Thursday, May 30, 2013

It started one year ago...

It started one year ago....

Scout and Henry at 2 weeks old, unsure cat in the background

Henry came to me as most any rescued dog comes to someone, unexpectedly. I already had set in place to add my second dog  to our family from the same breeder who bred my first Labrador. She was pretty reputable, more so than some but probably not to the very high standards of others. The parents were on the premise and typical of a well bred family lab, big teddy bears with energy to spare when called for. After searching around central Maine, where I currently reside, I was willing to travel North again to purchase a puppy from her.
In central Maine it is hard to find a reputable breeder at a reasonable cost, or what I am willing to pay for a dog I should say. I work at the local veterinary clinic in my town where I have the advantage to knowing the ins and outs of the breeders dogs. I know the breeders that come in, see the breeding dogs, know their genetics and perhaps the chronic issues they have, whether sound temperaments or not; dog or people aggressive, whether or not they do any sort of parasite prevention or just the fact if they have seen a vet in the last year for a wellness exam. I may be mistaken but I think the average person only looks at the puppies and has made their decision before knowing anything else. I don’t feel the appropriate questions are asked or the fact that they don’t ask to see the parents. A reputable breeder will have an extensive application for the buyer to fill out, a health guarantee, and would have at least one parent on the premises. Others sell puppies to do just that, sell them. They have lost the idea behind breeding, to produce offspring that uphold the breed standards as well as having sound temperaments.
I had contacted the breeder in Northern Maine after much frustration of seeing the breeders around central Maine. It was in November when I asked her when her next litter was to be expected and to put me on the list. I had a ways to wait. A litter wasn’t expected until late spring and wouldn’t be ready to go until July. July, that felt like a lifetime away.
For the year or so that I did look around the Whitefield area for a puppy, every litter of Labradors that came into the clinic, I would inquire about. I was open to male or female, color wasn’t a breaking point, although I am partial to yellow labs, but mostly I wanted to find a puppy with a personality and temperament that would fit my family. I wasn’t set on the fact that it needed to be a yellow male, because if there was only one in the litter it could have the potential to be the one that was timid and no confidence at all. Not something I would desire. My co-worker, Dale, a licensed veterinary technician, who once had Labradors himself and now had three chihuahuas, was ready to humor the idea of adding a larger dog to his pack, preferably a female black lab. Being partial to labs we would both fawn over litters that came in for check ups and ask questions but neither of us felt any of them would be the right addition.
There was a point where I would hold and snuggle every new puppy that came into the clinic. I longed for a second dog. Once I had committed to a puppy from the breeder it was amazing how that void was filled. I now just patiently counted the months until my puppy would arrive. Then came the unexpected project.
 
Henry 1st day home at 2 days old
 
I remember it clearly. It was a Thursday, my day of reprieve as a receptionist and to aid as an assistant to the technicians and to do paperwork for the Doctors. It approaching early afternoon and nearing the end of my shift.  Dale, Dr. Mayerson and myself were working at the break room table with idle talk when Amanda came out back with a message. Lucille Griffin, one of the most reputable breeders in our town, had just had a dog deliver eight puppies.
I had often considered purchasing a puppy from Lucille, but unfortunately I wasn’t willing to pay the price for one. In my experience with my first lab, Scout, the first year of their life is the most expensive. Not just with routine boosters, the neutering, but with accidents. You have a young dog who is exploring the world, they are mischievous and prone to trouble. Now don’t get me wrong, her dogs were some of the better looking labs I had seen in a long time and well worth the money. They were smaller in stature, the English Labradors, with block heads, and the thick otter tail. She checked hips and elbows, and kept them parasite free. Lucille provided them with annual wellness checks to ensure they were healthy. Her litters were always brought in to be examined by a licensed veterinarian who signed off on a health certificate and the breeder provided a 2 year health guarantee.
Amanda approached us out back. Started rattling off the facts. Lucille is on the phone, Roxy just finished having eight puppies. She is setting up an appointment to have the dewclaws removed but she noticed that three of those puppies have cleft palates. She is wondering if anyone here would be willing to take them and bottle feed them. Lucille would do it but she just doesn’t have the time to bottle feed three of them. There are two yellow males and one black female. I think the words echoed around in my head, yellow male, as I am sure Dale honed in on black female. Dale and I exchanged a brief sideways glance, grinning and raised eyebrows, and then a look back to Amanda, “I’d be willing to try it.”

