August 30, 2006 - If you regularly check out our list of dogs available for adoption you know how full we are right now. We only have seven kennel runs so there is a limit to the number of dogs we can easily accommodate.  Fortunately, five of our runs are oversized, so by picking compatible dogs and moving in an extra dog house, we can squeeze in a few more dogs.  We can also handle a limited number of dogs in our "sick bay" quarters in the house.  And when we set up a couple of crates in the living room, we can add two more.  We have done all of this in order to try to soak up the flood of Dobermans showing up at shelters in our area.  We are the last resort for the shelters when they are running full. If we can't take their Dobermans when time is up, the dogs are put to sleep.  So we are stretching our rescue to do everything we can in hopes that adoptions will pick up as they generally do in the fall when families are home from vacation and the kids are back to school. With that as a backdrop, I'll explain what happened to us in the last week.

On Monday, August 21, 2006, we received a phone call from an all-breed rescue volunteer who covers the Greenville, Texas, animal shelter.  Greenville is about an hour east of Dallas.  The volunteer offered to transport a small blue Doberman puppy to us if we could take him.  At 11:00 p.m. that Monday night, Harry Potter arrived at Doberhof.  He was tiny.  His ribs were sticking out.  His belly was distended indicating he desperately needed worming.  And he was hungry. 

We brought Harry Potter into the house and helped him get settled in.  He made friends with Vince, one of our young rescues.  And at first he ate and drank well.  But on Wednesday we became concerned.  He stopped drinking and developed a high fever (104.2).  We started giving him electrolytes and medication to control his fever, combat any infection, and help him feel better.  On Thursday morning he awoke with only a slight fever and ate a hearty breakfast.  Thursday evening, he was a little more subdued.  On Friday morning, he barely touched his breakfast.  On Friday evening, around 8:30, he began to vomit and become dehydrated.  We knew we had a very sick puppy on our hands, one we weren't equipped to care for.

In the meantime, we were contacted by Ginger from Fort Worth Animal Control late in the day on Thursday.  Shortly before 5:00 p.m. a citizen had dropped off a sick Doberman puppy, possibly suffering from Parvo, at the shelter. Ginger was desperate for the puppy to get to a vet. We were able to respond within minutes and by 5:30 had picked up the sick puppy and were transporting her to Eastern Hills Animal Hospital, one of our rescue vets.  The puppy was a small black and tan female, maybe eight weeks old.  She was feverish and lethargic.  But she responded to caresses and kind words, her tiny little eyes looking up forlornly. She rode to the hospital in Bruce's lap, arriving before they closed, and was whisked back into intensive care.  We were completely shattered when we checked on her on Friday morning and learned she had died during the night despite the efforts of the team at the hospital. Bless her tiny heart.

So on Friday night, when Harry Potter started fading, we were beside ourselves.  As Julie later said, "How could anyone have looked into that little face and said, 'Sorry, we're going to let you go.'"  We felt we owed it to Harry, and to the memory of the tiny girl who had slipped away the night before, to do everything we could.  Julie and Angie wrapped Harry up in a blanket and raced into the dark to the Airport Freeway Emergency Clinic in Euless.

We called every few hours to see how he was doing.  Harry was deathly ill. While he didn't have Parvo, nor symptoms that supported the diagnosis of Distemper, he was suffering from infections that were taking his life. In the early hours of Monday morning, almost a week after he had entered our lives, the vets at the emergency clinic were afraid they were losing him. In a last attempt to save his little life, they transfused plasma from an adult dog, one who hopefully had some kind of antibodies that could in some way combat the infection that was stealing his life away.  He was still just barely alive on Monday morning when we picked him up and drove him to Eastern Hills.

On Monday afternoon, when Julie visited him, Harry was hanging on. On Tuesday, he drank some water. On Wednesday, he barked.

I am writing this on Wednesday evening.  Harry is not out of danger.  It could be another week or two before we know for sure that he does not have Distemper.  He appears to be headed for recovery, but we can't be sure. So about that special appeal. Please say a prayer for the little girl we lost last week.  She deserved to play in the grass, to chew a bone and snuggle in bed with someone who loved her. She never had that chance. And then, please say a payer for Harry.  His little life hangs in the balance. And finally, some will criticize us for spending so much on one little dog.  We watch our pennies carefully, we try to spend wisely.  Our treasurer is beside herself.  But we could not do otherwise.  We can't save them all, but each life is worth everything we can give them. The bill from the emergency clinic was over $2,000.  We do not yet know what we owe Eastern Hills.  If you can help us pay these bills, we would be very grateful.  And even if you can't help out financially, your kind thoughts for Harry and the little girl are appreciated. Oh, and if you know anyone who is toying with the idea of getting a dog, please suggest they look at the gang we have available for adoption. We have some really nice animals.

If you would care to mail in a donation, click here for our mailing address.

August 31, 2006 - Julie visited Harry at the vet this morning on her way to school.  She was dropping off other dogs for their spays and neuters.  Harry was really glad to see her, licking her fingers and nose through the bars on his door.  He still has problems with bloody loose stool, but his spirits are improving.  Yippee!

September 1, 2006 - Harry was doing well enough to come home tonight.  He is skin and bones. He likes to eat chicken and not much else. We have him isolated in our bathroom with his own little bed. He is very weak and still sick.

September 3, 2006 - Harry held his own today.  What had been very liquid BM's came a little under control.  He just adores his boiled chicken breast pieces. As you can see he is horribly thin.

September 10, 2006 - Wonderful news.  Harry Potter is recovering.  He is putting on weight, running, and playing like a normal puppy.  Our sincere thanks to everyone who has contributed.  Your generosity has us only a few hundred dollars short of covering the expenses of his vet care. Harry is a remarkable little guy. He loves being around the big dogs and playing outside. He is mostly housebroken as long as we remember to put him out every couple of hours. This is a great little dog.