Salmonella threat leads to massive recall

Pretty scary stuff here.

Diamond Pet Foods has recalled eleven brands of pet food, as have several companies who co-manufacture with Diamond. So far, fourteen people are reported to have grown sick after handling the products, and many dogs have died. I have been told that some breeders lost entire litters due to the contaminated food.

Wellness in particular has voluntarily recalled Super5Mix Large Breed Puppy with certain "best by" dates. (Check their website for the latest updated information.) This is the exact food that Shadow enjoyed until he reached the one-year mark and that I wrote about many posts back. He now eats Super5Mix Large Breed Adult.

If you have a pet, please continue to check the official website for the recall (diamondpetrecall.com) and give some thought to making any necessary changes.

Although Shadow's food seems to be safe for the moment, this is a wake-up call for my family. I am considering switching to something more natural. Blue Diamond Breeding recommends Life's Abundance, which has no (possibly cancer-causing) preservatives, but only gets three stars on dogfoodanalysis.com. I will continue to research the best food for dogs like Shadow, and keep everyone updated. 

Being a parent of any kind isn't easy. That's why I started this blog to begin with. So often it's just an exercise in trial and error. All we can do -- while raising dogs, humans, or the snail your kid picked up from the back yard -- is make the best decision we can with the information at hand, and pray the "errors" are always rectifiable.

Help for an Angel

What would you do if one of your dog's puppies was born with two broken forearms? Would you put the pup down without giving her a chance to survive, or would you hold your breath and try to nurse her -- fully aware that would make losing her that much harder.

Janet Wilson and her family chose the latter route for Angel, Shadow's half-sister (through dad Levi) from Blue Diamond Breeding in New Hampshire.

According to the company, Angel broke the birth sac during delivery in October, causing her disability. She was the last to arrive in a litter of four.

"When she started to walk, she screamed in pain," Janet told Blue Diamond dog owners in a recent e-mail. "She was unable to stand up and required extra care." Fellow breeders advised the home-based company to cut its losses and put Angel down, but the family couldn't do this. They named her Angel of Hope on Thanksgiving and began to research medical options.


At eight weeks old, when most pups go home to their new families, Angel could still only "swim" across the floor. The break above her elbows made it impossible for her to support her own weight, according to Blue Diamond. The video below is quite heartbreaking... but don't worry, there's a happy ending.




On January 12, Angel underwent costly surgery at Angell Memorial Veterinary Hospital in Boston. A few weeks later, she was walking, sitting on command and retrieving. It's impossible not to smile while watching this next video.



What Janet Wilson and her family did for a helpless puppy - including finding her an adoptive home - is commendable. However, it was not without sacrifice.

Blue Diamond has set up a trust fund to cover Angel's surgery and is seeking donations from all dog lovers. The company came through for my family nearly a year ago (Yes, Shadow's almost a year old!), and losing them prematurely would be terrible for the dog-loving community.

For more information about Angel, more photos, and information about donating (via Paypal or check), click here. I'm headed there in a minute, right after I give Shadow a gigantic hug and loads of kisses.

From my dealings with Blue Diamond, I have no reason to believe this is anything but legitimate. But as always when donating money, please do some of your own research as well. I benefit in no way from spreading Angel's story.

A look back after 6 months

From left by row, Shadow at two, three, four and five months old

Shadow officially turns six months old today, and it's hard not to let my mind wander back to the first day he came into my life. Emotionally wrecked at the hands of another, less responsible breeder (Don't let that happen to you), Chris and I made the trip up to Blue Diamond with a pesky glimmer of hope that neither of us would allow to shine through.

After weeks of torture, we had resigned ourselves to the fact that the bed we had bought, the toys we had gleefully picked out, the ID tag we had engraved ... none of these things would be used for at least another three months. After coming to love and watch this other puppy grow (at least until the breeder stopped showing us pictures), we were devastated at the thought of now waiting for another breeder to approve us, another dog to get pregnant, another mother to nurse her pups for 8 weeks, etc.

We meet Shadow at 7 weeks old

Finding a lovable silver Lab puppy on the same schedule at that point would have been like planning a 200-person wedding the week before. I made phone calls, and everyone was sorry but I was too late.. too late... too late. Then Janet from Blue Diamond picked up the phone.

