Three weeks after we got our new tuxedo puppy, my daughter called to tell me about a parti standard poodle she saw on Facebook. She was sure I needed another male, one of a different color and marking, to add to my ever-growing family of companion poodles. My first response was a definite “NO, I do not need another puppy.” But my first response should have been to pray about it, then respond, because God had other plans. I was so stubborn that the first several days I didn’t even want to think about this puppy, but he kept coming to mind. At the end of the week, when I was sure he had probably already been sold, I decided to pray about it.
I felt God was answering my prayer by saying “Yes, go get him.” This was not what I expected at all, but knew I needed to call to see if the breeder still had him. I shouldn’t have been surprised that she did, after what I felt God was telling me, but I still didn’t think I wanted him. When I talked with his breeder, I learned he was vaccinated, he was dewormed, he had his poor tail docked and dew claws removed. Already these were 4 major marks against his health. Regardless of this, my husband and I headed to Nebraska to get him.
I have resolved myself to the idea that every puppy I purchase is going to have some problems. At the very least, there will be vaccine and chemical dewormer damage. Add to that, spine damage from tail docking and circulatory damage from dew claw removal. Then there is the possibility of a poor quality diet, and chemical exposure from household cleaners to chemicals on the lawn. All of which can shorten the life of our pets. Once we arrived at the home of the breeder who had this puppy, my husband and I looked at him, then at each other, then back at the dog again. Did we really want this little guy? He already had multiple health problems. Our hearts went out to him though, and maybe this is why God was urging me to go get him. We knew we couldn’t leave him there, so we paid for him and headed home.
Once home, we had a physical examination done on him and found he had 2 ribs out of place, and what felt like malformation of the entire rib cage, and his legs weren’t developing right either. The hamstrings of his back legs were too short, giving them the appearance of being in a squat. His back was slightly swayed, and his right eye was just a little bit droopy. In addition to his skeletal issues, he had a mild bladder infection. Imagine that…of course he did!
Late in the evening the first night home, he got the hiccups, which I know to be a sign of calcium and phosphorus deficiency, and his heart was beating too fast, a sign of too much radiation in his body, I thought. He was living in a WiFi environment and they had Direct Satellite as well, so the radiation level in the home was high. No wonder his heart rate was elevated. Poor guy, he really was our rescue dog.
On his third day home, I had him sleep on a grounding pad for two nights to help his body release excess radiation and take stress off his heart. Then he was given phosphorus homeopathic to support his body in the normal use of minerals for his bones. We fed him organic, raw eggs and beef, with added iodine and fish oil. I knew the organic eggs and fish oil would provide vitamin A so he could use his calcium and phosphorus better. He was given the option of eating the egg shells too, which he gobbled down for two weeks before he decided it was enough. His heart rate normalized after two nights on the grounding mat, and his hiccups subsided by the end of the second week.
He has been with us a month now and his rib formation is nearly normal. His back legs, which were bent and a little bowed, are almost straight now and he is able to run and climb much better then initially. He is still a little slower than the tuxedo puppy who is about the same age, but he’s improving almost daily. Another wonderful sign of improvement is the passing of worms. Lots of worms. We are pretty excited about this because we knew with all of his health problems, he would have an abundance of parasites too. The passing of them, without “dewormers” indicates his body’s nutrition level has improved enough that the parasites can’t comfortably live in him anymore. We are currently letting him pass these on his own, being careful to pick up his stools immediately after he has a stool, so they don’t spread in the soil. After 7-8 days of this, he will be given a homeopathic remedy to address the worms. By that time he should be healthy enough to finish off the cleanse of the worms with homeopathy support and we can get onto the next issue with him.
At this point, we are excited and feel very blessed to have this little guy. We look forward to the healthy, strong, beautiful dog he is becoming.