🌙🐩 A Trunk Full of Help, a Fighter Named Sue, and Five New Lives

This Thursday started out with a smile on my face as we welcomed not one but two visitors to the Poodle Farm.

Terasa Long is a longtime supporter of CPR, and she came to visit her SOS dog, Bubbles. She comes to see her about once a month, and Bubbles enjoys those visits.

But Terasa also had another agenda in mind: the possibility that her boy Wesley might need a companion.

That led to a trip out to Addison’s Abbey, our small dog center, where Wesley interviewed several candidates. 😂

No final decision was made, but we’ll see what the future brings.

Terasa also gifted us with an entire trunk load of donated medical supplies—syringes, bandages, gauze and even a centrifuge—all donated by a mutual friend who no longer needed them.

We will put every bit of it to good use here at the Poodle Farm.

Then we had an unexpected visit from Tammy Yarbrough, and I can’t tell you how many hugs were passed out to this volunteer who loves to do transports.

Tammy has had some medical challenges lately and hasn’t been able to be as involved as she normally is. But the minute she was well enough to drive, she was back in the car.

And she didn’t leave alone.

Tammy picked out an adorable little redhead named Georgia, whose medical needs we’re still working through, and took her home to foster.

We know Tammy will be good for Georgia.

I suspect Georgia might be pretty good for Tammy, too. When you’re fighting your own medical battles, sometimes there is nothing better for taking your mind off things for a little while than a sweet little redheaded dog who needs you.

But the dog weighing most heavily on my mind tonight is Sue.

We started grooming her today.

It’s one thing to know a dog feels terribly light and bony when you pick her up.

It’s entirely another to see those bones exposed as you peel back layer after layer of horribly matted hair.

You can see every rib. You can see her spine. She looks like a walking skeleton with fur stretched tightly over it.

Her gums are still pale white. We know from bloodwork done three days ago that she is anemic. She’s been dewormed once, and I suspect we’re going to be dealing with parasites for a while.

But Sue wants to live.

She is a fighter.

Right now she is eating a small slice of Freshpet, offered by hand every hour.

When a body has been severely starved, you can’t simply put down a big bowl of food and let the dog eat everything she wants. Reintroducing nutrition too quickly can cause a dangerous complication called refeeding syndrome.

So we have to be cautious. A little bit of food. Very often. And patience.

It will take time before Sue can manage normal meals again. We’re going to give her that time.

We’re going to give her all the time she needs.

It disturbs me that Sue is the fourth severely emaciated Poodle or Poodle mix we’ve received this year.

In the past, I might see one every three years.

Four in one year?

That makes me incredibly sad.

If you cannot—or will not—care for an animal, give them up. If it’s a Poodle or a doodle, find us. Reach out.

That’s what we’re here for.

But don’t put them in the backyard and hope for the best.

Sue was found as a stray, as so many of them are now. But somewhere, sometime, somebody loved this dog.

There are little clues that don’t make sense. Someone had trimmed her ears and the hair around her eyes, but nowhere else. She’s fairly clean and has no fleas, yet she was matted all the way to her skin.

I don’t know what happened to Sue. We probably never will.

Dogs can’t talk.

And maybe that’s a blessing, because dogs also live in the moment. Sue has already put whatever happened behind her.

Tonight Jay, our matchmaker, and Logan, our medical coordinator, have taken Sue home with them. Tomorrow she goes back to the veterinarian for another examination and fresh bloodwork. We’ll see whether her anemia is beginning to improve and whether she might need a blood transfusion.

Only time will tell.

But whatever Sue needs, we will give it to her.

Somewhere along the way, someone gave up on this little dog.

We won’t.

This summer we’ve been saying Yes We Can.

For Sue, tonight that means something very simple:

Yes, we can give her another chance.

And on a much happier note…

Sandy had her babies! 🐩❤️

She took her own sweet time about it, too.

Makayla was up every two hours checking on her throughout the night.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Nothing.

Until about 1:30 this afternoon.

Fortunately, our very best whelper, Kelsey, was here, on duty and ready to help. One of those puppies was extremely large—Sandy’s boyfriend was apparently a pretty big boy—but Kelsey has lots of experience helping bring puppies safely into this world.

By 5:00, they were done.

Five beautiful babies.

Four boys.

One girl.

Five brand-new little lives.

The first few days with any newborn litter are always touch and go, so say a little prayer for Sandy and her babies tonight.

We’ll keep you updated.

Maybe that’s the Poodle Farm in a nutshell.

Today we worried about a life we’re trying desperately to rebuild.

And today we watched five new ones begin. We bring them here. We meet them wherever they are and at whatever stage of life they are in and we do our best to make it better. We do it because you’ve got our back.

Yes We Can. ❤️