September adoptions

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By Sarah Rebernick, VP and Adoption Coordinator

Buddy

Handsome Buddy, a 1.5-year-old tricolor male, has been adopted and will be living in Wisconsin. Buddy was surrendered to MWCR by an older couple who realized they weren’t able to keep up with the needs of a young dog. Buddy’s new mom recently lost her senior collie and is so happy to have another collie in her life. They are both looking forward to long walks in the cool fall weather!

 

Beau

Friendly (Lam)Beau, a 1-year-old tricolor male, has been adopted and will be living in Minnesota. This sweetie was surrendered when his owner moved in with her daughter and is such a good boy that he won over the hearts of his foster family. Instead of a ‘fosture failure’ think we’ll call this one a ‘foster touchdown’! Go Pack!!

Heidi

 

Lovely Heidi, a 9-month-old sable/white female, has been adopted and will be living in Minnesota. This sweet girl was surrendered because she was too much for her older owners to handle. She ended up spending a lot of time alone in the yard and the neighbors were complaining about her barking (well, who can blame her)! She feels that squirrels and chipmunks were put on this earth for her entertainment – possibly because they had been her only entertainment for the past few months – but hopefully her new collie sister will prove a more interesting playmate.

Mycroft

Little cutie, Mycroft (nka Parker), a 10-week-old tricolor male, has been adopted and will be living in Illinois. Mycroft’s new extended family includes lots of other rescue buddies to show him the ropes. Besides his new sheltie brother, he gets to enjoy the company of a collie uncle, and an auntie and uncle sheltie. Everyone seems to be getting along well and we’re hoping mom and dad will get a full night’s sleep soon.

Graham

Gorgeous Graham, a 6-month-old blue merle male, has been adopted and will be living in Wisconsin. This sweet boy was sadly surrendered to MWCR due to the life changes that go along with divorce. We are grateful that we can be there for owners going through difficult times and are able to help find new homes for their beloved companions. Graham’s new home comes complete with both a canine and feline companion and word is that everyone is getting along well .

August Rainbow Bridge

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Lobo

We grieve with Lobo’s adopters and his canine brother for the loss of this handsome boy from a very rapidly debilitating illness. We all know how hard it is to say goodbye to our loving companions but it seems especially difficult when they are so young.

This is from his loving parents: It is with great sadness that we had to help Lobo cross the Rainbow Bridge. He was not getting better. He was able to come home with us for the day from the hospital on Sunday and spent the day on the couch upstairs with us watching tv and being snuggled nonstop. Lobo is in no longer in any pain. It feels so unfair that he was only with us for 2 1/2 years, but he was the best puppy we could have asked for, and tried our hardest to give him the best life possible. Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts over the last few days. It has been a hard week, but knowing we have so
many caring people in the rescue thinking of Lobo and wishing him well has helped!

 

Rodgers

Rodgers was my second foster failure, the summer of 2014. About a month after Woodson died, we got four puppies from a farm in northern Minnesota. Named after artists, there was Renoir, DaVinci, Picasso and Monet. Three of them went off to foster homes, while I kept Renoir for fostering and ended up adopting him.

Named after Aaron Rodgers, he was a very sensitive dog, easy to train with just a look. He mostly just wanted to lean in for face rubs.

Last Monday night he was acting strangely, and when I started trimming his nails, I looked at his gums and they were completely white. Took him outside to pee and his front legs were shaking. I got him in the car and headed for the emergency vet where they found him critical, bleeding into his abdomen. At this point he was laying flat out on a gurney. I made the difficult decision to let him go. Because he hadn’t been injured or ingested poison, they said the mostly likely cause was a tumor on his spleen.

It’s been a difficult week, especially, watching Brett look beyond us each time we come into the house, as if he’s looking for Rodgers to come back. Even though Brett has been through this twice before with Thor and Woodson, I don’t remember him acting like this, I wonder if it’s just because he’s older, or if it’s because Rodgers was so submissive to Brett, Brett is a little lost without someone to boss around.

With foster pup Tennyson

Rodgers was so good with all the puppies I fostered in the last couple years. He would let them snuggle up and was so patient. He also went to events, where he would tell me he really didn’t like the noise, but enjoyed the people.

Tuesday, I was thinking, I’m not sure I can do this anymore, mostly because this makes three collies in a row who have died too young. I know we can’t predict how long a dog will live and I will adopt another one. KJ wants to wait, but I need a collie in my life. They are intelligent and sensitive dogs, and completely click with me.

August adoptions

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By Sarah Rebernick, VP & Adoption Coordinator

Beautiful Lassie, a 2-year-old sable/white female, has been adopted and will be living in Wisconsin. Lassie was surrendered when a growing family realized that they didn’t have the time necessary to meet the needs of this young girl. Now she will have lots of the attention she deserves from her new mom and dad who have lots of collie experience and will be able to show her the path to become a perfect companion. Congratulations, sweet girl!

