HERE IS THE ORIGINAL POST ABOUT THESE SWEET DOGS. 

We're slowly making progress.  As of this morning (Feb 5) we have enough for 7 of the 8 dogs.  I'm excited.  You all know how difficult it is in the rescue arena right now so I'm encouraged.

Received an email from a cruelty investigator who said she might be taking in 9-12 shih tzu and needs help with them. 

Two different puppymills in Missouri is releasing approximately 32 shih tzu and lhasa apsos.

The Houston city shelter, BARC, had THREE shih tzu last week.  They asked me to take the "older" one who was horribly matted, but oh so cute. Another rescue took the two girls who were two years old.

This week, little Petey Turner, the hit by car pupster, had his surgery at GCVS.  Thankfully we were able to fund his surgery from a private source so not to burden all of you with this $6,000 bill. 

Here is what happened to us last week....

I intended to do nothing else rescue-wise other than raise funds for these heartworm diseased little fluffs this week.  Then what happened? 

First, I got an urgent email about the little guy I've named Hotch (yes, I was watching criminal minds that day) who had a ruptured eye. 

Second, little Darden, one of our prior surgical candidates, got a badly infected food.

Third, one of our new dogs in Arizona, Tatum, was having massive bladder problems.  Unfortunately, this turned out to be bladder cancer, with no hope of correction so we were forced to put her to sleep.  RIP pretty Tatum.

And finally, little Petey was hit by a car and his owner couldn't afford his surgery so wanted us to take him in.

So absolutely nothing got done this week on the heartworm dogs.  In fact, I had to move the appointment to Feb 8 to give me time to make sure we could handle these babies. 

As of right now thanks to Byron Ledger, Doug and Sallie Cameron, Cheryl and Mike Oyaski, Jeannie Flexer, Sandra Brehm, Christine Hutchison, Tricia Havis, Lorna Van de Weile and Jill and Don Beard, Deborah Shure, Jill Bogart, Donna Ferris, Christine Apple, in memory of Maggie, Barbara Grabell, Diane Richer, Janet Bello!!  Only 1.5 dogs to go!!

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

Also, this upcoming week, I will be emailing the tax receipts for 2009 to anyone with a donation over $250 per the IRS requirements.  If you have any questions, please email me at teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

Beautiful BACH BARKER.  This gorgeous Lhasa, with the best coat around, needs heartworm treatment.  You'd think if someone invested the time to keep his coat like this, they could give him a $7 heartgard each month, but not so.

Gorgeous MARGIE LAFAYETTE. SHe already has a home, but just needs to get rid of those horrible heartworms.

COLLINGSWORTH BARKER - you surely remember his story, right?  It's HERE.  He is now ready for heartworm treatment so he can find a home. 

VASQUEZ RANGER - this cutie pie was saved by one of my Deogi clients.  As usual, heartworm positive. 

BONO BURKE - you know his story.  Well he's ready for treatment now.

SCHATZIE BARKER 

MRAX BURKE - beautiful little red and white boy. 

Little TEETER RANGER.  Cute as they come.

Yes, you heard it right!!  After her expensive bladderstone surgery AND her eye surgery (doesn't she look great!), she now is the luckiest of pups and has her own forever home!!

Here is her story...

On January 3, 2009, we received a phone call from a family whose mother had a heart attack.  She was a shih tzu breeder and 34 little dogs were left in her yard to fend for themselves.  The family also realized that their mother had not able to take proper care of the dogs for some time so there was no question that the dogs needed our help to find  new homes.  Sherry and I arranged to go see the dogs and met at the house that afternoon.  The poor little dogs were in sad shape.  They were badly matted, dirty, and most had eye issues.  Many of them had eye ulcers from neglect and hair being in their eyes.  The males were in crates under the car port.  One little male had a belly band that had been left on for days.  The constant exposure to the urine had scolded his belly.  The females where running lose in the back yard.  The only protection they had from the weather was to climb under a wooden shed that was in the back yard, or hide under the open patio cover.  One of the little females had so much poop on her rear end that we had no idea how she was able to move her bowels.  Inside the house, which was unbelievably filthy, we found two momma dogs and 7 little puppies.  They were two and three weeks old.  We had no idea which mom belonged to which puppies because they shared the puppies.  One of those momma dogs was Mandisa.  
 

