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Welcome Cecilia

April 2, 2015

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Cecilia, she’s taking your heart,
She’s shaking with confidence daily.
Oh Cecilia, she’s down on her knees,
She’s begging you please take her home.

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Looks like the farm is rehabilitating another lost soul.  Cecilia is an owner surrender that we picked up from the SPCA yesterday.

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Here is the write up from her previous foster mom.

Cecelia is a very pretty, active dog.  She loves to play and can jump, but has stayed in her pen.  She will dig under the gate to get to play with the other dogs.  She did OK with cats in the house, but wants to chase them when outdoors with them.  She seems very tolerant and easy-going, but again, on the hyper side.  She needs leash-training as was apparently kept in a pen most of her life. 

Cecelia appears to have had at least one litter of pups.  She was OK when she was in a crate, but does not like to get in it.  She has been outdoors in her foster home

Cecelia and I are still in the getting used to each other phase.  She doesn’t appear to have lived with many rules, boundaries or limitations, but she is quickly learning them here at the farm.  Today we worked on sit for 15 min, she is a smart dog and after we pushed through her stubborn streak she sat!  More work to be done but it was a great break through for us.

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At a little under 40lbs, this 2 year old girl is a petite lab mix (with maybe Whippet?).  We will be working on manners, basic commands, and gaining some weight. Please share her if you  know of anyone looking for a loving friendly dog.

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My First Foster Pup – Missy Mudpie

January 15, 2015

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My next venture in helping the animal world is becoming a foster mom.  I contacted Critter Cavalry Rescue where I got Riley my flat coat retriever and have since become their first ever PA foster mom!

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We went to pick up Missy a couple of Sunday’s ago not knowing much about her except she’s a lab mix who starts off shy but warms up nicely.

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I later learned out that the rescue group found her whole litter in a filthy and muddy outside run.  The puppies had no socialization and thus issues with confidence and accepting human attention.  She was very shy and didn’t even get out from underneath the bed for the first few weeks, in her first foster home in TN.   She has really come a long way from that with me now she is much more confident, social, playful and sleeps right next to me on top of the bed.  She had turned in to a complete love wanting pets and attention.  She follows me around the house and doesn’t wander off on the farm.

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We now have her schedule down which unfortunately has messed up my sleeping patterns. I forgot what it is like to have a puppy.  She has me up around 3 or 4 every morning to go to the bathroom.  I shouldn’t complain we haven’t had an accident in over a week.  She is also very good about chewing.  So far, knock on wood, she hasn’t destroyed anything except the toys I gave her.

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I was asked to write her bio and this is what I came up with:

Meet Missy Mudpie!

She is adorably cute, a great companion, and a very cleaver girl. She had it a little ‘ruff’ growing up but thanks to her foster mom and canine companions she is gaining confidence every day. She loves her stuffed animal toys and tends to horde them all on her pet bed.  The other day she had collected more than 7 toys!

A perfect day for Missy includes learning a new trick, sleeping at your feet and helping out on the farm.  At her foster farm, she is getting learning all about horses, goats and cats.  At this stage cats and goats are still fun to chase if they run but for those who are brave enough to stay put she just wants to say Hi!

Missy prefers not to be left home alone all day and would be best suited to share her home with a confident adult dog.  At her foster home Missy is learning to lay down and to sit patiently for things like dinner and going outside.  She is a love bug who enjoys chest and belly scratches. She follows the other dogs around and is quickly learning from them that not everything is as scary as it first appears to be. 

If your family loves the outdoors, enjoys quiet time, is looking for a good watch dog and a lifelong companion then you might be the perfect match for Missy.

Please share this post to get the word out and find Missy a forever home.

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This is her post on pet finder: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/31107819/

Put horses first

December 19, 2014

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“Put horses first. If you have ever been rescued by a horse, and most of us have, return the favor. Make some room in the barn, please adopt or foster.”

This is a great article about the ups and downs of horse rescue.

http://www.barnmice.com/m/blogpost?id=1773158%3ABlogPost%3A759370

In the spring I will be looking to rescue again. I decided to give the donkeys Nash’s stall for the winter. Last year they had to hang out in the barn aisle on the coldest nights.

Good Bye, My Sweet Boy: Nash

October 10, 2014

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It is with a heavy heart I write this post.  Nash’s condition did not improve over night. Despite all of our efforts last night which included a broad spectrum of Antibiotics, Anti-inflammatories, and fluids through the nasogastric tube I found him in worse condition this morning.  The neurological condition/disease/infection that he had was starting to effect his muscular function.  He was using all his might to stay up right all night.  By this morning, we confirmed his bowels had completely shut down and there was nothing else we could do.

