Orphans at Red Lake Rosie's Rescue

My friend and rescuer Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue just sent me an email. Of course, I send her lots of emails and lots of my photos because I want to make sure she never forgets me :) She assures me she never will. They've recently been getting a lot of puppies and I had to share with you her latest email about some orphan pups and how Jaycee (who has her own litter of 7) took on the added job of also nursing these orphan pups:

"We are experiencing lots of puppies arriving at the shelter the past few weeks. Our efforts to reduce dog and cat reproduction is helping, however, we still are obligated to help the puppies and kittens that arrive.

We received a call last Saturday that a mama shephard and a litter of 10 from Ponemah were in trouble. The mama had apparently eaten, what the owner thought was a fish, and it had killed her. The pups were very young and the outlook was not good for the little family.

We finally got the pups to the shelter yesterday, 6 days later, thanks to Polly who made the long trip to Ponemah and hunted down the poor little orphans. Since the call, one had died, and 2 more died on arrival at the shelter last night.

There are 7 surviving pups, whose eyes are just starting to open. They were ravenously hungry and we started to bottle feed them. Then we had the idea that maybe one of our 2 lactating moms here might foster them.

Well-Jessica who came in starving late last week was now producing milk but had 7 or her own pups to feed. She did not have enough milk for all.

Then we had our dear Jaycee who came in starving and with mange 2 weeks ago. After getting puppy kibble and canned food in unlimited quanitity- she has began to produce great quantities of milk.

Her own 7 pups are now eating and are able to sustain themselves, so Mike and I made the decision to have Jaycee foster them and then supplement her feeding with noon bottling as well. The pups are thriving and hopefully will all survive.

It is really not fair for Jaycee to have to feed another litter, but we keep telling her she will never have to have puppies again!! She is a wonderful dog and a great mom in spite of her own rundown condition.

Pet Projects is thankfully taking Jaycees own litter of 7 on Sunday
freeing up Jaycee to be a full-time mom the the orphans.

Thank you Pet Projects and dear Jaycee!! Karen RLRR"

And Karen, thank you so much for all you do.

Love,
Ahnung

Winter bedding drive for my friends up north!

As winter approaches I am reminding of how I was roaming around in the frigid cold last winter ... thank goodness Karen of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue took me in along with my 8 pups. Karen has posted on her blog how they are preparing for winter. Last November when my Human came back up north to pick me up I was living with the "big dogs" in igloos. Karen made sure we had lots of straw so that we would stay warm. She always worries about the pups in her care :) There's no indoor shelter. All the dog kennels are outside. I was lucky last November ... I was able to go home with my Human and no longer had to sleep outside in the cold.
Well, my friends up north need your help. If you think it's cold here in Minneapolis/St. Paul, just imagine how much colder it is about 6 hours north of here! I went back last December with my Human to visit Karen and to help out for a week (okay, my Human helped out ... I had to just sleep and relax -- yes, doctor's orders as I was going through heartworm treatment and was instructed I MUST stay calm!! Yeah, not hard for me to do!). On our visit last December my Human got this great photo of Diedra (her new name is Chelsea) .... Chelsea was adopted by a vet tech at Pet Haven's partner clinic. I hear she's going to be featured on the Pet Haven dog blog soon -- so watch for her story!

Okay, I digress .... back to the point of my blog. Please consider helping my friends by making a donation. Karen needs to purchase 300 bales of straw (@ $2/bale) and 20 bales of cedar wood chips (@ $5.29/bale). For more information on Red Lake Rosie's winter bedding drive visit the Red Lake Rosie's blog.

Meet Lola and Emma!

Yesterday my Human went to Pet Haven's Dog Adoption event and took pictures of a bunch of my friends who are hoping to find their forever homes. When I first met my Human it used to drive me crazy because she would always have this black object attached to the front of her face and she kept following me around and I would hear this clicking noise (editor's note: Ahnung used to run away every time I would pull my camera out]. I hated it before ... now, I love posing for her!! Well, my friends need all the help they can get so that potential adopters out there can see just how beautiful they are. So yesterday she took a million photos of these cute little pups (Lola and Emma) who came to Pet Haven's foster program from Red Lake Rosie's Rescue (yes, the one and only Karen who also saved me!). She put together a video ...

