Well the rescues are here....

We'll I picked up Flash's parents today. THANKFULLY no money was involved. I know some people were against me paying to get them out of the mill they were in but I was able to finally work her down. I pointed out some of the extreme health issues infront of other people making her realize just how bad they are..... Finally she handed them over with all their records at no cost.

They are VERY sweet and human friendly. They are just uncomfortable being held. If you sit on the floor they come right into your lap!
There teeth are VERY bad... I think the male needs most all of his teeth pulled (he is only 4!!!!) The females teeth are in a little bit better shape!!!! Actually besides lack of fur (possibly because she just weaned another litter of pups???) she seems to be in the best overall outward health... There is something odd about the males back legs but he doesn't show any signs of pain. Sometimes he walks fine..and other times his back legs spread apart almost a foot and he kind of "hops" for 4 or 5 steps and then he is normal again.... confused

Here they are in the tub right before a bath. (OH they smelled to high heavens!!! I was gagging on the way home)


******** WARNING: THE REST OF THE PHOTO'S MAY BE UPSETTING ********

Dad:


(This is the GOOD side of his mouth!!! The other side is so bad he wont let you mess with it. The teeth on the other side are almost completely gone!!!)


Mom:
I know it looks like she has a little fur but it is VERY VERY thin...




Can anyone give me advise on how to start to control there barking? They WERE outside kennel dogs and are very.... "yappy"?

I gave them a choice of places to sleep and they crawled in a small kennel together that I had covered with a blanket... .Letting them sleep for now....

Now to get them medically checked out...But must sleep now while the house is quiet.....

Please be careful with feeding, the weight will need to be put on gradually. Overfeeding chronically starved animals can kill them overnight.

Glad you were able to shame the owner out of getting money!! They are in bad shape, but they'll come around. Both dogs are very lucky you stuck up for them and got them out of that horrible situation.

Trying to be careful with the feeding... I offered them 2 very small dinners spaced about 3 hours apart. I softened the food for them (more for the male then the female). Setting my alarm for about 5 hours from now to take them out and check up on them.

So far they have accepted the collar and leash just fine and have had no accidents inside. They are very familiar with the kennel and either prefer to be in my lap on the floor or in the kennel. I have then sharing an X-large kennel (German Shepard sized). I tried a doggy play pen but the girl kept climbing out.

I've been changing clothes, rinsing off in the shower and sterilizing everything that comes in contact with them. They are at opposite ends of the house from my other two dogs. Although everyone is vaccinated I'm still very worried what they could be carrying. I'm being super careful until they get the okay from the vet.... I'm just hoping it's careful enough!!!

Very exhausted... I have a feeling tomorrow is going to be a LONG day!!!! Bed time for me!

well done on getting them.. they have such sweet faces and i wish you lots of luck in getting them back to good health . it makes me so angry what humans are capable of xx

Oh goodness Shannon that is just so upsetting to see

Poor wee darlings, I do understand totally why you couldn't leave them - and it's brilliant that you shamed her into not taking any money for them - I think you might be needing it for vet bills

I know a lot of people said that you shouldn't be paying for them anyway as it just encourages her to breed more, ethically that is correct, but it's not so easy when you have seen the dogs yourself...and at least you haven't ended up paying for them, hopefully the story she gave you is indeed true and the most important thing is they are safe now.


How could she possibly let them get into this state? I know none of the welfare organisations seemed interested, but I think you should send them those photos - that extreme lack of weight is cruelty - and obviously the wee fellow's mouth is too sore for you to touch it. How a dog of 4 can have such a bad mouth I really do not know.


[Just a thought make sure you are very careful and institute a good dental regime for Flash, often that it is hereditary - it's probably mainly down to poor care but it's something to be aware of]


Mum looks TINY - from the coat loss it does look like she has had another litter, they do drop all their coat but her tail looks very sparse, maybe they should check her for thyroid? See what the vet thinks.


It's lovely that despite all the cruelty and neglect they still want human contact - Cavaliers are truly amazing.

Soushiruiuma is correct, lots of very small meals - literally a couple of spoonfuls at a time - otherwise you will make them ill. Your vet will be able to advise with that too.


The male sounds like he has patella problems - again the vet will be able to diagnose.

Tell them exactly what's happened - with any luck they will be sympathetic and might even keep the costs down a bit.




I'm sure Shannon doesn't want to ask but if anyone can help a bit by sending a bit of money towards their vet fees, I'm sure it would be very gratefully received - please PM her direct. Thank you.

Oh my goodness, they are in a state. Looks like you have everything covered, good job. I hope the vet sorts out those teeth soon, they look SO painful. Well done for getting them for free.

You deserve a medal as big as your heart for helping these two little ones. I hope everything goes well with their medicals and that they are not carrying anything. How can anyone treat any creature this way?

Oh my goodness me, bless your heart for doing such an amazing thing in taking these lovely dogs on. My murphy was a pup farm rescue and he is left with just 4 teeth, but after a few months of tinned food,then mixed with dry, he is now on dry alltogether and manages fine. Hope these darlings get better and Murphy says thank you for the christmas card Flash, He loved it!!

