On Wednesday, April 16, 2008, Bratpack volunteers were called to pick up some bichons that were rescued from a Missouri puppymill. Many of you watched the recent broadcast about puppymills on the Oprah show. If you are unfamiliar with puppymills, or if you would like some additional information, please watch the informational video below, produced by PETA and narrated by Charlize Theron. (WARNING: The topic and images may be disturbing)

FOR A $50 donation, you will receive a one of a kind Embroidered Bichon Bookmark
All donations go towards the care and vetting of these poor mill dogs.
 
 

Thanks to Linda at Cockers in Need for donating these!

Cockers in Need for donating these bookmarks!

Wednesday, April 16, 2008

   Marilyn and Fred head out into the middle of nowhere, following the directions they are given to meet a group who has transported these dogs as part of a larger group from the Missouri puppymill, that has already traveled to Georgia and then south to Florida. Kathy is to meet Marilyn and Fred and help transport the dogs. Originally, we were told we would be getting 10-14 dogs. However the number of dogs keeps diminishing, and we eventually come away with 4, and possibly more to follow. The area where they pick up the dogs is down a long dirt road, in a swamp. At the end of the dirt road is a house trailer, where the dogs are handed over to the Bratpack volunteers. The other dogs that were brought out of the puppymill are not there. We don't know where they are.
   The bichons are filthy and smell HORRIBLE! Kathy takes two - one will be delivered to another volunteer the following day. Marilyn takes two, as one will also be going to another volunteer. The first order of business will be baths. The stench is absolutely unbelievable. Even after bathing them, they are still filthy and smell bad, but better than before. Kathy has given 'Booger' a new name - he is now Charlie. And she discovered during his bath that he is missing part of his right ear, possibly from being confined with an aggressive dog (which is illegal).
   Marilyn renamed 'Precious' - she is now Miss Darcy. We are told she is 6 years old. She has bad teeth, and she is absolutely terrified. She is a pure-bred puppymill brood dog and must have had the worst life possible. She is so afraid that she won't even look at Marilyn and trembles when Marilyn holds her - Marilyn starts to cry. At least she will have a nice soft bed tonight...
   'Cotton' has gone to Kristen's house. Kristen has renamed him Marlin. She thinks his back leg was broken at some time in the past and never set. He also has sores on his rump, possibly from flea bites. She will know more when he sees the vet. All the dogs will see the vet as soon as they can be worked in and we will know more about their conditions.
 

Thursday, April 17, 2008

   Marilyn writes, "Well, we have one boy missing part of his ear and an open wound on his tummy. One looks to have had a broken leg, but never set and has lots of open sores on his little butt. One of the boys is doing okay......but, will not come to anyone......likes the other dogs in the house. None of them will freely come to anyone. I have the female.........six years old, missing teeth, horrible ears, but they are cleaning up okay.  She is so petrified that she won't come near us, but I can catch her and hold her now.  She has been sleeping lots now.  At first she just paced. I think she is exhausted and likes small places where she can curl up into a ball. We had to tranquilize our little girl, who is now called Miss Darcy in order to get a Vet exam. She seems healthy enough, but so afraid and won't look at any of us.  My Vet calmed her enough to see her teeth.  She is so nervous she bites on her tongue until it bleeds, but that seems to be less now. I have had un-socialized dogs before and she is one of the worst yet. They do not walk on a leash.........just tug and pull and bronco around the yard. My Vet said they are feral dogs and only time, love, patience will help and that she may never look at us...........but, I have high hopes.  Of course, none are house trained......but, we can work on that too.  She poops by the door, so good sign and to tell the truth, I don't really care about that.........I cry when I hold her she is like a stiff board and shakes."
 

Friday, April 18, 2008

Kathy calls Marilyn to report that Lester, who is about 2 years old has infected ears and ringworm in one ear. Other than that, Lester is healthy. Kathy reports that Lester is already starting to bond with her other dogs and her family. He is young and that will make socializing him that much easier.