If you (or if you know anyone) are thinking about adopting puppies please pass my blog link along to them so they can watch this video.



If you want to check out another video my Human made (and it has quite a few of the other dogs who were at the adoption event yesterday) go to the Pet Haven blog.

Lazy days coming to an end ...

I know it's hard for you to imagine ... but I do get bored just hanging out at home. So I talked my Human into registering me for a class at Canine Coach AND we're also signed up for the Canine Good Citizen test at the end of the month. I told my Human I could pass that test today ... she doesn't seem to think so. Somehow she seems to think i have a mind of my own and that when I decide i've had enough, i've had enough. Well, it's up to her to motivate me to listen to her, right? Why she insists on blaming me for things I just don't know ....

She's been telling me about this really cool pitbull Wallace - he even has his own website and blog. Check out the photo of Wallace the pitbull (taken by Chris Perondi) on the left. Well .... I'm telling my Human not to get any crazy ideas. I may get bored just laying around the house and the back yard, but I am NOT ... let me repeat once more ... I am NOT going to be jumping up in the air catching some crazy frisbee. Kudos to Wallace for that, but you will not be seeing this girl flying in the air. Between us (don't tell Wallace!) ... i'm much smarter -- if you just wait patiently, the frisbee eventually does come back to the ground. Yes, something my Human calls "gravity." I'm all about efficiency and moving as little as possible. Yup, that's me.
I'm thinking i'll be more cut out for working with at-risk youth (which I am going to be volunteering again this fall at The Lab -- a really cool program of St. Paul Public Schools). My Human and I are working on developing a series of lesson plans that we can offer to these often over-looked kids. Last year I had a chance to work with "R" ... he's a really cool kid. I had just been adopted by my Human so I was still learning how to trust ... so I when "R" and I first met we spent a few weeks scoping each other out and just hanging out. As you can see from the photo we started to bond. I'm hoping i'll be able to team up again with him this year.
You should definitely check out The Lab's website. If you are looking to volunteer and make a difference, here are a few non-profits I would highly recommend volunteering with: The Lab, Pet Haven, Red Lake Rosie's Rescue, and A Rotta Love Plus. My Human and I have personally worked with each of these groups and can vouch for them ... So let's stop lounging around, and start making a difference in this world for kids and for the animals.

Escape Artist on your hand?

Before I came to live my Humans they had this super sweet black dog, Shadow. Well, I understand that Shadow was quite the escape artist. Like me, he was found wandering the country roads, except in his case, it was in the dead heat of summer in Tulsa, Oklahoma and temperatures were a squelching 105 degrees! Like me also, he was shot and was scavenging for food... lucky for him, my Human was finishing up a workout and he crossed her path ... he lived like a king the rest of his life, as it should be :)

Shadow could dig his way out of the back yard, squeeze through open car windows, and even open doors! My Human had to put special locks on doors in the house to keep this houdini from getting to spaces he wasn't supposed to go.

Anyway .... my friend Auntie Laura has written a great blog posting on what to do when we decide to get loose and escape. You have to admit, from our perspective it's pretty fun to tour neighborhoods. One time my sister Missy got out of the backyard because the fence door wasn't securely latched. I hear she didn't even try to go too far ... a neighbor brought her back home because she was sitting at the corner by the stop sign looking lost ... she had her chance to check out all the city alleys and she passed on the opportunity. I'm gonna have to teach that girl how to roam the neighborhood!

So check out Auntie Laura's blog by clicking here. Yeah, see if you can outsmart us. I challenge you!! :)

Help my friends ... please?

As many of you know ... the only reason I am still alive and I am still here to enjoy life is because of Karen Good of Red Lake Rosie's Rescue.  I was dumped along with my litter of 8 pups last fall, and if she hadn't taken me in I would've continued wandering around trying to survive. Check out my first blog entry and you can watch a video of my story (keep a box of kleenex handy!).

