Little Lola May - Not Exactly a Foster

Little Lola May came to us in early May from Brooklyn ACC. The process of picking her up was far from smooth, but I knew from the second that I saw her, that there was no way I was letting her spend another minute there. Weighing less than 3lbs, it was clear that the tiny 9 year old Chihuahua had recently had a rough go of it. Yet, despite being severely underweight, with pneumonia and a mouth of infected teeth, all Lola wanted to do was love and never ever wanted to be left behind. There was no vet at the Brooklyn shelter that day and they were not going to release her to me, as she had not been given her rabies vaccine (even though my pick-up had been planned days in advance) but I refused to leave without her and eventually they agreed to let me drive her over to the Manhattan shelter so that she could get her vaccine and finally go home.

A still very skinny Lola May, settling in to her new surroundings

The first few weeks were not easy - even a tiny dog can make a heck of a lot of noise when they have a nasty case of kennel cough and pneumonia! There were a few trips to my vet and many more sleepless nights with a steam vaporizer and a jar of honey (both are a HUGE help when you have a dog with KC). But each day she put on another ounce or two and eventually the coughing and sniffling stopped enough that we could get her in to the rescue vet to have her teensy teeth cleaned and the badly infected ones pulled.

Honestly, one of my biggest fears with having such a tiny dog in our home, was that Maximus or Rhea would accidentally smush her. Or that they would think she was a rodent and try to hunt her. 101 awful scenarios ran through my head, so while I was at work, Lola spent her first week hanging out in the dressing room off of our bathroom. Thankfully, both of our dogs took to her like fish to water and her big brother loves having a new friend to cuddle with.

Lola and her big brother during her first week with us

After seeing how well she got on with the other dogs, I just couldn't imagine ever letting her go. It became pretty clear that Lola was going to be a foster "failure" and would spend the rest of her days with us.

Living in the lap of luxury

Not even two months after first bringing her home, we officially adopted Lola May. She goes to brunch (and just about anywhere else that she is allowed) with her mom and even accompanies her family out for long hikes in the woods. Don't let her tiny size (or wobbly back legs) fool you! This little girl is ready for just about any adventure you put in front of her.

Hiking in the woods with my dad!

Spanky Situation Extremely Urgent Once Again!

This poor little man just cannot seem to catch a break. His surgery was supposed to be scheduled for Thursday but with Dr. Stephanie Janeczko’s resignation from the ACC this morning, this is now up in the air. See, Dr. Janeczko was supposed to be helping us coordinate the surgery due to Brooklyn ACC’s serious failure to care for this dog. Now that she is gone there has been nothing but radio silence and no one is telling Waggy anything. Once again, Spanky has been let down by a system that was supposed to care for him.

Waggy is looking at some pretty serious medical bills, since the surgery alone will probably range from anywhere to $4,000 to $6,000, and he will have additional follow-up medical expenses but can you really say no to this face?

He has already been through so much and is a total trooper. Even with his injuries, nothing will keep him from loving on his people and the little guy loves nothing more than being on the couch next to his foster dad or curled up on the bed with his foster mom and siblings. Not once during this whole ordeal has he gotten grumpy or snapped at anyone. Can you imagine being in that much pain and still being unbelievably sweet to everyone around you?

Please help Spanky get the care that he needs and deserves. You can donate to Waggytail Rescue for his care.

Spanky Situation Update

Sailor Spanky has settled into his foster home and is doing very well.  Even with everything he has been through, he is so full of love and enjoys nothing more than being right up against his people and stealing Pringles from his foster dad. We have been encouraging his foster siblings to give him some space, since he is still in pretty fragile condition and needs to get his rest, but he is is very good with them and we cannot wait until he is doing better so that we can really get to know him!

Things have worked out in Spanky’s favor though and he will be getting the surgery that he needs to repair his injuries this Thursday! There has been an enormous outpouring of support for this little guy and his awful situation, so we want to thank everyone who has wished Spanky well and donated to his medical care. That said, he still has a long road to recovery up ahead and will need all of the help he can get. Since Waggy often takes the broken dogs, the ones that no one else will take, we definitely rack up the medical bills!

