Paws and Prayers Rescue Blog

I have wanted to be a foster for a long time, but we had an elderly dog that we didn't want to upset by bringing home dogs unfamiliar to him.  Toby had been with us for over 17 years and was our main concern.  Last September, as I lay beside one of the best friends I ever had in my life, his shallow breathing and lifeless body left me numb, it was time to let go and we said "Good Bye" to our beloved family member.  The next couple months we missed him terribly and had no desire to open up our hearts or home to another pet.  My mother, who lives with my husband and I, repeatedly commented "It's just not right without a dog in this house."  So we made the decision to get another dog, a Pomeranian, but for my mom, not us.  I started searching shelters and rescues for a Pom, which brought me to the Cuyahoga Animal Shelter where we found the perfect companion for my mom.  It didn't take long for her to melt our hearts too, and before I knew it, I was searching for a companion for our new family member.  I found a Pom listed on Paws & Prayers site and I filled out an adoption application.  We went to visit the Pomeranian listed and brought along Pepper to meet her.  It took no time at all to see it wasn't a match made in heaven and we wouldn't be adopting this one.

On the way home, I told my husband I really wanted to start fostering.  His only concern was my physical ability to handle it having Fibromyalgia.  I take care of my 87-year-old mother full-time, and with my illness, he wasn't totally convinced that this would be the best idea but with reservations he agreed - which he usually does.  I promised, if it was too much for me to foster, I would only do it once.  My next bombshell was that I wanted to foster puppies, though he thought I was insane, again he reluctantly agreed.  I filled out my application, and before I knew it, I was on my way to pick up three 11-day-old American Bulldog puppies that only had a 40% chance of survival.

3-week-old Male

3-week-old Female

From the day I brought them home, everyone wanted to know what are we going to call them.  Being the rational level headed person I am, I said, "no names" because once you name them then you begin to become attached.  Yeah right, I was going to have these pups for about 8 weeks, with no names and no attachment. Within the first 24 hours, one of the puppies became very sick and passed away.  That's when I knew it wouldn't matter whether these puppies had a name or not, it still breaks your heart!  I had lost "the little black puppy with no name" and I didn't know what I had done wrong.  Maybe my husband was right, maybe this not something I should be doing.  Soon I found out the whole story behind these pups and their mother, Malina.  She was found abandoned, emaciated, and dehydrated, so much so that no one realized she was carrying puppies.  She was then vaccinated, something that should never be done with an expectant mother, it can be deadly to her unborn pups.  Soon her 14 puppies were born, 10 days later after giving all she had to give, she sadly passed away.  Six puppies had already succumbed to the horrible situation some cruel and heartless human had placed upon their mother. There were nine pups left, to be divided between three fosters. After my first day of fostering, I sadly only had two left.

3am Bottle Feeding

Now knowing it wasn't my fault, I was determined my two unnamed puppies were going to make it.  But there was a problem, I was having trouble getting them to eat.  They had both lost weight within the first 24 hours, I tried everything possible.  When I wasn't feeding (or trying to) I was on the Internet searching to find out everything I could about feeding newborn puppies.  After trying different bottles, nipples, barrel syringes, I finally went to the store and bought regular baby bottles.  Much to my surprise IT WORKED!  Now all we had to do was be careful not to let the bottles flow too much so they wouldn't aspirate, make sure they were manipulated properly so they would relieve themselves, feed every few hours, burping regularly and we were on our way. These two pups, which remained nameless (despite many suggestions), immediately started to gain weight.  With a sigh of relief I, for the first time, truly believed "I can do this".

After making it through the first week, the pups were now being referred to as the "white one" and the "brown one."  Both were continuing to tip the scales in an upward direction every day. Late one night, or maybe it would be more accurately described as very early one morning, while feeding, I chuckled to myself as I noticed the "white one" had a very large spot on her back with an amazing resemblance to a rubber duck.  I thought we should call her "Ducky." Oh no, what had I done, I had named one of the puppies!  Well not the be outdone as I picked up the "brown one" I noticed he had a white mark on his chest, well I'll be, he has a lightning bolt on his chest and, from this moment on, shall be called "Bolt!"

The 'duck' spot!

