Our Big Bro

Christmas Tree Adventure!

Short Feature Film Catapult to Stardom!

Featuring eminent co-star Rusty, and, of course, brief appearance by My Feet.

 

Foliage Romp!

Freshly bathed and dewormed, the pups were ready to explore their new surroundings!  (No leaves were harmed in the shooting of these photos.)

First impressions:

Both puppies are amazingly well socialized! They are loving, attentive, and show no fear of things like stairs or storm drains.  They were one way or another probably handled relatively often.  They're also, somewhat adorably, very competitive siblings and don't particularly enjoy sharing your attention, food, or even sometimes toys.  Perhaps this is the chow in them coming out or perhaps it's just a result of being a puppy from the block, so to speak.  It's amazing that puppies at such a young age have such strong personality.

Delilah is quite a little spitfire!  She certainly doesn't hesitate to show her fluffier companion who's boss.  She's clearly a smart cookie and is already learning "sit" with ease.  She was the first one to discover that she could move the little gate blocking the bathroom outwards with her teeth in order to escape.

She's also alert, protective, and nearly fearless.  She gave me pause today by leaping directly over a storm drain whose opening was much larger than her.  Meanwhile, our 6 month old foster is convinced that those storm drains will eat her.

Samson has the fluffy bundle of joy thing down pat.  His soft gaze and gentle manner are reminescent of Paddington bear (whom almost was his namesake).  His favorite thing of all time is to cuddle into your lap for a long nap.  That is, of course, after he plays keep away from Delilah in a slow motion chase behind toilets and furniture.

He particularly loves our very senior golden retriever, Rusty, and will spend minutes at a time leaping up to lick his face and burrow into his coat.  How incredibly cute.  Rusty takes it like a champ, of course.

Both are still quarantined to our yard and home to allow time for the incubation period for parvo and kennel cough to pass and until they've received their first vaccinations.  Parvo is unfortunately a relatively common affliction in puppies in some high kill shelters because it is so contagious.  The virus erodes the intestines leading to eventual sepsis when bacteria that normally reside there enter the bloodstream.  Death is often imminent in these puppies but the incubation period can be up to 2 weeks.  Fortunately, older dogs are protected from it through vaccination.  Neither Samson or Delilah are showing any signs of parvo like vomiting or diarrhea to date but because our other foster, Pebbles, is still barely six months old, it's best to keep her separated physically from them as well as their feces until the worry of parvo has passed.

We can't wait until we can introduce them to new places and new friends!

Friend or Foe?

The first order of business: get healthy.  Almost all of the fosters we've cared for have a few unwelcome parasitic inhabitants such as fleas, hookworms, roundworms, and tapeworms.  Delilah's distended little belly is deceptively plump but it's because her intestines are a bit backed up with mounds of roundworms.  If left untreated, eventually they may block off her large intestine altogether leading her to a morbid fate.  And one roundworm, Toxocara canis, occasionally can infect humans (especially those who enjoy eating dirt).  So it's best to nip that problem in the butt.

Luckily, our friends at Park Veterinary in Durham were able to see her and Samson the very next morning and she began shedding the adult worms in no time after her first treatment with an anti-parasitic called Drontal.  Samson and Delilah will reside in our bathtub for sleeping and stay isolated from other animals in our home until they're gone.  

Our tub briefly looked like someone had just spilled a pot of spaghetti into it.  Very unpleasant.  We had nightmares.

It's a good thing that they're so adorable!

Welcome Home, Squirts!

It's hard to believe that it's been only a few days since Samson and Delilah have invaded our bathroom!  And of course our hearts.  Who could say "no" to these faces??

Apparently not us.

Delilah (left) and Samson (also known as fluffernutter, Paddington, and Homer) are the tenth and eleventh fosters to come through our somewhat revolving door.  They came from an Animal Control facility in Harnett County, North Carolina where relinquished pets and strays have only 3 days to a week to find adoptive homes before they're euthanized every Tuesday at 8 pm. 

This blog will intermittently chronicle the joys, sweat, and tears that fostering can entail including lots of cuddly shots of the partners in crime!  Enjoy!