Dogs XL Rescue is an All volunteer non-profit Rescue. We depend on YOUR GENEROSITY to help us do what we do best, which is SAVING LIVES!
We strive to meet the needs of each of our dogs that we have pulled to safety whether it involves veterinary bills, training/behavioral specialists or boarding. Occasionally, one dog can have extensive funding needs costing hundreds to thousands of dollars while they are in our care. We are able to meet their needs only because of people like YOU!
Let's just say that the camera does add ten pounds! Sweet Cadbury arrived yesterday in Baltimore barely able to stand. His muscle mass is nonexistent.
Today he took his last road trip for a little while to head to VA to our adoption event in Tysons Corner to get to his foster home nearby. With many small meals in his delicate tummy he was standing and actually walked around a little at the event for a few minutes and then headed for a cushy soft bed in his fosters home.
A big vat of rice, chicken and wet dog food was made to be used for a few days to slowly introduce food into his system.
He had trouble standing to eat and his hind feet actually tottered off the ground due to his hindend being so underweight and weak!!!!!
Tonight he made it on a two house walk.... Ya gotta start somewhere, right???
What we do know is that he is tired, very tired. Oh but he is sweet, gentle, and really, really tried to wag when he met the fosters dogs and kids.
He is happily and comfortably sleeping right now. Hope his dreams are of his great home that will come when he is ready!
It's always hard to look at these pictures. Your mind can go so many places with the "what happened to him", "who did this to him", "how much has he suffered". Its all just so heartbreaking.
We want to tell you about Cadbury and then focus on the positive. Cadbury is on his way to us RIGHT NOW and we need your help to make it happen!
Meet Cadbury, the beautiful, sweet, soon to be, LARGE chocolate lab. Cadbury found himself in a high-kill shelter about 60 pounds underweight and in fates hands. He has had a run-in that has torn one of his ears and needs emergency dental work for teeth that have not survived the malnutrition he has faced. This is what we need your help with. These bills are about $800.
Typically, shelters are too full, with not enough resources or time to help a dog like Cadbury out of his situation. So here we go on the great and positive events that are happening here...
Cadbury, at some point had someone in his life,...maybe a previous owner or a good Samaritan that had him neutered (AMAZING!). He was tested at the shelter yesterday and miraculously, he is heartworm negative! In the shape he is in, he passed his state health inspection to be able to come to Dogs XL Rescue in order to get to the next phase of his life. A foster home is set up and ready to give him love, attention, and LOTS OF YUMMY FOOD.
In order for dogs like Cadbury to be saved, a line of devoted people have to come together perfectly, or that life is lost. The amazing list begins with the person that pulled him from his horrible situation of near death and starvation and the shelter staff that chose to help him by putting their necks on the line to reach out to a rescue vs euthanizing him due to his condition. Too often, this is an unsuccessful feat due to the pure numbers of dogs needing help.
From there, there is a multiple car/person of transport of volunteers that are coordinated to drive Cadbury to the Baltimore area to Dogs XL Rescue. This is happening as your read this! Once with he is with us (and believe, me, this is just taking a glimpse of tip of the iceberg on his team of volunteers working on his behalf), he will have adoption coordinators, foster home coordinators, dog adoption event coordinators, veterinarians, drivers, and a special foster family all pulling for him and working each day to make sure he is doing well and finds the best and most loving forever home.
Still staying very positive, because sometimes you just have to do this heart-wrenching work, we will be sending out pictures in the future of a beautiful, healthy, HUGE and hopefully overweight, chocolate lab, snuggling with his new found family that will cherish him and give him the life he deserves. I'm sure there will be a ball fetching and some swimming in that new life too!
WE NEED YOUR FINANCIAL HELP TO BE ABLE TO BE SUCCESSFUL WITH CADBURY. PLEASE DONATE NOW!
Shadow is very grateful to all of the donors that are going above and beyond to help him!
We have raised about $1200 together to help him start the process to recovery. Yesterday, he went to the orthopedic specialist for a pre-op evaluation and blood work. Your donations helped make this possible.