Sherry graciously agreed to foster the puppies, which meant she also fostered the momma dogs at first.  Isis was the other mother dog.  She was a very sweet little dog that was wonderful with the puppies.  She had an eye ulcer and dry eye, but other than that she was in pretty good health.  Mandi obviously had eye problems from the start.  You can see how horrible they looked in the picture above.  She had an eye ulcer, scarring from constant irritation, and dry eye.  Her eyes were in terrible shape, some of the worse I'd ever seen.  They were crusty, red, and bulging.  We started the two moms on basic treatments but anything more would have to wait until the puppies were weaned.  Isis and Mandi both fed and nurtured the puppies as needed, but Mandi was more interested in finding ways to escape.  There was NO keeping her confined, which of course is what we would have preferred with the puppies.  We kept them in an xpen in my office but Mandi was not interested in staying in her confined area.  Mandi was very restless and not very friendly toward us.  She got along well with other dogs and wanted to interact with them.  She just had a lot of nervous energy that tended to make me nervous, too.  She was not a very happy dog.  
 
Isis gladly took on the role as the primary parent, while Mandi explored the house.   She would come in and fed the puppies as needed, but then would be gone.  She would climb out of any device we came up with to keep them confinded.  Unfortunately, Sherry had another foster that came down with kennel cough.  Mandi carried it back to the puppies and got it herself.  Luckily, only one of the puppies got very ill from it.   The puppies were tiny and young, so it was unsettling. They were healthy, though, so they all eventually recovered from it.  Finally, when Mandi started showing less desire to nurse the puppies and we were starting them on solid foods, we arranged for Mandi to go to another foster home.  The other Katy puppy mill dogs were beginning to be adopted by this time.  Mandi and Isis  would have to wait awhile to find their forever homes until they could get through their own vetting needs.  They were now being properly cared for, though, and the changes in their personality where beginning to be noticeable.  Both were becoming more social and Mandi was even beginning to be a little more interested in human companionship.
 
Mandi's very dry eyes got worse and worse.   They looked like they were about to pop out of her head!  Our vet recommended we take her to Gulf Coast Animal Eye Clinic to have her eyes evaluated.  That visit revealed she had dry eye and the ulcer she had was just about healed, but her eyelids would not properly close.  They always remained partially open, even when she was sleeping.  This lead to severe dry eye and constant irritation of her eyes.  The vet suggested she have surgery to make the eyelids smaller to allow her eyelids to close properly.  She also started on a new medication that had an anitbiotic in it to keep the eyes from staying constantly infected.  We needed to get her eyes in a little better condition before the surgery.
 
During the time that we were getting Mandi ready for her eye surgery, we noticed she had blood in her urine.  Off she went to her regular vet and the xrays showed she had a large bladder stone. 

She had surgery to remove the bladder stone so her eye surgery was delayed.  Finally, the day came for Mandi's eye surgery.  We were all curious how well this procedure would work, since we have never had this done before.  The surgery was a success. 

Within a month, her eyes were beginning to clear up and even the scarring to her eyes lightened up some.  She still has a bit of an 'wandering eye', but her eyes look so much healthier and prettier.  During her recuperation, Mandi stayed with Sherry.   I was so surprised at the difference in Mandi's behavior.  She was no longer the anxious little dog that first came to my house.  She was friendly and wanted to spend time with me. She loved to sit in my lap now and be petted.  She also wanted to sleep in our bed, but my little dog drew the line at that.  He said no way was he allowing another dog on our bed at night!  Mandi slept in a little bed on the side of my bed.  She wasn't too happy with that arrangement, but she knew it was the best that was going to happen.  I knew Mandi was ready to find her forever home finally.  She was a social, friendly, happy, healthy little dog now.  The eye issues and bladder stone must have really made her life miserable before.  Once these problems were resolved, Mandi was able to become the great little dog she was meant to be. 
 
