Mama Ate Out Of My Hand Today!

There are blessings ... and there are BLESSINGS, and today was the latter. Another small step in the ongoing "thing" of the stray mama and her puppies. And it all came about because I'd forgotten to bring the ground beef meatballs to put the flea meds in ... and had the grand idea of plain McDonald's cheeseburgers (since my dogs love them so much as a treat). Oh and I got more than I bargained for. The puppies greedily wolfed them down, and then I was coaxing mama ... and she took her half a burger gently out of my hand. Then, since the other adult didn't come by, I broke the other half into three pieces and hand fed her those, and she took them sooo gently. I told Mark, I guess if I want to continue this, then tomorrow I'll be heading to McDonald's again. Hand feeding is one step further in the relationship with her, since even after trapping her and vetting/spaying her, I don't think she'd do well in a home situation or shelter, so will be having her back with us, free to roam on our property and with us caring for her.

Tomorrow I am thinking of putting one cheeseburger with the Capstar in, in the carrier and trying again to trap whichever of the puppies goes in for it, so that I could get him/her vetted before the weekend. Once I have a heartworm result and know it's negative, I can start the Symparico Trio, which is a once monthly pill (which I use for mine). It does everything - fleas, worms and heartworm prevention, so makes that part of getting/keeping them healthy, much easier. It also works out cheaper - mama's 6 days of Capstar, and the puppies 3 days each was $100 today, and only kills the fleas daily. Thanking Kelley for helping me pay for those, and for the dog food she sent me! These dogs can def eat! I now mix 2 cans and 6 large soda cups of dry food together, daily, between the 2 adults and 2 puppies. They may come hungry, but they eat well. And if they finish it all, I put additional dry down for while we are not there.

I am just so thrilled though, that mama ate out of my hand. 

Despite the puppies remaining somewhat aloof, when they hear me by the barn, they come skedaddling over and are def happy to see me ... even if it's only "ok, food's here!" They are just so cute. Sometimes, one will come alone and mama or the other doesn't come for a while. So I do feel they trust me and feel safe around me, but they just don't want to be handled, which is making me catching them, harder. 

If you'd like to help support me with getting them vetted and spayed, I have a gofundme at https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-little-bit-stray-dogs-get-medical-care . You can also paypal me at iluvnubians831@aol.com or Cash App at $RoseDempseyAuthor. I appreciate any and all help, these furbabies are so worth helping and finding homes for.

A Very Good Weekend!

Despite the rain, it has turned out to be a very good weekend.

Hubby moved the one pen into the new goat area, and put it back up. We need to buy a new tarp to cover it, to protect the goats when it rains, but hopefully we'll have it all set up how we want it so that the boys can move into it by next weekend. They were in and out of it while he was putting it together. Once we move them into this enclosure, we'll move their original pen in their original field, and set it up again, ready to move the girls over into that field. That'll give me chance to bleach and scrub the pallet bed and let it air dry before we put everything back in the pen, for them.

Then today, his helper, Levi, came for a couple of hours and they put up the final side of the fencing, so that enclosure is complete. It rained a little at first, and I told them to take cover, but Levi said he was ok and they worked through it. He is a blessing, he and Mark work well together.

Yesterday was good with mama and the puppies, and I gave them their Capstar but today they didn't show, so I prepared their food and just put wormer in it. Trying to keep them as healthy as possible since we've not been able to catch them and get them to the vet yet.

The little boy was the worst but I'm hoping the Capstar is making him a little more comfortable. His chest was so sore and red. He sits and watches me sometimes, just out of reach, like he knows I can't get him, yet he's fine running to me for the food when he sees me out there prepping it! 

The puppies are getting so big now ... I guess I must be feeding them well!

I still have the gofundme up for help with their care and vetting costs so that we can get them took care of and the puppies adopted.

The link is:
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-little-bit-stray-dogs-get-medical-care Any and all donations are much appreciated, as this whole effort has proven to be way more expensive that I ever imagined. That said, I have to do this, these babies deserve a good home and mama and her sister/older daughter deserve to be safe on my property but not have to be pregnant again. God gave us this land, and with it comes great responsibilty, some of which is to care for the strays that come onto it. Be they dogs or cats, we've had a few felines that we've fed as well.

I had a lovely surprise yesterday when I checked my melon plants ... I saw a baby melon!

When Mark went to put the support under it, he found another 2, so I have 3 so far ... and still lots of flowers on it so maybe a bumper harvest. I hope so. It's hard to see, but if you look above the 3rd leaf on the right front, you can see a tiny round mass that's a slightly different green mottled. That's the one that I saw. The ones Mark found are hidden under the leaves.

We also shared our first peach yesterday. It was very nice! It wasn't on one of the trees we've planted ... we found the tree over near the woods at the back over by the 2 junk buildings that were left on the property. The poor thing has been neglected, but this year it will get pruned properly and given some TLC. There is so much junk, over around that area, that we still haven't managed to clear. We have to wait for the grass to die down so that Mark can mow in there and not run the risk of damaging the mower or tractor.

He's in demand at the American Legion, and is going there on Wednesday to help them do some plumbing. Most of the members are in their 80s, it's kind of odd that he's the 3rd youngest ... the youngest being 59. It's a pity more younger veterans and military don't join. I'm glad he's meeting new people though, and feeling needed.

All told, it's been a pretty good weekend, despite the on/off rain and storms.

 

Update on Little Bit

Little Bit is coming on in leaps and bounds - our $3000+ stray puppy who has decided she is home, so we are now keeping her. Her right eye has healed pretty good, and her stitches were taken out a few days ago. The vet is pleased with her growth, she was 7.8lbs on Monday but has probably added another pound since. She eats well! In fact she loves food. She doesn't like drinking water though, so I add it to all of her food, or I add beef/chicken stock/broth. I have to be sneaky or she'll end up dehydrated again and with me needing to dropper her water. This is so much easier.

Her favourite spot is on my bed, sometimes she snuggles, sometimes she plays, and her little tail wags nineteen to the dozen. She's a very happy puppy other than when I have to give her meds! I'm thankful that both cyst/abscesses are gone down now, although we can see where she is still missing fur on the skin where they were.

We have a gofundme set up to help cover her (and her siblings/mama/aunt) medical care and expenses, and are grateful for all shares and donations. Every little helps. The link is https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-little-bit-stray-dogs-get-medical-care

She is a darling. We didn't intend keeping her, our goal was to find her a home where she'd be the only puppy and be thoroughly spoiled. Unfortunately, with all the additional care she needed, and the longer period of time she was with us, she is well and truly bonded to us, me in particular. It would be cruel now to move her on.

 

A Very Good Day!

 It began with rain ... and more rain ... and more rain! We had quite a soaker of a morning. Mark had 2 appointments, one with the VA for bloodwork, and the  other with our family doctor for his regular check up. Both went well, for which we are thankful.

We didn't even go down to the property until late afternoon, as we needed it to stop raining. The boys were happy to see us, and I wormed them with their feed. I also put wormer in the dog food for the strays. 

The boy puppy was in a sorry state,

very sore from fleas on his chest, so I'd taken Capstar over in a ground beef meatball, and he gulped it down. Since I can't handle him yet, this is the only way that I can do it. Tomorrow, I'll give him another, and it looks like the other female is beginning to show signs of sores as well, so I'll try to give her one. 

He also has a couple of thready areas on his shoulder, but I'm hoping that a daily Capstar until I can get him trapped and vetted properly. He is a sweet boy but he is so shy if we move so much as a foot, he scarpers.

He has such a sweet little face, and at least we're feeding them well as both the remaining puppies are a good size.

I so need to catch him, I just wish I could stand or walk unaided. I'm hoping to have some help on Sunday, and maybe we can manage it then. I want him to have a home, instead of being stray and just running on the property.

Mark started erecting the other pen in the new goat area, and digging a trench near the barn to try to make a run off area so that it doesn't flood every time we get a deluge.

For all that, it was a satisfying day.

Today Has Been Good So Far!

We'd set the alarm for 7.30am but the dogs woke me earlier, so I made use of the extra time. First of all I let the dogs out, put down their food and left the front door open so that they could run in and out. Little Bit was jumping up at the door of her crate, yapping wildly and grinning at me, happily. She knows what happens next! I had her tub of Beneful, and I brought her in on my bed, on the towel, so that she could eat her food and then get some snuggle time. She loves that.

Mark then put Sunshine and Maisie out into their pen and fed/watered them, and we headed out the door and down to the property. 

Our new helper, Levi, arrived at 11am and he and Mark set to, doing the fencing for the next goat enclosure. They did well, and accomplished one side, 

and then took down the one large pen and put it on the trailer, ready to move and re-erect tomorrow in that new area. The plan is to finish the fencing tomorrow,
and then move Solomon and Max into this area, and put Sunshine and Maisie in the other. We'll also be moving the pen in there to another spot.

My little melon/cucumber patch is doing good. One of the 

plants has started to sprawl and has yellow flowers on it. Another is not quite as big but starting to do the same, and then I have one that's just starting out with its 2 little leaves.  The others all withered and died. I'd planted watermelons, tiger melons and cucumbers and they all got blown about during a storm, and since the plants all look alike, I have no idea which these are. I love them all though, so no matter what comes up on them, cukes or melons, I'm happy.

Our tomato plants are getting tall, and bushy. We seem to do well with them in the huge tubs that I grow them in.

I need to start thinking what I want to start ready for Fall planting. 

Thank You For BOGOs!

 Today is a hot one, and we started late anyway but stopped at Publix on our way down to the property to grab dog food and some snacks and drinks for us. Thankful for the BOGOs on all the dog food. Every little helps! Even so, we spent almost $100 on it. 

Mama and 2 puppies came by and wolfed down 2 cans of wet food mixed with 3 large soda cups of dry food, not sure if the others were resting somewhere or if (maybe) someone had seen a cute puppy and grabbed it. Mama then tried to run off with the empty pan, she even GRINNED as I yelled at her to leave it. She is a character and has no problems with eye contact at all now. I am so glad of that, it's progress again. Every little step is welcome.

The farmer who used to mow the pasture for our property's previous owner, came by yesterday and bush-hogged it for us. It looked so much nicer with it all low. Now, maybe Mark will be able to mow it down a bit more with the tractor, since he's fixed the mower pulley and belt. He just couldn't get ahead with the regular mower. 

Unfortunately, we've lost a lot of bees to this heat. I'm very sad about that. We don't really know how to do anything about it. Mark re-did their water and the weaker hive is suffering badly.

Mark re-hung one of the farm gates so that the goat field area was able to be closed off farther down. Eventually there will be 3 enclosures in that one old pasture. Just baby steps, one thing at a time. We're hoping to get some fencing this week so that he can divide off another area for the girls, so that we can take them over there.

Little Bit finished off the last of her antibiotics last night, and her abscess is about dried up, so all good on that front. She is a little piggy when it comes to her food, she eats very well. Then curls up to snuggle. She is def putting on weight well now but is still a bit scrawny looking, as her legs are getting longer. We've been feeding her 5 times a day to try to build her up a bit. Seeing her siblings earlier, she is about the size they were a couple of weeks ago, when we brought her home, so still has a ways to go. She gets her stitches out on Wednesday, and will finally get her first shots done then as well. We started a GoFundMe on the advice of other rescuers and this is the link >>> https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-little-bit-stray-dogs-get-medical-care 

Our neighbour, Josiah, who bought the house that once owned our land (we closed in November and he closed in December) was there today. I'd been worried, as he was supposed to move in at the end of March/beginning of April and we'd not seen him there, and the yard was overgrown. It was good to see him, and we caught up on stuff. His plans went awry and he's hoping to be able to move in before the end of the year now. He's a nice young man, so I'm keeping him in my prayers.

