Golden Bond Rescue of Oregon

How You Can Help These Puppies

How are they doing?

Golden Bond Rescue has kept in close contact with the families who are fostering to adopt the Parvo Puppies.  None of the dogs have been officially adopted, and won't be until they have been neutered/spayed and have had all their vaccinations.  Once all of that has been done, the families will have the first option to adopt - we suspect that all will be adopted at the first possible moment!  We asked the puppies' foster-to-adopt families to share with us how their dogs are doing, so we can pass the information along to you.  Here are their stories:

Lady (#2188), now called Bella, has adjusted very well to Betty (the resident Lab) and the cat. Her appetite has improved and she is gaining weight. She knows the commands "sit" and "stay," and she is still working on understanding "no."  She has made friends with all of the neighbors' dogs and is a dedicated squirrel hunter.  She even thinks she can climb the large pine tree to get her prey. Bella is very loving and sweet, and wants to stay in eyesight of us. She turns around and looks to make sure we are stiill there. She had her first beauty appointment with a groomer and was a very good girl, and received a treat from groomer. She has completed our family. The dogs play with each other all day long, nap together and eat together. We are very happy with the placement of Bella and are truly grateful to Golden Bond Rescue for our new "child".

Tiger (#2188), now called Bailey, spends his days at Gabriel Park Vet Clinic with his new foster-to-adopt mom,  Vet Libbi Hawkins. He gets to be up at the front desk where he sees everyone, including the two office cats (who seem to be spending more time on top of the desk these days). The big task everyone is focusing on these days is potty-training. He likes going outside to see what happening in the world. He definitely prefers grass over cedar chips; however, there is just so much to do and see outside that he quite often forgets why he’s there, and doesn’t remember until he’s back inside, OOPS!  But, there are successes too, for 13 weeks old, that’s not too bad.  He’s thriving and is the darling of everyone who meets him.

George (#2189) has almost doubled in weight since his first vet visit a few weeks ago. Although Gracie (#2191) has been passed up in size by her brother, she is continuing to gain weight. Gracie and George are both still considered underweight for the age due to their rough start in life and having parvo.They are doing very well and spend their days wrestling, digging, playing in and around the creek, chewing, and sleeping together ~ just being puppies. Gracie put her nose where it didn't belong and got stung on the eye by a yellow jacket, so it is a little swollen.

How You Can Help!

Golden Bond Rescue was contacted by Dr Gayln Snair of Cinder Rock Veterinary Clinic in Redmond regarding a one year old female Golden, Lady, and her litter of eight, 8-week old, puppies that had been brought into the clinic to be euthanized – they all had Parvovirus and were in dire straits. The owners admitted that they had never had Lady vaccinated for any of the preventable canine diseases or even seen by a Vet since Lady was 8 months old (which is when she welped). In addition, GBR discovered that a ninth puppy, who had been adopted by a third party prior to the puppies showing symptoms, was being treated in another clinic, and those owners had already spent over $2,000 trying to save their pup.

Because GBR has worked with Cinder Rock, Dr. Snair was wondering if GBR could take ownership of the dogs.Taking ownership included: not only trying to find foster homes to care for the surviving dogs; but also paying for the special care each dog would require (before contacting GBR, Dr. Snair and her staff had already begun treatment). Four of the puppies didn’t make it past the first three days of treatment and volunteers at GBR began to fear that there would be no survivors. Miraculously after two weeks of intense treatment,

Lady and three puppies (two boys and one girl) pulled through. A fourth puppy (a girl) had severe burns on her abdomen and required emergency surgery. At the time of the writing of this article, the fourth puppy (they call her Molly) was still in intensive care. If she survives, Dr. Snair will probably keep her as her own dog, as she’s gotten quite attached to the little girl.

Lady and her three puppies (now named Gracie, George and Tiger) must be kept isolated from other dogs for another three weeks for although they are no longer in danger, they will continue to shed the live virus in their feces for 2-3 weeks. Additionally, the puppies must not be exposed to other dogs until they have received their complete series of vaccinations. Although they will never get Parvo again, their immune systems have been weakened and are in a tender state. Lady and the puppies are being fostered by an adoption applicant who came to GBR looking to adopt one dog - little did she know that GBR would ask her to take on four puppies (after all Lady is only one).

How can YOU help Lady and her puppies? We need your financial help. Cinder Rock’s care, which included giving each dog plasma and blood transfusions, antibiotics, catheters, etc, as well as 24-hour care in their ward, cost close to $20,000. They graciously cut that bill down to $10,000 – that’s about $3,333 per dog.

We know times are lean for everyone and we would never ask any of our volunteers, adopters, or supporters to “give ‘til it hurts,”but if you can spare $5, $10, $100 or whatever amount to help pay for not only the dogs’ past care but also their future care, e.g. vaccinations and spay/neutering, GBR would be grateful.You may send your donations to our mailing address:

Golden Bond Rescue, P.O. Box 25391, Portland, OR 97298-0391, OR Donate Now.

A WORD OR TWO ABOUT PARVOVIRUS:

 Veterinarians, shelters, and National Humane Societies have reported they are beginning to see a rise in the number of canine Parvo cases, not just in young dogs but also adults through seniors. Due to either economic reasons or complacency, many owners have stopped getting their dogs vaccinated and the dogs are suffering the consequences. Golden Bond Rescue urges you to contact your dog’s vet to inquire if your dog(s) is current on its distemper/parvo and rabies vaccinations. Read more about Parvovirus ...