Hannah's Big Day!!!

The blog has been slow lately, but not because Hannah hasn't been busy! We have all been working really hard to get her ready for her first Adoption Day (today! but more on that later...). Here is a bit of what she has been working on:

• November 28, 2006: Hannah returned to White Rock Veterinary Hospital for her next set of vaccinations.
• December 3, 2006: Hannah and I met with dog trainer Nancy Cusick of Nancy's Dog Training to figure out what we should be working on next with Hannah.
• December 12, 2006: Hannah got her Rabies vaccination and was spayed at Emancipet.

Hannah continues to be one of the most loyal and devoted dogs we have EVER known. She just loves to be with us so darn much! And reading over this blog, we realize just how much she has learned in the short time she has been with us:

• House Broken
• Crate Trained
• Leash Trained
• Socialized with big and small dogs
• Socialized with kids of all ages
• Socialized with cats and small animals (she rarely chases them now, and then only if they taunt her in to it)
  
• Got over fear of cars
• Learned to share food and toys with other pets
• Learned to "sit" on command
• Recovered completely from her bout with CDV
• Caught up on her vaccinations
• Spayed
  

She is such an amazing dog. The next phase of training we were thinking about was doing some Clicker training and some increased socialization to continue to increase her self-confidence. We are also going to try giving her a job (like carrying water bottles in a backpack on our walks). We have also started using a Gentle Leader head harness for our walks, and we are working on new tricks every day.

Here is some of what we know about Hannah after living with her for two and a half months:

• She LOVES chew toys, just like a puppy!
• She loves to play and be active, but she also loves to be a big couch potato.
• She feels protective of those she loves.
• She will work hard for treats and for praise.
• She is sensitive to reprimands-- it really breaks her heart not to please you!
• She learns quickly and adapts right away to new situations.

So, dear friends of Hannah and this blog, it is finally time for Hannah to begin the search for her Forever Home. Today she went to the PawMatch Adoption Day at PetsMart at Lakeline Mall and she did great!! If it weren't for the rotten weather, she might have even found a home today. We will keep her home tomorrow (again due to weather), and she will be boarding at Taurus next weekend with Luci while the rest of us go to Florida, but beginning in January she will be at Lakeline every Adoption Day until she finds a home. Please send your friends, your families, yourSELVES!-- anyone who may be a great family for Hannah-- to the blog or to the Adoption Site to meet her. Feel free to email us with questions about amazing Hannah.

Let's see if Hannah likes to watch poker on TV...

Make yourself at home...

Hannah surprised us by immediately settling in on the couch the first afternoon she had access to the house. Why rest on the floor when this comfy couch is available?! She is a total cuddle-bug and couch potato at night after a full-energy busy day.

Crate training is going without a hitch. We put a folded blanket on the bottom of her crate after we saw how much she liked a cushy resting space, and she seems quite happy with that. She also gets a treat every time she gets in there. There are no complaints at night or when we are in there now- whew!

It's so exciting to finally see all three dogs out in the yard together!

The wheel of time turns on...

We are left with lovely Hannah, and the focus of this blog will turn to her and her adventures with us from this point on, without the pups. And what a change there already is. Without the dear ones to protect, Hannah bowed down playfully behind the gate at Luci, and seemed to say "let's be friends!". We opened the gate that had separated them for the last month, and Hannah joined the regular flow of our life. We added a crate for her in our bedroom and she is just walking around the house now with our pets. She chases the cats and is a little too interested in the Guinea pigs. But otherwise, it is going well. She and Luci and ancient Jack are learning to share the house, the backyard, and even our attention. We have sent a message to PawMatch to let them know about the pups, but we are tentatively planning on fostering Hannah for a few more weeks until she has recovered fully and is ready to be spayed. I took her to White Rock Veterinary Hospital this morning where everyone fawned over her and remarked how beautiful she is. She rode in the car with me to take Ben to school today, and we started crate training at home. We plan to use these weeks to polish up her manners so that she will be all ready for a wonderful forever family. After everything she has been through, she really deserves it!

4 Weeks Old: Helo

We only had one puppy make it to 4 weeks old. We called him Helo (previously known as #7/ Mr. Teal). This photo was taken at 10 AM on Wednesday, November 8, 2006. He was so spunky and walking around then, and he was already gaining weight for the day. We really felt very hopeful about him, against all odds, I suppose. But 18 hours later (at 4:30 AM) he was so desperately ill that Jason took him to the Emergency Animal Hospital, unable to leave him suffering even until our 8 AM appointment at White Rock.

And so the puppies are all gone. Mr. Purple and Miss Navy (dear White Tips) both failed very quickly-- a matter of hours from the start of neuro symptoms until the end-- only a day apart. For White Tips and Helo we pulled out all the stops--even trying some experimental steroid therapy Jason read about on the Internet. But nothing could stop this terrible disease.

Of course we are so sad. We truly loved those darling pups. And we will never forget our experience with them-- what an incredible month! But as Ben told his teacher this morning, "We tried our best". And really, that is all anyone can ever do for another creature. And we don't regret trying-- Hannah is a beautiful, wonderful dog who will be completely devoted to some lucky family-- and she wouldn't be here if we hadn't been willing to try.

Fresh Start

We lost 5 puppies this past week. It was heartbreaking if not unexpected. But we are ready to regroup and move on with the three big, healthy, pups we have left and their strong mama.

Our life is much different today. These three pups are good nursers and not so dependent on the supplement bottles. They don't need tube feedings or eye treatments or other time consuming interventions. They are strong enough to get up and walk around, so we reconfigured their area so that they have a little penned yard coming off of their pool/bed. They enjoy walking out there to pee and play, and then walk back into the bed to nurse. They can see us moving about now, and they can watch Hannah when she gets up to take a drink or get something to eat. We put away all of the IV fluids and syringes and medicines except their antibiotics, so there is less of a hospital atmosphere going. They have started to play with their puppy toys and they like to get attention from their human family.

We feel we still have a chance of pulling these last pups through with Hannah, and we are savoring these hard-earned, precious puppy moments.

The surviving pups are:

• Miss Navy/#8 (aka White Tips)
• Mr. Purple/ #4 (aka Big Guy or Rottweiler)
  
• Mr. Teal/ #7 (aka Chocolate or Brownie)