“Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole.”

Gah! Sorry! I know, I know... WHERE HAVE I BEEN?! WHERE ARE THE CUTE PUPPIIIIEEEEESSS?!?! I apologize for not updating in so long. I figured I'd explain myself seeing as I'm still getting a bit of traffic.

I'm no longer volunteering at the animal rescue. It's a wonderful and honorable thing that every single person at the Friends of Michigan Animal Rescue does and I can't begin to describe how selfless these people are. It was a great privilege to work with them but I, unlike them, am not completely selfless. Eventually it became too difficult for me so I decided to stop.

I completely understand the point of the place - take in animals that are in need and find them loving homes. So it makes sense and is a great thing that FMAR has a pretty steady turnover rate. These animals are being cared for and adopted into homes where they will be loved and happy and never have to worry about being abandoned again. That's what we want!

It was such a blessing of a coincidence that I started volunteering right before FMAR received those eight puppies from the horrible breeding operation in Allegan County. They needed so much work and love that they were there for such a long time. Every time I went to the rescue I could count on my little Randy, Skeeter, Junior, Jasper, Mopsy, Cindi, Buttercup, and Greta being there. I'm a small dog kind of person so I grew so attached to all of them. I was with them from the very beginning, through their flea treatments, socialization, experiencing outside, and learning to walk on leashes. It was the best thing ever to see these little babies grow and learn and open up. It just makes your heart overflow.

But then they started finding homes. Such wonderful news for each and every one of them... but bad news for Sabrina. One by one they'd disappear each time I visited. In their place there would be a new cutie that I fell in love with, but then they would be gone in just a couple visits. Not many need the work the Allegan puppies needed, so they have no problems getting adopted right away. Going in to find my love from the last visit gone became too much for my heart to handle. I wanted to keep all of them! I wanted them all to come home with me so I could be the lucky one to love them forever!

Eventually it became too much, so I had to stop. Major kudos to the many people who can do that every day. You are amazing people bringing so much joy into the lives of many animals and people. Thank you!

But don't despair... this isn't the end of Yes, This is Dog! I plan on keeping up with this blog, so make sure to check back. It won't be completely centered around dogs, but I think it'll still be a good time ;)

Scratch a Dog and You'll Find a Permanent Job

Oh my, a lot sure has happened recently! We've taken in a few more dogs, a few of our bigger dogs have found forever homes (including a long-term resident Blondie), and the best news of all: our little Allegan County dogs are starting to find homes, too!

Jasper was the first to go, having been the model student and all! Then not long after him, Randy found himself cuddled up with his new family after being taken to an adoption event at the Pet Emporium.

Such great news for our little buggers! But also a little sad for selfish Sabrina. It's so difficult to not want to take them all home and keep them for myself!

I have a feeling Buttercup will be the next to go. Every time I go to the rescue she wags her long, hairy tail and waits for me to come in and snuggle her. She's not a hyper, excitable little thing like a lot of small dogs, but she is just as affectionate, made obvious by her not wanting you to put her down or leave her kennel. A little more socialization and learning how to walk on a leash and she'll be ready for an awesome family!

Skeeter, Randy (back), Jasper, and Junior's belly

I also have a little bit of other good news! We were getting pretty worried about Mopsy as she still sits in the corner shaking all day. We were worried that the stress of everything would affect the development of her puppies, so an ultrasound was scheduled to make sure things were alright and I think a foster was lined up so she could get out of the kennel and spend one-on-one time in a home. Well, come to find out, Mopsy isn't pregnant! She must have gotten mixed up with another one of the 350+ dogs seized from the house in Allegan County (which I'm sure is easy to do with that much chaos!). This is very good news, as it was looking like any puppies she may have been carrying weren't going to make it. Oooh I'm so happy for our little girl! She's got a long way to go but at least she's healthy!

Now that Jasper and Randy are gone, the kennel arrangements have switched around a bit so that some of the shyer dogs are with more outgoing dogs to hopefully help them become as comfortable with people as their kennel mate.

Skeeter, who was alone, is now paired up with Junior, who was the shy one when he was with Randy. It's so funny to see how Junior has now taken on Randy's personality with Skeeter and is more dominant, trying to get shy Skeeter to play with him. It's adorably hilarious the way Junior will nip Skeeter's ear and jump back, antagonizing him into a bout of puppy bitey-face! Junior is still shy of people, but if you can nab him he'll willingly go into a harness and leash for a walk. He doesn't walk walk very much yet - he's still exploring his surroundings - but he's doing very well outside the walls and fences of the rescue.

