DRC's "Great 8" Need A Little Help From Their Friends!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Last week, DRC was asked to take in 5 female doodles from a NJ breeder who has gone out of business. These beautiful girls, all of whom had been used for breeding, were badly neglected: matted to the skin, infested with multiple varieties of intestinal parasites, had not been kept UTD on vaccines or HW preventatives, 4 of the 5 are intact, and most of them appear to have been debarked. Thanks to that force of nature otherwise known as Kate Singleton, foster homes were found for all 5 within a day, and they are all now getting the care they so badly need. Their foster parents report that they are all very sweet but timid girls who are soaking up every bit of affection they can get. They have been shaved down, and are being spayed, vetted, HW tested, and treated for the intestinal worms as we speak. 

Here are their "before" pictures. (Rusty the male went with 3 standard poodles to our good friends at Carolina Poodle Rescue, who also arranged transport for all of the dogs) 

 

 

No sooner were the 5 settling into foster care when DRC received an urgent call about 3 doodles who had been dumped in a kill shelter in Texas and were scheduled to be euthanized due to their poor condition, and the fact that 2 of the 3 had serious respiratory infections. (And God only knows what else.) A DRC volunteer angel raced to the shelter and pulled all three dogs. All are intact and in need of full vetting and treatment. 

DRC desperately needs your help so that these beautiful doodles (some of whom are the mothers of DK members' dogs) can get the care and love they need and finally live the kind of life that our own DK doodles are living, and so that we can continue to help doodles like these in the future. 

This is Huxley. He was the sickest of the Texas dogs, and I am heartbroken to tell you that he died in his foster mom's arms on the way to the emergency vet yesterday. We are grateful that he did not die alone in the shelter, and went to the Bridge wrapped in loving arms.

In our hearts and minds, he remains one of DRC's "Great 8". 

DRC has set up a fundraiser through You Caring to help raise money for the vetting of these beautiful doodles. Any amount will help. Please click the link below, there is a brief video with photos of the girls in their foster homes. 

In memory of Huxley, please consider making a donation. Thank you so much for reading, and for your continued support. 

DRC's Great 8 Fundraiser

http://www.youcaring.com/medical-fundraiser/drc-s-great-8/133156

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Maybe we can copy the whole discussion and post it as a blog, too. If you want to do that, Joanne, it would be great. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Ha. I knew I was setting myself up  :)   LOL

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

But for such a good cause. :D

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

Copy That.   It's done

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

God love you, Joanne. I do. :) 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

:)~

[Alex]

Karen,

As you may know this is a well known NJ breeder who had been in the business for many years; although the spelling of their breeding dogs’ names have all been slightly altered. We almost adopted one from their last two litters born from Lauryn and Sophia in June (evidently at 1yr old). We almost did this thanks primarily to the breeder’s excellent reputation on this site, as well as other doodle forums. 

I think more information about this case on the forum would serve as a useful cautionary tale. People need to be reminded to rely primarily on their own due diligence using the excellent “What To Look for in a Breeder” recommendations on this site — and *not* user recommendations about any one breeder or another. This is a point that I think you’ve made several times and obviously cannot be stressed enough.

One last point. These breeders had an ironclad, “by the book” health recommendation on their site and contract. So even these, evidently, are of limited value. At the end of the day, all you have is your eyes, and what the breeder will let you actually *see* about the health and breeding of their dogs.

These dogs are lucky to have you and the DRC looking out for them.

[F, Calla & Luca]

I agree with all you said!

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

You are exactly right, Alex. Every day, I think about writing a new discussion called "Beyond 'What to Look for in a Breeder'" emphasizing some of the points you've made here. Yesterday I thought about posting a discussion asking how many DK members asked or knew the age of their puppy's parents. 

The problem with discussing this case in the forum as a cautionary tale is that if breeders, good or bad, are afraid to relinquish dogs to rescue groups for fear of being publicly dragged through the mud in this and other forums, those dogs may well end up being anonymously dumped in the same kind of place the Texas 3 ended up...public high-kill Animal Control facilities. So discretion must be maintained, for the sake of the dogs. 

And of course, we always want the main focus to be on the dogs themselves, and not on the people responsible for their misery. 

[Joanne ~ Spud*]

' ...we always want the main focus to be on the dogs themselves...'

And this is why I join you today

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

:-D

[Cheryl and Finnegan]

Alex, I agree with all you've said as well!