Anyway, Karen needs your help now and so do my friends up north. She recently took in 22 dogs and is in desperate need of fosters and rescues to help. The cute shepherd pup above is Ione. Here's what they have to say about this sweet pup: "found wandering alone - Karen G. says she is about 10-14wks old.   Says she is pretty scared.   NEEDS socialization.   This takes work but it can be accomplished. She was caught by a volunteer so she has hope in her future. She is a gorgeous little shep cross. This puppy would need to go EVERYWHERE with you and LOTS and LOTS of TLC and treats. :)    Maybe a fenced in yard due to the potential to run." 

[Check out the Red Lake blog for info on all the pups]

I also asked my Human to put together a video of photos she took on 3 separate trips she made up to Red Lake Rosie's Rescue last fall. Her first trip was in October (when she met me ... there are photos of me ... my glamour shots when I was still nursing my pups!). She then went back in November so she could bring me back. I had heartworm and was still nursing my pups so she couldn't bring me in October. Then in December we went back together so we could visit Karen and my friends ... AND we helped in transporting 18 dogs/pups/kittens back to the Twin Cities.

Check out the video below ... and if you are willing to consider fostering my Human says you can foster through Pet Haven (the rescue that took me in) ... all you need to do is provide a loving home [all expenses are covered by Pet Haven]. 

It's going to start getting cold up north soon ... so please help my friends up north before winter comes.

love,

ahnung

My brother Mister hard at work!

Okay, so this morning my brother Mister got to hang out with Auntie Laura ... who not only volunteers for Pet Haven -- she volunteers for Red Lake Rosie's Rescue AND she just started her own business Rescue Buddy Boarding and Beyond. Mister wants me to tell everyone that he was Rescue Buddy's FIRST, yes FIRST customer. Mister spreads his lovely personality and energy with several favorite boarding and doggie daycare facilities. He can be a handful and he doesn't want to wear out his welcome. Anyway, so today was Auntie Laura's turn .... he was told when he got dropped off this morning that he was going to be put to work. Auntie Laura had to do a home visit for an adoptive family interested in adopting a puppy from Red Lake Rosie's. I, of course, LOVE Red Lake Rosie's because that's where I came from, and if it wasn't for Karen of Red Lake Rosie's I don't know where I would be .... Auntie Laura brought Mister so that the family could get a sense of what happens when a cute puppy grows up and gets big like Mister. Now, don't get me wrong --- we ALL love Mister, but he can be a handful. Mister's job was to make sure that the family knows that cute, perfect, cuddly puppies grow up, need lots of exercise and stimulation, training, get into lots of trouble and chew EVERYTHING ... and some even end up with a bad case of separation anxiety (my brother is getting over it though ... thank goodness!).

Check out the A+ report card that Auntie Laura sent to me:

"Ahnung-I thought you might be interested in writing about your brother working at a home visit for Red Lake Rosie's Rescue. This family is interested in adopting a puppy right from the same place you used to call home. Mister came along to show the family what it is like when the cute little puppy grows up. And as you can see he did a great job exploring the backyard complete with playhouse. And then he had to take a little rest in the kitchen while the humans talked more about what is involved in having a puppy. You would have been very proud of Mister today. I know I was. The family is now ready to open up their home to a new furry bundle of joy. There are more dogs waiting for forever homes - http://www.redlakerosie.org/animals/list.

Thanks Mister for helping out. He is now napping after such a busy day. And thanks Ahnung. See you at the Lab this fall."

I am proud of my brother. He's a really cool boy and i'm learning a lot from him too.

Note to Mister from Ahnung:
"Mister - I know you're having a great time at Auntie Laura's tonight. Missy, Henry and I do miss you and hope you get a good night's sleep. I'm going to have to turn in early. Mom got this crazy idea that I needed to get my nails clipped tonight. That alone is a crazy idea. Then on top of it decided that WE needed (like I had a say so in the matter!) to walk to the Petco from home. I think she's trying to kill me ... thank God the nice lady at Petco gave me some water and a couple treats. Don't worry brother .... I didn't let her make me walk back home -- we got lucky and hitched a ride back from Mom #2 who was on her way home from work. So hurry home so she can take you next time! See you tomorrow!"