Kind of shy Cindi is now paired up with super shy Mopsy, seeing as we now know she isn't pregnant. Cindi was with Greta, who is super shy and growly, so hopefully beeing with meek little Mopsy will keep Cindi calm and receptive to human interaction (Mopsy is receptive, but she just sits there and lets you pet her).

Mike & I

And finally, shy and growly Greta is paired up with happy and snuggly Buttercup (formerly by herself). It's so funny because they look almost identical. I think being with Buttercup is really warming Greta up, as when I go into their kennel and am greeted by Buttercup, Greta will maybe growl a little growl but she'll sniff my hand on and off. And she no longer poos when we try to nab her to give her her ear drops, which is good.

I've found that I definitely lean more toward the smaller dogs and medium sized dogs that have a gentler nature. I think a lot of it has to do with growing up with a little Maltese. All of these white and tan puppies are just tugging at my heartstrings!

On a side note, I'd like to extend a very large, and very heartfelt "thank you" to my amazing boyfriend, Mike. Not only has he been a good sport in giving up some of our Saturday morning snuggle time, but he hasn't complained once when I slide back into bed with him, spending the next hour telling him everything that went on that morning with every single dog. I am so, so lucky to be with someone who is so concerned with the things that make me happy!

One Day at a Time...

It's all over the news here in Michigan. A simple Google search of keywords like "Kalamazoo," "Allegan County," "350 dogs," and "puppy mill" will yield dozens of results. Over 350 dogs were seized from a small two-bedroom home in the Kalamazoo, MI area last week (the number has since risen with several pregnant dogs giving birth). It's claimed to be a small breeding operation gone bad, but when you really think about it, it appears to be much, much worse.

Source - Kalamazoo Gazette

Most local shelters can't appropriately accommodate that many dogs, let alone a two-bedroom house! People who saw the home first-hand have told me that kennels were stacked from ceiling to floor. The mostly Shih-Tzu mixes were soaked to the bone in urine and their fur was matted with feces. Out of all of the animals in the home, only one had been spayed/neutered to prevent over-breeding.

Just thinking about the deplorable conditions makes me sick to my stomach and makes my heart ache. For this to be all those poor babies know? It's heartbreaking! It's maddening! It's cruel and selfish and ignorant on the part of the owners!

The dogs are being dispersed around Michigan and we've been blessed to have been able to take in eight of them - four boys and four girls (one of whom is pregnant). A fellow volunteer went to the shelter they were being temporarily housed at and said that when you walked inside the huge facility full of the hundreds of dogs that were seized, it was completely silent. That's how scared all of these dogs were. They didn't make a peep the entire way back to Wayne County. Thursday afternoon was their first time walking on grass.

Some of them have already shown signs of improvement since they got here. The four boys are housed together while three of the girls are together and the pregnant one has her own pen. The boys seem to be enjoying their freedom between their large space indoors and their equally large space outdoors (when the weather is nice). They're learning how to play with toys and play with each other. I think the smallest one is the most frisky... the other boys will be tugging on toys with each other and the tiny one will do whatever he can to jump on their backs and start going! Once they're rehabilitated, though, they'll all be spayed and neutered and adopted out.

Source - Kalamazoo Gazette

The three girls housed together are extremely shy. They tend to just snuggle up with each other on their bed. One of them, known for being quite bitey, will just sit slouched over as close to the kennel door as she can, watching everything that's going on.

The pregnant one, who we named Mopsey but call Mama, is so very scared. It's saddening. I cuddled her in my arms the entire time her kennel was being washed out on Saturday morning. I truly believe that they are very sensitive creatures and that a little love can make all the difference in their rehabilitation and upbringing, so I held her, petting her slowly, telling her how good of a girl she was and how much we love her. She shook the entire time, and when her kennel was finally clean, she scuttled into the dog carrier in the back of her kennel and wouldn't leave the corner.

Most of the babies would eat, but Mama wouldn't. Later on we wrapped the bitey girl up in a towel and I held her for awhile. It was heartbreaking to feel the little rumbles in her tummy. At first I thought she may have been so scared that she was soiling herself in the towel, but come to find out it was hunger pains.

They're all in rough shape but we have high hopes for them. They all have issues with their teeth, had really bad fleas, and of course, their behavioral issues. They aren't potty trained, socialized, and aren't used to human interaction. Some of them seem to walk a little funny so we'll see if that develops into anything. I know one of the boys runs with his butt sideways so he looks like a backwards L shape. I have a feeling it might have something to do with chronic fleas, as though he bit toward his hind end so much that his hips just naturally turn that way now.

BUT! A little work and they'll be ready for loving families!

Want to help, too? Here's how! You can also call the Allegan County Animal Shelter at (269) 686-5112 or check out this Facebook page that has been set up to help. Every little bit makes a difference :)