Turtle Gardens Animal Rescue

The story is not philosophical or trendy or even serious – actually it is quite funny. Way back in 1987 before I even got shanghaied into becoming an animal control officer we lived in a trailer on the last street in Granisle. There was a storm sewer in front of our yard. I put a garden around it, then looked at it and placed shaped rocks to look like a head, feet and tail of a turtle. Our neighbor Kit Koo painted the round part in a pattern to look like a turtle. The flowers were pansies and they were quite happy looking. So when I refused to kill the dogs in the pound and started rehoming them I need a name for my adoptions. I thought of Turtle Gardens as I walked home looking at my turtle garden. My first logo was “slow and steady gets the home” and “a home for every pet” then when Davey built his first website (Petbits) and wanted an internet logo for it he said describe TG in 6 or less words and I said “the shelter with heart” – our turtle with the red heart shaped shell was born as our logo!! This was in 1996! It got Dave his first job in Vancouver! And I have had a special website ever since that Dave develops for me. Without Dave and Stan there would be no blog – so thank you sons.

And the second question – what are the new puppies. Well…… they are part of a litter of 11 puppies!!
Five of the puppies are in the backyard of the home they come from. Two are with another family that have no idea how to feed or look after puppies. I have had several phone calls about them today. One lady in particular is in a panic. The rest of the litter are males. I have said that they can come in here – they just need a ride and of course the funding to look after them. Or Dave can get them when he comes home. They will need vaccinations, worming and socializing until they are old enough to be adopted – we always vaccinate our puppies twice so they are protected before adoption. what are they? They are Lake Babine Nation Specials! Some have short legs like the new fellow – he also lived at that home. Mom is medium sized and all black. A husky was supposed to be involved – who knows how many dad there are!!

Black pup longer legs

Black muzzled female

Black pup short legs and dark eared brown female

Prince Henry

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

My first visitor today was at 7:15 this morning. I met Daniel at the gate in my robe!! He was traveling through the area and had heard about Turtle Gardens in Smithers so decided to stop in and see for himself. What he saw really surprised him – all the sizes and ages of dogs all in the same yard – all getting along. And all of them converging around me vying for attention as well as jumping up on the fence to say hello to Daniel. He was pleased that they were so friendly and so nice and well why were they here?
So I told him where they came from each and every story. He was here for more than 45 minutes and I think he left knowing that a rescue dog is a great dog! And all this before my coffee!!

This seemed to be the harbinger of the day. Phone calls and more visitors. One very special visitor who drove up to the Great North from Vancouver. Their daughter-in-law told them about Turtle Gardens so they had to stop in and visit. Cheryl – I met Julian and (oh lord I can’t remember her name and she was so nice!!)and her mini aussie Kristi and the old border collie who didn’t come out but I petted his beautiful gray face through the open window- what a regal boy!) What a wonderful visit we had and she so kindly left a donation too. They were planning on stopping in Smithers at a gorgeous camping ground near Smithers. If it is the one I am thinking of the fishing is fantastic!!

I promised pictures of the new puppies who arrived yesterday. The four little girls have totally integrated with Georgie and her litter. They may not be as old as I was told. They are eating better than the little ones but are not acting like 7 week old puppies – more like 5.5 weeks old. They are very people social and darn cute too. The older pups are also playing with them and hanging out with Georgie and her brood.

Wimpy comforting the very new arrivals

Little Marco Polo is the wrong side! The four newbies with Georgie’s babies.

The little explorer Marco Polo!

Spring is so gentle with the biggest Georgie pup.

The new boy – breed id?? The closest I can come up with is karelian bear dog/basset hound!! He needs a name too. And a neuter and vaccinations. The pups and him too come from Lake Babine Nation.

Dave and Bear and Stan are loading up the 26 foot u-haul with fencing and donations for the long drive home. Well almost home – Stan will drive the big truck to Prince George and then take the greyhound back. Dave and Bear will stop at her daughter’s for the night then Dave will drive the truck and Bear will drive the TG Bus home. How cool is that!!

My favorite flowers in my favorite colors! Nothing is growing very well – we had a killing frost a couple nights ago!!

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

It’s been raining for a couple of days and I’m thinking “Wouldn’t it be nice for a sunny getaway but in the winter?” Well if you bought a raffle ticket, dream on . Here are a couple of pictures of the Canto Del Sol Resort in Puerto Vallarta, you will be spending 7 glorious days there if we draw your name for the grand prize. Escapes.ca went above and beyond our expectations when we asked them about donating a prize to our raffle draw (and thanks to Jude’s pitbull skills!)

