Mum, Dad? I'm PREGNANT!!!

(I know, it's been over a year!)

I spent the grand total of one night in the crate. A small panic attack at being placed in there on the second night  was quickly resolved and resulted in my bed being placed just outside the human's bedroom door. By hanging out of my bed and twisting, I could see their feet! I was content and also suspected that the 'no bedroom' rule that had been presented to myself and the female human had several potential loopholes.

The next few weeks consisted of dealing with and conquering the stairs and elevator. I was taken to the dog park and got to play, was fussed over and generally had a pretty awesome time in my new world.

Then I started to get sick.
It started with a few itches here and there, which was put down to living indoors and changes in environment. The itches led to biting myself.
The humans (OK, let me call them Mum and Dad) took me for a check up, there was nothing nasty in my coat but the vet gave me some medicine, just incase it was something he could not see.
I lost my appetite.
All varieties of food were bought, I was hand fed, bribed, praised, rewarded, things were added to make it more appealing....but I just didn't want to eat, so I ate the absolute minimum.

Things were starting to go downhill very fast.The Vet confirmed that I had Red Mange.
This mite is a mite that all dogs have present. It is normally a fairly harmonious relationship between canine and mite. (Humans even have their own version - living in eyelashes and skin, they can cause things like Rosacea). They are passed onto puppies very, very soon after birth - through feeding. Normally, they cause no problem. If Mum is sickly or if pups have a bad start in life, then it can begin to cause problems. It is, effectively, due to a weak immune system. The mite takes control and the pup just cannot fight it. They mate, burrow into the hair follicles, have babies that then eat their way up to the surface of the skin, as well as dying, pooping etc. on the way. The result of this is infection, inflammation, a lot of pain and horrendous itching.

For most dogs, treatment just lasts a few weeks with the use of a topical chemical cocktail. Unfortunately, this would not work for me.
The Vet gave my parents the stuff to put on, neither were too happy about it as it was very toxic and I was already pretty sick, but they did. I hyperventilated all night.

My treatment continued. I was moved onto stronger medication, was still not eating and I was still hyperventilating after each application. The only option the Vet could give us was a Dip - like the sheep and cow dip. Poison... He was a great Vet, still is, but he had never seen a case like me before and was desperate. He researched it, ordered the newest medication, gave me lots of cuddles. The Dip would be a last resort to him and for my parents.

I could not sleep because of the itching. I did find a little relief by being outside, so Mum took me out all through the night, slept upside down in her bed (I had been moved into their bedroom...see, it was easy!) and held me, supported my head and did TTouch and Reiki on me to try help me sleep. I remember once that I was just so tired, I rested my chin in her hand and cried. Lots of tears were spilled during this time.

The outbreaks got worse and moved down my body towards my tail. My immune system was practically non existent, I had huge bald patches, was covered in stinky, pus filled scabs and still I managed to look beautiful. It's quite a skill to manage that, I tell ya...
I was bathed daily, soothing herbal salves and compresses placed all over me and still I was getting worse.
The Vet told my parents that some dogs just cannot get over it and prepared them for the fact that this could be true for me.
Why I showed no signs of it until a few weeks into being rehomed is unknown, the parental units suspect that I was given steroids to temporary eliminate them. Sadly all this did was lower my immune system even further and before long it gave the mites an even bigger advantage over me. Makes sense. I did have a few bald patches when I first arrived in their life.

I could no longer play with other dogs, sadly they sensed my illness and most just wanted to attack me. I became fearful of them.
Anyway, I was too itchy to play, and too tired! These weeks of being sick had turned into months and still I was not eating.
I  scratched and bit myself so much - I wore shoes to minimise the damage. They had reflective stripes on them. They were pretty nifty :)
In addition to the mites, I developed a habit of biting and scratching myself until I bled whenever I faced an uncertain/unusual/scary situation. Separation training proved to be traumatic for the whole family, I guess coming back from a very hurried grocery shop and finding pools of blood everywhere couldn't have been very nice for Mum, I kept her from working and being out the house for a long time. I even managed to find ways to my skin around the Elizabethan Collar that was placed on me. I am quite smart :)