Week two went by without any problems and we forged on into week three.  They were downing their bottles in record time and eliminating on their own with the knowledge that every day that went by these babies' chance of survival increased.  By this time I had settled into a routine, both the puppies and I seemed to be surviving.  Then it happened, the dreaded runs - with a drop, drop, here and a drip, drip there, and messes, messes everywhere!  I ran, not walked to my computer.  Was this serious?  Should I contact medical?  What can I do???  The common solution on most sights was pure canned pumpkin, so I gave it a try and by the next day they were having regular stools, and I am so thankful we live in an age of high speed Internet.

5-week-old Bolt/Jack Daniels

On Monday, the first day of the fourth week, I received quite a surprise.  One that would turnout quite painful. Ducky had a habit of gnawing on my hand while I was feeding Bolt, letting me know she wanted her turn.  Today was no different, except for the sharp piercing pain she was inflicting.  What the heck, she had teeth!  Where did they come from?  She didn't have them yesterday. What did she do, get doggy dentures just so I would feed her first?  Lo and behold, the following day Bolt had been blessed with a mouthful of finger piercers, too.  It was also this week I started noticing something else that was definitely a pleasant surprise, I was getting up at 6 a.m. to feed, feeling better than I had in the past couple of years.  Before the pups, I was lucky to be able to painfully pull myself out of bed by 10 or 11.  My days used to consist of me pushing myself to complete anything, pain pills every four hours and antidepressants.  Depression goes hand in hand with Fibromyalgia, with most of the time feeling useless and helpless.  I realized I had these pups depending on me, they didn't care if I was tired or in pain.  So I had to push through, I suddenly found myself with a purpose and a passion, I was loving what I was doing.  I wanted to keep doing it, for the first time in a very long time, feeling like I was making a difference.  The pain was still there but it was manageable because I had to take care of Ducky and Bolt.

5-week-old Ducky/Margarita

Now by this time of course I was getting very attached to my little furry buddies (because they had names now, ya know) how am I going to let them go?  Were my first fosters going to be a failure?  Funny though how things work out, I had to go to PetsMart to pick up more formula and there happened to be a Paws & Prayers adoption event going on.  I thought I would stop by and say hello, everyone was busy but I overheard one of our fosters talking to someone about possibly becoming a foster, when the person she was talking to said, "But how do you give them up?"  The answer our foster gave is one I will never forget.  She replied, "You grow to love each and every one of your foster dogs (ok, so I'm normal) but you love them enough to take great care to find them a wonderful home where they will be loved forever. When you have done that, you have room to save another dog in need, another dog you will fall in love with."  I left actually never speaking to anyone that day, but knowing, even though I had named them, I could let them go because I had the power of selecting what loving home they were going to, and because I loved them so much, it has to be a very special home.

Nap time!

The rest of the days just flew by.  I found out the rest of the pups in the litter had been named after Wine and Spirits.  So Ducky became Margarita and Bolt was now Jack Daniels.  And just a side note, which I will always take into consideration in the future when naming puppies, since changing their names to Margarita and J.D. they have been sleeping all day and partying all night!!  We have now been through gruel, worming, enemas, and high pitch wining at 3:00 a.m. and they completely have my heart. I take as many pictures of these guys as I do my grandchildren, they were always doing something cute and adorable. Now we have reached week six, these puppies which had a 60% chance of not surviving, had made it!!  I took them in for their first shots and I was just like a proud momma when everyone thought they were so adorable. I completely agree!

Margarita's valentine to her furever family

Now comes the hard part, I had to post them for adoption online.  What happened next I never expected, within 20 minutes of posting them I had an application, and then another, and then another and they just kept coming.  The third application just jumped out as one I needed to take a closer look at.  My mentor, Dori, which by the way has been my rock, told me right from the beginning "Listen to your gut."  Well my gut told me I wanted to follow through with this couple.  I did the vet check and their vet absolutely raved about them and the care they took of their recently deceased 17-year-old cat, especially in her later years when most people would have given up, they did what ever they could for her.  I then spoke to the couple on the phone, is it possible I could have found the perfect couple that quickly?  Dori and I met them with Margarita and Jack, they were so great I wanted them to adopt me!  We left that evening knowing they were going to adopt one, but just not sure which one.  I had a strong feeling they had quite a connection with Jack.  I got a phone call early the next morning and Jack was going to be one lucky dog, he hit the JACKPOT!!  I am so incredibly happy for him!  They have no children, no other pets, and a fenced in back yard, he is going to be so spoiled.  I'll tell you more about them later, I need to tell you about Margarita's adoption.  My next choice was a couple that had adopted from Paws & Prayers a year ago from the Muppet litter.  We met, and though I think they are a wonderful couple, I just didn't feel there was a connection between them and "Rita."  Sure enough they called me the next morning and said the same thing, they just didn't feel the connection. Our next appointment was a single woman that had filled out an application for another dog which was already adopted, when she picked up "Rita" it was love at first sight, it was a done deal.  I was really happy for her, but now realization set in, in two weeks my commitment to these once tiny helpless puppies was about to be over.  I have found them both very special and loving homes.