The vet recommended starting next week with his surgery procedures. He will go in next week to have the vet put him under to further evaluate his knees and to determine the best way to proceed. Hopefully, he will have one knee repaired at that time. If the vet evaluates him under anesthesia and feels a knee replacement would be better suited for full recovery, he will be scheduled for that procedure once the custom medical components are ordered and ready to go!
We are excited and optimistic knowing that everyone is pitching in to help the great baby!
Stay posted for updates!
You can meet and support Dark Shadow and Dogs XL tonight, Saturday, August 4th at
Yellow Dog Tavern
700 South Potomac Street
Baltimore, MD 21224
Our Sweet Dark Shadow Needs YOUR HELP to find a Forever home!
Dark Shadow has chronic knee cap dislocation with severe
arthritis due to neglect and lack of medical care. Dogs XL cannot do this without your
help! The cost of the surgery is estimated at $7,000.
Week after week, Dark Shadow goes to adoption events and gets lots of pets and belly rubs. He kisses, wags and is pretty much the "perfect" dog families are looking to adopt. Sadly, as soon as an adopter hears about his knees, he is left standing alone and unloved with no family taking him home. It takes a special
adopter that comes along once in a lifetime that will adopt a dog that has huge
medical bills. His only chance at a forever home is if we all chip in, piece by piece, to pay his bills. This way he can undergo a corrective surgery for his knees and be adopted out as a "normal" dog.With your help, Shadow,
this beautiful loving dog can find his forever home!
Did we tell you that Dark Shadow is an awesome HUNK OF LOVE yet? He loves KIDS, he loves DOGS, and you could
even say he loves CATS! He dreams of
running and chasing balls, hanging out with his family and having his belly
rubbed.
Unfortunately, Dark Shadow has had a rough go during his 3
years of life. Neglected, he found
himself in a HIGH kill (and we mean, very HIGH KILL) shelter in Missouri. He was heartworm positive and on death
row. Dogs XL Rescue saw this sweet boy
and has put forth their best effort to protect and care for him.
With his heartworm treatment complete, he was briefly
adopted to a family that lived in a multi-level home. Because Shadow was never in a house, let
alone a house with stairs, no one noticed that he had trouble with his hind
legs. He couldn’t maneuver up and down the stairs
due to a knee problem. The family was
unable to financially care for him so he is back with Dogs XL Rescue while we
help him through these orthopedic issues.
After a visit to a specialist, he was diagnosed with Bilateral
Subluxing Patellar Dysfunction… basically; his knee caps have been dislocated
to the side and never went back.
This is a VERY painful and debilitating condition. Fortunately, surgical intervention can
correct the problem!
Dark Shadow definitely needs knee cap realignment but it
gets more complicated if there is arthritis.
It is very possible he needs “implants” or in other terms… knee
replacements. The wonderful news is
that he will have a GREAT recovery and will be close to normal function after the
16 week recover.
Dark Shadow, our sweet boy, needs prolonged foster care,
funds to cover his surgery, and eventually a family to call his own.
Yesterday (Thursday) Dogs XL was asked to take in Tiny, a pretty brindle mastiff mix. We were told she was about 5 years old and 175 lbs and she needed OUT of a bad bad situation.
She has been living in a home with over 20 animals and the "caretaker" has been unable to care for the all animals. We agreed to rescue her with the partnership of a local South Carolina rescue Tiny was sent to a local vet for medical attention.
During preparations for her spay surgery, it became quite clear that Tiny was suffering from pyometra. This is a uterine infection in unspayed female dogs. The uterus swells in size much larger than normal, the uterine walls thicken, and becomes filled with puss. It is painful and it requires a removal of the uterus...a major surgery.
The surgery is estimated to be over $1000 plus vet boarding and other charges. Dogs XL is partnering with a local South Carolina rescue and has agreed to pay half of the costs.
We need your help to raise the money to ensure Tiny gets the surgery she needs! Please click on the below link here to donate to Tiny below link here to donate Tiny.