Please help Waggytail Rescue by going to our page and donating towards the care of these special dogs who are being given a second chance at having a most awesome life.

URGENT: Sailor Spanky of the USS Waggytail needs your help!

A lot has gone on in Flufflandia over the past month, but before I even begin to get into those (awesome and happy) events, I want to focus on the more urgent events that have occurred over the past 24 hours.

Meet Sailor Spanky of the USS Waggytail (formerly known as Buger)! This little man was brought to Waggy's attention because he was in need of a foster home where he could rest and recover from a possible fractured pelvis.  We were told that he wouldn't need any additional care - simply cage rest for about four weeks - and then he could go to his forever home.

Well, it wasn't until the Brooklyn ACC knew that we were on the way that we were informed that his condition might be a bit more serious. Sailor Spanks would need follow-up x-rays, since these hadn't been during the three days that he was at the ACC, even though it was evident that there may be a more serious problem that a possible simple fracture.

When I picked him up, he was handed to me in a box and the staff member knew next to nothing about his condition but we took him sight unseen because, well, I am a sucker and am simply not going to let a good dog hang around a place like that. Once we were in the car, I opened up the box and saw our little buddy for the first time. He was clearly very out of it from his medication, but happy to be out of the loud, scary shelter.

I also got a chance to see his injuries a bit better and saw that his left leg was swollen to about three times its normal size and that he had deep bruising extending from under his scrotum all the way down his left leg. Spanky was not in good shape and was not able to walk or stand. This was starting to look far more serious that a simple pelvic fracture. Yet, despite all of this, he remained sweet and trusting.

His shelter medical notes stated that he had been on pain medication and I (stupidly, I know) assumed that the bottle of medication I was given was more medication to manage his pain. It was only when I got home and had a chance to take a closer look and saw that the bottle I had been given was antibiotics and not the pain medication that this dog would desperately need. I could only assume that this was a mistake and either they gave me the wrong pills or forgot to also give me pain medication - either way, I was more than happy to go back to Brooklyn and get Spanky what he needed.

This is when the situation took a turn for the worse. I called and was informed that no, it was not a mistake, they just don't send pain meds home with dogs. Seriously? You discharge a dog with a possible fracture and severe bruising and swelling without anything to treat the pain? (Keep in mind that I am also not just someone walking in off the street, I am a foster with an approved rescue organization who has a long-standing relationship with the ACC.) To me this sort of treatment was simply inhumane and I was (and still am) extremely angry.

Think it couldn't get worse, right? Well, it does. Waggytail's fearless leader, Holly, then emailed the ACC to find out what exactly was going on. Obviously, this was a mistake and a big misunderstanding. The ACC confirmed, once again, that this was not a mistake and then started providing us with information about the extent of his injuries that we were not given either before picking him up or upon discharge. The poor dog has a fractured femur, in addition to his possible pelvis fracture, and the ACC then claimed that the only reason that they didn't do x-rays was because I was on my way to pick him up, even though they had already had him for three days! The one thing it did clearly state was that he was to continue on his prescribed pain meds - the same ones that the ACC refused to give me.

Now, believe it or not, it is even more complicated than everything above but at a certain point it just becomes entirely too ludicrous to contain in one single post. What matter is that Spanky is now safe and sound and will be seeing Waggy's vet in a matter of moments to actually determine the extent of his injuries and get the care and pain management that he deserves.

Getting scratches from his foster dad.

All this boy needs is some TLC.

He has even found a doggy friend in Maximus, the caretaker of Flufflandia, who shared his favorite toy with the newest house guest and then kept a watchful eye over his new friend.

Sailor Spanky is going to have a long road to recovery and his care will most definitely be expensive. Please, please, please donate to Spanks care by donating at Waggytail Rescue. This dog deserves to be treated humanely and get the care that he deserves!