All the other little Katy dogs were adopted during the year.  Due to the puppies, Isis was one of the last to be adopted, too.  She was adopted in October.  Now it was Mandi's turn finally.  Sherry took her to meet her potential adopter last week.  They loved how friendly she was.  What a change from the sad, confused, anxious little dog that first came into my home in January.  I was so pleased to see her react so well to them.  They were hooked and once they were approved, they adopted little Mandi.  What an exciting day for Mandi!  She has a family of her own and a four legged brother to play with and love her now. 
 
An end of an era, the Katy puppy mill dogs, but what a wonderful and rewarding end.  Thirty four little dogs all in wonderful, loving, forever homes.

Now....on to the next 39.

Another story with a happy ending.  Little Percy found his forever home this month.  We knew it was coming.  One of my Deogi employees fell in love with him and it was mutual. 

Percy is a survivor of heartworms - thanks to you!

This cutie patootie has an interesting story.  Extremely well cared for by his owner for many years (I have a stack of vet records about 1/2 inch thick), he came into our program because his folks lost their jobs and home.  They were devastated.  He had severe allergies and dry eye and because of financial straits, the owners had been unable to medicate them properly for several months. 

When we got Nash, we put him on the typical shih tzu "allergy buster" diet and started him on cyclosporine for the eyes.  He responded extremely well.  He became a happy-go-lucky, playful little dog.

A few weeks ago, I got some amazing photos while he was playing with a bright purple toy and posted them on petfinder.  He got many, many inquiries, but a prior adopter won out.  They came and got him this weekend.  I will very much miss Nash, but have the utmost confidence that his new home will love him and take excellent care of him.

So far, we've been able to do the basic vetting on seven of our puppers.  Our vet told me this week, that we have an opportunity to get some immiticide so I want to put these heartworm positive dogs on the list for treatment asap. 

 With the horrible shortage of immiticide, we have to quickly take advantage of this shipment.  We have eight pupsters needing treatment NOW.  The cost for heartworm treatment averages $150-$250 now depending on which approach we use, including tests and meds.  We keep them at Deogi in the medical ward and need to get this done before we get busy during the Spring Break Holiday.

Beautiful BACH BARKER.  This gorgeous Lhasa, with the best coat around, needs heartworm treatment.  You'd think if someone invested the time to keep his coat like this, they could give him a $7 heartgard each month, but not so.

Gorgeous MARGIE LAFAYETTE. SHe already has a home, but just needs to get rid of those horrible heartworms.

COLLINGSWORTH BARKER - you surely remember his story, right?  It's HERE.  He is now ready for heartworm treatment so he can find a home. 

VASQUEZ RANGER - this cutie pie was saved by one of my Deogi clients.  As usual, heartworm positive. 

BONO BURKE - you know his story.  Well he's ready for treatment now.

SCHATZIE BARKER 

MRAX BURKE - beautiful little red and white boy. 

Little TEETER RANGER.  Cute as they come.

Right now, we are trying to schedule the treatment on Feb 1.  I know we continue to ask a lot of you all, but we really need to help these babies. And more just keep coming.

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

Also, this upcoming week, I will be emailing the tax receipts for 2009 to anyone with a donation over $250 per the IRS requirements.  If you have any questions, please email me at teresa@shihtzu-rescue.com.

Five down and how many to go?   Thankfully, no shelter dogs needed us this week!!

We need to do four more this week, if possible.  Here are a few of the candates.

Bono Burke - boy was this guy in horrible shape when he came in.  Severely anemic and very emaciated.  Full of heartworms and with horrible dry eye.  The vet didn't want to do any medical procedures until we could build up his system.  He went for blood work and an exam today and the vet said he was healthy enough to get started.

Raphael Burke - very sweet, very very handsome little boy.  He certainly will go quickly.

Edge Burke - Boy, we get some pretty ones somtimes, (well all the time) - he had to have a pin removed from a repair on his broken leg but now seems to be absolutely fine.  As soon as he gets his vetting done,  he'll be ready to go.  Don't you think this beautiful little boy will go quickly??

