristics. Here are some questions to think about.
Do you mind having a dog that?
- Needs to be brushed or combed daily?
- Needs to be professionally groomed monthly?
- Has a needy personality and needs a lot of attention?
- Needs to be kept mentally stimulated?
- Needs a lot of exercise?
-Sheds a lot?
- Likes the water and will be muddy?
-Needs to be bathed often?
-May need to have its ears cleaned often?
-May need special foood?
-Needs to have a dental done yearly by a vet for an expense of $200-$500?
-Barks a lot?
Adoption Fees
Please do not adopt a dog from rescue because it is cheaper than a breeder or a pet shop or because you can get a “good deal” or a “bargain.” You should adopt a dog from rescue because you are the kind of person that wants to help animals in need. You want your dollars to go towards making the suffering stop and easing the misery of a dog or cat that needs help.
Remember, government run shelters can charge lower adoption fees because you have already paid them, by way of your tax dollars. These shelters get money from the government and often free vet care. As a private not-for-profit, everything comes out of pocket for us, and we have yet to find a good vet who is willing to give us a discount.
Although different dogs have different adoption fees, all the money goes to help every animal in the rescue.
Our highest adoption fee is charged for the youngest, most desirable dogs, and goes into a fund to help feed and take care of the older and less adoptable.
http://stores.ebay.com/Candles-For-A-Great-Cause-and-More/Meet-Our-Rescues.html
In this section, you will find articles and information intended to help adopters troubleshoot common dog problems and to educate new dog owners. If you adopt, we want your adoption to have its best chance at succeeding!
HOUSEBREAKING TIPS
- If you catch your dog peeing/pooping in the house and you yell at the dog, the dog only learns that it is not safe to pee or poop in front of you, NOT that it is wrong to go in the house. Your dog becomes what is called a "nervous pee'er." When you take the dog outside, he will be afraid to go to the bathroom while you are there. It is a much better idea to ignore the dog if it has an accident, but to highly praise the dog when it goes outside.
- Dogs love schedules. With food and water, if you control when it goes in, you can control when it will come out. Feed and walk your dog on a schedule
-Look for THE SIGNS. All dog have signs they are about to relieve themselves. Some dogs circle. Some dogs stop what they are doing and walk away. Some dogs, especially smaller dogs, have more subtle signals, but they are still there.
-When you take your dog outside, go to one spot and say your phrase. It could be "go pee" or "do your business." Do not move. No fun walking/playing until AFTER the dog has gone.
-Do your best to minimize accidents. Walk your dog often. Hold your dog, crate your dog, or leash your dog to you if you feel like you may be distracted and not able to watch him.
WHAT IT MEANS TO BE THE ALPHA
Being the Alpha means being the boss. It means that you are in charge. I like to use the analogy of a working man, because it really fits. Just as there are good bosses and bad bosses, there are good alphas and bad alphas.
To be the alpha means that, if you give your dog a command, he will follow it. If he doesn't, you can make him follow it. Example: I tell my dog to get off the chair. If he does not obey, I will physically take him off the chair.
Now, a good alpha, like a good boss, will not make you jump through hoops giving you stupid commands every minute just because he can. He asks you to do things that are important. Likewise, you should only use your power as an alpha to enforce commands for things that are important.
A good alpha, like a good boss, always pays his employees, because nobody will work very long for free.
Example: If the dog follows your command, you now need to pay him. This can be with praise, food, whatever works. After all, how long would you listen to your boss, if he did not pay you?
A good Alpha, like a good boss, is consistent. Imagine if you went to work every day and didn't know what to expect? Would your boss be in a bad mood? Demanding? Yelling? Or would this be a good day? You must be patient and consistent with your dog. This is very important in being a good alpha.
COMMUNICATING WITH YOUR DOG
People forget that dogs do not speak English. Imagine this scenario. You are in a foreign country, where you do not speak the language or know the local customs. Someone put food in front of you. You do something perfectly natural, like try to eat the food, and angry strangers start yelling at you in this foreign language and they hit you. You do not understand why. You do something else, like scratch your head, and again, you get hit and yelled at. Pretty soon, you may be on eggshells, afraid to move. It is also grossly unfair. The same it true for your dog. We tell people to IGNORE THE BAD, PRAISE THE GOOD.
Let's revisit this scenario of you in a foreign land. Let's say that everytime you scratch your head, nothing happens and you are ignored, but everytime you rub your nose, you are give a piece of really delicious chocolate, or money. Well, you may stop scratching your head and start rubbing your nose a lot more! The same is true for dog behavior. Doing this is called positive reinforcement or ignoring the bad and praising the good.
AGGRESSION & SOCIALIZATION
This is a big topic and I am only going to scratch the surface for now. For more detailed information the book Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson is highly recomended and can be purchased at dogwise.com
Socialization means introducing a dog, in a positive way (with food perhaps) to people of all ages, sizes, races, and genders. This can be done at any age. So let's say you have an older dog that snarls every time a stranger is at the door. You could yell at the dog, or you could give the dog a treat. What would you do?
If the dog hates when people come to the door, because he is scared (fear aggression) because he was never socialized to people (I don't know what it is and it is scary! I need to protect you and me from it) then yelling at the dog is going to raise his anxiety level, making him more aggressive. You are also creating a pattern. When a stranger comes to the door, I get yelled at, so I hate it when strangers come to the door.