Progression of Henry's cleft palate and how it has closed some on its own.
After Amanda disappeared back to her post to tell Lucille that she had some takers on the challenge the questions started pouring out. I was leaving for Boston to join my husband, Brock, on a business trip and then had to be in Bangor to train dogs at Green Acres Kennel Saturday. I couldn’t possibly take a 12 hour old puppy with me today. Dale and I started trying to immediately develop a schedule. Three puppies, who would require feeding every 2  hours around the clock. He could take them that night and Friday. I would pick them up Saturday and keep them until Monday. Yes, we would rotate them every couple of days to give the other person a little break.
“We should try and keep them together as a litter as long as possible.” Dale said.
“I agree.” I said focusing more on the fact that puppies that grow up in a single puppy litter are suspected to have more behavioral issues. I wanted them to stay together as much as possible for developmental purposes.
“If you need help, I would be willing to help out. I will tell Jack it’s a foster, not a permanent part of the family.” Pipes in Dr. Mayerson.
“That’s right. I have to talk to Brock first. I’ll do it but I have to take him into consideration and at least make him aware of it.”
    Then comes the realization of the fact that the puppies are defective. Cleft palates, bottle feeding, survival rate? Tube feeding? What is the extent of their cleft palates? Are their faces deformed too? They should at least feed off of the mother for the rest of the day to obtain as much colostrum as possible.
A cleft palate, for those that may be unaware, can be primary or secondary. A primary cleft palate is one that you would notice by looking at the dog. It could produce a split in the lip up to the front of the dogs nose and can vary in severity. A secondary cleft palate is not noticeable unless looking in the dogs mouth. It too, ranges in severity but is an opening in the midline of the roof of the mouth that can affect the hard palate only, the soft palate only, or both. It also can range in the width of the opening. It is not entirely certain what creates a cleft palate. Some attribute it to genetics, others blame it on something the mother had while the pups were in utero, like steroids or other medications.




Shirley (black lab) and Henry (yellow lab) at 7 months. We pet sat Miss Shirley for a week in November, brother and sister united.
 
Amanda returns again, “Lucille has decided to keep the puppies until Saturday to give them a chance to nurse on the mother,”
There was one concern addressed, “Her dewclaw removal appointment is then for the other puppies. She’ll bring those three in then to be looked at and if you still want them you can meet her here and take them or we can euthanize them.”
“Good, I will be here, so I can let you know the extent of the palates.” Dr. Mayerson said. Dale said he’d be able to meet Lucille here at her appointment time to assess the situation too.

I left work not too long after the development of our new project to head for Boston. How was I going to explain this one to Brock? 
 
I decided to approach Brock about this as a project that we are taking on at work to try and save these three puppies. They would have to go home with people at night because of the feeding schedule but otherwise would be at the clinic. He didn’t ever say no or question it. I think he knew what I was skirting around and was probably aware my mind was made up.

 After I finished my shift in Bangor, at Green Acres Kennel, I headed straight for Dales house.  I had arrived early to mid afternoon. It was perfect timing he told me, he was just getting ready to feed them again. The milk replacement was warmed and placed in the bottles and we took them out to see if we could acclimate them to the bottle. At this point they had nursed off the mother for 2 days so they weren’t initially so easy to convert to the rubber nipple. I peered into the box where they huddled together on the heating pad and pulled out the bigger yellow male.
I had never done anything like this before so figuring out the best way to hold him and everything was new. They also had to be stimulated after eating to go to the bathroom. I had an overwhelming feeling. In 45 minutes time it seemed like we hardly got any of the required amounts of milk into the three pups. Dale and I laughed at the situation and finally decided that we needed to split the pups. By the time nursing the 3 pups was done it would practically be time to start over again. We put the bottles and puppies down, looked at each other with a look that said, “What did we just get ourselves into”, and laughed. 
“Are you taking one of these home?” Dale asked.
“I think I better,” I chuckled.
“Well which one do you want?” he said. Again, knowing Dale was partial to the black labs and I to the yellow, that wasn’t a problem, but which yellow do you take? At two days old you don’t know much of anything about how those pups are going to be when older.
“I will take this one I guess.” I said as I lifted the slightly larger yellow male out of the bin. “I don’t know what I’m doing and he looks like he is doing alright.”
Dale gave me some hot water bottles and I wrapped them in the towel and placed them in the carrier I had brought along. Then, in went the puppy. With a final glance and a wish of luck I headed out the door with my second dog...And that is how Henry came to be in my life.
Me, Henry and Scout after Storm Nemo
 

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