Every year we close the rescue shop on Black Friday and do a 'deep cleaning event' from front to back...
Because most shelters close at least one day a week to do this kind of thing - and we run 7 days a week - this gives us an opportunity to tear everything down to the bare bones, scrub, clean and reconstruct our gated areas, condos, cribs and other areas...
Not able to trust leaving Atom2 alone for however many hours it would take yesterday, he had to come with me to the rescue shop...
And until you actually see him in person, hold him in your hands and watch him walk, poop and everything else he does, your brain cannot wrap itself around just how little he is...
On Thanksgiving he turned 9 weeks old... When fed, he weighs 10.5 ounces...
Prior to eating he is still at 10 ounces...
Because he can simply walk through a baby gate, we needed to find a piece of Plexiglas to keep him safe in a small area in the office... And throughout the day he marveled the volunteers who peeked in on him, held him and just coo'd over him... Many of the volunteers teared up when holding him - he is just that tiny and truly a miracle of God... As one volunteer said, "How can anyone say there is no God when you see something this small?"...
What a nice 2AM check! Atom2 hears me coming and is at the gate of my office, up and standing! What a grand way to start off Thanksgiving Day!
WooHoo!
Yesterday I had to make a mad dash to Newbury Park in the afternoon to pick up Desiree's paycheck... I had no choice - he had to come with me 'cause I couldn't count on him to be OK during the time I was gone...
Little stinker was up on my chest tucked into his favorite spot, looking out at all the folks we were passing by... I have to figure out a better way to move him around with me when needed... Gotta work on this...
I have figured out his stomach is 5 milliliters though... To give you an idea of just how small 5 mL is (beyond the fact it is a teaspoonful), check this out:
And he is NOT a turkey kind of guy - beef guy all the way!... Reached for a baby food jar and didn't pay attention to the label - when he wasn't eating from the syringe like normal, I started wondering why and figured it out quickly...
Can you just imagine how tiny his heart must be?... And even as small as he is, he is already potty trained -- or pitty pad trained?.... They say Chihuahuas are SO hard to potty train (LOL)... Atom2 is 9 weeks old today and he's pitty pad trained, as tiny as he is...
OK, 2AM check is done and all is well... Back to bed for me!
Rescue folks are stereo-typed by the general public as being 'too out there' or too touchy-feely... And maybe we are to a certain extent... We deal with life and death on a day-to-day basis... The only difference is that it is a cat's or a dog's life we are trying to save, which does not have as much value as human life... Our laws make these gentle souls into property and somehow de-valuates them...
Every day of my life I am reminded that No-Kill is not a sprint or a part-time hobby, but a marathon... And in most cases, it is a triathlon that requires all different types of folks which varying purposes and mindsets to be successful... You might fall into rescue accidentally but you do not fall out of, nor do you retire if you truly care about stopping the killing of healthy, adoptable pets in our communities...
And you do whatever it takes unless it is illegal or immoral... You do it when you are tired, hungry or mentally exhausted from the struggle... You become a bad person when you tell someone they have 3 children under the age of five years old and a four pound Chihuahua is not a good adoption, nor is it safe for the animal... You struggle constantly with vet bills that exceed any adoption donation you might ask for... And there are not holidays and vacations when you are committed to No-Kill and rescue...
A pet is furever... And if we threw our children away when they became inconvenient or had behavior problems, there would be a huge dumpster at the end of every Walmart cash register in America - for the number of temper tantrums I have seen while waiting in line! <grin>
Twice last night I was up with Atom2, and he reminds me by the hour of what I do and why I do it... Finally at almost 5:30AM this morning, I saw him (at 8 weeks old) get out of the doggie bed, trot over to the pitty pad, whiddle and poo... I was SO very proud of him... Like any good foster mom would be...
Three hours later, he is crashing on me again...
And for those who have never had a crashing puppy, no level of 'calm, assertive' mindset is going to keep your blood pressure lowered... You do everything you can to save the puppy's life... Maybe this teeny, tiny puppy is not supposed to make it, but you continue on with the mindset that until THEY are ready to give up and cannot continue the fight, neither do you.