If you give the dog food when the person comes to the door, you may get the dog to rethink the situation. Gosh, I love it when people come to the door, because I get food and treats. Even better, these people at the door give me food and treats! I wish they would come more often. You can even start by just throwing treats at the dog.
Let's say you have a dog that is aggressive on leash (barrier aggression or fear aggression). You could take treats with you. Really good treats that are only for walks and ask every stranger to give or toss the dog a treat. You could also start giving the dog treats every time you spot a stranger. After a few trials, the dog will start looking to you for food every time he sees a stranger and ignoring the stranger. NOTE- This will NOT work if you have crappy treats, or a dog that is not hungry. Hotdogs or deli meat are recomended.
DIET AND VACCINES
VACCINE COMMON SENSE
With anything medical there are always risks and there are benefits. For example, when vaccinating your dog, there is the risk of vaccine reaction. Science has told us that vaccination can cause seizures, epilepsy, hemolytic anemia, allergies, auto-immune disease, paralysis, even the very illness it is supposed to prevent. These are the risks. Most people vaccinate because they feel that the benefit of being protected against a fatal virus is worth the risk.
What if revaccinating your dog provided NO benefit, no extra protection from a virus, but still had all the risks. Would you still revaccinate? If you do revaccinate your pet, this is exactly what is happening.
Let's say your puppy is vaccinated against distemper and parvo. All vets know (from studies done) that these vaccines provide protection for a minimum of 7-8 years. This is a fact. Once your dog is immune to distemper or parvo, revaccinating will not make your dog any MORE immune. You either are immune, or you are not. Hence, revaccinating, provides no extra immunity, but you still have all the risks associated with vaccination. Revaccination is all risk and no benefit. The only thing it is is more money in your vet's pocket.
For detailed vaccine information, we recomend you read WHAT VETS DON'T TELL YOU ABOUT VACCINES by Catherine O'Driscoll. Available at Dogwise.com
BLOOD TITERS
A blood titer is a blood test that can be done by your vet to determine if your dog has immunity to things like distemper, parvo or rabies. When would you want a blood titer? Well, your dog is due for his shots. You do not want to revaccinate (too much risk) but you are nervous! Is the last vaccine still protecting your dog from dangerous disease? A blood titer can confirm that it is.
A WORD ABOUT DISTEMPER AND PARVO
These diseases, by and large only pose a health risk to dogs under 6 months of age and to dogs with a compromised immune system. Parvo is a disease that sickens a dog by spreading in rapidly dividing tissue. Do full grown adults have rapidly dividing tissue? No. Growing puppies do. They have rapidly dividing tissue in their intestinal tracts and heart. This is why Parvo attacks these two places and is able to spread so fast.
Parvo is also everywhere in the environment, in small enough quantities for a dog to develop immunity without getting sick. Most puppies get sick from direct contact with another sick puppy.
Now about distemper. Distemper is not a prevalent as parvo. Why? Because under the most ideal conditions, distemper survives in the environment for 1-2 hours at most. Then the virus dies. This is a virus that your dog will likely only catch by coming into contact with an animal that is carrying the disease.
A WORD ABOUT DIET FOR YOUR DOG
Every single dog in our care is fed a raw, natural diet, also known as a BARF diet. We would like adoptable dogs to continue to be fed this type of diet, since it is optimal to their health.
Here are some links to get you started:
An excerpt from Kymythy Schultze's Book, "Natural Nutrition for Dogs and Cats: The Ultimate Diet"
Biologically Appropriate Raw Food Frequently Asked Questions (BARF FAQ)
BARF for Beginners
What's Really in Pet Food, Animal Protection Institute
HOW WE FEED RAW
This guide to feeding raw will give your dog a complete and balanced diet.
First step, you MUST feed raw bones. Raw meat is high in phosphorous. For phosphorous to leave the body, it binds to calcium. If you do not provide a bone as a calcium source, the body will take the calcium from the dog's own bones and you will have a dog with metabolic bone disease!
Okay, so a raw chicken wing is a good source of healthy, safe bone. Add any other two red meats (pork, beef, lamb etc.) Red meat has all of the nutrition. Feed some liver. We recommend the freeze dried liver treats. Feeding too much liver will cause diarrhea! Add a fish oil pill and you have a complete and balanced diet.
4 Day Sample Raw Menu (for a 30 lb dog)
Monday: 3 Chicken Wings, Liver Treats (2-3 pieces)
Tuesday: 2 Chicken Wings, 5 Chunks of Beef Stew Meat
Wednesday: 1 Beef Rib, 1 Pork Rib, Liver Treats
Thursday: 2 Chicken wings, Lamb Neck Bone
Fish oil one pill/day
How Much To Feed?
There are a couple of ways to figure out how much food to feed your dog. The first way is what I do. If dog is too skinny, feed more. If dog is too fat, feed less. For those of you who want more structure, you should feed a dog between 2-7% of its body weight. 2% for less active dogs, 7% for very active dogs. For example, let's say my dog weighs 20lbs. I want to feed him 3% and see how he does. 20lbs x 3 % = .60 lbs of food a day.
If you feel you MUST feed dog food, the only dry food we recommend is Prairie from Nature's Variety. Canned food by the same company is also recomended.