A Poodle Named Dream Adopts an Aussie Puppy in Need

Dream already had one puppy of her own, but when another turned up at the rescue needing a mother, she brought her into her family.

A four-year-old Poodle named Dream turned up in an overcrowded shelter in the high desert near Lancaster, California -- dirty, matted, and skinny. Shelter workers labeled her a stray. They didn't even know she was pregnant, but she was, and she gave birth to two tiny puppies on Dec. 2. 

One died right away. The other fought to survive, as Dream, so sickly herself, did her best to nurse him. The pair needed to get out of that shelter and get some real help, and that's when a kind soul spotted Dream and her puppy and pegged them for transfer to the Helen Woodward Animal Center in Rancho Santa Fe, California. 

It was there her life would change. Not only did Dream and her puppy -- staff named her Cupcake -- get placed in a great foster home right away, but Dream gained a new reason to live: Candy, an Aussie mix puppy who was having a rough go at life. 

On Jan. 10, not long after Dream and Cupcake found their foster home, the Helen Woodward center brought in a mother Aussie mix named Karly and her seven puppies. One of them, Candy, was tiny compared with the rest. She had been getting trampled, struggling to get her mother's milk, and she was left stunted, weak, dehydrated, covered in bite wounds, and suffering from a nasal infection. 

The center's veterinarian, Stephanie Oba, took Candy in, fostering her separately and giving her round-the-clock care. She would get better, but she still needed one thing. She needed a mother. 

Someone on the staff had an idea: What about Dream? Her puppy Cupcake was Candy's age. And the pups looked nearly alike, despite one having a Poodle mom. What if Dream accepted Candy as her own?

Foster Pam Fleischman agreed. Dream met Candy, and immediately took her in. She treated Candy as "though she were the baby she had lost," reports the center.  

“Dream has been an amazingly good mother," said Fleischman. "She is content to spend most of her time lounging with Cupcake and Candy and attentively caring for them. We’re looking forward to seeing how the puppies’ personalities develop during the next month. They are both angels and immediately became the best of friends.” 

This story had a happy ending, but it's not over. Cupcake and Candy will soon need their own homes. The two dogs will be fixed in a few weeks and will be ready to be adopted after that, according to the center. If you're interested, please contact the Adoptions Department at 858-756-4117 (ext. 1) or visit the Helen Woodward Animal Center. 

Check out these adorable stories on Dogster:

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A Rottweiler Who Lost Her Puppies Adopts a Litter Orphaned in Oklahoma Tornado

In a serendipitous chain of events, Bertha saves Pit Bull mix puppies who were set to be euthanized.

Earlier this month, Indiana's Second Chance 4 Pets Network rescue pulled Bertha the pregnant Rottweiler out of South Bend Animal Control. Unfortunately, she had to have an emergency caesarean section, and none of her eight of her puppies -- six boys and two girls -- survived.

Meanwhile, a college student named Rosie Ahlberg from Wheaton, Illinois, drove to Oklahoma with friends to help victims of the tornado. She picked up a stray dog and took it to a shelter. There, she saw another dog who had just had just given birth.  

The staff members, however, were overloaded, and they planned to euthanize the mom, a Pit Bull mix, because she was aggressive. There also planned to euthanize the pups. 

Rosie wasn't going to let that happen. 

She called the rescue group Lakeshore PAWS in Valparaiso, Indiana, which agreed to take the pups. People there told Rosie & Co. how to bottle feed, and they put out a call for people to help for when the pups made it back to Indiana. 

Then someone had an idea: What about Bertha? The pregnant Rottweiler who lost her pups? Lightbulbs went off, calls were made, and soon the little pups were on their way to Second Chance 4 Pets Network -- and to Bertha. 

Bertha, after having lost her pups days before, was not producing milk. Would she take to the new pups? Would she mother them? Both rescue staffs -- and Rosie -- crossed their fingers. 

Bertha came through. And so it happened that a mother dog who lost her puppies in Indiana ended up adopting a litter of puppies orphaned by the tornado.  

"She was unsure at first, but the foster [who was housing Bertha] got into the pool with her, and she started cleaning them right away," JoAnn Palko, president and founder of Second Chance 4 Pets Network, told nwitimes.com. 

Jeanne Sommer, director of Lakeshore PAWS, said the partnership with Second Chance was "just awesome."

She said in a statement to WSBT, "It is just heartwarming that one individual, Rosie Ahlberg, would step up and offer to save these guys, and that three rescues in Northwest Indiana can all join together as well to save their lives."

Second Chance is considering training Bertha to be a therapy dog. 

"She's a fantastic mom," Palko told WSBT. "My foster says she doesn't even want to go outside to go to the bathroom and leave her puppies."

Via WSBT and nwitimes.com

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Tallim the Dog Adopts Tiger Cubs at a Russian Zoo

Three little cats are nursing from the Swiss Shepherd, and all is right in the world.

The staff members at Oktyabrsky zoo in Sochi, Russia, had quite a pickle on their hands earlier this month, when Bagira the tigress left her adorable cubs on their own after they were born. 

Oh, to have such a problem, you know? 