The parents studied and researched. A lot. Deciding that they were not happy with the drug cocktail and my response to it - it did seem to have a more negative effect on me instead of on the mites! They went down the natural route, focusing on building my immune system and not the mite.
I was given raw meat and bones to eat. It still took a while for me to want to eat, but we got there.
They began using Neem Oil on my coat, mixing it with Almond Oil and a little Lavender Oil. They also added Neem to my shampoo. The change was significant, astounding and it was so worth smelling very bad and covering everything and everyone in gunk.
So what is Neem Oil? It is Indian and it is their 'go-to' tree for human, animal and garden ailments. It affects the central nervous system of biting, aggressive 'things'. It will not harm anything beneficial. With their CNS affected in this manner, the biters will forget to eat/mate and if they do lay eggs, the eggs do not hatch. A whole blog could be dedicated just to the benefits of this stuff. The downside is the smell, as mentioned. It is heavy and nutty. Here, have a read: http://www.discoverneem.com/neem-oil-for-dogs.html

It took a further 6 months of Neem and BARF diet (raw food), but the Vet finally had a negative skin scrape..(we need 3 in order to be classed as disease free)
Things were getting better. My hair was growing, I was growing. I was playing, eating, sleeping.... everyone involved with me couldn't quite believe I was getting better!

And then......
Hello Hormones!
I was pregnant!!!! Well, no I wasn't really, but my body thought I was. Yep, pseudo-pregnancy  We had to let it run it's course before spaying, I didn't use my toys as pretend babies, that would just be silly. My Mummy's feet were my babies. I admit it, I was completely obsessed with them....
When I eventually got through this, I was getting ready to be spayed and I came into season. Oh boy.
My parents had been waiting for me to be healthier before spaying me. Surgery with such a weak immune system is not so wise.
Why spay? Well, responsible dog owning for one thing. Not many male dogs are castrated over here, so that's another reason, plus the main one being that it is really not a good idea for a bitch to have puppies if she has had a bad case of Red Mange. Being in season/pregnant sadly labours the immune system. I would risk constant relapses with every season I had....and sadly I did suffer a relapse at this time.

It was four months after my season finished, the perfect time for spaying. The Neem oil treatment and diet were slowly boosting my immune system. I was getting there!! We were now presented with a window of opportunity for spaying, I wasn't as healthy as we would have liked, but we couldn't risk another season.
My parents had added Colostrum to my diet and that seemed to be the missing link. I had been, after all, taken from my mother far too early before being thrown into the Killing Station, so I never did get to benefit from her milk.... I was healthier than I have ever been and it was time for a wee sleep at the Vet's - incidentally, it was just as well I was spayed. My bowel was wrapped around my uterus, so that could have posed a problem if I were pregnant.

It took until early 2012 for me to be disease free. What a battle.
BARF diet, Colostrum, Neem Oil. They all saved my life.
I still have a tick -  If I am confused or scared I will scratch/bite myself - but there is no blood and it only takes me to hear Mum or Dad's voice to break out of doing it.

There was one last surprise for us all, in this health battle. Nobody could ever have guessed how hairy I had the potential to be! Check me out :D

Here I am having some fun - until next time!

Food and stuff

The first night with the new humans was a very strange experience. Not in a bad way, it was just very different, quiet...very quiet (other than the deep rumbling, almost earthquake like noises that the male human made during his sleep) it was so refreshing! I had been placed in a crate overnight and when the humans got up in the morning, they let me out right away. They seemed to be oooh'ing and ahhh'ing over the fact that I hadn't been to the toilet all night. They seemed pleased anyway. I like being good, well, at that time I did. Nowadays, I find that the novelty of being good can wear out from time to time and it makes life far more exciting if some choices  are totally independent to the humans' requirements :)

So. I was out the crate, my leash was on and out we go for a toilet break. It only took about 20 minutes to persuade (heavily bribe) me down the Evil Stairs, another 20 minutes or so to realise that there were no monsters in the vicinity and it was safe to relieve myself, a further 20-30 minutes to re-negotiate the Evil Stairs, followed by a mere 5 minutes or so of encouragement to step over the doorway. Not too bad, if you consider that until I learned how to ask to go out, I would be given the opportunity to go peepee every 2 hours, which ensured that the humans were granted just enough time to take all their outdoor clothing items off, grab a drink and then begin again.