Roarke Ranger - how cute is this face.  Ditto the above.  Won't last long as soon as we know he's healthy.

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

And, don't forget to check THE BLOG and OUR FACEBOOK PAGE for updates.

Furby Barker - an absolute gem of a baby boy.  Left at Houston's BARC shelter, at 9 years old, Furby had very little chance at adoption.  We thought he had bladderstones, but thankfully, just a bladder infection.  He will be ready to go in about a week.  He is a tiny little boy, sort of thin, and has just the absolutely best personality.

Sweet little tiny Margie Lafayette.  Unfortunately, she has to stay another month or so because she has heartworms.  You'll see her soon in the request for heartworm treatment.

Tiny little Thea Sherman.  Sweet little puppymill survivor.  She will be ready for adoption in about a week.

Schatzie Barker.  This one is a keeper.  When we got her from BARC, she had a horrible "hole" in her eye.  It was a long-standing ulcer and took a long time to heal.  And, unfortunately, she, too has heartworms so will be hanging around for another month.

Leda Barker.  Tiny little maltese/poodle mix and one of the sweetest little girls here.  Very playful too.  Ready in about a week.

If you are interested in adopting any of these babies, please go to www.shihtzu-rescue.com and apply.  Quickly!!

MARGIE LAFAYETTE

Adorable tiny FURBY BARKER, a 9 year old left at the Houston city pound. 

CARME BURKE

Tiny little THEA SHERMAN

We'd like to get two or three more in this week if possible.  On Wednesday, if we can raise the funds for them!!

SWEET LITTLE LEDA BARKER

SCHATZIE BARKER

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

And, don't forget to check THE BLOG and OUR FACEBOOK PAGE for updates.

Huge thanks to Lisa of Grooming by Lisa in Houston.  Lisa set out a donation can at her grooming shop and her fabulous clients donated $200 for these pupsters!  What a great idea.  Lisa also stopped by yesterday and brought warm sweaters for many of the little pups hanging out at Deogi.  What a nice idea that was too. 

I'm calling these dogs the lucky 39 of 2009.  Why?  Because in a time when the economy is in the dumps, we took in these 39 homeless (and young, I might add) babies because we were certain than when we needed to raise the funds, our wonderful supporters would be there and you're proving me RIGHT!!

Thanks so much to Diane Richer, Doug and Sallie Cameron, Jamie Smith, Carol Lundemo, Anna Dee Lastick, Dana Woodruff, Larina Campbell, Nancy Croft, Barbara Grabell, Fur Kids, Dale Stone, Gail Ciesielski, Deb Wheeler, Patricia Sabala, the Customers of Grooming by Lisa, Traci Breeding. 

The last quarter of 2009 was an unbelievable one with so very many requests to take in dogs. 

We are trying our best to take in as many as possible.  We were able to send 25 to another rescue in California, but ended up with 39 new dogs in Lone Star.  Can you believe?  Thank goodness for all of our volunteers and for the wonderful people that help us at Deogi!  But, now, we're desperately needing to get them all vetted, through heartworm treatment and up for adoption.

On average, if nothing is wrong with the dog, we spend just under $275 for BASIC vetting.  I know it's a lot - but we do everything that we'd do for our own dogs - all shots, spay/neuter, test for heartworms, and especially test for kidney and liver disease. 

So, we're desperately needing help with these expenses now.  We are so unbelievably tapped out because of the economy - adoptions are down, surrenders are at an all time high and donations are significantly under what they normally are.

We are going to just take this one step at a time.  Please help us get these babies ready for a new home.  Here are just a few needing help!

TOOKIE BENSON

VICENTE HUMBLE

LEDA BARKER

THEA SHERMAN

FARRAH BARKER

BACH BARKER

We desperately need to get all of these babies vetted and up for adoption THIS month - yes in January.  Please help!

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

And, don't forget to check THE BLOG and OUR FACEBOOK PAGE for updates.

We are trying our best to take in as many as possible.  We were able to send 25 to another rescue in California, but ended up with 39 new dogs in Lone Star.  Can you believe?  Thank goodness for all of our volunteers and for the wonderful people that help us at Deogi!  But, now, we're desperately needing to get them all vetted, through heartworm treatment and up for adoption.