And when your pet is healthy and alive, you celebrate each and every hour from the time they arrive into your life until they breath their last natural breath... We do not give up and we do not kill healthy pets... We spay and neuter our pets so there are not unwanted litters of puppies and kittens being born with a home to go to and be loved furever...
Yes, No-Kill is measured, one dog or cat's life at a time... And it is not a sprint, but a marathon that all humane-minded individuals need to be a part of if we are to succeed as a species on this planet who care.
I'm not much on selfies... And I would not say I'm a big busted woman either... All natural but only a "C" cup... Even so, this is Atom2's favorite warm place to be when he's cold... Gives you an idea of just how small this pup is!
I have had dogs all of my life... I was raised on a farm and at 10 years old, had a pack of retired police officer dogs... I've been in rescue for 34 years as of August 2014 ... I have probably had hundreds of puppies in all of the years volunteering with other rescues and those that I have fostered for TLC...
I would say that I have decent enough experience with 'birthin babies'... And with in the background, let me tell you that this is a new one on me...
DesiDoo (who has never had a litter and was spayed at 8 weeks old) had taken to cuddling up with Atom2 now... Atom2 does not try to nurse, but just gravitates into DesiDoo's belly... And DesiDoo will nudge him into place there as well...
OK, 'mother nature', canine dynamics, etc... Now here is the kicker... Atom2 just needed to go potty, he climbed out of the warm bed and went over to the pitty pad... He is 8 weeks old, so this is a good thing... I'm happy to see this... and then?
I was reaching into a drawer for a file at the time and turned my head back to that when out of the corner of my eye, I saw DesiDoo also get out of bed and start cleaning it up like a mom would... I couldn't move fast enough to stop her from doing it until it was too late...
This is not learned behavior 'cause DesiDoo never had a litter... This is instinctual... Aren't dogs the most AMAZING creatures you have ever seen?
It is now 2:45AM... And on a 'middle of the night' potty run, I check in on him... To find Atom2 crashed out and in bad shape... I've spent the last 45 minutes warming him up, syringe feeding honey and water, baby food and doing SubQs...
My idea to have another nursing mom to foster Atom2 failed... He wasn't interested in nursing and she wasn't interested in volunteering...
Now onto plan B - having Atom2 room with the twins and hope this helps him developmentally...
I have just spent 3 hours putting up corrugated cardboard around the sides of my office so that he cannot climb into a nook or cranny that I cannot readily see him or find him... He is the size of a mouse and I'm an old lady with a bad back and bad knees... The sugar babies about gave me a heart attack one night when they went underneath a shelf and I could not get to them... Been there, done that, had the heart attack... Not going there again...
The photos were so cute of Atom2 acclimating himself with the other two small pups (each 3 and 3.5 pounds accordingly), that I had to make a slideshow out of them...
I had not intended to do much with this blog - other than to record my thoughts as we go along here with Atom2 (for as long as I can keep him alive and until he becomes available for adoption)... This is growing into something now, so I guess I better give you all some background...
The 'players' ....
- DesiDoo is sorta/kinda a PITA kind of dog... Has been since she was a puppy and not wanted by the adopter... She can have high energy and is an attention hog... But I have to give DesiDoo her 'due' - she has ALWAYS been exceptional with the foster puppies that have come through my hands on their journey to a furever adoption....
- Commonly referred to as the 'sugar babies', 'the twins', etc. Abercrombie and Sephora are two surviving puppies born in July from a litter of five puppies... Abercrombie is the male - black & white longhaired Chi mix and Sephora is the female sibling - white... Both consistently had sugar crashes from about six weeks old and it has been a major struggle to insure they lived...
- Atom2 was born 9/25/14 in my home along with three other puppies. His mom (Dumplin) came out of the Camarillo shelter pregnant. Dumplin has a grand personality and was a major lovebug and lap sitter. Two puppies were small (GirlySue and Atom2) - two puppies were much larger and continued to grow larger as time went along (TommyRoo and BindiBoo). The two larger puppies became too big and started bullying Atom2 to the point I had to separate them. The photo below is of the litter of 4 - as you can see, Atom2 is at the bottom of the pile, but he is determined to get his fair share1