The staffers weren't too surprised. Some of them even expected it. Bagira, you see, did this very thing just five months ago, when she left a different set of adorable cubs on their own after they were born. The zoo seems to be overflowing with Bagira's cubs. 

The staff talked to the other tigers, but none would agree to be a surrogate mom for Bagira; they did this to teach Bagira a lesson about nurturing and responsibility (we think). A dog named Tallim overheard all this, and being a Swiss Shepard, agreed to nurse the cubs -- provided her bowls of food started to include chunks of fresh meat (again, speculation). 

In any case, we do know that Tallim the Brave entered the nursing pen with a strong heart. The cubs "bared their claws and hissed" at Tallim, according to The Telegraph, which seems like a reasonable thing to do. Tallim was unbowed. The cubs dropped the act and scampered over, and they enjoyed a long, warm drinks of milk from a slightly shellshocked Tallim. 

Eventually, everybody relaxed and started acting like nothing was amiss. And perhaps it isn't. All the cubs are feeding, and Tallim, now the official adoptive mom for the boys Olymp and Dar as well as a female named Talli, nuzzles and cuddles the cubs as if they were her own. 

As for Bagira the tigress, she is sitting near a tree in the hazy light of the zoo at dusk, eyeing a lone male drinking from a water feature. His shoulders are strong. She wanders over for a look. 

Via the Huffington Post

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Caring Cop Adopts Dog Who Was Dragged Beside Van

Warren, Mich. police officer Michael Lake with his adopted dog, Cricket (Photo: Ray J. Skowronek, Daily Tribune)

A Michigan cop has stepped up to provide a new home to a little dog whose owner who allegedly took her for a “walk” by driving his van with the leash sticking out. The dog, Cricket, could not keep up, and ended up going for a drag instead of a walk. She received an injury above her eye, and one of her claws was torn out.

Her owner was arrested and charged with animal cruelty and drunk driving. His trial is set for December 8. He relinquished ownership of Cricket, realizing he stood no chance of getting her back. He says he has had her only since October.

The dog looks to be a cute black terrier mix. Her age could be anywhere from several months to several years, according to the Daily Tribune. Officer Michael Lake was set to take her to the vet’s after his shift to have her checked out. He’ll probably have a much better idea of her age at that point.

Cricket seems to be in great spirits. “She is a doll. She’s playful. She’s spunky,” Lake told the Tribune. He said his wife has always wanted a smaller dog, since their other dogs have always been “big boys.” He’s excited to bring Cricket home to meet her and his other dog, a German shorthair pointer.

What an uplifting outcome. Three cheers for the kindly cop! (I provide these stories as a balance to the stories of other law-enforcement officials who haven’t done so well by dogs.) Looks like they’ll have a great life together.

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Celeb Adopts Injured Pit Bull Used as Bait in Dog Fights

Katherine Heigl discussing her animal charity last year

Katherine Heigl won’t be toting around her newly adopted dog in a purse and dressing him up in frou frou duds for the paparazzi.

She’ll just be content that he’s alive and abuse-free.

Heigl’s dog advocacy already trumps most other celebs. She’s the co-founder of the Jason Debus Heigl Foundation, named after her brother, who was killed in a car accident when he was 15. She heads the charity’s Hounds of Hope operation, whose mandate is to rescue pets with little hope of adoption from shelters.

The latest addition to her family, which already includes several dogs, is Rufus. He’s a young pit bull who was used as a bait dog in dog fights. Rufus was badly injured when Heigl learned about him. At the time she was looking for a puppy for her adopted daughter, Naleigh.

“Katherine was absolutely heartbroken when she saw how hurt the little guy was, so she paid thousands of dollars for multiple surgeries,” reports ContactMusic.

In case you are suddenly a Heigl fan, here’s a list of her film and TV roles.

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Another Happy Christmas pet: Dr. Becker adopts!

December 25, 2010

More details tomorrow, but here’s what I just got in my e-mail:

Dr. Becker, his daughter, Mikkel, and volunteers from the two hospitals where he practices, Lakewood Animal Hospital (Coeur D’Alene) and North Idaho Animal Hospital (Sandpoint), spent part of Christmas Eve and today taking toys and treats to the pets in the north Idaho shelters. Apparently one pet really got Dr. Becker’s attention, a Lab-pit mix named Gracie. From his e-mail just now:

We ended up adopting Gracie, the 2-year-old Lab-pit cross who has spent her entire life in the pound. They said she had two broken legs when she came to them, but I actually think it’s a congenital defect of both rear knee joints. We’ve already introduced her to the six other dogs at the house (Shakira, Quixote, Quora, Willy, Bruce and Mr. Teddy) and they get along great. She loved the feel of snow on her feet. Loved to chase a tennis ball. Loves to be held (she’s 35-40 pounds) in your lap. I’ve already made her bed for her.

And here’s the image from earlier today, from Dr. Becker’s iPhone, with Gracie in his arms. We’ll have something better later, but … well, this was just too cool not to share right away!

Update: Here’s a better picture. Dr. Becker and his daughter, Coeur D’Alene-based dog-trainer Mikkel Becker, with Gracie.  Adopted from Second Chance Animal Adoption in Dr. Becker’s hometown, Bonners Ferry, Idaho. We’ll have lots more tomorrow.

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