So, it was now breakfast time. A heap of food was placed in a large bowl, next to a bowl of water. Yum. The humans stood around looking at me, I guessed that the offerings must belong to them. I had learned in the past that you do not just help yourself to food and water - unless you want to risk being hurt. They encouraged me to eat, even holding out a few bits to me, laying a trail towards the bowl, but I am not stupid! I just waited until they gave me some time on my own, then ran as fast as I could to the bowl (kind of difficult on the slippy wooden floors, was more of a 'running on the spot' effort to be fair) grabbed a mouthful, then ran away to a safe distance to eat, before repeating the process as much as needed. Smart.

Here I am with my first toy. It squeaks you know....

Stairs and floors

I never realised that so many smells, noises and movement could possibly exist. The prospect of stepping from the now still vehicle into all of this 'newness' was somewhat daunting. I made my uncertainty towards getting out quite clear and after a few minutes of digging my nails into the seats and a bit of wriggling, some arms wrapped around me and placed me on the ground.

Apparently the humans only got word that they had passed the adoption process late the night before, which meant that they still had to buy a few things for me. Charming. Talk about feeling wanted...you would have thought they would have been so excited at being awarded me, that everything would be in place...

Anyway. I was left with the female as the male departed to go shopping. She spoke gently to me as I sat on the ground, looking around. To be honest, I barely took notice of her, there was so much going on around me. I had no idea where I was, let alone where an escape route could possibly be. When I look back at all I am about to tell you, it's a little embarrassing, but you have to remember that all I knew up until this point were the confines of a cage and lately, an introduction into being 'walked' which of course was against my will.

We began to make slow progress..to somewhere..I actually really needed to pee, so I decided not to be as 'wilful' or 'difficult' as advertised. Before reaching a suitable pee spot, I encountered two new things. 'Stairs/steps' and 'grassy hills' There was no way around either, so one had to be encountered. I took the hill. Wasn't so bad, not as freaky as the steps anyway. I mean, what are they all about?! Dangerous looking things. Not for me. No ta.

Feeling quite chuffed at myself for having negotiated the hill and also at the praise I received, I selected a pee spot. Ahhh... :)

So, pee-pee completed and the female turns back in the direction we had already come? Great. It took ALL that time to actually get here, now we are going back? No thanks.This time I really meant it. No amount of coaxing would make me move...infact the only thing that actually did make me move from where I was, was the sound of a 'motorbike' screaming past... it was somewhere shortly after that point, in-between my screams of fear and frantic wriggling to escape (not actually sure where I was planning to go to but hey-ho) that the female lifted me into her arms in a rather undignified mass of sprawled legs and upsidedownness and we began heading back from where we came.

It felt nice in her arms, she kissed my nose and smiled at me, called me a 'daftie'. Some humans walked past and laughed at us, she smiled and laughed back. It felt good.

So, after a short while of viewing the world from a new angle, we entered a building. No big deal, I had been in a couple before. This one had lots of these stair things, so I was pretty glad when we avoided them and went in another direction. We entered a really small room. I didn't know rooms could move, or make noise. But this one could. Seriously? Me no likey. Still, I was still pretty safe in the arms of the human, so I let it go.

A very short time later, we left the moving room to be now outside another door. The female placed me on the floor, telling me that it was very important that I walked in here on my own.
She opened the door and walked in, turned around and motioned for me to follow. Well, I am guessing that you know my reaction to such an invitation. Nope, no thanks. I don't think so.
It smelled so different, it was warm - not so bad I guess, but what was with the shiny stuff on the floor? No way was I stepping on that.

The female sat down on the floor, laying a little trail of treats to entice me inside. It is amazing just how far one can stretch to reach and eat said treats, without actually moving one's legs. A handy trick for the future methinks.

I have no idea how much time had passed, but it was a lot of yummy treats worth and I still wouldn't move. The female human tried her best, but most of the time the noises she deemed 'encouraging' actually just scared me. I was beginning to feel a bit sorry for her, so after a while, I placed a paw inside the new place. I removed it quickly, but every time I moved forward, I got lots of cuddles and praise. This I actually liked more than the treats.

