Her and Her Dogs

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PUPPY MILL AWARENESS – PART I

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WHERE DO PUPPIES COME FROM?  WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO DO YOUR RESEARCH PRIOR TO PURCHASING OR ADOPTING A DOG?

Puppy Mill Dog Reese

Puppy Mill Dog Reese – photo courtesy of Gillian Woods

Of course I knew puppies came from mommy dogs.  I was quite ignorant to breeders, breeding facilities, and the OVERWHELMING number of pets that were waiting in shelters and with rescue organizations, for loving, forever homes.  I grew up on a farm.  My first dog Punchie came to stay with us when my Godparents moved to Japan.  Punchie, the dog and Tiger the cat were sisters and became part of our family – no questions asked.  Other dogs that had been left behind by hunters found their way to our door and seemingly found their way back to their homes the next day while I was at school.

By the time I had convinced my husband that we should get a dog, I had done a fair bit of research and was confused by the different options for obtaining dogs;  breeding facilities (several types), brokers, pet stores and shelters or rescue organizations.

A red flag for me, was the headline on a number of sites that read WE ARE NOT A PUPPY MILL!

Long story short, we found Henry and learned so much about Puppy Mills from the founder of the wonderful rescue organization from whom we adopted him.  Thank you Kimberly of Kismutt Small Dog Rescue.

Henry was fairly young when we adopted him.  Henry had been surrendered by the owner of the mill due to medical conditions.  Sadly, another pup, suffering a similar condition was surrendered too late, and her eye had to be removed.  Other than physical illness, Henry was a happy dog – unaffected mentally, by his time at the mill.

Fast forward a year.

We decided Henry needed a brother or sister.  Although not a pro by any means, a year with Henry had taught me how to be a dog parent.  We learned of Reese, another mill dog in need of a home.  The rescue organization felt this little girl needed another ‘normal’ dog for reassurance and to teach her how to be a dog herself.  It still brings tears to my eyes when I recall how much Reese needed Henry, and how her big, younger brother brought her out of her shell and did indeed teach her to enjoy life.  I credit Henry with ninety percent of Reese’s rehabilitation.

To follow is Reese’s adoption profile, including a video of a terrified, former breeding, Puppy Mill dog.  Also, an update from her foster parents (thank you Matt and Erin), and a few words from the founder of the rescue organization that ‘pulled’ my dog and saved her from a bullet.

Please visit us next week for part II – what the law says.

Petfinder Adoption Profile – Joyful Rescues

Breeze Kent (now Reese)

  • Breed: Shih Tzu [Mix]
  • Sex: Female
  • Age: Young
  • Size: Small

About Me

Breeze was born about February 12, 2008 and weighs about 15 lbs. She is more frightened than some of the dogs she came in with, maybe she was beat for not getting pregnant and that is why the “miller” gave her up so young. She is learning her way around the new world she has to live in. Breeze was released from her duties; expected to produce puppies to line the pet store shelves.
It was one of the worst mills; the dogs lived on wire bottomed cages, never touching their feet to a solid surface year after year. Breeze is just now experiencing fresh air, sunshine, and most importantly – grass. All the simple pleasures we take so for granted.
We do feel she is too timid to go to a home with little, noisey, kids. A note from Breeze’s Foster Mom: “I just wanted to give you an update on Breeze. First of all, she is the sweetest little thing and I am in love with this little cutie after only 2 days!! She is VERY frightened of everything as you know. We have found that she likes to be in a corner of any room that she is in (she is comforted by this). She has a few corners that she has been going to often so we put a blanket down for when she is laying there.
We have been taking it slow with the picking up and handling of her… she is pretty fast when she wants to get away from you.
I stayed home with her all day yesterday and let her have pretty much the run of the house. she was sniffing everything and even picked up a fast trot to chase after Bentley foster parents dog) which made me happy. She has showed some interest in our dogs and even got up on her back legs to sniff at Bella when Belly was sitting on the couch. She sat on my lap for several hours all curled up and had a nice long nap wrapped up in a blanket.
She even came over to me at the end of the day yesterday when I put my hand out for her to sniff and she let me pick her up without running away..needless to say I was ver y happy about that!! We’ve been offering her treats whenever our crew gets theirs but has yet to take any from us.
I’m looking forward to the day when she realizes how good the treats taste. Last night she slept up next to me in bed and stayed curled up with me all night. I think she’s enjoying the comfy couch and bed as opposed to the hard floor or wire bottom. It took her a little while to figure out that she could walk on the blankets and lay on them. She figured out where the water and food bowls are and goes all on her own to get water although she is not eating very much. Im not sure if its because she is just not used to having good plentiful meals or if she is just too frightened to eat when we are around, but I have been offering her food often and I think with a little time this will change.. If we leave her alone with the food she will eat. She has had a few accidents but nothing major and has been going outside. We will continue to work on this while the little angel is with us. Our major focus now is just getting her used to good human touch. We have been sitting on the floor next to her and just talk to her while we pet her.
She is extremely sensitive about us touching her front feet. Her whole body shakes pretty bad when both Matt and I touch her feet. We will continue to work on this as well.