So glad to see that you have got them out of that puppy mill.

Please let us know what the vet says about them. I am hoping that things will not be as bad as they look at the moment. I cringed when you talked about the smell in your car when you brought them home.

Very good advice above; totally agree with Nicki -- those are badly neglected dogs and I would contact animal welfare with those pictures. If the local group does nothing then send it to state level SPCA. They are shockingly underweight -- that is getting to verge on the borderline of where they may have had to be put down from starvation!! and would be susceptible to all kinds of illness due to weakness -- and their mouths would have been causing them a lot of pain.

The hopping you are seeing with the male could be a lot of things. It could indicate a bad knee (patella) which may require surgery if it is causing him to hop about. On the other hand, it may have been bad enough that it is just kind of locked now and little can be done. That kind of hopping unfortunately may also indicate SM. the fact that they don't like to be touched could also be SM–related discomfort–or it could just be that they aren't used to being handled. It is something that can be looked into further down the line, but a vet should be able to tell you about whether there is a patella problem.

I would suggest feeding them on puppy food as this has a lot of extra nutrition. you could also look for the recipe for satin balls–if you do a search on this site it will come up. These are used by a lot of breeders and dog people to put weight on to dogs that need it. But moderation would be the approach–lots of small meals. In a month or so they should be looking a lot better.

Those teeth will definitely need to be attended to.

When you are talking to your vet, you might see if they are willing to give you a rescue discount to care for these two. If your vet is not willing to do so, I would ring around. if you are going to re-homed them, then I would talk to the rescues you have spoken to or e-mail lucky star, as they can probably arrange to get them the care they need or a local rescue should at least be able to arrange a discount.

Great job on arguing her out of having you pay for them and getting them both back to your home. I could use someone with your ability as a helper with rescue over here! It can be very hard to get around such people. The idea of her expecting you to pay is just ludicrous. Given the state they are in, she is lucky she has not been raided and charged with animal cruelty. I would certainly report her, with photos, in order to give whatever other dog she decides to hang onto a decent chance. If other dogs are in similar shape, they all need urgent that care.

What a wonderful result. You are to be congratulated on your negotiating skills and sheer persistence.

They are very lucky dogs that you are taking care of their future.

Well done indeed.

On barking -- I think this will reduce pretty quickly even if they were outside dogs. Right now they will just be really overstimulated byall the new things, by your own dogs and new people etc. It's great that you gave them their own quiet place they can go. Ian Dunbar has great advice for teaching dogs to stop barking–but really what you do is first teach them a cue that means to bark and then you can teach them the cue that means not to bark. He explains how to do this on his
Dog Star Daily website. But this is a longer-term project.

I would also introduce them to Kongs -- this might be a good way to feed their meals so that they get used to them. For a keep-busy activity (to stop barking!) you can take one and just wipe the inside with a little salmon oil or soft cheese to keep them busy, but not give them too much food. My trainer friend Tara told me recently that she takes a little piece of a pig's ear or cow's ear (the latter are less greasy) and wedges it inside a Kong so that the dog can't actually get it out. She says this keeps her dogs busy for hours!

Also on that first picture of the teeth -- I'd say most of that dark tartar can be scraped off and the front teeth should be okay. It's the side teeth that look really hopeless.

Nicki said:

How could she possibly let them get into this state? I know none of the welfare organisations seemed interested, but I think you should send them those photos - that extreme lack of weight is cruelty - and obviously the wee fellow's mouth is too sore for you to touch it. How a dog of 4 can have such a bad mouth I really do not know.

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It looks like he chewed on his cage because he had nothing else to eat. Those metal bars can really destroy teeth.

Wow. Bless your heart. I am so happy to hear you got them out off there. They have such sweet faces. They are so lucky to have you! A really smart thing to point out the health issues in front of others! I didnt expect it to be THIS bad honestly... makes my blood boil. So happy these two get a second chance.

Well done for getting both these poor dogs out of that situation. You are a truly wonderful person.:flwr:

the poor poor mites..

so glad that they are now with you. they can now start their journey to recovery and knowing the true kindness of an owner instead of being used & abused.

So glad the breeder realized the condition of these dogs and agreed to surrender them. Those poor guys are really in bad condition, but what a heart you have for taking them in! Barking will be hard to break, that was the life they knew and probably all they really had to entertain themselves.

Traditional training is to ignore the barking, for these guys that might not even work. But try to focus a lot on the moments they are quiet, with lots of praise and treats. I think that will help them start to realize. Do they recognize praise and when you say good dog? If not they will be just like pups and have to learn what training is all together. Maybe start with things like sit, lay down, etc so they understand what makes you happy and what does not.

Do you plan to keep them?

Just seeing this thread. THose poor babies, it makes me sad to see them in such poor condition. Thanks to you they now have a new lease on life.
Everyone has given such good advice. Please let us know what the vet says.
Finally, thank you again for doing such a good deed and helping two innocent cavaliers.

The poor things. They are in good hands now. The girl's face just melts my heart. If I saw her, I could never leave her.

It looks like he chewed on his cage because he had nothing else to eat. Those metal bars can really destroy teeth.

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Good point; may well be it and why side teeth are so bad.