After even more time elapsed, I decided to just go for it, all four paws inside....just for a second though. This resulted in squeals of delight from the female. So I did it a few more times. Interestingly, the shiny floors didn't attack me so perhaps it was not so bad.

I stepped in, and stayed inside. The door closed behind me, leash removed, cuddles provided - then I was left alone to explore.


Here is a picture of me checking the floor for hidden monsters, you never know....

 And another, I don't look very happy in photos yet....

The new Humans

So, I had moved into this new place. Everybody around me had a similar background - some of us dealt with our issues a little differently. I was labelled 'difficult' and 'wilful'. There was a very nice human who saw to me every day, she put a collar around my neck and introduced me to a leash. Lets be frank here. Attaching me to a human by a leash; when surrounded by so much potential danger is really not a good idea - I didn't want to have to walk past other dogs, I didn't want anyone behind me, I actually didn't want to be exposed to so much space... Nope, I would disagree with the labels attached to me and argue the fact that I was actually being very sensible - there really is far too much danger out there.

After a short period of time to my arrival at this new place, my human took me out of the kennels, yes against my will...but there you go. Not long after, vehicles arrived with two groups of humans. Their arrival sparked a huge commotion in the kennels - everyone began barking excitedly. Anyway, one group headed over to a kennel mate and her human and one group began to approached me. Not too happy about that I can tell you. What made matters worse was the fact my nice human handed over my leash and backed away....seriously?
Three new humans attempted to take me for a walk in the woods. I really hated going in there, we had to pass the big dog's exercise area, they would charge the fence barking and growling...I thwarted the humans' attempts as best as possible, despite the fact they had handfuls of yummy treats which they used to bribe each and every step I took. Wilful and difficult huh? Yep I guess I can play that part.
Well things seemed to getting worse, when we got back to the kennels and after a while, my handler led me to one of the vehicles. Not good. I remember being put into a cage inside one of these things, the heat, the smell, the movement and noise. Nope. I don't think so. The humans had other ideas about that and after a short battle, I was placed into the vehicle.
Surprisingly, there was no cage. A female human sat next to me whilst two males sat in front. Regardless of the fact that there was no cage...well actually, the heat and smell weren't too bad either...this thing still moved. So after a short while I threw up. Oddly, I sensed no anger to this having happened,  if anything, the humans just seemed concerned...so I threw up again - just to see...



 :)

First Day

So, here we are with my little tale. It has taken a few months for me to settle and I have been rather ill, so it may take me a while to get up to date with everything.

My life began in Hungary, Europe. I only knew my Mummy for a matter of days before I was taken away from her. I never saw her, nor my brothers and sisters again.

What exactly happened in the first few months of my life is a little unclear, but it resulted in me being left at a place known as a killing centre.

Here I am in my cage. I am next to the dog standing up at the front, to your right. It wasn't very nice, we didn't get much to eat and then it was only the strongest pups that actually ate what we were given. It was crowded, dirty and water was scarce.

Life was pretty much non existent. We waited until it was our time for the humans to come and take us to die. That was all.

One day, a human came in - this one was unlike the humans we saw every day. She walked from cage to cage looking in at everybody. When she got to our cage, she spent a lot of time looking at us all. You never know what is going to happen when a human stands there, we were all a little more nervous than usual.

Anyway. This human took me and some of the others away. It was scary. We were placed into an even smaller cage. This cage made a lot of noise and moved. I felt really ill and threw up. The cage continued to move for what seemed like an eternity. When it did stop, we could hear dogs barking, the barking was different to what we were used to, there seemed to be less fear here but still the usual amount of confusion and stress.
We were taken out of the cage and carried into a room where another human poked and prodded us, putting things in our mouths and sticking sharp things in our necks. The good thing about coming from where we did is that the sharp thing never hurt - we knew real pain.
We were placed into a cage, just a few of us. There were things to lie on! Water too! There was also food in a bowl, but I left that. I knew it couldn't be for me but I watched the others eat it, that was kind of fun!


Things were changing :)