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Likes: Breeze would most like to have a permanent home of her own.
Pet-Peeves: Being born in a puppy mill, living her life in a crate totally, never being loved or touched kindly, and being bred as much as possible.
Favorite Toy: she is just learning to touch a ball
Favorite Food: hot dogs
Favorite Walk: she is just learning to walk on a leash
Best Tricks: sorry, Breeze doesn't know any tricks
Arrival Story: Breeze was rescued along with many others from a horrid puppy mill. It is a very long story. She was pregnant when rescued and had 6 healthy pups....a very good mommy! Breeze: (written on May 20th 06)
Until today, she didn’t have a real name. On April 22nd, 2006 she arrived along with 14 other unfortunate canines. All had been acquired from a horrid puppy mill. In order to obtain them the Rescue Director had to purchase them!!. None of them were by any stretch of the imagination marketable except perhaps to another puppy mill as breeding stock. But that is another story in itself. She was thought to be one of the better of the group. By better, we speak of her general condition and soundness. While most of the others were obviously traumatized, un-socialized and full of fear, she seemed less so.
She was taken into a loving foster home with the hope of a rapid rehabilitation, making her ready for an adoptive home. The foster mom lavished her with love and affection while taking skillful care of her physical needs. Since she had no name, the foster-mom called her sweetie pie. It happened naturally as that is how she seemed….a real sweetie pie. Nevertheless, things were not progressing. Sweetie Pie remained recluse, depressed and fearful. She could not be touched except by keeping a long-line on her and pulling her or simply holding the line to prevent her from running away at the foster mom’s approach. She was terrified of everything and nervous of any slight house-hold sound or movement. She seldom ate at all. She was too scared to eat.
After about 2 weeks it was decided to move her to a different location with another rescue volunteer. This place already housed 6 of the original puppy-mill dogs rescued. It was a kennel situation which is not as great a change for puppy-mill dogs, as a household. . She responded positively to her new home. Perhaps it helped for her to be with other dogs she may have been familiar with. We continued to call her sweetie-pie. She was placed in a kennel with another young dog, perhaps her daughter it was thought. Within a few days she was taking food from the hand of new foster-mom. She could not be touched and resembled a timid wild thing as she approached for treats. Head down, eyes forever watchful slinking, then darting and grabbing the food held out to her, followed by her making a wild dash backward in a panicky retreat. However, she was alert, interested in her surroundings and active. This was improvement over curling and hiding as she had been prior. A couple more weeks past and she began to snarl and growl at her kennel-mate, especially if food was being offered. It was decided they should be separated and she was placed in a kennel alone. This did not seem to affect her greatly. She continued grabbing at food and going about activities much as before. She seemed to have an insatiable appetite.
On Friday night of May 19th the son of the foster home returned from college for a week end visit. It was 11 PM when he decided to go to the barn (which is where the kennels are) to visit his little horse. He immediately returned to the house yelling for his mom “one of the dogs is having puppies in the barn !!” The family quickly went to the barn. As the door was opened the piercing sound of puppies crying loudly could be heard.
Sweetie Pie was anxiously whining and running back and forth, from the kennel within through the doggy door, to the outdoor kennel and back , again and again. There were two puppies in the middle of the kennel floor and a sound of another coming from outside. She had puppies scattered in two separate places and was still in labor. A panel was put into the doggy door to prevent her from going outside. A rug was placed on the cold concrete floor for her and the 2 puppies lying there. The puppies were cold. The family physically caused sweetie pie to lie down, stroking and talking to her in an effort to help calm her. The puppies were warmed and placed on her teats to nurse. A heat-lamp was placed above the growing litter. A flashlight search found one other very cold puppy lying under the fence of the out-door kennel run. This puppy needed special care and was taken indoors to warm and revive before returning it to sweetie pie. The night continued as they do when dogs give birth, one puppy after another. When she finished she was an exhausted mommy of 6 seemingly healthy puppies. It was now around 5 AM. It was determined at this time the kennel was too cold a place for her and her litter. They were all brought indoors to a quiet laundry room and placed in a child’s swimming pool for safety.
No one knew she was even pregnant !!. She was so thin that she gave no hint of harboring growing infants within her. No wonder she seemed such a pig for food. Although she received an ample amount of food daily for her size it was not enough to meet her maternal needs nor to make up for the lack of such prior to coming here. She had been examined by a vet the first night she arrived but it must have been too early in her gestation for recognition. How distressing for her this must have been.
In spite of this, during this night something very special occurred. She began to trust in human-kind. As this is being written the puppies are at the end of their second day of life, each so precious. Sweetie Pie allows us to touch her, can be walked on a leash, will eliminate on a leash , eats gently from our hands, allows us to handle her off-spring, …….and the fear in her bright eyes has lessoned significantly. On one particular outside walk the son sat down in the yard having her on a flexi lead. He was relaxed, not paying strict attention, allowing her time to do her business when he felt a nudge on his elbow from his back. It was sweetie pie approaching him solely on her own, nudging his arm with her nose …and then, climbed into his lap and placed her head on his knee. What a thrill!!
I watched her today as she was moving across the yard and noticed what beautiful movement she has. I doubt she has ever in her entire life had the opportunity to run across grass and feel the freshness of the outdoors about her. Her entire life has been in the darkness of a crate surrounded by the sounds of other caged barking dogs and the smell of filth. As I watched she seemed to simply glide across the earth’s surface like a graceful soft breeze. I decided it is time she has a real name. Her name shall be “Breeze”.
Our hope for Breeze is that she shall continue to be nurtured as she cares for her babies.
