The Washington Howler: CDR Fall 2014 Newsletter

The Washington Howler City Dogs Rescue Newsletter Fall 2014 Please enjoy this copy of CDR's Fall 2014 Newsletter, which we have named "The Washington Howler." CDR Celebrates 3 Years! CDR's Board of Directors City Dogs Rescue started three years ago in September 2011. Since then, we've rescued and adopted out almost 1,000 dogs from mostly high-kill shelters. When asked about how the last three years have gone, Director Dave Liedman said "Our first three years of City Dogs Rescue have been a tremendous journey.  We've seen what a difference one can make, from the shelters who are euthanizing far fewer dogs, to the wonderful families who now have a new family member whom they adopted through CDR.  A community of so many caring volunteers has grown the organization from a few adoptions per month to several dozen! While this experience has opened our eyes to the sad problems of pet overpopulation, all the dedicated volunteers and our collective accomplishments have also given us hope in the face of such a problem." City Dogs Rescue has a very dedicated following of adopters, fosters, donors, and volunteers. We could not have met this milestone without all of you. Help Our Sick Dogs Get the Care They Need We are at over 50% of our GOAL of raising $6,000 to treat a number of serious medical conditions affecting our rescue dogs.  We want to help them move past their previous lives of pain and neglect to healthier lives with DC area forever families.  We need your help to get us there.  Hollie, a young lab, had a previous front leg injury that resulted in a neurological deficit. She was found in the shelter in this condition dragging this leg as she walks. Unfortunately, without surgery and physical therapy, Hollie will lose her leg.  Despite her condition, she is as sweet as can be. After surgery, Hollie will need continued therapy and potentially will need a brace in order to be able to save her leg.   Jake is a young Goldendoodle. He appears to have epilepsy. However, his seizures are not under control using standard epilepsy medications. Because he's had so many seizures in a short amount of time, including one of a very long duration, he has required hospitalization to control these episodes.  Jake needs a neurological consult and more diagnostics to find a solution to his seizures. Gracie, a black lab, has been having trouble walking and falls quite a bit. We were able to get her an MRI due to generous donations thus far. Fortunately, it ruled out a suspected brain tumor and revealed an abnormally small cerebellum, which is likely congenital. If congenital, that means her condition will not progress. This good news didn't last long, though, as our vet just discovered a rectal mass and we are determining the best course of treatment going forward. CDR is committed to providing the best care possible to these dogs in an effort to enhance their quality of life, but we need your help. Their medical needs are very expensive and are putting a strain on the organization.  Please donate HERE to help get these pups the care they need. Are You Buying or Selling a Home? Are you in the market for a new home in the area? Or are you thinking of selling a home? Do you love helping dogs? Well, Realtor Maggie Gonzalez can help! If you use Maggie's services and mention City Dogs Rescue, she will donate a percentage of her commission to CDR. How awesome is that? Maggie has already helped one of our adopters and volunteers find her new home and CDR received a generous donation. Contact Maggie today at Migresidential@gmail.com or 703-303-8321. CDR's First Adoption: Bentley Bentley and Melissa In this issue, we are checking in with our very first rescued and adopted dog, Bentley. According to his mom Melissa, "Bentley's three-year adoption anniversary is this September! He's a wonderful dog: loving, playful, and full of life. Ian (his daddy) and I cannot imagine our lives without him. He's always affectionate, happy to see us, and ready to play. He loves playing "one-way fetch" at the dog park (this requires a surplus of tennis balls), going for neighborhood walks, and making trips to Petco. A true Labrador, he loves food, particularly "people food," enjoys the occasional slice of bacon at breakfast. He has a "pokey ear" on his left side of his head that is very cute. He's just a great dog, and we're thankful to City Dogs Rescue for bringing us together. We're already looking forward to the reunion this fall. Thank you City Dogs Rescue for saving Bentley and making our lives much brighter!" Health Corner: Heartworm Disease Heartworm. You've heard of it and you administer to your dog a monthly preventative for it, and you may not give them a second thought. A common misconception people have about heartworm is that it's not a big deal. But it's a really serious and fatal disease if not treated!  Heartworms aren't the tiny little worms you may imagine; they grow up to a foot in length! Heartworms are transmitted by mosquitos and can stick around for up to 7 years in dogs, and with each bite from an infected mosquito, more larvae can be transmitted, leading the huge numbers of heartworms some dogs suffer. It's a vicious cycle. Treating heartworm is not an easy process, because you have to kill not only the adult heartworms but the developing ones as well - it's not a simple one-day, one-dose treatment. A veterinarian will come up with a specific treatment schedule, but generally the dog will receive multiple doses of a strong drug over a two month period. Treatment can be an incredibly stressful and tiring period of time for the dog as the heartworms are breaking up and passing through the blood stream. Because of this, it is absolutely essential that the dog is kept calm and quiet and doesn't do anything to increase their heart rate. Increased heart rate through exercise, or other means, increases the potential for serious complications.   Treating heartworm is not just complicated; it's incredibly expensive. Through your local vet, costs are often at least a thousand dollars, and sometimes, it can be much more than that! CDR, however doesn't shy away from saving heartworm positive dogs because of this potential cost - it's estimated that 30% of our dogs are (or were) heartworm positive. To manage treatment costs CDR has, fortunately, established an amazing partnership with the Humane Society of Charles County who provides treatment to all our dogs and only charges CDR for the medicine. Even with their gracious help, treating heartworm in CDR dogs is a significant investment and always ends up costing significantly more than the adoption fee.   