Marilyn reports, "I spent about an hour with Miss Darcy this afternoon and held her and loved on her and her body went limp.  Still won't look at me, but she didn't try to get away from me when I held her.  My son and his wife came, too and they both held her and she was okay........not fine, but okay.  I see progress and that's good. She will be okay......I know it.   She is as cute as a button. Miss Darcy will be the toughest, since she is six years old and has known nothing but the Mill.  The boys should be easier........Joan may have a shy one (Charlie), have not heard how her Vet visit went yet.

Joan checks in later- Charlie needs to be dewormed and the open sore on his tummy is infected. The vet says it appears Charlie was in a fight and lost part of his ear, but whether the hair will grow back enough to cover it, we will have to wait and find out. Charlie has discovered stuffed animals. Joan proclaims, "It is a giggle to watch him throwing the little toys around to kill them.  He is so bold but is so scared - It's very clear he really loves other dogs and is really scared by humans.  I had to feed him alone on the porch since I was still too close to him in the house.  I bet he wouldn’t have minded if I locked myself on the porch!"
 

Saturday, April 19, 2008

I think I am going to give up on the leash – at least until next Fri when we go back to the vet.  Yesterday I finally got the leash on Charlie in the car – that’s what I’ll do for a while.  For now, we’re working on not hating leashes and liking mom.  I feel like there was a victory this morning.  He came over and sniffed my hand when it was hanging out of bed.  I have a basket on the floor with leashes and old collars.  He took the collars and chewed them to oblivion last night.  He does not see a cord or rope he doesn’t want to chew up.  That included the ties on my shorts, my slippers, and some toys etc.  He obviously was an escape artist when tied up.  I get so angry when I see his psychological issues – I think the millers need to be put in cages. -  Joan

Miss Darcy:  She is doing okay.  Took a short walk this morning and then she realized that she had a leash on and started bucking..........that`s okay, progress. I took her out again, no leash and she loved walking in the leaves......a good reason for me not to rake them up.  She looked at us from a distance and I held her for quite a while and she just sniffed the air and seemed quite content.  Then when I put her on the floor, she ran and curled up in her bed.  I can see a difference, very slight, but a difference.  Some of the fear is gone from her eyes. Wish I could stop crying when I hold her.  She must wonder who this big sissy lady is that keeps giving her little kisses. She loves to look out the window and when we drove in this morning from [my granddaughter's] softball game, her little face was at the window......all good signs to  me. Yes, Joan, I would love to see these millers in cages and ones that are not really big enough for them to stand. - Marilyn
 

I will take pictures of Marlin tonight. My son has officially named him Einstein because of his hair. Anyway, Einstein has come along splendidly. He will follow my son all around the house, but will run if we turn to him- this is much better than the first few days when he hid under the bed. Today was a milestone, he went outside to potty and came back in to the house when called (we have 2.5 acres fenced and prior he would try and hide at the farthest corner). His personality is very unique, he never growls or snaps but is very afraid of people. - Kristen

 I want to give Miss Darcy another bath and then will take more pictures.  Breakthrough tonight........Miss Darcy and I took a 10 minute walk on leash and she never pulled once.  She took me for a walk.  She peed outside and I made a huge fuss and she looked at me like I am crazy, but I am so happy.  She seemed to enjoy the walk.  I feel so much better about things right now. - Marilyn
 

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Sunday, April 20, 2008

 I was tempted to call him Booger last night.  He loves to blitz – when no one else is awake.  His favorite time seems to be between 1 am and 4 am.  At least half the time Maggie joins in- actually I think she’s just chasing him.  PJ just sleeps through it.  I had a major success with him this morning.  He ate breakfast in the dining room with the others – he didn’t want to be alone on the porch and he let me guard the bowl from the others.  He also took a piece of chicken from my hand this morning – with his pill in it.  I’ve had to give Maggie an L-tryptophan pill this morning because she seems to not want him in her territory.  I’m going to try the leash tomorrow – with a piece of chicken in my hand.  He jumped by the side of the bed and it looked like if he could have made it he’d be happy.  I may try to help him into bed tonight.  So he’s Charlie again. -  Joan