On average, if nothing is wrong with the dog, we spend just under $275 for BASIC vetting.  I know it's a lot - but we do everything that we'd do for our own dogs - all shots, spay/neuter, test for heartworms, and especially test for kidney and liver disease. 

So, we're desperately needing help with these expenses now.  We are so unbelievably tapped out because of the economy - adoptions are down, surrenders are at an all time high and donations are significantly under what they normally are.

We are going to just take this one step at a time.  Please help us get these babies ready for a new home.  Here are just a few needing help!

We desperately need to get all of these babies vetted and up for adoption THIS month - yes in January.  Please help!

If you can help any of these babies, donations can be made via PAYPAL HERE.

If you'd like to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thanks to all of you for all of your wonderful support.

And, don't forget to check THE BLOG and OUR FACEBOOK PAGE for updates.

And is now recovering back at her foster home!  You all are so wonderful and generous!  At this time of the year, to reach into your pockets and help us come up with a whole lot of funds for this sweet little girl - amazing.

PLEASE help us make this little girl whole for Christmas!  She is a beautiful little girl with a fantastic home waiting but we cannot release her until her stones have been removed!

As of Sunday morning, her fund is at $235 which is only 15% of what she needs for this surgery. 

Look at this adorable face!  Mary is one of the prettiest dogs we've had.  And, we have an adopter lined up, but need to get her bladderstone surgery done first.  We'd love to have her in a home by Christmas, can you help get her the best Christmas gift?

I know it's the holiday and there are a lot of expenses, but please help us help these little dogs.

  We're already getting message after message about taking in more, but just need to make whole the ones we already have.  The holiday season is horrible for little dogs!

Thanks so much to Christine Hutchison, Melissa Lombard, Anna Arledge, Barbara Grabell, Eugene Bonos for the donations so far.

To help this beautiful little lhasa girl, PLEASE CLICK HERE for paypal.  If you want to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thank you all again!

Thanks to all of you, both of these pupsters are on the road to recovery.  Little Mandisa has had both bladderstone surgery and also a minor surgery to correct a flaw in her eyelids.  Her eyes are extremely large and consequently, she was not able to close her eyes.  Her eyes were always very red and inflamed.  We took her to the eye clinic and they closed the eyelids a tiny amount.  Her eyes look fantastic and are healing well.  HERE is the original story on Mandisa.

Carme Burke is resting well after her very difficult surgery to correct a mess in her leg.

You have no idea how much we all appreciate you for what you're doing for these little pups!

Look at this adorable face!  Mary is one of the prettiest dogs we've had.  And, we have an adopter lined up, but need to get her bladderstone surgery done first.  We'd love to have her in a home by Christmas, can you help get her the best Christmas gift?

So far, we have $180 for her surgery.  She needs another $1380.  I know it's the holiday and there are a lot of expenses, but please help us help these little dogs.  We're already getting message after message about taking in more, but just need to make whole the ones we already have.  The holiday season is horrible for little dogs!

Thanks so much to Christine Hutchison, Melissa Lombard, Anna Arledge, Barbara Grabell, Eugene Bonos for the donations so far.

To help this beautiful little lhasa girl, PLEASE CLICK HERE for paypal.  If you want to send a check, please go HERE to let us know.

Thank you all again!

I picked Carme up a few minutes ago.  She did not feel well at all!  I guess she's in a lot of pain.

Then, on the ride home, she took her e-collar off three times.  She's now resting comfortably in an x-pen at my house. 

Huge thanks to Dr. Brian Beale of Gulf Coast Veterinary Specialists Surgery!!

Here is her broken, long-fused leg before the operation.

Looks a mess, doesn't it?

Here is the leg after surgery.  I think Carme gets the award for most hardware in a dog!

Thanks so much to all of you who are allowing us to do this for Carme.

But, please remember Mary Ranger who now has bladderstones and needs surgery.  Her story was posted on the blog yesterday.  PLEASE READ and help us help her.