Changing providers

Hey, I'll be offline for a week as I change internet providers so see you later!

More puppy photos to enjoy:

Mad Max & Buddy

Mad Max & J

Mad Max

Princess the Kelpie pup greeting E

Prince and Princess with J

Prince and Princess with the family

Catch you later!

Sweet Stella

Stella is now in foster care, a pound rescue who was left in one of the outside cages with a note saying not good with other dogs and children. We decided to rescue her and test her and if she was not suitable for re-homing would have been prepared to put her down.  Thankfully this won't be necessary. She came up in the same transport as Arti last weekend but fortunately had been vaccinated the week before travelling so is expected to be protected from Parvo and is showing no signs of illness.

She's estimated to be 18 months to 2 yrs old and is possibly a Lab cross German Short-haired Pointer with the looks and characteristics of both breeds.

She just loves playing with balls! She will even play ball alongside another ball loving dog without any altercations regarding ball ownership :-). In fact she walks well past other dogs on her daily walks as well. She met Katherine's four Labs today and was a little overwhelmed but showed no aggression, once greetings were over she preferred playing with a ball than socialising with the other dogs. 

She's been tested with a 7 yr old child and just showed signs of frustration when being teased but soon settled as the child was managed to help reduce the dogs frustration levels. She then really loved playing with the child and vice versa. It is as important to manage children's behaviour around dogs as to manage dogs around children. Children need to be taught how to treat dogs well. Always supervise dogs and children together!

Stella has been offered to a lovely home on our waiting list.

Indoor Swimming Pool

Well our place smells like we have an indoor swimming pool. We've been disinfecting all the surfaces we can with a chlorine bleach solution (1 part bleach to 5 parts water) as recommended by our vet.

A little sad that we're unlikely to be able to foster baby pups for Lab Rescue for up to a year now that we've had the Parvo virus on our property.

Our vets have assured us our dogs are fully vaccinated but I am still worried and probably won't relax until the incubation period has passed.

Here are some happy puppy memories:

Another Vale for Arti

A touching farewell from another friend of Arti who is also caring for a rescue fighting Parvo

I am really sorry Arti.  You were a beautiful boy.  I wished I'd given you some more cuddles and not rushed you both in so quickly to get on the road.

You were such a sweet boy - happy, exuberant but not over the top - just the perfect blend of a loving family dog - anyone could easily fall in love with you.  The world will be poorer without you - I hope you are safe and well now.   You will be missed.

I'm so sorry Linda, Katherine and Mary - he was a beautiful dog.  Nothing I can say will make it any better or the pain go away - just know I am sad for him too - so wrong and such a waste of a beautiful dog.  Curse on his former owners.

Please cross your fingers for my girl Amelia - she is still on the drip fighting.  Hugs to you all.

Hugs for Amelia, keep fighting little one.

Vale Arti

Very sad to share that Arti succumbed to Parvo an hour ago. He seemed well yesterday afternoon on arrival but overnight he started to throw up and then refused breakfast, wouldn't drink any water and just kept hiding in a corner of the garden looking miserable. We booked him for a morning appointment at my local vet, observing his first bout of bloody diarrhoea just before leaving. He grew worse during the appointment, had a fever of 41 and tested positive for Parvo. We decided to try to give him a chance to live. He was put on a drip to keep him hydrated. His blood count and protein levels were normal but his blood sugar was very low 1.7 (normally about 3.5) so he was put on a glucose drip and started on antibiotics. The afternoon update phone call was encouraging, he had eaten a little during the afternoon. We were hoping for a better update phone call at 8pm. Alas, he had deteriorated to the point where blood sugar level was zero, his gums were pale and he was unresponsive. I decided to go down to see him before making the heart wrenching decision of whether to let him go or keep trying by transferring him to emergency.
Arti really looked much worse than I was expecting, totally unresponsive, and the vet checked and confirmed that he was indeed gone.

Arti I will remember you wanting to play with our big coward Gus last night, and Gus hiding under the dining room table while you paced around waiting for him to come out again :-).
I remember introducing you to the cat, her growling at you and you deciding to growl at her!
Thank you for the hugs you gave us, they were the best loving puppy hugs!
Thanks for helping me in the kitchen last night :-).
Arti we thought you were a gorgeous natured little boy with a beautiful life ahead of you.
I hope you're enjoying rainbow bridge free of the pain and distress you went through today.
Forgive us.

Artie - the new boy

Bye Jet...