I was putting folders together for the new kids and doing some filing for our other dogs and noticed that the envelope that had Miss Darcy's spay and rabies shots, etc. info said 'pregnant' - They gave us an envelope for each dog.  I guess they did the spay and let the pups go, I don't know what else to think.   No wonder she is so sad.  She ate all her breakfast and took a short walk and then back to her little bed.  Might try a bath today.  I don't want to push, we will see how the day goes. - Marilyn
 

 

Monday, April 21, 2008

I decided to teach Charlie by example.  I took my other two out for a leash walk and he barked and cried at them as if he wanted to tell them what a mistake they were making.  I know he couldn’t understand how excited/happy Maggie was when she saw the leash.  He barked and cried the whole time we were out – I could hear him from 2 blocks away – that’s about my limit.  Maybe walking every morning will increase my ability to walk without getting dizzy.  He was much better last night – didn’t blitz until 8 this morning.  I pulled a fast one.  Put a leash on the floor around his bowl.  He pulled it away before eating but he may get used to it after of few meals.  He tried to peek into my bed but wouldn’t come close until I was out of the bed and the dogs were still in bed.  I’m going to try to slowly catch him later.  It would help his legs if I could get some therapy to them – but it’s not worth making him hysterical by catching him.  I also need to give him the bath, yet he has discovered that I can’t get to him when he is behind and under the treadles on my loom.  Even the grabber is not that long. -  Joan

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Wednesday, April 23, 2008

I am making progress with Charlie, but it is very slow.  I’m afraid that I’m not following all the vet’s directions either.  He is still so shy and scared I can’t imagine how bad his life must have been.  I lifted my hand to turn a book page while sitting on the sofa and he jumped up and went outside.  He’s at least stopped barking at me when I move.  During the night he wakes up every time I have to go to the bathroom (oh, the joy of getting old) and runs out of the bedroom and waits by the door until my legs are up in bed again.  And this is sleep with taking the Pro-quiet.  It works and puts him to sleep but he is still so very aware of everything going on.  He will now sit about 4 feet from me but that’s as close as he is comfortable.  I managed to get him onto my lap yesterday for about 20 minutes of petting.  I tricked him.  He was sound asleep on the sofa and I fell on him (I’ll bet he wished I was smaller) and maintained contact, turned him over, and petted his back.  He wasn’t sure what to make of it and gave me more distance today.  He is still addicted to chewing up leashes, straps, paper, magazines and even a bungee cord.  The vet told me to wash him with the antibacterial shampoo but I didn’t want to send him into a frenzy.  I can put up with a smelly dirty dog if it will stop him from being so fearful of me. I may ask the vet for some valium for him.  The sore on his belly is getting some better but his ear is really itching him.  He is due for his hip x-rays this Friday but if he is still so untouchable I may wait another week.  I think that the psychological issues are more important to him in the long run.  He is swallowing his antibacterial pills with cheese (he likes it better than the chicken).  I still have to put it on the porch and close the door so Maggie and P.J. don’t rip it off.  He watched Maggie and P.J. getting belly rubs and later in the bedroom he rolled over and looked like he wanted a belly rub – but he saw me coming closer to him and ran outside again.  I had some friends over and tested him.  He wouldn’t allow either of them to get close but did allow the lab to get close and sniff and try to play with him.  I’d like to get him used to me so we can do some hip/leg therapy in the bath/pool/hot tub.  I think it would be great for him but, again, it’s not worth scaring him to death.  He is so sweet and non-dominant that I’m sure he’ll find a good home when he gets used to humans.  For now, he doesn’t trust humans.  Do we have any limitations on the vet bills for these rescues?  I know the hip/knee fix can cost a lot of money.  His running doesn’t seem limited since he can beat Maggie around the house during the blitz.  He does have a Chester type limp.  His URI seems to be getting better since he’s not sneezing as much. - Joan

Monday, April 28, 2008

Bichon Frise and Small Breed Rescue

~Caring For Each Of Them As If There Is Only One Of Them~

An Independent Bichon Rescue Adhering to BFCA

"Best Practices/Guidelines"