Jack Daniels's valentine to his awaiting furever family

Now I promised to keep in touch with both of them, I told them I would send pictures to try to make the next two weeks go by a little faster.  I hear from Margarita's mom every couple days, always thanking me for the latest pictures. Now Jack's (now Otis) parents, that's a different story.  I send them a picture every day, along with a short note from Otis about his day.  They have emailed every day, they have spent at least 8 hours in PetsMart, bought crates, toys, food, they have him signed up for puppy classes, and have his first vet appointment scheduled.  They came to visit him, they brought him a new collar, one of his crates, complete with blankets they have slept with so he can have their scent, so he can get used to it.  They have both taken a week's vacation so they can spend his whole first week in his new home with them.  They also told me they have it arranged up to November 24th where one of them will always be there with him.  They left with a gallon of my water so they could slowly introduce their water to him.  It's hard to feel bad about them leaving, when they are going to such wonderful families.

In less than a week they will both be gone, it sure will be quiet around here at least for a couple weeks until the five unnamed puppies downstairs start coming into their own.  Will I be sad?  A little, but not for them, for me, I will miss them! Will I shed a tear? Probably, I'm emotional like that. What do I feel? Content and grateful, I learned so much through this journey, I gave my best, and I got back so much more. I now have hope, I truly believe this experience has saved me from a really bleak future and once again gave me purpose, I guess this time Paws & Prayers saved more than just our four legged friends. Thank you to this wonderful group for all your help and support, you've made me feel like part of the group!

Jack Daniels at 7 weeks

Margarita at 7 weeks

There was a delay between Donna penning this touching account of her first foster experience and our publishing it here for you to enjoy!  Magarita and Jack Daniels are well settled into their new furever homes and Donna is now keeping herself busy with Snow White and her litter of pups!

Jack Daniels, now Otis, with his new furever family!

Donna was recently featured on the front page of our local newspaper, the Akron Beacon Journal.  Click here to read the inspiring feature.

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Content By:  Donna Schulman

Donna Schulman is a foster for dogs and puppies along with her husband Richard.  Donna is a full time care taker for her mother and Richard is an automotive painter.  They have a 7-year-old rescued Pomeranian named Pepper and three rescued cats Figaro, Charlie and Boots.

Images:  Provided by Donna Schulman

There is no way to tell the story of Russell from beginning to end as a short story.  His story is far too long; and far from over.  So I will do my best to keep it as short as possible.  I'll divide it into chapters so it doesn't have to be read all at once.  The 7 chapters of Russell's Story will be posted semi-monthly.

Mandy

When I brought Russell to our home for the first time, I knew that introducing him to my dogs properly would be important.  After my female Beagle, Mandy, had not been too happy with Molly, I had to make sure she knew she was not going to be threatened by this "other dog."  My wife, Vicki, was out on our deck with our dogs when I brought Russell home.  I walked him around the house for a few minutes letting him smell his new surroundings.  Keeping him on a walking leash, I went around to the back of the house where the deck is to meet Mandy and Buddy.  They began their normal amount of barking when seeing a new dog as I walked Russell up the stairs to the gated deck area.  Within a minute of the proper "smelling the behinds" introductions, Mandy growled and tried to attack Russell.  He retreated as I pulled him away and my wife secured Mandy.  This was not going to be easy.

