Happily Ever After.....

Mostly Mutts has placed many animals in loving, wonderful forever homes and it's what we love the best about rescuing.  Below is an excerpt from a letter we received after a recent adoption:

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love her and what a blessing Molly has been.  We have found a wonderful dog park in McDonough; it's very clean, with grass, trees, toys, water, etc.  It's so much fun to arrive there and hear dog owners tell their dogs,  "Look, here's Molly!"  She LOVES to play with other dogs, so I provide that opportunity for her often.  She is also wonderful with children and seniors.  I recently took her to visit a friend of mine who was having her 93rd birthday and I wish you could have been there to see how sweet and sensitive Molly was with her.  She just graduated from her beginner class at Pet Smart, and is enrolled to take the intermediate class.  She is the smartest dog I have ever owned, loves to learn, and loves to please. I am seriously considering looking into training for her to become a therapy dog, as she seems to have all of the qualities that it would take to make anyone's day a little brighter.  I could go on and on and on, but hopefully these photos will tell you a little more about her. I sincerely thank everyone at Mostly Mutts for the love and care that was given to Molly before she came to live with me.  Thanks again for such a beautiful gift.

 Looks like Molly has found the perfect family!  If you are looking for a new member to your crew, visit us on the weekends at our adoption events.  Saturdays we're at Pet Smart at Town Center in Kennesaw and the first, second and third Sunday's at the Ansley Mall Pet Supermarket.

Melody-A New Lease on Life!

Melody 

 It's hard to forget the courageous story of Melody Victoria, the sweet pit bull mix whose owner abused her by sticking her in an oven.  This blog carried two stories on her fight and progress as she healed.  Melody has since found a wonderful home and is happy, content and loving life!  Mostly Mutts recently spoke with Melody's new owners and wanted to bring our readers an update on where things are with this amazing little doggie!

Melody at her favorite spot, Bark Station!

It's great to hear that Melody is adjusting to her new home and did so very quickly.  She is on a schedule that she enjoys and her and her older sister love to play together.

Her "dad," Nick, says that her favorite thing to do is go for car rides....especially to the place she loves to play, Bark Station!  Melody also likes to chew on her bones and nurse her blanket.

The good news is that Melody is completely healed and needs no further care for the injuries she so cruelly sustained.  She has gone to the vet for her checkup and received her bordetella shot.  She almost earned the nickname "tee tee terrorist" but a quick visit to the vet discovered that she has a urinary tract infection.  After a round of antibiotics she is doing much better!  Nick says that she is almost completely healed from her injuries.  Although her pads are healed, she limps somewhat  due to the fussed toes on her rear paw.  She is scratching a lot right now because of the hair growing back over her scars.

We asked Nick if Melody ever seems frightened or if it appears that she remembers what she went through.  Nick says that at first she would have loud dreams, whimpering and twitching but that those are happening fewer and fewer these days.  She does barks at strangers and takes time to warm up to new people.

Melody does plays well with other dogs.  She loves going to doggie day care at Bark Station!

Best thing about Melody?  She is very much a love bug, loving to cuddle and sleep all over her new family who she always seems to want to be touching.  Nick also says they discovered the reason for her name being Melody; she actually will sing to you to get your attention.

We asked Nick why he and his wife specifically chose Melody to adopt.  He says that they were looking for a companion for Issa, their other dog,  when they read the story about Melody. "We knew she would be a dog that would need a lot of love and we had a lot of love to give. We were just drawn to her -  we knew that she was the dog that we had been searching for.  I told my wife months before meeting Melody that I wanted a blue pit with the light colored eyes."

Nick adds that Melody has taken to training well and has already learned sit, stay, lay down, come here, leave it, etc.  Melody has a new lease on life and finally has a home that loves and adores her.  Mostly Mutts loves this happy ending!

 

What Should I Feed My Dog?

Mostly Mutts highly recommends you purchase the highest quality food for your dog you can afford.  Read the ingredient labels.  Avoid foods that consist of meat by-products. These can include feet, gristle, and all kinds of things not good for your dog.  The best food is where the first ingredient is a meat or chicken meal and no by-products. Also avoid food and treats that are preserved with BHA and/or BHT.  These preservatives have been linked to possible cancer, in both humans and animals.