Here’s some more info:
Located in the central part of Puerto Vallarta’s Hotel Zone, and about 2 km (1 mi) from downtown, this Mexican resort is next to both shops and a golden-sand beach which extends for about 1.5 km (1 mi).
Daily meals, alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks; use of 8 tennis courts and water sports gear such as kayaks; and nightly entertainment are all included in the room rate at Canto Del Sol.
Light interiors, tile floors, and air conditioning help make guestrooms and suites at Canto Del Sol Plaza Vallarta a cool retreat from the sun. In-room safes and wireless Internet access are standard.
All-Inclusive food and beverages
• Buffet breakfast, lunch, and dinner daily
• Fine-dining meals at specialty restaurants
• Domestic and imported drinks, wine, beer, soft drinks
• Bottled water in room
• Taxes and gratuities
Not included: Wine by the bottle; box lunches
All-Inclusive activities and equipment
Water sports
• Windsurfers
• Boogie boards
• Kayaks
• Water volleyball
• Water basketball
• Aqua aerobics
• Daily activities programs at the pool and beach
• Use of swimming pool/beach and pool chairs and chaise lounges/towel service
Not included: Scuba diving courses, certification, trips
Land sports
• Tennis (up to one hour daily per guest)
• Beach volleyball
• Tequila volleyball
• Ping-pong
• Aerobics
• Use of fitness center/steam room
Not included: Additional tennis, night tennis; tennis clin

What is Tequila volleyball??
Now back to reality, the last day for ticket sales is Aug.22. Have you bought a ticket yet? I must have all the stubs and cheques back (earlier the better). The draw is Saturday Aug.30th, 11am at Skyland Travel in Vancouver. Chris from Skyland will be drawing the tickets, and according to BC Gaming Rules, he “cannot own a ticket in the draw, and must not wear jewelry or clothing on the arm reaching into the container; the arm must be bare from the elbow to the hand”.
To satisfy Gaming watchdogs, we’re asking Chris to don a Turtle Gardens short sleeved T-shirt. So make sure you mark your calendar, and wait for your phone call.
As soon as the raffle draw is done, we’re scooting across town to the TG reunion!
Can you join us?

Where’s the mariachi band? Here’s the radio announcer: “ BC Gaming Event #8775,
Know your limit, play within it, must be 19+ to play.”

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

I often wonder if anyone reads the blog when there are no comments. Mind you the blog is my exercise in writing – I enjoy writing. Lately I haven’t had the time to follow my writing groups – there just isn’t enough hours in a day. The problem is our location – we are too rural for volunteers to help out so the majority of the work fall on my shoulders and Dave’s too. But he has the driving and shopping to do since I don’t drive any more ( I have no depth perception and the roads are just too fast and crazy now – so I hung up my keys) There is a lot of cleaning involved with this many dogs and more since we have the puppies – they are cute though. There is laundry and feeding and medicating, and more cleaning. There the computer stuff – that is all mine too. And the dreaded paperwork is constantly hounding me. I often hide from the chat but how do people reach me and lots do. I really am not anti-social just very busy. This new group of dogs is a handful – mostly young untrained males and un-neutered before they got here. They have to learn to get along and they need to learn that there is no pack hierarchy here – one boss/benevolent leader and that is me. I have always maintained that the lower protein food is important in a group – they get along better. And today in my blog emails Just that theory was proven true – how cool is that!!
Part of this wonderful veterinarian’s blog is quoted here:
Anger management via kibble control (On canine aggression and dietary protein)
URL: http://www.dolittler.com/index.cfm/2008/7/29/dog.cat.veterinary.veterinarian.medicine.aggression.protein.diet.food

Here’s a story on how listening to the radio can improve your veterinary knowledge.

Last week I was listening to Dr. Nicholas Dodman (Tufts veterinary behaviorist and vet personality extraordinaire) on NPR. He was letting us all know how critical behavior is to the success of the human-animal bond.

And we all know that.

But did you also know that higher protein foods may be associated with aggression?

Somewhere in the back of my mind that issue had lodged as an old wives tale told by German Rottweiler breeders who fed varying amounts of protein based on the animal’s destination: household pet or protection provider. I never associated it with “science” until Dodman raised the issue last week on national radio.

Seems that some research has been done on this. In fact, the one study I found was out of Tufts…with Dodman’s name in the byline.

Published in the Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association (JAVMA) in 2000 (see reference below), it fed 33 dogs diagnosed with dominance aggression, territorial aggression and hyperactivity (11 dogs in each group) four different diets: high protein (30%), low protein (18%), low protein supplemented with the amino acid tryptophan and high-protein supplemented with tryptophan.

In both groups of aggressive dogs the aggression scores were significantly lower with both low protein and low protein with supplementation.