It's Been A Long 4 Weeks

If I had known how the last 4 weeks was going to play out, I'd have run away and hid, real fast! It was hard enough playing nursemaid to hubby after his eye surgery, hobbling around the bed to put the ointment on his stitches and the drops in his eyes because he was basically blind at the time and had no hand/eye coordination whatsoever ... but no, Mr Murphy figured that wasn't enough. 

So, hey let's give Mark 3 bleeds internally that leave him almost passed out after vomiting "coffee grounds" (blood from haemorrhaging internally) with me finding him on the floor in the bathroom, and having to get him up onto my shower seat so's I could hose him off, dry him and get some clothes on him to take him to the ER.

And yes, they kept him in. He had emergency surgery and I had to struggle with the menagerie (although thankfully Jel helped me at home, and Dylan helped me at the property) and try to visit him. That was chaos as I not only needed valet parking (which wasn't available, Security ended up helping me) but I needed wheelchair transport to his room as well.The folks at Memorial were all awesome, but it was extra stress that me (with my whacky BP) really did not need.

He got released on the Thursday, he was mobile (more mobile than me) but still shaky and supposed to be "taking it easy". Yeah, he's a man, so you know he listened!! Even so, he progressed daily, and other than icky haemoglobin and AIC numbers, he's doing pretty good.

The following Wednesday, the stray mama dog brought three of her puppies to see us, while we were at the property. One little puppy was only half the size of the others, and her brothers were hogging the food and bullying her, so we decided to bring her home with us, try to fatten her up some, and get her adopted. We didn't name her as we weren't going to keep her, we just wanted her to be an only pup not one of four and having to share us.

We took her to our vet to get her first shots, but she was riddled with fleas and worms so we had him treat that first, and she was due to get her shots last Wednesday.

On the Monday (6th) hubby let her out of her crate to play, while I was feeding the big dogs in the kitchen, and she ran to Rover (of course, the only food aggressive one here) and he snapped once, but caught her cheek and jaw and popped her eye out. Mark rushed her to the emergency vet and they did surgery, but she did lose the eye (which I only found out a few days later as Mark had misunderstood what they'd told him that night. He was a wreck).

So, since bringing her home she's been getting very special attention, and will now be the boys little sister. Twice we've had to have her given fluids as she wasn't drinking enough, and she's also had issues with an abscess on that side, that we've had to have it drained twice. She is still on antibiotics. She is a bouncy, bouncy puppy but her favourite thing to do (other than eat!) is to snuggle on the bed with us. She also now has a name, Little Bit, which had been her nickname but is now hers for good.

Getting to this week.

Hubby, deciding I wasn't stressed enough with worrying about his bloodwork, and taking care of the puppy, decided to trip over 2 days ago whilst holding onto her. He twisted and landed on his back (which is now stiff and sore) but managed to keep her from touching the floor. I joke that he's trying to make me have a stroke!

On a good note, all the goats are doing well and learning to be goats. They now all get a lot of time to browse "real food" so that they don't need as much "feed". I've found the man who used to mow our property for the previous owner's father, when he was alive, and he's now going to mow the creek side of the dirt road for me, and his son is going to come and help Mark with fencing and odd jobs. I'm hoping we will have the girls' enclosure fenced next week so that they can move over with the boys.

Our geese, we saw them the other day heading across the road to the other side, where our creek goes into a pond/river. There are 3 babies that are almost as big as their parents now. It was lovely to see them as we drove onto our property.

So that's the catch up. I am hoping for a peaceful next couple of days. The dogs let me lie in this morning until 7am ... most welcome! That made for a much nicer start to my day than 5am!