I took Jet to meet his new volunteer foster mum yesterday, a home with no cat! Such a relief for our cat who finally came out of 'her' wing of the house last night after a week of hiding, LOL. Here's a good bye shot of Jet with my daughter E who wanted to adopt him!

Hello Artie...

A volunteer rescuer has had a very long day driving from Canberra to Wagga to Goulburn and back to Canberra today. Thankfully she was able to bring two Labs from Wagga pound for us. I picked up Artie and another Lab Rescue volunteer picked up the black girl now called Angie.

We were expecting a 3 yr old but I think he looks and acts like a baby, isn't he a cutie!  His dangly bits are pretty small too which confirms my suspicions - Katherine made me do it ;-) LOL. We'll see what the vet thinks when he goes in for his vetwork. Poor little mite appears to be suffering from Kennel Cough.

Typical of all our Lab fosters - he lay down in the kitchen to keep me company while I cooked dinner. Gotta love 'em.

Artie - trying to avoid the annoying paparazzi! He kept looking away as soon as he saw the camera coming - I think he learnt his lesson after the first blinding flash! 

Artie had a practice run in the crate during dinner and Dr Who. He was quiet as a lamb and very settled.  This photo shows him tucking himself into the crate later of his own accord (the door is open). Hoping for a peaceful sleep tonight :-).

We have him here for just one night, tomorrow he moves to another available volunteer foster carer with two fun dogs to play with!

Our poor old cat is in a very bad mood again, LOL!!!

Archie's Happy New Family

We received a lovely update from Archie's new home today, yay!

Me and my partner D rescued Archie around a month ago and I wanted to email and let you know how he is going. We have another labrador named Angus who is around 18 months and he thought it was Christmas when we bought Archie home. I don't think they have stopped playing with each other yet! Archie has become a part of our little family and it feels like he has always been with us. He still has a little trouble with male strangers because of him being abused in the past but he gets better everyday and we hope in the future he will be less timid around strangers.

We are so incredibly happy that we got to rescue Archie, he is so loved by us and by Angus and we are lucky to have him in our lives. We want to thank you for rescuing him and giving him to us!

M, D, Angus & Archie

Awesome news, thank you!

Belle looks happy!

Before coming to Lab Rescue, Belle had been bought as a birthday present for a 90 yr old family member. It soon became apparent that this was not the best situation for Belle or her new dad so the family sought our help to find her a wonderful new home.

She was picked up by her new family on Saturday and we're thrilled to see how well she has settled in and how loved she is already :-).

Belle is absolutely wonderful and almost immediately settled in so well with the entire family and has a truly beautiful nature. We are all looking forward to growing old together.  Attached are some photos of her with our daughter E and her new pal Rosie, you are welcome to use as many as you require.

We can assure you there will be no trial period or refund required, we love her to bits already.

 

What a lovely new start for Belle!

Jarvin - the failed working dog

How gorgeous is Jarvin!

Fourteen month old Jarvin didn't pass his last test so is looking for a lovely new home!

Now being offered to suitable homes on our waiting list :-).

Joey is back

Joey's trial hasn't worked out so he's back in foster care in Sydney, just more active than his new family were expecting. Here are some photos of his few days with me.

Lessons at the white board with J

Playing ball with J, he could play this all day!

Joey resting in the loungeroom after a busy day with J :-)

Now being offered to suitable homes on our waiting list :-)

Jolly Jet is with me!

9 year old Jet has been in foster care for two days. I received a call from his foster carer tonight asking if we could take Jet urgently as her dog had injured his leg and needed to recuperate. No problems, and half an hour later he was dropped off to me with his blanket, lead and car harness.

He was very excited on arrival and explored the house and garden with waggy tail and big grin. I think of him as Jolly Jet now as he is so happy and friendly.

He's in lovely condition and quite a tall long legged boy.

After dinner he was finally able to relax near me at the computer.

Such a kissable face!!!

We were warned he was food focussed. He certainly surfs the benches checking to see what's in reach!  Here he is hoping for some of my daughter's dinner, he behaved very well though :-).

We were also warned that he hates cats in the profile provided by his previous owner. We had him on lead and brought our 10 yr old cat into the room and he was very excited and whiney and pulled hard on the lead to try to reach her. He was fixated on the door after she scooted off to safety. He didn't look aggressive just very keen to play but we'll play it safe and just have short controlled times together until he can go to another foster carer without a cat.

Well I've set up his bed in a crate with his blanket and guess who has taken a liking to it !!!  We've done a little training with treats to go into the crate and lie down with the command 'Bed' so I'm hoping he'll use it when we go to bed.

Good night