President’s Corner

It's time for another newsletter. What can I tell you that will say how much your support means to our survival? I hope that I can give you information about what we have been doing over the last few months, what our hopes and plans are, and let you know "who" you helped with your donations.

In September, we had taken in more dogs than ever before. Summer is always bad, but never like this. We had to do something. We were beyond full. We decided to do an adoption campaign. Extra hours, extra weekends. Could our volunteers spare any more time?? They have families, jobs and personal commitments, too.

And so, we began. Phone work, newspaper ads, working with pet supply stores, the super pet expos, anyone that had a good spot to introduce our special ones to the public. We worked every weekend. Driving, setting up, greeting potential adopters, filling out applications, home checks, consultations, rechecks. The shelters were calling daily. People were calling daily. Some days were good, some were not. The holidays were approaching fast. Website work, board meetings, vet visits for all the dogs coming in and those already in our care. Feeding, bathing, cleaning and then starting over again with new faces. Another puppy mill closed. Where will these dogs go?

In these short weeks, what would we be able to do? On December 9th, we had our last adoption show before the Christmas holiday. September 9th we had had 48 cockers in our rescue system. When all the home checks were done three months later, we had placed 52 dogs! There were 22 in our foster system.

52 dogs adopted in 10 adoption shows! That didn't include the adoptions we do outside of our regular process. We facilitated private adoptions for those whose had to give up their dogs -- when we had no room for them. We worked with the shelters to provide them with referrals.

With your donations, we provided special surgeries for many of those: Phoebe, Choo-Choo, Tiger, Venture, Sophie, Tiffany, Braveheart.... Together, we did make a difference, but the work continues. As many as we helped, there were those we could not. I personally remember one. She was eleven years old. She was a give-up. She was sick and the owners didn't want to spend the money. No information on what she had wrong. Sick. Where would she go? The fosters were beyond full. The other rescues were beyond full. Emails, phone calls went out. Does anyone have room? But there was no place. No place for a companion, friend and comforter of eleven years. Before I could do anything, the shelter called. They had decided that because she was sick, and they desperately needed the room, she had been put down that morning. I had been given one day. "What was her name?" I asked. She deserved to be known. The paperwork had been sent on with the body. The shelter worker said she didn't know. I called her "Angelica" and said goodbye.

Our hopes are that, one day, there will be no more "Angelica's". But we are a long way off. As I write to you today, we are working on another puppy mill closure, give-ups in the area and six shelter dogs. Spring is here and soon there will be the Christmas give-ups. We will have four adoption shows this month and at least four next month.

Without new foster homes, we will be forced to use a kenneling service again this summer. This is not what we want for our rescues, but without it, more will die. This will also increase our operating costs. Please help if you can. See our response form on page 2.

I thank God for all the support we get from you. And for our volunteers. What a wonderful group. The level of commitment and care is tremendous. We are growing too. Every week now I hear about another volunteer, another foster home. Our goal this year is to increase our ability to help others by 15%. If we can, that will mean that another 25 dogs will be saved. It's an energetic goal. We want to save over two hundred lives this year. Together we can do it.

Thank you for all you do in the name of rescue.

Judy Wollin, President

Is it true that dogs are not allowed in restaurants because we can’t make up our minds what NOT to order? Or is it the carpets again?

MINE!

Reprinted from the Summer 1994 issue of ASPCA Animal Watch

Does your sudden appearance in the kitchen at your dog’s mealtime elicit a glare and a growl? Does a gift of a rawhide or marrow bone send your usually mild-mannered canine diving under the nearest coffee table while snarling, "Grrr, mine!"? If these scenarios sound familiar to you, your dog is suffering from Canine Possession Aggression (CPA), also known as food or object guarding.

The trouble with kibbles

In most cases of CPA, the dog no longer views you as the provider of good things, but rather as the scoundrel who might relieve him or her of hard-earned treasures such as meals, treats, chew toys, or in some instances, forbidden objects such as shoes and gloves. If you remove these items as a punishment when he growls, it will only serve to further convince your dog that his suspicions about you were right all along.

Make a date with your dog — for dinner

How often have you heard people say, "Leave the dog alone while he eats"? While it probably makes sense to keep toddlers away from Shep at mealtime, a dog can get an inflated sense of himself if left alone while he eats from puppyhood on. After all, in a dog or wolf pack, the alpha or top dog gets to eat his fill first, uninterrupted. Instead, family members should be present while the dog eats — starting when he or she is a puppy. From time to time, it is a wise idea to approach the bowl and add a little something extra — some scrambled egg, a broken-up biscuit, a bite of turkey hotdog or string cheese.

Bowling him over

If you have an older dog who has already perfected his "Cujo Eats" imitation and it isn’t safe to approach his bowl, a different approach is needed.