July adoptions

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By Sarah Rebernick, VP & Adoption Coordinator

Dua, Wylie, Wilson (nka Finley) and Winston (nka Kirby) have all found their permanent homes. Dua to Minnesota and the other three in Wisconsin. All of them will have canine siblings to play with and Finley & Kirby are our latest foster ‘failures’. Congratulations to everyone concerned and also to me, since Kirby is actually my personal ‘failure’, with Creena and Rivers’s approval.

 

Kirby

Pickles, a 13-year-old male, white factored smoothie has been adopted. A huge thank you to everyone who helped with him.

Tips from Petful on unsafe food

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We post each recall Dave sends on our recall page or you can subscribe to them.

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It’s Dave again from Petful. I’m continuing to monitor pet food recalls and will let you know when one happens. Today, I want to share some important pet food safety tips. Follow the tips below, and you’ll greatly reduce the chance that you ever feed unsafe food to your pet.

What I’ve Realized

Over the past few months, I’ve come to realize that dry pet food is not ideal. A bag of kibble can have bacterial growth, mold problems, fats going rancid, mite infestations … not to mention most dry pet foods are lacking in nutrients because of the rendering and processing.  Even canned pet food has its problems. Many of these canned pet foods have harmful added chemicals and preservatives, BPA-lined cans and mold problems … and they’ve all been subjected to extreme processing.

You might be tired of me bringing up The Farmer’s Dog, but I really do think it’s a terrific dog food because it’s real, freshly cooked food — the sort of high-quality, nutritionally balanced diet that has been shown to add YEARS to a pet’s lifespan. Here’s the link to my review: https://www.petful.com/the-farmers-dog-review/

And for cats, I’m really liking NomNomNow. It, too, is made with the freshest, restaurant-quality ingredients. Veterinarian formulated, which means better food, better health. Learn more here: https://www.petful.com/nom-nom-now-cat-food-review/

Now, let’s get to those safety tips.

Safety begins with proper storage, because as soon as you first open a bag of dry pet food, important dietary fats in the food will already start to turn rancid. In addition, if the food is contaminated (for example, with nasty salmonella), you don’t want to spread that to your family. So, to avoid sickening your pet (or yourself), follow these important tips:

DRY PET FOOD:

  • Buy only one bag at the time.
  • Make sure there are no tears in the bag.
  • Check that the expiration date isn’t near or passed.
  • Store in the original bag, sealed, at room temperature — not outside or in a hot garage, and not in direct sunlight.
  • If you want to use a container, use a clean metal tin or can, but keep the food in the original pet food bag within this metal container.
  • Limit the amount of time the food is exposed to air.
  • Do not mix in new food with the old.

CANNED PET FOOD:

  • Make sure there are no dents in the cans.
  • Check that the expiration date hasn’t passed.
  • If there is a lot of dust on top of the can, that is another sign it is too old.
  • Store unopened cans at room temperature. Do not freeze.
  • Store opened cans in the refrigerator for up to 5 days, covering with a plastic can lid or with plastic wrap tightened with a rubber band.
  • When you remove canned food to feed your pet, be careful not to scrape the sides of the can.

RAW PET FOOD:

  • Store in secure packaging, such as a sturdy covered plastic container or zippered freezer bags, in the freezer or refrigerator. The temperature should never be above 40 F.
  • Refrigerate leftovers immediately. These should keep for 2 days.
  • Power outage? Discard the meat, even if it smells and looks OK.
  • Wash hands, tools and surfaces after any contact with raw meat. Use hot soapy water.

HOMEMADE PET FOOD:

  • Store in an airtight container in the fridge for 3–5 days.
  • For long-term storage, place containers in the freezer. (Thaw in the fridge overnight before feeding.)
  • Wash empty containers with hot soapy water.

OTHER GENERAL TIPS:

  • Do not store/prepare the pet food (or feed your pet) in the kitchen. This is especially important for households with young children.
  • Wash your hands after touching any pet food materials, including treats.
  • Discard uneaten food in your pet’s bowl after 4 hours.
  • Wash the food and water bowls daily with hot soapy water.

Until next time, friend,

Dave

July Rainbow Bridge

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Lobo

It is with great sadness that we had to help Lobo cross the rainbow bridge last night. He was not getting better. He was able to come home with us for the day from the hospital on Sunday and spent the day on the couch upstairs with us watching tv and being snuggled nonstop. Lobo is in no longer in any pain. It feels so unfair that he was only with us for 2 1/2 years, but he was the best puppy we could have asked for, and tried our hardest to give him the best life possible. Thank you all for keeping us in your thoughts over the last few days. It has been a hard week, but knowing we have so many caring people in the rescue thinking of Lobo and wishing him well has helped!  – Chaid & Kevin