12/19/10:

On December 14, the Missouri 11 minus Doug's trip to Kansas City and Omaha began. PAWS volunteers loaded up 10 dogs in a van to meet Teresa in Kansas City.  Then on to Omaha to catch their flights.  One went back home with Teresa to Oklahoma, 7 flew out east, and 2 are waiting till the 21st to fly to the southeast.  Doug hung out with PAWS till Wednesday when he got up before dawn and headed to Des Moines by car to meet Kathy and head north to Minnesota for further hospitalization and tests.

Once they got to Omaha, the Nebraska Humane Society had wonderful volunteers there ready when the dogs arrived to exercise them, feed them, get them settled, and most of all to pet and comfort them with gentle hands and very warm hearts.  They didn't care that it was late at night - they showed every one of those dogs love and kindness.  We can't thank you all enough.  There simply aren't words.  It's a testament to the dedication and love for animals and for these lucky fox terriers that rescue volunteers show time and time again. The PAWS team has been amazing!  NEHS stepped right up with enthusiasm.  The entire experience gives a whole new meaning to "Christmas Spirit"!

American Fox Terrier Rescue and OKFTR volunteer Teresa was astonishing.  Taking time to meet the PAWS volunteers getting thing arranged with the Nebraska Humane Society - she made magic happen for these dogs.  And she's even going back to make sure the last two get on their flight ok!  Everyone involved showed their love and dedication for these sweet, innocent fox terriers who's entire lives were in spent in cramped cages or pens.

The Pet Airways crew was fantastic. They were careful and gentle with the dogs, knowing that they'd been through so much up to this point and they made everyone as comfortable as possible and tried to reassure them all.  In addition to the great staff at Pet Airways, Teresa had 3 extra sets of helping hands--thanks to the NEHS folks!

As the dogs landed in their various destinations, American Fox Terrier Rescue volunteers were waiting to gather them up and send them to their foster homes.  They're all doing really well so far as they're settling in.  Grooming, some follow up vet visits, and socializing has been going on and they're all responding wonderfully.  Some are still shy, some are like nothing ever happened - but all of them are surprising their foster homes every day with their resiliancy.

On December 15th, Carol from PAWS and her husband Larry got up very early to bring Doug to Des Moines for his trip to Minnesota.  He rode like a trooper and by 10:30 a.m., the paperwork was being reviewed, medication and the medication list (which is very extensive!) was passed on.  And while Carol and Kathy were going over things, the emails were arriving that the other dogs had landed safely at their destinations.  After a quick "yahoo!" Doug was switched to Kathy's vehicle and off they drove for Minneapolis. 

He was taken immediately to Compassionate Care Animal Hospital in Brooklyn Park where Dr. Judi Funk and her very able staff were waiting for him.  Dr. Judi and Dr. Lindsay Merkel from the University of Minnesota Veterinary Teaching Hospital had been collaborating and reviewing his records from U of Missiouri-Columbia and getting an intial plan of treatment and possible complications to watch for in mind for him and everyone was excited to actually get their hands on him.

They got him settled in at CCAH and fed him and let him relax and decompress after his very long day.  The next morning, Dr. Judi did a complete physical and determined that there would be no sedating Doug at this point.  We really wanted to be able to deal with his ears (flush and clean) and his infected gums from broken teeth, but he is still not healthy enough to withstand sedation.  So instead, Kathy went over to groom him, and the cardiologist, Dr. Janet Olson from Veterinary Cardiology Services found time in her schedule to come in and run a doppler echocardiogram and an EKG and determined that Doug's heart is healthy!  We finished cleaning him up and got him groomed as well as he'd allow ("No clippers on my head, thank you very much!") and he spent one more night at the hospital.  Then on Friday his foster family picked him up and brought him home.  He's doing wonderfully! 

Doug will always have breathing issues - akin to COPD in humans - because his bronchitis was never addressed and the damage can't be reversed.  But it can be medically managed.  The prognosis was good when he left the hospital for him to have a number of good years ahead with the proper medical management.  And every day in a warm and loving home sees him improving.  It's all very heart warming. 

You for more pictures stories and comments, you can see the latest on our Facebook page by clicking here. You don't need a Facebook account to view the pictures.  Please look at the pictures, become a Fan of our Facebook page if you'd like, and think about giving the gift of medical care to our wonderful group of dogs - especially for Doug.

Doug has lots of medications and continued vet care and follow up before he's truly as healthy as we can get him to be.  He's really come a long way in a short amount of time but he has a ways to go.  He's a great dog, and giving him a chance to live his final years in a warm, loving home means so much to all of us! So please consider Doug and the other 10 beautiful fox terriers from this gang as being deserving of your charitable contributions for the year.  They made it this far thanks to all of you who have donated to American Fox Terrier Rescue .  Their care and transport has been made possible by the generosity of people who simply love fox terriers and showed that love in the form of a donation to their care. 

Thank you to everyone involved in the effort to save these wonderful fox terriers from life in a puppy mill. Their lives are forever changed by your caring. From those that are hands-on to you who have financed the effort - and to all of you for your good wishes and emotional support!

Many thanks to Coconut Retriever and Doggie Duds, Wegmans, Pet Airways, and Compassionate Care Animal Hospital for your support!