• Step One is to do away with his food bowl entirely for a week or two. Shep will be dining out of your hand, just a few kibbles at a time.
• Step Two marks the return of the food bowl — but it should be empty until the handler passes by and drops a few kibbles in it. After those are eaten up, drop small handfuls into your dog’s bowl at one- to three-minute intervals until the whole meal has been consumed. By now your dog should be practically begging you to approach his bowl.
• In Step Three, put a semi-filled bowl on the floor and, as you pass by, drop in a few better-than-kibble tidbits. On your next pass by the bowl, add the remaining kibble.
• Lastly, for Step Four, put a full food bowl on the floor as your dog holds a sit-stay. Release him with a cheery "okay." Then, once or twice a week, call your dog away from his bowl during mealtime and reward him with a tasty tidbit for coming to you. Using your "sit-stay," "wait" and "take it" commands with the dog will make it absolutely clear to Shep who owns the kitchen and the tasty morsels in it.

Each of these steps should be undertaken for 10 to 14 days at each meal before going on to the next step. While you are grappling with a food guarding problem, your dog should wear a leash at mealtimes as a safety measure, but don’t use it to correct your dog unless you are in jeopardy of being hurt.

Since guarding behaviors seldom happen in a vacuum and can often signal other problems in the dog-handler relationship, a basic obedience course is highly recommended to underscore handler leader-ship to the dog. Finally, if you experience any backsliding, return to Step One. Slow and steady wins this contest of wills!

Next Issue: MINE! Part II — Object Guarding

A Dog’s Tale

Hello, my name is Buzz. I am a black Labrador Retriever, and this is my story.

Everyone always says they wish they could lead a dog’s life. Well, let me tell you, a dog’s life is not all it’s cracked up to be. It used to be just my sister, Justice, Mom, and myself. Our life used to be simple and complete. Then Mom got this bright idea to help out other furry little friends, and my life has never quite been the same.

I remember that fateful day so well. Justice, my rottweiler sister, and I were sitting in the living room applying our usual nose prints to the window, waiting for Mom to get home. When we saw her car pull in, we ran to the front door, waiting for her to walk in and give us our hugs and kisses. When the door opened, to our surprise, she had something in her arms. Well, I immediately went to investigate and found out she had another dog with her. I just figured she brought home a friend to play with for the day. Our friends from down the street, Bart and Brutus, come down all the time to play, but for some reason this dog did not go home that night, nor did he leave for a couple of months.

I always feel sorry for the poor new guys when they move in. They have no idea what is in store for them. Most of the dogs have bad hair styles and are rather odorous. Their initiation into the household begins the first night with a bath, an ear cleaning, and the toughest part, training. The new guys have to learn the rules of the house. Justice and I help Mom with the training. These foster dogs have to learn where the back door is to go outside and go to the bathroom; otherwise Mom really becomes upset when they use the carpet. They have to learn where their food bowls are. Now, I am a portly man and have my own diet food. So when the other dogs eat mine, I get into big trouble when I eat theirs. They also need to learn where the basket of toys and chewies are. But the most important lesson is where they sleep at night. I still get my spot next to Mom on the bed. Sometimes, if they’re nice, I’ll share.

Just about the time the new guys are trained, they leave. One day Mom will come with their leashes, hook them up, and lead them out the front door and most of them never return. Sometimes I am sad to see them go. The older dogs are calmer and will play a game of tug-of-war, but the young "whipper snappers" keep grabbing my chewies and toys right out of my mouth. So I am not too sad to see them go.

I am not too jealous of the dogs that come and go. I know exactly what I have to do to get attention. I just cock my head to one side, perk my ears up, and bark. Mom will stop whatever she is doing and play with me. I know I may whine a lot, but really, things are not so bad at home. I get to meet lots of other dogs who have never been in nice homes like this one or even people who love them like Mom loves me. I know when their time is up here, they are sad to go. So when Mom takes one away, Justice and I sit at the living room window waiting to see who comes home next.

as dictated to Debbie Turley

Ellen Witherell has generously donated her time to helping Oldies But Goodies. With her expertise, she has consulted with us on many behavioral problems which affect some dogs who have been abused, neglected, or simply abandoned after many years. We saved a dog named Bert, who was chained outside because he was not housebroken and because he liked to jump on tables. By the time we got Bert, he was malnourished and could barely stand. He was nursed back to good health, and with Ellen’s guidance, he is now in a wonderful home where he never has an accident or jumps on tables. Thanks to Ellen, Bert and others like him, are able to adjust and find forever homes.

I first saw her on CockerCondo’s site as a courtesy posting for the Montgomery County Humane Society. I got this strange feeling that somehow this little girl would end up in our home but wasn’t sure why. I had just found a home for our most recent foster, Shorty, that same week and was waiting for my next foster, along with our two furry children, Dudley (a previous OBG adoptee) and Stanley (Montgomery Co. SPCA). Plans changed; the dog I was supposed to take ended up elsewhere.