Cain was his name. Starving and on a chain, no way to get food, he was at the mercy of his owner. Neighbors did what they could by throwing him food and sneaking him a little house to sleep in when it was pouring rain. Very unfortunate for Cain, he was in a county that had always turned the other cheek to animal abuse and neglect. He was dying a slow painful death.
Here is a video of him eating dirt to survive: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vvV5syLt6U
Casey
Lattimer of the Delta Humane Society of Louisiana decided to fight for him! Hounding law enforcement she was able to get the only judge in the county to concede to see Bones as more than just property. Bones was the first dog in this area of Louisiana to be seized from from an abusive owner. He was only 20 lbs when they took him from his abuser.
Bones' journey to recovery started that day! The vet in the area took him in and determined that he had significant heartworm disease and feeding him at this point had to be delicate. The staff was enamored by him and lovingly named him "BONES". A long term foster home later... well, this picture says it all. All 65 healthy pounds of him! He is doing awesome and is headed our way on a long journey May 20th. He is ready to know what love really is and how life is not what he was subjected to all that time.
A little side note: The original owner of Bones ran for a local political seat believe it or not! He was arraigned and plead guilty. He was charged with $300 in fines, 60 day sentence in jail (now suspended) and was to pay Bone's medical bills. This story made local news in Louisiana. http://myarklamiss.com/fulltext/?nxd_id=108297
Hopefully, his story helps many more animals and brings awareness to other situations that are similar to his. Too many are not able to be saved from this kind of life.
BONES WELCOME TO THE GOOD LIFE!
Even if you don’t haveroom in your home for him, you can help! Donate to Dark Shadows Chip in. You can help save his life, relieve his pain and get him one stepfurther to his forever home!
This beautiful Great Dane is the reason for this story.
Destiny, prepped for surgery
On March 5th, Destiny underwent emergency surgery to save her life. A few days prior to this picture, her owner, that was to be her protector, caregiver and family, hit her with his car. We do not know the circumstances with the accident. We do know that she was left suffering for days without veterinary care. On March 5th, she was dumped at the shelter to die alone. Quickly, the shelter team reached out to Where Hope Lives Humane Society. She was sent to a local vet for emergency surgery. The above picture is Destiny moments before she could fight no longer and lost her life. To the surgical teams surprise, they discovered that she was pregnant! The team quickly performed an emergency C-Section to find 6 premature orphaned pups, now, fighting for their lives.
Part Two: Against All Odds
Six Premature Orphaned Pups. With no mother, no milk, and little chance of survival, sadness and shock overwhelmed all of the people involved. They acted quickly. A temporary local foster was used to care for them for a few days until they found a rescue to take the pups. For a rescue, this is a VERY risky undertaking. Emotions, transporting infant pups, premature lungs and development, deadly infections, expensive medical care, socialization of pups without a mom.... so many things stacked against any rescue who takes them on. Well....
Bottle feeding the pups on the drive North to VA.
A few days after their birth, two volunteers from Dogs XL Rescue, Michelle Friedman and Anne Wuhrer, got up at the crack of dawn to do the round trip to get the puppies from SC. After a lot of caffeine, baby bottles, exposure to a Cracker Barrel, a reckless driving ticket later, 4 puppies (all 1 lb of them) were safely with them. Two pups were adopted locally despite our efforts to keep them together as a litter. Bottle feeding the entire way with the pups in a little crate, they made the trek (driving slower, of course) back home.
The first of the pups, earned her nickname on the way home. Beyonce, was given her honorary name with good reason as you can see here in this video. The radio was no longer needed.
Determined, but cautious, the pups went to Anne's house for a two week stint with the goal of survival. Vets were not optimistic for these little babies given the circumstances. Bottle feeding every 2-3 hours around the clock was exhausting, the bathroom became a neonatal ward at 90 degrees! Thanks to Big Bad Woof and Stella and Chewy's, a generous supply of raw goats milk (and later food) was donated for the 10-12 feedings a day.