Left to Right:  Buddy, Russell and Mandy in August 2011

We decided that a nice walk with all three dogs was in order.  With Vicki in the lead walking Mandy and Buddy, I walked Russell behind them.  He seemed to understand pretty quickly that he was third in dog seniority in our little family.  The long walk went off without problems.  Tired and thirsty, we brought the three dogs into the house together.  After waiting his turn at the water bowl, I started to lead Russell around the house on his walking leash.  We had learned from past experience, with our own rescued dogs, that keeping them on a short leash for a while inside the house will get them into a routine and build trust.  As I passed our rocking chair and ottoman (the one we bought especially to rock our newborn son some 17 years earlier), Russell lifted his leg and peed on the ottoman.  "Russell...NO!" I yelled.  He kept peeing.  I took him outside and he just stood outside for several minutes.  I brought him back into the house and began to lead him around, he tried several more times to lift his leg on any vertical surface we passed!  This was going to difficult.  We had never had a male dog in our house that was not house broken. Russell was going to be on the leash inside the house for a while.

Over the next couple weeks, we began to get to know Russell through observations and interactions.  He was somewhat of a loner.  We could pet him, but he didn't seek out attention.  He liked chewing on bones and soft toys, but didn't want to play with us or our dogs.  He really didn't like being on the leash inside the house.  This was mostly because when he laid down and went to sleep, I would have to frequently wake him up to go with me.  He would sigh and slowly follow; flopping himself down on the ground when I stopped and grudgingly get back up when he had to.  We had to keep him on the leash because he still didn't seem to understand that peeing inside the house was bad.

Russell had one habit during those early days that reminded us that he was a dog that had been on his own and tied up outside.  He would get up early in the morning, usually around 5:00am, and want to go outside.   He didn't go to the bathroom as soon as he got outside.  Instead he would go beyond where the dogs normally went to the bathroom and begin licking the dew off the blades of grass.  He wasn't eating it; just licking the dew.  It only took us a short time to realize that this was probably the only way he got water during the time he was abandoned.  He knew he had to get outside and get water because once the sun came up, the dew would evaporate and there would be no more water until the next morning.  He would continue to do this for about three weeks before realizing he had a nearly endless supply of water inside the house in a bowl that was easier to find and easier to use.

A few weeks soon turned into almost two months.  Russell was not getting any applications and little attention at adoption events.  At events, he would sit in the shade, rarely getting up except to get a drink of water or a treat that was offered to him.  He went on two camping trips with us and enjoyed the walks and the outdoors.  He did not, however, have the energy to go on long walks of more than two miles or so.  He would stop and lay down to rest; even along the side of the road.  He was getting along with our dogs pretty well and was starting to like getting petted by us and even strangers.  He was still, however, not that dog that craves attention that people looking to adopt a dog hope to find.  I was still keeping him on the leash inside the house, patiently watching what I did in one room and then follow me to the next.  He always slept in a dog bed right next to me on the floor, loudly snoring once he was in a deep sleep.  He still would attempt to go to the bathroom inside the house, but was getting better.

Some of the other foster parents at Paws & Prayers suggested that I relist Russell on our website and maybe even change his name.  “Russell” was not your typical dog name and that might be stopping some people from even looking at him.  I decided that I couldn't do that because I had said “Russell” so many times (“Russell, NO!….Russell, STOP!.... Russell, come on”, etc.) that I could never get myself to say another name.  Besides, Russell was endearing himself to me.  He looked at me for guidance whenever we went somewhere, followed me inside the house dragging his leash, and was even excited to see me when I came home from work.  He seemed to really like our home too.  When we walked all three dogs at night, we could drop the leashes when we were about 100 feet or so from returning to our house and all three dogs would run up to our door to be let back in the house.  It seemed like Russell was starting to settle in for a long visit as he wasn't getting adopted anytime soon.

To be continued . . .


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Content By:  Beagle Bob

"Beagle Bob" Dietrich is a foster parent for dogs along with his wife Vicki and son Robert.  Bob is a full time Fire Fighter/Paramedic, Vicki is a high school math teacher, and Robert is a full time college student.  They have two Beagles, Mandy and Buddy. 

Images:  1 & 2 Provided by Beagle Bob, 3http://wallpaperuser.com/dewy-grass/

Showing off my 'shake' skills

I'm a 3-year-old Jack Russell Terrier, but I don't have your typical Jack Russell Terrier.  Now I do know a lot of commands such as:

There is no way to tell the story of Russell from beginning to end as a short story.  His story is far too long; and far from over.  So I will do my best to keep it as short as possible.  I'll divide it into chapters so it doesn't have to be read all at once.  The 7 chapters of Russell's Story will be posted semi-monthly.

