Pet Haven Rescues Two Puppy Mill Dogs

Daisy and Susie came to us via the Animal Humane Society.   Here is what AHS posted on their website:

"Animal Humane Society was recently called in by authorities to assist in ceasing operations of a commercial breeding facility in a rural Minnesota county. The request for assistance came after authorities there responded to three different calls about the operation.

At this facility, a high number of dogs of various breeds were found living in deplorable conditions. They were housed three to a cage in small kennels that didn’t allow for them to move or turn around; each kennel was covered in feces that contributed to painful mattes in the dogs’ fur. They were not provided exercise and experienced little to no human contact leaving them unsocialized and scared of the outside world.

Pet Haven is fortunate to have an experienced foster home willing to take two of these dogs and work with them to make them adoptable little dogs.  Here is what she has shared with us so far.

Both little girls are shy with very sweet temperaments. Susie is coming out of her shell faster than

an Daisy is. They do not show affection yet, and Daisy tries to avoid being picked up, but both can be handled without a problem. They have started following their foster mom around the house. Both love treats and get along fine with other dogs. They clearly know each other. They had not yet been together in their foster home, but when they were let out of their kennels in the exam room at Plymouth Heights Pet Hospital, Susie got all excited and started trying to play with Daisy and both had wagging tails.

Susie is a 6 - 8 year old black and silver poodle. She is underweight at 8.6 lbs and had to have 18 teeth extracted this week. She was already missing 12 teeth, so there are not many left. She loves the canned and homemade food her foster mom feeds her. She was also spayed and had a couple of mammary tumors removed this week. Susie was covered in mats and had to be shaved. She is missing all of the hair on the top of her nose and a couple of spots on her hips where she is particularly bony, but hopefully some good food and loving attention will help it to grow back.

Daisy is a 5 - 6 year old lhasa (or maybe a shih tzu or maybe a mix of the two - hard to tell). She weighs 13.5 lbs and is light tan with some black on her face. Daisy had surgery and dental work done last week. She was spayed and had mammary tumors removed as well. She also had to be shaved to remove her matted coat, but the hair on her face was able to be trimmed and she is adorable. Daisy has dry eye and produces no tears in either eye. Because this condition went untreated, she lost a significant amount of vision in both eyes. We are hoping that the drops she is now receiving will help to bring some of it back. Daisy also has bad knees - her kneecaps in both back legs are permanently dislocated. She seems to get around fine and the vet concluded that they appear to not be causing her any pain. 

Both of these wonderful little survivors will soon be available for adoption. We have no doubt that they will learn to be loving companions. Since they have spent their lives until now in crates, they do not have a clue about housetraining and are used to eliminating where they live and sleep. Now that they have the space they need they are figuring out that does not have to be the case any longer. They are being trained to use puppy pads in their foster home and Susie is starting to catch on. Daisy still has to figure out this weird practice. They are taken outside, but the cold weather and the strange feel of the outdoors just causes them to be motionless. Once they are more comfortable in their foster home and it warms up a bit outside, they will be transitioned from puppy pads to pottying outdoors.