This morning she was sitting in the kitchen with two of our dogs and I was petting her head before I left for work and she closed her eyes and laid down for a rest…it was nice to see that she was comfortable enough to do this. we are looking forward to the day when her little tail will wag and not be constantly between her legs. other than that she is just getting used to all the new sounds and smells and we even caught her staring at the TV when she was laying on the couch yesterday. We feel very lucky that we will hopefully be able to make a difference in her life!!! Matt and I will keep you posted on her progress but we wanted to let you know how the first few days have been.

Founder and Director of Joyful Rescues, Joye Turock has the following to say about Puppy Mills and Mill Dogs:

There are still humans that don’t know what a puppy mill is.  They don’t know how it works, they don’t know how badly the dogs are mistreated and what happens to the dogs once they are no longer capable of producing inventory for pet store shelves.

We recently had someone adopt a puppy mill dog from us.  The dog was maybe half as frightened as others we have rescued.  Even though we took the time to prepare her and provide helpful advice for adjusting the dog, she returned him the next morning saying she had no idea how damaged he was, and that she was unprepared.

Humans can help by not buying from pet stores, no matter how vehemently store owner deny the fact, the dogs being sold as a product in pet shops are from Puppy Mills.  No credible, caring, breeder places their dogs in pet stores.

There are many Puppy Mills that sell online – they show everything the consumer wants to believe is true.

Consumer.  Isn’t that an awful word when you are talking about the purchase of a living being?

Behind closed barn doors, there is pain, suffering, death, and tragedy.  Adult dogs are left behind, in the cages, their babies ripped away from them.  The baby pups are barely old enough (by law) to be sold.  Hence so many health conditions.

Humans that are outraged by this treatment of our domestic animals need to get involved by contacting their government representatives and work to help change the laws that currently protect the owners of such facilities.  Right now, these operations (this treatment) is completely legal in the USA, shame on us!

Please visit us next week.  We will review the KENNEL LICENCING BY-LAW provided by THE CORPORATION OF THE TOWN OF GEORGINA.

Thank you Joye and the team at Joyful Rescues for all you do for the animals. Eternally grateful for Reese

http://joyfulrescues.com/index.html

http://www.kismutt.com/home.html

Post Photo of Reese courtesy of Gillian Woods

https://www.flickr.com/photos/gillyface/

I was invited to participate in a ‘Puppy Mill Blog Hop’  for Puppy Mill Action Week.  I’m thrilled to be involved in this wonderful project.  Thank you, Dolly theDoxie.  Please visit the other blogs to learn more about this cause and how together we can make a difference.

PMP_Preliminary Ideas

 

 

 

www.ThePuppyMillProject.org

www.Facebook.com/ThePuppyMillProject

www.Twitter.com/PuppyMillProj

www.Pinterest.com/TPMP

www.YouTube.com/ThePuppyMillProject

 

PuppyMillActionWeek

Comments

  2. Excellent post, thanks for sharing Reese’s story. Poor little dog, she’s been through a lot but I’m so glad she’s found a loving home and big brother like Henry! I was completely ignorant myself 6 years ago until I started volunteering at an animal shelter. Puppy Mills need to be stamped out!
    Love & Biscuits,
    Dogs Luv Us and We Luv Them
    Cathy armato recently posted…BLACK & WHITE SUNDAY: A Cowboy & His DogMy Profile

    Reply

    • Thank you Cathy. Reese has come such a long way – I’m very proud of both Henry and Reese. One day soon – hopefully (Puppy Mills will be stamped out).

      Reply

    • Thank you Ashlee! Hopefully by covering these topics more people will learn what to look for.

      Reply

    • It is heartbreaking isn’t it? I saw a PM dog that had finally been retired after EIGHT YEARS behind bars. I bawled my eyes out at the realization that she could have been Henry’s mom and the whole time I’ve had him, she has been locked away in a cage. *sigh* It needs to end!!!

      Reply

  5. What a wonderful story. It is so important to share the messages about Puppy Mills and Pet Stores. I was blissfully ignorant of the horrors until we started researching for our TV doc series a few years ago. I guess I just assumed “purebred” Pet Store Puppies came from good breeders. Now I know the truth I am sickened by many of the cases of abuse and inspired by stories like yours. We actually posted about them this week again too as two survivor spokes dog pals needed some support in their efforts to spread awareness (Harley and Teddy).

    Reply

  7. Thank you for spreading the word about puppy mills. This is a much bigger problem than people realize. It is so hard to hear all of the stories of the dogs and what they have been through. The living conditions aren’t even close to appropriate. These aren’t run by naive people, but by people to whom profit is more important than life. “Psychopaths” might be a better term.
    Robin recently posted…Cats & Vintage Trade CardsMy Profile

    Reply

    • Absolutely! If people stop purchasing puppies from pet stores and mills, the mills will cease to exist! It starts (and ends) with us!

      Reply

  10. What a story! It’s so heartbreaking to think of all of the dogs that have similar backgrounds to Reese. Thank you of adopting her and giving her the loving home she deserves. And thank you for helping to raise awareness.

    Reply

    • I feel like I’m the lucky one – to have been given the opportunity to learn from Reese, and to love and cherish her.

      Reply

    • Thanks Faith. I’m glad to hear so many people are working with PM dogs – they deserve to live a good life!

      Reply

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