Baby Scrappy
After one week, one of the pups became very ill. An ER visit resulted in pessimistic news about his survival. There was no treatment to help at the vets office. The next two days, Scrappy spent endless hours on home IV's, being force fed and being held 23 hours a day to keep him warm and breathing. This is when we knew someone/thing bigger than Dogs XL was looking after these babies! Scrappy (aka Yoda) earned his name those two days when he fought for his little life and pulled through miraculously.
Part Three: Getting Excited and Hopeful!
Too much milk... burb!
With weights increasing and health improving, the pups (now a whopping 3 lbs each!) were moved to another foster to transition to food, learning to walk and eventually reek havoc. Jennifer Fruhling took on the world when she took in these guys. Imagine puppies growing at about a half pound a day! That's a lot of Puppy! (and a lot of poop) Working on manners and socialization and, oh yea, eventually, figuring out escape tactics, these pups have been a delightful, HUGE amount of work. Over time, each one has developed his or her own personality and are just little (soon to be very big) love bugs. Recently, they have learned how to escape their pen and make a break for the doggy door.
Part Four:
Preparation for Loving, Forever Homes
These wonderful
pups, deserve the best homes that Dogs XL Rescue can find for them. They will need people
that love big... I mean, BIG dogs. This is the best place to point out...well, we don't know who the baby's daddy is! Today, they are about 8 1/2 weeks and weighing in at about 16 lbs each! If you are interested in adopting, please go to www.dogsxlrescue.org/adopt
So without further adu, Dogs XL Rescue is extremely proud to
introduce the most resilient, life-loving, delicious pups in the world!
The Great Dane Star Wars Pups.
(just cuz they took on the universe and won!)
Princess Leia
Leia is friendly and not scared to get the attention she
rightly deserves. Kinda the leader of
the pack, she is smart and intuitive.
She will do great with training and consistency… and lots of love of course!
Leia is a very friendly, outgoing puppy who can be a little
bossy at times, but who doesn't have a sibling like that? She is not afraid of anything, which is awesome. She would thrive in a home that has a confident dog to show her the ropes as well and help her with training courses
(as will all of the puppies) so she is a happy and confident leader.
"Scrappy" Yoda
Scrappy has worked hard earning his nick-name. He fought for his life and won. He is now one of the biggest and heartiest of this motley crew. He is a very outgoing puppy with
a love for life always exploring his world.
He plays nicely with dogs big and small, old and young. A bit of a character, in deed! He has fun, fun, fun and may be
trying to make up for lost time!
R2D2
Well (sigh with a smile), this sweet pup is a special boy. R2D2 is very quiet with a gentle soul. LOVES to be held. R2 is sometimes the “follower” in the group. He likes to hang back, check the situation
out before he dives in. He plays it
safe typically and isn’t a real attention hog.
R2 has a thing for the quiet, calmer life…minimal adventure right
now. A great owner for R2D2 would be
one who has patience and a quiet home, but will spend the time allowing him to
get used to new things in a positive manner.
Such a sweetheart!
Queen Padme
(aka beyonce)
Honestly, she knows herself only as Beyonce or just "B" for short. She is quite the rockstar these days. Beyonce/Padme is easy going and full of love. She is tolerant of everyone and has a great personality. Unlike the other pups, she's a wee bit "blacker" and has a little fluff to her coat. This past weekend she underwent a little test to confirm that she has a minor digestive issue that the vets are optimistic she will outgrow. She needs a little extra help eating, but loves the individual attention. Spoiled much!?
Video from their Preemie/Infant Weeks.
Video from their Toddler Weeks!
Please help us welcome these beautiful pups and thank
everyone that helped Dogs XL Rescue pull this miraculous rescue off with
(barely any) flaws. To donate to their rescue and prolonged care and preemie medical needs please here. www.dogsxlrescue.org/donate
A special thank you to all the volunteers that helped save these lives:
Destiny. What can we say... We are sorry. We are very sorry that we could not help you more. Please know that your puppies are well-cared for and we helped them fight their battle to survive. To see Destiny's original FB posting click here.
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