MCHS called Kathi Alexander, one of our cocker angels, about an 11-year-old cocker who was turned over to the shelter when her owner moved to a nursing home. She was adopted but then returned due to a medical problem. It was the same story, "Come get her; her time is up."

Kathi called me and asked if we could foster her. I said of course, since I had a spot. Floppy came to our house as a foster the first week in March 2000. I became attached very quickly to Floppy. She was so sweet and affectionate and looked at us with those big brown eyes; how could we not. But I knew my job was to find her the perfect home. What I didn’t know was that she was already there. We knew she had some health problems and the vet diagnosed her with Cushing’s Disease as well as a series of other minor infections. She was still available for adoption as we nursed her back to health. Someone was finally ready to adopt her in June after she appeared on TV. That’s when we found out her liver was failing and she might not have long to live. At first it was thought to be cancer, but upon further testing, she was diagnosed with a chronic hepatic liver. There was no hope in reversing the damage. We could only hope to stabilize her and give her quality of life for as long as possible.

My husband and I decided that Floppy was in her "forever home" and she would become part of the Davenport family along with Dudley and Stanley. So we adopted her! After many vet visits, holistic and conventional, we finally had her on maintenance and stabilized with everything we could possibly do for her to make her as comfortable as possible for her remaining months.

It’s now March 2001 and "the little girl with 9 lives" is still with us. She has gotten a little worse and in the beginning of December we thought she was on her way to Rainbow Bridge. But if you know Floppy, she always has a surprise. She has stabilized and has not gotten any worse since then -– miraculously. She still feels well enough to charge after Stanley or wallop down her dinner in record time!!! Every morning when she wakes up and pokes up her head, she looks at me with such adoring eyes, as if to say "thank you so much for loving me." Then she runs over to me, rolling her head all over my lap with constant love bites. She always has us laughing from all these silly things she does along with running towards us when we get home and then leaping into our laps with tons of love bites. For the first time, she is playing with squeaky toys and even opened her presents under the tree. So who says a dog can’t still have quality of life even if they are terminal.

She is one of the most loving, affectionate dogs I have ever encountered. Many people hesitate to adopt an older dog with an illness or that’s terminal (she’s now 12, a year later), but the joy we have had from our Floppy I would not trade for anything in the world. She may not be with us long, but as I have always thought, whether having our furry friends for a year or 10 years, what they teach us and how they give us their unconditional love is priceless and well worth every minute that we have with them. Floppy will be in our hearts forever.

Note: I would like to say a special thanks to Dr. Pat Denney at Pender Veterinary Clinic. Without him, I know Floppy wouldn’t have the quality of life she has had.

Debbie Davenport

Do you have one of our "Oldies But Goodies" living in your home? Send us your story!

Come Visit Us!

We’d love to see you at our events. And it’s especially a thrill to see our "alumni," happy and wiggly, showing off their new families. Here’s where we will be in the coming weeks:

• Mar 24: Adoption show at Springfield, VA PetSmart Frontier Drive 12-3pm
• Mar 31: Adoption show at Alexandria, VA PetSmart 12-3pm
• Apr 7: Adoption show at Springfield, VA PetSmart Frontier Drive 12-3pm
• Apr 21: Adoption show at Greenbriar Petco Chantilly, VA 12-3pm
• Apr 28: Adoption show at Springfield, VA PetSmart Frontier Drive 12-3pm AND watch our TV appearance on WUSA Channel 9 in the Petline 9 segment between 7:30 and 8am
• Apr 29: MCHS Paws in the Park dog walk, Wheaton Regional Park 10:30am (For more information or to register for walk visit the MCHS website at www.mchumane.org)
• May 5: Gaithersburg Bark in the Park, Bohrer Park 12-3pm AND Adoption show Springfield, VA PetSmart 12-3pm
• May 12: Adoption show at Alexandria, VA PetSmart 12-3pm
• May 19: Adoption show at Greenbriar Petco Chantilly, VA 12-3pm AND Annapolis, MD PetSmart 12-3pm
  

I have loved cockers since my grandmother brought home a little black cocker for my 4th birthday. I promptly named him "Ruby" — good name for a black cocker?

In 1993, I adopted a 6-year-old cocker from HART, a local all-breed rescue. But, in 1997, he died while in surgery. I was very sad, and my vet advised that I might want to "help" Ms. Reitz with her OBG cocker rescue. As I walked out of his office, Ms. Reitz was having an adoption day. She stood there by herself with 4-5 dogs, waiting for wonderful people to adopt her beloved cockers. So I volunteered to help her "occasionally."

"Occasionally"…has become part of my life. I adopted a black and white parti, Valentino, a wild and crazy guy, who for the last 4 years has been relaxing on my couch. Cockers can do that!