Always be very careful giving dogs “people food."  Examples of  good "people treats" are carrots, apples, cottage cheese, grilled or boiled boneless chicken, hard-boiled egg slices, pumpkin, cooked or from a can, broccoli and green beans.   NEVER give your dogs raisins, grapes, chocolate, raw onions, garlic or Macadamia nuts as they are very toxic and can cause major liver problems and possible death.  Xylitol, a sweetener found in some sugar-free chewing gums, candies, baked goods and other products is also extremely dangerous for dogs and can be fatal. Be sure to keep any product containing Xylitol away from your pets. 

Some controversial ingredients to look out for:

• Propylene glycol - formerly considered a generally safe additive. Current studies show that it reduces the survival of red blood cells. Propylene glycol is now prohibited in cat foods. 
• Eethoxyquin - used for many years as an additive. Current studies show links to allergic reactions, skin problems, major organ failure and cancer.

Keep in mind obese dogs are unhealthy dogs and a dog who is only 10% overweight could have his lifespan shortened by 33%.  Obese pets can suffer from orthopedic disorders, respiratory difficulties, heat intolerance, heart disease, gastrointestinal distress, diabetes, incontinence, urinary tract infections and stones, immune system suppression and cancer. 

Keep your dog healthy and you’ll all be happier. Please remember the first ingredient should be a meat or a  meal, but NO byproducts.  We recommend you do not buy Beneful as the first ingredient is corn, the second by-products.  Animals need protein from meat.  If changing food, do it gradually.  MM also does not recommend rawhides nor treats preserved with BHA and/or BHT as they are being linked to cancer

Daisy's Story

She was a 4 month old sweet chocolate Labrador that should have been with a loving family and enjoying her puppy hood. Instead, she was dumped at a shelter where she was scared and wondering what she had done to deserve this. Daisy had done nothing except being born and that wasn’t her fault! As each day passed, she kept thinking they would come back for her, so the emotions of confusion, sadness and fear stressed her young body. With this, her body was invaded by a dreaded disease that can be deadly to unvaccinated dogs, mostly young ones. If treated early, the survival rate is higher. A volunteer with Mostly Mutts found out about her and remembered a couple that was looking for a Lab puppy. They were contacted and signed-up to foster and possibly adopt. Once they saw her shelter picture, they named her Daisy and were almost positive they were going to keep her. When the volunteer saw her, she knew she was very sick, so she called the couple and ask if they were still interested with her being sick. Without hesitation, they were on board and ready to meet the volunteer and Daisy at the closest vet since she needed immediate medical attention. While she was in the exam room, the couple patiently waited to meet their new puppy and take her home. That did not happen. Their first meeting was while Daisy’s lifeless body was laying on the exam table. She was now wrapped in a blanket and had a name for the first time in her short life. She never got to meet the family that wanted to give her love and comfort.  Please do not let Daisy’s death be in vain. Spay/neuter and vaccinate!  Donate to rescue groups, so they can save more lives and pay their overwhelming vet bills. Rest in Peace sweet Angel!

What's Up With the Mutts?!

Mostly Mutts has been having phenomenal success at each at our adoptions.  This past weekend we had over 14 dogs and cats adopted or moved into foster homes.  Now we can save 14 plus other animals from terrible situations and give them a second lease of life.  Thank you to everyone who opened their hearts and homes!

Arnold the pig was adopted out this weekend to a family who has a small farm and is starting to add animals to it.  Yea for Arnold!

Did you know that the medicine used to treat heartworm in pets is now no longer available from the distributor?  That means that it is now more important than ever to keep your pet on preventative medicine.  Look for a blog post in the next few days for more information on how to ensure your pet is protected.

Want to help the Mutts earn some much needed donations?  We have two fund raisers coming up so come join us!  If you like tennis, we have a tournament and silent auction coming at Lost Mountain Park off Dallas Highway on October 28 and running through October 30.  We need players from junior age on up for junior singles, men’s and women’s doubles, mixed doubles and parent and child doubles.  Fees are $30 for singles, $40 for doubles and include a T-shirt, gift bag and players party.  Call 770-528-8525 to register or for more info.  Play some tennis and help the Mutts!

We have two folks ready to help out with a high end thrift shop to benefit the Mutts who are looking for retail space in the Piedmont Park area.  They really need an affordable location and the landlords can get a tax write off.  If you know of a space please contact Diana at Dianad@bellsouth.net. 

