It seems that people coming to adopt a dog from Turtle Gardens have pre-conceived notions of what mixed breed means. A mixed breed dog is not just two purebred dogs coming together to produce say a labrador retriever/german shepherd. This can happen but they are never a new breed as people who breed cocker spaniel/poodles would like you to believe. Cockapoos are not a purebred dog. They are mixed breed.

Stacy could very well be a cock-a-poo

The problem with mixed breeds is the vast gene pool available to the female running loose in season. She will breed with many males so that the ensuing puppies will have multiple fathers with many different characteristics. For instance, a lab/shep female breeds with a collie/husky. The puppies are now 4 known mixes. This pup breeds with a wolfhound/rotweiller. Now the litter is a mix of six breeds. The looks and temperaments will be so different from the original couple so as to totally confuse the potential adopter of the puppy. It may look like a collie with the temperament of the rottweiller or look like a lab but act like a husky or look like nothing familiar at all. That is possible if you know the background of the original pair. But that is often impossible with dogs that come into the shelter. Their history is known only to them and so far we cannot communicate with dogs. So we guess. With puppies the chance of making a mistake on what breed is in that particular pup is tantamount to winning the lottery. Or to say it simply - your guess is as good as mine.
Litter mates - same mom different dads.

 And that can have a devastating effect if the adoptee needs a dog that must be under 14 inches to live in a trailer court. The children will be attached to the dog who grows and grows until he is 20 inches tall. He is a wonderful family pet but he’s too big, and you did sign a contract with the landlord. The dog goes to the shelter and you start again. Or you do a smart thing and adopt a young adult already grown and under the height limit. Or buy a purebred small dog which is still no guarantee. I know of two shelties with papers, that are too tall to compete in shows.

The basis of adopting the mixed breed should always be personality and temperament. What it is, is not as important as what it can learn and whether it will fit into your lifestyle. The dog’s ability to learn and become a good family companion has little to do with what it’s breed is. Willingness is the most important factor in how a dog learns. It is so much easier working with a dog who wants to be with you than one who couldn’t care less. Time, patience and consistency are the key to any training program for any dog, purebred or mixed breed.
So the next time you see my list of dogs to adopt and a dog is listed as mixed breed because we can’t figure out what he looks like, remember that temperament should be the most important factor in a good family pet.
Margo - another litter mate from above and Kerri - a shepherd/sharpei? At first I thought rottie mix but her hind legs are shepherd shaped, she has long centre toes on he rfront feet, her ears are going up and she looks like a shepherd with a wrinkly face  like a sharpei and demodex to boot - also a sharpei trait especially from her home area!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Somedays the words flow easily others like today - is like pulling hen’s teeth. With this colder weather work is getting done in the Red House - the bathroom is almost done! The new and improved brand new non leaking toilet went in today. No more outhouse! the new flooring is holding up very well even with the 8 pyr/retriever pups, and the terrier mom and her 4 month old pup. The big pups are 22 weeks old and are getting their adult canine teeth - a sure sign they are ready for speutering - all eight of them! And what an expense that is -  all at once; especially with Diggy, Buck, Puff Dog also needing their neuters! That is the hazard of cold weather - more dogs come in during cold snaps then at any other time of year! They are usually intact young adults or pups barely ready for speuters. This year it is harder than normal. With the renovations and the problem with the old TG Bus, finances are tight - couple that with a slowdown on donations and slow grant application processes and the crisis begins. On the plus side - we do have plenty of dog food. Thank you VAS and also our local supporters - there was 4 bags of dog food at the Smithers Feed Store as well as blankets from New to You and outdated pablum. Porter came for a sleepover on Saturday and he came with 3 bags of dog food and a large bag of doggie bones to share with his friends! Porter really likes it here - lots of buddies to play with! And a comfy bed to sleep on - mine! Porter was adopted three years ago - a very good natured, dog social three legged pittbull who is go-go from the minute he comes charging in the gate - he doesn’t even take the time to say good bye to his Mom - he is off to play and find his old friends - Harley and Sweetpea. But when he hears the car - it will be tomorrow afternoon - he is ready to go back home. He will stand at the gate to say hello to his mom and off to the car without saying good bye - until next time he comes back for a sleepover!

Porter, Chunky Munky and Rags.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Thank goodness for woodstoves! We are warm and toasty as are all the dogs here with us, the few left in the kennel and in the atco. Fortunately the wood is relatively close and easy to get – now we need double what Stan had to cut before – I am afraid I like warm. And it takes a fair amount of wood. But I am comfortable and that is very good. There are still a few things to be done in the Red House. Things like new flooring in the laundry room, shelves to put up for the linen, and more storage shelves built. My old bedroom will be the puppy room and my “treasure room” where I kept my special things like my angel collection, turtle knicknacks, books and urns for the cremations will now be the isolation room. My new bedroom will be big enough for my treasures and will have shelves for them. There will be a separate yard and door for my old dogs from my bedroom. They need time away from the younger population. And time with me as they are really my dogs now – to call them non-adoptables is demeaning. They have love, and a home with me with all the care and medical they need. Most are now older than 15 years, Squire is my youngest senior – he is 9. The oldest is Lily at 19 with Auntie Sophie close by at 18 years old. Grizzly Adams is middle aged at 7 years and Sweetpea is my baby at 3 years of age. My new room will be our special place and we all need a special place to recharge.

It is bit warmer today only -28 with a light breeze. The dogs played outside quite a bit today. They are all sacked out now. There was a power outage today from 1 pm to just before 4 pm. It sent my blog into oblivion! And the resulting peace and quiet was sheer bliss for the first half hour then the dogs thought every sound was important so they were sent outside to play. Most of the dogs that have come in recently are youngsters, teenagers and young adults. They are learning how to be dogs, learning to play, come in and out of the house, learning basic manners of indoors living. They are a very nice bunch of dogs and will be great family pets. Their young vitality is a pleasure to watch as they develop the skills needed to be family companions. Happy endings are the rhyme and reason for Turtle Gardens. And these following have made my day so very happy!! Thank you

Hi Yvette,
We just wanted to let you know that Nala is doing well… You’ll be able to
tell by the pictures! She loves my couch and our bed and has found a little
spot under a coffee table! She is quirky and mostly well-behaved! She has
recently had a little ear infection and was on antibiotics to help her
surgery wound heal. It took a long time and is finally healed… So she will
undergo a nice bathtime soon!!!

Here are some pictures of her… I have more to come. Notice how she is
drooling on MY pillow!
~Janet
Comfy Nala!

Pretty Nala has the perfect match!

Hi Yvette, Dave, Stan and Kelsey!

Some of we lower mainland weather wussies are staying home today. The roads are nutso with people who don’t know what snow tires are for so I’m having a snow day.

We’ve discovered that Honey Bear has a great gift as a therapy dog. My fella’s father died and, after 40-plus years of marriage, mom is having a difficult time getting through the day. Whenever it all gets to be too much, Honey Bear is at Grandma’s side with all of her "Grandma okay? Pet me! You’ll feel ever so much better!" skills in full play.

Honey Bear is possessed of more empathy than most humans. She’s a wonder to watch.

Stay warm. Spring is out there, somewhere!

Susan

Honeybear has gone from a shy girl to a therapy dog - way to go !

Hello Yvette,

So sorry to hear about all the cold up there! We just had a dump of snow last night and were fortunate enogh to just enjoy it while it’s here! Truman was SO excited! I guess it brings back good memories of his first home I’ll attach a picture.

My girls would love to name a pup each if you are still looking for names. Asja picked the last female pictured on the Jan. 24 blog, sable with a red collar, and named her ‘Sabrina’. Amergin chose the black girl and originally wanted to name her Truman, but we got her to pick a girl’s name instead, ‘Analise’ from the Barbie movie, ‘Princess and the Pauper’.

We’d love to know if you use the names as the girls often check out the pictures while I read the blog. (Those are very good names for cute pups! Thank you!)

Take care!
A very handsome Truman!
Hi Yvette,
Hope you don’t mind me sending you some more pictures, the first one shows
how sad Teya’s face was when Ella had to go home! (I love pictures and updates - they make my day!!)

Gryphon weighed in at 17.4 lb. And Teya at 14.1. They’re both gaining weight quite nicely.

Cynda

Teya is so sad! She has such an expressive face!

Going for a walk - Toby sure looks like Kingston!

Sunshine puppies!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Stan cut some alder to bank the fires in all 3 stoves across the road where the guest cabins will be (utilizing all the wood - no waste) - just 20 minutes outside looks like this:

This is at a balmy -33

Ice catchers!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

This is what we woke up to today!

As you can see - 40 is -40!! That is darn cold!

Woodstoves chugging in the extreme cold but the kennel dogs and the atco are warm. This is taken at 7am this morning.

Stan woke us up early and started working on the chimney for the Blue house. He was worried that we had frozen during the night. Actually we didn’t sleep well as the dogs were cold inside and wanted on our beds - under the covers. Luckily for us funds arrived to buy the last piece of needed chimney for dogs and people. So Stan was up on the roof putting in the new selkirk for the stove so we could all be warm again. By 10 am he was frozen but the stove was chugging. Thank you Stan from Dave and I and all the cold doggies too.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

The weather is turning down right cold again – it was so nice for one day. I guess I should be thankful that we did have one nice day but I sure wish it had been longer. We have been spoilt with the mild winters of the past five years. We would have barely a week of cold then mild cold of barely -10 balmy easy to handle cold. Last year was a harbinger of harder winters. Although fairly warm there was way too much snow –hence the spring flooding. This year we are cold but little snow so I guess in the long range cold is better than lots of snow – we are in good shape for spring – actually below normal snow pack. Snow pack level still fine

We are in a “cold wave” where it drops a degree per hour! The forecast is for -35 with windchill of -40.
It is going right off the charts!

The guys are cutting firewood for the atco, kennel and for us too in the cabin. We managed to finish the chimney in here. We will be warm.

Enough whining and now back to what we do best – take care of the dogs. I took some pictures of the bigger pups today. They are much friendlier and seem very happy.

Resting on their bed

Pretty little black girl coming in - she is very good with her potty training

More of the big pups and the little chocolate girl.

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

Jack was adopted in late October of 2007. He was a starving stray from the Burns Lake Pound. He was brought into our veterinarians to be euthanized but our vets thought he had lots of potential to be a good family pet – he had an awesome temperament. He was neutered and vaccinated two weeks later and came into Turtle Gardens. He was to go to Bully Buddies but while we worked with the Sheriff dogs he was seen by his prospective family from Prince George. He went home to PG and started his new life as a family companion. He had a slight limp while here but it worsened as time went by. He was x-rayed last week and now he needs extensive surgery on his hip. The All mobile Vet Clinic will do his surgery at a cost of less than half the regular fee. But Jack needs your help too. His family is unable to pay for his very needed surgery. Turtle Gardens is also not able to fund his surgery either – too many dogs not enough funding. Donations can be sent directly to the All Mobile Veterinary Clinic in Prince George. His veterinarian is Dr Kim Swift. His case # is 25998 Thank you in advance for helping Jack stay with his family.

Hi Yvette;

I wanted to let you know what we found out at the vets when we took Jack for his x-ray on Tuesday. We had the x-rays done and they revealed that the femoral head on his affected leg is absent and that there are
significant arthritic changes. The most likely cause is Legg-Calve-Perthes Disease (This is what Dr. Swift feels is Jack’s problem. Our vet Dr. Kye has been in close contact with Dr. Swift to see how best we can help Jack)or avascular necrosis of the femoral head as a result of an old injury.

Surgery is required to remove what is left of the femoral head and the vet feels that with this surgery Jack should recover fairly well. Although he will never walk properly the surgery will reduce his pain. If the surgery is not completed, the vet feels that Jack will probably need to be euthanized within a couple of years as his pain will be
unmanageable.

We certainly believe that Jack should have this surgery and at such a young age he deserves to be given a chance at a good life. When we adopted Jack, we were of the understanding that his health was good and that his leg was no longer a concern and therefore we did not budget for this veterinary expense. We are looking for financial assistance from Turtle Gardens for the costs of the surgery and that of the x-rays performed on Tuesday.

I have a written estimate for the costs of the surgery as well as I have the invoice for the x-ray that was performed. The x-rays were $126.00 and the surgery is estimated at $631.19 (This is very reasonable – less than half the regular cost of this surgery). If you would like me to scan these and email them to you I am willing to do so. The estimate for the surgery is only valid for a limited amount of time so we would appreciate an immediate response.

Thank you,

Jennifer Ferguson
Our vet is Dr. Kim Swift - All Mobile Vet
250 564-1315 Our account number is 25998.

Jack’s face

Practising his sit learned at obedience classes

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.

The TG Bus #1 is finally home - at 2 pm this afternoon. Dave had to pull over and sleep just outside of Quesnel at a small place called Cinema. I knew that because they have a “Spot” which is a personal GPS Tracker that Dave gave us for Christmas. It lets us know where the TG Bus is on the road. I just log on the computer, find the website and track the TG Bus. It is pretty cool. So I knew at 5am that they had stopped and where they stopped. I followed them until Broman Lake and made them a pot of coffee which was freshly brewed when they drove into the yard. Now that is very useful.

They stayed an extra day as the van needed new brakes. Thank you Carol for taking care of my guys. They used Carol’s garage at Saints and she rewarded them with dinner at Rocko’s. Then they filled it with dog food from Vancouver Animal Shelter – again a very big THANK YOU. Then the keys were somehow locked in Terry’s car (my nephew lent them his car for the trip down – so both had to drive back) It took a while before a hanger dislodged the lock but soon all was done and the guys left for home.

They have now gone to Houston to buy propane – I am down to the last quarter bottle. And oh joy – they are buying chimney for the woodstove in here as well. The weather network is talking about a small warmer spell – one day of -4 or so then -35 to -40 by Wednesday. I really feel like running away from home until it warms up again. If you see a crazy lady with a bunch of dogs walking down the highway – it will be me looking for “down under” It is summer there.

All the new dogs are adapting well. The little terrier mom and pup really like Dave – of course. He really likes small dogs too. They rushed up to meet him greeting him like an old friend. They were jumping and yapping in glee. Their former owner must have been an older fella like Dave!! So who dumped these little ones? They are awful cute for fluffy, fuzzy terrier types. Now they just need names as do the big puppies. At least the phone has stopped ringing today. So far. Maybe a reprieve of sorts. The fluffys from Tachet have not arrived yet. I imagine it will be tomorrow – going to town day for a lot of people. It has given me time to set up a spot for them. Sometimes it takes time to get here.

And TG welcomes Diggy. His name is actually Kaos but his nickname was Diggy which suits him so much better. He is a great Pyrenees/karelian bear dog. Both parents were purebred. His former owner paid big bucks for him (designer breed but still a mutt) then life threw her curves and she couldn’t keep him. Luckily for her a longtime supporter of TG called me on her behalf as we rarely take owner surrenders. TG welcomes Digger - a big goofy lug of a gentle boy. He is great with kids, cats and other dogs. What a treasure he will be.

Diggy really like Margo!

©Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue Society. Have your pet spayed or neutered today.