As a volunteer for OBG, I am responsible for answering telephone calls for adoptions, give ups, rescue cases, cruelty cases, and other emergencies. I speak with all kinds of people. Some love their animals but cannot keep them for a variety of reasons. Others just don’t care. Sometimes, with a little counseling, suggestions, and follow-up, they keep their pets. However, most times, we do what we can to rescue them. I keep a list of give-up requests and potential adopters and try my best to match dogs with prospective parents. I also try to work on direct adoptions if we are "full" and cannot take dogs in.

As for cruelty cases, I received a call from a concerned neighbor earlier this year pertaining to a little cocker tied to a short rope day and night. He had little shelter, little food, and his little wagging tail was met with kicks in the belly. I called the local dog warden to help us rescue him. Reason for the mistreatment? The children were no longer interested in playing with him. He is now safely with OBG waiting for a loving family to adopt him.

I grew up in a family with love and respect for all animals. I have been rescuing since I was a child … and was always surrounded by pets. Grandma said I had to quit when, at age 5, I brought home a harlequin Great Dane, but she could not say "no." He became hers, lived a long life, and loved her lasagna.

Martine de Lizza

Ed. Note: Martine, we are forever grateful that you didn’t listen to your grandmother…

Contributions Received in Honor Of…

The dogs thank you....

Oldies But Goodies Cocker Rescue wants to thank the Banfield team at the Waldorf, MD PetSmart for all the hard work and gentle care provided to our rescued friends. With the expert attention provided by Dr. Johnson, Chief of Staff, and Dr. Suh, we are confident our four-legged companions will be well on the way to recovery and ready for their new homes in short order. Thanks to Bill Langham with the friendly caring and professional staff at Waldorf, we rest assured that our little ones who have gone through so much, will be treated with the utmost concern and respect for their well-being. Rescue work is a team effort that requires confidence in the veterinary service provided. Thanks Kim, Lisa, Heather, Ashley, Christine, Beth, Carmen, and Melissa.

Hope, Spunky, Sheba, General, and all the rest of us at OBGCR

On October 28, 2000, Lucky, a 9-year-old tri-color rescued cocker spaniel, found his way into his new foster home. Lucky was a very happy dog who’s nonly goal in life was to find a permanent home. Once at his new foster home, Lucky allowed "Mama Lisa" to bathe and groom him. He proudly ran around her backyard sporting his new look. He also played with his new foster brothers and enjoyed the afternoon sun.

On the morning of October 31, 2000, Lisa let Lucky and the other dogs outside to go to the bathroom. She noticed that Lucky had urinated blood. She quickly made an appointment to take him to see Dr. Kennedy at Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital.

That afternoon, Dr. Kennedy made the following observations concerning Lucky. Lucky was a very quiet – perhaps too quiet – dog. His gums were very pale with a yellow cast to them. His chest sounded good, but his respiratory rate was slightly elevated. A little overweight, his abdomen palpated soft, with no masses discernable. His eyes were tired. His coat was dull, a few flakes, and his ears were clean.

Bloodwork done that afternoon revealed blood, anemia, and a high white blood cell count. A rule-out list was set in motion. However, it was quickly determined that Lucky was suffering from Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA). Lucky would need intensive and very expensive treatments to include blood transfusions and chemotherapy and steroids to help him survive.

What is AIHA? It is a disease in which the body does not recognize its own red blood cells. Therefore they must be eliminated. Quite efficiently the body removes these cells, destroying its own oxygen-carrying mechanisms. These destroyed cells are eliminated through urine, changing its color. The dog’s body weakens, collapses, and dies.

Fortunately, AIHA is not a common disease. Primarily it is seen in dogs and not cats. It most often affects females versus males. The most common breeds affected include Cocker Spaniels, Old English Sheepdogs, Irish Setters, English Springer Spaniels, and Collies.

On Lucky’s last day with us, I took off early and went home. I let all of Lucky’s foster brothers and sister out on the sunny day. Each of his foster brothers and sisters were allowed to say goodbye to him, and then Lucky and I went and lay down on the floor, giving Lucky time to enjoy the pleasant cool afternoon breezes. I told Lucky that I was actually the "Lucky" one. He had allowed me time with him. He was only at my house for a few short days. Then it was time to go to his next new home. Lucky now watches over my house – and he has the best spot in the house. He never has to worry about being cold or alone again. Lucky has a place where the sun always shines on him. He is the watchdog over the house, and the angel that greets each new foster dog as they come into the home that will be theirs until OBG finds a permanent place for them.

Article written with cooperation between Dr. Jacilyn Kennedy of Aquia-Garrisonville Animal Hospital in Stafford, VA and Lisa Roosa, OBG volunteer

Oldies But Goodies' Newsletter staff:

Print edition: Lynne Bettinger

Web edition: Kathi Alexander