I took the morning off to be with him for the last hour before the vet came. I found him this time laying down and struggling unsuccessfully to get up.  I sat with him, talked to him and cried. It was a peaceful time in his stall.  Thankfully Rachael came over to support me through this process and say her goodbyes.  We were with him through the passing and it was the best way for a loved horse to go;  I held his head the petted him and was there for him the whole time.

These are the last pictures I have of him from the past 2 days.

These some of my favorite pictures of him. The professional photographs are the work of Judy Reinford.

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Welcome Riley!

October 4, 2014

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On Saturday we adopted Riley a Flat-coated Retriever from Critter Cavalery Rescue.  V__A918

These are the pictures from when we picked him up. We were with several other adoption families who meet at the drop off point.  The dogs were transported from Tennessee to just outside Allentown, PA.

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He is 3 years old and 70 lbs.  Riley has spent the last 2 years of his life in foster care.  He was living on a horse farm so he was already used to horses, sheep, cats and good with kids. We thought he would be the perfect fit for our farm and are thrilled his foster mom thought the same about us!  This was this life before he came to us.

He is such a good boy! With in a few hours of being on the farm we were able to trust him to stay around and not have to use the leash any more.  He comes when he is called.  He loves his ears, chest and belly scratched.  He is polite and has manners.  He does not beg for food while we are eating. He gets along well with Piper. Here are his pics of his first few days with us.

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Day 13/14: Positive progress continues

December 1, 2013

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Things are continuing along the positive path, Nash’s temperature remains to be normal.  On Saturday they stopped one of the 2 antibiotics that he was receiving via IV.  Then on Sunday morning they were please to find the fever didn’t return, they have kept him on the one Antibiotic (Gentamicin).  The good news is that if he remains fever free tomorrow they will discuss with me having him come home early next!  YES, finally talking about my boy coming home.

Fingers crossed and positive thoughts for Nash.  Thanks for all your kind words and support!

 

Day 10: back to square one

November 27, 2013

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Dr Parente said today that there are no bacteria growing in the cultures, which indicates no lung infection or pneumonia. The new antibiotics are not working and he still has a fever.  They decided to put him back on the IV antibiotics, with the thought that he didn’t start the fever till they switched him to oral.  He indicated he might be able to go home this weekend.

The bill so far for Nash is $5,000. Luckily and thankfully the donations went over my goal and we have about $700 more.  Dr P. said that with the IV ABX we will be looking at about $200 per day.  It will be close but I think we will be ok.Dust Storm

Nash update Day 8 – Running tests

November 25, 2013

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Spoke to Dr Parente this morning,  he was concerned.  Nash still has the fever. He was saying it is at 104 still which is considered a high grade fever.  So today they are looking into the cause of the fever.  They are running his blood work and checking it against when the blood work from when he was admitted.  They are also going to do a fecal sample, to look for bacteria.  Lastly he talked about the chance of infection at the incision site.  He noticed a little more swelling but said that if there was an infection there it would be very painful to touch.  Yet Nash is not indicating that it is very painful.  Hopefully they will get to the bottom of this soon so my boy can come home.

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Day 7: Nash update – fever

November 24, 2013

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Wow, I can’t believe it has been a week.

I spoke to Dr Stuart to get an update on Nash.  He still has the fever but it appears to be responsive to bute.  So this morning it was at 104.1.  Then he received his morning does of bute and it went down to 102.  He is still doing fine, eating and all the rest.  They have all his legs wrapped now because since the fever started they stopped hand walking him.  They really don’t want to release him until the fever breaks, so hopefully that is soon.  The pics are from my visit with him yesterday.

Day 6: Nash update – Fever

November 23, 2013

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I woke up this morning to a phone call from the vet helping Dr Parente.  She had not so good news… Nash has developed a fever.  His temperature is 104. Normal body temperature  for horses is 98 – 101 F.  They think it is is viral infection but would like to keep him in the hospital over the weekend.  She said he can probably go home Monday.  While this is very disappointing, I understand it is best for him to stay in the hospital where they can monitor him closely and react quickly should he worsen.  She did say he is eating a drinking as normal, which is why it is probably a viral infection.

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Lover boy

Lover boy

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