There is more to read her blog – it is linked above!
I have been using a foster group home for most of the dogs for 20 years (some were in kennels and were brought into the house for manners training and housebreaking once applications were on them – which is why all of the dogs now live with us) and all of the dogs for 5 years. In observing their interaction I noticed more bullying/fighting with premium foods versus a lower protein brand. Now I mix premium dog food with lower quality brands. I also fill different bins with different dog food to see which brand works best for peaceful interactions. Some dogs prefer different foods and it is amazing to see which bins are emptied first – it isn’t always the top brands either. I have found that the old dogs prefer higher protein/easier to digest/puppy food. And we have various sizes of old dogs – our seniors range in age from 14 to 19 years old – anything younger is just not really a senior – they are middle aged! The teenagers prefer a higher fat to protein ratio and others – it doesn’t matter – they will eat anything! And another observation – dogs that have eaten a low quality/low protein food for a period of time have a very hard time tolerating premium dog food. As an example Lucy has just arrived with her own food – a very low quality/cheap/low protein kibble. She dove into the premium food bin and has been vomiting this morning. Mind you she is a typical lab who LOVES FOOD. I changed the inside bin to a lower protein and she is doing much better. She is grabbing mouthfuls from the outside bins but since she is following me like a shadow she only grabs a bit while I go in and out! Food does make a difference.

An Update:

Fist Samantha – who was adopted yesterday:
Hi Yvette,
I wanted to let you know Sam had a good first evening with us. She is so gentle and easy to have around. She let me know she likes to run when I took her for a walk yesterday. My daughter, Siobhan took her for a long walk to show her off to her friends and Sam spent most of the evening with the kids watching movies. I have an appt. with the groomers for her to get the “works” tomorrow morning so I will send a photo when she is looking her best. I love her!
Adrienne

And Little Nonie again!

Here’s an interesting coincidence for you— her vet papers list her birthday as Jan. 11. I know that with strays, that is likely just a guess, but get this– my birthday is Jan 05, my grandson is Jan. 12, my daughter is Jan. 13. Can you believe it!!

She had a great night- whined gently but persistently when I left her basket in the kitchen (which is right next to my bedroom), but stopped when I brought it into the bedroom, and settled right down. However, about 1 a.m. I felt a little bump- of course you’ll know what happened- she was up beside me. So of course she spent the night there. I figure she’ll be missing you, and needs the comfort, and I don’t really mind. Whiskey used to come up for about the first hour at night and last hour in the morning, but in the middle he preferred his own space. We’ll see how she develops her own little patterns.

You are so right about how affectionate she is- very responsive and loving. Did you get her young enough for Auntie Sophie to have an influence on her? I loved that story- what an amazing dog. (No Auntie Sophie was busy with the sharpei mix puppies and she was already 5 months old when she arrived – her biggest influence was Edgar!! )

Barb

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

The first update of this TG Bus run is Nonie – how cool is that!!
Hi Yvette,

Thought you would like to know that the girl is home, and seems happy
with it. She slept on the drive back from Mission- has made a very
few tiny whiney noises- no barks yet. She has had some supper-
didn’t have to be coaxed at all, has peed in the back yard, and spent
a lot of time rolling around on the “grass” (my back grass is mostly
moss- but it is lovely and soft to roll on.)

You’ve done a great job with her- she ’sits’ like a dream, even to
wait for her food. Right now she is exploring my back deck..whoops-
there is the first bark, with a little growl to go with it. The
neighbour’s dog is being fed in their carport, and he always barks
and makes a fuss, so she is letting him know she is here, and this is
OUR house.

Bless her little heart, she just came back in, and is lying on the
floor beside me, and has just gone to sleep.

I can see that she is super smart, and I think less bumptious than
Whiskey was- he was very male and very terrier, even though neutered.
We used to call him our holy terr-ierr-ierri-or. I read somewhere
that terriers are “a three year old in a dog suit”, and he was. He
was also a jumper, so it was hard to keep him out of things. Can’t
tell yet whether she is, but she hasn’t shown any sign yet.

I gave Dave the dog food- glad you can use it. I also showed him a
picture of Whiskey- he was stunned by the resemblance.

Thanks a lot for all the time and love and care this little girl has
clearly had. I’ll let you know when I settle on a name.

Barb

Another update – Clifford now Duke is a keeper!! He is so gentle and full of love I have been told. The cats liked him right away – they ran up to him to meet him and they have been friends ever since. Duke is very soft with the small fluffball too. He lies on the deck and never wanders eventhough he lives on acreage – he doesn’t leave the house area. He is so very well behaved and a supervisor of chores. He has moved in as if he has always lived with them. Well done big guy!

Clifford the big red dog – he weighed 158 pounds at his neuter!

And a new arrival – a 9 month old black lab who has to be tied up – she is always visiting the neighbours while her people are at work. Labs love to be with people – it is their nature. Most dogs do enjoy company. Turtle Gardens welcomes Lucy.

Some puppy pics again – they are getting mighty cute! They are coming into the common room and interacting with the small white pups, Spring and Harley – Dave’s pittie – she loves puppies and really really likes to play with them once they are bit older. Right now – she is lies down and lets them crawl all over her. I will get pictures soon.

The black male.

Sleeping babies – the only pup with a name is the black and white male – he is Marco Polo!! These 3 all have very short legs like Georgie the mom.

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

The TG Blog is 2 years old today!! Thank you again Stan and Dave (my sons who built, maintain and fix it when I break it!!) – for the gift that keeps on giving!!

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