Manic Monday!

After spending Sunday climbing the mountain, enjoying the beautiful (and warm!) fall weather and recooperating with our foster dog and Viper it was time to get back action!

After morning walks, feedings and a little bit of romping Scott and I split up and tackled our different tasks. Sophie and I were off to the South Shore to pick up three dogs who had just arrived from Lebanon.

Having survived the two wars and the bombing of the dog shelter I imagine the 14 hour plane ride and then week long journey up from the states were nothing. But, all three still seemed happy to be out of crates and exploring this strange new place.

I'm just glad they came on an unusually warm fall day to help ease the transition to the land of snow and ice!

This is Leslie:

She is shy, but alert and curious. Just a bit unsure perhaps. But then who wouldn't be after being shipped half way around the world?!

She is great with other dogs, but had the misfortune of growing up in a shelter, so we don't know how she'll behave in a house. Right now she's being kennelled in Laval. We hope to get her into a foster home soon! Contact me if you want to help!

This little guy is Bodi:

What an absolute delight! He seems to be a Teckel, Corgi mix. And I must admit his good looks have me smitten. Nothing seems to phase this little guy. He sat contently on my lap the whole car ride and then had a great time checking out the dog park and Parc Lafontaine. He's looking for a temporary place to crash too!

And this handsome man is Sunny:

Sooo affectionate and loving! He loves to be petted and reassurred. He had fun learning about squirrels and pigeons at the park.

He was scared of other dogs at the run, but after circling the area a couple of times together he seemed more confident and started having some fun! Those eyes could melt any heart!
Scott spent his morning with Tiny on the mountain, where they both had a great time. So great that Scott brought the rest of the dogs up there later and Viper scaled all the way to the summit! We'll have to put a little "Viper-man" flag up there now.

Tiny is a young Great Dane who came off of death row at a high-kill shelter here in Montreal. He's pretty excited to be out of dangers way and he's definitely seizing this new life! He's a HUGE puppy and like all puppies is getting himself into plenty of trouble with us humans.

He's great with other dogs (even blue ones) and loves the dog run.
And leaning up against you to get your attention. Which is so cute, if you can stay upright :)

After the all the busy running around Scott and I got home and were so tired we could barely hold a conversation and had to work pretty hard not to fight with each other. After some food and a "no more dog talk" rule we fell asleep to the sound of rain.

A rainy day after a manic Monday. What could be a better excuse for staying in doors and doing all the paper work we're behind on?

Meet Viper: Scott's Best Friend!

Scott and I have fostered a lot of dogs and a lot of times we fall head over heels in love with them. Sometimes we even talk about adopting them ourselves. We've never decided to adopt because we always end up finding homes the dogs love just as much as us and adopting would mean one less space for foster dogs in need.

That was until we met Viper Benjamin!

Viper came to Sophie's Dog Adoption in late July. A woman who knew Sophie had decided to buy a Maltese advertised online.

When she phoned to enquire about the dog the "breeder" told her that she was getting rid of all of her Malteses, including the bitches and studs, because she was going to start breeding Chihuahuas. She told her that she could sell the now popular Chihuahua puppies for $1,600 compared to the $650 she was currently getting for the Maltese puppies.

So this breeder offered the woman a "2 for 1" special and the woman brought the "freebie" to Sophie's Dog Adoption.

This is what Viper looked like when he showed up. He absolutely reeked. This nauseating smell was emanating from his mouth and was made all the worse by the smell of the cheap perfume the "breeder" doused him in before dumping him.

His coat was rust colored from compulsive licking. And worse than any of these superficial things, was the utter lifelessness in Viper.

For the first few days he didn't move. He had no reaction to light or sound: loud music, whistling, city traffic, fireworks, nothing made him look up. The only time he reacted to people was when they would touch his mouth. And he'd snap at them.

As we became more and more worried that he had neurological problems Viper made his first move towards the food bowl and we began to measure his progress in inches and then steps and then one night he crossed the entire kitchen. The first time he wagged his tail we all cried and hearing him bark the first time had us talking for weeks!

After being fixed and having 16 rotten teeth pulled, Viper came to stay with us as a foster. We massaged his legs daily hoping to make them more pliable and his gait less jilted. Scott was, of course, immediately in love and after a month of watching Viper's transformation into a content, comfortable and "real" dog Scott decided to finalize the adoption.

Now he's the resident pup in our place and welcomes all of the foster dogs to our home.

Viper is still progressing and developing, he walks further everyday, smiles more, has started playing with toys, cuddling with humans and making dog friends. These normal dog activities are milestones for Viper because he spent those first 5 years of his life in a cage, never exposed to sunlight and only had human contact when he was moved around for breeding.

Viper is one of the hundreds of thousands of invisible faces that make up the sick reality of backyard breeders and puppy mills. The cute puppies you see advertised online and in pet stores come from these horribly abused animals who don't have enough room to move, who have legs so atrophied they can barely walk, who piss and shit where they eat, who never see daylight or other dogs or caring humans, who are in such ill health they can't walk or chew food, who have to have 16 rotten teeth pulled from their heads.

Please never buy a puppy from a backyard breeder or a pet store.

Viper is one of the minority of breeder dogs who will get a chance at a real life. And he's learning all about the world and finding some tings he really loves, like:

Going for walks around the neighborhood:

Sleeping in his bed (and sometimes even sharing it):

Dogs that look like him (hi Dude! How is your new home??):
Being petted on the head:
and, of course, Scott, his beloved: