This little guy arrived a couple of days ago — a very sweet Yorkie named Bentley. In late November he was scheduled to be euthanized in a Longview, Texas shelter when a rescue group in Shreveport, Louisiana, pulled him just before his date. The group, Becky's Bridge, has sent us a number of disabled dogs over the years, and they asked if we could take him.
A wonderful lady named Stephanie S. then agreed to foster him for several weeks until our pet transport company, TLC Pet Transport, could pick him up. Stephanie quickly realized Bentley needed immediate, and significant, medical care. She took him to her vet for an exam and emailed me to say,
"Here are the medical issues that my vet said that Bentley has:
– Periodontal and orthodontic disease including an oronasal fistula
– Bilateral mature cataract with anterior Uveitis
– Superficial pyoderma
– Infectious tracheobronchitis
He is scheduled for his dental procedure next Tuesday after being on the Azithromycin for 6 days."
This is not uncommon. We often need to have major medical care provided for the animals we agree to take, even before they arrive here. In Bentley's case, the surgery to close the oronasal fistula (an opening from his mouth into his respiratory tract) and other care came to more than $700, which we paid the vet clinic directly.
The paperwork from the Longview shelter said Bentley was a "returned adoption," and the reason: "health of animal."
Stephanie kindly took him back and forth to the vet clinic for his procedures and follow-up exams, gave him all his medications, and showered him with love the whole time.
The photo does not do him justice, because he is a very cute boy. He's quiet, gets along great with everyone, and is just one mellow fellow. Last night I was sitting in the living room after dinner and holding him in my lap; he turned and rubbed himself all over me, just so happy to be loved.
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In the photo above, that's blind and deaf Spinner in the background. Behind her you'll notice a "wall" of fabric on both sides of the center wall. These are "weather curtains" that we can raise and lower to block off the solarium to the dog room. Although the solarium can bring a lot of warmth into the building when the sun is shining, it also loses a tremendous amount of heat at night and on cold, overcast days. We realized we needed to do something to cut the heat loss dramatically. The company that replaced the 30-year old awning over the solarium this fall recommended weather curtains (typically used for screened porches in the wintertime) that we can manually roll up and roll down with a cord; very simple and effective. We noticed the improvement the very first night we used them. Best of all, they let just enough heat through to keep the salad greens we're growing in the solarium from freezing!
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New Shelter Challenge Contest — Please Vote for the Farm!
The latest Shelter Challenge started Monday, January 7 and ends on April 28. Grand prize in this round is $10,000, $3,000 for second place and $1,000 for third place, plus $1,000 for weekly winners and $1,000 for state winners. There are also other categories … please see the Shelter Challenge website for details.
*** You will find us listed as Rolling Dog Farm. The state is NH for New Hampshire. ***
Please remember, you can vote every day … consider bookmarking the voting page to make it easy.
We just won $1,000 as a weekly winner in the last contest, and thousands more in the previous contests. The Shelter Challenge really does bring in a lot of money for the animals here!
You can vote in the Shelter Challenge here.
Thank you for your votes!
Rolling Dog Farm Blog 
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