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 ☺

What I Know Now

As a newcomer to the world of pet adoption, I assumed common sense would get me through the first stages of finding and entering into an agreement with a breeder. Alas, the guidebooks I consulted a little too late and the events of the following months proved me wrong. The result was a little egg on my face, a lot of heartache, and a desire to help the same thing from happening to anyone else. After all, a mistake isn't a total waste if a lesson is learned, right?

Things to consider (I wish I had!) before entering an agreement with a breeder:

- During your search for the breed you have chosen, consider distance from your home carefully.
The online world is small, but the real world is large. Stumbling upon a web page showing the most adorable schnauzer puppies is not enough.
There are many options to consider when buying a dog, but being able to drive to and meet the breeder in person should be double- or triple-weighted. Humans are pretty perceptive, but there is only so much we can gauge over the phone. Physically meeting a breeder, seeing where the puppies will spend their first eight weeks of life, being able to pick up your pup rather than shipping him as plane cargo, and having the option of jumping in the car should there be an emergency or other major concern (rather than sitting miles away at the mercy of the breeder’s willingness to call you)… is absolutely invaluable.
If you’ve done everything in your power but can’t find a breeder nearby, ask for several client references as well as the name and number of the vet they use. And contact them!

- Get a detailed description of how the pups will be cared for.
That means how and where they will sleep; who will attend to them during the day and how often they will be handled and played with by humans; what sort of medical regimen they will be given and by whom; what shots and treatments they will have received by the time they enter your home; whether their dew claws will be removed (if that is important to you), and what sort of health guarantee the breeder provides (if they don’t, move on because health guarantees are extremely common these days and extremely important).
Keep in mind that some breeders do give their own shots, but the puppies should still physically see a vet. Don’t blindly trust if your gut feels uncomfortable with the way something is being done. You may only have to deal with the breeder for two months, but you'll have the dog they give you for another 15-or-so years.

- Find out when the breeder usually sends pups home, and what happens if a puppy gets sick and has to stay a bit longer. Also inquire as to whether this has happened before, and whether any of their dogs have had major health problems after being placed in their new homes.

- Find out how accessible the breeder is.
It is not always a great indicator, but if you are being neglected before you even put down the first payment, signs are you’ll be sitting on pins and needles for two months wondering when and whether you’ll be getting your puppy. Trust me, it's not a good feeling.

- Find out what will happen to your payment and your deposit should something go wrong.
Get this in writing. Also, you should not be asked to pay the entire sum until the puppy is on his way home.

Finally...
When gathering all this information, it is extremely important to speak to the breeders directly, so you can better gauge how sincere they are and what is driving them. If your gut tells you to walk away, there is most likely a very good reason and you should listen.

Again, you are making a very long commitment to this dog, and he deserves an owner who will stick with him no matter what. Make sure you're comfortable with the entire situation before taking hold of that leash.

For a Reason

I’m not sure whether the belief that “everything happens for a reason” stems from wisdom or the human need to comfort those who are down, but either way I’m a fan.

Anyone who read Tuesday’s entry (click here to view) knows the anxiety Chris and I have dealt with over the past few weeks. Not wanting to put a blemish on anyone’s reputation or reopen the wounds that have finally begun to heal, all I will say is this: We will not be getting the pup we’d been expecting (he will be going to another very nice home), but we will be getting a puppy who will become our Shadow and who we will love for years to come.

With heavy hearts, we began our search anew Tuesday night, hoping to find a breeder closer to us – a place we could actually visit, where we could meet the puppies, the parents, and the breeders with whom we would be placing our full trust.

After countless days of darkness, the light is seeping back in and the joy of a new puppy has returned. We have seen several beacons over the past 36 hours. We have been shown respect, compassion and understanding by many breeders. And we have left conversations feeling uplifted, hopeful and – most importantly – confident in their abilities. The road we are on now seems so right it could have been destined.

Please check back this weekend for more details and photos. To quote Jerry Seinfeld on one of the best sitcoms ever made, “The wheels are in motion; things are happening!”

Tomorrow I will also post a list of things that (looking back with that pesky 20/20 hindsight) we should have inquired about or realized from the beginning. One adage with which I whole-heartedly agree is that a mistake isn’t entirely worthless if a lesson is learned. And I would like more than one person to learn from our mistakes.

The Waiting (let's hope it really is the hardest part)

As much you probably want to see some cute new puppy pictures, I want to be able to post them so much more.

For the past week, Chris and I have been prisoners in our own lives, metaphorically held hostage by the unclear whereabouts of our puppy.

Most pups go home to their families at Week Eight. Like the second language window, it is critical that they are assimilated into their new families as soon as possible both for training purposes and to make the adjustment easier on the pup.

But our puppy’s eight week birthday has come and gone and we are still in anguish – agonizing over when we’ll finally see our Shadow and struggling not to give into the very real possibility that we never will.

It’s a possibility I cannot bear to even consider. But after several weeks being left in the dark for days at a time, fighting to remain calm and not give into the pressure, even my most positive thoughts have started to give.

When we first inquired about getting a spot in the early February litter, the breeder (who for now will remain nameless) was as accommodating as could be. She was thrilled that we were interested, touched by the loss of Chris’ dog Bumps two years ago, and said we “sound like exactly the type of people we choose to raise our dogs.”

Within 12 hours after initial contact, we’d exchanged 11 e-mails and a phone call, and had secured our spot (with the first of three payments) in the very next litter.

Then we celebrated. We were finally getting a puppy. I was finally getting a puppy, after 27 years yearning for one. Chris and I were going to be parents – “puppy” parents, sure, but that was all we wanted at the moment.

