Spanish Street Dogs; the other Waifs and Strays.

To anyone even remotely considering taking on a host of street dogs, try this instead....its a sight less stressful...

...and the only pee to be cleaned up is likely to be your own....!

Been one of those days!

Again, on a lighter note...

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Once I was a lonely dog,
Just looking for a home.
I had no place to go,
No one to call my own.

I wandered up and down the streets,
in rain in heat and snow.
I ate what ever I could find,
I was always on the go.

My skin would itch, my feet were sore,
My body ached with pain.
And no one stopped to give a pat
Or to gently say my name.

I never saw a loving glance,
I was always on the run.
For people thought that hurting me
was really lots of fun.

And then one day I heard a voice
So gentle, kind and sweet,
And arms so soft reached down to me
And took me off my feet.

"No one again will hurt you"
Was whispered in my ear.
"You'll have a home to call your own
where you will know no fear."
"You will be dry, you will be warm,
you'll have enough to eat
And rest assured that when you sleep,
your dreams will all be sweet."

I was afraid I must admit,
I've lived so long in fear.
I can't remember when I let
A human come so near.

And as she tended to my wounds
And bathed and brushed my fur
She told me 'bout the rescue group
And what it meant to her.

She said, "We are a circle,
A line that never ends.
And in the center there is you
protected by new friends."
"And all around you are
the ones that check the pounds,
And those that share their home
after you've been found."

"And all the other folk
are searching near and far.
To find the perfect home for you,
where you can be a star."
She said, "There is a family,
that's waiting patiently,
and pretty soon we'll find them,
just you wait and see."

"And then they'll join our circle
they'll help to make it grow,
so there'll be room for more like you,
who have no place to go."

I waited very patiently,
The days they came and went.
Today's the day I thought,
my family will be sent.
Then just when I began to think
It wasn't meant to be,
there were people standing there
just gazing down at me.

I knew them in a heart beat,
I could tell they felt it too.
They said, "We have been waiting
for a special dog like you."

Now every night I say a prayer
to all the gods that be.
"Thank you for the life I live
and all you've given me.
But most of all protect the dogs
in the pound and on the street.
And send a Rescue Person
to lift them off their feet."

~Arlene Pace (September 18, 1998)

Thursday 22^nd September.

 I took Suzy and Mum back to the vets on Tuesday to have their spay stitches removed. Both were very good in the hands of a lady vet. As happened the first time I took them to the vets, both were reluctant to get into the car and were sick on the way there and again on the way back. Somewhat shell shocked but no doubt glad to get rid of the stitches they spent the afternoon sleeping.

 Both now join in the regular playfights and post-meal ‘zoomie’ sessions of whacky races which occur. I have no doubt that they are both capable of looking after themselves. I well remember one food fight that Suzy got into when she was still living in her cave about 8 months ago. She and one of her siblings got into a very serious scrap and were really going at it. I wasn’t about to try to sort them out physically and the only thing I could think of was to throw the water I had taken with me as their post meal drink over them.

 After a liberal soaking they separated and set about washing their wounds. Two minutes later they were attending to each others wounds.

 You may recall the scene that greeted me when I released the girls from the bathroom; the photos are in the previous post.

 Yesterday I had to go shopping… this entails driving to a small market town some 20kms away. An average shopping trip takes up about 75 -90 minutes.

For reasons best known to herself Sophie had decided not to perform on the early morning walk not later when she had had her breakfast. I was reluctant therefore to put her in her crate; the mess she gets in has to be seen (and smelled) to be believed.

So with Izzy and Leo doing their King and Queen of the pack thing upstairs, and Spike and Scruffy in their crate I left Suzy, Mum, Sophie and Fred and Sox in the living room having first removed anything likely to be construed as a ‘toy for destruction.’ (or so I thought…). Got back from the supermarket and this is what greeted me as I opened the door….

(At first I thought I was suffering from Déjà Vu. Many years ago when Izzy and Leo were just youngsters, they silently destroyed a three-seater settee and matching armchair. Stuffing and covering material were strewn all over the living room floor. They had managed to do this without making a sound. Summer and I were having a rare Sunday morning lie in upstairs).

 I dragged the groceries into the house and through into the kitchen and unpacked it, cursing all things canine. Then I went back into the living room to assess the damage. For various reasons the scatter cushions we use had all been stacked on top of a low cupboard. It was these cushions that had been attacked rather than the settee or chair. Nevertheless I was far from pleased.

 My problem is this; toys are expensive with my lot, expensive because they have a life expectancy of about five minutes. They love rawhide bones but fight like hell over them and worse still they all suffer from the sh*ts after a chewing session. I have asked Summer to get hold of some Nylabones whilst she is in the UK; I cant get them over here, but they do keep them occupied.