Mandy and Buddy

My family started fostering dogs for Paws & Prayers in June of 2011.  We had high hopes of doing good things.  We felt that we had the skills and the experience to bring unwanted dogs into our home; give them a better life than they would have had at a shelter and get them into a forever home.  It seemed like a worthy cause and a challenging endeavor.

Molly

We have two Beagles, Mandy and Buddy, and felt we would like to help by fostering Beagles.  We saw that there were many available at shelters.  Paws & Prayers gave us our first foster; a female Beagle named Molly. She was both the challenge and the joy a first foster should be. As a challenge, she had a few accidents in the house, barked and tried to chase every animal she saw from dogs to deer, got into a couple of fights with Mandy, and had trouble learning to walk straight and forward on a leash.  As a joy she loved attention, cuddled with us to sleep, and after just a few days; began not having accidents and walking better on a leash. After a little over a week, Molly was adopted and enjoys a loving home and has a Beagle brother to play with.  I don't think we could have had a better first foster than Molly. She gave us the perfect mix of challenge and joy that made us believe that fostering dogs would be great for our family.

I mention Molly because she was our first foster.  Our second was Russell.  He was a Beagle and from a shelter, but those were the only things he had in common with Molly.  Fostering and getting Russell into a forever home would turn out to be the biggest challenge we would ever have.

Russell came to us in late June of 2011.  He was at the Ashland County Shelter.  Michelle, a volunteer at the shelter, wanted Russell to get into foster care very badly.  He had been at the shelter for three months and had not gotten much interest from potential adopters and was becoming more withdrawn.  He ended up at the shelter after his owners had moved from their home and left him outside, tied up, with no shelter and no food or water.  Neighbors, in the relatively rural area with homes not real close to each other, had not realized the owners had moved until after Russell was on his own for about two weeks.  Remarkably, Russell survived without getting any serious illnesses from eating grass and drinking whatever water was available.

Russell in foster care with Bob and his family in August 2011

At the shelter, Russell got a few walks daily from volunteers and given basic vaccinations and nourishment.  Like so many shelters, Ashland's outdated and underfunded facility relies heavily on volunteers and donations to survive.  They work very hard to medically evaluate and treat, give safe and comfortable shelter, evaluate a dog's demeanor and personality, and most of all; get them adopted to the right family.  Despite their hard work, Russell was not getting enough interest to get adopted.  Michelle felt strongly that this quiet, gentle dog was just not endearing himself to anyone enough to get adopted.  He was not the tail-wagging, jumping-in-your-face, "pick me, pick me" dog that most people are looking for when they come to a shelter.  His history of being abandoned by the humans he trusted had most likely made such an impression on him that he was not going to openly show love.  He needed time with a family in a home, to open that place in his heart that would allow love back in. Michelle saw the potential in Russell and passed that on to Sheri, another foster from Paws & Prayers, who made arrangements for our rescue to pull him and my family to foster him.

To be continued . . .


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Content By:  Beagle Bob

"Beagle Bob" Dietrich is a foster parent for dogs along with his wife Vicki and son Robert.  Bob is a full time Fire Fighter/Paramedic, Vicki is a high school math teacher, and Robert is a full time college student.  They have two Beagles, Mandy and Buddy. 

Images:  Provided by Beagle Bob

Jenny R is our February volunteer of the month! Jenny has such a focus for saving as many dogs as possible, whether it means shuffling dogs around from different foster homes to do so, or taking on more fosters than expected. She is also an incredible help to other fosters. Jenny rocked helping pull Summit County Animal Control dogs while our Executive Director, Jen D, was off and continues to help coordinate pulls from various shelters. She uses her lunchtime from her full time job to go to the pound and assess the animals needing fosters and writes up wonderful bios to find the best furever home match. She even coordinated getting a lot of the bully breeds out of the pound. Her experienced opinion has been invaluable to all of the fosters who rely on this information to keep themselves, their families happy and safe while bringing new animals in! Jenny dedicates many hours weekly to Paws and Prayers, along with being a wonderful mother to her son. If you know Jenny, you know we are lucky she is part of the Paws and Prayers family!

We can't reinvigorate our Volunteer of the Month recognition without YOU, our supporters! Have a volunteer you'd like to nominate? (Yes, fosters are volunteers, too!) Click here to complete our quick, easy survey with your nomination and why they deserve to be Paws & Prayers Volunteer of the Month! Please have all nominations in by the 20th of the month you're nominating them for. Winners are announced at the start of the following month. Thank you!