The Rescue Chronicles

Hey guys!

A few weeks ago our former foster Sandy celebrated her 6 Year Adoption Anniversary! 😁 She is doing great and as spoiled as ever!

When we brought Sandy home, we worried she might be with us for quite a while considering how scared she was of...well, basucally everything. But instead she was only with us for about a week and a half, and to be honest the only reason things worked out the way that they did was our amazing canine manager at the time, Courtney. She already had a family in mind for little Sandy, one that she believed wouldn't bat an eye at all of her scaredy cat tendencies and trauma quirks. And she was right!

Courtney took Sandy for a Meet & Greet at the perspective adopters house so her potential new family could see EXACTLY how she would be starting off in a new home. At one point during the Meet & Greet Sandy got so spooked, she literally jumped...and peed mid air...and her family still said YES.

We will always be grateful to not only Sandy's family; for saying yes and for continuing to give us updates over the years, but also to Courtney for always working with us to make sure that our fosters were going to their perfect homes ❤️

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Mocha has a very important question for all of you - Does anyone have room for a couple of adorable couch crashers??

We've got one couch hippo - a 9 year old, one eyed, Staffordshire Bull Terrier named Tessa and one super mutt - a 2 year old wiggly butt named Glo; both are people, kid, and other animal friendly, and both are in serious need of a temporary place to land. Unfortunately how long they will need to crash is yet to be determined, which I know is a big ask, but after their humans lost everything they had to a house fire, and have had to live separately ever since, the family losing their dogs permanently is the last thing they want.

I know that the country as a whole is in a shelter and rescue crisis right now, and everywhere is full, and again, I know this is a BIG ask, but I have to at least try. This family has lost so much, and I don't want to see them lose even more, without at least trying to help.

If anyone has space, or has any resources I can pass along that might help, please send us a message.

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

We want to wish everyone a Happy Pride Month ❤️🧡💛💚💙💜

This is your yearly reminder that yur pets love you, unconditionally; they don't care about your pronouns, or your sexual or romantic identity or preferences, all they care about is your heart ❤️

New fosters to come...eventually Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Welcome to Part 3 - Navigating life with Mochas diagnosis ...

As dog parents we have always felt strongly about our dogs being up to date on all their vaccines, and I know it can be a controversial subject, but with Mocha that isn't a safe option, so that means it's up to us to mitigate the risks involved as much as possible.

Which brings us to why we haven't had any new fosters. Bringing any new dog into the house comes with fairly big risks for Mocha, but especially bringing in a dog who has been in a shelter or boarding type environment because of communicable diseases. Ideally, bringing a new dog in would mean quarentining them for a minimum of 2 weeks. That means keeping them completely separate from not only Mocha, but from any spaces where Mocha could be, including outside in the yard. That also means changing clothes, washing hands etc. every time after interacting with the new dog. We aren't saying that's impossible, but it's definitely challenging.

Are we being overprotective parents? Maybe. But we'd rather be safe than sorry. The reality is that although the odds of a relapse for Mocha are fairly low at this point, a relapse will always be a possibility and could literally mean life or death for her.

As much as we miss having a foster and being able to help our fosters find their perfect homes, as Mochas parents it's our responsibility to put her first. So for now, we are continuing to be foster-less.

We will eventually foster again because fostering is very important to us, and we have already talked with a couple rescues/shelters we will be working with when that time comes.

For now we're hoping that we can eventually set aside time on a regular basis to highlight dogs from local shelters and rescues so that we can at least still help in some way, but we'll see.

If you guys have any questions, we are happy to answer to the best of our ability.

*If anyone feels the need to criticize or lecture us on our decisions, save your breath, we will not be responding to negative comments or messages.

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Welcome to Part 2 - Treating IMHA & IMHA Triggers...

There is no cure for IMHA, only treatment, which often involves blood transfusions and long term high dose steroid regimins.

If a dog is able to successfully complete treatment they are considered to be in remission, but are susceptible to relapse, which is most common between 12-24 months after initial treatment is completed.

As for triggers...the immune system can be triggered by virtually anything generally apeaking, but things like vaccines, severe illness (like parvo or lepto etc), certain medications, severe allergic reactions, etc. have a higher chance of triggering a bigger immune reaction.

Often times it's recommended that once a dog has been diagnosed with IMHA, they are no longer given vaccines, as the risk of triggering an immune reaction and therefore causing an IMHA relapse outweighs the benefits of the vaccine itself.

Obviously, this puts Mocha at a much higher risk when it comes to communicable diseases (like kennel cough, giardia, etc.) so it's important to avoid settings where they have a high chance of being present, ie boarding facilities, doggy daycares, dog parks, etc. It's also important to understand that, although other dogs can be vaccinated, they can still be "silent carriers", meaning they may be completely healthy, but they could still pass things along to Mocha.

This also means carefully managing Mochas environment; no interactions with other animals, keeping her current on her preventatives, no swimming, playing, or walking through standing or stagnant water, no walking through tall grass or wooded areas, using antibacterial wipes after outings, etc.

Part 3 coming soon...

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

It seems crazy to think that it's been over a year since we've had a new foster in our home, and although putting a pause on fostering wasn't initially part of the plan, this is where we're at for now...

Immediately after adopting Mocha, we discovered that she had been diagnosed with IMHA (Immune Mediated Hemolytic Anemia) back in 2023, which was something we had no knowledge of before her adoption. At the time, we didn't fully understand what that would mean for us, and her, moving forward; we knew, after a quick search, that it was a life threatening condition, but we didn't know much more than that.

We're assuming we aren't the only ones who aren't familiar with IMHA, so we want to explain a little more in depth about what it is and how we are choosing to navigate life with Mocha because of her diagnosis.

I don't wanna make this too awfully long or no one is actually going to read it, so consider this Part 1 - Basic Info summed up...

IMHA is an autoimmune form of Hemolytic Anemia, meaning there is no known specific cause for the anemia, but rather it is caused when the body's immune system is triggered or over stimulated, and it begins attacking it's own red blood cells faster than it can replenish them.

Part 2 coming soon...(And for those who don't care for the info, you still get cute pictures of Mocha lol)

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Mocha has been an official part of our family for 1 Year and 1 month as of today! (Though she's been with us almost a year and a half.)

Happy (belated) 1 Year Adoptiversary to our sweet, anxious, smart, sassy, well mannered, spoiled, gentle, cuddly girl 💜💜

Nothing with you has been what we expected or planned but we're so happy you're a part of our family! Happy Adoptiversary Mocha 💜

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Mochas DNA results are in...

The top breed guesses we received (other than 100% good dog, which is obviously accurate) were Boxer and Staffordshire...and she is neither lol.

Mocha is...100% American Pit Bull Terrier.

It figures that we would finally do one of these DNA tests, and we'd do it on a purebred dog 😂😂😂

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾

Hey guys!

Second mini update, Mocha got her Birthday wish last month...SNOW ❄️❄️❄️❄️

Our girl is 100% a snow dog! She LOVES the snow; she bounces around, jumps in snows piles, buries her face in the snow, flops and wiggles in the snow, which is her version of a snow angel, and of course, snow zoomies.

Pretty sure if she had thumbs she would build a snowman and have a snowball fight too 🤣

New fosters to come...eventually. Go ahead and LIKE/FOLLOW us on here and on Instagram!

We hope you have a pawsitively wonderful day 🐾