 Janice and Marie have both responded in the past to my posts in this blog and one of the questions Janice posed was why didn’t I have Sophie spayed at the same time as Suzy and Mum. The reason is given as reply to an earlier response. There was no need, no priority. Suzy and Mum were priority cases because both were pregnant and I certainly couldn’t look after two broods of newborn puppies. My own thoughts on the matter were that Sophie could wait until the onset of her first season and then we’d get her done. It did however prompt an email from Marie who pointed out that her vet wouldn’t perform a spay op until after a first season. So I started digging…

 The internet has a whole host of reasons why one should not spay before a first season and an equal number that suggest that it’s ok.

 I put the question to my Spanish vet that had ‘done’ Suzy and Mum and he is of the ‘don’t do it’ school. I also threw the question to a friend at the vets we used for years in the UK. Guess what… the answer from them is that there is generally no problem with pre-first season spay ops. The American Veterinary Medicine Association sits firmly on the fence (why am I not surprised?)

 So this is something I am going to have to play by ear I think… wait until Sophie does come into season and then talk to the Spanish vet again. It’s going to be an interesting time however with four un-neutered males in the house.

 Hopefully Summer will be back by then!

OK so up bright and early, NATO breakfast, (coffee and a fag) and ready to face the wonderful world of looking after this demented clan.

Prepped breakfast for the girls, filled water bowl cos all need a drink on return from walk. Trying to avoid unnecessary noise from Sox and to accommodate the needs of the newbie females, took Sox, Suzy, Mum and Sophie as first batch for walkies, leaving Fred, Leo and Izzy upstairs and Spike and Scruffy in their crate.

Walk went as well as any when Sophie is a part of the package, Sox for once cooperative, complete waste of time so far as Mum was concerned, no pee, no poo, nada, zilch. Suzy however as good as gold.

Got back, opened door to be met by a very wet Fred, Izzy and Leo and paw marks throughout, stairs barricade down, waterbowl inverted, and water all over over the bottom of stairs, the kitchen and living room. Sense of humour failure no.1...

Got everyone inside much to Fred's disgust who immediately staged a ruck with Sox. Newbie girls run for cover behind the chair, pande-bloody-monium as led by Sophie, all are barking and generally trying to outdo each other. Sort out the newbies and Sophie, bundle them into the bathroom, close door, light a fag,  

Chase Seniors back upstairs and set about mopping up... except mop is in the bathroom... cant get to it because bathroom occupied by newbie females so, one complete roll of kitchen paper and 20 minutes later have things reasonably dried out. By this time of course, Seniors need out desperately. Go upstairs... piddle puddle... clean that up, get seniors downstairs and leads on, take them out cursing all things canine (the Dog Whisperer I am not).,. Come back from productive walk, send seniors back upstairs, then let Spike and Scruff out of their crate... instant puddle...clean that up with yet more kitchen roll.

Walk with the delinquents, again with Sox along for the ride since it stops her leading the pack in their not-so-Dawn Chorus howling match. Get back from that and put the kettle on...

Open bathroom door fully expecting to find Mum has performed that which she should do outside...but instead I find this...

...Shades of the Andrex Puppies only moreso!

That's it... sense of humour failure no.2 ensues...for a couple of moments I am speechless... then Mum comes up and licks my leg...and gives me a look that says,

"Look I know its a mess and I'm sorry, I had to piddle but I did what you do and tried to clean it up... but the toilet roll just kept unravelling..."

She had a look of total innocence on her face that is oh-so-appealing so instead of yelling at her I gave her a hug instead, then of course Suzy want the same treatment. Spike and Scruffy in the meantime have found the tissue in the bathroom and are carefully carrying it off to their crate.

Decided to take a couple of pics of the bog-roll carnage in the bathroom then go back to retrieve that which Spike and Scruffy had stolen. It's then I find that the blankets in their crate are wet... for the first time in a couple of weeks. This used to be a regular occurrence but lately they have been dry overnight, if I can get them out for a walk early in the day. Today, despite getting up at 8am it was nearly 1030 before I could take them out... just a bit too late it seems. So blankets into the washing machine... and then spend an hour de-hairing the machine afterwards. Then finally and at long last, sweep, dust and mop right through. Dogs sorted out there respective chilling out places and crashed out just after 1pm. Siesta Time... 

I really don't know where the rest of the morning went:  it has been one of those all hell and no notion days so far. Having finally got my second coffee of the day at 12 oclock, plans for a shopping trip to Carrefour have gone out of the window, that will have to wait until manana... and tomorrow as they say, is another day. 

And the good news is that  Both Suzy and Mum came through the surgery fit and well and are now recovering at home. They are not quite ready for the rough and tumble games normally initiated by Spike and Scruffy but nevertheless are defending their right to the armchair that they, the girls, have jointly adopted.

They go out with the rest of the pack for regular walks and any thoughts of returning to the cave seem to have been forgotten.

We have to go back to the vets on the 16th so they can have the stitches removed.

Once again, our heartfelt thanks to Marie at the Little Pod Foundation for giving us the opportunity to give Suzy and Mum a hopefully better life.

More news and pics later

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