Need your Mostly Mutts fix?  Connect with us socially at the following location and be sure you’re not “chasing your tail” to find out the latest happening with the Mutts!  You have found our blog; now find us at the following places:

• Twitter:  http://twitter.com/#!/MostlyMuttsATL
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MostlyMuttsGA
• You Tube: http://www.youtube.com/user/MostlyMuttsGeorgia
• Website: http://mostlymutts.org/

Want to be a volunteer or a foster parent?  We can use you!  Contact us at volunterr@mostlymutts.org or foster@mostlymutts.org for more information.

As always, we appreciate your support!

Tips From the Pros

Mostly Mutts is blessed to have scores of volunteers  who generously give of their time to help our organization.  As you can imagine, working with the many dogs and kitties that come our way, we’ve gathered some pretty valuable learning experiences between us all.  So who better to pass along helpful hints to our blogosphere?  Some of these we’ve learned through trial and error, bad experiences, common sense or just because we had to.  What about you?  Do you have a helpful hint you can share?  Be sure to leave it at the bottom of the post in the comments section.  Thanks to all our tireless volunteers, foster parents, adoptive families and staff who took the time to pass along these great ideas!  (below is the opinion of non-professionals)

TOY BOX:  The one thing we can guarantee from that new puppy of yours is that it will chew.  NEVER correct a puppy for chewing…just teach it what he/she is allowed to chew on.  Find a box that can be used as a ‘toy box’ (wicker baskets not recommened J) and then purchase several different types of toys.  Add to this box a ball, a squeaky toy, a rope, a Nylabone type chewy, and several other types of toys.  When you purchase a new toy, always place it in the toy box instead of giving it directly to your dog.  It won’t be long before your dog learns that everything in that box is his/hers!  Pick up each toy before going to bed and they will all be like new the next day.  Or…rotate the toys in the toy box ever few days.  Adult dogs also like to chew, so make sure they have a toy box!  Toys are important in kennels too so leave your dog with a chew toy or a Kong. 

POTTY TRAINING:  Stay on a good routine, keep your dog confined to an area, and leash walk them to a particular area where you want them to potty.  It may take a week or two but the more consistent you are, the more consistent they will be.  Always bring a very special food reward to give to them after they potty.  Save this special reward for potty only and don’t give it to them any other time. 

FOOD AND BOWLS:

When it comes to pet food, you do “get what you pay for’.  Feed the best food you can afford and look at the first five ingredients.  The first should be food and the others should be healthy. 

Dogs:   Use a huge water bowl so you don’t have to keep refilling it.  Use a very small food bowl so you don’t overfeed.

Cats:  Plastic bowls may cause "kitty acne."  Typically cats do not like to have their water bowl next to their food bowl.

TRAINING:

The number one reason for bad behaviors is a lack of exercise.  For many dogs, a walk is just not enough.  They need to RUN!!   

Wear your dog out with a game of fetch BEFORE you go on your walk.  This is especially important for dogs that pull hard. 

The second reason dogs develop bad behaviors is because they are bored.  Dogs are pack animals and can be destructive if left alone.  They need another dog to play with or their family with them.  Use a doggy day care if your dog does not do well alone while you are working all day.  That will make them very happy (well, at least most dogs). 

Dogs that live in fenced yards may get exercise, but they may still get bored.  WALK your dog a minimum of once a day.

Dogs repeat behaviors that are rewarded.  Therefore, focus on your dog’s good behaviors and reward them when they do something you like . 

TREATS:  We don’t recommend pig ears or cow hooves as they may not be pasteurized and there have been reports of dogs getting sick. 

We recommend COMPRESSED bones over RAWHIDE bones (ask the store assistance to show you the difference). 

COLLARS/LEASHES:  Invest in is a good quality 6’ leather or nylon leash.  Retractable leashes are not used for training.  Nylon or leather collars are best. You should never use a choke chain unless you are trained to use one…they are for training only and not to be used as a collar.  TRAIN your dog to not pull when on a leash (sign up for a training class to learn how).  However, if your dog pulls and you must have more control immediately, here are some suggestions.  Prong collars (or pinch collars) may look bad but they offer the most control when walking a dog that pulls.  Halti and Gentle Leaders are great ways to walk a dog that pulls but the dog must get used to the head halter first.  No-pull harnesses are also successful. 

MISCELLANEOUS: 

A tablespoon of yogurt will stop ear yeast infections and stop diarrhea due to antibiotics.

Turn on a radio or TV when your pet stays home alone. 

Bathing a dog in Dawn Dish Soap is an effective and inexpensive way to kill fleas.  It is safe for animals and kills fleas on contact.