With all that being said, CDR is committed to treating all the heartworm positive dogs while they are in foster care or once they are in their adoptive homes, and despite all the scary things about heartworm, there is no reason to be afraid of a heartworm positive status when considering adopting a dog. For all the facts and figures about heartworm in dogs, once it's caught and treated, your dog should be able to live a healthy and happy life with few if any restrictions.  And City Dogs Rescue is there to help every step of the way.   Many adopters report that the heartworm treatment period is a great time to bond with their dog. Since activity has to be so limited during treatment, dogs need other forms of stimulation to keep them engaged but also to tire them out, which involves owners being very actively involved in mentally stimulating the dog and developing a deeper bond with their dog. After treatment, many adopters have also found that their dogs' energy increases, likely a result of the dog feeling healthy again.   While heartworm is terrible; it's also highly preventable. It's so easy to keep a dog from getting heartworm - just give them their monthly heartworm preventative. You purchase it at your vet and the dog takes it orally each month, and often thinks it's a treat! Easy as pie!     Contributors: Meg Goswami and Eve Kager   Leash Safety - Preventing Escape You hear about it all the time: dogs getting loose because of careless mistakes made by their owners or fosters. Escape incidents include: a child opens the door and the dog escapes; getting out of the fence, either by it being left open or a dog digs under; a child walking a dog unsupervised and letting go of the lease because they are too small to handle it, or just dropping the leash and the dog gets loose; using a foot to hold the leash down while picking up waste; a contractor leaves a door open while working in your house. We realize these are all accidents, but one should take extra precaution to keep the dog from getting loose. Some ways to help prevent escape are: Having childproof locks on the doors, so they can't open the door. Making sure the child is supervised when handling the dog. Making sure the fence is dog-proof, so they can't dig under the fence, and keeping it locked and closed. Supervising your dog even when in a fenced-in area. Always keeping the leash wrapped around your wrist. Making sure your dog's collar and harness are sufficiently tight to prevent escape. Paying careful attention when contractors or housekeepers are working in your house.  Consider keeping your dog in a crate or in a enclosed room during this time. Retractable leashes aren't the best to use because one hard pull, and your child, or you, can accidentally let go. Retractable leashes have also been known to tangle and cause injury to people an other animals. The CDR-preferred leash is a standard six-foot leash with a handle that the owner can wrap around their wrist and hand. An escape can result in serious or fatal injury to your dog and will cause you unnecessary anguish.  Many escapes can be avoided easily, so please keep your dogs safe!      We have resources available for you if your dog does get loose. See our website for more details HERE. Contributor: Hailey Emerson Recent Articles About CDR The Washington Post:  "City Dogs Rescue Gives Abandoned Pups a Second Chance" Washingtonian:  "How Facebook Saved 700 dogs" Over 950 Adoptions! City Dogs Rescue just celebrated its 968th adoption! Lucky number 968 is Jazz, one of Sarah's hound puppies from Smyth County, VA. Jazz now goes by the name Ramen and he lives in Bowie, MD with Rob, Keith, and canine brother Brick. All but 2 of Ramen's 10 litter mates have been adopted.   Ethan Katz Booster Shirts Now Available in Long Sleeve and Hoodies  Junior fundraiser extraordinaire Ethan Katz has raised thousands of dollars for City Dogs Rescue over the past few months. When asked what he wanted for his 9th birthday a few months ago, Ethan just wanted to save dogs, and save dogs he did. He designed a T-shirt through Booster.com and sold so many shirts, that he was able to save almost 30 dogs from death row. Ethan's story made the national news and he even got featured on Good Morning America in July! Ethan is still selling shirts and now they are available in long sleeve and hoodie sweatshirts for the fall weather. Order your shirt or sweatshirt HERE.  More info on  ETHAN. Don't Forget to Vote!   Please vote to acknowledge our  wonderful LGBT fosters, adopters, donors, and volunteers who help us save so many dogs! Voting is open to everyone and it just takes a few seconds.  City Dogs Rescue, City Dogs Daycare and Jade Fitness (our CDR Prom sponsor) have been nominated into the Top 5 in the "Best of Gay DC 2014" for the Best Non-Profit (Rescue), Best LGBT-Owned Business (Daycare), Best Pet Business (Daycare), and Best Fitness or Workout Spot (Jade Fitness). Please vote for us daily though October 3. Thanks! VOTE HERE Give Via the CFC Program Are you a Federal employee? You can now give to CDR through the Combined Federal Campaign. Join our CFC Facebook Page to find out about events and details Buy Wine, Save Dogs Buy Organic CDR Wines and a large portion of the proceeds is donated back to the rescue. Ways To Help Amazon Smile iGive Chewy.com BarkBox US Bones Donate Buy CDR Gear Our Cafepress store contains a variety of merchandise. All proceeds from purchases go directly to CDR. Walk Your Dog, Raise Money for CDR  You can raise money for City Dogs Rescue just by walking your dog. How? Just download the WoofTrax app for iPhone or Android, choose City Dogs Rescue as your shelter/rescue and be sure to track your miles whenever you are out walking. You can even use it while biking, running, or on your scooter. So get outside and help save some dogs! See wooftrax.com for more information. TD Bank Affinity Program  Do you have an existing bank account at TD Bank or want to open one?  TD Bank will make an annual contribution to CDR based on the activity of all of our  participating members' TD Bank accounts.  To learn more about how you can register your account to benefit CDR, please click HERE (and scroll to the bottom). Try Spot-Shot and Finally Get a Good Picture of Your Dog  Spot-Shot is a new app from our very own John Benedetto. It makes sounds for your dog to assist in taking the cutest photos! And 20% of proceeds go to CDR!  More info HERE  Donate Donate Here   Sincerely,   Your friends at City Dogs Rescue