We were cautiously optimistic. We had claim to a silver male, but there was no telling how many puppies would be born or the ratio of male to female, silver to charcoal.

We told only our immediate families about the possible delivery. And for 18 days, we were like balloons ready to pop, so eager to jump for joy but unwilling to risk the pain that would come if we were wrong.

Finally, on February 2, one charcoal and three silver puppies – all male and all seemingly healthy – were born. For the next four weeks, we were addicts for the breeder’s Twitter page, checking 30 times a day for photos and videos of our puppy.

Can you imagine having a baby then being unable to see or hold it for eight weeks? Can you imagine relying entirely on someone else to even give you that ability? No, I’m not equating human babies with puppies, but for a young woman eager for a non-human companion to nurture and pass the time with, for a young man hoping to fill a hole left by the passing of his childhood dog, and for a couple aching to welcome a third family member, this has been torture.

The e-mails that came so easily when we were looking to spend our money became a trickle a few weeks after the birth. After five weeks, the Twitter posts stopped showing new photos of the puppies and instead dwelled on items like the death of Marie Osmond’s son; news articles either loosely or not at all related to dogs; and the breeder’s desire to get photos up on PEOPLEPets, whose Twitter bio is “Meet celebrity pets, see the cutest photos and create your pet's profile!”

We were getting nervous, but we both kept our fears to ourselves. We didn’t want to shake the other up or validate the concerns by saying them out loud.

But in late March, one week before their eight week birthday, Chris and I went away for one last vacation, knowing we’d be unable (and probably unwilling) to travel anywhere far away for a few months after Shadow’s arrival. I e-mailed the breeder a week before we were scheduled to leave, inquiring about supplies we’d need to order within the week to ensure our pup would be ready to go on March 30. A few days later, I e-mailed her again, reiterating that we would be leaving the country and really needed to get this done. Soon the panic began to shape, then anger.

We spent every day in the Dominican Republic either trying to connect to Wi-Fi or using it, checking our e-mail and hoping against hope that we’d hear something from her. Nothing.

When we landed back in the U.S., the pups were seven weeks old exactly. We called and e-mailed again. This time Chris placed the calls, because as terrible as it is, some people still pay more attention when “the man” gets involved. (A better subject for another time, perhaps.)

Finally, low and behold, she called us back. Our puppy was doing fine, she said. She was going to take him to the vet soon for a final checkup and he should be on a flight April 1, she said.

Then two of his brothers died, and the pangs of dread got more severe. Before it was a matter of when we’d see him, not “if.” Our hearts went out to those families who got phone calls in the middle of the night. But our Shadow was okay, and we just wanted him home so we could look after him.

Needless to say, today is April 6 and not only do we have no idea when he’ll come home, but we haven’t heard from the breeder since Sunday (and that phone call took many tries and many hours to create as well). There are a half-dozen voicemails and several e-mails from us, but no information has made its way back.

Sleep has not come easy the past few nights. We are struggling to stay as optimistic as possible, but our hearts are breaking. For me, it feels like someone is pressing on my chest, squeezing harder by the minute. We want him home.

We have not yet met in person, but Shadow has taken a large chunk of our hearts. And like the bed in the corner of our living room and the water and food bowls in the kitchen, those hearts will remain empty until he finally gets here.

Silver and Gold?

The question I get most often when telling friends about my expected puppy is: “So wait, what color is he again?”

Most people who know anything about Labrador retrievers – heck, even many who have owned Labs their entire lives – are under the impression that they come in three colors: black, yellow and chocolate.

Technically, they are correct.

The American Kennel Club recognizes these three coat colors as the breed standard (meaning they are considered full-blooded Labs and can join in AKC competition). But just as “blue” accurately describes a cloudless afternoon sky, the Atlantic Ocean, and Yankee pinstripes, so do “yellow, black and chocolate” encompass varying shades of Labrador.

This was news to me three months ago, when I stumbled upon one breeder's web site by a happy accident (or fate). My husband and I had been looking for a yellow Lab, a decision we reached after doing some research (see “Choosing the Breed”). While all three colors are beautiful and have their merits, we decided on yellow because it seemed to bring out a dog’s facial features best, would make finding ticks much easier, and would in a small way honor Bumps (see “A Shadow of Things to Come”).

But the second I saw that silvery gray face pouting up through the computer screen – anchoring the words, “Yes, Virginia… Silver Labs Are 100% Labradors” – all plans were out the window. I shot an e-mail to my husband (referred to hereafter as Chris) asking whether he’d ever heard of such a thing.

“No but they are really cute,” he wrote back almost immediately. “Best looking ones you’ve found as of yet!”

Almost the color of a weimaraner, I loved that it was unique. Most common dog breed in the U.S., sure, but his coat would set him apart.

Always a skeptic, however, I did my research. According to various breeders and American Kennel Club policy, “silver” Labradors are simply one end of the spectrum of shades known officially as “chocolate,” which can range from very light to very dark brown.

And there’s more! In addition to the familiar golden wheat color, “yellow” Labradors can also be “light cream” or “fox red,” and a matte hue known as “charcoal” is registered as “black.”

To a dog lover like me, this discovery felt like Christmas morning, like finding out your dream car just got a slew of shiny new swatches to choose from, or that Baskin-Robbins was launching an entire new line of your favorite frozen flavors.

Of course, there always will be party poopers, and some naysayers still cling to the belief that long ago a weimaraner and a Lab got frisky and started the whole conspiracy.

But while dogs can be disqualified from official AKC registration for a number of reasons, a silver, red, white or charcoal coat alone is not enough.

Either way, 12 hours after stumbling upon this plethora of new information… Chris and I had secured our spot in the next expected litter, between a silver damsel named Annie and a dashing young charcoal named Eli.