We hope that she also will continue to grow in her trust of human-kind. Lastly we hope that when she is ready someone will come to us and say to her…….
“Come on you lovely little lady , come with me and I promise from now on your life shall be a breeze. …you deserve it !!”
Bio: Dogs Desperately Needing Special Homes:
On April 22nd, 2006 several Australian Shepherds were rescued from a horrid puppy-mill by a small Rescue organization. This particular puppy mill had over 500 dogs. All were housed in small crates stacked high, in rows as far as one could see, under a 3 sided open structure. Their lives were merely sub-existence. Fourteen dogs were rescued. They were immediately taken to a vet. Half of them were euthanized due to horrible physical ailments. We now believe the reason the puppy-mill gave up these particular dogs was due to number of factors. One very pretty and friendly male dog is blind. A pretty red merle female is sterile. The rest are from a single litter, are 18 mos. old and evidently having no market value. We think it is due to their coloration. They are all solid red with tan points which under the breed standard is a qualified color. However, most people looking for an Aussie want the more typical and flashy colorations of merles or solids with full white collars.
The rescue organization was short of foster homes, especially for dogs in such a state as these. The dogs were so traumatize they were not able to stand or walk. They just curled up during transport and “shut-down”. They were taken to an elderly couple’s (volunteers) empty kennels for emergency housing. They each had to be carried to their kennel. It looked pretty hopeless for these poor creatures. They had never known a kind human touch. They had never walked on ground, smelled earth or grass, felt sunshine on their backs or experienced any of the things we all take for granted. They had only known darkness of their crates. Their very “senses” had never been developed. For the first week it seemed most had vision problems and the inability to find by scent treats tossed to them. Gratefully, with time this changed by exposure to light and fresh air. Yet, the immense fear they each held onto is something one can not easily imagine. It must be seen to understand. There aren’t words to describe it. Further, it is mind bogging and perplexing to try to imagine what horrible ordeals these animals had experience to bring them into such depths of soul-wrenching terror.
The first couple of days each continued to lie in a fetal position in the interior part of their kennel. By the third day most gained the courage to venture through the doggy door into the outside run. It was raining and for unknown reasons they seemed to love the rain standing outdoors most of the day while the rained poured on them. Perhaps they had never experienced rain before? They began to adjust to the new surroundings. Over the next month great efforts were made to befriend them. They began to learn that all humans were not so bad. Most began to come for treats tossed to them. A couple were moved into loving foster homes. However this proved to cause great stress and they regressed refusing to eat for days and hiding in corners again “shut-down”. They were returned to the kennel. It seems the kennel proved to be a better transition for these dogs. Then late one night, the sound of crying puppies was heard from one of the inner kennels.
A female gave birth to 6 healthy puppies. This came as a great surprise as she was so thin the pregnancy was not discernable. (The puppies have done great and are now placed in homes)
The good news is all of the rescued dogs are healthy and have no aggression towards other dogs, cats or humans. They have resolved themselves to allow humans to do anything they wish with them. Although they are immensely afraid, when forced to be touched, they simply lie down and “shut-down”. That is their defense to stress. None have displayed the slightest provocation to “fear-bite”. Even during bathing, they lie down in the tub and allow whatever.
Since these dogs had never been named, names were given to each with a theme of “candy” due to the sweetness they each seem to possess. They are: Twix a 3-4 yr. old red tri male who is blind, the most normal of the bunch, friendly and outgoing, very loving, and quite handsome, Snickers, 3 year old red merle female; Toffee & Taffy, 18 mos. old red females; Twizzler, & Skittles 18 mos. old red males; and Breeze, 3 yr old red tri female (the mommy).
During the next month life went on and some have progressed more than others. The problem is that no fosters or permanent homes are available and that is what each need at this time. They have gone as far as they can in the kennel situation. The mother dog, Breeze was brought indoors with her puppies shortly after the birth. She has progressed greatly. She walks on a leash, follows the caretaker, has bonded, and for the first time recently displayed “play-posture”. She did it clumsily as she has no idea what she was doing. It was very exciting to see!! It is as if one day a light went off in her brain, she did a little pounce, a bow, stood erect with a confused expression on her face that seemed to say “wow, is this joy?”….and then turned and bit herself in the butt playfully. Breeze has shown us what can happen with love and care. There have been many other such bitter sweet happenings. For example, the first time they were leashed on grass they each walked a slow and exaggerated gait of high stepping, as if a prancing horse. The touch of grass was unknown to them. Can you imagine a dog never being on grass in their entire lives?! Every little thing is absolutely new to them.
Due to the slow progress and lack of resources in early August the rescue organization decided that these dogs should all be euthanized. It was not a decision lightly made. The cost incurred had already reached close to $2000 for altering, shots, worming and micro-chipping. For that amount the rescue organization might have moved 16-28 normal dogs from bad situations into good homes. Resources and time could no longer justify keeping these dogs alive. It was a profoundly sad determination.
It was at this time the elderly couple requested that the dogs be turned over to them.. The rescue organization agreed to do so. This couple believe that all of these dogs are salvageable .They know they need HELP! Two people can just do so much and there are so many dogs, each needing a lot. They have seen changes brought on by individual handling and care. Each of the dogs desperately needs a loving indoor environment. What is working is routine, boundaries, and small doses of exposure to things never before known. The plan and hope is for this couple to work with one dog at a time (rehabilitating) and then, hoping to find good forever homes. However time is of an essence in that winter is fast approaching and the thought of these dogs still being kenneled during the cold is heart breaking. Their only hope lies in their strong belief that there are good people out there who might accept such a dog, to foster or to ke
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