Prescriptions are available for your pets at Target, Publix, Wal-Mart etc.  From one dog owner:  My dog has congestive heart failure and is on Lasix and Enalapril.  I can get both filled for $12 each (for a 100 for him).  Target periodically runs a coupon that if you bring in a new scrip you get a $10 gift card.  The pills by themselves are a great deal but coupled with the coupon, it’s incredible.

Remove a tick safely by applying a glob of liquid soap to a cotton ball.  Cover  the tick with the soap-soaked cotton ball  and swab it for a few seconds (15-20), the  tick will come out on its own and be stuck  to the cotton ball when you lift it away.

Why Mostly Mutts Promotes Spay/Neuter

Below is a letter we received this week from a family who wished to foster a dog through us but didn’t because of our sincere belief in the importance of spay/neuter.  This is not the first vocalization of disagreement with our policy but we wanted to share it with all our blog readers and future Mostly Mutts families as to why our policy is the way it is.

The letter reads as follows:

……We are hesitant to have our pug fixed because we want to be able to breed him in the future.  So it looks like we won't be able to foster or adopt through Mostly Mutts.  My intention was to foster for as little as a few days, and then proceed to the adoption.

I've heard from other friends with kind, loving homes that adopting a dog through a rescue agency is very difficult because of the stringent requirements of the agency, and I was hesitant to even apply for that very reason.  Our dogs are all happy, healthy and very much loved.  While I respect and appreciate your mission, I have to say that the risk of unwanted puppies in our case seems almost non-existent, as we have three male dogs and were asking to foster another male dog.  We've decided to adopt from a breeder rather than comply with your requirements.  The cost will be approximately the same as adopting from your agency, and we will have a dog to love, but we will all miss the benefit of helping a potentially homeless dog find a good home.

Our response:

We obviously have one thing in common and that is that we love dogs.  Let us share our perspective as to why we have the policies we have.  Maybe when you see this through the eyes of a rescuer, you may understand. 

Just yesterday we went to an animal control and rescued four dogs with a “white slip.”  The white slip means that they are on the euthanasia list for this morning.  Even though almost 50% of the dogs seen had white slips on their kennels, we could only take four because that’s all we had room for.  There were three litters of puppies there and they had ‘white slips’ on their kennels too.  We’re happy we rescued four but so sad that about fifty were euthanized just this morning at this one facility.  Animal control’s intake is approximately 30-50 dogs and cats (including many puppies and kittens) a DAY.  There is an epidemic out there that most people are unaware of. 

The problems is that our region, and pretty much all over the United States, has an overpopulation of puppies and kittens.  The reason for this overpopulation is that people allow their dogs and cats to breed…either accidentally or on purpose.  70,000 kittens and puppies are born EACH DAY.  It is impossible to place this many animals in homes therefore the majority of these animals end up as strays or at animal control centers or in the hands of abusive families. 

The most common statement I hear from dogs owners who have intact males or females is that “I have no intention in breeding, I just don’t believe in spaying or neutering animals”.  I can understand that the intention is not there but 100% of the litters I have rescued have been accidental.  Male dogs will do anything if they smell a female in heat (and they can from one mile away).  The sad part is that our rescue exhausts ourselves working at adoption events and we are thrilled when we adopt out ten dogs.  But then we realize that someone is at home with their female dog that just had ten puppies.  This defeats every ounce of our hard work.

We do require pets to be spay/neutered when fostering or adopting from us.  We want to adopt to families that see more than just ‘I want to own a new dog’.  We want them to support us and help with our cause.  The ONLY way for us to save ALL the dogs and cats in our community is to lower the pet population.  The ONLY way to do this is through spay/neuter.

That’s it from our perspective.  From a dog’s perspective, if they had a voice, they would let you know that they would prefer to be spay/neutered.  Males live a life of sexual frustration if not neutered (even if you breed occasionally) and this leads to behaviors such as marking, humping, aggressions, etc.  Females suffer from mammary tumors, pyometras (infected uterus) and hormonal issues due to their cycles. Ask your male friends if they would like to live sexually frustrated...it’s not fair to the dog! 

Please do me a favor and visit an animal control shelter before you run to a breeder to purchase a dog.  Also know that when you purchase a dog, breeders bring more dogs in to the world.  When you adopt a dog, you open up a kennel for another rescue dog so you save two dogs!

We are very sorry that we can’t work together but we are more involved with saving animals then just adoption.  We want to educate people as to the importance of spay/neuter.   It’s the responsible thing to do for your dog, for rescue dogs seeking a new home and for your community.