She had not one but two silver males and several charcoal puppies ready to go home in a week. They hadn't even been advertised. And we could have the pick of the litter. Still, we were hesitant. (As the now-butchered saying goes, "Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.")

Shadow comes home with us at 8 weeks

Then we arrived, met two wonderful people and spent a half hour sitting on the floor playing with a room full of bounding, healthy, happy 7-week-old puppies. We didn't even have to deliberate over which was to be ours; he picked us. It was one of those moments I'll never forget: When Chris and I looked at each other, then at the cuddly, shoestring-gnawing bundle of fur that had chosen to sit in my lap for a good 10 minutes (enamored by my jeans and my shoes while his brothers came up to inspect and then to bound away) and smiled at each other. Our eyes said it all. This little guy was a sweetheart with a little spunk, and he was ours.

Shadow at 10 weeks and 6 months. It’s amazing how fast the time goes.

Now a member of our family for 4 months, there are times I wonder where that sweet little guy has gone. But those feelings never last long. Shadow is a character, that's for sure. He can be stubborn, he can be disobedient, and he can get a little too excited sometimes. But he still rests his head in my lap (after trying unsuccessfully to put his entire body there), he still follows me around like he is my shadow, he's still soft as silk, and he still does something funny or adorable every day.

He is the puppy I always wanted and almost didn't get. And his existence in my life is proof that things do indeed happen for a reason, and every so often where you are is where you were always meant to be.

Puppies

Blue Diamond Breeding, the wonderful folks who brought Shadow into our lives, have another litter planned for August or September. Click here for details.

How could anyone pass up even a half-brother or sister of this little guy?

Silver Lab Puppies for Sale

Shadow has four new half-brothers and two new half-sisters who need good, loving homes. They'll be eight weeks old on June 21, the first day of summer! Check out Blue Diamond Breeding if you'd like to take in one of these little guys. It takes some work, but it will absolutely be worth it in every way.

All's Well That Ends Well

We could call him “Miracle” or “Lucky,” and it would be just as fitting. But Saturday, Chris and I found our Shadow – and this time he’s not an illusion.

After reeling from the failure of our agreement with the first breeder, we put feelers out to all silver lab breeders within driving distance (a new “must”) in search of puppies needing a home. While to some extent we had started to psych ourselves out of having a puppy anytime soon (an emotional defense mechanism), deep down the truth was we still wanted him.

For two months we’d carefully picked out toys for him to play with, a crate and playpen to be his “room,” a collar and a little engraved nametag in the shape of a dog bone. We’d finally got around to our yard work – not because we particularly cared about having a leaf-free lawn, but because it would be best for him. We’d cleaned the house with extra precision – not cutting the usual corners – and “puppy-proofed” any room to which he’d have access.

Most of our inquiries came back negative: “I JUST sold my last silver; I’m so sorry!” or “We’re not planning on having another litter until the fall.” I worried that we would yet again have to deal with a long-distance relationship, never meeting the breeder and having to ship our puppy home.

But, like in love, all I needed was one.

The new breeder was within driving distance, had two silver males and several charcoal puppies ready to go home next weekend, and sounded extremely friendly and knowledgeable on the phone. She invited us to visit this weekend, to meet her and her husband, to see where the dogs lived, and to pick out our puppy in person.

Did I just hear angels singing?

We jumped at the chance, showed up first thing Saturday, and were suddenly in puppy heaven.

For an hour, I sat on the carpeted basement with a horde of excited seven-week old silver and charcoal puppies climbing into my lap, licking my face, pawing my shoelaces, wrestling with my pant legs (and each other), and launching adorably curious expeditions under tables and behind storage baskets.

It was extremely hard not to want all of them, but singling one out wasn’t hard at all. In fact, he chose us.

The tolerance for being held ranged from about .02 to three seconds with most of the pups, but the little silver guy wearing the pink and blue yarn necklace just sank right into me, looked up, and licked my face. Bounding away once in a while to launch some chaos with his brothers, he continuously found his way back to my lap, as if I had become his home base.
Chris looked at me, then the puppy, and his expression said it all. “This is the one.” Without a doubt, after all the pain of the last few months, after the emotional roller coaster ride and the doubt and the sleepless nights, finally we had found our puppy.

We said farewell to the little guy and his parents with soaring hearts, confident in knowing where he would be for the next week, and where he would be for years to come thereafter.

Now it’s time to get re-ready for his arrival ☺